Four variations on the theme of 'The Entry of Christ into Jerusalem' by James Ensor
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From end 1885 Ensor worked on a series of drawings and an oil painting (The Quiet and Serene: The Descent from the Cross, 1886), which would be exhibited for the first time, under the common title The Aureoles of Christ or the Sensitivities of Light, at the annual Salon of Les XX in Brussels in 1887. (3) Each work presents a point in Jesus' life:

The Joyful: The Adoration of the Shepherds

The Bright and Radiant: The Entry into Jerusalem

The Raw: Jesus Presented to the People

The Sad and Broken: Satan and the Fantastic Legions Tormenting the Crucified

The Quiet and Serene: The Descent from the Cross

The Intense: Christ Ascending to Heaven

The titles are given chronologically, following the course of Jesus' life. This ordering does not mean that Ensor produced the drawings in this order. Jesus Presented to the People and The Entry into Jerusalem are dated '1885', the others '1886'. (4) Each point in Jesus' life is, as it were, associated with one of the qualities or 'sensitivities' of light. The entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is associated with 'vibrant and radiant' light. The work The Vibrant and Radiant: The Entry into Jerusalem (1885) is drawn in black and brown chalk, ContÃ© pencil and black pencil on paper pasted on Japan paper, measuring 208.1 x 152.8 cm, signed and dated at the lower right: ENSOR/85. On the back of the drawing the inscription in Ensor's hand: 1885 Les aurÃ©oles du Christ ou les sensibilitÃ©s de la lumiÃ¨re. La vive et rayonnante: L'entrÃ©e Ã JÃ©rusalem. The drawing was purchased in 1963 by the Ghent Museum of Fine Arts (inv. no. 1963-E). (5)

On the drawing we recognize the following inscriptions: above the big banner with the inscription SALUT JESUS ROI DES JUIFS we read LIBERTÃ ÃGALITÃ FRATERNITÃ and VIVE LA SOCIALE; to the left under the banner: LES XX, Les Impressionnistes belges, Mouvement flamand, HIP HIP HURRAH, COLMAN MUSTARD; to the right under the banner: Ã BAS LA CALOTTE, CHARCUTIERS DE JÃRUSALEM and AMNESTIE; on the far left in the middle: BETHLÃHEM FANFARES; on the many streamers under the banner, from top to bottom: NAZARETH, PICARDIE, SAMARIE, PHALANGE WAGNER FRACASSANT, LA GALILÃE RECONNAISSANTE, VOORUIT, ÃA IRA, FALLEUR, DÃCADENTS. Right at the bottom a few figures carry the inscriptions JÃSUS or ANSEELE on their foreheads. Many inscriptions are repeated in the etching The Entry of Christ into Brussels on Shrove Tuesday 1889.

About his major composition Ensor wrote to Mariette Rousseau on 3 December 1886:

Maybe I've spoiled my large composition The Entry of Christ into Jerusalem. The amusing details remain, but confusion has come. Everything is terribly jumbled up. The light is blinding. The people seem to be rolling one on top of the other. This work was fine before I left for Brussels. Now it's exaggerated. Maybe it's better? For right now I am incapable of judging. I'm working simultaneously on a Christ Ascending into Heaven and on a Descent from the Cross. I've sent my composition to Portaels [Director of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels] and he tells he has had it framed in order to present it in a dignified manner to the Commission. (6)

As we can see from the letter, Ensor was still working on his drawing at the end of 1886. The work is, however, dated '1885'. In a letter of January 1887 Ensor describes his composition to Mariette Rousseau:

The Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The great man, mounted on a light-footed donkey, fed in the flowering valleys of Picardy, descends the steep slope of Iscariot Street. Before him walk his loyal admirers. He is followed by numerous protesters carrying their banners and belonging to various revolutionary sects, vingtistes, belgian impressionists, bewitched wagnerians, decadents, talkatives, deliquescents, 'Blonds-Belgique'. All persons of bad or suspect odour doing Jesus the greatest harm and shamelessly indulging in devotions that are such as to upturn the balance of things. By a strange coinci­dence a military band on its way to a procession unconsciously heads the procession, seemingly lending it an official character. This greatly scandalizes the Pharisees, Sadducees, and other important people in the city (notes on the life of Caiphas). (7)

The words dÃ©cadents [decadents], verbolÃ¢tres [talkatives], dÃ©liquescents [deliquescents], and Blonds-Belgique in Ensor's letter are copied from a series of unsigned articles, entitled Essai de pathologie littÃ©raire, published between 19 July and 23 August 1885 in L'Art moderne:

- no. 29, 19 July 1885: 'Les DÃ©liquescents', pp. 229-231

- no. 30, 26 July 1885: 'Les DÃ©cadents', pp. 237-239

- no. 31, 2 August 1885: 'Les IncohÃ©rents', pp. 245-248

- no. 32, 9 August 1885: 'Les VerbolÃ¢tres', pp. 253-256

- no. 33, 16 August 1885: 'Les VerbolÃ¢tres (second article)', pp. 261-263

- no. 34, 23 August 1885: 'Les Symbolistes', pp. 269-271

- no. 35, 30 August 1885: 'Les Symbolistes Ã©sotÃ©riques', pp. 278-281

- no. 36, 6 September 1885: 'Les Bien-Portants' [The Healthy Ones], pp. 286-288

The first lines of the last article devoted to the so-called excesses of contemporary literature are:

DÃ©cadents, IncohÃ©rents, VerbolÃ¢tres, ÃsotÃ©riques! DÃ©liquescents de tout poil, rentrez Ã l'hÃ´pital. Nous vous avons suffisamment auscultÃ©s. Vous n'Ãªtes pas les seuls malades de l'art. Que d'autres complÃ¨tent cette pathologie. (p. 286)

The 'Blonds-Belgique' are mentioned as the authors of a playlet, entitled La Petite veuve, in the art magazine La Jeune Belgique, 4th year, vol. III, 15 March 1884, pp. 217-222. This name is in fact the pseudonym of the Belgian poets Georges Rodenbach (1855-1898) and Max Waller (1860-1889). The play was published with their own names by J. Fink, Brussels, in 1884.

In his imaginary dialogue with an (anonymous) notary, Belgian art critic Adolphe-Jules Wauters (1845-1916) writes about the drawing The Entry into Jerusalem at the Les XX salon in Brussels in 6 and 10 February 1887. (8) Ensor would quote Wauters' article in a letter addressed in late 1894 or early 1895 to Flemish poet and art critic Pol de Mont (1857-1931):

1887. I'm exhibiting at Les XX some compositions which have raised quite a stir: Aureoles of Christ or Sensitivities to Light. The Entry into Jerusalem is the subject of intense discussion. Mr A. J. Wauters devotes two articles to me in La Gazette. (9)

And in a letter dated 4 February 1895 to Jules de Burlet (1844-1897), Belgian Minister for Public Education, he writes:

In Belgium, a handful of critics have always supported me with a constancy and kindness that have often raised my courage in my arduous and challenging career as an artist. These are Messrs Edmond Picard, de Haulleville, Camille Lemonnier, A. J. Wauters, Ernest Verlant, Ãmile Verhaeren, EugÃ¨ne Demolder, Georges Eekhoud, Pol de Mont. (10)

It is obvious that for a good understanding of the canvas The Entry of Christ into Brussels in 1889, an in-depth analysis of the drawing The Entry of Christ into Jerusalem is necessary. In the drawing we find indeed all the features that make the canvas into more than just a pictorial manifesto. The motivation for painting his canvas could well have originated in Alphonse-Jules Wauters' pertinent remark in his article published in La Gazette of 10 February 1887, in which he writes:

Ah! I admit, this drawing is only an indication, a rough sketch, an idea, but as it is, it is expressed in a general form, with a movement and an abundance of details that indicate it has been left to mature; it is sufficient to halt anyone looking for something other than what is usually done, and striking enough to prevent general hilarity in front of it ... Now imagine this indication eloquently developed on a giant canvas, expertly studied, composed, drawn, and painted with well-typified figures, and tell me if this triumphal entry, treated in this way with all these accessories and the characters that you find there to be so burlesque, and exhibited at one of our triennial exhibitions, will not be calculated to reproduce the most vivid sensation in everyone. (11)

B. Two study drawings for The Entry of Christ into Jerusalem

Two study drawings, dating from c. 1886, in relationship to the masterly drawing The Entry of Christ into Jerusalem from the series The Aureoles of Christ or the Sensitivities of Light are known. One of the two studies, from the former Ernest Rousseau collection, is located at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The drawing, in black chalk and coloured crayon, and measures 22.5 by 16.6 cm. (12) This study drawing contains some inscriptions we find in the large drawing from the series of The Aureoles of Christ or the Sensitivities of Light: Salut JÃ©sus, roi des Juifs [Hail Jesus, King of the Jews], LibertÃ©, Ã©galitÃ©, fraternitÃ©, Vive la Sociale on the banners at the top of the composition, Les XX on a loose-hanging banner to the left of the composition, Nazareth and other sketchy inscriptions on the signs carried by the procession behind Christ. On the reverse of the drawing we recognize a sketch presenting Christ on the way to Calvary.

In another study, in the collection of the Ghent Museum of Fine Arts, Ensor combines two sketches for the drawings from the series of The Aureoles: Christ presented to the People (to the left of the composition) and The Entry of Christ into Jerusalem (to the right of the composition). This study appears to have been drawn after the large drawings and is therefore not a preparatory study for the drawings of the The Aureoles series. (13)

C. The etching: The Entry of Christ into Brussels on Shrove Tuesday 1889, 1898

Nine years after the completion of his canvas Ensor returned to the subject in his etching of 1898 [Taevernier 114; Elesh 118]. Although the etching presents the painting in reverse, it is not a slavish copy. Numerous differences can be made out between the canvas and the print. The large red banner running across the entire painting and on which we read the slogan 'Vive la Sociale', is not included in the print, which instead shows a radiant sunrise. The many flags, banners, and posters on the print have the following inscriptions: Fanfares doctrinaires/Toujours rÃ©ussi, Les Charcutiers de JÃ©rusalem, Salut JÃ©sus, roi de Bruxelles, Phalange Wagner fracassant, La Samarie reconnaissante and, finally, Vive Judas. On the faÃ§ades of the houses to the right of the print we read: Vive la sociale, Mouvement flamand, Les vivisecteurs belges insensibles, Les XX, Colmans Mustart [sic], Vive Denblon [sic]. To the left we read: Vive JÃ©sus et les rÃ©formes. At the bottom, roughly in the middle: Vive Anseele et JÃ©sus.

There are clearly more inscriptions to make out in the print than in the canvas. In the print we also find the names of the two historic persons: Edward Anseele and CÃ©lestin Demblon, two socialist political figures. Edward Anseele (Ghent, 26 July 1856-Ghent, 8 February 1938) was a socialist politician and a pioneer of the cooperative movement. In 1884 he founded the newspaper Vooruit [Ahead or Forward] which he directed and edited. He was one of the founders of the Belgian Workers' Party, a Ghent city councillor and alderman, Minister of Railways and the Post Office from 1925 to 1927 and, finally, Minister of State in 1930. He published in 1881 (ed. F. Hage, Ghent), a popular novel Voor 't volk geofferd [Sacrificed for the People], published in French as SacrifiÃ© pour le people, in 1888 by M. Bertrand & J. Maheu in Brussels, which was a great success, and in 1882 (ed. F. Hage, Ghent), a historical novel entitled De omwenteling van 1830 [The 1830 Revolution]. CÃ©lestin Demblon (Neuville-en-Condroz, 19 May 1859-Brussels, 12 December 1924) was a LiÃ¨ge socialist, editor of L'Art Social (1892) and Mouvement social (1893), and contributor to La Basoche (1884-1886), La RÃ©forme, Revue de Belgique and Le Peuple. He was also professor at the UniversitÃ© Nouvelle in 1894 and LiÃ¨ge city councillor in 1895. He is the author of Contes mÃ©lancoliques (1884), NoÃ«l d'un dÃ©mocrate (1886) and Aux bois du Condroz (1906).

In a letter of July 1898 to the Belgian writer LÃ©on Paschal (1873-1939) one Charles Duchesne (probably Charles Duchesne [1871-1914], Belgian doctor in phycics and mathematics, also cartographer) writes:

Do you know the painter James Ensor - looking on the outside just like an honest contractor, apart from the black tie floating in the wind - the figure of a good, but slightly naive boy - shy, still stammering? GÃ©rardy invites him to dinner; he refuses, mumbles an apology, then suddenly agrees without saying thank you - then, apropos of nothing, he announces an upcoming etching - they ask the subject - then his face lights up, his eyes shine, he is shaken by a loud laugh, his mouth opens long at the centre of a poorly planted black beard, and he says: "Christ entering Brussels on carnival day." He then disappears. (14)

In connection with the publication of the special issue of La Plume, end 1898, dedicated to the artist, Ensor writes in a letter dated 15 August 1898 to Belgian art critic Camille Lemonnier:

Your pages are beautiful. They will have great effect in the issue. I will sympathetically frame them with etchings. I have chosen strange cities, bristling with cathedrals where tarantulated scorpions pirouette masterly, and where Fritos, footless birds with wings coated in glue, dance heavily to the sounds of barbarian music. I'm also working on a large etching for reproduction: The Entry of Christ into Brussels on Shrove Tuesday 1889. (15)

In it he alludes to the fact that he made this etching specially for 'reproduction'. This is confirmed in the following passage from a letter, dated 20 December 1898, from Ensor to LÃ©on Deschamps (1863-1899), director of the French art magazine La Plume:

I have sent you by registered letter the proof of a new etching: The Entry of Christ into Brussels on Shrove Tuesday 1889. Could you not have it reproduced for the special issue, at your expense of course? (16)

The illustration of the etching was finally not included in the special issue of La Plume.(17) Only in La Revue des Beaux-Arts et des Lettres (Paris) of 15 March 1899 was it depicted for the first time, on p. 145.

D. The lithographed colour drawing: The Entry into Jerusalem, 1910 (1921)

In 1921 the Galerie Georges Giroux in Brussels published the album ScÃ¨nes de la vie du Christ [Scenes from the life of Christ], consisting of 32 'lithographs' [Taevernier 139; Elesh 141]. The edition included: 25 copies on Imperial Japan paper, numbered 1 to 15; 250 copies on Holland Van Gelder, numbered 26 to 275, and 10 copies on Japan, numbered I to X (hors sÃ©rie). The album contains a frontispiece and 31 plates printed in four colours (red, blue, green and yellow) and signed inside the composition. Each plate measures 310 by 250 mm (with margins), 235 by 175 mm (without margins). The lithographs were printed by J. E. Goossens, on 1 June 1921, in Brussels, based on drawings done with lithographic crayons. As no copies on Imperial Japan paper have been located to date, it is very likely that this print run never happened.

In his letter dated 8 July 1921 to the Antwerp art collector and patron FranÃ§ois Franck (1872-1932), James Ensor wrote: "As agreed you will receive shortly the thirty-two original drawings of the Scenes from the Life of Christ."18 On 17 October 1923 he writes to him: "I learn nothing of my exhibition of drawings and engravings at the Antwerp Artistic Circle. Have you exhibited the original drawings Scenes from the Life of Christ?" (19) In an unpublished letter, dated 22 December 1926, to Count Philippon, James Ensor writes: "[...] I executed, between 1910 and 1913 a series, not of etchings, but coloured pencil drawings, Scenes from the Life of Christ, in 31 pieces. Maison G. Giroux, 43, boulevard du RÃ©gent, Brussels, published in 1921, in an album, the Scenes from the Life of Christ." (20) Thirty drawings, dated between 1910 and 1916, depicting the 'Life of Christ' were exhibited at the major retrospective in 1929 at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels (cat. drawings: nos. 195-211; nos. 215-218; nos. 226-233; nos. 235-236; no. 238), including the drawing The Entry into Jerusalem, dated 1910 (cat. no. 199). The 32 lithographs of the album ScÃ¨nes de la Vie du Christ are listed under no. 249 in the same catalogue. Plate XVI is The Entry into Jerusalem.

Cat. no. 249. 32 lithographs The Life of Christ, 1921

I. Frontispiece

II. The Annunciation

III. The Adoration of the Magi

IV. The Massacre of the Innocents

V. The Flight into Egypt

VI. The Holy Family

VII. The Circumcision

VIII. The Baptism of Christ

IX. Christ and the Doctors

X. Caesar's Penny

XI. Suffer the Little Children to Come unto Me

XII. Christ Driving the Demon from the Body of a Possessed Man

XIII. Christ Calming the Storm

XIV. The Miraculous Draught

XV. Christ Walking on the Water

XVI. The Entry into Jerusalem

XVII. The Last Supper

XVIII. The Betrayal

XIX. The Mocking of Christ

XX. Christ Delivered to the Critics

XXI. The Flagellation

XXII. The Road to Calvary

XXIII. The Raising of the Cross

XXIV. Christ between the Thieves

XXV. The Descent from the Cross

XXVI. The Return from Calvary

XXVII. Christ on his Mother's Knees

XXVIII. Christ and the Angels

XXIX. The Ascension

XXX. The Holy Spirit Illumining the Apostles

XXXI. The Assumption

XXXII. The Virgin Adored by the Angels

Comparing the titles of the series of drawings with those of the lithographs of the album, we find two additional subjects in the album Scenes from the Life of Christ. These are the frontispiece and the plate entitled Christ and the Angels (plate XXVIII). Plate XX, entitled Christ Delivered to the Critics represents the Belgian art critics of the time. We recognize at the top, from left to right: Franz Hellens with a long beard, Ãmile Verhaeren with a big moustache, Dumont-Wilden, Ary Delen with flower-decked head; second row: FÃ©tis armed with a knife, Edmond Picard, Iwan Gilkin, Gustave Van Zype; front row: ThÃ©o Hannon, Octave Maus, Jules DestrÃ©e with a runny nose. All are represented turned towards Christ who bears the features of the young Ensor, looking at them obliquely, full of reproach.

Explanation of the inscriptions

Hereby the inscriptions to be found in the above discussed drawing, painting, etching and lithograph:

Vive la Sociale: Slogan chanted during marches of socialists and anarchists in Belgium and France. It stands for 'Vive la rÃ©volution sociale' [Long live the social revolution] or 'Vive la rÃ©publique sociale' [Long live the social republic]. These were already chanted during and after the Paris Commune in 1871 and repeated during marches and strikes during the 1880s in Belgium. In 1852, the French anarchist philosopher and politician Pierre-Joseph Proudon (1801-1865) published La RÃ©volution Sociale dÃ©montrÃ©e par le coup d'Ã©tat du 2 dÃ©cembre (Paris, Garnier FrÃ¨res), and in 1871 the Russian philosopher Michail Bakunin (1814-1876) published La RÃ©volution sociale, ou La dictature militaire (Geneva, Imprimerie CoopÃ©rative). La Sociale was the title of a French evening newspaper founded by the feminist AndrÃ© LÃ©o (pseudonym of Victoire LÃ©odile BÃ©ra, 1824-1900) during the Paris Commune (1871), and La RÃ©volution sociale was also the title of a French weekly newspaper founded in 1880 by Ãgide Spilleux. In La Sociale, AndrÃ© LÃ©o writes:

Cette fois, la rÃ©volution sociale ne se fera plus au profit de la bourgeoisie, ni au profit du paysan. Le bourgeois et le paysan ont conquis leur droit. [...] Vive la Sociale! (21)

In the Dictionnaire historique de l'argot (Paris, 9th ed., 1881) by LorÃ©dan Larchey, we can read the definition of the word 'Sociale': RÃ©publique sociale. Even in the novel Germinal by Ãmile Zola (1840-1902) we can read: Ã mort les bourgeois! Vive la sociale! (22) In La Revue antipatriotique rÃ©volutionnaire, the anarchist Georges Deherme (1867-1937) wrote the following:

We will not cease to war everywhere and always against prejudices and those who uphold them. Because we believe that it is they that place the biggest obstacles in the way of the objective we are pursuing by means of the Social Revolution, which will overturn this rotten society based only on legal murder and exploitation, replacing it with an egalitarian society based on peace and work, in which everyone producing according to his strengths and capacities will be able to consume according to his needs, and to summarize, by the Anarchist Communist Society. Long live the social revolution! (23)

'Ni Dieu, ni maÃ®tre', 'Ã bas la calotte' and 'Vive la Sociale' were the slogans of the FÃ©dÃ©ration Nationale de la Libre PensÃ©e, founded in 1848 by the French radical freethinkers Jules Simon (1814-1896) and AmÃ©dÃ©e Jacques. (24) The slogan became well-known thanks to Paul Bert (1833-1886), French physiologist and professor at the Sorbonne. Freemason and freethinker, he was politically active as deputy and minister of Education under the government of Prime ministre LÃ©on Gambetta (1838-1882) and advocate of secularism. The International Federation of Freethinkers was founded in Brussels at an international conference, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Belgium's independence in 1880. The Belgian socialist activist CÃ©sar De Paepe (1841-1890) was one of the prominent figures at the conference. Ni Dieu, ni maÃ®tre was the title of a newspaper founded in 1880 by the French anarchist philosopher Auguste Blanqui (1805-1881). Another newspaper with the same title was published in Brussels in 1885-86.

Salut JÃ©sus, roi des Juifs [Hail Jesus, King of the Jews]: Allusion to a passage from three gospels.

In Matthew (27, 27-29):

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!

In Mark (15, 16-18):

And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they called together the whole band. And they clothed him with purple, and plaited a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, and began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!

In John (19, 1-3):

Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and put on him a purple robe, and said, Hail, King of the Jews!

Salut JÃ©sus, roi de Bruxelles [Hail Jesus, King of Brussels]: variant of Salut JÃ©sus, roi de JÃ©rusalem. In Ensor's work Brussels becomes, as it were, the new Jerusalem into which Jesus was brought as king. The kingdom of Jerusalem was founded in 1099 by Godfrey of Bouillon, after the crusaders had taken the city of Jerusalem by force. Godfrey, however, refused the royal title, calling himself instead 'Protector of the Holy Sepulchre'. After his death, his brother Baldwin of Boulogne became the first king of Jerusalem on 25 December 1100. (25) We also note that the son of Napoleon and Empress Marie-Louise of Austria received, upon his birth on 20 March 1811, the title of 'King of Rome', a reference to the first seven kings of the Eternal City.

Les XX: Les Vingt was a group of innovation-minded Belgian artists, active between 1883 and 1893, during which time it organized an annual salon in Brussels (usually in February). The group was founded in Brussels on 28 October 1883 in the Taverne Guillaume. Its patron and mastermind was the Brussels lawyer Octave Maus (1856-1919) who, together with Edmond Picard, Victor Arnould (1838-1894) and EugÃ¨ne Robert (1839-1911), published the art magazine L'Art moderne (1881-1914), which served as the official organ of the group. They formed a group of radical young artists who rebelled against the antiquated academicism and the prevailing artistic standards. Well-known members of Les XX were James Ensor, Fernand Khnopff, ThÃ©o Van Rysselberghe, Willy Finch, and FÃ©licien Rops. They were later joined by Auguste Rodin, Paul Signac and Jan Toorop. The group can be seen as the successor to the artists' groups La Chrysalide and L'Essor. Its continuation after 1893 was provided by La Libre EsthÃ©tique (until 1914). (2)6

Fanfares doctrinaires, toujours rÃ©ussi [Doctrinaire bands, always a success]: This is an allusion to the conflict in Belgium between the 'doctrinal' and 'progressive' liberals. In 1887 Paul Janson (1840-1913), together with some fellow lawyers, founded the Progressive Party. The 'progressives' objectives included universal suffrage and a general law regulating workers' salaries and working conditions. In 1889 Janson was elected chairman of the party. The 'doctrinaires' were led by WalthÃ¨re FrÃ¨re-Orban (1812-1896) who sought to retain the acquired rights based on the 'censitaire' [property owning] electoral system and as such were against universal suffrage. In his Dictionnaire des idÃ©es reÃ§ues (1913) Gustave Flaubert writes on the word 'fanfare': Toujours joyeux [Always happy], and on the word 'Doctrinaires': MÃ©prisez-les. Pourquoi? On n'en sait rien [Despise them. Why? No idea]. (27)

Colman's Mustard: A famous English brand of mustard. It was in 1814 that Jeremiah Colman, a flour miller of ten years' experience took over a mustard manufacturing business based on the river Tas, four miles south of Norwich. In 1823 Jeremiah took his adopted nephew, James, into partnership in the new firm J. & J. Colman. The partnership prospered and in 1836, a London branch was established. Following the deaths of his great uncle Jeremiah in 1851 and his father James just three years later, young Jeremiah James Colman found himself head of a firm which now employed 200 people and was in the process of moving its present location at Carrow. The transfer took some time and was finally completed in 1862. In 1866 Queen Victoria granted a special warrant as Manufacturers to Her Majesty. Jeremiah James Colman was something of a visionary with ideas on employment years ahead of his time. He realised a healthy and happy workforce would be more productive and took steps to achieve this. In 1864, almost twenty years before parliament made any form of education compulsory, he built a subsidised school for his employees' children. A kitchen was set up in 1868 to provide hot meals at affordable prices and in 1878 Philippa Flowerday, one of the very first industrial nurses, was appointed to assist the company doctor in the dispensary and visit sick employees in their own homes. (28) An advertisement for the brand is supposed to have been visible in 1885 and 1886 on a corner house on the Boulevard Anspach. (29)

Charcutiers de JÃ©rusalem [Butchers of Jerusalem]: Possibly James Ensor is alluding to the numerous problems associated with the construction of the new Anderlecht slaughterhouse. Following on the favourable report of a special commission, the municipality of Anderlecht signed, on 31 December 1887, an agreement under which Adolphe Charlet, Guillaume Charlet, Ãmile Pierret, Ãmile Tiron, Henri Chevalier and the company 'Adolphe Charlet and Pierret' were given 'a concession for a period of 50 years for the operation of a slaughterhouse, of a factory for preserving meat by refrigeration processes, of a market for horses, cows, sheep, a wholesale market for fodder, fruit, vegetables and food of any kind, with an unloading station connected to the Brussels rail station and eventually to the slaughterhouses of that city, to be erected on the territory of Anderlecht-Cureghem.' The concession granted by the municipality was endorsed by the Royal Decree of 22 May 1888. This provided for establishment of a limited liability company (with a starting capital of 3,750,000 F), after which work could begin. Les Abattoirs et MarchÃ©s d'Anderlecht [The Anderlecht Slaughterhouses and Markets] were officially opened on 24 August 1890 and on 15 September 1890, King Leopold II honoured the new Anderlecht slaughterhouse with his visit. (30) Maybe Ensor is also alluding to Edgar Allan Poe's story A Tale of Jerusalem that appeared in the Philadelphia Saturday Courier on 9 June 1832, and was later included in Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque in 1840. The French translation by Charles Baudelaire, Un Ã©vÃ©nement Ã JÃ©rusalem, was published in La Revue franÃ§aise of 20 March 1859 and later included in Histoires grotesques et sÃ©rieuses.31

Mouvement flamand [Flemish movement]: Allusion to the Flemish struggle for emancipation. The Flemish Movement is an umbrella term for the whole range of organizations and individuals focused on the emancipation of the Flemish people in the context of or against the background of Belgium. The ruling class in Flanders and Wallonia was French-speaking. For this reason the Belgian state of 1830 was a French-speaking state. From 1830 there was a slow but steady Frenchification of public life in Flanders. In Brussels, the courts were immediately Frenchified and this probably applied to the general authorities. Primary education was also Frenchified there, something that never happened in the rest of Flanders. In this way an effective social language border was formed. When in 1830 Rouppe became mayor of Brussels, he declared French to be the only official language of the city administration. The majority of the population, however, did not know French and spoke the regional Brabant-Brussels dialect. Some Flemish-feeling members of the lower middle class began to take action against this, resulting in the creation of a 'Grievances Commission' and the association Vlamingen Vooruit [Flemings Ahead], founded on 27 May 1858 by EugÃ¨ne Van Bemmel (1824-1880), its members including Charles Buls, LÃ©on Vanderkindere (1841-1906), Ãmile Moyson (1838-1868), and CÃ©sar de Paepe. The first reaction in Flanders itself to this Frenchification came from artistic circles, more specifically writers and poets like Hendrik Conscience (1812-1883), Albrecht Rodenbach (1830-1899) and Guido Gezelle (1856-1880). After that, the movement expanded to all the other artistic disciplines, turning into a phenomenon of generalized cultural 'Flamingantism'. As artists and intellectuals they themselves usually belonged to the bourgeoisie. From 1870 onwards the Flemish Movement gained a broader popular base, becoming more and more a political movement with demands for the full Dutchification of education and public life in Flanders. The Flemish student movement was the driving force behind this evolution. James Ensor's friend, writer and critic August Vermeylen (1872-1945) would devote his whole life to the Flemish emancipation struggle. (32)

Les Impressionnistes belges [The Belgian Impressionists]: Allusion to the artistic debates of the day. James Ensor reproached many Belgian painters of his generation for working in the wake of the French Impressionists. He also accused Octave Maus, secretary of Les XX, of favouring the Belgian and French Impressionists, and the Neo-Impressionists in particular. On 6 October 1899 Ensor writes to Belgian artist and art critic Jules Du Jardin:

The research of the Pointillistes has left me cold. They have sought only the vibration of light, coldly and methodically applying their dots between two correct and cold lines. The uniformity and excessive limitation of the process make it impossible to extend the research. Hence the absolute impersonality of their works. The Pointillistes reach only one side of light: vibration. Form is of no interest. My research and my vision distance me from the painters I have mentioned. I believe myself to be an exceptional painter. (33)

On Octave Maus, he writes to his Brussels friend ThÃ©o Hannon (1851-1916), brother of Mrs Ernest Rousseau, in a letter dated 23 February 1904:

Decidedly the partiality of the suave Octave Maus is boundless. At the dawn of Impressionism when the volleys were raining down on Les XX, this masked man of airs willingly attached the Impressionist label to the works of researchers. Now that this title is well worn and profitable, he has removed it from us like an enfiefed chestnut-pie. Arthur Stevens outrageously favoured French artists [...]; disdaining Boulenger, De Groux, Dubois, Agneessens, etc., etc. Our good Maus picks up this pretty game, denaturing and downsizing the research of true painters so as to benefit the works of his friends. I want to give you my impressions, my dear ThÃ©o, although very enduring, Maus' autocracy displeases me greatly. I believe I ought to be represented among the researchers into light at the Salon of the Impressionists and Luminists which is being announced as a retrospective. As for me, one must admit that I'm entitled to a permanent place among the researchers, for me between Manet and Van Gogh, but Maus favours his French friends above all. Better than me perhaps, you know, my dear ThÃ©o, the origin of Impressionism and have always followed the salons of La Chrysalide, L'Essor and Les XX. As early at 1880, I gave The Colourist, some interiors and still lifes, some even executed before that date. My sensitivity of vision, a quality so highly valued today, affirmed itself in these works, unsullied by French influence. The works of Claude Monet etc., etc. from that time are very heavy and devoid of sensitivity to light. And what can we say of the works of most of the newcomers? (34)

Phalange Wagner fracassant [Noisy Wagner Phalange]: An allusion to the sometimes turbulent battle between 'Wagnerians' and 'anti-Wagnerians' in Belgium and France. (35) Residing regularly in Brussels after his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts between 1877 and 1880, James Ensor discovered the music of Richard Wagner (1813-1883). Evoking his student memories, the painter wrote in his letter of late 1894 or early 1895 to Flemish art critic Pol de Mont:

It was at this time that Richard Wagner excited me. This extraordinary genius influenced and supported me. I glimpsed a huge and beautiful world. I suffered greatly when the public laughed or was indignant, as was generally the tone among the bourgeoisie. I learned there to despise them and that sentiment has not completely died away. (36)

Attracted to Wagner's music and theories, which represented the ideal of radical subjectivity and the expression of a revolutionary sensitivity, the painter demonstrates - as much in his work as in his writings - a constant interest for the German musician. In 1883, James Ensor produced Richard Wagner's portrait, probably after the composer's death. On this portrait, the writer and friend of the painter EugÃ¨ne Demolder (1862-1919) notes in his monograph on the painter:

His drawing is expert, strong and magnificent, as in the portrait of his dead father or in a prodigious portrait of Richard Wagner, having the clean and well-minted purity of an antique imperial medallion, or in that of the poet Ãmile Verhaeren, lively and delicately heightened with colour. (37)

Samarie (reconnaissante) [(Grateful) Samaria]: Samaria was the former capital of the kingdom of Israel and, later, the name of the region between Judea and Galilee.

La GalilÃ©e reconnaissante [Grateful Galilee]: Galilee is the vast region in the north of the present-day state of Israel, where Jesus grew up and preached.

Picardy: Northern French province with its capital at Amiens. Picardy is seen as the cradle of the Gothic style. Amiens, Beauvais, Laon, Soissons and Noyon in particular boast famous cathedrals.

Nazareth: According to the canonical gospels, the place where Jesus spent his childhood.

Bethlehem Fanfares [Bethlehem Bands]: According to the canonical Gospels, Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus. Ensor is alluding to the many bands from various Belgian cities.

Amnistie: The reference is to the demand for amnesty for Oscar Falleur and Xavier Schmidt, the leaders of the Union VerriÃ¨re, sentenced to twenty years for provocation and attacking the freedom of labour during the workers' uprisings in late March 1886. It was Dr Jean-Joseph Crocq (1824-1898) in particular who, as a Liberal senator, worked for a general amnesty for the sentenced strikers. Royal pardon was viewed as insufficient because of its often arbitrary nature. The amnesty was to extend to every Belgian citizen. Crocq's views on amnesty for the strikers reflected the ideas of Belgium's most progressive forces. (38) We also note that Crocq is depicted in The Bad Doctors [Tricot 346], a satirical oil painting by James Ensor from 1892.

Falleur: Oscar Falleur (Jumet, 23 August 1855 - Jeanette, Pennsylvania, April 1896). Along with Xavier Schmidt, he founded in 1882 in Charleroi the Union VerriÃ¨re of which he was secretary. At the founding congress of the Belgian Workers Party (BWP) on 5 April 1885 he represented the industrial basin of Charleroi. He was convicted of provocation and of attacking the 'freedom of labour' during the strikes and demonstrations in late March 1886 and condemned to 20 years' hard labour. Oscar Falleur was forced to leave the country and emigrated to the United States. Alfred Defuisseaux (1843-1901), author of Le CatÃ©chisme du Peuple, published his article 'Les victimes Falleur et Schmidt' in his weekly En avant pour le Suffrage Universel on 28 November 1886. 'Vive Falleur' and 'Vive l'amnistie' were slogans that were regularly chanted during mass demonstrations. Following his speech from the throne on 9 November 1886, king Leopold II wrote to his chef de cabinet Auguste Beernaert:

I return at this instant and take up my pen to report to you that there was no untoward incident. Perhaps in all fifty cries of Long Live Amnesty, Long Live Falleur, but shameful cries, not echoed by the crowd. (39)

Vive Denblon [sic]: CÃ©lestin Demblon (Neuville-en-Condroz, 19 May 1859 - Brussels, 12 December 1924) was relieved of his duties as a teacher after openly criticizing the monarchy. He later worked as a journalist. He joined the Union dÃ©mocratique which went on to become the LiÃ¨ge section of the BWP/POB. A talented speaker, he was elected to parliament in 1894 and served in the House of Representatives until 1924. For twenty years he taught literature and art history at the UniversitÃ© Nouvelle in Brussels. At the end of his life he moved towards Communism, and distanced himself from the BWP/POB. He was also the author of Contes mÃ©lancoliques (ed. Ãmile Pierre et FrÃ¨re, Brussels, 1883). (40)

Vive Anseele et JÃ©sus: Edward Anseele (Ghent, 26 July 1856 - Ghent, 8 February 1938). Anseele was first a journalist employed by the weekly De Volkswil [The People's Will], later transformed into the Vooruit daily newspaper. He helped organize the Vooruit cooperative bakery that was founded in 1880. He was for many years a member of parliament and alderman of the city of Ghent, acting mayor and member of parliament. He was one of the founders of the Belgian Workers' Party. After World War I, he was several times a minister and in 1930 he received the honorary title of Minister of State.41

Vooruit [Forward or Ahead]: Name of a Ghent cooperative bakery and a socialist newspaper. The Vooruit newspaper was founded in Ghent in 1884 by Edward Anseele, making it the first socialist newspaper in Flanders. When the BWP/POB was founded in 1885, Vooruit became the official mouthpiece of the Flemish wing of the party. In 1880 the Vooruit cooperative bakery was founded in Ghent by Edward Anseele and Edmond Van Beveren. Edmond Van Beveren (1852-1897) wrote the programme of the first socialist party in Flanders, the Vlaamsche Socialistische Arbeidspartij. In Ghent he saw the Antwerp-based magazine De Werker [The Worker], and the spark carried across. Van Beveren had always been drawn to the International and worked on its revival. One way to achieve this was the cooperative movement, so as to reach the masses. When Anseele and Van Beveren had made themselves masters of the 'Free Bakers', they combined in their establishment the cooperative system of the Rochdale pioneers with the views of Marx and Engels. Anseele had understood that only the consumer cooperative could provide a solid material support to the socialist movement, and that ultimately the easiest way to persuade the workers was to pursue the path of their own interests. The cooperative funded the socialist ideas in the Vooruit newspaper. It supported the mutual health fund, financed publications intended for the people, funded election propaganda and provided economic aid to the strikers. Ghent industrialists did everything possible to stop their workers joining: they sacked them for being seen at the Volkshuis [People's House], and spread all kinds of slander talk of abuses of the administration. However, this could not prevent the flourishing of Vooruit. Membership of a socialist cooperative was subject to certain conditions, including belonging to the BWP/POB. By joining a cooperative one automatically became a shareholder in the company. Following the example of Vooruit, cooperatives sprang up across Belgium from 1885 onwards, all on the same model. That big development began with the foundation of the BWP/POB. (42)

Ãa Ira [It'll work]: 'Ah! Ã§a ira' is an emblematic song of the French Revolution, first heard in May 1790. It underwent several changes in wording, all of which used the title words as part of the refrain. LadrÃ©, the author of the original words 'Ah! Ã§a ira, Ã§a ira, Ã§a ira', was a former soldier who made a living as street singer. The music is a popular contredanse air called Le Carillon national, and was composed by BÃ©court, a violinist (according to other sources: side drum player) of the ThÃ©Ã¢tre des Beaujolais. The title and theme of the refrain were inspired by Benjamin Franklin (1705/6-1790), then residing in France as a representative of the Continental Congress, and who was very popular among the French people. When asked about the American Revolutionary War, he would always reply, in somewhat broken French: Ãa ira, Ã§a ira. (43)

Ã bas la calotte [Down with the clerical skullcap]: Anticlerical slogan sung by the students of the Brussels Free University. A 'calotte' is an astrakhan hat worn by the Catholic French-speaking students in Louvain on the historical example of the Papal Zouaves.

Ã bas la calotte Ã bas la calotte

Ã bas les calotins (bis)

Ils en auront, des coups de poing sur la gueule

Ils en auront, autant qu'ils en voudront,

Avec, avec plaisir ou dans les roses

Et dans les bÃ©gonias, c'est la mÃªme chose

Oui, nous irons chasser ohÃ© (bis)

Oui, nous irons chasser la calotte.

La calotte au poteau! (bis)

[Down with the calotte, down with the calotte, down with calotte-wearers (twice). They'll get punches on the mug, as many as they want, with pleasure or in the roses and the begonias, it's the same thing. Yes, we're going to chase them, ohey (twice). Yes, we're going to chase the calotte, the calotte to the stake!]

'Ni Dieu, ni maÃ®tre', 'Ã bas la calotte' and 'Vive la Sociale' were the slogans of the FÃ©dÃ©ration Nationale de la Libre PensÃ©e, founded in 1848 by the French radical freethinkers Jules Simon (1814-1896) and AmÃ©dÃ©e Jacques. It became well-known thanks to Paul Bert (1833-1886), French physiologist and professor at the Sorbonne. Freemason and freethinker, he was politically active as deputy and minister of Education under the government of Prime ministre LÃ©on Gambetta (1838-1882) and advocate of secularism. The International Federation of Freethinkers was founded in Brussels at an international conference, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Belgium's independence in 1880. The Belgian socialist activist CÃ©sar De Paepe (1841-1890) was one of the prominent figures at the conference. Ni Dieu, ni maÃ®tre was the title of a newspaper founded in 1880 by the French anarchist philosopher Auguste Blanqui (1805-1881). Another newspaper with the same title was published in Brussels in 1885-86. Ã bas la calotte was also the title of an anti-clerical publication by the French LÃ©o Taxil (pseudonym for Gabriel Jogand-PagÃ¨s) (1854-1907). (44)

Hip hip hip hurray: shout of joy.

LibertÃ©, ÃgalitÃ©, FraternitÃ©: Since the French Revolution in 1789 the slogan of republican France.

Vive JÃ©sus et les rÃ©formes [Long live Jesus and the reforms]: The slogan associates the figure of Jesus with the social and political reforms in the second half of the 19th century. Jesus is seen as the revolutionary prophet par excellence. (45) Ensor may well be referring here to a passage from Ernest Renan's Vie de JÃ©sus:

The 'reform of all things' desired by Jesus was not more difficult. This new earth, this new heaven, this new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven, that cry: 'Behold I make all things new!' are common to all reformers. Always the contrast of the ideal with sad reality produces in mankind those revolts against cold reason that mediocre minds ascribe to madness, until these revolts triumph and those who fought them are the first to recognize their deep reason. (46)

Vive Judas [Long live Judas]: This slogan (about 2mm in length) is found only in Ensor's etching from 1898.

Les vivisecteurs belges insensibles [The insensitive Belgian vivisectors]: Alludes to the protests against vivisection. A great animal lover, Ensor would later, as a member of the Blue Cross, militate against these in his mind barbaric practices. In his speech at the banquet organized in Ostend on 14 February 1925 in honour of the Flemish writer Karel van de Woestijne (1878-1929) James Ensor perorated:

Along with Richard Wagner, Pierre Loti, Edmond Picard, and with the great clear-sighted and noble-hearted spirits, we must condemn the infamous experiments, almost always to no purpose, of the vivisectors. Posterity will judge harshly the crying abuses, just as today it judges the abuses committed in times past; then, people were roasted in the name of religion and morality, today we torture so-called animals in the name of science. And above all we torture our friend the dog, the most intelligent, the most loving, the most devoted of our lesser brethren, in order, very vaguely, to cure the maladies caused by our gluttonous intemperance, our vices, our rottenness, our excesses, our deadly sins. And now to the pillory, vivisectors, supreme shame of the human species. Not for long will you continue to cut and slash into the living and sensitive flesh of the poor intelligent beasts. Your abominable practices will soon put you beyond the pale of society. (47)

Symbolistes: Allusion to the art movement (initially) in literature. French writer Jean MorÃ©as (1856-1910) published his Manifeste du symbolisme in the literary supplement of Le Figaro, dated 18 September 1886. The term 'Symbolism' would later be used as the name of a specific direction within the plastic arts at the turn of the century. (48)

DÃ©cadents: Allusion to 'decadent literature', a direction within Symbolism, of which Frenchmen Joris-Karl Huysmans (1848-1907), Octave Mirbeau (1848-1917) and Jean Lorrain (1855-1906) were the best-known authors. (49)

NOTES

A lot of studies have already been written on the subject of âChristâs Entry into Brussels in 1889â by James Ensor. Patricia Gray Berman published an insightful volume (Getty Publications, 2002), that examines the painting in light of Belgium's rich artistic, social, political, and theological debates in the late nineteenth century, and in the context of James Ensor's exceptional career, in order to decipher some of the painting's messages and meanings.

1. J. P. Hodin, 'A Visit to James Ensor', London, Far and Wide, September 1948, p. 31; reprinted (slightly adapted) in J. P. Hodin, 'James Ensor on the Ultimate Questions of Life', The Dilemma of Being Modern. Essays on art and literature, London, Routledge & Kegan, 1950, pp. 37-39.

2. Robert Rosenblum and H.W. Janson, 19th-Century Art, New York, Harry N. Abrams, 1984, pp. 418-19.

3. See Auguste Taevernier, Le drame ensorien. Les aurÃ©oles du Christ ou les sensibilitÃ©s de la lumiÃ¨re, Ledeberg (Ghent), 1976; Robert Hoozee, et al., James Ensor. Tekeningen en prenten, Antwerp, Mercatorfonds, 1987, pp. 107-119.

4. Although the entire series is catalogued by Verhaeren and Le Roy under 1886, Verhaeren, op. cit., p. 113; Le Roy, op. cit., p. 180.

5. Hoozee, et al., op. cit., no. 68, p. 113.

6. Brussels, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Archives of Contemporary Arts in Belgium, Fonds Rousseau, inv. no. 119.688.

7. Brussels, RMFAB, ACAB, Fonds Rousseau, inv. no. 119.691.

8. A.-J. Wauters, 'Aux XX', La Gazette, 17th year, no. 37, 6 February 1887, p. 2 and

no. 41, 10 February 1887, p. 1.

9. James Ensor, Lettres, ed. Xavier Tricot, Brussels, Ãditions Labor, 1999, p. 127 [abbr. Lettres]

10. Ibid., p. 95.

11. A.-J. Wauters, 'Aux XX', La Gazette, 17th year, no. 41, 10 February 1887, p. 1.

12. The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal, vol. 18, 1990, no. 38, p. 185; Robert Hoozee, et. al., James Ensor. Dessins et estampes, Antwerp, Mercatorfonds, no. 67, p. 112.

13. Hoozee, et. al., op. cit., no. 73, p. 119.

14. Lettres, p. 11.

15. Ibid., p. 477.

16. Ibid., p. 232.

17. James Ensor, peintre et graveur, avec 111 illustrations de James Ensor, Paris, Librairie de la sociÃ©tÃ© anonyme 'La Plume', 1899 (colophon: December 1898)

18. Lettres, p. 306.

19. Ibid., p. 331 (reference to the Ensor exhibition at the Antwerp Cercle artistique et littÃ©raire, 13-25 October 1923: 205 drawings and engravings).

20. Paris, Thierry Bodin, Catalogue autographes no. 23, January 1985.

21. La Sociale, Paris, no. 1, 31 March 1871.

22. Ãmile Zola, Germinal, Paris, La Librairie illustrÃ©e, 1886, p. 341.

23. La Revue antipatriotique rÃ©volutionnaire, Paris, October and November 1884. See website http://anarchiv.wordpress.com.

24. See website of FÃ©dÃ©ration Nationale de la Libre PensÃ©e: http://archives.fnlp.fr.

25. See Alan V. Murray, The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Dynastic History, 1099-1125, Oxford, Prosopographica et genealogica, 2000

26. See exh. cat. Le groupe des XX et son temps, ed. Francine-Claire Legrand, Brussels, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium and Otterlo, Rijksmuseum KrÃ¶ller-MÃ¼ller, 1962.

See also exh. cat. Les XX and the Belgian Avant-Garde: Prints, Drawings, and Books, ca. 1890, ed. Stephen H. Goddard, Kansas, Spencer Museum of Art and Ghent, Museum of Fine Arts, 1993.

27. Flaubert's Dictionnaires des idÃ©es recues was published posthumously by Louis Conard in 1913. Ensor was highly influenced by La Tentation de Saint-Antoine by Flaubert. See exh. cat. James Ensor. The Temptation of Saint Anthony, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2014.

28. See page Colman's on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org.

29. Hoozee, et. al., op. cit., p. 114 & p. 255.

30. See website 'inter-environnement bruxelles': http://ieb.be.

31. Edgar Allan Poe, Histoires grotesques et sÃ©rieuses, Paris, Livre de Poche, 1973, pp. 117-122.

32. Nieuwe Encyclopedie van de Vlaamse Beweging, ed. Ludo Simons, Tielt, Lannoo, 1998, passim.

33. Lettres, p. 272.

34. Lettres, p. 439.

35. Octave Maus, Souvenirs d'un wagnÃ©riste, Le ThÃ©Ã¢tre de Bayreuth, Brussels, Vve Monnom, 1888; Xavier Tricot, 'James Ensor wagnÃ©riste', exh. cat. James Ensor, Paris, MusÃ©e d'Orsay, 2009-2010, pp. 74-79.

36. Lettres, p. 124.

37. EugÃ¨ne Demolder, James Ensor, Brussels, Paul Lacomblez, 1892, p. 17.

38. Paul Lootens, 1886: rÃ©volte ouvriÃ¨re et rÃ©pression bourgeoise, Brussels, Ãditions Aden, 2008, passim.

39. E. Van der Smissen, LÃ©opold II et Beernaert d'aprÃ¨s leur correspondance inÃ©dit de 1884 Ã 1894, Brussels, 1920, p. 236.

40. Maurice Kunel, Un tribun: CÃ©lestin Demblon, Brussels, Fondation Jacqmotte, 1964.

41. See Vlaamse Encyclopedie van de Vlaamse Beweging, website http://theater.ua.ac.be.

42. Idem.

43. See page 'Ãa Ira!' on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org.

44. See website http://anarchiv.wordpress.com.

45. Edgar Quinet, Le Christianisme et la RÃ©volution franÃ§aise, Paris, Comptoir des Imprimeurs-unis, 1845, passim; AbbÃ© Augustin Senac, Le Christianisme considÃ©rÃ© dans ses rapports avec la civilisation moderne, Paris, C. Gosselin, 1837, passim.

46. Ernest Renan, Vie de JÃ©sus, Paris, arlÃ©a, 2005, p. 113 [originally published by LÃ©vy FrÃ¨res, Paris, 1863].

47. James Ensor, Mes Ãcrits, LiÃ¨ge, Ãditions Nationales, 1972, p. 100.

48. See page 'Jean MorÃ©as' on website http://uni-due.de.