The painter and engraver Félicien Rops (1833-1898) was very attached to his native province of Namur, particularly the region of Mettet, where he lived in the chateau of Thozée, a well-appointed manor completely surrounded by nature. Throughout his life, the artist evoked this property in his correspondence, describing his life there as well as the walks he took in the surrounding countryside in the company of friends such as Charles Baudelaire and his editor Auguste Poulet-Malassis. Thozée and its surroundings appear in the artist's work, along with the nearby Bambois pond and the village of Scry. It is at Thozée that, for the engra-ving lessons he gave, Rops completed the series of plates entitled Les Pédagogiques. The chateau has hardly changed since the 19th century. The garden is still as Rops saw it. One can still see as it was the room where Baudelaire slept. Memories of Rops, as well as of his son Paul and his grandchildren, still abound at Thozée.

In March 1994 the artist's granddaughter, Elizabeth Rops, created the Fonds Félicien Rops in order to preserve the chateau of Thozée, its valuable archives, and its superb grounds covering 47 acres. Since her death in June 1996, we have the difficult but exciting responsibility of restoring the chateau and giving it a new life. The chateau will contain a documentation center on Félicien Rops and his times, and the outbuil-dings will house artists in residence.