BE1jGIUM:cities GRANT ALLEN 11 R;;' :^IC^ j^ mm m EH Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 http://archive.org/details/belgiumitscitiesOOalleiala ^ TRAVEL LOVERS' LIBRARY * it0 (HxtXtB BY GRANT ALLEN Author of "Paris," "Venice," "Florence," "Cities of Northern Italy," etc. With a 'Photogravure Frontispiece and Sixty-four Full ^age T^lates in T^uogravure ® BOSTON ,3t L. C. PAGE & COMPANY ^ PUBLISHERS ^ * Copyright, igoj By L. C. Page & Company (incorporated) All rights reserved New Edition, February, 1912 Eltetrotyptd and Printtd by THE COLONIAL PRESS C. H. Simonds &' Co., Boston, U.S.A. INTRODUCTION THE object and plan of this book is some- what different from that of any other guides at present before the public. It does not compete or clash with such existing works ; it is rather intended to supplement than to sup- plant them. My purpose is not to direct the stranger through the streets and squares of an unknown town towards the buildings or sights which he may desire to visit ; still less is it my design to give him practical information about hotels, cab fares, omnibuses, tramways, and other every-day material conveniences. For such details, the traveller must still have re- course to the trusty pages of his Baedeker, his Joanne, or his Murray. I desire rather to supply the tourist who wishes to use his travel as a means of culture with such historical and anti- quarian information as will enable him to un- derstand, and therefore to enjoy, the architec- 5138562 viii Introduction ture, sculpture, painting, and minor arts of the towns he visits. In one word, it is my object to give the reader in a very compendious form the result of all those inquiries which have natur- ally suggested themselves to my own mind during thirty-five years of foreign travel, the solution of which has cost myself a good deal of research, thought, and labour, beyond the facts which I could find in the ordinary hand- books. For several years past I have devoted myself to collecting and arranging material for a set of books to embody the idea I had thus enter- tained. I earnestly hope they may meet a want on the part of tourists, especially Americans, who, so far as my experience goes, usually come to Europe with an honest and reverent desire to learn from the Old World whatever of value it has to teach them, and who are prepared to take an amount of pains in turning their trip to good account which is both rare and praiseworthy. For such readers I shall call attention at times to other sources of information. The general plan pursued will be somewhat as follows. First will come the inquiry why Introduction ix a town ever gathered together at all at that particular spot — what induced the aggrega- tion of human beings rather there than else- where. Next, we shall consider why that town grew to social or political importance and what were the stages by which it assumed its present shape. Thirdly, we shall ask why it gave rise to that higher form of handicraft which we know as Art, and toward what particular arts it especially gravitated. After that, we shall take in detail the various strata of its growth or development, examining the buildings and works of art which they contain in historical order, and, as far as possible, tracing the causes which led to their evolution. In particular, we shall lay stress upon the origin and meaning of each structure as an organic whole, and upon the allusions or symbols which its fabric embodies. A single instance will show the method upon which I intend to proceed better than any amount of general description. A church, as a rule, is built over the body or relics of a particular saint, in whose special honour it was originally erected. That saint was usually one of great local importance at the moment of its X Introduction erection, or was peculiarly implored against plague, foreign enemies, or some other press- ing and dreaded misfortune. In dealing with such a church, then, I endeavour to show what were the circumstances which led to its erec- tion, and what memorials of these circum- stances it still retains. In other cases it may derive its origin from some special monastic body — Benedictine, Dominican, Franciscan — and may therefore be full of the peculiar symbolism and historical allusion of the order who founded it. Wherever I have to deal with such a church, I try as far as possible to ex- hibit the effect which its origin had upon its architecture and decoration ; to trace the image of the patron saint in sculpture or stained glass throughout the fabric; and to set forth the connection of the whole design with time and place, with order and purpose. In short, instead of looking upon monuments of the sort mainly as the product of this or that arch- itect, I look upon them rather as material em- bodiments of the spirit of the age — crystalli- zations, as it were, in stone and bronze, in form and colour, of great popular enthusiasms. By thus concentrating attention on what is Introduction xi essential and important in a town, I hope to give in a comparatively short space, though with inevitable conciseness, a fuller account than is usually given of the chief architectural and miOnumental works of the principal art- cities. The passing life of the moment does not enter into my plan; I regard each town I en- deavour to illustrate mainly as a museum of its own history. For this reason, too, I shall devote most attention in every case to what is locally illus- trative, and less to what is merely adventitious and foreign. I shall assign a due amount of space, indeed, to the foreign collections, but I shall call attention chiefly to those monu- ments or objects which are of entirely local and typical value. As regards the character of the information given, it will be mainly historical, antiquarian, and, above all, explanatory. I am not a con- noisseur — an adept in the difficult modern science of distinguishing the handicraft of various masters, in painting or sculpture, by minute signs and delicate inferential processes. In such matters, I shall be well content to follow the lead of the most authoritative ex- xii Introduction perts. Nor am I an art-critic — a student versed in the technique of the studios and the dialect of the modelHng-room. In such mat- ters, again, I shall attempt little more than to accept the general opinion of the most dis- criminative judges. What I aim at rather is to expound the history and meaning of each work — to put the intelligent reader in such a position that he may judge for himself of the (Esthetic beauty and success of the object before him. To recognize the fact that this is a Perseus and Andromeda, that a St. Bar- bara enthroned, the other an obscure episode in the legend of St. Philip, is not art-criticism, but it is often an almost indispensable prelude to the formation of a right and sound judg- ment. We must know what the artist was trying to represent before we can feel sure what measure of success he has attained in his repre- sentation. For the general study of Christian art, alike in architecture, sculpture, and painting, no treatises are more useful for the tourist to carry with him for constant reference than Mrs. Jameson's " Sacred and Legendary Art," and *'* Legends of the Madonna " (London, Introduction xiii Longmans). For works of Italian art, both in Italy and elsewhere, Kugler's " Italian Schools of Painting- " is an invaluable vade-mecum. These books should be carried about by every- body everywhere. Other works of special and local importance will occasionally be noticed under each particular city, church, or museum. Whenever in the text paintings or other ob- jects are numbered, the numbers used are always those of the latest official catalogues. Individual works of merit are distinguished by an asterisk (*) ; those of very exceptional interest and merit have two asterisks. CONTENTS Introduction I. Omgins of the Belgian Towns . II. The History of the Belgian Towns III. Order of the Tour .... IV. Origins of Bruges .... V. The Heart of Bruges . VI. The Hospital of St. John . VII. The Town of Bruges in General VIII. The Churches of Bruges IX. The Academy of Bruges X. Origins of Ghent .... XI. The Core of Ghent XII. The Cathedral of Ghent . XIII. The Outskirts of Ghent XIV. Origins of Brussels XV. The Heart of Brussels XVT. The Brussels Picture Gallery: of the Old Masters . XVII. The Brussels Picture Gallery: Other Halls Hall PAGE vi II 23 45 48 54 73 93 lOI 120 133 140 155 179 193 197 208 241 Contents CHAPTES FACE XVIII. The Cathedral of Brussels . . .270 XIX. The Upper Town 283 XX. The Surroundings of Brussels . . . 303 XXI. Origins of Antwerp 317 XXII. The Cathedral of Antwerp . . . 326 XXIII. The Antwerp Picture Gallery: Hall of THE Ancient Masters 341 XXIV. The Antwerp Picture Gallery: the Other Halls: the Rubens Room ., .367 XXV. The Town of Antwerp in General . . 396 Index 4^9 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE H. AND J. VAN Eyck. — The Angel Gabreel (detail from the Adoration of the Lamb) {See page 173) Frontispiece The Belfry and Grand' Place, Bruges ... 55 Palace of the Provincial Government and Post- office, Bruges 58 Chapelle du Saint Sang, Bruges . . . . 61 Interior of Chapelle du Saint Sang, Bruges . 65 Hospital of St. John, Bruges 7g Memling. — Shrine of St. Ursula .... 80 Memling. — Adoration of the Magi .... 84 Memling. — Martin van Nieuwenhoven ... 87 Memling. — St. John the Evangelist ... 90 Place Jan van Eyck, Bruges 94 Church of Jerusalem, Bruges 98 Cathedral of St. Sauveur, Bruges . . . .101 PouRBus. — The Last Supper 104 Church of Notre Dame and Porch, Bruges . 108 Bekere. — Tomb of Mary of Burgundy . . .111 Michael Angelo. — Madonna and Child . . .113 LUCA DELLA ROBBIA. — MadONNA AND ChILD . . Il8 List of Illustrations PAGE Jan van Eyck. — St. George (detail from Ma- donna and Child) 122 David. — Outer Wings of Triptych . . . .128 Belfry and Cloth Hall, Ghent .... 142 Hotel de Ville, Ghent 144 Van Dyck. — Crucifixion 147 The Dulle Grtete, Ghent 151 Church of St. Jacques, Ghent 153 Cathedral of St. Bavon, Ghent 159 Pulpit of the Cathedral, Ghent . . . .160 H. AND J. VAN Eyck. — Adoration of the Lamb (central panel) 165 H. AND J. VAN Eyck. — God the Father (detail from the Adoration of the Lamb) . . .170 H. AND J. VAN Eyck. — Singing Angels (detail from the Adoration of the Lamb) 172 Rubens. — Conversion of St. Bavon . . . .176 Ruins of the Abbey of St. Bavon, Ghent . . 182 Steen of Gerard le Diable, Ghent .... 185 Hotel de Ville, Brussels 198 Maison du Roi, Brussels 200 Bouts. — Justice of the Emperor Otho (first panel) 227 Memling. — Triptych 230 Jan van Eyck. — Adoration of the Magi . .232 Matsys. — Triptych 239 Teniers. — The Five Senses 252 Hals. — Portrait of W. van Heythuysen . . 264 Jan Steen. — The Rhetorictans 266 Facade of the Cathedral, Brussels . . . .272 Verbruggen. — Pulpit in the Cathedral, Brus- sels 277 List of Illustrations PAGE Palais de Justice, Brussels 284 Palais de la Nation, Brussels 290 The Bourse, Brussels 299 Place Verte, Antwerp 326 Nave of the Cathedral, Antwerp .... 330 Rubens. — Descent from the Cross .... 333 Rubens. — Assumption (and the High Altar) . . 335 Pulpit in the Cathedral, Antwerp .... 340 Picture Gallery, Antwerp 342 Memling. — Portrait of a Premonstratenslan Canon '-358 Van der Weyden. — The Seven Sacraments . . 360 Matsys. — The Entombment (central panel) . . 371 Jordaens. — "As Sing the Old, So Pipe the Young" 380 Rubens. — Coup de Lance 383 Rubens. — Triptych 384 Hotel de Ville, Antwerp 397 Esplanade, Antwerp 402 House of Rubens's Parents, Antwerp . . . 408 Interior of St. Jacques, Antwerp .... 410 Rubens. — Madonna and Child 412 Gate to the Fortifications, Antwerp . . . 416 Belgium: Its Cities CHAPTER I. ORIGINS OF THE BELGIAN TOWNE THE somewhat heterogeneous country which we now call Belgium formed part of Gaul under the Roman Empire. But though rich and commercial even then, it seems to have been relatively little Romanized; and in the beginning of the fifth century it was over- run by the Salic Franks, on their way toward Laon, Soissons, and Paris. When civilization began to creep northward again in the ninth century through the districts barbarized by the Teutonic invasion, it was the Prankish Charle- magne (Karl the Great) who introduced Roman arts afresh into the Upper and Lower Rhinelands. The Rhine from Basle to Cologne 12 Belgium : Its Cities was naturally the region most influenced by this new Roman revival; but as Charlemagne had his chief seat at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen), near the modern Belgian frontier, the west- ern Frankish provinces were also included in the sphere of his improvements. When the kingdom of the Franks began to divide more or less definitely into the Empire and France, the Flemish region formed nomi- nally part of the Neustrian and, later, of the French dominions. From a very early date, however, it was practically almost independ- ent, and it became so even in name during its later stages. But Brabant, with Brussels, remained a portion of the Empire. The Rhine constituted the great central waterway of mediaeval Europe; the Flemish towns were its ports and its manufacturing centres. They filled in the thirteenth and four- teenth centuries much the same place that Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, and Birming- ham fill in the twentieth. Many causes con- tributed to this result. Flanders, half-inde- pendent under its own counts, occupied a mid- dle position, geographically and politically, between France and the Empire; it was com- Origins of the Belgian Towns 13 paratively free from the disastrous wars which desolated both these countries, and in particu- lar (see under Ghent) it largely escaped the long smouldering quarrel between French and English which so long retarded the develop- ment of the former. Its commercial towns, again, were not exposed on the open sea to the attacks of pirates or hostile fleets, but were safely ensconced in inland flats, reached by rivers or canals, almost inaccessible to mari- time enemies. Similar conditions elsewhere early ensured peace and prosperity for Venice. The canal system of Holland and Belgium began to be developed as early as the twelfth century (at first for drainage), and was one leading cause of the commercial importance of the Flemish cities in the fourteenth. In so flat a country, locks are all but unnecessary. The two towns which earliest rose to great- ness in the Belgian area were thus Bruges and Ghent; they possessed in the highest degree the combined advantages of easy access to the sea and comparative inland security. Bruges, in particular, was one of the chief stations of the Hanseatic League, which formed an essen- tially commercial alliance for the mutual pro- 14 Belgium : Its Cities lection of the northern trading centres. By the fourteenth century Bruges had thus become in the north what Venice was in the south, the capital of commerce. Trading companies from all the surrounding countries had their " factories " in the town, and every European king or prince of importance kept a resident minister accredited to the merchant Republic. Some comprehension of the mercantile con- dition of Europe in general during the Middle Ages is necessary in order to understand the early importance and wealth of the Flemish cities. Southern Europe, and in particular Italy, was then still the seat of all higher civilization, more especially of the trade in manufactured articles and objects of luxury. Florence, Venice, and Genoa ranked as the polished and learned cities of the world. Fur- ther east, again, Constantinople still remained in the hands of the Greek emperors, or, during the Crusades, of their Latin rivals. A brisk trade existed via the Mediterranean between Europe and India or the nearer East. This dou- ble stream of traffic ran along two main routes — one, by the Rhine, from Lombardy and Rome; the other, by sea, from Venice, Genoa, Origins of the Belgian Towns 15 Florence, Constantinople, the Levant, and In- dia. On the other hand, France was still but a half-civilized country, with few manufactures and little external trade; while England was an exporter of raw produce, chiefly wool, like Australia in our own time. The Hanseatic merchants of Cologne held the trade of Lon- don; those of Wisby and Liibeck governed that of the Baltic; Bruges, as head of the Hansa, was in close connection with all of these, as well as with Hull, York, Novgorod, and Bergen, The position of the Flemish towns in the fourteenth century was thus not wholly unlike that of New York, Philadelphia, and Boston at the present day; they stood as intermediaries between the older civilized countries, like Italy or the Greek empire, and the newer producers of raw material, like England, North Germany, and the Baltic towns. The local manufactures of Flanders con- sisted chiefly of woollen goods and linens ; the imports included Italian luxuries, Spanish figs and raisins, Egyptian dates, Oriental silks, English wool, cattle, and metals, Rhenish wines, and Baltic furs, skins, and walrus tusks. l6 Belgium : Its Cities In the early sixteenth century, when navi- gation had assumed new conditions, and trade was largely diverted to the Atlantic, Antwerp, the port of the Schelde, superseded the towns on the inland network. As Venice sank, Antwerp rose. The art that grew up in the Flemish cities during their epoch of continuous commercial development bears on its very face the visible impress of its mercantile origin. France is essentially a monarchical country, and it is centralized in Paris ; everything in old French art is therefore regal and lordly. The Italian towns were oligarchies of nobles; so the prin- cipal buildings of Florence and Venice are the castles or palaces of the princely families, while their pictures represent the type of art that belongs in its nature to a cultivated aris- tocracy. But in Flanders everything is in essence commercial. The architecture consists, mainly, not of private palaces, but of guilds, town halls, exchanges, belfries: the pictures are the portraits of solid and successful mer- chants, or the devotional works which a merchant donor presented to the patron saint of his town or business. They are almost Origins of the Belgian Towns 17 overloaded with details of fur, brocade, jew- elry, lace, gold, silver, polished brass, glass- work. Oriental carpets, and richly carved furniture. In order to understand Flemish art, therefore, it is necessary to bear in mind at every step that it is the art of a purely com- mercial people. Another point which differentiates Flemish painting from the painting of Italy during the same period is the complete absence of any opportunity for the display of frescoes. In the Italian churches, where the walls serve largely for support, and the full southern light makes the size of the windows of less impor- tance, great surfaces were left bare in the nave and aisles, or in the lower part of the choir, crying aloud for decoration at the hands of the fresco-painter. But in the northern Gothic, which aimed above all things at height and the soaring effect, and which almost annihi- lated the wall, by making its churches consist of rows of vast windows with intervening piers or buttresses, the opportunity for mural decoration occurred but seldom. The climate also destroyed frescoes. Hence the works of pictorial art in Flemish buildings are almost 1 8 Belgium: Its Cities confined to altar-pieces and votive tablets. Again, the great school of painting in early- Italy (from Giotto to Perugino) was a school of fresco-painters; but in Flanders no high type of art rose till the discovery of oil-painting. Pictures were usually imported from the Rhine towns. Hence, pictorial art in the Low Countries seems to spring almost full-fledged, instead of being traceable through gradual stages of evolution as in Italy. Most of the best early paintings are small and highly fin- ished : it was only at a comparatively late date, when Antwerp became the leading town, that Italian influence began to produce the larger and coarser canvases of Rubens and his fol- lowers. Very early Flemish art greatly resembles the art of the School of Cologne, Only with Hubert and Jan van Eyck (about 1360 — 1440) does the distinctively Flemish taste begin to show itself — the taste for delicate and mi- nute workmanship, linked with a peculiar realistic idealism, more dainty than German work, more literal than Italian. It is an art that bases itself upon truth of imitation and perfection of finish: its chief aesthetic beauty Origins of the Belgian Towns 19 is its jewel-like colour and its wealth of decora- tive adjuncts. The subsequent development of Flemish painting — the painting that pleased a clique of opulent commercial patrons — we shall trace in detail in the various cities. Whoever wishes to gain a deeper insight into Flemish painting should take in his port- manteau Sir Martin Conway's " Early Flemish Artists," a brilliant and masterly work of the first importance, to which this Guide is deeply indebted. The political history of the country during this flourishing period of the Middle Ages has also stamped itself, though somewhat less deeply, on the character of the towns and of the art evolved in them. The Counts of Flan- ders, originally mere lords of Bruges and its district, held their dominions of the Kings of France. Their territory included not only Arras (at first the capital, now included in France) with Bruges, Ghent, Courtrai, Tournay, and Ypres, but also the towns and districts of Va- lenciennes, Lille, and St. Omer, which are now French. From the time of Baldwin VIII. (1191), however. Arras became a part of France, and Ghent was erected into the capital 20 Belgium : Its Cities of Flanders. In the beginning of the thirteenth century, two women sovereigns ruled in succes- sion ; under them, and during the absence of the elective Counts on crusades, the towns rose to be practically burgher republics. Bruges, Ypres, Ghent, and Lille were said to possess each forty thousand looms; and though this is cer- tainly a mediaeval exaggeration, yet the Flemish cities at this epoch were at any rate the chief manufacturing and trading centres of northern Europe, while London was still a mere local emporium. In the fourteenth century, the cities acquired still greater freedom. The citizens had always claimed the right to elect their count; and the people of Ghent now made treaties without him on their own account with Edward III. of England. To this age belongs the heroic period of the Van Arteveldes at Ghent, when the burghers became the real rulers of Flanders, as will be more fully described hereafter. In 1384, however. Count Louis III. died, leaving an only daughter, who was married to Philip the Bold of Burgundy ; and the wealthy Flem- ish towns thus passed under the sway of the powerful princes of Dijon. Brabant fell later Origins o£ the Belgian Towns 2l by inheritance, to Philip the Good. It was under the Burgundian dynasty, who often held their court at Ghent, that the arts of the Netherlands attained their first great development. Philip the Good (1419 — 1467) employed Jan van Eyck as his court painter ; and during his reign or just after it the chief works of Flemish art were produced in Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, and Toumay. Charles the Bold, the last Duke of Burgundy, left one daughter, Mary, who was married to Maximilian, afterward emperor. From that date forward the history of the Flemish towns is practically merged in that of the dynasty of Charles V., and finally becomes the story of an unwilling and ever justly rebellious Span- ish province. The subsequent vicissitudes of Belgium as an Austrian appanage, a part of Holland, and an independent kingdom, belong to the domain of European history. For the visitor, it is the period of the Burgundian supremacy that really counts in the cities of Belgium. Yet the one great point for the tourist to bear in mind is really this — that the art of the Flemish towns is essentially the art of a group 22 Belgium : Its Cities of burgher communities. It is frankly com- mercial, neither royal nor aristocratic. In its beginnings it develops a strictly municipal architecture, with a school of painters who aimed at portraiture and sacred panel pictures. After the Reformation had destroyed sacred art in Holland, painting in that part of the Netherlands confined itself to portraits and to somewhat vulgar popular scenes : while in Bel- gium it was Italianized, or rather Titianized and Veronese'd, by Rubens and his followers. But in its best days it was national, local, and sacred or personal. Take Conway's " Early Flemish Artists " with you in your portmanteau, and read over in the evening his account of the works you have seen during the day. CHAPTER II. THE HISTORY OF THE BELGIAN TOWNS IN the separate introductions to the various towns, dealing rather with origins than with history, I shall lay stress chiefly on the industrial and municipal facts, which in Bel- gium, indeed, are all-important. I give here, however, a few general notes on the political history of the country as a whole, chiefly dynastic. These may serve for reference, or at least as reminders; and in particular they should be useful as giving some information about the originals of portraits in the various galleries. The two portions of the modern kingdom of Belgium with which we are most concerned in this Guide are the County of Flanders and the Duchy of Brabant. The first was origi- nally a fief of France ; the second, a competent member of the Empire. They were commer- 23 24 Belgium : Its Cities daily wealthier than the other portions of the Gallo-German borderland which is now Bel- gium; they were also the parts most afifected by the Burgundian princes; on both which accounts, they are still by far the richest in works of art, alike in architecture, in painting, and in sculpture. The vast Prankish dominions of the Mero- vingians and of the descendants of Charle- magne — of the Merwings and Karlings, to be more strictly Teutonic — showed at all times a tendency to break up into two dis- tinct realms, known as the Eastern and West- ern Kingdoms (Austria — not, of course, in the modern sense — and Neustria). These kingdoms were not artificial, but based on a real difference of race and speech. The East- ern Kingdom (Franken or Franconia) where the Prankish and Teutonic blood was purest, became first the Empire, in the restricted sense, and later Germany and Austria (in part). The Western Kingdom (Neustria) where Celtic or Gallic blood predominated, and where the speech was Latin, or (later) French, be- came in time the Kingdom of France. But between these two Prancias, and especially History of the Belgian Towns 25 during the period of unrest, there existed a certain number of middle provinces, sometimes even a middle kingdom, known from its first possessor, Lothar, son of Charlemagne, as Lotharingia or Lorraine. Of these middle provinces, the chief northern members were Flanders, Brabant, Hainault, and Liege. Flanders in the early Middle Ages was a fief of France ; it included not only the modern Belgian provinces of East and West Flanders, but also French Flanders, that is to say, the Department of the Nord and part of the Pas de Calais. As early as the Treaty of Verdun (843), the land of Flanders was assigned to Neustria. But the county, as we know it, really grew up from the possessions of a noble family at Bruges and Sluys, the head of which was originally known as forester or ranger. In 862, the King of France, as suzerain, changed this title to that of count, in the person of Baldwin Bras-de-Fer (Baldwin I.). Baldwin was also invested with the charge of the neighbouring coast of France proper, on tenure of defending it against the Norman pirates. In 1006, his descendant, Baldwin IV., seized the Emperor's town of Valenciennes; 26 Belgium: Its Cities and having shown his abiHty to keep his booty, he was invested by the Franconian Henry II. with this district as a fief, so that he thus became a feudatory both of France and of the Empire. He was also presented with Ghent and the Isles of Zealand. Baldwin V. ( 1036) added to the growing principality the districts of Alost, Tournay, and Hainault. The petty dynastic quarrels of the eleventh century are far too intricate for record here; in the end, the domains of the counts were approximately restricted to what we now know as Flanders proper. A bare list of names and dates must suffice for this epoch: — Baldwin V. (1036 — 1067); Baldwin VI. (1067 — 1070); Robert 11. (1093 — nil); and Baldwin VII. (mi — 1119). After this date, the native line having be- come extinct, the county was held by foreign elective princes, under whom the power of the towns increased greatly. Among these alien counts, the most distinguished was Theodoric (in French, Thierry; in German, Dietrich; or in Dutch, Dierick) of Alsace, who was a distinguished Crusader, and the History of the Belgian Towns 27 founder of the Chapel of the Holy Blood at Bruges (which see). Under Baldwin of Hainault (1191 — 1194) Artois was ceded to France, together with St. Omer and Hesdin. Henceforth, Ghent superseded Arras as the capital. Baldwin IX. (1194 — 1206) became a mighty Crusader, and founded the Latin Empire of Constanti- nople. Indeed, the Crusades were largely manned and managed by Flemings. He was followed in Flanders by his two daughters, Johanna and Margaret, under whose rule the cities gained still greater privileges. Mar- garet's son, Guy de Dampierre, was the creature of Philippe IV. of France, who en- deavoured to rule Flanders through his min- ister, Chatillon. The Flemings answered by just revolt, and fought the famous Battle of the Spurs near Courtrai, already described, against the French interlopers (see Bruges). In 1322, Louis de Nevers (Louis I.) became count, and provoked by his Gallicizing and despotic tendencies the formidable rebellion under Van Artevelde (see Ghent). The quar- rel between the league of burghers and their lord continued more or less during the reigns 2& Belgium : Its Cities of Count Louis II, (1346) and Louis III., who died in 1385, leaving one daughter, Mar- garet, married to Philip the Bold (Philippe- le-Hardi) of Burgundy. The political revolution caused in Flanders and Brabant by the accession of the Burgnn- dian dynasty was so deep-reaching that a few words must be devoted to the origin and rise of this powerful family, a branch of the royal Valois of France. The old Kingdom of Bur- gfundy had, of course, been long extinct; but its name was inherited by two distinct prin- cipalities, the Duchy of Burgundy, which formed part of France, and the County of Burgundy (Franche Comte), which was a fief of the Empire. In the fourteenth century, a new middle kingdom, like the earlier Lotha- ringia, seemed likely to arise by the sudden growth of a practically independent power in this debatable land between France and Ger- many. In 1 36 1, the Duchy of Burgundy fell in to the crown of France; and in order, as he thought, to secure its union with the central authority, John the Good of France (Jean-le- Bon), during the troublous times after the Treaty of Bretigny, conferred it as a fief upon History of the Belgian Towns 29 his son, Philippe de Valois (PhiHp the Bold, or PhiHppe-le-Hardi ) who married Margaret of Flanders, thus uniting two of the greatest vassal principalities of the French crown. In 1385, on the death of Louis III., Philip suc- ceeded to the County of Flanders, now practi- cally almost an independent state. After him reigned three other princes of his family. John the Fearless (Jean-sans-Peur, 1404 — 1419) will be remembered by visitors to Paris as the builder of the Porte Rouge at Notre- Dame de Paris. Philip the Good (Philippe- le-Bon, 1419 — 1467) was the patron of Van Eyck and Memling. (His portrait by Roger van der Weyden is in the Antwerp Gallery.) Charles the Bold ( Charles-le-Temeraire, 1467 — 1477) raised the power of the house to its utmost pitch, and then destroyed it. (His portrait by Memling is in the Brussels Gal- lery.) Contrary, however, to the belief of John the Good, the princes of the Valois dy- nasty in Burgundy, instead of remaining loyal to the crown of France, became some of its most dangerous and dreaded rivals. All these dukes, as French princes, played at the same time an important part in the 30 Belgium : Its Cities affairs of France, They also won, by mar- riage, by purchase, by treaty, or by conquest, large territories within the Empire, including most of modern Belgium and Holland, to- gether with much that is now part of France. They were thus, like their Flemish predeces- sors, vassals at once of the Emperor and the French king; but they were really more pow- erful than either of their nominal overlords; for their central position between the two jealous neighbours gave them great advan- tages, while their possession of the wealthy cities of the Lx)w Countries made them into the richest princes in mediaeval Europe. It was at their opulent and ostentatious court that Van Eyck and Memling painted the gorgeous pictures which still preserve for us some vague memory of this old-world splendour. At the same time, the increased power of the princes, who could draw upon their other dominions to suppress risings in Flanders, told unfavour- ably upon the liberties of the cities. The Bur- gundian dominion thus sowed the seeds of the Spanish despotism. Jean-sans-Peur was murdered by the Dau- phin, afterwards Charles VII.; and this History of the Belgian Towns 31 cousinly crime threw his son, Philippe-le-Bon, into the arms of the English. It was the poHcv of Burgundy and Flanders, indeed, to weaken the royal power by all possible means. Philip supported the English cause in France for many years; and it was his defection, after the Treaty of Arras in 1435, that des- stroyed the chances of Henry VI. on the Con- tinent. The reign of Philippe-le-Bon, we saw, was the Augustan age of the Burgimdian dynasty. (Fully to understand Burgundian art, however, you must visit Dijon as well as Brabant and Flanders.) Under Charles the Bold, the most ambitious prince of the Bur- gundian house, the power of the dukes was raised for a time to its highest pitch, and then began to collapse suddenly. A constant rivalry existed between Charles and his nominal suzerain, Louis XI. It was Charles's dream to restore or re-create the old Burgundian kingdom by annexing Lorraine, with its cap- ital, Nancy, and conquering the rising Swiss Confederacy. He would thus have consoli- dated his dominions in the Netherlands with his discontinuous Duchy and County of Bur- gundy. He had even designs upon Provence, 32 Belgium : Its Cities then as yet an independent county. Louis XI. met these attempts to create a rival state by a policy of stirring up enemies against his too powerful feudatory. In his war with the Swiss, Charles was signally defeated in the decisive battles at Granson and Morat, in 1476. In the succeeding year, he was routed and killed at Nancy, whither the Swiss had gone to help Rene, Duke of Lorraine, in his effort to win back his duchy from Charles. The conquered duke was buried at Nancy, but his body was afterwards brought to Bruges by his descendant^ the Emperor Charles V., and now reposes in the splendid tomb which we have seen at Notre-Dame in that city. This war had important results. It largely broke down the power of Burgundy. Charles's daughter, Mary, kept the Low Countries and the County of Burgundy (Imperial) ; but the duchy (French) reverted to the crown of France, with which it was ever after asso- ciated. The scheme of a great Middle King- dom thus came to an end ; and the destinies of the Low Countries were entirely altered. We have next to consider the dynastic events by which the Low Countries passed History of the Belgian Towns 33 under the rule of the House of Hapsburg. In 1477, Mary of Burgundy succeeded her father, Charles, as Countess of Flanders, Duchess of Brabant, etc. In the same year she was married to Maximilian of Austria, King of the Romans, son of the Emperor Frederic III. (or IV.). Maximilian was afterwards elected Emjperor on his father's death. The children of this marriage were Philip the Handsome ( Philippe-le-Beau, or le- Bel; Philippus Stok), who died in 1506, and Margaret of Austria. Philip, again, married Johanna (Juana) the Mad, of Castile, and thus became King of Castile, in right of his wife. The various steps by which these dif- ferent sovereignties were cumulated in the person of Philip's son, Charles V., are so im- portant to a proper comprehension of the sub- ject that I venture to tabulate them. Frederic III. (or IV.) Charles the Bold. I I Ferdinand = Isabella Maximilian := Mary (of Aragon) (of Castile) (of Austria) (of Burgundy) Johanna the Mad = Philippe-le-Beau (of Spain) I (of Burgundy and Austria) Charles V. 34 Belgium : Its Cities During the lifetime of Maximilian, who was afterwards Emperor, Mary, and her son Philippe-le-Beau, ruled at first in the Low Countries (for the quarrel between Maximilian and Bruges over the tutorship of Philippe, see p. 59). After the death of Isabella of Castile, Ferdinand retired to Aragon, and Philippe ruled Castile on behalf of his insane wife, Juana. Philippe died in 1506, and his sister, Margaret of Austria, then ruled as regent in the Netherlands (for Charles) till her death in 1530. Charles V., born at Ghent, in 1500, was elected to the Empire after his grandfather, Maximilian L, and thus became at once Emperor, King of Spain, Duke of Austria, and ruler of the Low Countries. (In 1 5 16 he succeeded Ferdinand in the Kingdom of Spain, and in 15 19 was elected Emperor.) The same series of events carried the Nether- lands, quite accidentally, under Spanish rule. For Charles was an absolutist, who governed on essentially despotic principles. His conduct towards Ghent in 1539 brought affairs to a crisis. The Emperor, in pursuance of his plans against France, had demanded an enormous subsidy from the city, which the burgesses History of the Belgian Towns 35 constitutionally refused to grant, meeting the unjust extortion by open rebellion. They even entered into negotiations with Francis I. ; who, however, with the base instinct of a brother absolutist, betrayed their secret to his enemy, the Emperor. Charles actually obtained leave from Francis to march a Spanish army through France to punish the Flemings, and arrived with a powerful force before the rebellious city. The Ghenters demanded pardon; but Charles, deeply incensed, entered the town under arms, and took up his abode there in triumph. Alva, his ruthless Spanish com- mander (portrait in the Brussels Gallery), sug- gested that the town should be utterly des- troyed; but the Emperor could not afford to part with his richest and most populous city, nor could even he endure to destroy his birth- place. He contented himself with a terrible vengeance, beheading the ringleaders, banish- ing the minor patriots, and forfeiting the goods of all suspected persons. The city was declared guilty of lese-'fttajeste, and the town magis- trates, with the chiefs of the Guilds, were com- pelled to appear before Charles with halters round their necks, and to beg for pardon. The 36 Belgium : Its Cities Emperor also ordered that no magistrate of Ghent should ever thenceforth appear in public without a halter, a badge which became with time a mere silken decoration. The privileges of the city were at the same time abolished, and the famous old bell, Roland, was removed from the Belfry. Thenceforth Charles treated the Netherlands as a conquered Spanish territory. He dissolved the monastery of St. Bavon, and erected on its site the great Citadel, which he garrisoned with Spaniards, to repress the native love of liberty of the Flemings (see Ghent). In subsequent risings of the Low Countries, the Spaniards' Castle, the stronghold of the alien force, was the first point to be attacked; and on it de- pended the issue of freedom or slavery in the Netherlands. Charles also established the In- quisition, which is said to have put to death no few^er than one hundred thousand persons. In 1555, the Emperor abdicated in favour of his son Philip, known as Philip II. of Spain. But his brother Ferdinand, to whom he had resigned his Austrian dominions, was elected Emperor (having been already King of the Romans) as Ferdinand I. From his time forth, History of the Belgian Towns 37 the Empire became more exclusively German, so that its connection with Rome was almost forgotten save as a historic myth, degenerat- ing into the mere legal fiction of a Holy Roman Empire, with nothing Roman in it. Thus, the Netherlands alone of the earlier Burgundian heritage remained in the holding of the Aus- trian kings of Spain, who ruled them nominally as native sovereigns, but practically as Span- iards and aliens by means of imported military garrisons. Philip II. — austere, narrow, domineering, fanatical — remained only four years in the Netherlands, and then retired to Spain, appoint- ing his half-sister, Margaret of Parma (illegit- imate daughter of Charles V.), regent of the Low Countries (1559 — 1567). She resided in the Ancienne Cour at Brussels. Her minis- ter, Granvella, Bishop of Arras, made himself so unpopular, and the measures taken against the Protestants were sO' severe^ that the cities, ever the strongholds of liberty, showed signs of revolution. They objected to the illegal maintenance of a Spanish standing army, and also to the Inquisition. In April, 1567, as a consequence of the discontents, the Duke of 38 Belgium : Its Cities Alva was sent with ten thousand men as Heu- tenant-general to the Netherlands, to suppress what was known as the Beggars' League (Les Gueux), now practically headed by the Prince of Orange (William the Silent). Alva entered Brussels with his Spanish and Italian merce- naries and treacherously seized his two sus- pected antagonists, Count Egmont and Count Hoorn. The two patriotic noblemen were im- prisoned at Ghent, in the Spaniards' Castle, were condemned to death, and finally beheaded in the Grand' Place at Brussels. ( For fuller de- tails of the great revolutionary movement thus inaugurated, see Motley's " Rise of the Dutch Republic," and Juste's " Le Comte d'Egmont et le Comte de Homes.") Alva also estab- lished in Brussels his infamous " Council of Troubles," which put to death in cold blood no less than twenty thousand inoffensive burghers. His cold and impassive cruelty led to the Revolt of the United Provinces in 1568 — a general movement of all the Spanish Netherlands (as they now began to be called) to throw off the hateful yoke of Spain. Under the able leadership of William of Orange, the Flemings besieged and reduced the Spaniards' History of the Belgian Towns 39 Castle at Ghent. In the deadly struggle for freedom which ensued, the Northern Provinces (Holland), aided by their great natural advan- tages for defence among the flooded marshes of the Rhine delta, succeeded in casting oflf their allegiance to Philip. They were then known as the United Netherlands. The long and heroic contest of the Southern Provinces (Belgium) against the Spanish oppressor was not equally successful. A desperate struggle for liberty met with little result, and the Spanish sovereigns continued to govern their Belgian dominions like a conquered country. In 1578, Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma (son of Margaret) , was sent as Governor to the Nether- lands, where he remained in power till 1596. In the prosecution of the war against the Northern Provinces (Holland), he besieged Antwerp, and took it after fourteen months, in 1585. In the " Spanish Fury " which followed, Antwerp was almost destroyed, and all its noblest build- ings ruined. Nevertheless, under Parma's rule, the other cities recovered to a certain extent their municipal freedom; though the country as a whole was still treated as a vanquished province. 40 Belgium : Its Cities The next great landmark of Belgian history is the passage of the Spanish Netherlands under Austrian rule. The first indefinite steps toward this revolution were taken in 1598, when Philip II. ceded the country as a fief to his daughter the Infanta Isabella (Clara Isabella Eugenia) on her marriage with Albert, Archduke of Austria, who held the provinces as the Spanish governor. (Portraits of Albert and Isabella by Rubens in the Brussels Gallery.) The new rulers made the country feel to a certain extent that it was no longer treated as a mere diso- bedient Spanish appanage. After the troubles of the Revolt, and the cruel destruction of Ant- werp by Parma, trade and manufactures began to revive. Albert and Isabella were strongly Catholic in sentiment; and it was under their regime that the greater part of the rococo churches of Antwerp and other cities were built, in the showy but debased taste of the period, and decorated with large and brilliantly coloured altar-pieces. They also induced Rubens to settle in the Netherlands, appointed him court painter, and allowed him to live at Antwerp, where the trade of the Low Countries was still largely concentrated. During their History of the Belgian Towns 4 1 vice-royalty, however, Brussels became more than ever the recognized capital of the country, and the seat of the aristocracy. After Albert's death in 1621, the Netherlands reverted to Spain, and a dull period, without either art or real local history, supervened, though the wars of the seventeenth and eight- eenth centuries were in great part fought out over these unfortunate provinces, " the cockpit of Europe." The campaigns of Marl- borough and Prince Eugene are too well known as part of English and European history to need recapitulation here. At the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, the Peace of Rastadt, in 17 14, assigned the Spanish Nether- lands to Austria, thus entailing upon the unhappy country another hundred years of foreign domination. Nevertheless, the Aus- trian Netherlands, as they were thenceforth called (in contradistinction to the " United Netherlands " or Holland), were on the whole tolerably well governed by the Austrian Stadt- holders, who held their court at Brussels, and who were usually relations of the Imperial family. Few memorials, however, of Maria Theresa, of Joseph IL, or of Leopold II. now 42 Belgium : Its Cities exist in Belgium, and those few are not re- markable for beauty. It was during this relatively peaceful and law-abiding time, on the other hand, that the Upper Town of Brussels was laid out in its existing form by Guimard. As a whole, the Belgian provinces were probably better governed under Austrian rule than under any other regime up to the period of the existing independent and national monarchy. The French Revolutionists invaded Belgium in 1794, and committed great havoc among historical buildings at Bruges and elsewhere. Indeed, they did more harm to the arts of the Netherlands than anybody else, except the Spaniards and the modern " restorers." They also divided Belgium into nine departments; and Napoleon half sneeringly, half cynically, justified the annexation on the ground that the Low Countries were the alluvial deposit of French rivers. The Belgian States formed part of Napoleon's composite empire till 18 14, when those Southern Provinces were assigned by the Treaty of London to Holland. In 181 5, during the Hundred Days, the Allied Armies History of the Belgian Towns 43 had their headquarters at Brussels, and the decisive battle against Napoleon was fought at Waterloo. The Congress of Vienna once more affirmed the union of Belgium and Hol- land; they remained as one kingdom till the first revolutionary period in 1830. The South- em Province then successfully seceded from the Dutch monarchy : indeed, the attempted fusion of semi-French and Catholic Belgium v^ith purely Teutonic and Protestant Holland was one of those foredoomed failures so dear to diplomacy. A National Congress elected Leopold of Saxe-Coburg as King of the Bel- gians (Roi des Beiges), and the crown is now held by his son, Leopold H. For nearly seventy years Belgium has thus enjoyed, for the first time in its history, an independent and relatively popular government of its own choosing. The development of its iron and coal industries dur- ing this epoch has vastly increased its wealth and importance; while the rise of Antwerp as a great European port has also done much to develop its resources. At the present day Belgium ranks as one of the most thickly populated, richest, and on the whole most 44 Belgium : Its Cities liberal-minded countries of Europe. Its neu- trality is assured by the Treaty of London, and its army exists only to repel invasion in case that neutrality should ever be violated. CHAPTER III. ORDER OF THE TOUR IF possible, visit the cities of Belgium in the order in which they are treated in this guide : — Bruges first ; then Ghent, Brussels, and Antwerp. For this order you will find very good reasons. Bruges is the most antique in tone and the least spoiled of all the Flemish towns; it best exhibits the local peculiarities we have here specially to consider ; and it leads up naturally to the other cities. It is true, Mem- ling, the great painter whom we have chiefly to study at Bruges, is later in date than Jan van Eyck, whose principal work (with that of his brother Hubert) is to be seen at Ghent. But historical sequence in this minor matter is somewhat less important than a due apprehen- sion of the general air of an old Flemish town such as those in which the art of the Van Eycks arose; and besides, there is at least one char- 45 46 Belgium : Its Cities acteristic Van Eyck at Bruges, while there are many Memlings for comparison in other cities. As a rule, too little time is gpiven by tourists to Bruges and Ghent, and too much to Brussels. I should advise three or four days each to the first-named towns, and a week to the capital. Those who intend to combine a visit to Hol- land in the same tour should certainly see Belgium in the order here given first, and then proceed to Rotterdam, The Hague, Haarlem, and Amsterdam. For such a sequence, which is geographically the easiest, is also chronolog- ically natural. Bruges is the most mediaeval of all the towns, and has for its principal great artist Memling. Ghent comes next, with the Van Eycks and a few later painters. Brussels represents the end of the Middle Ages, and con- tains a general metropolitan collection of early and middle Flemish art. Antwerp gives us in particular Quentin Matsys and his contem- poraries, as well as Rubens and Van Dyck. And the Dutch towns lead us on through Van Dyck and the later transitionals to Rembrandt, Van der Heist, Frans Hals, and the other mighty masters of Holland. I may add that as the arrangement of this Guide is roughly Order of the Tour 47 chronological, the tourist will use it best if he follows its order. The Ostend route takes the towns naturally in the sequence I suggest. Visitors arriving by Harwich or Calais should not stop first at Antwerp or Brussels, but go straight to Bruges, and then double back again. CHAPTER IV. ORIGINS OF BRUGES IN a lost comer of the great lowland flat of Flanders, defended from the sea by an artificial dyke, and at the point of intersection of an intricate network of canals and water- ways, there arose in the early Middle Ages a trading town, known in Flemish as Brugge, in French as Bruges (that is to say. The Bridge), from a primitive structure that here crossed the river. (A number of bridges now span the sluggish streams. All of them open in the middle to admit the passage of shipping.) Bruges stood originally on a little river, the Reye, once navigable, now swallowed by canals : and the Reye flowed into the Zwin, long silted up, but then the safest harbour in the Low Countries. At first the capital of a petty count, this landlocked internal harbour grew in time to be the Venice of the North, and to gather 48 Origins of Bruges 49 round its quays, or at its haven of Damme, the ships and merchandise of all neighbouring peoples. Already in 1200 it ranked as the cen- tral mart of the Hanseatic League. It was the port of entry for English wool and Russian furs : the port of departure for Flemish broad- cloths, laces, tapestries, and linens. Canals soon connected it with Ghent, Dunkirk, Sluys, Furnes, and Ypres. Its nucleus lay in a little knot of buildings about the Grand' Place and the Hotel de Ville, stretching out to the Cathedral and the Dyver; thence it spread on all sides till in 1362 it filled the whole space within the existing ramparts, now largely abandoned or given over to fields and gardens. It was the wealthiest town of Europe, outside Italy. In the fourteenth century, Bruges was frequently the residence of the Counts of Flanders ; and in the fifteenth, it became the seat of the brilliant court of the Dukes of Burgundy. Under their rule, the opulent burghers and foreign merchants began to em- ploy a group of famous artists who have made the city a place of pilgrimage for Europe and America, and to adorn the town with most of those buildings which now beautify its decay. 50 Belgium : Its Cities The foreign traders in Bruges lived in " factories " or guilds, resembling monasteries or colleges, and were governed by their own commercial laws. The Bardi of Florence were among its famous merchants : the Medici had agents here: so had the millionaire Fuggers of Augsburg. Bruges is the best place in which to make a first acquaintance with the towns and art of Flanders, because here almost all the principal buildings are mediaeval, and comparatively little that is modern comes in to mar the com- pleteness of the picture. We see in it the archi- tecture and the painting of Flanders, in the midst of the houses, the land, and the folk that gave them origin. Brussels is largely modern- ized, and even Ghent has great living manu- factures ; but Bruges is a fossil of the fifteenth century. It was the first to flourish and the first to decay of the towns of Belgium. The decline of the town was due partly to the break-up of the Hanseatic system ; partly to the rise of English ports and manufacturing towns; but still more (and especially as com- pared with other Flemish cities) to the silting of the Zwin, and the want of adaptation in its Origins of Bruges 51 waterways to the needs of great ships and modern navigation. The old sea entrance to Bruges was through the Zwin, by way of Sluys and Kadzand ; up that channel came the Vene- tian merchant fleet and the Flemish galleys, to the port of Damme. By 1470, it ceased to be navigable for large vessels. The later canal is still open, but as it passes through what is now Dutch territory, it is little used; nor is it adapted to any save ships of comparatively small burden. Another canal, suitable for craft of five hundred tons, leads through Belgian territory to Ostend ; but few vessels now navi- gate it, and those for the most part only for local trade. The town has shrunk to half its former size, and has only a quarter of its mediaeval population. The commercial decay of Bruges, however, has preserved its charm for the artist, the archaeologist, and the tourist ; its sleepy streets and unfrequented quays are among the most picturesque sights of bustling and industrial modern Belgium. The great private palaces, indeed, are almost all des- troyed • many public buildings remain, and the domestic architecture is quaint and pretty. Bruges was the mother of the arts in Flan- 52 Belgium : Its Cities ders. Jan van Eyck lived here from 1428 to 1440: Memling, probably, from 1477 till 1494. Caxton, the first English printer, lived as a merchant at Bruges (in the Domus Anglorum or English factory) from 1446 to 1476, and probably put in the press here the earliest English printed book (though strong grounds have been adduced in favour of Cologne). Colard Mansion, the great printer of Bruges at that date, was one of the leaders in the art of typography. Those who desire further information on this most interesting town will find it in James Weale's " Bruges et ses Environs," an admira- ble work, to which I desire to acknowledge my obligations. At least two whole days should be devoted to Bruges : more if possible. But the hasty traveller, who has but time for a glimpse, should neglect the churches, and walk round the Grand' Place and the Place du Bourg to the Dyver: spending most of his time at the ** Hopital de St. Jean, which contains the glorious works of Memling. These are by far the most important objects to be seen in the city. The description in this Guide is written Origins of Bruges 53 from the point of view of the more leisurely traveller. Expect the frequent recurrence of the fol- lowing symbols on houses or pictures : First, the Lion of Flanders, heraldic or otherwise, crowned, and bearing a collar with a pendant cross, secondly the Bear of Bruges, thirdly the Golden Fleece {Toison d'or), the device of the Order founded by Philippe le Bon in 1430, and appropriate to a country which owed its wealth to wool ; it consists of a sheep's skin suspended from a collar. The Flemish emblem of the Swan is also common as a relief or deco- ration. St. Donatian, Archbishop of Rheims, is the patron saint. His mark is a wheel with five lighted candles. CHAPTER V. THE HEART OF BRUGES THE original nucleus of Bruges is formed by the Bourg, which stands near the centre of the modern city. In 865, Baldwin Bras-de-Fer, Count of Flanders, built a chateau or burg by the Reye, in a comer of land still marked by the modern canal of the Dyver, and near it a chapel, into which he transported the relics of St, Donatian. This burg grew in time into the chief palace of the Counts of Flanders, now replaced by the Palais de Justice; while the chapel by its side developed into the first cathedral of Bruges, St. Dona- tian, now wholly demolished. A bridge hard by crossed the little river Reye; and from this bridge the town ultimately derives its name. The burg was built as a tete-du-pont to protect the passage. A town of traders gradually sprang up under the protection of the castle, 54 THE BELFRY AND GRAND' PLACE, BRUGES. The Heart of Bruges 55 and developed at last into the great trading port of Bruges. To this centre, then, we will first direct ourselves. Go from your hotel, down the Rue St. Amand, or the Rue St. Jacques, to the Grand' Place or market-place of Bruges, noticing cm your way the numerous handsome old houses, with high-pitched roofs and gable-ends ar- ranged like steps, mostly of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. (Bruges is a Flemish- speaking town : note the true names of the streets in Flemish.) The very tall square tower which faces you as you enter the Grand' Place is the * Belfry, the centre and visible embodiment of the town of Bruges. The Grand' Place itself was the forum and meeting-place of the soldier-citi- zens, who were called to arms by the chimes in the Belfry. The centre of the Place is there- fore appropriately occupied by a colossal statue group (modern) of Pieter de Coninck and Jan Breidel, the leaders of the citizens of Bruges at the Battle of the Spurs before the walls of Courtrai in 1302, a conflict which secured the freedom of Flanders from the in- terference of the Kings of France. The group 56 Belgium : Its Cities is by Devigne. The reliefs on the pedestal represent scenes from the battle and its ante- cedents. The majestic Belfry itself represents the first beginnings of freedom in Bruges. Leave to erect such a bell -tower, both as a mark of independence and to summon the citizens to arms, was one of the first privileges which every Teutonic trading town desired to wring from its feudal lord. This brick tower, the pledge of municipal rights, was beg^n in 1291, to replace an earlier one of wood, and finished about a hundred years later, the octagon, in stone, at the summit, which holds the bells, having been erected in 1393 — 96. It consists of three stories, the two lower of which are square and flanked by balconies with turrets; the windows below are of the simple Early Gothic style, but show a later type of archi- tecture in the octagon. The niche in the centre contains the Virgin and Child (restored, after being destroyed by the French revolutionists). Below it on either side are smaller figures holding escutcheons. From the balcony be- tween these last, the laws and the rescripts of The Heart of Bruges 57 the counts were read aloud to the people assembled in the square. The Belfry can be ascended by steps. Apply to the concierge; twenty-five centimes per person. Owing to the force of the wind, it leans slightly to the southeast. The * view from the top is very extensive and striking; it embraces the greater part of the Plain of Flanders, with its towns and villages : the country, though quite flat, looks beautiful when thus seen. In early times, however, the look- out from the summit was of practical use for purposes of observation, military or maritime. It commanded the river, the Zwin, and the sea approach by Sluys and Damme; the course of the various canals ; and the roads to Ghent, Antwerp, Tournay, and Courtrai. The Belfry contains a famous set of chimes, the mechanism of which may be inspected by the visitor. He will have frequent opportunities of hearing the beautiful and mellow carillon, perhaps to excess. The existing bells date only from 1680 : the mechanism from 1784. The square building on either side of the Belfry, known as Les Halles, was erected in or about 1248, and is a fine but sombre speci- 58 Belgium : Its Cities men of Early Gothic civic architecture. The wing to the left was originally the Cloth Hall, for the display and sale of the woollen manu- factures of Ghent and Bruges. It is now used as municipal offices. The wing to the right is the meat market. Inside the court, a door to the left gives access to a small Museum of Antiquities on the ground floor, which may be safely neglected by all save specialist archaeolo- gists. (Admission, fifty centimes.) Now, stand with your back to the Belfry to survey the square. The brick building on your right is the Post Office (modern) ; the stone one beyond it (also modern) is the Palace of the Provincial Government of Flanders. Both have been erected in a style suitable to the town. In the Middle Ages, ships could come up to this part of the Grand' Place to discharge their cargo. The quaint houses that face you, with high-pitched gable-ends, are partly mod- ern, but mostly old, though restored. To the west, on the left side of the Place, at the corner of the Rue St. Amand, stands the square castle- like building known as Au Lion de Flandre and marked by its gold lion. It is one of the best brick mediaeval buildings in Bruges. According ■tMtir^^i ■i^^gsit X'^s^ 4r?MB' HjpStSISiSBl'lB i ■i The Heart of Bruges 59 to a doubtful tradition, it was occupied by- Charles 11. of England during his exile, when he was created by the Brugeois King of the Crossbowmen of St. Sebastian (see later). In the house beside it, known as the Craenenburg, the citizens of Bruges imprisoned Maximilian, King of the Romans, from the 5th to the 17th of February, 1488, because he would not grant the care of his son Philip, heir to the crown of the Netherlands, to the King of France. They only released him after he had sworn before an altar erected at the spot, on the Host, the true Cross, and the Relics of St. Donatian, to renounce his claim to the guardianship of his son, and to grant a general amnesty. However, he was treacherously released from his oath by a congress of princes convened a little later by his father, the Emperor Fred- eric IV. From the corner of the Post OfiEice, take the short Rue Breydel to the Place du Bourg, the still more intimate centre and focus of the early life in Bruges. This Place contained the old Palace of the Counts of Flanders, and the orig- inal Cathedral, both now destroyed, as well 6o Belgium : Its Cities as the Town Hall and other important buildings still preserved for us. The tallest of the three handsome edifices on the south side of the Square (profusely adorned with sculpture) is the ** Hotel de Ville, a beautiful gem of Middle Gothic archi- tecture, begun about 1376, and finished about 1387. This is one of the finest pieces of civic architecture in Belgium. The fagade, though overrestored, and the six beautiful turrets and chimneys, are in the main of the original de- sign. The sculpture in the niches, destroyed during the French Revolution, has been only tolerably replaced by modem Belgian sculptors in our own day. The lower tier contains the Annunciation, right and left of the doorway, with figures of various saints and prophets. In the tiers above this are statues of the Counts of Flanders of various ages. The reliefs just below the windows of the first floor represent episodes from Biblical history : — David before Saul, David dancing before the Ark^ the Judg- ment of Solomon, the Building of Solomon's Temple, and other scenes which the visitor can easily identify. The Great Hall in the interior CHAPELLK DU SAINT SANG, BRUGES. The Heart of Bruges 6 1 is interesting only for its fine pendant Gothic wooden roof. The somewhat lower building, to the right of the Hotel de Ville, is the ** Chapelle du Saint Sang. The decorated portal round the corner also forms part of the same building. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (age of the Crusades) the chivalrous and credulous knights of the North and West, who repaired to the Holy Land, whether as pilgrims or as soldiers of the Faith, were anxious to bring back with them relics of the saints or of still more holy personages. The astute Greeks and Syrians with whom they had to deal rose to the occasion, and sold the simple Westerns various sacred objects of more or less doubtful authenticity at fabulous prices. Over these treasured deposits stately churches were often raised ; for example, St. Louis of France con- structed the Sainte Chapelle in Paris, to contain the Crown of Thorns and part of the True Cross, which he had purchased at an immense cost from Baldwin, Emperor of Constantinople. Among the earlier visitors to the Holy Land who thus signalized their journey was Theo- doric of Alsace, elected Count of Flanders in 62 Belgium : Its Cities 1 1 28; he brought back with him in 11 49 some drops of the Holy Blood of the Saviour, said to have been preserved by Joseph of Arima- thea, which he presented to his faithful city of Bruges. Fitly to enshrine them, Theodoric erected a chapel in the succeeding year, 11 50; and this early church forms the lower floor of the existing building. Above it, in the fifteenth century, when Bruges grew richer, was raised a second and more gorgeous chapel (as at the Sainte Chapelle), in which the holy relic is now preserved. Almost all the works of art in the dainty little oratory accordingly bear special reference to the Holy Blood, its preservation, and its transport to Bruges. The dedication is to St. Basil, the founder of Eastern monasticism — a Greek father little known in the West, whose fame Theodoric must have learned in Syria. The nobles of Flanders, it must be remembered, were particularly active in organizing the Crusades. The exterior has a fine figure of St. Leonard (holding the fetters which are his symbol) under a Gothic niche. He was the patron of Christian slaves held in duress by the Sara- cens. The beautiful flamboyant portal and The Heart of Bruges 63 staircase, round the corner, erected in 1529 — 1533, in the ornate decorative style of the period, have (restored) figures of Crusaders and their queens in niches, with incongruous Renaissance busts below. To visit the interior, ring the bell in the corner : admission, fifty centimes per person. The Museum of the Brotherhood of the Holy Blood, on the first floor, which we first visit, contains by the left wall the handsome silver-gilt Reliquary (of 161 7), studded with jewels, which encloses the drops of the Holy Blood. The figures on it represent Christ, the source of the Blood, the Blessed Virgin, St. Basil, patron of the church, and St. Dona- tian, patron of the town. The Blood is ex- hibited in a simpler shrine in the chapel every Friday ; that is to say, on the day of the Cru- cifixion. The great Reliquary itself is carried in procession only, on the Monday after the third of May. Right and left of the shrine are portraits of the members of the Confra- ternity of the Holy Blood by P. Pourbus, 1556: unusually good works of this painter. A triptych to the right, by an unknown master of the early sixteenth century, figures the 64 Belgium : Its Cities Crucifixion, with special reference to the Holy Blood, representing St. Longinus in the act of piercing the side of Christ (thus drawing the Blood), with the Holy Women and St. John in attendance; on the wings, the Way to Calvary, and the Resurrection. Between the windows is a curious chrono- logical picture of the late fifteenth century, representing the History of Our Lady in the usual stages, with other episodes. To the right of it, a painting of the fifteenth century shows Count Theodoric receiving the Holy Blood from his brother-in-law, Baldwin, King of Jerusalem, and the bringing of the Holy Blood to Bruges. On the right wall there is a famous * trip- tych by Gerard David (the finest work here), representing the Deposition in the Tomb, with the Maries, St. John, Nicodemus, and an attendant holding a dish to contain the Holy Blood, which is also seen conspicuously flowing from the wounds ; the left wing shows the Magdalen with Cleophas; the right wing, the preservation of the Crown of Thorns by Joseph of Arimathea. The portrait character The Heart of Bruges 65 of the faces is admirable: stand long and study this fine work. The original designs for the windows of the Chapel are preserved in a glass case by the window; behind which are fragments of early coloured glass ; conspicuous among them, St. Barbara with her tower. On the exit wall is a fine piece of late Flem- ish tapestry, representing the bringing of the body of St. Augustine to Pavia, with side figures of San Frediano of Lucca and Sant' Ercolano of Perugia — executed, no doubt, for an Italian patron. The Chapel itself, which we next enter, is gorgeously decorated in polychrome, recently restored. The stained glass windows, contain- ing portraits of the Burgundian princes from the beginning of the dynasty down to Maria Theresa and Francis I., were executed in 1845 from earlier designs. The large window fac- ing the High Altar is modern. It represents appropriately the history of the Passion, the origin of the Sacred Blood, its Transference to Bruges, and the figures of the Flemish Cru- saders engaged in its transport. At the summit of the windowj notice the frequent and fitting 66 Belgium : Its Cities symbol of the pelican feeding its young with its own blood. In the little side chapel to the right, separated from the main building by an arcade of three arches, is the tabernacle or canopy from which the Sacred Blood is exhibited weekly. Notice on the steps the angels holding the Crown of Thorns. The window to the left (modern) represents St. Longinus, the centurion who pierced the side of Christ, and St. Veronica, displaying her napkin which she gave to the Saviour to wipe his face on the way to Cal- vary, and which retained ever after the im- press of the Divine Countenance. Almost all the other objects in the chapel bear reference, more or less direct, to the Holy Blood. Ob- serve particularly in the main chapel the hand- some modern High Altar with its coloured reliefs of scenes of the Passion and its Crown of Thorns conspicuously displayed. Such scenes as the Paschal Lamb on its base, with the Hebrew smearing the lintel of the door, are of course symbolical. The Lower Chapel, to which we are next conducted, is a fine specimen of late Roman- esque architecture, now in course of restora- The Heart of Bruges 67 tion. It was built by Theodoric in 11 50. Its solid short pillars and round arches contrast , with the lighter and later Gothic of the upper building. Notice as you pass out, from the Place outside, the two beautiful turrets at the west end of the main chapel. To the left of the Hotel de Ville stands the ornate and much gilded Renaissance building, known as the *Maison de I'Ancien Greffe, orig- inally the municipal record office^ but now em- ployed as a police-court. It bears the date 1537, and has been recently restored and pro- fusely covered with gold decoration. Over the main doorway is the Lion of Flanders; on the architrave of the first floor are heads of counts and countesses; and the building is surmounted by a figure of Justice, with Moses and Aaron and emblematical statues. Note the Golden Fleece and other symbols. The interior is uninteresting. The eastern side of the square is formed by the Palais de Justice, which stands on the site of an old palace of the Counts of Flanders, presented by Philippe le Beau to the Liberty of Bruges, and employed by them as their town hall of the Buitenpoorters, or inhab- 68 Belgium : Its Cities itants of the district outside the gate, known as the Franc de Bruges. The Renaissance building, erected between 1520 and 1608, was burnt down and replaced in the eighteenth century by the very uninteresting existing building. Parts of the old palace, however, were preserved^ one room in which should be visited for the sake of its magnificent * * chim- ne}^piece. In order to see it, enter the quad- rangle: the porter's room faces you as you enter; inquire there for the key; admission, fifty centimes per person. The concierge con- ducts you to the court-room, belonging to the original building. Almost the entire side of the room is occupied by a splendid Renais- sance chimneypiece, executed in 1529, after designs by Lancelot Blondeel of Bruges (a painter whose works are frequent in the town), and Guyot de Beaugrant of Malines, for the Council of the Liberty of Bruges, in honour of Charles V., as a memorial of the Treaty of Cambrai, in 1526. This was the treaty concluded after the battle of Pavia, by which Francis the First of France was compelled to acknowledge the independence of Flanders. Some of the figures in the background are The Heart of Bruges 69 allusive to the victory. The lower part, or chimneypiece proper, is of black marble. The upper portion is of carved oak. The marble part has four bas-reliefs in white alabaster, by Guyot de Beaug-rant, representing the History of Susannah, a mere excuse for the nude : the first, Susannah and the Elders at the Bath; the second, Susannah dragged by the Elders before the Judge; the third, Daniel before the Judge exculpating Susannah; the fourth. The Stoning of the Elders. The genii at the cor- ners are also by Beaugrant. The whole is in the pagan taste of the Renaissance. The upper portion in oak contains in the centre a statue of Charles V., represented in his capacity as Count of Flanders (as shown by the arms on his cuirass) : the other figures represent his descent and the cumulation of sovereignties in his person. On the throne behind Charles (ill seen) are busts of Philippe le Beau, his father, through whom he inherited the Bur- gundian dominions^ and Johanna (the Mad) of Spain, his mother, through whom he in- herited the united Peninsula. The statues on the left and right are those of his actual royal predecessors. The figures to the left are his yo Belgium : Its Cities paternal grandfather, the Emperor Maxi- miUan, from whom he derived his German territories, and his paternal grandmother, * Mary of Burgundy, who brought into the family Flanders, Burgundy, etc. Mary is represented with a hawk on her wrist, as she was killed at twenty-five by a fall from her horse while out hawking. (We shall see her tomb later at Notre-Dame.) The figures on the right are those of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, the maternal grand- father and grandmother of Charles, from whom he inherited the two portions of his Spanish dominions. The medallions at the back represent the personages most concerned in the Treaty of Cambrai, and the Victory of Pavia which rendered it possible, — De Lan- noy, the conqueror, to whom Francis gave up his sword, and Margaret of Austria. The tap- estry which surrounds the hall is modern; it was manufactured at Ingelmiinster after the pattern of a few old fragments found in the cellars of the ancient building. The medi- ocre painting on the wall depicts a sitting of the court of the Liberty of Bruges in this room (1659). The Heart of Bruges 71 The northern side of the square is now oc- cupied by a small Place planted with trees. Originally, however, the old cathedral of Bruges occupied this site. It was dedicated to St. Donatian, the patron of the city, whose relics were preserved in it; but it was bar- barously destroyed by the French Revolution- ary army in 1799, and the works of art which it contained were dispersed or ruined. Fig- ures of St. Donatian occur accordingly in many paintings at Bruges. Jan van Eyck was buried in this cathedral, and a statue has been erected to him under the trees in the little Place. In order, therefore, mentally to complete the pic- ture of the Place dtt Bourg in the sixteenth century, we must imagine not only the Hotel de Ville, the Chapelle du Saint Sang, and the Ancien Greffe in something approaching their existing condition, but also the stately cathe- dral and the original Renaissance building of the Franc de Bruges filling in the remainder. An archway spans the space between the Ancien Grefife and the Hotel de Ville. Take the narrow street which dives beneath it, look- ing back as you pass at the archway with its inscription of S. P. Q. B. (for Senatus Popu- 72 Belgium : Its Cities lusque Brugensis). The street then leads across a bridge over the river Reye or prin- cipal canal, and affords a good view of the back of the earlier portion of the Palais de Justice, with its picturesque brick turrets, and a few early arches belonging to the primitive palace. I recommend the visitor to turn to the right after crossing the bridge, traverse the little square, and make his way home by the bank of the Dyver and the Church of Notre- Dame. The view toward the Hotel de Ville and the Belfry, from the part of the Dyver a little to the east behind the Belfry, is one of the most picturesque and striking in Bruges. CHAPTER VI. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. JOHN THE Hospital of St. John, one of the most ancient institutions in Bruges, or of its kind in Europe, was founded not later than 1 1 88, and still retains, within and without, its mediaeval arrangement. Its Augustinian brothers and nuns tend the sick in the primitive building, now largely added to. It derives its chief interest for the tourist, however, from its small Picture Gallery, the one object in Bruges which must above everything else be visited. This is the only place for studying in full the exquisite art of Memling, whose charming and poetical work is here more fully represented than elsewhere. In this respect the Hospital of St. John may be fitly compared with the two other famous " one-man shows " of Europe — the Fra Angelicos at San Marco in Florence, and the Giottos in the Madonna 73 74 Belgium : Its Cities deir Arena at Padua. Many of the pictures were painted for the institution which they still adorn; so that we have here the opportunity of seeing works of mediaeval art in the precise surroundings which first produced them. Hans Memling, whose name is also written Memlinc and Memlin, etc. (long erroneously cited as Hemling^ through a mistaken reading of the initial in his signature) is a painter of whom little is known, save his work ; but the work is the man, and therefore amply sufficient. He was born about 1430, perhaps in Germany, and is believed to have been a pupil of Roger van der Weyden, the Brussels painter, whose work we shall see later at Antwerp and else- where. Mr. Weale has shown that he is a per- son of some wealth, settled at Bruges in his own house (about 1478), and in a position to lend money to the town. He died in 1495. His period of activity as a painter is thus coincident with the earlier work of Carpaccio and Peru- gino in Italy ; he died while Raphael was still a boy. In relation to the artists of his own country, whose works we have still to see. Memling was junior by more than a generation to Jan van Eyck, having been born about ten The Hospital of St. John 75 years before Van Eyck died; he was also younger by thirty years than Roger van der Weyden; and by twenty or thirty years than Dierick Bouts; but older by at least twenty than Gerard David. Memling has been called the Fra Angelico of Flanders ; but this is only true so far as regards Fra Angelico's panel works; the saintly Frate, when he worked in fresco, adopted a style wholly different from that which he displays in his miniature-like altar-pieces. It would be truer to say that Memling is the Benozzo Gozzoli of the North : he has the same love of decorative adjuncts, and the same naive delight in the beauty of external nature. Before visiting the Hospital it is also well to be acquainted in outline with the history of St. Ursula, whose shrine forms one of its greatest treasures. The Hospital possessed an important relic of the saint — her holy arm — and about 1480 — 1489 commissioned Memling to paint scenes from her life on the shrine des- tined to contain this precious deposit. The chest or reliquary which he adorned for the purpose forms the very best work of Memling's lifetime. 76 Belgium : Its Cities St. Ursula was a princess of Brittany, brought up as a Christian by her pious parents. She was sought in marriage by a pagan prince, Conon, said to be the son of a king of England. The EngHsh king, called Agrippinus in the legend, sent ambassadors to the King of Brit- tany asking for the hand of Ursula for his heir. But Ursula made three conditions: first, that she should be given as companions ten noble virgins, and that she herself and each of the virgins should be accompanied by a thousand maiden attendants ; second, that they should all together visit the shrines of the saints; and third, that the Prince Conon and all his court should receive baptism. These condi- tions were complied with ; the King of England collected eleven thousand virgins ; and Ursula, with her companions, sailed for Cologne, where she arrived miraculously without the assistance of sailors. Memling, however, adds them to the painting. Here, she had a vision of an angel bidding her to repair to Rome, the threshold of the apostles. From Cologne, the pilgrims went up the Rhine by boat, till they arrived at Basle, where they disembarked and continued their journey on foot over the Alps The Hospital of St. John 77 to Italy. At length they reached the Tiber, which they descended till they approached the walls of Rome. There, the Pope, St. Cyriacus, went forth with all his clergy in procession to meet them. He gave them his blessing, and lest the maidens should come to harm in so wicked a city, he had tents pitched for them outside the walls on the side toward Tivoli. Meanwhile, Prince Conon had come on pil- grimage by a different route, and arrived at Rome on the same day as his betrothed. He knelt with Ursula at the feet of the Pope, and, being baptized, received in exchange the name of Ethereus. After a certain time spent in Rome, the holy maidens bethought them to return home again. Thereupon, Pope Cyriacus decided to accom- pany them, together with his cardinals, arch- bishops, bishops, patriarchs, and many others of his prelates. They crossed the Alps, em- barked again at Basle, and made their way northward as far as Cologne. Now it happened that the army of the Huns was at that time besieging the Roman colony; and the pagans fell upon the eleven thousand virgins, with the Pope and their other saintly companions. 78 Belgium : Its Cities Prince Ethereiis was one of the first to die; then Cyriacus, the bishops, and the cardinals perished. Last of all, the pagans turned upon the virgins, all of whom they slew, save only St. Ursula. Her they carried before their king, who, beholding her beauty, would fain have wedded her. But Ursula sternly refused the offer of this son of Satan ; whereupon the king, seizing his bow, transfixed her breast with three arrows. Hence her symbol is an arrow ; also, she is the patroness of young girls and of vir- gins, so that her shrine is particularly appro- priate in a nunnery. Most of the bones of St. Ursula and her eleven thousand virgins are preserved at Cologne, the city of her martyrdom, where they are ranged in cases round the walls of a church dedicated in her honour; but her arm is here, and a few other relics are distributed elsewhere. The Hospital is open daily from nine to six ; Sundays, three to six. One franc per person. If you have Conway, take it with you. From the Grand' Place, turn down the Rue des Pierres, the principal shopping street of Bruges, with several fine old facades, many of them dated. At the Place Simon Stevin turn HOSPITAL OF ST. JOHN, BRUGES. The Hospital of St. John 79 to the left, and go straight on as far as the church of Notre Dame. The long brick build- ing with Gothic arches, on your right, is the ** Hospital of St. John, the Evangelist. First, examine the brick Gothic exterior. Over the outer doorway is the figure of a bishop with a flaming heart, the emblem of St. Augustine, this being an Augustinian hospital. Continue on to the original main portal (now bricked up) with a broken pillar and two thir- teenth century reliefs in the tympanum. That to the right represents the Death of the Virgin, with the Apostles grouped around, and the fig- ure of the Christ receiving her naked new-bom soul as usual. Above is the Coronation of Our Lady. That to the left seems like a reversed and altered replica of the same subject, with perhaps the Last Judgment above it. It is, however, so much dilapidated that identification is difficult. Perhaps the top is a Glory of St. Ursula. Go on as far as the little bridge over the canal, to inspect the picturesque river front of the Hospital. Return to the main portal and ring the inner bell. Admission, see above. The pictures are collected in the former Chapter-house of the 8o Belgium : Its Cities Hospital, above the door of which is another figure of St. Augustine. The centre of the room is occupied by the famous ** shrine containing the arm of St. Ursula, a dainty little Gothic chapel in minia- ture. It is painted with exquisite scenes from the legend, by Memling, with all the charm of a fairy tale. He treats it as a poetical romance. Begin the story on the side toward the window. (For a penetrating criticism of these works, see Conway. ) In the first panel, on the left, St. Ursula and her maidens, in the rich dress of the Burgun- dian court of the fifteenth century, arrive at Cologne, the buildings of which are seen in the background, correctly represented, but not in their true relations. In a window in the back- ground to the right, the angel appears to St. Ursula in a vision. In the second panel, the virgins arrive at Basle and disembark from the ships. In the background, they are seen preparing to make their way, one by one, across the Alps, which rise from low hills at the base to snowy moun- tains. From another ship Conon and his knights are disembarking. MEMLING. — SHRINE OF ST. URSULA. The Hospital of St. John 8 1 In the third and most beautiful panel, the maidens arrive at Rome. In the distance they are seen entering the city through a triumphal arch; in the foreground, St. Ursula kneels before St. Cyriacus and his bishops, with their attendant deacons, all the faces having the character of portraits. Note especially the fat and jolly ecclesiastic just under the arch. At the same time, her betrothed, Conon, with his knights, arrives at Rome by a different road, and is seen kneeling in a red robe trimmed with rich fur beside St. Ursula. Note the fine por- trait faces of Conon and an old courtier behind him. The Pope and his priests are gathered under the portals of a beautiful round-arched building, whose exquisite architecture should be closely examined. To the extreme right the new converts and Conon receive baptism naked in fonts after the early fashion. In the background of this scene, St. Ursula receives the Sacrament. She may be recognized throughout by her peculiar blue-and-white dress, with its open sleeves. To the left of her, Conon makes confession. In this, as in the other scenes, several successive moments of the 82 Belgium : Its Cities same episode are contemporaneously repre- sented. Look long at it. Now, turn round the shrine, which swings freely on a pivot, to see the scenes of the return journey, beginning again at the left. In the first panel, the Pope and his bishops and car- dinals embark with St. Ursula in the boat at Basle on their way to Cologne. Three episodes are here conjoined : the Pope cautiously step- ping into a ship; the Pope seated; the ship sailing down the Rhine. All the faces here, and especially the timid old Pope stepping into the boat, deserve careful examination. In the background, the return over the Alps. In the * second panel, the maidens and the Pope arrive at Cologne, where they are in- stantly set upon by the armed Huns. Conon is slain by the thrust of a sword, and falls back dying in the arms of St. Ursula. Many of the maidens are also slaughtered. The * third panel is continuous with the last, but represents a subsequent moment: the Martyrdom of St. Ursula. The King of the Huns, in full armour, at the door of his tent, bends his bow to shoot the blessed martyr, who has refused his advances. Around are grouped The Hospital of St. John 83 his knig-hts in admirably painted armour. (Note the reflections.) All the scenes have the character of a mediaeval romance. For their open-air tone and make-beHeve martyrdom, see Conway. At the ends of the shrine are two other pictures. The first is^ * St. Ursula with her arrow, as the protectress of young girls, shel- tering a number of them under her cloak (not, as is commonly said, the eleven thousand vir- gins). Similar protecting figures of the saint are common elsewhere (Cluny, Bologna, etc.). At the opposite end is the second, — the Ma- donna and Child with the apple, and at her feet two Augustinian nuns of this Hospital, kneeling, to represent the devotion of the order. The roof of the shrine is also decorated with pictures. First, St. Ursula receiving the crown of martyrdom from God the Father, with the Son and the Holy Ghost; at the sides, two angels playing the mandoline and the regal or portable organ ; second, St Ursula in Paradise, bearing her arrow, and surrounded by her maidens, who shared her martyrdom, together with the Pope and other ecclesiastics in the background. This picture is largely borrowed 84 Belgium : Its Cities from the famous one by Stephan Lochner on the High Ahar of Cologne Cathedral, known as the Dombild. If you are going on to Cologne, buy a photograph of this now, to com- pare with Meister Stephan later. His altar- piece is engraved in Conway, If you have it with you compare them. At the sides are two angels, drawn possibly by a pupil, playing the zither and the violin. I have given a brief description only of these pictures, but every one of them ought to be carefully examined, and the character of the figures and of the landscape or architectural background noted. You will see nothing love- lier in all Flanders. Near the window by the entrance is a ** Triptych, also by Memling, commissioned by Brother Jan Floreins of this Hospital. The central panel represents the Adoration of the Magi, which takes place, as usual, under a ruined temple fitted up as a manger. The Eldest of the Three Kings, according to prec- edent, is kneeling and has presented his gift; Joseph, recognizable in all three panels by his red-and-black robe, stands erect behind him, with the presented gift in his hands. The The Hospital of St. John 85 Middle-aged King, arrayed in cloth of gold, with a white tippet, kneels with his gift to the left of the picture. The Young King, a black man, as always, is entering with his gift to the right. The three thus typify the Three Ages of Man, and also the three known continents, Europe, Asia, Africa. On the left side of this central panel are figured the donor, Jan Floreins, and his brother Jacob. (Members of the same family are grouped in the well- known " Duchatel Madonna," also by Mem- ling, in the Louvre.) To the right is a figure looking in at a window and wearing the yellow cap still used by convalescents of the Hospital (arbitrarily said to be a portrait of Memling). The left p^nel represents the Nativity, with our Lady, St. Joseph, and two adoring angels. The right panel shows the Presentation in the Temple, with Simeon and Anna, and St. Joseph (in red and black) in the background. The whole thus typifies the Epiphany of Christ; left, to the Blessed Virgin ; centre, to the Gen- tiles; right, to the Jews. The outer panels, in pursuance of the same idea, have figures, right, of St. John the Baptist with the lamb (he pointed out Christ to the Jews), with the 86 Belgium : Its Cities Baptism of Christ in the background; and left, St. Veronica, who preserved for us the features of our Lord, displaying his divine face on her napkin. The architectural frame shows the First Sin and the Expulsion from Para- dise. Note everywhei^e the strong character in the men's faces, and the exquisite landscape or architectural backgrounds. Dated 1479. This is Memling's finest altar-piece: its glow of colour is glorious. By the centre window, a * triptych, doubt- fully attributed to Memling, represents, in the centre, the Deposition from the Cross, with the Holy Blood conspicuous, as might be ex- pected in a Bruges work. In the foreground are St. John, the Madonna, and St. Mary Magdalene; in the background, the prepara- tions from the Deposition in the Tomb. On the wings : left. Brother Adrian Reins, the donor, with his patron saint, Adrian, bearing his symbol, the anvil, on which his limbs were struck off, and with his lion at his feet ; right, St. Barbara with her tower^ perhaps as patron- ess of armourers. On the exterior wings, left, St. Wilgefortis with her tau-shaped cross; MEMLING. MARTIN VAN NIEUWENHOVEN. The Hospital of St. John 87 right, St. Mary of Egypt, with the three loaves which sustained her in the desert. On the same stand is the beautiful * diptych by Memling, representing Martin van Nieu- wenhoven adoring the Madonna. The left panel represents Our Lady and the Child, with an apple, poised on a beautifully painted cushion. A convex mirror in the background reflects the backs of the figures, as in the Van Eyck of the National Gallery. Through the open window is seen a charming distant prospect. The right panel has the fine portrait of the donor, in a velvet dress painted with extreme realism. Note the admirable prayer- book and joined hands. At his back, a stained glass window shows his patron, St. Martin, dividing his cloak for the beggar. Below, a lovely glimpse of landscape. This is probably Memling's most successful portrait. Dated 1487 : brought here from the Hospice of St. Julian, of which Martin was Master. In all Flemish art, observe now the wooden face of the Madonna — ultimately derived, I believe, from imitation of painted wooden figures, and then hardened into a type. As a rule, the Madonna is the least interesting part 88 Belgium : Its Cities of all Flemish painting; and after her, the women, especially the young ones. The men's faces are best, and better when old : character, not beauty, is what the painter cares for. This is most noticeable in Van Eyck, but is true in part even of Memling. At the end of the room is the magnificent * triptych painted by Memling for the High Altar of the Church of this Hospital. This is the largest of his workSj and it is dedicated to the honour of the two saints, John the Evan- gelist and John the Baptist, who are patrons of the Hospital. The central panel represents Our Lady, seated in an exquisite cloister, on a throne backed with cloth of gold. To the right and left are two exquisite angels, one of whom plays a regal, while the other, in a delicious pale blue robe, holds a book for Our Lady. Two smaller angels, poised in air, support her crown. To the left, St. Catherine of Alexandria kneels as princess, with the broken wheel and the sword of her martyrdom at her feet. The Child Christ places a ring on her finger ; whence the whole composition is often absurdly called " The Marriage of St. Catherine." It should Lfe styled " The Altar-piece of the St. Johns." The Hospital of St. John 89 To the right is St, Barbara, calmly reading, with her tower behind her. When these two saints are thus combined, they represent the meditative and the active hfe (as St. Barbara was the patroness of arms), or, more definitely, the clergy and the knighthood. Hence their appropriateness to an institution, half monastic, half secular. In the background stand the two patron saints; St. John the Baptist with the lamb (Memling's personal patron), to the left, and St. John the Evangelist with the cup and serpent, to the right. (For these symbols, see Mrs. Jameson.) Behind the Baptist are scenes from his life and preaching. He is led to prison, and his body is burned by order of Julian the Apostate. Behind the Evangelist, he is seen in the cauldron of boiling oil. The small figure in black to the right is the chief donor. Brother Jan Floreins, who is seen further back in his secular capacity as public ganger of wine, near a great crane, which affords a fine picture of mercantile life in old Bruges. The left wing represents the life of St. John the Baptist. In the distance is seen the Baptism of Christ. In a room to the left, the daughter of Herodias dances before Herod. (^ Belgium : Its Cities The foreground is occupied by the episode of the Decollation, treated in a courtly manner, very redolent of the Burgundian splendour. Figures and attitudes are charming : only, the martyrdom sinks into insignificance beside the princess's collar. Other minor episodes may be discovered by inspection. The episodes on either wing overflow into the main pictures. The right wing shows St. John the Evangelist in Patmos, writing the Apocalypse, various scenes from which are realistically and too solidly represented above him, without poetical insight. Memling here attempts to transcend his powers. He has no sublimity. On the exterior of the wings are seen the four other members of the society who were donors of the altar-piece; Anthony Zeghers, master of the Hospital, with his patron, St. Anthony, known by his pig and tau-shaped crutch and bell ; Jacob de Cueninc, treasurer, accompanied by his patron, St. James the Greater, with his pilgrim's stafif and scallop-shell ; Agnes Casern- brood, mistress of the Hospital, with her patron, St. Agnes, known by her lamb; and Claire van Hulsen, a sister, with her patron, St. Clara. Dated, 1479. MEMLING. — ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST. The Hospital of St. John 91 By the entrance door is a Portrait of Marie Moreel, represented as a Sibyl. She was a daughter of Willem Moreel or Morelli, a patron of Memling, whom we shall meet again at the Museum. This is a fine portrait of a solid, plain body, a good deal spoiled by attempted cleaning. It comes from the Hospice of St. Julian. As you go out cast a glance at the fine old brick buildings, and note the cleanliness of all the arrangements. Return more than once: do not be satisfied with a single visit. The other pictures and objects formerly exhibited in this Hospital have been transferred to the Potterie and another building. They need only be visited by those whose time is ample. After leaving the Hospital, I do not advise an immediate visit to the Academy. Let the Memlings first sink into your mind. But the walk may be prolonged by crossing the canal, and taking the second turning to the right, which leads, over a pretty bridge of three arches, to the Beguinage, a lay-nunnery for ladies who take no vows, but who live in mo- g2 Belgium : Its Cities nastic fashion under the charge of a Superior. Above the gateway is a figure of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, to whom the church within is dedicated, giving alms to a beggar. She wears her crown, and carries in her hand the crown and book which are her symbol. Remember these, — they will recur later. Pass under the gateway and into the grass-grown precincts for an external glimpse of the quiet old-world close, with its calm whitewashed houses. The church dedicated to St. Elizabeth is uninter- esting. Tliis walk may be further prolonged by the pretty bank of the Lac d' Amour or Minnewater as far as the external canal, re- turning by the ramparts and the picturesque Porte de Gand. CHAPTER VIL THE TOWN OF BRUGES IN GENERAL THE town of Bruges itself is more interest- ing, after all, than almost any one thing in it. Vary your day by giving up the morning to definite sightseeing, and devoting the after- noon to strolls through the town and neigh- bourhood, in search of picturesqueness. I subjoin a few stray hints for such casual rambles. Set out from the Grand' Place, and turn down the Rue Breydel to the Place du Bourg. Cross the Place by the statue of Jan van Eyck ; traverse the Rue Philippe Stock; turn up the Rue des Armuriers a little to the right, and continue on to the Place St. Jean, with a few interesting houses. Note here and else- where, at every turn, the little statues of the Virgin and Child in niches, and the old signs on the fronts or gables. The interesting Gothic 93 94 Belgium : Its Cities turret which faces you as you go belong-s to the old fourteenth century building called De Poorters Loodge, or the Assembly Hall of the Noble Citizens Within the Gate, as opposed to those of the Franc de Bruges. Continue on in the same direction to the Place Jan van Eyck, where you open up one of the most charm- ing views in Bruges over the canal and quays. The Place is " adorned " by a modern statue of Jan van Eyck. The dilapidated building to your left is that of the Academie des Beaux- Arts which occupies the site of the Citizens' Assembly Hall : the ancient edifice was wholly rebuilt and spoilt in 1755, with the exception of the picturesque tower, best viewed from the base of the statue. Opposite you, as you emerge into the Place, is the charming Tonlieu or Cus- tom House, whose decorated facade and portal (restored) bear the date 1477, with the arms of Pieter van Luxemburg, and the collar of the Golden Fleece. The dainty little neighbour- ing house to the left, now practically united with it, has a coquettish fagade: the saints in the niches are St. George, St. John Baptist, St. Thomas a Becket (or Augustine?), and St. John the Evangelist. The Town of Bruges in General 95 The Tonlieu is now fitted up as the Municipal Library, and is open daily, free, from ten to one, and from three to five, Saturday and Sunday excepted. It contains illuminated manuscripts and examples of editions printed by Colard Mansion. All round the Place are other picturesque mediaeval or Renaissance houses. The little street diagonally to the right of the Tonlieu leads on to the Marche du Mercedi, now called Place de Memling, embellished by a statue of the great painter. Cross the Place diagonally to the Quai des Espagnoles, keep- ing the Madonna and Child in front of you, and continue along the quay, to the left, to the first bridge; there cross and go along the pic- turesque Quai des Augustins to the Rue Flamande. There is a quaint little window to the left as you cross the bridge. Follow the Rue Flamande as far as the Theatre, just before reaching which you pass, right, a hand- some mediaeval stone mansion (formerly the Guild of the Genoese Merchants), with a relief over the door, representing St. George killing the Dragon, and the Princess Cleodolind looking on. At the Theatre, turn to the right, 96 Belgium : Its Cities following the tram line, and making your way back to the Grand' Place by the Rue des Tonneliers. As early as 1362, Bruges acquired its existing size, and was surrounded by ramparts, which still in part remain. A continuous canal runs round these ramparts, and beyond it again lies an outer moat. Most of the old gates have unhappily been destroyed, but four still exist. These may be made the objects of interesting rambles. Go from your hotel, or from the Grand' Place, by the Rue Flamande, as far as the Rue de I'Academie. Turn along this to the right, into the Place Jan van Eyck, noting as you pass the Bear of Bruges at the corner of the building of the old Academy. Follow the quay straight on till you reach a second canal, near the cor- ner of which, by the Rue des Carmes, is an interesting shop with good beaten brasswork. Take the long squalid Rue des Carmes to the right, past the ugly convent of the English Ladies, with its domed church in the most painful taste of the later Renaissance (1730). The mediseval brick building on your right, at the end of the street, is the late Gothic Guild- The Town of Bruges in General 97 house of the Archers of St. Sebastian. Its slender octagonal tower has a certain pictur- esqueness. (St. Sebastian was of course the patron of archery.) Charles II. of England (see under the Grand' Place) was a member of this society during his exile: his bust is preserved here. So also was the Emperor Maximilian. Continue to the ramparts, and mount the first hill, crowned by a windmill, — a scene of a type familiar to us in many later Dutch and Flemish pictures. A picturesque view of Bruges is obtained from this point : the octagonal Belfry, the square tower of St. Sauveur, the Cathedral, the tapering brick spire of Notre-Dame, with its projecting gal- lery, and the steeple of the new Church of the Madeleine are all conspicuous in views from this side. Follow the ramparts to the right, to the picturesque Porte de Ste. Croix, and on past the barracks and the little garden to the Quai des Dominicains, returning by the Park and the Place du Bourg or the Dyver. Set out by the Grand' Place and the Place du Bourg; then follow the Rue Haute, with its interesting old houses, as far as the canal. Do not cross it, but skirt the quay on the gS Belgium : Its Cities further side, with the towers of St. Walburge and St. Gilles in front of you. At the bridge, diverge to the rights round the Church of St. Anne, and the quaint Httle Church of Jeru- salem, which contains an unimportant imita- tion of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, founded by a burgomaster of Bruges in the fifteenth century. It is just worth looking at. Return to the bridge, and follow the quay straight on to the modern Episcopal Seminary and the picturesque old Hospice de la Potterie, which now harbours the Museum of Antiq- uities belonging to the Hospital of St. John. I do not advise a visit. It contains third-rate early Flemish pictures, inferior tapestry, and a few pieces of carved oak furniture. Admis- sion, fifty centimes : entrance by the door just beyond the church. No, F, 79. The church itself is worth a minute's visit. This walk passes many interesting old houses, which it is not necessary now to specify. Return by the Porte de Damme, and the opposite side of the same canal, to the Pont des Carmes, whence follow the pretty canal on the right to the Rue Flamande. Take the Rue St. Jacques, and go straight CHURCH OF JERUSALEM, BRUGES. The Town of Bruges in General 99 out to the Porte d'Ostende, which forms an interesting picture. Cross the canal and outer moat, and traverse the long avenue, past the gasometers, as far as the navigable canal from Bruges to Ostend. Then retrace your steps to the gateway, and return by the ramparts and the Railway Station to the Rue Nord du Sablon. These four walks will show you almost all that is externally interesting in the streets and canals of the city. The original Palace of the Counts of Flan- ders, we saw, occupied the site of the Palais de Justice. Their later residence, the Cour des Princes, in a street behind the Hotel du Commerce, has now entirely disappeared. Its site is filled by a large, ornate modern build- ing, belonging to the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, who use it as a school for girls. The water-system of Bruges is also inter- esting. The original river Reye enters the town at the Minnewater, flows past the Hos- pital and the Dyver, and turns northward at the Bourg, running under arches till it emerges on the Place Jean van Eyck. This accounts for the apparently meaningless way this branch lOO Belgium : Its Cities seems to stop short close to the statue of Van Eyck : also, for the mediaeval ships unloading at the Grand' Place. The water is now mostly diverted along the canals and the moat by the ramparts. CATHEDRAL OF ST SAUVKUR, BRUGES. CHAPTER VIII. THE CHURCHES OF BRUGES THE original Cathedral of Bruges, St. Donatian, was destroyed, as we saw, by the French, in 1799; but the town still possesses two fine mediaeval churches of con- siderable pretensions, as well as several others of lesser importance. Though of very ancient foundation, the two principal churches in their existing form date only from the most flour- ishing period of Bruges, the thirteenth, four- teenth, and fifteenth centuries. St. Salvator or St. Sauveur, the larger, was erected into the Cathedral after the destruction of St. Donatian, whose relics were transferred to it. To this, therefore, we will first direct ourselves. Go down the Rue des Pierres as far as the Cathedral, which replaces a very ancient church built by St. Eligius (St. Eloy) in 646. I02 Belgium : Its Cities Externally, the edifice, which is built of brick, has rather a heavy and cumbrous effect, its chief good features being the handsome square tower and the large decorated windows of the north and south transepts. The choir and its chapels have the characteristic French form of a chevet. The main portal of the north transept has been robbed of its sculp- ture. The choir is of the late thirteenth cen- tury : the nave and transept are mainly in the decorated style of the fourteenth. The best entrance is near the tower on the north side. Walk straight on into the body of the nave, by the archway in the heavy tower, so as to view the internal architecture as a whole. The nave and single aisles are hand- some and imposing, though the windows on the south side have been despoiled of their tracery. Notice the curious high-pointed triforium (1362), between the arches of the nave and the windows of the clerestory. The choir is closed by a strikingly ugly debased Renais- sance or rococo rood-screen (1682), in black- and-white marble, supporting the organ. It has a statue of God the Father, by the younger Quellin. The whole of the interior has been The Churches of Bruges 103 decorated afresh in somewhat gaudy poly- chrome, by Jean Bethune. The effect is on the whole not unpleasing. The Cathedral contains few works of art of high merit, but a preliminary walk round the aisles, transept, and ambulatory behind the choir will give a good idea of its general ar- rangement. Then return to view the paintings. The sacristan takes you round and unlocks the pictures. Do not let him hurry you. Begin with the left aisle. The baptistery, on your left, contains a hand- some font. Right and left of the entry to it are admirable brasses. In the baptistery itself, on the left wall, are two wings of a rather quaint triptych, representing St. Martin divid- ing his cloak with the beggar; St. Nicholas raising to life the three boys who had been salted for meat; St. Mary Magdalen with the pot of ointment (in the distance, as Penitent in the Desert) ; and St. Barbara with her tower; dated 1613. Also a rude Flemish picture (sixteenth century) of the lives of St. Joachim and St. Anna, and their daughter, the Blessed Virgin : — the main episodes are the Marriage of the Virgin, Birth of the Virgin, I04 Belgium : Its Cities and Rejection of St. Joachim from the Tem- ple, with other scenes in the background. The end wall of the baptistery has Peter Pourbus's masterpiece, a * triptych painted for the Guild of the Holy Sacrament, attached to the church of St. Sauveur, and allusive to their functions. The outer wings, when closed, represent the miracle of the Mass of St. Gregory, when the host, as he consecrated it, was changed into the bodily presence of the Saviour, to silence a doubter. It thus shows in a visible form the tremendous mystery of transubstantiation, in honour of which the Guild was founded. Behind, the Brothers of the Confraternity are represented (on the right wing) in attendance on the Pope, as spectators of the miracle. One of them holds his triple crown. These may rank among the finest portraits by the elder Pourbus. They show the last stage in the evolution of native Flemish art before it was revolutionized by Rubens. The inner picture represents, in the centre, the Last Supper, or rather, the Institution of the Eucharist, to commemorate which fact the Guild was founded. The arrangement of the figures is in the old conventional order, round The Churches of Bruges 105 three sides of a table, with Judas in the fore- ground to the left. The wings contain Old Testament subjects of typical import, as fore- shadowing the Eucharist. On the left, Mel- chisedec giving bread and wine to Abraham; on the right, Elijah fed by the angel in the Wilderness. All the faces have still much of the old Flemish portrait character. On the right wall are the wings of a picture, by F. Pourbus (the son), painted for the Guild of Shoemakers, whose chapel is adjacent. The inside contains portraits of the members. On the outside are their patrons, St. Crispinus and St. Crispianus, with their shoemakers' knives. Also, an early Crucifixion, of the school of Cologne (about 1400), with St. Catherine hold- ing her wheel and trampling on the tyrant Maximin, by whose orders she was executed, and St. Barbara with her tower. Tliese two also occur together in Memling's great triptych. The picture is interesting as the only specimen in Bruges of the precursors of Van Eyck on the lower Rhine. The baptistery contains, besides, a fine old candlestick, and a quaint ciborium, for the Holy Oil, with coloured re- liefs of the Seven Joys of Mary (1536)- lo6 Belgium: Its Cities The vistas from the north transept are im- pressive. It terminates in the Chapel of the Shoemakers' Guild, with a fine carved wooden door of about 1470, and good brasses, as well as an early crucifix. It is dedicated to the patron saints of the craft, and bears their arms, a boot. The first two chapels in the ambulatory (behind the choir) have good screens. The third chapel encloses the tomb of Arch- bishop Carondelet, in alabaster (1544), a fine work of the Italian Renaissance. The Descent from the Cross, by Claeissens, with the Crown of Thorns and the Holy Blood in the fore- ground : on the wings, St. Philip, and the donor, under the protection of the canonized Charlemagne. Near this is a * triptych, by Dierick Bouts (falsely ascribed to Memling), representing, in the centre, St. Hippolytus torn to pieces by four horses. (He was the jailor of St. Lawrence, who converted him : see Mrs. Jameson.) The faces show well the remark- able power of this bourgeois painter of Lou- vain. On the left wing are the donors ; on the right wing Hippolytus confesses himself a Christian, and is condemned to martyrdom. The Churches of Bruges 107 Over the altar, a Tree of Jesse, in carved wood- work, with the family of Our Lady: on the wings (painted), the legend of St. Hubert and the stag, and the legend of St. Lucy. In the apse is the Chapel of the Host. The next chapel, of the Seven Sorrows, has a Mater Dolorosa of 1460 (copy of one at Rome) ; a fine * brass ; and the * portrait of Philippe le Beau, known as Philippus Stok (father of Charles V.), and bearing the collar of the Golden Fleece. The choir (admirable architecturally) con- tains the * stalls and arms of the Knights of the Golden Fleece, with good carved misereres. The Cathedral contains many other pictures of interest, which, however, do not fall within the scope of these guides. The churchwardens' vestry contains manu- scripts and church furniture, sufficiently de- scribed by the sacristan. In the sacristy are still preserved the relics of St. Donatian. Give the sacristan a franc, and then go round alone again, to inspect the unlocked pictures at your leisure. On leaving the Cathedral, go round the south lo8 Belgium: Its Cities side, which affords an excellent view of the chapels built out from the apse. Then take the little Rue du St. Esprit as far as the church of Notre-Dame, which replaces a chapel, built by St. Boniface, the Apostle of Germany, in 744, and enclosed in the town in 909. Stand opposite it, in the small Place on the north side, to observe the somewhat shapeless architecture, the handsome brick tower crowned by a tall brick steeple, and the beautiful little * porch or " Paradise," built out from the main structure in flamboyant Gothic of the fifteenth century. The portal of this porch has been walled up, and the area is now used as a chapel, approached from the interior. Notice the deli- cate tracery of the windows, the fine finials and niches, and the charming gable-end. The picturesque building with turrets to the left of the church wa^ originally the mansion of the family Van der Gruuthuus, one of the principal mediaeval stocks of Bruges. It had a passage communicating with the family gal- lery in the Church of Notre-Dame. The build- ing is now in course of being restored and fitted up for the Town Museum of Antiquities. A Museum of Lace is already installed in it; The Churches of Bruges 109 the entrance is by a doorway over the bridge to the left (fifty centimes per person). Enter the church, and walk straight into the nave, below the great west window, a spot which affords a good view of the centre of the church, the vaulted double aisles, and the an- gular apse. The choir is shut off from the body of the church by a very ugly marble rood- screen (1722), still bearing its crucifix, and with a figure of Our Lady, patroness of the church, enshrined above its central arch. Ro- coco statues of the Twelve Apostles, with their well-know^n symbols (1618), are attached to the pillars. Note these symbols : they recur in similar situations everywhere. In spite of hideous disfigurements, the main portion of the interior is still a fine specimen of good middle Gothic architecture, mainly of the four- teenth century. Walk up the outer left aisle. The last bay is formed by the baptistery, originally the porch, whose beautiful exterior we have already viewed. Its interior architecture is also very charming. It contains the Font, and the usual figure of the patron, St. John the Baptist. This aisle terminates in an apsidal chapel (of the I lo Belgium : Its Cities Holy Cross) containing inferior pictures of the seventeenth century, representing the history of a relic of the True Cross preserved here. The inner left aisle leads to the ambulatory or passage at the back of the Choir. The Con- fessionals to the right have fairly good rococo carved woodwork, 1689. On the left is the handsome mediaeval woodwork gallery ( 1474), belonging to the Van der Gruuthuus family, originally approached by a passage from their mansion behind. Beneath it, is a screen of delicate early Gothic architecture, with family escutcheons above the door. The windows of the apse have good modern stained glass. On the left, at the entrance to the apse, is Pourbus's Adoration of the Shepherds, a winged picture, closed. The sacristan will open it. On the wings are, left, the donor, Sire Josse de Damhoudere, with his patron, St. Josse, and his four sons; right, his wife, Louise, with her five daughters, and her patron, St. Louis of France, wearing his crown and robe of fleurs-de-lis, and holding the main de justice. He is represented older than is usual, or indeed historical, and in features somewhat The Churches of Bruges ill resembles Henry IV. This is a fine picture for its master. On the outer wings are the cognate subjects, the Circumcision and the Adoration of the Magi, in grisaille. The chapel in the apse, formerly the Lady Chapel, now contains the host. It has a gaudy modern altar for the monstrance. In the south ambulatory, over a doorway, Foundation of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore at Rome, by Claeissens. A chapel to the left, just beyond, locked, but opened by the sacristan (one franc; or, for a party, fifty centimes each), contains the cele- brated ** tombs of Mary of Burgundy and Charles the Bold, her father. Mary was the wife of Maximilian, and died by a fall from her horse in 1482, when only twenty-five. Her ** monument was designed and executed by Peter Beckere of Brussels, by order of her son, Philippe le Beau, in 1502. The sarcopha- gus is of black marble: the statue of the princess, in gilt bronze, lies recumbent upon it. The style is intermediate between that of the later Middle Ages and of the full Renaissance. Beside it is the * tomb of Charles the Bold, of far less artistic value. Charles was buried at 112 Belgium : Its Cities Nancy, after the fatal battle, but his body was transported to St. Donatian in this town by his descendant, Charles V., and finally laid here beside his daughter by Philip II., who had this tomb constructed for his ancestor in imitation of that of Mary. I advise the visitor after seeing these tombs and the great chimney-piece of the Franc de Bruges to read up the history of Charles the Bold and his descendants, down to Charles V. The east wall of this chapel, beyond the tomb of Charles the Bold, has a fine picture of Our Lady of Sorrows, enthroned, surrounded by smaller subjects of the Seven Sorrows. Beginning at the left, the Circumcision, the Flight into Egypt, Christ lost by his parents in the Temple, the Way to Calvary (with St. Ve- ronica holding out her napkin), the Crucifixion (with Our Lady, St. John, and Mary Mag- dalen), the Descent from the Cross, and the Deposition in the Tomb. A fine work of its sort, attributed to Mostart (or to Maubeuge). On the west wall are two wings from a triptych, by Pourbus, with tolerable portraits (centre- piece destroyed), and an early Flemish paint- MICHAEL ANGELO. — MADONNA AND CHILD. The Churches of Bruges 113 ing of the Dqx>sition from the Cross (inter- esting for comparison with Roger van der Weyden and Gerard David). In the fore- ground Hes the vessel containing the Holy- Blood. On the wings are the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. The whole is very rudely painted. Outside are portraits of the donor and his wife and children, with their patrons, St. James (staff and scallop) and St. Margaret (whose dragon just appears in the back- ground). On an arcade, a little further on, is a very early fresco (1350?) of a saint (St. Louis of France?), and also a dainty small relief (about 1500) of a donor, introduced by his patron, St. Peter, adoring Our Lady. The end chapel of the right aisle, that of the Holy Sacrament, contains a celebrated and noble white marble ** Madonna and Child, by Michael Angelo, enshrined in a black marble niche. The pensive, grave, and graceful face, the exquisite modelling of the dainty naked Child, and the beautiful infantile pose of its left hand, all betray a design of Michael An- gelo, though the execution may possibly have been left to pupils. But the modelling is softer 114 Belgium: Its Cities and more feminine than is usual with this great sculptor, except in his early period. In this respect, it resembles most the unfinished Ma- donna in the Bargello at Florence. Condivi mentions that Peter Mouscron of Bruges or- dered of Michael Angelo a Madonna and Child in bronze: he was probably mistaken as to the material : and we have here doubt- less the work in question. Apart from its great artistic value, this exquisite group is interesting as affording another link between Flanders and Italy. The same chapel also contains some good seventeenth century pictures. Near the confessional, as we return toward the West End of the church, we find a good diptych of Herrimet de Bles, of 1520, con- taining, left panel, an Annunciation, with all the conventional elements; to the left, as usual, is the angel Gabriel; to the right, Our Lady. These relative positions are never al- tered. The lilies in the pot, the desk and book, the bed with its furniture, the arcade in the background, and the rich brocade, are all con- stant features in pictures of this subject. Look out for them elsewhere. The right panel has The Churches of Bruges 115 the Adoration of the Magi, with the old, mid- dle-aged, and young Kings, the last-named a Moor. This quaint and interesting work of a Flemish painter, with its archaic background, and its early Italian reminiscences, also betrays the influence of Diirer. Among the other pictures may be mentioned a triptych : the central panel shows the Transfiguration, with the three apostles below, Moses, Elias, and the Eternal Father above (perhaps by Jan Mos- tart). On the wings (much later, by P. Pour- bus), are the portraits of the donor, his wife, and their patron saints. The West Wall of the church has several large pictures of the later Renaissance, which can be sufficiently inspected on their merits by those who care for them. The best of them are the Adoration of the Magi, by Seghers, and De Crayer's Adoration of the Infant Jesus. I do not propose to deal at length with later Flemish art till we reach Brussels and Ant- werp : at Bruges, it is best to confine one's self to the introductory period of Flemish painting — that of the Burgundian princes. I will therefore only call attention here to the mean- ingless way in which huge pictures like B. van Ii6 Belgium: Its Cities Orley's Crucifixion, with subsidiary scenes from the Passion, reproduce the form of earher winged pictures, which becomes absurd on this gigantic scale. The Church of St. Jacques stands in the street of the same name, conveniently near the Hotel du Commerce. It is a good old mediae- val building (twelfth century, rebuilt 1457 — 1 5 18), but hopelessly ruined by alterations in the seventeenth century, and now, as a fabric, externally and internally uninteresting. Its architecture is in the churchwarden style: its decoration in the upholsterer's. The carved wooden pulpit is a miracle of bad taste (sev- enteenth century), surpassed only by the parti- coloured marble rood-screen. A few good pictures and decorative objects, however, occur among the mass of paintings ranged round its walls as in a gallery. The best is a panel of the old Flemish School (by Dierick Bouts, or more probably a pupil), in the left aisle, just beyond the second doorway. It tells very naively the History of St. Lucy (see Mrs. Jameson). In the left panel, she informs her mother that she is about to distribute her goods to the poor, who are visibly represented in The Churches of Bruges 1 1 7 a compact body asking alms behind her. In the centre, she is haled before the consul Paschasius by her betrothed, whom she refuses to marry. She confesses herself a Christian, and is condemned to a life of shame. In the right, she is dragged away to a house of ill- fame, the consul Paschasius accompanying; but two very stumpy oxen fail to move her. The Holy Ghost flits above her head. The details are good, but the figures very wooden. Dated, 1480. Beside it is an extravagant Lancelot Blon- deel of St. Cosmo and St. Damian, the doctor saints, with surgical instruments and pots of ointment. The central picture shows their martyrdom. , Further on hangs a good Flemish triptych (according to Waagen, by Jan Mostart), rep- resenting the prophecies of Christ's coming: centre, the Madonna and Child; with King Solomon below, from whom a genealogical tree rises to bear St. Joachim and St. Anna, parents of Our Lady. Right and left of him, Balaam and Isaiah, who prophesied of the Virgin and Christ : with two Sibyls, univer- sally believed in the Middle Ages to have also 1 1 8 Belgium : Its Cities foretold the advent of the Saviour. The stem ends in the Virgin and Child. Left, the Tibur- tine Sibyl showing the Emperor Augustus the vision of the glorious Virgin in the sky : right, St. John the Evangelist in Patmos beholding the Apocalyptic vision of the Woman clothed with the Sun. This is a fine work of its kind, and full of the prophetic ideas of the Middle Ages. Pass round the ambulatory and choir to the first chapel at the east end of the right aisle. It contains an altar with the Madonna and Child in Delia Robbia ware, probably by Luca. Also, a fine tomb of Ferry de Gros and his two wives, the first of whom reposes by his side and the second beneath him. This is a good piece of early Renaissance workmanship (about 1530). The church also contains a few excellent later works by Pourbus and others, which need not be specified. This was the church of the Florentine merchants at Bruges (whence perhaps the Delia Robbia) and particularly of the Portinari, who com- missioned the great altar-piece, by Van der Goes, now in the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova at Florence. LUCA DELLA ROBBIA. MADONNA AND CHILD. The Churches of Bruges 1 19 The other churches of Bruges need not de- tain the tourist, though all contain a few objects of interest for the visitor who has a week or two at his disposition. CHAPTER IX. THE ACADEMY OF BRUGES THE Academie des Beaux-Arts, which formerly occupied the Poorters Loodge, or Guild Hall of the citizens within the gates, has a small but valuable collection of pictures, removed from the destroyed Cathedral of St. Donatian and other churches of Bruges, which well repays a visit. You will here have an excellent opportunity for studying Jan van Eyck, whose work I shall more particularly notice when we arrive at Ghent. It is inter- esting, however, here to compare him with his great successor, Memling, who is repre- sented at the Academy by a fine tripych. The little gallery also contains some admirable works by Gerard David, one of the latest of the old School of Flemish painters, whose work may thus be observed here side by side with those of his two chief predecessors. Ow- 120 The Academy of Bruges 1 21 ing to the ruinous state of the original build- ing the collection has been transferred to a temporary apartment, beyond the Hospital Bridge, near the Church of Notre-Dame. No tourist should leave Bruges without visiting this interesting collection. At present the Museum is situated in a house on the right hand side of the Rue Ste. Catherine, nearly opposite a new church. Go to it past the Hospital of St. John. Admission daily, fifty centimes per person. Begin in the centre of the wall opposite the entrance. ( I ) Jan van Eyck. ** Altar-piece, ordered by George van der Palen, for the High Altar of the original Cathedral of St. Donatian, of which he was a canon. The centre of the picture is occupied by the Madonna and Child, the face of Our Lady somewhat recalling Ger- man models. She sits in the apse of a church, probably St. Donatian. The Child, whom it is the fashion to describe as " aged-looking," fondles a parrot and grasps a bunch of flowers. To the left stands St. Donatian, the Arch- bishop, patron saint of the church for which this altar-piece was painted. He bears his 122 Belgium; Its Cities usual symbol, the wheel with five lighted can- dles (as in the beautiful panel, by Gerard David, in the National Gallery at London). This is a fine and finely-painted figure. To the right, St. George, in full armour, admirably represented, but in an affected attitude, lifts his casque somewhat jauntily as he presents his namesake, the Canon George, to Our Lady. In all this we get a touch of Bur- gundian courtliness: the event is represented as a state ceremonial. With his left hand the Saint supports his Red Cross banner. The portrait of the kneeling Canon himself — asthmatic, pudding-faced — is very admirable and lifelike, but by no means flattered. He grips his prayer-book with an old man's trem- ulous hand. (For a profound criticism of this fine picture, see Conway.) The insipid Ma- donna, the rather foolish St. George, the fine portrait of the Canon, are all typical of Van Eyck's manner. The accessories of archi- tecture, decoration, and background, should also be carefully noted. The capitals of the columns and the knobs of glass in the window, as well as St. George's costume, are elaborated in Van Eyck's finest fashion. JAN VAN EYCK. — ST. GEORGE (Detail from Madonna and Child). The Academy of Bruges 123 (2) Jan van Eyck. * Portrait of his wife, painted for presentation to the Bruges Guild of Painters, together with one of the artist him- self, now undiscoverable. This is a fine though evidently unflattered portrait of a capable housewife, very stiffly arrayed in her best church-going costume. It deserves close in- spection. Above it, (3) Head of Christ, ascribed to Jan van Eyck, but in reality a poor and re- duced copy of the picture at Berlin. (4) Memling. ** Triptych painted for Willem Moreel or Morelli, a member of a wealthy Savoyard family settled at Bruges. Like Jan van Eyck's portrait of the two Arnol- fini in London, and Hugo van der Goes's trip- tych of the Portinari at Florence, this picture marks well the cosmopolitan character of old Bruges. In the central panel, St. Christopher, whose altar in the church of St. Jacques it adorned, wades with his staff through the water, feeling as he goes the increasing burden of the Christ-Child on his shoulder. For the legend, see Mrs. Jameson. To the left, above, is the diminutive figure of the hermit with his lantern, which always accompanies St. 1 24 Belgium : Its Cities Christopher. The left foreground of the pic- ture is occupied by St. Maurus, in his Bene- dictine costume; to the right is St. Giles (St. Egidius), the hermit, with the wounded doe, the arrow piercing the arm of the saint. The left wing represents the donor, Willem Moreel, under the care of his patron, St. William, who wears a hermit's dress above his coat of armour. (When a saint places his hand on a votary's shoulder, it usually implies that the votary is a namesake.) Behind are Moreel's five sons. All these portraits, but particularly that of the donor and his eldest son, who closely resem- bles him, are admirable. The right wing represents the donor's wife, Barbara, under the protection of her patron, St. Barbara, with her tower, showing as usual three windows, emblematic of the Holy Trinity. Behind the lady are her two daughters, one of whom is habited as a Benedictine nun, whence, doubt- less, the introduction of St. Maurus into the main altar-piece. This fine triptych originally decorated an altar of St. Christopher in Mo- reel's private chapel in the Church of St. Jacques. One of his daughters is the " Sibylla Sambetha " represented at the Hospital. The The Academy of Bruges 125 wings at the back rq)resent in grisaille St. John the Baptist with the lamb, and St. George with the dragon. It was usual to paint the outer wings in grisaille or in low tones of colour, so that the splendour of the interior hues might burst upon the spectator as the triptych was opened. (12) Attributed to Schoreel : really, by a master of the Brabant School. Death of the Virgin. Our Lady is represented on her death- bed, surrounded, as always, by the surviving apostles, who were miraculously collected to- gether to her chamber. The faces are those of Flemish peasants or artisans. Above, Christ appears in glory, surrounded by a halo of cherubs, to receive her new-born soul. Two angels support his outer garment. This pic- ture well shows the beginning of the later Flemish tendency. Now return to No. 5, by Gerard David, on the other side of the great Van Eyck. This is a * triptych, painted for Jean des Trompes, for the High Altar of the Lower Chapel of the Holy Blood. The central panel represents the Baptism of Christ. In the middle, the Saviour wades in the water of a 1 26 Belgium : Its Cities diminutive Jordan, where the concentric cir- cles show the increased careful study of nature. On the right-hand side of the picture, St. John the Baptist, patron saint of the donor, pours water on his head. Tlie relative positions of these two figures, and of the angel to the left holding a robe, are conventional : they have de- scended from a very early period of art. In the Ravenna mosaics, the place of the angel is filled by the river-god of the Jordan with his urn, afterward transformed and Chris- tianized into an angel with a towel. Look out in future for similar arrangements. The central figures are weak; but the robe of the angel is painted with Flemish minuteness. So are the flowers and leaves of the fore- ground. Above, the dove descends upon the head of the Saviour, while the Eternal Father pronounces from the skies the words, " Be- hold my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." In the background are two other episodes: on the left, the preaching of St. John the Baptist, where Oriental costumes indicate the heathen; on the right, St. John the Baptist pointing out Christ to his disciples with the The Academy of Bruges 127 words, "Behold the Lamb of God." The- distance shows two towns and a fine landscape. Observ^e the admirable painting of the trees, with their good shadows; also the ivy climb- ing up the trunk of one to the right. This picture is among the earliest in which the gloom of a wood is accurately represented: in many other respects it well illustrates the rise of landscape-painting. (For an exhaustive criticism, see Conway.) The left wing has a portrait of the donor, with his other patron, St. John the Evangelist, holding the cup. Be- side the donor kneels his little son Philip. This portrait, the face and foot of the Evan- gelist, the fur of the donor's robe, the crane in the background, and many other accessories deserve close attention. Two figures in the background dimly foreshadow Teniers. The right wing has a portrait of the donor's wife, Elizabeth, with her four daughters. Behind her stands her patroness, St. Elizabeth of Hun- gary, in Franciscan robes, with the crown on her head and the double crown and book in her hands, as on the statuette at the door of the Begninage. The painting of a rosar}' here is excellent. The outer wings (turn them 1 28 Belgium : Its Cities back) show, on the left, the Madonna and Child with a bunch of grapes; on the right, the donor's second wife Madeleine, introduced by her patroness, St. Mary Madeleine, who holds the alabaster pot of ointment. By the lady's side kneels her daughter. The back- ground consists of a view, probably in the Bruges of that period. Painted about 1507. (6 and 7) Gerard David. * The Pun- ishment of the Unjust Judge. These two panels are of a type commonly set up in courts of justice as a warning to evil-doers. They were ordered by the Bruges magistracy. You will see a similar pair by Dierick Bouts in Brussels. The story, a horrid one, is taken from Herodotus. Sisamnes was a judge in Persia whom King Cambyses detected receiv- ing a bribe and ordered to be flayed alive. The king then stretched his skin on the seat of judgment, and appointed the son of Sisamnes to sit in his father's place, that he might remember to avoid a like fate. The first picture represents, in the background, the bribery. In the foreground. King Cambyses, in a rich, embroidered robe, demonstrates on his fingers the gxiilt of the unjust judge. DAVID. — OUTER WINGS OF TRIPTYCH. The Academy of Bruges 129 Sisamnes is seized on his tribunal by a man of the people; courtiers, lawyers, and bur- gesses looking on. The expression on his face and the painting of all the accessories is admi- rable. In the second picture we have the flay- ing of the unjust judge, a horrible scene, powerfully rendered. Cambyses stands by, holding his sceptre, surrounded by courtiers who recall the last age of the Burgundian do- minion. In the background (as a subsequent episode) the son of Sisamnes is seen sitting in his father's place : behind him hangs the skin of the father. Architecture, landscape, ropes, and all other accessories of this painful picture should be carefully noted. (15) J. Prevost. Last Judgment. Below, the dead are rising, half naked, from the tomb, girt only with their shrouds; the good re- ceiving garments from angels, and the bad hurried away to a very Flemish and unim- pressive Hell. Above, Christ as Judge holds the sword. Two angels blow out the words of blessing or malediction. On the spectator's left. Our Lady shows the breast that suckled the Redeemer. Behind her are St. Peter with the key, St. Paul with the sword, St. Bar- 130 Belgium : Its Cities tholomew with the knife, and other saints. On the right are St. John the Baptist with the lamb, King David with the harp, Moses, homed (as always), with the tables of the law, and a confused group of saints. This picture is rather curious than beautiful. Above it is a later treatment of the same subject by Van Coornhuuse, interesting for comparison as showing the usual persistence of types and the conventional grouping of the individual figures. Compare especially the corresponding personages in the lower left hand corners. A few other pictures skied on this wall de- serve passing notice. 29 is a Death and the Miser, of the School of Quentin Matsys. 17, by Lancelot Blondeel, the architect of the great chimneypiece of the Franc de Bruges, represents St. Luke painting Our Lady, in one of the fantastic frames in which this painter delighted. 18, by the same, has a St. George and the Dragon, with the Princess Cleodolind looking on. Around it are four smaller scenes of his martyrdom : — he was boiled, burnt with torches, dragged by a horse, and finally decapitated. 11 is a good diptych of the Flemish school, by an un- The Academy of Bruges 131 known contemporary of Gerard David. It represents, left, a donor, with his patron St. John the Almoner, holding his symbol, a sheaf of corn. On the right, his wife with her patroness, St. Godeliva. 28 is an Adora- tion of the Magi, where the Three Kings again illustrate the three ages of man and the three continents. Beside it is a Nativity which exhibits all the traditional features already noted. The end wall has in its centre a tolerably good Adoration of the Magi, of the German School, fifteenth century. Note once more the Three Kings, of whom the youngest is a Moor. Left of this, a * drawing, by Jan van Eyck, of St. Barbara, which should be closely in- spected. She holds a palm of martyrdom. In the background, workmen build her tower. It is interesting as a scene of real life at this period. This is a replica of the well-known picture at Antwerp. To the right, two coloured drawings by Gerard David from the life of St. John the Baptist. Above these hangs a toler- able P. Pourbus of the Last Judgment, valuable for comparison with the two previous treatments of the same subject on the prin- 132 Belgium: Its Cities cipal wall. Go from one to the other once or twice. Later painters of the Renaissance use this solemn theme as a mere excuse for ob- truding the nude — and often the vulgar nude — into churches. On the same wall are a good triptych in grisaille by P. Pourbus (Way to Calvary, Descent from the Cross, Resur- rection ; from Notre Dame at Damme), and other pictures. The remaining walls have portraits and other works, from the seventeenth century down- wards, most of which need no explanation. A few of them, indeed, are not without merit. But, as I have before observed, it is best in mediaeval Bruges to confine oneself to the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and early sixteenth centuries, leaving the rise of the Renaissance, and the later Flemish School of painting, to occupy us at Antwerp, where they can be studied to far greater advantage. CHAPTER X. ORIGINS OF GHENT TI^LANDERS owes everything- to its water -■- communications. At this junction of the Schelde with the Lys or Lei, there grew up in the very early Middle Ages a trading town, named Gent, in Flemish, and Gand in French, but commonly Anglicised as Ghent. It lay on a close network of rivers and canals, formed partly by these two main streams, and partly by the minor channels of the Lieve and the Moere, which together intersect it into several islands. Such a tangle of inland water- ways, giving access both to the sea and to Bruges, Courtrai, and Tournay, as well as less directly to Antwerp and Brussels, ensured the rising town in early times considerable import- ance. It formed the centre of a radiating com- merce. Westward, its main relations were with London and the English wool ports; 133 134 Belgium : Its Cities eastward with Cologne, Maastricht, the Rhine towns, and Italy. Ghent was always the capital of East Flanders, as Bruges or Ypres were of the Western province; and after the counts lost possession of Arras and Artois, it became in the thirteenth century their prin- cipal residence and the metropolis of the country. The trade in weaving grew rapidly in importance, and the Ghenters received from their count a charter of liberties of the usual mediaeval burgher type. As time went on, and the city advanced in wealth, its subjection to its sovereigns became purely nominal. Ghent equipped large bodies of citizen soldiers, and repulsed a considerable English army under Edward I. The Ghenters were also deter- mined opponents of the claims of the French kings to interfere in the internal affairs of Flanders ; thus they were mainly instrumental in winning the famous Battle of the Spurs in 1302, when the citizens of Bruges and Ghent put to flight the army of France under the Count of Artois before the walls of Tournay, and dedicated as trophies seven hundred golden spurs, worn by the French knights whom they had routed. This battle, memorable Origins of Ghent 135 as one of the chief triumphs of nascent in- dustrial freedom over the chivalry and royalty of mediaevalism, secured the liberties of the Flemish towns against French aggression. Early in the fourteenth century, the burgh- ers of Ghent, under their democratic chief, Ja- cob or Jacques van Artevelde, attained practi- cal independence. Till 1322, the counts and people of Flanders had been united in their re- sistance to the claims of France; but with the accession of Count Louis of Nevers, the aspect of affairs changed. Louis was French by edu- cation, sympathies, and interests, and aristo- cratic by nature ; he sought to curtail the liber- ties of the Flemish towns, and to make himself despotic. The wealthy and populous burgher republics resisted, and in 1337 Van Artevelde was appointed Captain of Ghent. Louis fled to France, and asked the aid of Philip of Valois. Thereupon, Van Artevelde made him- self the ally of Edward IIL of England, then beginning his war with France; but as the Flemings did not like entirely to cast ofif their allegiance — a thing repugnant to mediaeval sentiment — Van Artevelde persuaded Ed- ward to put forward his trumped-up claim to 136 Belgium: Its Cities the crown of France, and thus induced the towns to transfer their fealty from Philip to his English rival. It was therefore in his character as King of France that Edward came to Flanders. The alliance thus formed between the great producer of raw wool, Eng- land, and the great manufacturer of woollen goods, Ghent, proved of immense commercial importance to both parties. But as Count Louis sided with Philip of Valois, the breach between the democracy of Ghent and its nominal sovereign now became impassable. Van Artevelde held supreme power in Ghent and Flanders for nine years — the golden age of Flemish commerce — and was treated on equal terms by Edward, who stopped at Ghent as his guest for considerable periods. But he was opposed by a portion of the citizens, and his suggestion that the Black Prince, son of Edward III., should be elected Count of Flan- ders, proved so unpopular with his enemies that he was assassinated by one of them, Gerard Denys. The town and states immediately repudiated the murder; and the alliance which Van Artevelde had brought about still con- tinued. It had far-reaching results; the Origins of Ghent 1 37 woollen industry was introduced by Edward into the Eastern Counties of England, and Ghent had risen meanwhile to be the chief manufacturing city of Europe. The quarrel between the democratic weavers and their exiled counts was still carried on by Philip van Artevelde, the son of Jacques, and godson of Queen Philippa of England, herself a Hainaulter. Under his rule, the town con- tinued to increase in wealth and population. But the general tendency of later mediaeval Europe toward centralized despotisms as against urban republics was too strong in the end for free Ghent. In 1381, Philip v/as ap- pointed dictator by the democratic party, in the war against the count, son of his father's old opponent, whom he repelled with great slaughter in a battle near Bruges. He then made himself Regent of Flanders. But Count Louis obtained the aid of Charles VI. of France, and defeated and killed Philip van Artevelde at the disastrous battle of Roosebeke in 1382. That was practically the end of local freedom in Flanders. Though the cities continued to revolt against their sovereigns from time to time, they were obliged to submit for the most 138 Belgium : Its Cities part to their count and to the Burgundian princes who inherited from him by marriage. The subsequent history of Ghent is that of the capital of the Burgunclian dukes, and of the House of Austria. Here the German king, Maximilian, afterward Emperor, married Mary of Burgundy, the heiress of the Netherlands; and here Charles V. was born in the palace of the counts. It was his principal residence, and he was essentially a Fleming. Other historical reminiscences will be pointed out in the course of our peregrinations. The old waterways, partially artificial, be- tween Ghent and the sea, other than the circuitous route by the shallow Schelde, had silted up by 1827, when a ship canal was con- structed to Terneuzen. This canal has since been widened and deepened so as to admit ves- sels of seventeen hundred tons; it has thus helped to some small degree to save the town from the fate of Bruges. But as its mouth lies in what is now Dutch territory, and as heavy tolls are levied, it is comparatively little used. Another and somewhat frequented canal leads to Bruges; but Ghent owes most of its exist- ing prosperity to its manufactures — cotton, Origins of Ghent 1 39 linen, engines, leather — and to its central position on the railway system. The important points for the tourist to bear in mind are these, however. Ghent during the Middle Ages was a merchant republic, practi- cally independent, with its guilds and its belfry, the last of which was used to summon the citizens to arms in case of danger. It was also the chief manufacturing town in Europe, as Bruges was the chief commercial centre. By treaty with Edward III., Bruges was made the " staple " or sole port of entry for English wool : and this wool was woven into cloth for the most part at Ghent. Further details of the vicissitudes of Ghent can be found in Van Duyse, " Gand, Monumen- tal et Pittoresque." The chief object of interest at Ghent are the Cathedral, with its great Van Eyck; and the Town Hall and Belfry. These can be toler- ably seen in one day : but a stay of three or four days will not be too much to explore the curious nooks of the early city. CHAPTER XL THE CORE OF GHENT THE old town of Ghent lies on the island formed by the junction of the Lys and the Schelde, with their various backwaters, all now largely artificial. Near this point, but beyond the Lys, the Counts of Flanders early erected a strong castle, the Gravensteen or Oudeburg, beneath whose protection, aided by the two navigable rivers, merchants and weavers gradually settled. As at Bruges, the heart of the town, however, is purely municipal and mercantile in its architecture. The Town Hall, which was the meeting-place of the citi- zens, and the Belfry, which summoned them to arms or council^ are the chief points of in- terest in the city. The Schelde is still tidal to its very centre. As most visitors will probably stop in one of the hotels on the Place d'Armes, near the south 140 The Core of Ghent 141 end of older Ghent, I shall frankly take that square as our starting-point. It may facilitate recognition at first sight to add that the large square tower visible to the right from the Place d'Armes, is that of the Cathedral, while the tapering spire, crowned by a gilt dragon, be- longs to the Belfry. Go first on a tour of orientation through early Ghent. If you follow these directions implicitly, you can see everything important in one short walk. Cross the Place d'Armes diagonally to the northeasterly corner, and follow the small and narrow streets which run due north to the front of the Cathedral. Walk round the south side of this, to form a first general impression, but do not enter it at present. Then, from the west front of the Cathedral, take the Rue St. Jean straight before you. The tower with the gilded dragon which faces you as you walk is that of the Belfry. It was de- signed in 1 183, about a century earlier than that of Bruges, but only erected between 1321 and 1339; it is a fine work in the Early Gothic style. Its windows have been walled up. The tapering turret which crowns the tower is un- 1 42 Belgium : Its Cities fortunately modern, and of iron. On the very summit stands a huge gilded dragon, which universal tradition represents as having been brought from St. Sophia at Constantinople to Bruges by the Crusader Baldwin of Flanders ( 1204), and removed as a trophy by the people of Ghent, under Philip van Artevelde, in 1382. It certainly appears to be of Oriental origin, but is stated on documentary evidence, dis- covered by M. Vuylsteke, to have been made in Ghent itself in 1380. If so, it would seem at least to be based on an Oriental model. The small building to the right of the Belfry, recently restored, is the Cloth Hall, erected in 1424, a graceful but not very important Gothic edifice, of the Decorated period, with niches vacant of their statues. The concierge of the Belfry now has a room in it. Appli- cation must be made here to mount to the summit, a dark and steep ascent. The ad- mission is one franc, or two for a party. The view is extensive and beautiful, but not quite so striking as that at Bruges. The prin- cipal buildings of the city lie just below you : beyond, all Flanders. The chimes are cele- brated. The chief bell is known as Roelandt. BELFRY AND CLOTH HALL, GHENT. The Core of Ghent 143 Now turn round into the Botermarkt or Marche au Beurre to the right, and inspect the Belfry again from the Httle bay in the corner opposite. This is the best near view of the tower. The portal to the right is the entry to the town prison, beneath the Belfry. In its gable is a too-famous eighteenth cen- tury relief, the Mammelokker, representing the Roman Daughter feeding her father from her breast at the window of the prison, and doubt- less intended to excite the charity of passers-by. It certainly serves no other function, for it is neither beautiful nor decorative. Cross over to the right side of the Butter- market. The building on the left, in two totally distinct portions, is the Hotel-de^Ville. The part at which you first arrive (latest in point of time) was rebuilt in the early Renaissance style in 1595 — 1628. It is one of the earliest and in many ways the best example of Renais- sance architecture in Belgium, in part because it retains certain good features of local domestic building, such as the pointed gable-ends (round the corner to the left) and the projecting win- dows with dormers on the main fagade. Look out for their origin elsewhere. It has three 144 Belgium: Its Cities storeys, with projecting half colonnades, the columns being Doric on the ground floor, Ionic on the first floor, and Corinthian on the second. Recollect the gable-ends and dormers for comparison with others in old houses in Ghent hereafter. Now, continue on to the corner, where we arrive at the earlier Gothic portion of the H6tel-de-Ville, erected in 1518 — 1535 by Dominic de Waghemakere, who also built in part the cathedral at Antwerp. The projecting polygonal corner, with its handsome balcony, is very noticeable. The work is of the latest and most florid Gothic, somewhat lacking in grace and dignity, but ornate in its splendour. Observe the depressed arches, the noble cornice, the rich decoration of garlands. Most of the niches are now empty. From the corner op- posite, a good view is obtained of both parts of the H6tel-de-Ville and also of the Belfry, Turn to the left into the Rue Haut-Port, to observe the main front of this earlier Gothic building, with its fine projecting windows above, its empty niches, its handsome entrance staircase and main portal, its beautiful little balcony for addressing the people below, and The Core of Ghent 145 the large projecting window of its ancient chapel near the centre. Note how well the fagade is thus broken up and diversified. This is the finest specimen of florid Gothic in Bel- gium. Beyond it comes another Renaissance portion, and then a handsome Renaissance dwelling-house. The street also contains several fine early houses, the best of which, a Gothic guild-hall, known as the Cour St. Georges, stands at the corner to the left, facing the H6tel-de-Ville. The interior of the H6tel-de-Ville need not be visited, though it has a handsome Gothic staircase and some fine halls and internal courts, interesting to those who have plenty of time at their disposal. Now, return to the Belfry and continue straight down the left-hand side of the Rue de la Catalogue. The church on the right, round the base of which houses have been allowed to cluster, is St. Nicholas — the oldest in the town. This is one of the most solid pieces of architecture at Ghent. It has a fine decorated tower, which has happily escaped restoration, besides small turrets to the Transepts, and two, rather larger, to the gable of the Nave. Go 146 Belgium: Its Cities on into the Koornmarkt or Marche aux Bles, to the right ; stand there for a moment, at the end of the Rue de la Catalogne, to observe the fine coup d'ooil, which takes in St. Nicholas, the Belfry, and the tower of the cathedral. The main fagade of St. Nicholas, also encumbered with houses, faces the Koornmarkt. Over the door is a modern figure of the Saint himself, raising three boys who were salted down for meat. Nicholas was the popular saint, the pa- tron of the merchants and burgesses; and the prominent position of his church on the Corn Market is very characteristic of the burgher spirit of Ghent. A hasty glance will suffice for the interior, which is a characteristic specimen of the unre- stored Belgian church, with figures of the Twelve Apostles, as always, against the pillars of the Nave; an ugly carved pulpit; short Transepts; an Apse with bad glass; and the vaulting of Nave, Aisles, and Choir con- cealed by plaster. The tawdry decorations render what might be a fine interior wholly unimpressive. The High Altar has an altar- piece by Liemakere, representing, in the con- fused style of the School of Rubens, the elec- VAN DYCK. — CRUCIFIXION. The Core of Ghent 147 tion of St. Nicholas as Bishop of Myra. Above is an eighteenth century figure of the Saint, raising three boys from the tub. The early pillars of the Choir are really handsome. On emerging from the front of the church, continue straight on to the bridge which crosses the Lys, affording a good view to the left of the Apse of St. Michel. Then, go along the side of this handsome church, with late Gothic windows resembling English Perpen- dicular. It has a solid but unfinished tower, and a good west portal, robbed of its sculp- ture and cruelly mutilated. A glimpse at the interior, which has been scraped and renovated, will show at once the fine architecture. The nave has impressive round pillars, windows in the clerestory, and excellent brick vaulting. The vaulted aisles are surrounded by chapels. The choir is very handsome. In the north transept is a famous but overrated * Cruci- fixion by Van Dyck, not without beauty of con- ception and composition, but spoiled by restorations. Walk round the transepts and ambulatory. There are some good works of the School of Rubens. Now, continue along the quay, on the same 148 Belgium: Its Cities side as St. Michel (observing as you go that the early town extended to both banks of the river), in order to view the fagade of the hand- some '' Maison des Bateliers," or Guild House of the Skippers, erected in 1531 for the masters of the shipping of Ghent, in somewhat the same florid late-Gothic style as the H6tel-de-Ville. This is the finest existing specimen of old Flemish houses. Over the doorway is an appro- priate relief of a ship, somewhat antiquated and heraldic in character. By the side of this Guild-house are two others, less interesting: the first, the Guild-house of the Grain Meas- urers; the next, very old and dilapidated, the Staple House of Corn, Romanesque, said to be the earliest civil building in Belgium. Several fine gable-ends are seen to the left, in- cluding one with Renaissance architecture, on this side of the Lys. At the moment of writing, the houses next to the Skippers' Guild are in course of demolition, exposing a bare side of the old Hall most unpicturesquely. Now, retrace your steps over the Bridge, and through the Corn Market, almost wholly modernized, with the exception of a few gabled houses. The Core of Ghent 149 The next little square at which we arrive is the Marche aux Herbes. Its west side is oc- cupied by the ancient but uninteresting Grande Boucherie. Turn to the left by the corner of the Boucherie, with Our Lady and Child in a niche, and cross the bridge to the other side of the Lys. On the left are two handsome old houses. In front rise the gateway and bastions of the Oudeburg, or Castle of the Princes. This was the primitive palace of the Counts of Flanders in Ghent. The irregular little square in front of it is known as the Place Ste. Pharailde. The castle has recently been cleared from the numerous modern houses which en- cumbered and hid it. The first stronghold on this site was erected in 868. The existing ruins of the gateway, with round Romanesque arches, date back to 1180; the square keep behind is of the tenth century. In this palace Jacob van Artevelde entertained Edward III. When Edward returned to England, he left Queen Philippa here, and during his absence she bore, in the Monastery of St. Bavon, her third son, John of Gaunt, who took his well- known surname from the place of his birth. It was on Edward's return to Flanders, ac- 1 50 Belgium : Its Cities companied by the ladies of Philippa's suite, that he found the French fleet drawn up near Sluys to prevent his entry into the port of Bruges, on which occasion he gained the first great English naval victory. The Castle, which is now in course of partial restoration, is closely bound up with the greatness of Van Artevelde and the heroic period in the history of Ghent. Walk round it to note its extent and its commanding position at the point where the bridge crosses the Lys to the main part of the town. The opposite corner of the Place Ste. Phar- ailde has a Renaissance gateway, reerected in imitation of the original by Arthus Quellin, and adorned with sculptures of Neptune, the Schelde, and the Lys, the sources of Ghent's greatness. It leads to the Fish-market. Around are several good old houses. Continue along the quay on the same side of the river as the Oudeburg, as far as the Pont du Laitage, just before reaching which you pass on your left two seventeenth century houses with reliefs (the Works of Charity, a Flying Hart, etc.). Cross the bridge and The Core of Ghent 151 turn to the right as far as the big cannon, known as " Dulle Griete " or " Mad Margaret," dating back to the fourteenth century. By the touch-hole are the Cross of St. Andrew and the arms of Phihppe le Bon of Burgundy. Turn into the large square in front of you. The building, with a tower at the corner and high gables, which faces you at the end of the street as you advance, is one of the best old mediaeval houses in Ghent, the Collacie- Zolder, or Municipal Council-Room, of the thirteenth or fourteenth century. It has an interesting little pulpit or balcony at its corner, with a bell, from which addresses could be made to the people. The towers that face you a little to the left are those of St. Jacques, to be visited presently. Continue into the square, at the corner of which is the Municipal Council-Room. This is the Vrydagmarkt or Marche du Vendredi, in which a strikingly picturesque market is still held every Friday morning. If possible, visit it. The square was the forum of old Ghent and the meeting-place of the citizens. A few fine old buildings in the native local style still surround it. The centre is appro- 152 Belgium: Its Cities priately occupied by a modern colossal statue of Jacob van Artevelde, addressing the cit- izens in his famous speech when he excited them to opposition to the Count of Flanders with his Gallicizing policy. At the base are allegorical figures of Flanders, and of the Belgian towns, wearing mural crowns. The reliefs represent Van Artevelde's three chief diplomatic triumphs, — the League of Ghent with Bruges and Ypres ; the League of Flan- ders and England; the League of Flanders, Brabant, and Hainault. In this square the most important events in the history of early Flanders took place. Here the citizens of Ghent took the oath of allegiance to each new count on his accession, after they had com- pelled him to swear in good old Teutonic style " to uphold and see upheld all the standing wits (laws), fore-rights (regulations), free- hoods, and wonts of the Countship and town of Ghent." The guilds which had their halls around met here to oppose arbitrary action on the part of their sovereign. Here, too, the parties within the town itself frequently joined issue in civil contest. In later times, the Duke of Alva perpetrated most of his The Core of Ghent 153 shameful executions on this spot. The site of the statue of Van Artevelde was originally occupied by one of Charles V., who was born in Ghent, in a palace now destroyed, and whose history is intimately connected with this town, always one of his principal residences. The statue was destroyed in 1794 by the French invaders. The picture is in the Museum. Turn up at the corner by the Municipal Council-Room and take the first street to the left, which leads you into the Place St. Jacques, occupied by the Church of St. Jacques. The faqade, with the two towers, was Romanesque, but has been restored in such a wholesale way as to destroy its interest. The remainder of the church is Gothic. Walk round it so as to ob- serve its features, noticing in particular the quaint stone spire of the right-hand tower. The interior might be good, were it not spoiled by tawdry decorations. The pulpit has a mar- ble figure of the patron, St. James, with the pilgrim's staff and gourd, emblematic of his connection with the great place of pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostella. The vaulting has been freed from excrescences, and is excellent of its kind. The High Altar has 154 Belgium: Its Cities a figure of St. James above, and a painting of his martyrdom beneath. This walk will have led you through the principal part of early Ghent. Hence you may return either by the Cathedral or by the chief line of business streets which runs direct from the Pont du Laitage to the modern Palais de Justice and the Place d'Armes. CHAPTER XII. THE CATHEDRAL OF GHENT THE local patron saint of Ghent is St. Bavon, a somewhat dubious personage, belonging to the first age of Christianity in Flanders, of whom little is known. Legend describes him as a " Duke of Brabant " in the seventh century (of course an anachronism). He seems to have been a nobleman of Hesbaie who spent his life as a soldier " and in worldly pleasures ; " but when he was fifty, his wife died, and, overwhelmed with grief, he gave up all his possessions to be distributed among the poor, and entered a cell or monastery in Ghent, of which St. Amand (see later) was the founder. Of this he became abbot. At last, finding the monastic life not sufficiently aus- tere, the new saint took refuge in a hollow tree in a forest, and there spent the remainder of his days. His emblem is a falcon. The 156 Belgium : Its Cities monastery of St. Bavon long existed at Ghent ; some of its ruins still remain, and will be de- scribed hereafter. To this local saint, accord- ingly, it might seem fitting that the Cathedral of Ghent should be dedicated. But in reality the building was at first a parish church under the invocation of St. John the Baptist, and only received the relics and name of St. Bavon after 1540, when Charles V. destroyed the monas- tery, as will be described hereafter. The real interest of the Cathedral centres, however, not in St. Bavon, nor in his picture by Rubens, but in the great polyptych of the Adoration of the Lamb, the masterpiece of Jan van Eyck and his brother Hubert, which forms in a certain sense the point of departure for the native art of the Netherlands. This is therefore a convenient place in which to con- sider the position of these two great painters. They were born at Maaseyck or Eyck-sur- Meuse near Maastricht; Hubert, the elder, about 1360 or 1370; Jan, the younger, about 1390. The only undoubted work of Hubert is the altar-piece in St. Bavon, and even this is only his in part, having been completed after his death by his brother Jan. Hubert probably The Cathedral of Ghent 157 derived his teaching from the School of the Lx)wer Rhine, which first in the North at- tained any importance, and which had its chief exponents at Maastricht and Cologne. Of this School, he was the final flower. Though not, as commonly said, the inventor of oil- painting, he was the first artist who employed the process in its developed form, and he also made immense advances in naturalness of drawing and truth of spirit. Jan was probably a pupil of Hubert ; he lived at Ghent while the great picture of the Adoration of the Lamb was still being completed ; later, he was painter by appointment to the court of the Dukes of Burgundy, and had a house at Bruges, where he died in 1440. He was also employed on various missions abroad, accompanying embas- sies as far as to Portugal. His painting, though less ideal and beautiful than that of his great successor Meiuling, is marvellous in its truth: it has an extraordinary charm of purity of colour, vividness of delineation, and fine portrayal of character. Indeed, all the early Flemish artists were essentially portrait painters ; they copied with fidelity whatever was set before them, whether it were fabrics. 158 Belgium: Its Cities furniture, jewelry, flowers, or the literal faces and figures of men and women. Hubert and Jan van Eyck, however, were not so much in strictness the founders of a school as the culminating point of early Ger- man art, to which they gave a new Flemish direction. Their work was almost, perfect in its own kind. Their successors did not sur- pass them: in some respects they even fell short of them. The Adoration of the Lamb is by far the most important thing to be seen at Ghent. But it is viewed at some disadvantage in the church, and is so full of figures and meaning that it cannot be taken in without long study. I strongly advise you, therefore, to buy a photo- graph of the entire composition beforehand, and try to understand as much as possible of the picture by comparing it with the account here given, the evening before you visit the picture. You will then be able more readily to grasp the actual work, in form and colour, when you see it. The Cathedral is open daily (for viewing the pictures, etc. ) from ten to twelve, and from four to six. Between twelve and four you can The Cathedral of Ghent 159 also get in by knocking loudly on the dcx>r in the West Front. Go straight from your hotel to the Cathedral, — built as the parish church of St. John about 1250 — 1300; rededicated to St. Bavon, 1540; erected into a bishop's see, 1 599. Stand before the West Front at a little distance, to examine the simple but massive architecture of the tower and facade. The great portal has been robbed of the statues which once adorned its niches. Three have been " restored : " they represent, centre, the Saviour; left, the patron, St. Bavon, rec- ognizable by his falcon, his sword as duke, and his book as monk; he wears armour, with a ducal robe and cap above it; right, St. John the Baptist, the earlier patron. Then, walk, to the right, round the south side, to observe the external architecture of the nave, aisles, and choir. The latter has the characteristic rounded or apsidal termination of Continental Gothic, whereas English Gothic has usually a square end. Enter by the south portal. The interior, with single aisles and short transepts (early Gothic), is striking for its i6o Belgium: Its Cities simple dignity, its massive pillars, and its high arches, though the undeniably noble effect of the whole is somewhat marred to English eyes by the unusual appearance of the unadorned brick walls and vaulting. The pulpit, by Del- vaux (1745), partly in oak, partly in marble, represents Truth revealing the Christian Faith to astonished Paganism (figured as an old and outworn man) : it is a model of all that should be avoided in plastic or religious art. The screen which separates the Choir from the Transepts is equally unfortunate. The apsidal end of the Choir, however, with its fine modern stained glass, forms a very pleasing feature in the general coup d'cril. Begin the examination in detail with the left or north aisle. The first chapel, that of the Holy Cross, contains a Pieta by Janssens and a Descent from the Cross by Rombouts, good works of the school of Rubens. The third chapel, that of St. Macarius or St. Macaire (an object of local worship whom we shall meet again elsewhere at Ghent), has a modern statue of the saint, and a pleasing decoration in polychrome. The right or south aisle has nothing of importance. PULPIT OF THE CATHEDRAL, GHENT. The Cathedral of Ghent i6i A short flight of stq)s leads to the ambula- tory, whose black and white marble screen, on the side toward the Choir, is not without dignity. The sacristan opens the locked chapels in the ambulatory (flamboyant), beginning at the steps on the right or south side of the Choir. You will find him in the sacristy, in the north Transept. Do not let him hurry you. The first chapel contains a tolerable triptych by F. Pourbus (son of Peter), with the Find- ing of Christ in the Temple for its central sub- ject and the Circumcision and Baptism on the inner wings. Notice in the last the conven- tional attitudes of the Baptist, the Saviour, and the angel with the towel, as in the Gerard David and all old examples of this subject : but the semi-nude figure undressing in the fore- ground is an unhappy innovation of the Re- naissance. Many of the heads in the central picture are portraits : Alva, Charles V., Philip II., and Pourbus himself. On the outer wings is a good * portrait of the donor (Viglius) adoring the Saviour (1571). Third chapel. Crucifixion, by Gerard van der Meire, of Ghent. On the left wing, Moses 1 62 Belgium: Its Cities striking the Rock, symbolical of the fountain of living water, Christ. On the right wing, the Elevation of the Brazen Serpent, symbolical of the Crucifixion. This is a mystic " typical " picture, interesting only for its symbolism. Note the Flemish love of such subjects. The fourth chapel contains a good tomb of Cornelius Jansen and Willem Lindau, the two first bishops of Ghent (bishopric founded only in 1599) with fair recumbent figures of the early seventeenth century. Fifth chapel. Coxcie. Lazarus and Dives : a mediocre picture. Mount the steps to the upper ambulatory. The sixth chapel (of the Vydts family) con- tains the famous altar-piece of the ** Adora- tion of the Lamb, by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, to study which is the chief object of a visit to Ghent. See it more than once, and examine it carefully. Ask the sacristan to let you sit before it for some time in quiet, or he will hurry you on. You must observe it in close detail. As a whole, the work before you is not entirely by the two Van Eycks. The Adam and Eve on the outer upper shutters of the The Cathedral of Ghent 163 interior (originally by Hubert) have been al- together removed, and are now in the Museum at Brussels, where we shall see them in due course. Their place has been filled, not by copies (for the originals were nude), but by skin-clad representations of the same figures, whose nudity seemed to the Emperor Joseph II. unsuitable for a church. The lower wings, which were principally (it is believed) by Jan van Eyck, have also been removed, and sold to Berlin. They are replaced by very tolerable copies, made in the early sixteenth century by Michael Coxcie. Thus, to form an idea of the detail of the original in its full totality, it is necessary to visit, not only Ghent, but also Brussels and Berlin. Nevertheless, I describe the whole picture here as it stands, as this is the best place to observe its general composi- tion. I shall say a few words later as to variations of this work from the original. There is a good copy of the whole picture in the Museum at Antwerp, where you will be able to inspect it at greater length and under easier conditions. The remaining portions of the original still left here are believed to be for the most part the work of Hubert van 164 Belgium: Its Cities Eyck. Jan must rather be studied in many scattered places, — Bruges, Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Madrid, and London. The altar-piece was commissioned from Hubert van Eyck by Josse Vydts ( Latinised as Jodocus), a gentleman of Ghent, and his wife, Isabella, about the year 1420. Hubert died while the polyptych was still unfinished, and Jan completed it in 1432. Too much impor- tance has been attached by critics, I fancy, to the rhyming hexameter inscribed upon it ( with the words " De Eyck " unmetrically intro- duced) : " Pictor Hubertus major quo nemo repertus," etc. They have been twisted into a deliberate expression of belief on the part of Jan that Hubert was a greater painter than him- self. If so, it seems to me, Jan was a worse critic than painter. They are probably due, however, to a somewhat affected modesty, or more probably still, to a priestly poet who was in straits to find a rhyme for Hubertus. I proceed to a detailed explanation of the picture. The subject, in its entirety, is the Adoration of the Lamb that was Slain, and it is mainly based on the passage in the Apocalypse : " I u The Cathedral of Ghent 165 looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with Him an hundred and forty and four thousand, having His Father's name writ- ten in their foreheads. . . . And I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps." Elsewhere we read : " I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. . . . These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God ; and He shall feed them, and shall lead them to living fountains of waters, and shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Much of the imagery, however, I believe, is also taken from the Te Deum. Lower Tier. The central panel (original: attributed to Hubert) represents in its middle the altar, hung with red damask, and covered with a white cloth, on which the Lamb of God is standing. His blood flows into a crystal chalice. (This part is clearly symbolical of the Eucharist.) Upon Him, from above, descends the Holy Ghost, in the form of a dove, sent out 1 66 Belgium : Its Cities by the Eternal Father, who occupies the central panel on top. Around the altar are grouped adoring angels, with many-coloured wings, holding the instruments of the Passion — the Cross, the Spear, the Sponge, and the Column to which Christ was fastened for flagellation. In front of it, two angels swing censers. The flowery foreground is occupied by the Foun- tain of Life, from which pure water flows limpid, to irrigate the smiling fields of Para- dise. Four bands of worshippers converge toward this centre. On the left-hand side, stand, kneel, or ride, a group of worshippers representing, as a whole, the secular aspect of the Christian Church — the laity. The fore- ground of this group is occupied by the pre- cursors of Christ. Conspicuous among them the Jewish prophets in front and then the Greek poets and philosophers, — Homer, Plato, Aristotle, — whom mediaeval charity regarded as inspired in a secondary degree by the Spirit of Wisdom. Homer, in white, is crowned with laurel. The group also includes kings and other important secular personages. The right-hand side, opposite, is occupied by repre- sentatives of the Church, showing the religious The Cathedral of Ghent 167 as opposed to the secular half of the Qiristian world. In the front rank kneel fourteen per- sons, the Twelve Apostles ( with Paul and Mat- thias) in simple robes, barefooted; behind them are ranged all the orders of the hierarchy — canonized popes, with their attendant deacons; archbishops, bishops, and other dignitaries. The background shows two other groups, one of which (to the left) consists of the mar- tyrs, bearing their palms of martyrdom, and including in their number popes, cardinals, bishops, and other ecclesiastics. The inner meaning of this group is further emphasized by the symbolical presence of a palm-tree behind them. To balance them on the right advance the Virgins, conspicuous among whom are St. Agnes with her lamp, St. Barbara with her tower, St. Catherine, and St. Dorothy with her roses : many of them carry palms of martyr- dom. These various groups thus illustrate the words of the Te Deum, representing " the glori- ous company of the apostles," " the goodly fellowship of the prophets," " the noble army of martyrs," " the Holy Church throughout all the world," etc., in. adoration of the Lamb that 1 68 Belgium : Its Cities was Slain. (A chorus of Apostles, of Proph- ets, of Martyrs, of Virgins is common in art.) The more distant background is occupied by towered cities, typifying perhaps the new Jerusalem, but adorned with Flemish or Rhen- ish turrets and domes, and painted with Flem- ish minuteness and exactitude. On the front of the altar are written in Latin the words, " Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world." The Left Wings (inferior copy by Coxcie: originals, probably by Jan, now at Berlin) form a continuation of the scene of the Prophets and the secular side of Christendom in the central panel, and represent, in the First or Inner Half, the Orders of Chivalry and the mediaeval knighthood riding, as on a crusade or pilgrimage, toward the Lamb that was Slain. At their head go the soldier saints, St. George, St. Adrian, St. Maurice, and St. Charlemagne (for the great emperor Karl is also a canonized person). The action of the horses throughout is admirable. The Second or Outer Half (ill described as " the Just Judges ") represents the Merchants and Burgesses, among whom two portraits in the foreground are pointed out The Cathedral of Ghent 169 by tradition as those of Hubert and Jan van Eyck (Hubert in front, on a white horse: Jan behind, in a dark brown dress, trimmed with fur). But this detail is unimportant: what matters is the colour and composition on one hand, the idea on the other. These two panels, therefore, with the group in front of them, are to be taken as representing the Secu- lar World — learned, noble, knightly, or mer- cantile — in adoration of the central truth of Christianity as manifested in the Holy Eucha- rist. The corresponding Right Wings (copy by Coxcie: originals, probably by Jan, at Berlin) show respectively the Hermits and Pilgrims — the contemplative and ascetic complement of the ecclesiastical group in front of them : the monastic as opposed to the beneficed clerics. The First or Inner Half shows the Eremites, amongst whom are notable St. Anthony with his crutch, and, in the background, St. Mary Magdalen with her box of ointment, emerging from her cave (the Sainte Baume), in Pro- vence, in her character as the Penitent in the Desert. On the Second or Outer Half, the body of Pilgrims is led by the gigantic form of St. lyo Belgium: Its Cities Christopher, with his staff and bare legs for wading; behind whom is a pilgrim with a scallop-shell, and many other figures, not all of them (to me) identifiable. Here again the presence of palms in the background marks the esoteric idea of martyrdom. I need not call attention throughout to the limpid sky, the fleecy clouds, the lovely trees, the exquisite detail of architecture and land- scape. Upper tier. The three central panels (original) are at- tributed to Hubert. That in the middle repre- sents, not (I feel sure) as is commonly said, Christ, but God the Father ( " Therefore they are before the throne of God ") wearing the triple crown (like the Pope), holding the sceptre, and with his right hand raised in the attitude of benediction. His face is majestic, grave, passionless : his dress kingly : a gor- geous morse fastens his jewelled robe of regal red. At his feet lies the crown of earthly sov- ereignty. He seems to discharge the Holy Ghost on the Lamb beneath himi. The word Sabaoth, embroidered on his garments, marks him, I think, as the Father : indeed, the Son H. AND J. VAN EYCK. — GOD THE FATHER (Detail from the Adoration of the Lamb). The Cathedral of Ghent 171 could hardly preside at the sacrifice of the Lamb, even in the Eucharist. On the right of the Father, in the panel to the spectator's left (Hubert: original), Our Lady, crowned, as Queen of Heaven, sits read- ing in her blue robe. Her face is far more graceful than is usual in Flemish art: indeed, she is the most charming of Flemish Madon- nas. Behind her is stretched a hanging of fine brocade. The panel to the right (Hubert: original) shows St. John the Baptist, with his camel-hair garment, covered by a flowing green mantle. The folds of all these draperies in Hubert's three figures, though simple, have great gran- deur. The Outer Wing to the left (substituted clothed figure, not a copy : original, by Hubert, at Brussels) has Adam, as typical (with Eve) of unregenerate humanity: a sense further marked by the Offerings of Cain and Abel above it. The Outer Wing to the right has an Eve with the apple (similarly clad, not copied from the original, by Hubert, now at Brussels) : above it, the First Murder. 172 Belgium: Its Cities The Inner Left Wing (copy : the original, at- tributed to Jan, is at Berlin) has a beautiful ■group of singing angels. The inner right wing (copy: the original, likewise attributed to Jan, is also at Berlin) has an angel (not St. Cecilia) playing an organ, with other angels accompanying on various musical instruments. Taking it in its entirety, then, the altar- piece, when opened, is a great mystical poem of the Eucharist and the Sacrifice of the Lamb, with the Christian folk, both Church and World, adoring. It was in order to prepare your mind for recognition of this marked strain of mysticism in the otherwise prosaic and prac- tical Flemish temperament, that I called your attention at Bruges to several mystic or type- emphasizing pictures, in themselves of com- paratively small aesthetic value. The composition contains over two hundred figures. Many of them, which I have not here identified, can be detected by a closer inspec- tion, which, however, I will leave to the reader. Now, ask the sacristan to shut the wings. They are painted on the outer side (all a copy) mainly in grisaille, or in very low tones of H. AND J. VAN EYCK. — SINGING ANGELS (Detail from the Adoration of the Lamb). The Cathedral of Ghent 173 colour, as is usual in such cases, so as to allow the jewel-like brilliancy of the internal picture to burst upon the observer the moment the altar-piece is opened. The lower wings have (in this copy) repre- sentations of the Four Evangelists, in niches, in imitation of statuary. Observe the half- classical pose and costume of Luke, the Beloved Physician. These figures, however, were not so arranged in the original, as I shall after- ward explain. The upper wings represent on their first or lowest tier, the Annunciation, a frequent sub- ject for such divided shutters. In the centre is the usual arcade, giving a glimpse of the town of Ghent where Hubert painted it. (The scene is said to be Hubert's own studio, which stood on the site of the Cafe des Ar- cades in the Place d'Armes : the view is that which he saw from his own windows.) To the left, as always, is the angel Gabriel, with the Annunciation lily; to the right is Our Lady, reading. The Dove descends upon her head. The ordinary accessories of furniture are pres- ent — prie-dieu, curtain, bed-chamber, etc. Note this arrangement of the personages of the 1 74 Belgium : Its Cities Annunciation, with the empty space between Our Lady and the angel : it will recur in many other pictures. Observe also the Flemish real- ism of the painter, who places the scene in his own town at his own period : and contrast it with the mysticism of the entire conception. The uppermost tier of all is occupied by figures of two Sibyls (universally believed in the Middle Ages to have prophesied of Christ), as well as two half-length figures of the prophets Zachariah and Micah (also as fore- tellers of the Virgin birth). In several details the outer shutters in this copy differ markedly from the originals at Berlin. Jan's picture had, below, outer panels (when shut), portraits of Josse Vydts and his wife: inner panels, imitated statues (in grisaille) of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, patrons at that time of this church. If you are going on to Berlin, you will see them : if back to London, then go to the Basement Floor of the National Gallery, w^here you will find the water-colour copy done for the Arundel Society, which will give you an excellent idea of the work in its original condition. The Cathedral of Ghent 175 A few words must be given to the external history of this great altar-piece. It was begun by Hubert about 1420. His death in 1426 interrupted the work. Jan probably continued to paint at it till 1428, when he went to Portu- gal. On his return, he must have carried it to Bruges, where he next lived, and there com- pleted it in 1432. It was then placed in this the family chapel of Josse Vydts. During the troubles of the Reformation it was carried to the H6tel-de-Ville, but after the capitulation to the Duke of Parma it was restored to the chapel of the Vydts family. Philip II. wished to carry it ofT, but had to content himself with a copy by Coxcie, the wings of which are now in this chapel. The panels with Adam and Eve were removed in 1784, after Joseph II. had disapproved of them, and hidden in the sacristy. In 1794, the remaining panels were carried to Paris : after the peace, they were returned, but only the central portions were replaced in the chapel. The wings, save Adam and Eve, were sold to a Brussels dealer, and finally bought by the King of Prussia, which accounts for their presence at Berlin. As for Adam and Eve, the church exchanged them with the Brus- 1 76 Belgium : Its Cities sels Museum for the wings of Coxcie's copy. These various vicissitudes will explain the existing condition of the compound picture. Do not be content with seeing it once. Go home, re-read this description, and come again to study it afresh to-morrow. The chapel of the Holy Sacrament, in the apse, has very ugly rococo monuments to bishops of the eighteenth century, in the worst style of the debased Renaissance, and other monstrosities. The tenth chapel has a famous * altar-piece by Rubens, St. Bavon renouncing his worldly goods to embrace the monastic life. The Saint is seen, attired as a Duke of Brabant of the seventeenth century, in his armour and ducal robes, attended by his pages, making his pro- fession at the door of a stately Renaissance church, such as certainly did not exist in the North in his time, and received with acclama- tion by a dignified body of nobly-robed ecclesi- astics, including St. Amand (see later, under the monastery of St. Bavon). The features of the patron saint are said to be those of Rubens ; they certainly resemble his portrait of himself at Florence. The foreground is occupied by a RUBENS. — CONVERSION OF ST. BAVON. The Cathedral of Ghent 177 group of poor, to whom St. Bavon's worldly goods are being profusely scattered. On the left are two ladies, in somewhat extrava- gant courtly costumes, who are apparently moved to follow the Saint's example. They are said to be the painter's two wives, but the re- semblance to their known portraits is feeble. This is a fine specimen of Rubens's grandiose and princely manner, of his feeling for space, and of his large sense of colour; but it is certainly not a sacred picture. It was appro- priately painted for the High Altar in the Choir (1624), after the church was dedicated to St. Bavon and erected into a cathedral, but was removed from that place of honour in the eighteenth century to make room for a vulgar abomination by Verbruggen. (I defer con- sideration of Rubens and his school till we reach Brussels and Antwerp.) Fair monument of a seventeenth century bishop. Descend the steps again. Enter the choir, a very fine piece of architecture, cleared of the monstrosities of the last century : it has beauti- ful gray stone arches (about 1300), a hand- some triforium, and excellent brick vaulting. The lower portion, however, is still disfigured 178 Belgium; Its Cities by black-and-white marble screens and several incongruous rococo tombs, some of which have individual merit. (That to the left, Bishop Triest by Duquesnoy, is excellent in its own style) . Over the High Altar flutters a peculiarly annoying and fly-away seventeenth century figure of the Apotheosis of St. Bavon, the patron saint of the Cathedral, who of course thus occupies the place of honour. It is by Verbruggen. The huge copper candlesticks, bearing the royal arms of England, as used by Charles I., belonged to his private oratory in Old St. Paul's in London, and were sold by order of Cromwell. Impressive view down the nave from this point. Tip the sacristan at the rate of one franc per head of your party. CHAPTER XIII. THE OUTSKIRTS OF GHENT OLD Ghent occupied for the most part the island which extends from the Palais de Justice on one side to the Botanical Gardens on the other. This island, bounded by the Lys, the Schelde, and an ancient canal, includes almost all the principal buildings of the town, such as the Cathedral, St. Nicolas, the Hotel- de-Ville, the Belfry, and St. Jacques, as well as the chief Places, such as the Marche aux Grains, the Marche aux Herbes, and the Marche du Vendredi. It also extended beyond the Lys to the little island on which is situated the church of St. Michel, and again to the islet -formed between the Lieve and the Lys, which contains the chateau of the counts and the Place Ste. Pharailde. In the latter Middle Ages, however, the town had spread to nearly its existing extreme di- 179 1 80 Belgium : Its Cities mensions, and was probably more populous than at the present moment. But its ancient fortifications have been destroyed, and their place has been taken by boulevards and canals. The line may still be traced on the map, or walked round through a series of shipping suburbs; but it is uninteresting to follow, a great part of its course lying through the more squalid portions of the town. The only re- maining gate is that known as the Rabot (1489), a very interesting and picturesque object, situated in a particularly slummy quarter. It can best be reached by crossr- ing the bridge near the church of St. Michel, and continuing along the Rue Haute to the Boulevard du Beguinage (where stood origi- nally the Grand Beguinage, whose place is now occupied by modern streets). Turn then along the boulevard to the right till you reach the gate, which consists of two curious round towers, enclosing a high and picturesque gable- end. Owing to the unpleasant nature of the walk, I do not recommend this excursion. The south quarter of the town, beyond the Cathedral and St. Nicolas, has been much modernized during the last two centuries. Its The Outskirts of Ghent i8l only interesting points are the recent Palais de Justice and the Kouter or Place d'Armes (once the archery ground), in which a pretty flower-market is held on Friday and Sunday mornings. The Cafe des Arcades, at its east end, occupies the site of Hubert van Eyck's studio. The rest of the inner town contains little that throws light on its origin or history. There is, however, one small excursion which it would be well for those to take who have a morning to spare, and who desire to under- stand the development of Ghent — I mean to the Monastery of St. Bavon, which alone re- calls the first age of the city. Every early mediaeval town had outside its walls a ring of abbeys and monasteries, and Ghent was par- ticularly rich in this respect. St. Amand was the apostle of Flanders and the surrounding countries. He was sent by the pious King Dagobert to convert the Flemings en Hoc, and is said to have built, about 630, a little cell by the bank of the Lys, northeast of the modem city. In 65 1 , St. Bavon entered this infant monastery, which henceforth took his name. The abbey grew to be one of the 1B2 Belgium: Its Cities most important in Flanders, and occupied a large area on the northeast of the town, near the Antwerp Gate. Eginhard, the biographer and son-in-law of Charlemagne, was abbot in the ninth century. The Counts of Flanders had rights of hospitality at St. Bavon's; hence it was here, and not in the Oudeburg, as usually stated, that Queen Philippa gave birth to John of Gaunt. In 1539, however, Charles V., that headstrong despot, ' angry at the continual re- sistance of his native town to his arbitrary wishes, dissolved the monastery in the high- handed fashion of the sixteenth century, in order to build a citadel on the spot. As com- pensation for disturbance to the injured saint, he transported the relics of St. Bavon to what was then the parish church of St. John, which has ever since borne the name of the local patron. Around the dismantled ruins, the Emperor erected a great fort, afterward known as the Spaniards' Castle (Chateau des Espagnols, or Het Spanjaards Kasteel). This gigantic citadel occupied a vast square space, still traceable in the shape of the modern streets; but no other relic of it now remains. The ruins of the abbey are in themselves in- RUINS OF THE ABBEY OF ST. BAVON, GHENT. The Outskirts of Ghent 183 considerable, but they are certainly picturesque and well worth a visit from those who are spending some days in Ghent. The hurried tourist may safely neglect them. The direct route from the Place d'Armes to the abbey is by the Quai du Bas Escaut, and the Rue Van Eyck. A pleasanter route, however, is by the Rue de Brabant and the Rue Digue de Brabant to the Place d'Artevelde, passing through the handsomest part of the modern town. (In the Place itself stands the fine modern Romanesque Church of St. Anne, the interior of which is sumptuously decorated in imitation of mosaic.) ThencCj follow the Quai Porte aux Vaches to the Place Van Eyck, Cross the bridges over the Upper and Lower Schelde, and the abbey lies straight in front of you. Walk past the ivy-clad outer wall of the ruins to the white house at the corner of the street beyond it, where you will find the con- cierge (notice above the door). One franc is sufficient tip for a party. The concierge conducts you over the building, which has a picturesque cloister, partly Romanesque, but mainly fifteenth century. The centre of th^ 184 Belgium: Its Cities quadrangle is occupied by a pretty and neatly- kept garden of the old sweet-scented peasant flowers of Flanders. The most interesting part of the ruins, however, is the octagonal Roman- esque baptistery or " Chapel of St. Macaire,'" a fine piece of early vaulting, with round arches, very Byzantine in aspect. The chapel rests on massive piers, and its Romanesque arches contrast prettily with the transitional Gothic work of the cloister in the neighbourhood. Within are several fragments of Romanesque sculpture, particularly some * capitals of col- umns, with grotesque and naive representations of Adam and Eve with the Lord in the Garden, and other similar biblical subjects. (Examine closely.) There is likewise an interesting re- lief of St. Amand preaching the Gospel in Flanders, and a man-at-arms in stone, of Arte- velde's period, removed from the old coping of the belfry. We next go on to the crypt, the tombs of the monks, the monastery cellars, etc., where are collected many pieces of ancient sculpture, some found in the ruins and others brought from elsewhere. The refectory at the end, which for some time served as the Church of St. The Outskirts of Ghent 185 Macaire, is now in course of transformation into a local Museum of Monumental Art. It contains some good old tombs, and an early fresco (of St. Louis?) almost obliterated. But the garden and cloister are the best of the place, and make together a very pretty picture. You can return by the Quai and the Rue St. Georges, or by the Place St. Bavon and the Arch i episcopal Palace. (The castellated build- ing to the left, much restored, near the cathe- dral, known as the Steen of Gerard le Diable, is the sole remaining example of the mediaeval fortified houses in Ghent.) Another monastery, a visit to which will lead you through the extensive southern por- tion of the city, is the wholly modernized Bene- dictine Abbey of St. Pierre (I do not recom- mend it) . To reach it, you take the Rue Courte du Jour and the Rue Neuve St. Pierre, to the large square known as the Plaine St. Pierre, partly obtained by demolition of the monastery buildings. It is situated on rising ground, which may pass for a hill in Flanders. This is, in its origin, the oldest monastery in Ghent, having been founded, according to tradition, by St. Amand himself, in 630, on the site of 1 86 Belgium: Its Cities an ancient temple of Mercury, The existing buildings, however, hardly date in any part beyond the seventeenth century. The Church of Notre-Dame de St. Pierre was erected be- tween 1629 and 1720, in the grandiose style of the period. It is vast, and not unimposing. The interior has a certain cold dignity. The pictures are mostly of the School of Rubens, many of them dealing with St. Peter and St. Benedict; among them are good specimens. The best, by De Crayer, shows the favourite Benedictine subject of St. Benedict recogniz- ing the envoy of King Totila, who personated the king. The Plaine de St. Pierre is used for the amusing yearly fair, from Mi-Careme to Easter. The Museum of Painting (a small and un- important gallery) is situated in part of an old Augustinian monastery, which is reached by the Oudeburg and the Rue Ste. Marguerite. (Church by the side, full of Augustinian sym- bols.) Open daily from nine to twelve, and two to five, free. (I do not advise a visit, unless you have plenty of time to spare.) The Picture Gallery is on the second floor. The Outskirts of Ghent 187 The rooms to the left contain modem Bel- gian and French pictures, many of them pos- sessing- considerable merit, but not of a sort which enters into the scheme of these Guide- books. The rooms to the right of the staircase con- tain the early pictures. First room. F. Pourbus : A votive triptych for recovery from sickness. In the centre, Isaiah prophesying to Hezekiah his recovery. On the wings, the Crucifixion, and the donor with his patron, St. James. Outside the wings, in grisaille, the Raising of Lazarus (in two panels), giving a symbolical meaning to this votive ofifering. On the wall beside it, several tolerable pictures of the old Flemish School : a good Ex Voto of a donor, with the Madonna and Child, by an unknown artist; a writhing Calvary, by Van Heemskerk; a Holy Family, by De Vos ; and a quaint triptych of St. Anne and her family, with her daughter, the Ma- donna, and her grandchild, the Saviour, at her feet. Around are grouped Joseph, Mary Cleophas, Zebedee, Alpheus, Joachim, the hus- band of Anna, and Mary Salome, with her children, James and John. This queer old 1 88 Belgium: Its Cities work, by an unknown artist^ is interesting for comparison with the great Quentin Matsys, which you will see at Brussels. St. Joseph holds in his hand the rod that has flowered. (See "Legends of the Madonna.") Beneath this triptych are three interesting portrait groups of husbands and wives, six- teenth century. On the wings, a " Noli Me Tangere " — Christ and the Magdalen in the garden. The second room has Dutch and Flemish works of the seventeenth century, mostly self- explanatory. The Last Judgment, by R. Coxcie, shows a late stage of a subject which we have already seen at Bruges, now reduced to an opportunity for the display of exag- gerated anatomical knowledge. There are also several tolerable works of the School of Rubens, many of which are interesting mainly as showing the superiority of the Master to all his followers. Rombouts, The Five Senses, is, however, an excellent work of its own class. The centre of the further wall is occupied by a worthless picture of Duchastel's, represent- ing the Inauguration of Charles IL of Spain as Count of Flanders, in 1666, interesting The Outskirts of Ghent 189 mainly as a view of old Ghent. The action takes place in the Marche du Vendredi, the centre of which is occupied by the statue of Charles V., destroyed at the French Revolu- tion. All round are the original picturesque houses, with their high Flemish gable-ends. On the right is the Church of St. Jacques, much as at the present day. In front of the Municipal Council Chamber a platform is erected for the inauguration. The picture gives a good idea of the splendour of Ghent, even at the period of the Spanish domination. Near it, Rubens's St. Francis receiving the Stigmata, where the conventional elements ot the crucified six-winged seraph, the rays pro- ceeding from the five wounds to the saint's hands, feet, and side, and the astonished brother, Leo, in the distance, are all preserved, though enormously transfigured. The colour is unpleasing. This is almost a replica of the work in the Cologne Museum. Rombouts — tolerable Holy Family. Close by, some of Hondekoeter's favourite birds, and Zeghers's flowers. Over the door, a fine De Crayer. In the centre of the room is a series of pictures from the Gospel History, by F. Pourbus, with 190 Belgium : Its Cities the Last Supper and donor at the back of one, formerly a triptych. The third room has pictures of the School of Rubens, many of them of considerable merit, particularly De Crayer's Coronation of St. Rosalie and Vision of St. Augustine, in both of which he approaches within a measurable distance of the great master. His Judgment of Solomon is also excellent. Some other pictures in the room, however, exhibit the theatrical tendency of the seventeenth century in its worst form. On the way back from the Picture Gallery, you pass on your left the Rue Longue des Pierres, down which, a little way on the right, is a small museum of antiquities. I do not advise a visit to this. It contains one good brass, and some silver badges worn, by ambas- sadors of Ghent, but otherwise consists, for the most part, of third-rate bric-a-brac. Most visitors to Ghent go to see the Grand Beguinage. This was originally situated in a little district by itself, close to the gate of the Rabot, where its church, uninteresting (dedicated, like that of Bruges, to St. Eliza- beth of Hungary), still stands; but the site The Outskirts of Ghent 191 has been occupied by the town for new streets. The present Grand Beguinage lies on the road to Antwerp. It is a Httle town in miniature, enclosed by wall and moat, with streets and houses all very neat and clean, but of no archaeological interest. Yet it forms a pleasant enough end for a short drive. And you can buy lace there. The description in Baedeker is amply sufficient. Bruges is full of memories of the Burgun- dian princes. At Ghent it is the personality of Charles V., the great Emperor who cumu- lated in his own person the sovereignties of Germany, the Low Countries, Spain and Bur- gundy, that meets us afresh at every turn. He was born here in 1500, and baptized in a font (otherwise uninteresting) which still stands in the north transept of the Cathedral. Ghent was really, for the greater part of his life, his practical capital, and he never ceased to be at heart a Ghenter. That did not prevent the citizens from justly rebelling against him in 1540, after the suppression of which revolt Charles is said to have ascended the Cathedral tower, while the executioner was putting to death the ringleaders in the rebellion, in order 192 Belgium: Its Cities to choose with his Brother Ferdinand the site for the citadel he intended to erect, to over- awe the freedom-loving city. He chose the Monastery of St. Bavon as its site, and, as we have seen^ built there his colossal fortress, now wholly demolished. The Palace in which he was born and which he inhabited frequently during life, was known as the Cour du Prince. It stood near the Ancien Grand Beguinage, but only its name now survives in that of a street. The Spaniard's Castle was long the standing menace to freedom in the Low Countries. Within its precincts Egmont and Hoorn were imprisoned in 1568 for several months before their execution. During the early Middle Ages, the Oude- burg was the residence of the Counts of Flan- ders in Ghent. Later on, its place as a royal residence was taken by the Cour du Prince, which was inhabited by Maximilian and his wife, Mary of Burgundy, as well as by Phi- lippe le Beau and Johanna of Spain, the par- ents of Charles V. No direct memorials of the great Emperor now exist in Ghent, but mementoes of him crop up at every point in the city. CHAPTER XIV. ORIGINS OF BRUSSELS "DRUSSELS was in a certain sense the ^-^ ancient capital of Brabant, as Bruges and Ghent were the ancient capitals of West and East Flanders. It grew up (as early as the eighth century) on the banks of the little river Senne, whose course through its midst is now masked by the modern Inner Boule- vards, built on arches above the unseen stream. The Senne is one of the numerous rivers which flow into the Schelde, and the original town clustered close round its banks, its centre being marked by the Grand' Place and the church of St. Nicolas. Unlike Bruges and Ghent, how- ever, Brussels has always been rather an ad- 193 194 Belgium : Its Cities ministrative than a commercial centre. It is true, it had considerable trade in the Middle Ages, as its fine H6tel-de-Ville and Guild Houses still attest ; but it seems to have sprung up round a villa of the Prankish kings, and it owed at least as much to its later feudal lords, the Counts of Louvain, afterward Dukes of Brabant, and to their Burgimdian successors, as to its mercantile position. The Senne was never a very important river for navigation, though, like most of the Bel- gian waterways, it was ascended by light craft, while a canal connected the town with the Schelde and Antwerp : but the situation of Brussels on the great inland trade route be- tween Bruges or Ghent and Cologne gave it a certain mercantile value. Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, Louvain, Maastricht, and Aix-la- Chapelle all formed stations on this important route, and all owed to it a portion of their commercial prestige. The burgher town which was thus engaged in trade and manufactures was Flemish in speech and feeling, and lay in the hollow by the river and the Grand' Place. But a lordly suburb began to arise at an early date on the Origins of Brussels 195 hill to eastward, where the Counts of Louvain built themselves a mansion, surrounded by those of the lesser nobility. After 1380, the counts migrated here from too democratic Louvain. Later on, in the fifteenth century, the Dukes of Burgxmdy (who united the sovereignty of Brabant with that of Flanders) often held their court here, as the population was less turbulent and less set upon freedom than that of purely commercial and industrial Bruges and Ghent. Thus the distinctive posi- tion of Brussels as the aristocratic centre and the seat of the court grew fixed. Again, the Dukes of Burgundy were French in speech, and surrounded themselves with French knights and courtiers; to suit the sovereigns, the local nobility also acquired the habit of speaking French, which has gradually become the language of one-half of Belgium. But the people of the Old Town in the valley were, and are still, largely Flemish in tongue, in customs, in sympathies, and in aspect; while the Inhabitants of the Montagne de la Cour and the court quarter generally are French in speech, in taste, and in manners. We will trace in the sequel the gradual growth of 196 Belgium : Its Cities Brussels from its nucleus by the river (the Lower Town), up the side of the eastern hill to the Palace district (the Upper Town), and thence through the new Quartier Leopold and the surrounding region to its modern exten- sion far beyond the limits of the mediaeval ramparts. Choose an hotel in the airy and wholesome Upper Town, as near as possible to the Park or the Place Royale. St. Michael the Archangel is the patron saint of Brussels : he will meet you everywhere, even on the lamp-posts. For the patroness, St. Gudula, see under the Cathedral. CHAPTER XV. THE HEART OF BRUSSELS THE nucleus of BrusselSj as of Paris, was formed by an island, now no longer existing. Round this islet ran two branches of the little river Senne, at present obliterated by the Inner Boulevards. Brussels, in short, has denied its parentage; the Senne, which is visible north and south of the Outer Boule- vards, being covered over by arches within the whole of the Inner City. The centre of the island is marked by the little Place St. Gery, which the reader need not trouble to visit. Here, at the end of the sixth century, St. Gery, Bishop of Cambrai and apostle of Brabant, built a small chapel, succeeded by a church, now demolished. The true centre of Brussels, however, may be con- veniently taken as the existing Bourse. Close by, as the town grew, the Grand' Place or 197 198 Belgium : Its Cities market-place was surrounded by noble mediae- val and Renaissance buildings. To this centre then, the real heart of Brussels in the Middle Ages, we first direct ourselves. Gro from your hotel to the Grand' Place. It may be reached by either of two convenient roads; from the Place Royale by the Mon- tagne de la Cour and the Rue de la Madeleine, or from the Park by the Montague du Pare (which takes various names as it descends), and the Galerie St. Hubert. Either route brings you out at the end of the Galerie, whence a short street to the left will land you at once in the Grand' Place, undoubtedly the finest square in Europe, and the only one which now enables us to reconstruct in imagination the other Grand's Places of Belgium and the Rhine country. The most conspicuous building in the Place, with the tall tower and open spire, is the H6tel-de-Ville, with one possible exception (Louvain) the handsomest in Belgium. It consists of a tapering central tower, flanked by two wings, their high-pitched roof covered with projecting windows. The ground flooi* is arcaded. The first and second floors have The Heart of Brussels 199 Gothic windows, altered into square frames in a portion of the building. The edifice is of different dates. The original H6tel-de-Ville consisted only of the wing to your left, as you face it, erected in 1402. The right wing, shorter in fagade, and architecturally somewhat different, was added in 1443. The style of the whole, save where altered, is Middle Gothic ("Decorated"). The beautiful open spire should be specially noticed. On its summit stands a colossal gilt metal figure (1454) of the Archangel Michael^ patron of the city. The statues in the niches are modern, and not quite in keeping with the character of the build- ing. Observe, over the main portal, St. Michael, patron saint of the town, with St. Sebastian, St. Christopher, St. George, and St. Gery. Below are the Cardinal Virtues. The figures above are Dukes of Brabant. Inspect the whole fagade carefully. You will hardly find a nobler piece of civic architecture in Europe. The carved wooden door has also a figure of St. Michael. The gargoyles and the bosses near the staircase entrance to the left are likewise interesting. Now, go round the corners to the left and 200 Belgium : Its Cities right, to inspect the equally fine fagades, facing the Rues de rH6tel-de-Ville and de la Tete- d'Or. The back of the building is eighteenth century and uninteresting. You may also pass rapidly through the courtyard, which, however, has very little character. But you need not trouble to inspect the interior, unless you are an abandoned sightseer. The other important and beautiful building which faces the H6tel-de-Ville "is the Maison du Roi, formerly used as the Halle au Pain or Broodhuis. It is of late florid Gothic, verging toward Renaissance (1514, re- stored), and is in three storeys, two of them arcaded. The first floor has an open gallery, like the loggia of a Venetian palace, whence ladies could view processions and ceremonies in the square below. The building terminates in a high roof, with projecting windows, and a handsome open tower and lantern. The whole has been recently rebuilt and profusely gilded. Within, is a small Communal Museum (open free daily, from ten to four). Come again often to view these two noble halls. The third principal building (on the east side of the Square) known as the Maison The Heart of Brussels 201 des Dues was the Public Weighing House, constructed in a debased Renaissance style, and also profusely gilded. It bears the date 1698, but is now unworthily occupied by sale rooms and shops. The whole of the remaining space in this glorious square is surrounded by magnificent Guild Halls of the various corporations. Beginning on the south side (that occupied by the H6tel-de-Ville) , we have, first, left, two high-gabled houses of good seventeenth- century domestic architecture. Next to them, on the right, comes the Hotel des Brasseurs, dated 1752, and lately surmounted by a bronze equestrian statue of Charles of Lorraine. This was originally the Guild Hall of the Brewers. After that, again, rises the house known as " The Swan," belonging to the Corporation of Butchers. The small building at the corner, next the H6tel-de-Ville, with an open loggia, now in course of restoration, is known as the Maison de I'Etoile : a gilt star surmounts its gable. The finest group of houses, however, is that to the west side of the square (right of the H6tel-de-Ville), unoccupied by any one prom- 202 Belgium : Its Cities inent building. Beginning' on the left, we have, first, the house known as " The Fox " (Le Renard), dated 1699: it is surmounted by a figure of St. Nicholas resuscitating the three boys, and is adorned with statues of Justice and the Four Continents on its first floor. Then comes the Guild Hall of the Skippers, or Maison des Bateliers, its gable constructed somewhat like the poop of a ship, with four projecting cannon. The symbolism here is all marine — sailors above; then Nep- tune and his horses, etc. To the right of this, we see the house known as " La Louve," bearing as a sign Romulus and Remus with the wolf. This was originally the Guild Hall of the Archers. It shows an inscription stating that it was restored, after being burnt down, by the Confraternity of St. Sebastian (patron of archers). Its relief of the Saint with a bow is appropriate. The two remaining houses are " La Brouette," dated 1697, and " Le Sac," bearing on its gable a medallion with three faces. The houses on the north side (that occupied by the Maison du Roi), are less interesting, except those on the extreme right. Next to The Heart of Brussels 203 the Maison du Roi itself come two pretty little decorated houses, beyond which is the Guild Hall of the Painters, known as " The Pigeon," and that called " La Taupe," the Hall of the Tailors. The two last at the corner of the street are now in course of restoration. Several other fine houses of the same period close the vista of the streets round the corner. This imposing group of Guild Halls dates, however, only from the end of the seventeenth century, mostly about 1697. The reason is that in 1695 ^^e greater part of the Grand' Place was destroyed by Marshal de Villeroi during the siege. Two years later, the Guild Houses were rebuilt in the ornate and some- what debased style of the Louis XIV. period. Fortunately, the two great mediaeval buildings, which stood almost isolated, did not share the general destruction. Continue your stroll through the Lower Town. From the Grand' Place, take the Rue au Beurre, which leads east toward the Bourse. On your right you will pass the now uninter- esting and entirely modernized Church of St. Nicolas. In its origin, however, this is one 204 Belgium : Its Cities of the oldest churches in Brussels, and though it has long lost almost every mark of antiquity, it is instructive to recognize here again (as at Ghent) the democratic patron saint of the merchants and burgesses in close proximity to their Town Hall and their Guild Houses. The Bourse itself, which faces you, is a hand- some and imposing modern building. Go past its side till you reach the line of the Inner Boulevards, which lead north and south between the Gare du Nord and the Gare du Midi. This superb line of streets, one of the finest set of modern boulevards in Europe, has been driven straight through the heart of the Old Town, and the authorities offered large money prizes for the best fagades erected along the route. Content yourself for the moment with a glance up and down, to observe the general effect, and then continue on to your left along the Boulevard, where the first street on the right will lead you to the little Place St. Gery, now occupied by a market, but origi- nally the centre of Old Brussels. A stroll through the neighbouring streets is interesting, past the Halles Centrales, and the modem The Heart of Brussels 205 Church of St. Catherine, close by which stands the old Tower of St. Catherine, built into a modern block of houses. A little further on is the picturesque Tour Noire, the only re- maining relic of the first fortifications of the city. You may prolong this walk to the Place du Beguinage, with a tolerable church. The quarter has no special interest, but it will serve to give you a passing idea of the primitive nucleus of mediaeval Brussels. I will interpolate here a few remarks about the more modern portion of the Old Town. The best way to see it is to take the tram along the Inner Boulevards from the Gare du Midi to the Gare du Nord. You will then pass, first, the Outer Boulevards (see later) : next, right, the Palais du Midi ; left, the Place d'Anneessens, with a statue of Anneessens, the intrepid and public-spirited magistrate of Brussels who was put to death in 1719 for venturing to defend the privileges of the city against the Austrian authorities. Just oppo- site this, you get a glimpse, to the right, of the Place Rouppe, to be noticed later. Pass- ing the Place Fontainas, where many streets radiate, you arrive at the Bourse, already 2o6 Belgium : Its Cities noticed. The handsome corner building (with dome) in front of you, which forms so con- spicuous an element in the prospect as you approach, is the Hotel Continental. Just in front of it expands a small new square (Place de Brouckere) still unfinished, on which a monument is now being erected to a late burgo- master (De Brouckere). At this point, the Boulevard divides, the western branch follow- ing the course of the Senne (which emerges to light just beyond the Outer Boulevards), while the eastern branch goes straight on to the Gare du Nord, passing at the first corner a handsome narrow house with gilt summit, which won the first prize in the competition instituted by the Municipality for the best fagades on the new line of streets. After reaching the Gare du Nord, you can return to the Gare du Midi by an alternative line of main streets, which also cuts through the heart of the Old Town, a little to the east of the Inner Boulevards. It begins with the Rue Neuve, where a short street to the left conducts you straight to the Place des Martyrs, a white and somewhat desolate square of the eighteenth century (1775), adorned later with The Heart of Brussels 207 a Monument to the Belgians who were killed during the War of Independence in 1830. Shortly after this (continuing the main line) you pass two covered galleries, and then arrive at the Place de la Monnaie. On your right is the handsome building of the new Post Office; on your left, the white Ionic-pillared Grand Theatre or Theatre de la Monnaie. You then pass between St. Nicolas on the left, and the Bourse on the right, and continue on to the Place Rouppe (ornamented with a fountain and a statue of Brussels personified) : whence the Avenue du Midi leads you straight to the Place de la Constitution, in front of the South Station. The remainder of the western half of the town is, for the most part, poor and devoid of interest, though it contains the principal markets, hospitals, and barracks, as well as the basins for the canals which have superseded the Senne. CHAPTER XVI. THE BRUSSELS PICTURE GALLERY! HALL OF THE OLD MASTERS I INTERPOLATE here the account of the Brussels Picture Gallery, because it is the most important object to be seen in the town, after the Grand' Place and its neighbourhood. You must pay it several visits — three at the very least — and you may as well begin early. Follow the roughly chronological order here indicated, and you will understand it very much better. Begin again next time where you left off last: but also, revisit the rooms you have already seen, to let the pictures sink into your memory. Intersperse these visits with general sightseeing in the town and neighbourhood. The Brussels Gallery forms an excellent con- tinuation to the works of art we have already studied at Bruges and Ghent. In the first place, it gives us some further examples of 208 The Brussels Picture Gallery 209 the Old Flemish masters, of the Van Eycks and of Memling, as well as several altar-pieces belonging to the mystical religious School of the Brussels town-painter, Roger van der Weyden, who was Memling's master. These have been removed from churches at va- rious times, and gradually collected by the present Government. It also affords us an admirable opportunity of becoming well ac- quainted with the masterpieces of Dierick Bouts, or Dierick of Haarlem, an early painter, Dutch by birth but Flemish by train- ing, who was town-painter in democratic Louvain (which town may afterward be made the object of an excursion from Brussels). But, in the second place, besides these paint- ers of the early school, the Brussels Gallery is rich in works of the transitional period, and possesses in particular a magnificent altar-piece by Quentin Matsys, the last of the old Flemish School, and the first great pre- cursor of the Renaissance in the Low Coun- tries. He was practically an Antwerp man (though born at Lx>uvain), and his place in art may more fitly be considered in the Ant- werp Museum. 2IO Belgium : Its Cities From his time on we are enabled to trace, in this Gallery, the evolution of Flemish art to its third period, the time of Rubens (also better seen at Antwerp) and his successors, the great Dutch painters, here fairly repre- sented by Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Van der Heist, Gerard Dou, and Teniers. In the following list of the most noteworthy works of each School, I have adhered, roughly speaking, to chronological order, but with- out compelling the reader unnecessarily to dance up and down the various rooms of the collection from one work to another. The Gallery itself is one of the most splendid in Europe, and it has been recently rearranged in a most satisfactory manner. The national collection of pictures by Old Masters occupies the very handsome modern building known as the Palais des Beaux-Arts in the Rue de la Regence, immediately after passing through the Place Royale. (Four large granite columns in front : bronze sculp- ture groups to right and left.) See plan on opposite page. Enter by the big door with the four large granite columns. In the vestibule, turn to the The Brussels Picture Gallery 211 right, and mount the staircase. Then pass through Room III. and Corridor A, to Room V. on the right, and on to Room I., the Hall of the Old Flemish Masters, which contains the most interesting works in the Gallery. ocdstOHiL cirttAMa Ivin-I 0000 STKEET FRONT THE PICTURE GALLERY AT BRUSSELS. You may also, if you like, pass through the collection of Sculpture in the Hall below, entering by Corridor D ; in which case, turn to the left into Rooms VHI. and H., and then to the right into Room L, as above. This is 212 Belgium: Its Cities the handsomer entrance. Much of the sculp- ture has great merit : but being purely modem, it does not fall within the scope of these Historical Guides. Begin in the middle of the wall, with No. 19, ** Hubert van Eyck : the two outer up- per shutters from the Adoration of the Lamb at Ghent, representing Adam and Eve, whose nudity so shocked Joseph H. that he objected to their presence in a church. These fine examples of the un idealized northern nude are highly characteristic of the Van Eycks' crafts- manship. The Adam is an extremely con- scientious and able rendering- of an ordinary and ill-chosen model, surprisingly and almost painfully true in its fidelity to nature. The foreshortening of the foot, the minute ren- dering of the separate small hairs on the legs, the large-veined, every-day hands, the frank exhibition of the bones and sinews of the neck, all show the extreme northern love of realism, and the singular northern inattention to beauty. Compare this figure with the large German panels on a gold ground in the cor- ners diagonally opposite (Nos. 141, 142), if you wish to see how great an advance in truth The Brussels Picture Gallery 213 of portraiture was made by the Van Eycks. The Eve is an equally faithful rendering of an uninteresting model, with protruding body and spindle legs. Above, in the lunettes, are the Offerings of Cain and Abel, and the Death of Abel, in grisaille. The backs of the shut- ters will be opened for you by the attendant. They exhibit, above, two Sibyls, with scrolls from their prophecies; below the central por- tion of the Annunciation in the total picture, with a view through the window over the town of Ghent, and the last words of the angelic message, truncated from their context. This portion of the picture, is, of course, only comprehensible by a study of the original altar-piece at Ghent. Continue now along this wall to the right of the Adam and Eve. 24. J. Gossart, called Mabuse (1470 — 1541), triptych with a Glorification of the Magdalen, given by a special votary. The central panel contains the chief event in her history — the Supper at the House of Simon the Pharisee. The host and one guest are admirably represented by Flemish portraits, exquisitely robed, and reproduced in marvel- 214 Belgium ; Its Cities lous detail. The figure of the Christ is, as usual, insipid. Beneath the table, the Mag- dalen, as central figure, with her alabaster box of ointment^ kisses the feet of Christ. To the right, Judas, with his traditional red hair, and bearing the purse, asks, with a contemp- tuous gesture. Why this was not sold and given to the poor? In the background are the Apostles. Conspicuous amongst them is the conventional round face of St. Peter. The whole scene takes place in a richly decorated interior, with charming colouring and a finely rendered clock, curtain, and other accessories. Gossart visited Italy, and was one of the earliest Flemings to be influenced by the Italian Renaissance. You will not overlook the half-Gothic, half-Renaissance architecture, nor the chained squirrel, nor the semi- grotesque episodes in the background, very domestic and Flemish. (Moses above the Pharisee's head marks his devotion.) The left panel has another principal event in the Magdalen's life^ the Resurrection of Lazarus. Here also the Christ is insipid, but the Peter behind him, in a green robe, is finely characterized; and the John, affected. Be- The Brussels Picture Gallery 215 side are the Magdalen (same dress as before) and Martha, with a group of women and by- standers in singular head-dresses. In the background rises a very ideal Bethany. The right panel represents the kneeling donor (an unknown Premonstratensian abbot) ; on his book is written, " Mary Magdalen, pray for us." Above him is seen the floating figure of the Magdalen, clad only in her own luxu- riant hair, and raised aloft by angels from her cave, the Sainte Baume, in Provence, to behold the Beatific Vision. The background has Stations of the Cross, actually copied (with the rest of the landscape) from those at the Sainte Baume, which Gossart must have visited at his patron's instance. On the backs of the wings, yet another scene in the life of the Saint, Christ and the Magdalen in the Garden. All this triptych is finely modelled and well-coloured. 57' 59» 60. Three panels attributed to Roger van der Weyden, of Toumay, town- painter of Brussels, and teacher of Memling — a highly symbolical and religious master. Scenes from the life of the Virgin. In the centre, the Presentation of the Virgin in the 2i6 Belgium : Its Cities Temple. The foreground is occupied by St. Joachim and St. Anna, parents of the little Virgin, who is seen mounting the regulation fifteen steps of the Temple, assisted by a somewhat unusual angel. At the head of the steps stands the High Priest. Within, the Virgins of the Lord are seen reading. To the right, still in the same panel, is the Annun- ciation, with the usual features, angel on the left, Madonna on the right, prie-dieu, bed. Annunciation lily, and arcade in the fore- ground. The left panel has the Circumcision; and the right, Christ among the Doctors in the Temple, with some excellent portraits in the background. (For Van der Weyden's place in art, see Conway; for the Madonna ascending the steps, *' Legends of the Ma- donna.") 6 1, 62. Also attributed to Roger van der Weyden : parts of the same series. Way to Calvary and the Crucifixion. The first has the usual brutal soldiers and a suffering but not very dignified Christ. (Study for com- parison with others.) Beside the Virgin kneels the donor. The second has the con- ventional figures of the fainting Madonna, St. The Brussels Picture Gallery 217 John, the Magdalen, and the other Maries: sun and moon darkened. In the distance of both, Flemish towns. (Good trees and land- scape.) 124A. Good portrait by unknown (trans- itional) Fleming (Van Orley?), probably of a lawyer : the charters seem to indicate a secretary of Maximilian and Charles V. 126. A crowded Calvary of the German School (late fifteenth century) with an ema- ciated Saviour, writhing and distorted thieves, and rather wooden spectators. Observe the St. Longinus in armour on the bay horse, piercing the side of Christ, for comparison hereafter with such later conceptions as Ru- bens's at Antwerp. To the left is the group of the Madonna, St. John, and the two Maries. The red eyes of St. John are characteristic of this scene, and descend to Vandyck. The Maries are unmitigated German housewives. The Magdalen embraces the foot of the Cross. On the right are spectators and a brawl be- tween soldiers. The background is full of characteristic German devils and horrors : also St. Veronica, Peter, Malchus, Judas hanging himself, etc. 2i8 Belgium: Its Cities Above it, 143, German School. Christ and the Apostles : gold background. Very fla- vourless : shows the tendencies from which the Van Eycks revolted. By the door, yy. Insipid Flemish Virgin and Child. Now, return along the same wall, beyond the great Van Eyck in the centre. 41. Bernard van Orley (transitional). Triptych (sawn in two), with the Patience of Job inside, and Lazarus and Dives outside. In the centre panel^ the house falling upon the sons of Job. In the background, Job and his comforters : his house in flames, etc. Left panel, the flocks and herds of Job driven off by the Sabeans, with Satan before the Almighty at the summit. Right panel, Job in his last state more blessed than formerly: his comforters ask him to intercede for them. Beyond this again, the outer shutters (the panels having been sawn through) : extreme left, Lazarus at the Rich Man's gate; above, his new-born soul borne aloft to Heaven. Below, cooks, servants, etc. Extreme right, the Rich Man dying, attended by his physi- cian (compare the Dropsical Woman by The Brussels Picture Gallery 219 Gerard Dou in the Louvre). Below, Dives in Torments (in a very Flemish Hell) calling to Lazarus. Above, Lazarus in Abraham's bosom. This is a good characteristic ex- ample of the transitional period between the early and later Flemish art, greatly influenced by the Italian Renaissance. Van Orley travelled in Italy, and imitated Raphael in com- position and drawing. Beyond it, attributed to Roger van der Weyden, 58, 63, 64 (three panels arbitrarily placed together). In the centre panel, two subjects. Left, the Nativity, elements all conventional : ruined temple, shed, ox, and ass (extremely wooden), and St. Joseph in back- ground. (He frequently bears a candle in this scene in order to indicate that the time is night.) Right, the Adoration of the Three Kings, old, middle-aged, young, the last a Moor. St. Joseph examines, as often, the Old King's gift. Note his costume; it recurs in Flemish art. Left panel, Joseph of Ari- mathea with the Crown of Thorns, Nicodemus with the three nails, St. John, and the three Maries at the Sepulchre. Right panel, En- tombment, with the same figures : the Crown 220 Belgium : Its Cities of Thorns and nails in the foreground. Great importance is always attached to these relics, preserved in the Sainte Chapelle and at Monza, near Milan. At the corner, two good portraits: t.'j, by Holbein the Younger, of * Sir Thomas More. 127. Flagellation and Ascension, German School, with gilt backgrounds. Beneath them, a fine Madonna, unnumbered, with child and an apple. On either side of it, * 145, 146, beautiful soft-toned German portraits (by Beham?) of two children, Maximilian II., and his sister, Anne of Austria. The skied pictures on this wall are only in- teresting as specimens of the later transitional period, when Flemish art was aiming ill at effects unnatural to it. Continue along the wall in the same direc- tion. 271, skied, is a Last Judgment by Floris, also transitional and useful for comparison with others elsewhere. To right and left, the Fall of the Damned and the Just Ascending re- call early examples at Bruges. By the door, loi, * portrait of Johanna of The Brussels Picture Gallery 221 Spain (the Mad), mother of Charles V. : fine fifteenth century work, attributed to Jacob Jansz of Haarlem. 73, 74. Excellent old Flemish portraits. Between them, 36, a Holy Family and St. Anne, with the donor, a Franciscan monk, by a feeble imitator of Memling. Above it, 68, Scenes from the Life of the Virgin, with a donor. On the left, the Na- tivity. Note the conventional elements. On the right, the Circumcision. Above, Angel and patron saints. 100. * Portrait of Philippe le Beau, father of Charles V., companion to his wife opposite. Observe the collar of the Golden Fleece, and the united anns of Spain, Burgundy, etc., on his doublet. These portraits were originally the wings of a triptych. 112. Triptych, Flemish School, early six- teenth century. Centre panel, Miracle of St. Anthony of Padua and the Mule. (The Saint, carrying the Host, met a scoffer's mule, which knelt as it passed.) Above, St. Bona- ventura, attired as bishop, praying. These must be the chief objects of the donor's de- votion : they are also represented on the outer 222 Belgium : Its Cities wings. Right and left, the donor (whose name was Tobias), with his personal patron, St. Raphael the Archangel (accompanying the young Tobias), and his wife, with St. Margaret and the Dragon. (For Tobias and the Fish, see Book of Tobit.) Beneath it, Patinier, a painter chiefly mem- orable for his landscapes (of which this is a poor example). St. Jerome in the Desert, beating his breast with a stone before a crucifix. Beside him, his cardinal's hat and lion. Not a good example of the master. 42. Tolerable portrait of a doctor, by Ber- nard van Orley. 56. Roger van der Weyden : head of a Woman Weeping. Perhaps a portion of a large composition, or a study for one. More likely, a copy by a pupil. Much damaged. 70. Triptych of the Flemish School (Hugo van der Goes?) ; centre panel, Assumption of Our Lady. Round the empty tomb are gathered the apostles ; conspicuous among them, St. Peter with a censer, and St. James. Above, Our Lady taken up in a glory by Christ and the Holy Ghost, represented as like Him. In the background, her Funeral, St. Peter, The Brussels Picture Gallery 223 as Pope, accompanying. Note the papal dress of St. Peter; St. James holds the cross as Bishop of Jerusalem. Left wing, the chief donor, accompanied by his guardian angel and two of the apostles, one of whom holds St. Peter's tiara^ as if part of the main picture. In the background, St. Thomas receiving the Holy Girdle from an Angel, a common treat- ment in Flemish art, though Italians make him receive it from Our Lady in person. Right wing, donor's son and wife, with guardian angel. This triptych closely re- sembles No. 71 (which see later), except that that picture is in one panel, instead of three. I think 71 must have been painted first, and this taken from it, but made into a triptych; which would account for the unusual flowing over of the main subject into the wings. Beside it, unnumbered, Patinier : Repose on the Flight into Egypt, with fine landscape background. 49. Martin Schongauer (of Colmar, a Ger- man largely influenced by Roger van der Weyden), * Ecce Homo, painted like a miniature. 224 Belgium : Its Cities Above, 72, Flemish School, Head of St. John the Baptist on a charger. 47A, Patinier : another Repose on the Flight into Egypt. Observe persistence of the main elements. Notice in particular, as compared with the similar picture close by, the staff, basket, etc., in the right foreground. 35. School of Memling, perhaps by the master : a Bishop preaching : M. Fetis thinks, exhorting the Crusade in which Pope Nicolas V. wished to interest the princes of Europe after the fall of Constantinople. 18. School of Diirer: Fine and thought- ful portrait of a man, perhaps Erasmus. Above it, 78, Flemish triptych (School of Van der Weyden) of the Adoration of the Magi, the elements in which will by this time be familiar to you. Right and left. Adoration of the Shepherds and Circumcision. The exceptional frequency of the subject of the Adoration of the Magi in the Low Countries and the Rhine district is to be accounted for by the fact that the relics of the Three Kings are preserved in Cologne Cathedral, and are there the chief object of local cult. At the comer. The Brussels Picture Gallery 225 5 and 6, two good portraits by the German De Bruyn (early sixteenth century). Transi- tional : show Italian influence. Between them, unknown German, Wedding Feast at Cana. That you may have no doubt as to the reality of the miracle, a servant is pouring water into the jars in the foreground. He is much the best portion of the picture. Be- hind are Christ, St. John, and Our Lady. Next to them, the bride and bridegroom. (Com- pare the Gerard David in the Louvre.) Above it, 142, a very quaint St. George and St. Catherine, early German School, with gold background. St. George is stiffly clad in armour, and painfully conscious of his spindle legs, with a transfixed dragon and broken lance at his feet. St. Catherine looks extremely peevish, with a Byzantine down- drawn mouth : she holds the sword of her martyrdom, and has a fragment of her wheel showing behind her. Her face is highly characteristic of the severity and austerity of early German art. Companion piece (141) at opposite corner. Now proceed to the next wall. 105. Tolerable triptych, Flemish School, 226 Belgium : Its Cities representing the events of the Infancy. Centre, Adoration of the Shepherds, with the usual conventional features (ruined temple, shed, ox and ass, etc.) and St. Joseph holding his candle, as often, to indicate night-time. Left, Annunciation, with the usual position of the angel reversed. Otherwise the portico and other features persist. Compare the great Van Eyck at Ghent, from which some elements here are borrowed. Right, the Cir- cumcision. Symbolical figure of Moses on altar full of the symbolism of Van der Wey- den's School. (Outer shutters, uninteresting, St. Catherine and St. Barbara.) 114. The Seven Sorrows of Mary, in grisaille, with the Mater Dolorosa in the centre. Study these Seven Sorrows: they recur. 47. Pleasing transitional Madonna, School of Van Orley, somewhat Italian in feeling, in a pretty arcade, with nice landscape back- ground. 69. * Descent from the Cross (Van der Weyden or his School). Notice the white sheet on which the body is laid, as later in the great Rubens. Nicodemus and Joseph BOUTS. — ^ JUSTICE OF EMPEROR OTHO (First panel). The Brussels Picture Gallery 227 of Arimathea support the body; St. John and one of the Maries hold the fainting Madonna. Left, the Magdalen, with her long hair. By her feet, her box of ointment. Close beside it, the nails, hammer, and pincers. (M. Lafe- nestre, following Bode, attributes this picture to Petrus Christus, but with a query.) 3F. * Dierick Bouts of Louvain: The Last Supper. A fine and characteristic exaanple of the town-painter of Louvain. The faces are those of peasants or small bourgeois. To the right are the donors, entering as spec- tators : their faces are excellent. Judas sits in front of the table. The Christ is insipid. Note the admirable work of the pavement and background. The servant is a good feature. If you have Conway with you, compare this picture with the engraving of the very similar one by Bouts at Louvain, only, the architecture there is Gothic, here Renaissance. Above it, 80, unknown Flemish master: the Miracles of St. Benedict. He moves the great stone held down by devils, and performs several other wonders (the visit of Romanus, Maurus saving Placidus, etc.), for which see Mrs. Jameson, " Monastic Orders." 228 Belgium : Its Cities 3c and 3D. *''' Dierick Bouts : Two com- panion panels, life-size figures, known as the Justice of the Emperor Otho, and painted for the Council-Room of the H6tel-de-Ville at Louvain, as warning to evil-doers, perjurers, or unjust magistrates. (Compare the Gerard David of the Flaying of Sisamnes in the Academy at Bruges.) It is first necessary to understand the story. During the absence of the Emperor Otho in Italy (according to tradition), his Empress made advances to a gentleman of the court, who rejected her offers. Piqued by this rebuff, the Empress de- nounced him to Otho on his return as having attempted to betray her honour. Otho, with- out further testimony, had the nobleman be- headed. His widow appeared before the Emperor's judgment-seat, bearing her hus- band's head in her hands, and offered to prove his innocence by the ordeal of fire. She there- fore held a red-hot iron in her hand unhurt. Otho, convinced of his wife's treachery by this miraculous evidence, had the perjured Empress burned alive. The first panel to the ri^ht, rep- resents the scene in two separate moments. Behind, the nobleman, in his shirt and with his The Brussels Picture Gallery 22Q hands tied, walks toward the place of execution, accompanied by his wife in a red dress and black hoodj as well as by a Franciscan friar. In the foreground, the executioner (looking grimly stem) has just decapitated the victim, and is giving the head to the wife in a towel. The headless corpse lies on the ground before him. The neck originally spurted blood; flowers have been painted in to conceal this painful element. All round stand spectators, probably portraits of the Louvain magistrates, admirably rendered in Bouts's dry and stiff but lifelike manner. Behind them, within a walled garden belonging to a castle in the background, stand the Emperor with his sceptre and crown, and the faithless Empress. Good town and landscape to the left. The second panel, to the left, separated from this by a large triptych, represents the nobleman's wife appearing before the enthroned Otho. In her right hand she holds her husband's head ; with her left she grasps the red-hot iron, unmoved. The brazier of charcoal in which it has been heated stands on the parti-coloured marble floor in the foreground. Around are several portraits of courtiers. Behind is repre- 230 Belgium ; Its Cities sented the scene of the Empress burning, which closes the episode. I need not call attention to the admirable painting of the fur, the green coat, Otho's flowered red robe, the dog, the throne, and all the other accessories. This is considered Dierick Bouts's masterpiece. (Go later to Lx>uvain to complete your idea of him.) Between these two pictures are arranged five of the finest works in the collection. 32 and 33. Memling: ** Portraits of Willem Moreel (or Morelli), Burgomaster of Bruges, and his wife, Barbara, the same per- sons (Savoyards) who are represented in the St. Christopher triptych in the Academy at Bruges. Their daughter is the Sibyl Sam- betha of the St. John's Hospital. Both portraits, but especially the Burgomaster's, are good, hard, dry pictures. 31. MemHng: ** Triptych: perhaps painted in Italy (if I permitted myself an opinion, I would say, doubtfully by Memling). At any rate, it is for the Sforza family of Milan. Central panel, the Crucifixion, with Our Lady and St. John. Beautiful background of a fanciful Jerusalem. Sun and moon darkened. The Brussels Picture Gallery 231 In the foreground kneel Francesco Sforza in armour, his wife, Bianca Visconti, and his son, Galeazzo-Maria. Behind the duke, his coat of arms. Left panel : the Nativity. In the foreground St. Francis with the Stigmata, as patron saint of Francesco, and St. Bavon with his falcon. Right panel : St. John the Baptist, as patron saint of Giovanni Galeazzo. Below, St. Catherine with her sword and wheel, and St. Barbara with her tower, two charming figures. I do not know the reason of their introduction, but they are common pendants of one another in northern art. You can get an attendant to unfasten the outer wings of the triptych for you, but they are not important. They contain, in grisaille, on the left, St. Jerome and the lion ; on the right, St. George and the dragon. (The presence of St. Bavon in this enigmatic picture leads me to suppose it was painted for a church at Ghent. But what were the Sforza family doing there? Perhaps it has reference to some local business of the Sforzas in Flanders.) 55. ** Roger van der Weyden : Portrait of Charles the Bold of Burgundy, wearing the Golden Fleece. An excellent and charac- 232 Belgium : Its Cities teristic piece of workmanship. The arrow has a meaning: it is the symbol of St. Se- bastian, to whom (as plague-saint) Charles made a vow in illness, and whom ever after he specially reverenced. 34. Memling: ** Portrait of an unknown man, which may be contrasted for its com- parative softness of execution with the harder work of his master beside it. Above these : — 26. Triptych, by Heemskerck (early Dutch School), representing. Centre, the Entomb- ment, Christ borne, as usual, by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. In front, the crown of thorns. Behind, the Magdalen; then the Madonna and St. John, the two Maries, and an unknown man holding a vase of ointment. To the left and right, the donor and his wife, with their patron saints^ Peter and Mary Magdalen (keys, box of ointment). 20. Jan van Eyck (attribution doubtful; probably a later artist, perhaps Gerard David) : The Adoration of the Magi. Another good example of this favourite Flemish subject. In the foreground, the Madonna and Child : one of Van Eyck's most pleasing faces (if his). Then, the Old King, kneeling; the JAN VAN EYCK. ADORATION OF THE MAGI. The Brussels Picture Gallery 233 Middle-aged King, half-l