The cathedral of St. Bavon, besides being the oldest, is by far the most magnificent in Ghent, and seems, in fact, to have a high reputation for its splendour, as we repeatedly heard of it at subsequent points of our tour. The whole of the basement is occupied by one vast crypt or _souterrain_, the low vaulted arches of which, rest on the shafts of the huge columns which support the roof of the grand edifice above. Like it, it is divided into a series of little gloomy chapels, containing the tombs of some of the ancient families of distinction, and occasionally decorated by pictures and statues of extreme antiquity. The brothers John and Hubert Van Eyck, the painters and their sister, who was likewise an artist, sleep in one grave under the floor of this melancholy vault. Over the grand entrance to the cathedral is a curious old statue of St. Bavon holding a hawk upon his wrist, a curious attitude, though characteristic of the manners of the times. The coup-d’œil of the interior is surprisingly grand, the choir being separated from the nave and aisles by lofty columns of variegated marbles, and the entrance to each of the four and twenty chapels which surround the church, covered by a screen of neat design, sometimes in carved oak or stone, but more frequently in gilded brass or iron of exquisite workmanship. The numerous paintings with which the church is covered are few of them of extraordinary merit, they are chiefly by the artists, contemporary and subsequent to Rubens, Crayer, Otto Vennius, Honthorst, Serghers and others. The most remarkable painting is that of the Saint Agneau or adoration of the lamb by the Van Eycks. It is in marvellous preservation, and is one of the most valuable specimens remaining of the school to which it belongs. It contains a profusion of figures, finished with the richness and delicacy of a miniature, and represents the lamb upon an altar, in the midst of a rich landscape, surrounded by angels, and worshipped by multitudes of popes, emperors, monks and nuns. It is surmounted and surrounded by a number of compartments, containing pictures of the Saviour and the Virgin, and representing divers incidents in the life of the former; in addition to these, there were originally six doors or _volets_ to the picture, which, by some ignorance of the persons in charge of them, were actually sold in 1816 for a mere trifle to an Englishman called Solly, from whom they were bought by the King of Prussia, for 400,000 francs, and they now decorate the museum at Berlin. There is also a picture by Rubens, of St. Bavon retiring to a monastery, after having distributed his goods to the poor, which was carried by Napoleon to Paris, and restored in 1819.