Cities of Belgium: Grant Allen's Historical GuidesAllen, Grant
History
Cities of Belgium: Grant Allen's Historical Guides
Allen, Grant
Belgium -- Guidebooks
The =third Chapel= encloses the tomb of Archbishop 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 foreground: 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 remarkable power of this
bourgeois painter of Louvain. On the _left wing_ are the donors; on the
_right wing_ Hippolytus confesses himself a Christian, and is condemned
to martyrdom. Over the =altar=, _retable_, a Tree of Jesse, in carved
woodwork, 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,) contains 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 =Chambre des Marguilliers=, or Churchwardens’ Vestry, contains
manuscripts and church furniture, sufficiently described 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 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 N. 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 15th
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 delicate
tracery of the windows, the fine finials and niches, and the charming
gable-end.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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