One of my vivid summer memories comes in form of a neoclassical sculpture. Discreetly posed ( in Brussels' Royal Art Museum ) between Jacques Louis David's Death of Marat and the grandiose works of Rubens , "Le Deluge", by Matthieu Kessels, stopped me in my tracks. Hypnotised, I circled this work of art. Encompassing every detailed fold, hair and muscle. Desperately trying not to intrude on the intimate pain so present. Unable to look away. A sculpture so powerful and beautiful its image burned my memory . The strong balanced composition, the fluidity of the lines, the interwoven movement, the raw pain, the simple drama all quite simply... set in stone. Mathieu Kessels was born in Maastricht on the 20 May 1784, he died in Rome in on the 3rd of March 1836. A sculptor with a low profile but incredibly hypnotic works. ( b Maastricht, 20 May 1784; d Rome, 3 March 1836). Flemish sculptor. He gave up his apprenticeship as a goldsmith in Venlo to attend the Ecole des B
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