Guy, Comte Van Den Steen

Belgian playboy Count van den Steen de Jehay was a bon vivant, automobile racer, mountaineer, archaeologist, spelunker, alpine skier, sculptor, and especially an admirer of beautiful women. He lived in the Jehay-Bodegnée Castle, which is still regarded as one of the fairytale castles in Belgium.

After World War I, when it served as a home for railway workers’ children, van den Steen restored the castle and completely remade it. Count van den Steen and his wife, the Marquise of Ormonde, restored the interior castle completely with furniture of the same period as the originals. Van den Steen bequeathed the castle to the city of Liège against payment of an annuity, so it is still perfectly preserved today. Count van den Steen himself created many works in bronze and wrought iron that decorate the gardens of the Jehay-Bodognée Castle. The two submitted works - The Skier and Archer - were plaster models.