A Heptagonal Church and City. Development, Form and Mean-ing of the Pilgrimage City of Scherpenheuvel under the Archdukes Albert and Isabella”.

在“陡峭的山坡”上——这是佛兰芒布拉班特的Scherpenheuvel/Montaigu村的核心——西班牙大公夫妇阿尔伯特和伊莎贝拉在17世纪早期创造了一个非凡的七方朝圣乐团。该研究项目旨在分析和解释Scherpenheuvel的起源、形状和功能，考虑到它的三个不同层次的规模：城镇的理想规划、中央规划的教堂和教堂的多层艺术装饰，由三个同心排列的图像程序组成。这个建筑群——它的同心布局必须被认为是一个独特的案例，不仅从佛兰德的角度来看，而且在17世纪建筑的更广泛的背景下——第一次用建筑考古学的专门方法进行了记录和检查。准确的调查将有助于确定构思和建造教堂建筑和城市规划的不同阶段。这将有助于可视化主要项目的原始外观，以及它在后期如何修改。同时，书面资料以及学术文献关于建筑整体，其设计和施工过程被系统地编译，分析和解释。从艺术史的角度来审视图像程序。因此，微观和宏观方法相结合，以便全面了解朝圣地的建筑年代学，类型学，使用和图像学以及政治和宗教目的。在项目的第一阶段，对朝圣地的个体尺度（城市规划、建筑、艺术项目）进行了记录和深入分析。有希望的跨学科见解出现在网站的可读性和意义上。在此基础上，第二阶段旨在实现以下目标：完成因持续的大流行而推迟的建筑文件/研究；将文献记录的范围扩展到前Oratorian修道院。进一步分析该建筑群与当代意大利和佛兰德建筑的关系，以了解其在17世纪早期建筑史上的象征意义。基于第一阶段出现的问题和假设，进一步研究三个图像程序。深入交叉阅读所有组成部分（城市规划，建筑，图像程序）向科学界、当地决策者和公众展示结果

On the 'steep hill' – which is the nucleus of the village of Scherpenheuvel/Montaigu in Flemish Brabant – the Spanish archducal couple Albert and Isabella created an extraordinary heptagonal Pilgrimage ensemble of the early seventeenth century. The research project aims to analyse and interpret the genesis, the shape, and the program of Scherpenheuvel considering its three different levels of scale: the ideal plan of the town, the centrally planned church and the church's multi-layered artistic decoration consisting of three concentrically arranged iconographic programmes. The ensemble - whose concentric layout must be considered a unique case not only from the Flemish perspective but also in the broader context of seventeenth-century architecture - is documented and examined employing the specialised methods of building archaeology for the first time. An accurate survey will help to identify different stages of conceiving and constructing the church building and the city's plan. This will help to visualise the original appearance of the archducal project and how it was modified in later periods. Simultaneously, written sources as well as scholarly literature concerning the building ensemble, its design and construction process are systematically compiled, analysed, and interpreted. The iconographic programs are being examined from an art historical perspective. Microscopic and macroscopic approaches are thus combined in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the pilgrimage site regarding its building chronology, typology, use and iconology as well as political and religious purposes.During the first phase of the project the pilgrimage site‘s individual scales (urban planning, architecture, artistic programs) were documented and analysed in depth. Promising interdisciplinary insights emerged on the site's readability and meaning. On this basis, the second phase aims at the following objectives:1. completing the building documentation/research which was delayed due to the on-going pandemic; extending the scope of documentation to the former Oratorian monastery2. further analysis regarding the ensemble’s relationship to contemporary Italian and Flemish architecture in order to understand its emblematic relevance within the history of early seventeenth-century architecture3. further research into the three iconographic programs based on the questions and hypotheses that emerged from the first phase 4. in-depth cross-reading of all components (urban planning, architecture, iconographic programs)5. presenting results to the scientific community, local decision-makers and the public