Hof Bladelin

The site is organized around a paved inner courtyard planted with geometric boxwood hedges, a layout intended to evoke the feel of a 15th-century Burgundian urban residence. The courtyard sits within an enclosed palace block whose fabric reflects centuries of adaptation, from its 15th-century origins through later infill and 19th-century religious use.

A prominent Gothic tower stands beside the principal entrance. The entry itself is set beneath an arcade whose supporting corbels, carved as keystones, carry figurative scenes tied to the founder’s identity, one panel showing a woman with a dog, a traditional emblem of fidelity, and another depicting the narrative of Saint Alphege of Canterbury. These sculpted stones survive as carved masonry integrated into the entrance composition.

On the gatehouse façade two round portrait medallions were set in place in 1469 to commemorate the marriage of Lorenzo de’ Medici and Clarice Orsini. The portraits were originally brightly painted, with the heads rendered in dark brown against an azur blue field, and each medallion is encircled repeatedly by the Medici emblem, a ring and three stylized peacock feathers. Contemporary descriptions note that the palace as a whole once displayed an ochre yellow exterior treatment.

Inside, two historic halls retain large beam‑keys (wooden joist ends fixed into the walls) that display the heraldry of Philip the Good and of Isabella of Portugal. The so‑called Roman hall preserves a scheme of 16th-century Mannerist wall paintings that copy the decorative cycles of the Raphael rooms in the Vatican; these painted surfaces have been treated in conservation campaigns, including restorations carried out in the 19th century and further interventions on the hall paintings in later years.

The plan accommodates a fourth wing added in the late 17th or early 18th century when the de le Flye family infilled part of the site, producing a more enclosed courtyard and expanded domestic range. That later construction is built in the same town‑house tradition but reflects post‑medieval layouts and materials.

The chapel of Our Lady of the Ascension, erected in 1832, is constructed of brick beneath a slate gable roof and is capped by a small roof turret. It has round‑arched windows set with iron grilles and follows a three‑aisled arrangement six bays long, the aisles separated by paired marbleized columns in the Doric order below and Ionic above. The interior vault is a barrel (a rounded ceiling) with coffered panels painted with floral motifs, and a gallery with a brass balustrade by Georges Dumery spans the rear. The apse contains grisaille paintings by Joseph Paelinck dating to 1834 that personify Charity, Faith, Hope, Love and Religion. Two carved angels by Laurent Delvaux came from the former court chapel of Charles of Lorraine, and an 18th‑century statue of the Virgin by Pieter Pepers stands above the sanctuary. An organ tribune, supported by Corinthian columns, houses a Hooghuys organ, and stained glass windows from 1904 by Jules Dobbelaere light the chapel.

Among the movable artworks kept in the palace, L’Adoration des bergers, an oil on wood attributed to the Bruges painter Jacob Van Oost, is part of the interior collection and was transferred to the house from the monastery of the Apostolic Sisters of Bruges. Overall, the complex preserves structural and decorative elements that span the 15th through the 19th centuries, with surviving masonry, carved stonework, painted halls and liturgical fittings all reflecting successive phases of use and care.