Rops, his origins and the society of his time It is a pleasure for me to preface the meticulous research work carried out by a group of genealogists on the ancestral quarters of Félicien Rops. So much has already been written about Rops. Born into an esteemed family, excellently married - socially that is - and then condemned by his contemporaries who would never forgive him for living life to the full, our endearing and talented character has, like many of us, contrasting origins. The grandson of a rather modest merchant merchant and the great-grandson of a gardener, which in the language of the time could mean horticulturist, Félicien Rops' paternal origins were modest and from Brussels. Few branches in the 1st century emerged from this social condition apart from that of Félicien, who climbed step by step up the ladder, and that of Pierre-Godefroid Rops, sometimes a musician, friend of Georges-André Angelroth, founder of the town's music school2 , sometimes ... police commissioner, and direct ancestor of Emile Francqui (1863-1935), businessman and financier, friend of Paul Claudel, Minister of Finance and creator of the Francqui Prize for scientific work. His mother, Sophie Maubille, came from a family of farmers and landowners in the Genappe and Glabais areas, who included prominent people, aldermen and mayors of various places. One of Félicien Rops' maternal great-grandmothers was none other than Marie-Catherine Houtart, who belonged to one of the oldest Belgian families, also of Namur origin. Through one of his great-great-great-grandparents, also on his mother's side, Félicien Rops descended from the Boucquéau family, a large family of councillors from Mont-Saint-Jean, du Caillou in Vieux-Genappe and du Croissant in Maransart, who owned oil mills and produced many aldermen. The upward social mobility of the Rops family, the rural but patrician origins of his mother and the certain affluence he had acquired were obvious factors that led Félicien Rops to evolve in a well-to-do environment in the 19th century, which saw the apogee of the rising bourgeoisie. The Rops family in Namur at that time were part of the city's bourgeoisie and not only carried out important commercial activities but also provided Namur with lawyers, engineers, industrialists and an alderman of the City at the same time as being a provincial councillor. We know that Félicien Rops' father was a merchant.