The René and Karin Jonckheere Fund has as its objective to safeguard moveable cultural heritage. In particular the fund supports the conservation and restoration of works of art that bear witness to the European dimension of Brussels.

The fund is addressed in priority to any public institution in Brussels that owns works of art that show the European dimension of Brussels. Nevertheless, the fund may also intervene in support of works kept in libraries and museums elsewhere in Europe.

The fund has supported the study and campaign for the restoration of the Passion Altarpiece by Güstrow. This reredos is one of the most prestigious remaining Brabant altarpieces, which was commissioned in the first third of the 16th century to be exported to Germany. This remarkable work is notable for its typology, with its double pair of shutters, the quality of its sculptures from Borman’s studio and the quality of the painted shutters made by the followers of Bernard van Orley, leader of the Brussels school of painting from 1515.

Following completion of significant restoration, Jan Borman’s altarpiece has re-discovered, in the parish church of Güstrow, not just its level of ‘European’ art, but also all of its liturgical and artistic impact. Through its support for restoration programme, the René and Karin Jonckheere Fund has contributed to its conservation, but also to better knowledge of the exceptional heritage represented by the polychromed Brabant altarpieces.

A publication on the Güstrow altarpiece has recently been produced under the direction of Professor Catheline Périer-D’Ieteren. This historical and technological study was made possible thanks to support from the Léon Courtin-Marcelle Bouché Fund, another fund managed by the King Baudouin Foundation.

Applications for the call for projects by the René and Karin Jonckheere Fund can be submitted up to 30 April, 2015.