Belgian school: Portrait of Mgr. Eugène Van Rechem, oil on canvas, first half 20th C.

Work: 131 x 90,5 cm

Eugène Victor Marie Van Rechem (8 April 1858-21 August 1943) was a Belgian auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Ghent. During his career Rechem was Canon of St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent, and president of the Major Seminary of Ghent. He gained fame as General Superior of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary (1903-1943) and established missions in the Belgian Congo. He was consecrated as a bishop in 1914 by Antoon Stillemans. (link) He keeps the book 'Constitutions des Soeurs de la Charité de Jesus et de Marie à Gand' in his hands. This Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary was founded in Belgium on November 4, 1803 by Canon Pierre-Joseph Triest in Lovendegem, in the diocese of Ghent. (link)