A Life Forged in Industry: The World of Constantin Meunier Constantin Meunier, born in the Brussels suburb of Etterbeek in 1831, was an artist profoundly shaped by the burgeoning industrial revolution and its impact on the human spirit. His life story is one interwoven with hardship and a deep-seated empathy for the working class—a narrative that would become the defining characteristic of his artistic output. The shadow of personal tragedy fell early; his father’s suicide cast a long pall over his childhood, instilling in him perhaps a heightened sensitivity to suffering and vulnerability.…