Another monastery, a visit to which will lead you through the extensive southern portion of the city, is the (wholly modernized) Benedictine =Abbey of St. Pierre= (I do not recommend 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 an ancient temple of Mercury. The existing buildings, however, hardly date in any part beyond the 17th century. =The Church of Notre-Dame de St. Pierre= was erected between 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 recognising the envoy of King Totila, who personated the king. The =Plaine de St. Pierre= is used for the amusing yearly =fair=, from Mi-Carême to Easter. * * * * * The =Museum of Painting= (a small and unimportant 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 symbols.) Open daily from 9 to 12, and 2 to 5, free. (I do not advise a visit, unless you have plenty of time to spare.) The Picture Gallery is on the second floor. The _Rooms to the L._ contain modern Belgian and French pictures, many of them possessing considerable merit, but not of a sort which enters into the scheme of these Guide-books. The _Rooms to the R._ of the staircase contain the early pictures. =1st 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 offering. 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 Madonna, and her grand-child, the Saviour, at her feet. Around are grouped Joseph, Mary Cleophas, Zebedee, Alpheus, Joachim, the husband of Anna, and Mary Salome, with her children, James and John. This queer old 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_.)