A vow under the druid oak tree

Unique painting by Louis Delbeke

 We are ending 2018 with a magnificent acquisition! It is the painting “A vow under the druid oak”. It goes without saying that we will give this beautiful work a place in the Ypres Museum next year. Louis Delbeke was a well-known nineteenth-century artist who created the pre-war (and at the time famous) murals in the Cloth Hall.

Louis Delbeke (1821-1891)

Louis Delbeke was born in Poperinge and moved to Ypres as a child. He was taught at the Ypres Academy and, with financial support from the City of Ypres, was able to continue his studies at the Academies of Brussels and Antwerp. After his studies, he became one of the most remarkable figures and artists of his time.

We know this painter mainly for his famous murals in the Cloth Hall. In 1883, he was commissioned by the city council to decorate one of the large halls with historical scenes about Ypres. The hall was named “the Delbeke Hall”. Unfortunately, his beautiful frescoes did not survive the First World War.

The painting

The new acquisition dates from 1867 and is called “A vow under the druid oak”. Louis Delbeke exhibited this painting at “the Salon”, a large annual art exhibition in Antwerp. The organisers bought his work and the canvas disappeared into a private collection.

The painting depicts our region at the time of the Celts. A young man and woman ask the druid to bless their two newborn children. They bring offerings for this.

Delbeke made several studies in advance for this highly detailed, atmospheric painting. The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium own two of these drawings. The Ypres Museum has a sketch of it and is very pleased to now also acquire the finished painting.