Artwork Data
Artwork Location
Address
Loosduinse Hoofdstraat 4, Den Haag
City district
Loosduinen
GPS data
52.054923074343, 4.2413274409225 View on map
Artwork Description
Text
Joannes van der Horst had been their pastor for twenty-five years. The faithful of the Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Assumption thought this was reason enough to pay homage. They commissioned Leo Brom to make a bronze Sacred Heart statue. They presented it to the parish priest on 14 July 1929. Unfortunately, Van der Horst was only able to enjoy it for a short time. He died a few months later. However, the statue of the Sacred Heart still stands on the little square in front of the church.
Leo Brom was both a sculptor and a goldsmith. He started his training at the Sint-Lukasschool in Brussels and was subsequently taught by famous sculptors such as Bart van Hove and Jan Bronner at the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. Together with his brother and sister, he worked in Brom's Edelsmidse, their father's internationally renowned silversmith business. Leo Brom's best-known work is probably the golden sword which the then Queen Wilhelmina presented to President Eisenhower shortly after the Second World War as a token of gratitude from the Dutch people. Most of Brom's orders came from the Catholic Church, for which the workshop produced many precious and ornamental works. It also restored important religious artefacts.
A Sacred Heart statue was a popular image in Catholic circles at the time. It was usually a standing figure of Christ with a burning heart on his chest. Christ himself points to his heart or, as in the case of the Assumption Church, stands with his hands raised. The fact that Brom worked in the field of silversmithing and decorative arts can be clearly seen in the way in which he designed the figure of Christ. It is entirely in keeping with the Art Deco style of the time: austere, stylised head shapes with a smooth finish. The bronze is extremely dark, almost black.