Basilica of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel
The Basilica of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel is a Roman Catholic parish church and minor basilica in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, Belgium. The church was consecrated in 1627 and raised to the status of a minor basilica in 1922. It is reputedly the most frequently visited shrine of pilgrimage in Belgium. While the cult on the Scherpenheuvel is older, its present architectural layout and its enduring importance are due to the patronage of the Archdukes Albert and Isabella and the Counter-Reformation.
Basilica of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel
Interior of the basilica
The Lamentation of Christ by Theodoor van Loon
Golden Rose of the Basilica of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel
Albert VII, Archduke of Austria
Albert VII was the ruling Archduke of Austria for a few months in 1619 and, jointly with his wife, Isabella Clara Eugenia, sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands between 1598 and 1621. Prior to this, he had been a cardinal, Archbishop of Toledo, viceroy of Portugal and Governor General of the Habsburg Netherlands. He succeeded his brother Matthias as reigning archduke of Lower and Upper Austria, but abdicated in favor of Ferdinand II the same year, making it the shortest reign in Austrian history.
Portrait by Rubens, c. 1615 São Paulo Museum of Art collection
Albert and Isabella Clara Eugenia, by an anonymous 17th century master, after originals by Frans Pourbus the younger.
Jeton with portraits of Albert and Isabella Clara Eugenia struck in Antwerp 1612.
Portrait of Albert VII (c. 1599–1600), by Frans Pourbus the Younger. Convent of Las Descalzas Reales collection in Madrid.