The Processional Canopy

On completion of the Monstrance Father Taylor had £100 left and he decided that he must have a canopy as beautiful as the Monstrance. Monsieur Dupon spent 12 months on the design of the canopy but he thought it would take years and a fortune to make it.

 

Then quite unexpectedly Monsieur Dupon came into contact with a young man of 19 who had just completed his apprenticeship and was unable to find work.

Out of the goodness of his heart he decided to employ the boy, Albrecht de’Have realising that a slip of a hammer or chisel would have ruined the canopy. Monsieur Dupon saw immediately that God had sent him a genius. It took Albrecht de’Have only eight months to complete the work. He lived in Eeclo and as he completed each panel he carried it under his arm the six miles to Monsieur Dupon’s premises in Bruges. Madame Dupon did the painting.

 

The panels are carved form the wood of the tulip tree which grows in the Philippines. It is a masterpiece of openwork woodcarving.