Cities of Belgium: Grant Allen's Historical GuidesAllen, Grant
History
Cities of Belgium: Grant Allen's Historical Guides
Allen, Grant
Belgium -- Guidebooks
On the =exit wall= is a fine piece of late Flemish 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, containing
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 facing 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
Crusaders engaged in its transport. At the summit of the window, notice
the frequent and fitting symbol of the pelican feeding its young with
its own blood.
In the little =side chapel= to the R., separated from the main building
by an arcade of three arches, is the _tabernacle_ or canopy from which
the Sacred Blood is exhibited weekly. To the right is hung a Crown of
Thorns. Notice, also, the Crown of Thorns held by the angel at the top
of the steps. The window to the L. (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
Calvary, and which retained ever after the impress of the Divine
Countenance. Almost all the other objects in the chapel bear reference,
more or less direct, to the Holy Blood. Observe particularly in the main
chapel the handsome modern High Altar with its coloured reliefs of
scenes of the Passion. 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 Romanesque architecture. It was built by Theodoric in 1150. Its
solid short pillars and round arches contrast with the lighter and later
Gothic of the upper building. The space above the door of the eastern of
the two chapels which face the entrance, is occupied by an interesting
mediæval relief representing a baptism with a dove descending. Notice as
you pass out, from the Place outside, the two beautiful _turrets_ at the
west end of the main chapel.
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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