The Calvary garden: on a pilgrimage 'round the corner'

For many a Christian the pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a goal in life. In 17^th century Antwerp the Dominicans took the lead in the promotion of this pilgrimage. Within the Brotherhood of the Rosary they founded the Fellowship of Palmers. The last ones to visit the Holy Land at the end of that century were the two Ketwigh brothers, both Antwerp Dominicans. Because the Holy Land had become inaccessible due to the advancing Ottoman troops Dominicus (Domien) van Ketwigh conceived the plan to convert the graveyard next to the church into a contemplative statue garden evoking Jerusalem. The burial function of the churchyard was to be preserved. So this Baroque creation was meant to be a kind of spiritual ersatz good. By seeing Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrectionThis is the core of the Christian faith, namely that Jesus rose from the grave on the third day after his death on the cross and lives on. This is celebrated at Easter. impersonated life size, the spectator can call these mysteries of faith to mind more vigorously and experience them more deeply. Already before 1699 Willem I Kerricx drew the first design for the ‘hill’, but it took nearly half a century to have the entire project realized. For this cause until 1741 an appeal was made to several Antwerp Baroque sculptors including Jan Claudius De Cock, Willem I Kerricx and Willem-Ignatius Kerricx, Jan Pieter I van Baurscheit, Michiel I van der Voort and Alexander Van Papenhoven.

Although the dominant Calvary lends its name to the entire garden of the former graveyard, it is in fact also a garden of resurrection, as Jesus’ rising from the dead is brought into vision ‘live’ by His encounter with Mary Magdalene in the garden! Moreover the prophets foretell Jesus’ suffering as well as His resurrection. Whoever was involved in Jesus’ sacrifice of love by His crucifixion and His triumph over death, either as a direct witness, a prophet or as a worshipped pious person, has been given a place here. By the thematic positioning of the statues and by the lively dialogue of some groups of statues this remarkable ensemble looks somewhat like an open air theatre.

Four Dominicans, who were palmers themselves, carrying rosaries, accompany the visitors. To illustrate the destination of their fellowship, they hold shields with on them the Christian escutcheon of Jerusalem, while palms refer to the pilgrims’ custom of entering their hometowns triumphantly with this ‘piece of evidence’.