Berlinde De Bruyckere presenteert Gustave Flaubert De legende van Sint Julianus den Gastvrije

Berlinde De Bruyckere: “When I received the book ‘The Legend of Saint Julian The Hospitaler’ from my youngest son Andreas, I read it in one sitting. At that time, he himself wasn’t able to read yet. I told him the story with the same passion and in the impressive words I found in the Gustave Flaubert novel, during a walk in the woods. I couldn’t have found a better place, a better time to do so. I cherished this experience such, that it may well have inspired me to translate it into the small woolen blanket covering the book. It was a unique experience to read the book in this archaic version of the Dutch language, beautifully documented with woodcut illustrations. It almost seems disrespectful to make sloppy notes in such a precious book, but for me this is the only way to appropriate a book. To find the quotes that I find crucial. “The maddened stags fought, reared, climbed on each other’s back; and their bodies, with their antlers entangled, formed a great mound, crumbling and shifting. At length they died, lying on the sand with slavering muzzles, disembellowed, the heaving of their bellies growing less and less by dregrees. Then all was still.” This quote has been an important inspiration for the sculptures and the drawings titled ‘Romeu my deer’ and later on for the sculptures titled ‘Actaeon’. Never literally, but figuratively.” (April 4, 2014)