Monstrance Louis XV, Bruges 1772, Sterling Silver, By Carel Benninck

Gigantic monstrance-sun or monstrance from the Louis Quinze period in sterling silver . It is by the hand of the famous Bruges silversmith Carel Benninck and dates from 1772. It was the most beautiful and important masterpiece of the treasure of the monastery of the Capuchin friars who recently decided to leave the Venice of the North after more than five centuries of Franciscan presence in Bruges. It is of an exuberant baroque style typical of the Flemish art of the counter-reform. This masterpiece of goldsmithing is richly decorated with rockeries, repoussé religious scenes, bunches of grapes, ears of wheat, clouds, falling foliage and flowers. At the top of the monstrance are two large flying angels and a crown. The whole object weighs over 5 kilos and is 87 cm high.