Cities of Belgium: Grant Allen's Historical GuidesAllen, Grant
History
Cities of Belgium: Grant Allen's Historical Guides
Allen, Grant
Belgium -- Guidebooks
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
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 written 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 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
Fountain of Life, from which pure water flows limpid, to irrigate the
smiling fields of Paradise. Four bands of worshippers converge towards
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 foreground of this group is occupied by
the precursors of Christ. Conspicuous among them are the Jewish prophets
in front, and then the Greek poets and philosophers,—Homer, Plato,
Aristotle—whom mediæval 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 representatives of the
Church, showing the religious as opposed to the secular half of the
Christian world. In the front rank kneel 14 persons, the Twelve Apostles
(with Paul and Matthias) 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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