Madonna and Child

A beautiful large mosaic is hidden behind the fence that provides access to the Zeven Zusters apartment complex in Beek en Donk. The mosaic was placed in the spring of 2007, returning to the spot where it had hung for years. The statue of Madonna and Child was on display for a long time in the convent of the Sisters of Charity in Schijndel. The first inhabitants of the convent after its completion in 1895 were seven sisters and their superior. The convent also housed a school, the Mariaschool (later renamed the Schalieren). During the large-scale conversion of the convent into an apartment complex at the end of the 1990s and the beginning of this century, the mosaic also seemed to be going under. But Henk van Beek ensured that Madonna and Child was saved from demolition. The school had already been demolished at the back, after which Van Beek, who worked for the municipality at the time, saw the mosaic hanging. He made sure that it ended up in the municipal workshop. There it lay rotting for some years, after which Van Beek tipped off the Foundation for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage in Laarbeek. With financial support from the municipality and the Rabobank, the mosaic could be refurbished and eventually a new place for it was found at De Zeven Zusters.