Jean Blaise (1872–1937)
Jean Blaise was born in Val des Bons Malades on 30 November 1872 and died in Luxembourg on 6 June 1937. He was a sculptor and the son of Dommeldange sculptor Nicolas Blaise and Catherine Schweich. He attended the industrial school in Luxembourg City where, in 1891, he was awarded an honorary prize for a charcoal drawing. He then continued his training at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, where he won a second prize in 1894. The same year, he took part in the first fair organised by the "Cercle Artistique de Luxembourg" artists' association. At the fair, he exhibited a bust of a lady puckering her lips at a smiling sparrow. After completing his studies, Blaise worked as a sculptor in his hometown.
In 1900, he married Belgian national Suzanne Jungers (1866-1948) and settled in Merl. His business went bankrupt in 1904, but he continued to take on commissions. In 1906, Blaise created the capitals for the rotunda on the Boulevard Royal side of the municipal baths. In collaboration with Ernest Grosber and Jean-Baptiste Turping, he produced decorative sculptures for the building of the Banque et Caisse d'Épargne de l’État (1910-1913) in Place de Metz. In addition to his work as a sculptor, he ran a café from 1924. Jean Blaise died at the age of 65 and was buried in Siechenhof cemetery.
Jean Blaise designed the monument as a showcase for handcrafted funerary monuments. Made of granite and white marble, the monument features symbols depicting the Cross and Christ the Redeemer. Upside-down torches symbolise life consumed. The composite capitals feature cherubs sounding the reveille for the dead. The segmented arch depicts God the Father in eternal judgment. The hourglass refers to the passage of time. The monument bears the insignia of the sculptor's trade.
