The Nave and the Apostles

The columns are connected by pointed arches. The capitals are decorated with a double row of curled cabbage leaves, which is typical of Brabantine Gothic art.

Many visitors wonder what the crosses painted at the base of these columns represent: they are the consecration crosses, which were placed during the church’s consecration.

Three colours were chosen in reference to the three theological virtues: Faith, Hope and Charity, or in reference to the Trinity: Gold for God the Father, Red for Christ, and Green for the Holy Spirit. Note that red and green are also the colours of the city of Brussels.

The twelve apostles are leaning against the columns. They welcome visitors and lead them to the choir. They were sculpted in stone in the 17th century by renowned Brabantine artists such as Jérôme Duquesnoy the Younger, Lucas Faidherbe, and Tobias de Lelis, to replace the statues destroyed by Calvinist iconoclasts in 1579.

The apostles are represented larger than life, with expressive faces, in the Baroque style of the time.

Each apostle carries a distinctive attribute. Most often, it is the instrument of his martyrdom, as reported by tradition. Sometimes this object is the symbol of the mission entrusted to him by Christ.