Isidoor Verheyden – Pilgrimage in the Kempen

by Atelier Liesjes

A long procession of pilgrims makes its way along a sandy path into the heath, moving away from the viewer. At the front walk a man in a dark coat and a cap, leaning on a stick, and a woman with a flowered bonnet covering her head and shoulders and a reddish-brown skirt; between them walks a child in a light jacket and a blue skirt, holding their hands. Further on, the line winds its way along the side of a hill: women in white bonnets and shawls, men in black, with the occasional light-coloured garment. In the distance to the right stands a small white church with a pointed tower and a few tall trees. The ground is ochre-yellow sand with tufts of grass, brownish-purple heather and some greenery, and the sky is filled with heavy, sunlit clouds. Verheyden paints the procession without drama, as a custom that is repeated every year. The long shadows point towards the viewer and reveal that the sun is low behind the group; this lends the scene the feel of a late afternoon and of a journey that still has a long way to go. The brushwork is broad and fluid, the colours earthy: ochre, sage green, grey-blue and reddish-brown. The style is realism with a touch of romanticism, in which the faith of the common people and the vast landscape reinforce one another. Isidoor Verheyden was an Antwerp genre painter who, in the second half of the nineteenth century, captured life in the Flemish countryside: markets, processions, farmers and beggars. He worked in the realist tradition of the Kempen region, where painters such as Boulenger and Meyers depicted the landscape and village culture. This painting is signed in the bottom right-hand corner. A understated, narrative work about faith and community, suitable for a warm and classic interior.