accompanied by the monster Sin, swallowed by the colossal open jaws of
Hell, in which the Devil is seen riding. Lastly, come Mary and the four
saints, Catherine, Barbara, Lawrence and Christopher.
The _Triumph of the Eucharist_ opens with choristers and other children
singing, followed by Franciscan monks, nuns, canons, deacons, deans, the
Fathers of the Church—Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose and Gregory, then the
Church in a triumphal chariot with the Holy Sacrament, then the Pope,
cardinals and bishops. The procession of Mutius Scaevola is, of course,
Roman in character, and consists, likewise, of eight panels. The
_Triumph of Charles V_ resembles in some respects the Triumph of
Maximilian by Dürer (Dürer visited the Low Countries in 1520). Two
cavaliers with trumpets open the march and are followed by three others;
then comes a grandee of Spain with the orb of the Empire, his horse led
by pages. Other grandees follow, then the imperial train, guided by
allegorical virgins, and the Emperor, seated under a baldaquin in a
richly-decorated chariot, with the palm of peace in his left, and the
sceptre in his right hand. The sword and orb of state lie at his feet.
Some of the terminal figures on the ends of the stalls are very fine,
particularly Matthew, Luke, David, Solomon and Daniel in the lions’ den.
The heads and busts that are developed out of the foliage are of
exceptional interest. The _miséricordes_ (seats) are decorated with
humorous and Biblical scenes. The luxuriant foliage that forms no little
part of the ornamentation is in the style of the first Italian
Renaissance and in many places is mingled with musical instruments,
heads, fruits, figurines, children and coats-of-arms.
Terween is supposed to have been born in Dordrecht, in 1511. He died in
1598. For other Gothic carved work during the early Renaissance the
student may go to the Groote Kerk of Haarlem. This is also especially
interesting on account of its transitional features; for while the
magnificent choir-stalls and rood-screen still retain the Gothic
character (the screen was erected in 1540 by Diderik Sybrandszoon, of
Mechlin, and bears several municipal coats-of-arms), the side railings
of the inner choir are in the style of the early Renaissance. A
remarkable example of Mediaeval carved oak, called the “_H. Geest
Stoel_,” is also preserved in this church.
The church of St. Nicolas, at Dixmuiden, also contains a splendid
rood-loft carved in the richest Flamboyant style, dating from about
1520.
The Gothic period, therefore, practically ended at the close of the
fifteenth century. The Renaissance restored Greek and Latin taste. In
furniture, it followed the forms and ornaments of architecture, as the
Gothic had done; so that now, instead of pointed arches with trefoils,
quatrefoils, or flamboyant tracery, we have pediments and various Orders
with their columns, capitals, arcades and superpositions of colonnades.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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