Lucie Struye and Thérèse Walwein

In search of Lucie Struye and Thérèse Walwein, two ladies from Ypres in the nineteenth century
The Merghelynck Museum has two drawings from the mid-19th century depicting a funeral scene at the municipal cemetery in Ypres. “Memory of Thérèse Walwein” dates from 1844 and is by François Böhm. “Le tombeau de ma chère Lucie” is by his brother Désiré Böhm and dates from 1853 or shortly thereafter.

In the work commemorating Thérèse Walwein, a woman in black mourning clothes kneels with her three children in front of the tomb. They are her daughter Marie Coppieters-Rycx and her children Henriëtte, Jules and Gustave Coppieters.

Thérèse Walwein died in 1816, at the age of 40, as the wife of Emmanuel Ryckx. Her daughter was barely a year and a half old at the time. In addition to belonging to the local elite, Thérèse Walwein grew up in a distinctly art-loving environment. Her two older brothers, Joseph Ignace and Charles, had both studied art at the Ypres academy and would continue to practise painting alongside their professional activities. Thérèse also had artistic talents: the Merghelynck Museum has a magnificent album of 61 drawings she made when she was only 16 to 18 years old.

The tomb of Thérèse Walwein is located in the municipal cemetery of Ypres. In the background, we can see a view of the city with, from left to right, the towers of St. Peter's Church, St. James' Church and the Cloth Hall. Unfortunately, this tomb has not been preserved, nor has any other family tomb of the once so important Walwein family. Fortunately, her beautiful album remains to remind us of Thérèse Walwein and her exceptional talent.

The situation is somewhat different for the grave of Lucie Struye. Very little is known about her: Lucie, born in 1834 and died unmarried in November 1853, was the daughter of Charles Struye, a notable figure in Ypres. Her uncle Felix Struye had represented Ypres in the National Congress in 1830-1.

Lucie's mother was Charlotte Coppieters, the sister of Henri Coppieters, who was married to Thérèse Walwein. The three children in the drawing on Thérèse Walwein's grave are therefore her cousins. However, Lucie Struye's grave in the municipal cemetery of Ypres has been preserved, albeit in a different form than in the drawing and in a damaged condition: no longer a neoclassical tomb with a broken column symbolising her cut short life, but a sober block with traces of war damage. Her mother is also commemorated on the gravestone. Buried in the grave next to her, covered with an obelisk, are her uncle Henri Coppieters and her aunt Marie Ryckx, daughter of Thérèse Walwein.

There is much more to discover in the drawing “Le tombeau de ma Chère Lucie”: several neoclassical tombs can be