Jef Lambeaux

Trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Lambeaux embraced the robust muscularity and sensual vitality of Peter Paul Rubens and Jacques Jordaens. In 1887, he completed the monumental bronze Brabo Fountain on Antwerp's central square, portraying the mythical hero Silvius Brabo hurling the giant's severed hand into the Scheldt.

Between 1889 and 1899, Lambeaux carved his crowning masterwork: a colossal 12-meter-long Carrara marble high-relief titled The Human Passions, housed in a classical pavilion designed by Victor Horta in the Cinquantenaire park, representing humanity's vices, pleasures, and triumphs.