Royal Palace

Here in front of the Royal Palace, a much-discussed work painted by Jan Verhas: "Parade of the Schools in 1878". That parade took place in Brussels to celebrate the silver wedding anniversary of King Leopold II and Queen Marie-Henriette. On August 22, 1878, about 23,000 schoolchildren from various Brussels neighborhoods paraded for the royal couple in the Palace Square. The parade took place in the year that the homogeneous liberal government of Frère-Orban-Van Humbeeck came to power. The radically anti-clerical leadership would enact a new school law. This ignited a school struggle that would divide the country for decades. It was children from the official education system who paraded during the school parade painted by Jan Verhas. They symbolized the future of the new nation and the superiority of official education over Catholic education. This did not sit well with many.

"The Parade of the Schools in 1878" by Jan Verhas hangs in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Brussels.

Dromos