There are sculptures all over Bruges, ranging from street Madonnas on the sides of buildings and
busts or statues of famous figures to Calvary compositions and amusing statues like the nun above.
While I concentrated on the architecture of Bruges, I did shoot some of the sculptures, and this page
displays 33 images of the Statuary of Bruges (more are displayed on other pages in this section).

The Bruges display images have been created directly from the images that are available for purchase
(with a few exceptions), so the title bar text is smaller than title bars which are normally seen on this website.

Click an image to open a larger version.
Use your back button to return to this page.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Bruges Collection page where a Gallery can be selected.

There are 6 Galleries in the Photoshelter Bruges Collection (Direct Links):

Bruges: Burg Square
Market Square and Bell Tower
Onze-Lieve-Vrouw and Gruuthuse
Canal Scenes and Street Scenes
Bruges: Houses and Buildings
Statues and Sculptures

Johannes Nepomucenus Onze-Lieve-Vrouw 2849
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The statue of Johannes Nepomucenus (John of Nepomuk), with
the 122 meter Gothic brickwork tower of Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk
in the background, about to be strafed by a mercenary seagull.

Johannes Nepomucenus Onze-Lieve-Vrouw 2851
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I was training a group of photographers in Bruges, and used this statue to illustrate a technique. These two images were shot with an 85mm lens using different planes of focus and depth of focused-field to alter the isolation of the statue from the background and presentation of the tower in the scene.

Johannes Nepomucenus Onze-Lieve-Vrouw 2853
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The previous image was shot at f/8 with the focus plane just behind the statue so the tower was only slightly defocused. This image, shot at f/5.6 with the plane of focus on the front of the statue, defocused the tower more and made the statue jump out of the scene, while still retaining detail in the tower.

Johannes Nepomucenus 2072
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Johannes Nepomucenus (John of Nepomuk, 1345-1393) was a Czech
saint who was drowned in the Vltava River by King Wenceslaus of Bohemia
when he refused to divulge the secrets of the confession of the Queen of Bohemia
(Sophia of Bavaria). Generally portrayed with a halo of five stars and carrying a cross,
Johannes Nepomucenus is the patron saint of bridges and protector against floods.

Johannes Nepomucenus 2691
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The statue stands on Nepomucenus Bridge, the only bridge across the Dijver, next to the Rozenhoedkaai (Red Hat Quay).

Johannes Nepomucenus 2695
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The statue of Johannes Nepomucenus, sculpted in 1767, is the best known work of the Flemish sculptor Pieter Pepers.

Johannes Nepomucenus 2695
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Pieter Pepers’ 1767 sculpture of Johannes Nepomucenus stands on the Nepomucenusbrug
(Nepomucenus Bridge over the Reie River at the Dijver, originally the Eeckhout Bridge, 1282).
The current bridge, built in 1357 by the master mason Jan Slabbaerd and rebuilt in 1642, was
renamed the Nepomucenus Bridge after the installation of Pieter Pepers’ statue in 1767.
In 1795, someone tipped the statue into the water (it was remounted in 1811). The two
 lanterns were added in 1930 and the statue was restored in 1980 by Pierre Goetinck.

Bruges Madonna Beguinage 2751
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A 17th c. Madonna on the Baroque facade “Maison Curiale” (former rectory of the Beguinage parish, at the Minnewater).

Bruges Madonna Kartuizerinnenstraat 2078
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This one (1856) stands on the 17th c. diephuis (deep house) at the corner of the Carthusian Nuns Street and Wollestraat.

Madonna and Child Beguinage 2776
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This Madonna and Child is in a niche in a wall within the
grounds of the Beguinage, just north of the Minnewater.

Bruges Madonna Noordzandstraat 1991
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89 Noordzandstraat has a 1658 Madonna and relief from the facade of the now-defunct brewery “De Gapaert” (c. 1409).

Madonna and Child OLV South Entrance 2490
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Detail of the Madonna and Child over the South Entrance
to Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady) in Bruges.

Madonna and Child OLV South Entrance 2489
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The statue stands above the portal and below an ornate
Gothic lunette (detail shown on the OLV-Gruuthuse page).

Annaatje van t'Pitje Carmersstraat 2333
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Annaatje van t'Pitje, Carmersstraat at Korte Speelmanstraat, at the location of the well where little orphan Anna was nearly drowned (in the 16th c.). Set upon by thugs and robbed, she was then thrown into the well, which had frozen enough to save her. A wooden calvary was created on the site in 1760, with a woman in traditional Bruges dress gesturing towards a crucifix and an enclosed wall chapel under the All-Seeing Eye.

Hof Bladelin Tabernacle Naaldenstraat 2291
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Built c. 1450 by Pieter Bladelin (counselor to Duke Philip the Good), Hof Bladelin was acquired by Piero de’ Medici (1466) and operated as the Medici Bank in Bruges under Tommaso Portinari. The Renaissance tabernacle above is mounted high above the main gate arch on Naaldenstraat at Kuipersstraat. Hof Bladelin is now a convent of the OLV-Hemelvaart sisters.

Perplexed Nun in Window Beguinage 2758
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In a dormer window of the Begijnhof (Beguinage) is this amusing sculpture of
a perplexed nun. Sometimes, on sunny days, they have her wearing sunglasses.

Lion of Flanders 2605
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The Lion of Flanders stands on the staircase
of the Basilica of the Holy Blood in Burg Square.

Pieter Pepers Pump Eiermarkt 1946
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A monumental pump with the Lion and Bear of Flanders
by Pieter Pepers (1756) in the Eiermarkt (Egg Market).

Achiel van Acker Joseph Ryelandt Zaal 2564
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The statue of Achiel van Acker, 4-time Belgian Prime Minister in front of Joseph Ryelandt Zaal (Concert Hall), formerly the 17th century convent and church of the Theresian Carmelites.

Frank van Acker Vismarkt 2376
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The bust of Frank van Acker (Achiel’s son, the first Socialist Mayor of Bruges), by Fernand Vanderplancke stands at the Vismarkt with Landhuis van het Brugse Vrije across the canal.

Sleeping Painter Gruuthuse Museum 2815
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The Sleepy Painter with the Oriental-themed pagoda landscape painting naps between the
Gruuthuse Courtyard and the north entrance to Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk gardens, off the Guido
Gezelleplein. There is a similar statue by this sculptor with our hero sleeping while holding a harp.

Kezanti Motor Art Ezelstraat 2578
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Motor Art, one of the rideable sculptures of Dirk DeWulf of Kezanti Gallery on
Ezelstraat. DeWulf has been making life-size sculptures of people, animals
and machines from scrap metal and vintage machine parts since 1987.

Kezanti Birdboy Ezelstraat 2568
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Birdboy (note the pigeon held in the left hand), one of the
anthropomorphic sculptures of Dirk DeWulf, Kezanti Gallery.

Kezanti Birdboy Ezelstraat 2576
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Birdboy is complete with a copper-tubing circulatory system
and spark-plug toes to go along with his machine-part body.

Kezanti Soccer Player and
Fe Nomena Ezelstraat 2572
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The Soccer Player and Fe Nomena (background right).

Kezanti Keeping Distance Ezelstraat 2574
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Keeping Distance in front, with Luipaard (also known
as the Panthera Pardus) leaping in the background.

Breydel deConinck Market Square 2391
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The statue of Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck, Heroes of the Battle of the Golden Spurs,
was installed in Market Square (Grote Markt: Great Market) in 1887. The 1302 battle killed over
40% of the French nobility and the heads of over 75 French noble families, forcing all military leaders
to rethink the use of cavalry in future battles. It was one of the worst defeats in French military history.

Justice Civil Registry 2388 M
1000 x 1600 (310 KB)

An M-sized detail crop of the Statue of Justice and
the Bear of Bruges, which stand atop the Civil Registry.

Moses Civil Registry 2386c
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On the left side of the Old Civil Registry is the gilded
bronze statue of Moses and his allegorical attendants.
The image above is a detail crop of the wider scene.

These late 19th c. statues replaced those which were
destroyed in the aftermath of the French Revolution.

Boudewijn Civil Registry 2913 M
1200 x 1600 (493 KB)

A large, M-sized detail crop of the gilded bronze statue of Count Boudewijn
(Baldwin I, the Iron Arm), the first Count of Flanders (represented as King Solomon)
and the allegorical statue representing Peace atop the bridge between Town Hall and
 the Civil Registry, over the archway at the end of Blinde-Ezelstraat (Blind Donkey Street).

Gothic Statuary Town Hall 2638
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Two of the Gothic statues on the Town Hall facade
representing Counts of Flanders. These are reproductions
of originals destroyed in the aftermath of the French Revolution.

Basilica of the Holy Blood 2643
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The ornate facade of the Basilica of the Holy Blood in the south corner of Burg Square
with its gilded bronze statues and medallions of rulers of the province of Flanders. These
statues are reproductions of originals which were destroyed during the French Revolution.

The lower statues are of the Dukes and Duchesses of Flanders. From left, they are:

Archduchess Isabelle of Burgundy and Archduke of Austria Albert VII (in the medallion);
Archduchess Mary of Burgundy surrounded by medallions depicting the Archduke of Austria
Maximilian III (on the left) and Duchess of Burgundy Margaret of York (wife of Charles the Bold);
Thierry of Alsace, (with sword and a round shield), with his wife Sibylla of Anjou in the medallion;
and on the far right, also with sword and shield, Count Philip of Alsace, son of Thierry of Alsace.

Zeus, Leda, Prometheus and Pegasus Visit Bruges 2804
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Statue in the Walplein by Flemish sculptor Jef Claerhout:

Zeus, Leda, Prometheus and Pegasus Visit Bruges (1982).

Zeus is represented as the Swan (a rather unusual looking one at that).
Leda in her exhuberance to be visiting the Walplein (naked) is leaning back
on the Swan and smiling at the sky. Prometheus is wearing an anachronistic
suit and bowler hat and waving to the nonexistent crowd, and Pegasus is
drawing the carriage while smiling at the photographer. A totally zany
sculpture providing a fitting climax to this portfolio on Bruges.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Bruges Collection page where a Gallery can be selected.

There are 6 Galleries in the Photoshelter Bruges Collection (Direct Links):

Bruges: Burg Square
Market Square and Bell Tower
Onze-Lieve-Vrouw and Gruuthuse
Canal Scenes and Street Scenes
Bruges: Houses and Buildings
Statues and Sculptures

Click the image above to return to the Bruges Index page