The central portal was surrounded by a polygonal rose-window and crowned with a high gable flanked by turrets. Above the side portals, the surface of which was decorated with arcading, were gables lighted by rose-windows. This part of the building was probably not earlier than the 14th century. There were no radial chapels in this great church. A circulating gallery running through the buttresses formed an uninterrupted passage around the building. At the base of the roof ran an open balustrade, broken at intervals by the pinnacles which crowned the buttresses. Above the centre of the transept rose a campanile, surmounted by a very pointed timber-work spire. The nave, and more especially the choir, were remarkable. High pillars with crocketed and foliate capitals supported the springing of the large irregular arches. Above ran a circulating gallery or triforium. The pointed arches of the latter were carried by small columns which originally rested on the wide _abaci_ of the capitals, but several of them had been cut away and replaced by statues of apostles, evangelists, or persons of note. [Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL DOOR _Seen from the interior_ (_photo, André Schelker_).] [Illustration: THE NAVE OF THE CATHEDRAL (_Photo, Antony, Ypres._) _Compare with photo below._] This arrangement is common in Burgundy and, like others to be found in the Cathedral--the exterior circulating gallery, the interior gallery, the form of the latter, and various decorative features--show how strongly French, and especially Burgundian influence preponderated in Flanders during the 14th century. The choir was disfigured by an ungraceful 16th century altar. The stalls, carved about 1598 by C. Van Hoveke and Urbain Taillebert, were noteworthy, as was also the pulpit--a richly decorated monumental work, at the base of which stood a life-size statue of St. Dominic. [Illustration: NAVE OF THE CATHEDRAL RUINED BY GERMAN SHELLS _Seen from the Choir, near the Porch._] Urbain Taillebert was also the sculptor of the magnificent "Christ Triumphant," suspended between the columns of the main entrance; and of the tomb of Antoine de Hennin, Bishop of Ypres, who died in 1626. The centre of the tomb represented the bishop in his pontifical robes; _on the left_, he was seen kneeling in prayer, with his mitre close by; _on the right_, his patron, St. Anthony, was represented in a hermit's gown, accompanied by his traditional pig. [Illustration: CHOIR OF THE CATHEDRAL (_Photo, Antony, Ypres._) _Compare with photo below._] [Illustration: CHOIR OF THE CATHEDRAL AFTER THE GERMAN BOMBARDMENT _Seen from the Porch. Compare with photo above._] [Illustration: THE CHOIR STALLS OF THE CATHEDRAL, BEFORE THE WAR (_Photo, Antony, Ypres._) _See below._] [Illustration: THE CHOIR STALLS OF THE CATHEDRAL IN JANUARY, 1915 (_Photo, Antony, Ypres._) _See above._]