The fireplace, made from black marble and alabaster, has an oak sculpture as an eye -catcher. Due to the attack on the bang beetle, the sculpture threatened to suffer irreparable damage. “The bang beetle has kept a strong house here and has been doing that for a long time. We suddenly noted,” says Patrimonium Pieter Marechal. “Renovation was needed. We spent half a million euros on that, together with the Flemish government.”
Not only the fireplace, but also the attic construction, the colorful tapestries and the historic portraits were given a thorough makeover. “This fireplace is one of the absolute showpieces of the Renaissance in the Netherlands,” emphasizes Marechal. “We are very happy to be able to reopen and show the audience which pearl we have in our city.”