page_title: Basilica of Our Lady, Maastricht
section_title: Description interior
hierarchical_section_title: Basilica of Our Lady, Maastricht / Description interior
caption_attribution_description: English: Basilica of Our Lady, Maastricht, The Netherlands. Church plan.
context_page_description: The Basilica of Our Lady is a Romanesque church in the historic center of Maastricht, Netherlands. The church is dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption and is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Diocese of Roermond. The church is often referred to as the Star of the Sea, after the church's main devotion, Our Lady, Star of the Sea.
context_section_description: Although the interior of the church underwent many changes throughout the centuries, it has an 'authentic' Romanesque feel to it. This is largely due to the restoration ideas of the architect Pierre Cuypers, who had several of the larger Gothic windows replaced by small Romanesque windows, thus creating a darker, 'mystical' atmosphere. Cuypers also removed the white plastering of the late Baroque period and had several altars built in a Romanesque or Gothic Revival style. Despite all these changes, the turbulent history of the building is still legible. Some murals dating from the Middle Ages have survived (including one of Saint Catherine from the 14th century). A mural on a pillar of Saint Christopher and the Infant Jesus dates from 1571. The large ceiling painting in the choir is Neo-Romanesque and dates from the Cuypers restoration. All stained glass windows are from the 19th or 20th century.
  The furnishing of the church interior has followed the fashion of the time but suffered badly during the years of desecration (1798-1837). In 1380 the church had 33 altars but most of the medieval church inventory got lost in the turbulence that followed the arrival of the French in 1794. A precious baptismal font by the Maastricht metalworker Aert van Tricht (c. 1500) survived but was stripped of most of its ornaments. Several Baroque confessionals and a richly carved pulpit were taken over from a former nearby Jesuit church. The 18th-century Baroque altar, now in the southern transept, is from the former Church of Saint Nicholas. The large pipe organ was built in 1652 by André Severin.
  Among the works of art owned by the church are a wood panel of The dream of Jacob (Flemish, c. 1500-1550), a large canvas with the Holy Family (Southern Netherlands, c. 1600), a large painting of the Crucifixion (Southern Netherlands, 17th century), two paintings attributed to Erasmus Quellinus II, one of Saint Cecilia and one of Saint Agnes (17th century), a 14th-century German Pieta, two 15th-century statues of the Virgin Mary (including the famous one in the Star of the Sea chapel), an Anna selbdritt and a Saint Christopher, both attributed to the Maastricht sculptor Jan van Steffeswert (c. 1500).
  The architectural sculpture in the interior of the Basilica of Our Lady belongs to the highlights of Mosan art. The 20 highly symbolic capitals in the choir ambulatory depict scenes from the Old Testament, as well as various kinds of animals, monsters, birds, naked or scarcely dressed humans entangled in foliage, and humans fighting with animals. One capital in particular is famous as it was signed 'Heimo', probably by its maker who may also be represented on it, handing over a capital to the virgin Mary. The carved capitals and corbels of the choir gallery, as well as the capitals in the nave, are of a slightly later date and less vivid, depicting mainly foliage with some human and animal figures. Most of the carved capitals, as well as some important reliefs elsewhere in the church, date from the second half of the 12th century. A close relationship has been established between the Romanesque sculpture in Our Lady's and that in the Basilica of Saint Servatius in Maastricht, the Church of St Peter in Utrecht and the Schwarzrheindorf double chapel in Bonn.
caption: Church plan with cloisters
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