for the =High Altar= of the Church of this Hospital. This is the largest
of his works, and it is dedicated to the honour of the two saints (John
the Evangelist and John the Baptist) who are patrons of the Hospital.
The =central panel= represents Our Lady, seated in an exquisite
cloister, on a throne backed with cloth of gold. To the right and left
are two exquisite angels, one of whom plays a regal, while the other, in
a delicious pale blue robe, holds a book for Our Lady. Two smaller
angels, poised in air, support her crown. To the left, St. Catherine of
Alexandria kneels as princess, with the broken wheel and the sword of
her martyrdom at her feet. The Child Christ places a ring on her finger;
whence the whole composition is often absurdly called “The Marriage of
St. Catherine.” It should be styled “The Altar-piece of the St. Johns.”
To the right is St. Barbara, calmly reading, with her tower behind her.
When these two saints are thus combined, they represent the meditative
and the active life (as St. Barbara was the patroness of arms:) or, more
definitely, the clergy and the knighthood. Hence their appropriateness
to an institution, half monastic, half secular. In the background stand
the two patron saints; St. John Baptist with the lamb (Memling’s
personal patron), to the left, and St. John the Evangelist with the cup
and serpent, to the right. (For these symbols, see Mrs. Jameson.) Behind
the Baptist are scenes from his life and preaching. He is led to prison,
and his body is burned by order of Julian the Apostate. Behind the
Evangelist, he is seen in the cauldron of boiling oil. The small figure
in black to the right is the chief donor, Brother Jan Floreins, who is
seen further back in his secular capacity as public gauger of wine, near
a great crane, which affords a fine picture of mercantile life in old
Bruges. The _left wing_ represents the life of St. John the Baptist. In
the distance is seen the Baptism of Christ. In a room to the left, the
daughter of Herodias dances before Herod. The foreground is occupied by
the episode of the Decollation, treated in a courtly manner, very
redolent of the Burgundian splendour. Figures and attitudes are
charming: only, the martyrdom sinks into insignificance beside the
princess’s collar. Other minor episodes may be discovered by inspection.
(The episodes on either wing overflow into the main pictures.) The
_right wing_ shows St. John the Evangelist in Patmos, writing the
Apocalypse, various scenes from which are realistically and too solidly
represented above him, without poetical insight. Memling here attempts
to transcend his powers. He has no sublimity. On the _exterior of the
wings_ are seen the four other members of the society who were donors of
the altar-piece; Anthony Zeghers, master of the Hospital, with his
patron, St. Anthony, known by his pig and tau-shaped crutch and bell:
Jacob de Cueninc, treasurer, accompanied by his patron, St. James the
Greater, with his pilgrim’s staff and scallop-shell: Agnes Casembrood,
mistress of the Hospital, with her patron, St. Agnes, known by her lamb:
and Claire van Hulsen, a sister, with her patron, St. Clara. Dated,
1479.
By the entrance door is a =Portrait of Marie Moreel=, represented as a
Sibyl. She was a daughter of Willem Moreel or Morelli, a patron of
Memling, whom we shall meet again at the Museum. This is a fine portrait
of a solid, plain body, a good deal spoiled by attempted cleaning. It
comes from the _Hospice_ of St. Julian.
As you go out, cast a glance at the fine old brick buildings, and note
the cleanliness of all the arrangements.
Return more than once: do not be satisfied with a single visit.
The other pictures and objects formerly exhibited in this Hospital have
been transferred to the Potterie and another building. They need only be
visited by those whose time is ample.
After leaving the Hospital, I do not advise an immediate visit to the
Academy. Let the Memlings first sink into your mind. But the walk may be
prolonged by crossing the canal, and taking the second turning to the
R., which leads (over a pretty bridge of three arches) to the
=Béguinage=, a lay-nunnery for ladies who take no vows, but who live in
monastic fashion under the charge of a Superior. Above the gateway is a
figure of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, (to whom the church within is
dedicated) giving alms to a beggar. She wears her crown, and carries in
her hand the crown and book which are her symbol. Remember these,—they
will recur later. Pass under the gateway and into the grass-grown
precincts for an external glimpse of the quiet old-world close, with its
calm white-washed houses. The church, dedicated to St. Elizabeth, is
uninteresting. This walk may be further prolonged by the pretty bank of
the _Lac d’amour_ or _Minnewater_ as far as the external canal,
returning by the ramparts and the picturesque =Porte de Gand=.
_D._ THE TOWN IN GENERAL.
[The =town of Bruges itself= is more interesting, after all,
than almost any one thing in it. Vary your day by giving up the
morning to definite sight-seeing, and devoting the afternoon to
=strolls= through the town and neighbourhood, in search of
picturesqueness. I subjoin a few stray hints for such casual
rambles.]
(1) Set out from the Grand’ Place, and turn down the Rue Breydel to the
Place du Bourg. Cross the Place by the statue of Jan van Eyck; traverse
the Rue Philippe Stock; turn up the Rue des Armuriers a little to the
R., and continue on to the Place St. Jean, with a few interesting
houses. Note here and elsewhere, at every turn, the little statues of
the Virgin and Child in niches, and the old signs on the fronts or
gables. The interesting =Gothic turret= which faces you as you go
belongs to the old 14th Century building called =De Poorters Loodge=, or
the Assembly Hall of the Noble Citizens Within the Gate, as opposed to
those of the =Franc de Bruges=. Continue on in the same direction to the
Place Jan van Eyck, where you open up one of the most charming views in
Bruges over the canal and quays. The Place is “adorned” by a modern
statue of Jan van Eyck. The dilapidated building to your L. is that of
the =Académie des Beaux-Arts= which occupies the site of the Citizens’
Assembly Hall: the ancient edifice was wholly rebuilt and spoilt in
1755, with the exception of the picturesque tower, best viewed from the
base of the statue. Opposite you, as you emerge into the Place, is the
charming =Tonlieu= or Custom House, whose decorated _façade_ and portal
(restored) bear the date 1477, with the arms of Pieter van Luxemburg,
and the collar of the Golden Fleece. The dainty little neighbouring
house to the L., now practically united with it, has a coquettish
_façade_: the saints in the niches are St. George, St. John Baptist, St.
Thomas à Becket, (or Augustine?) and St. John the Evangelist.
The Tonlieu is now fitted up as the Municipal Library. (Open daily,
free, 10 to 1, and 3 to 5, Saturday and Sunday excepted.) It contains
illuminated manuscripts and examples of editions printed by Colard
Mansion. All round the Place are other picturesque mediæval or
Renaissance houses.
The little street to the R. (diagonally) of the Tonlieu leads on to the
Marché du Mercedi, now called Place de Memling, embellished by a statue
of the great painter. Cross the Place diagonally to the Quai des
Espagnoles (Madonna and Child in front of you) and continue along the
quay, to the L., to the first bridge; there cross and go along the
picturesque Quai des Augustins to the Rue Flamande. (Quaint little
window to the left, as you cross the bridge.) Follow the Rue Flamande as
far as the Theatre, just before reaching which you pass, right, a
handsome mediæval stone mansion, (formerly the Guild of the Genoese
Merchants,) with a relief over the door, representing St. George killing
the Dragon, and the Princess Cleodolind looking on. At the Theatre, turn
to the R., following the tram-line, and making your way back to the
Grand’ Place by the Rue des Tonneliers.
(2) As early as 1362, Bruges acquired its existing size, and was
surrounded by =ramparts=, which still in part remain. A continuous canal
runs round these ramparts, and beyond it again lies an outer moat. Most
of the =old gates= have unhappily been destroyed, but four still exist.
These may be made the objects of interesting rambles.
Go from your hotel, or from the Grand’ Place, by the Rue Flamande, as
far as the Rue de l’Académie. Turn along this to the R., into the Place
Jan van Eyck, noting as you pass the Bear of Bruges at the corner of the
building of the old Academy. Follow the quay straight on till you reach
a second canal, near the corner of which, by the Rue des Carmes, is an
interesting shop with good beaten brasswork. Take the long squalid Rue
des Carmes to the right, past the ugly convent of the English Ladies,
with its domed church in the most painful taste of the later Renaissance
(1736). The mediæval brick building on your right, at the end of the
street, is the late Gothic =Guild-house of the Archers of St.
Sebastian=. Its slender octagonal tower has a certain picturesqueness.
(St. Sebastian was of course the patron of archery.) Charles II. of
England (see under the Grand’ Place) was a member of this society during
his exile: his bust is preserved here. So also was the Emperor
Maximilian. Continue to the =ramparts=, and mount the first hill,
crowned by a windmill,—a scene of a type familiar to us in many later
Dutch and Flemish pictures. A picturesque view of Bruges is obtained
from this point: the octagonal Belfry, the square tower of St. Sauveur,
(the Cathedral), the tapering brick spire of Notre-Dame, with its
projecting gallery and the steeple of the new church of the Madeleine
are all conspicuous in views from this side. Follow the ramparts to the
R., to the picturesque =Porte de Ste. Croix=, and on past the barracks
and the little garden to the Quai des Dominicains, returning by the Park
and the Place du Bourg or the Dyver.
(3) Set out by the Grand’ Place and the Place du Bourg; then follow the
Rue Haute, with its interesting old houses, as far as the canal. Do not
cross it, but skirt the quay on the further side, with the towers of St.
Walburge and St. Gilles in front of you. At the bridge, diverge to the
right, round the church of St. Anne, and the quaint little =Church of
Jerusalem=, which contains an unimportant imitation of the Holy
Sepulchre at Jerusalem, founded by a burgomaster of Bruges in the 15th
century. It is just worth looking at. Return to the bridge, and follow
the quay straight on to the modern Episcopal Seminary and the
picturesque old =Hospice de la Potterie=, which now harbours the Museum
of Antiquities belonging to the Hospital of St. John. I do not advise a
visit. (It contains third-rate early Flemish pictures, inferior
tapestry, and a few pieces of carved oak furniture. Admission, 50 c.:
entrance by the door just beyond the church, No. F, 79. The church
itself is worth a minute’s visit.) This walk passes many interesting old
houses, which it is not necessary now to specify. Return by the =Porte
de Damme=, and the opposite side of the same canal, to the Pont des
Carmes, whence follow the pretty canal on the right to the Rue Flamande.
(4) Take the Rue St. Jacques, and go straight out to the =Porte d’
Ostende=, which forms an interesting picture. Cross the canal and outer
moat, and traverse the long avenue, past the gasometers, as far as the
navigable canal from Bruges to Ostend. Then retrace your steps to the
gateway, and return by the ramparts and the Railway Station to the Rue
Nord du Sablon.
These four walks will show you almost all that is externally interesting
in the streets and canals of the city.
* * * * *
The original Palace of the Counts of Flanders, we saw, occupied the site
of the Palais de Justice. Their later residence, the =Cour des Princes=,
in a street behind the Hôtel du Commerce, has now entirely disappeared.
Its site is filled by a large ornate modern building, belonging to the
Sisters of the Sacred Heart, who use it as a school for girls.
The water-system of Bruges is also interesting. The original river Reye
enters the town at the Minnewater, flows past the Hospital and the
Dyver, and turns northward at the Bourg, running under arches till it
emerges on the Place Jan van Eyck. This accounts for the apparently
meaningless way this branch seems to stop short close to the statue of
Van Eyck: also, for the mediæval ships unloading at the Grand’ Place.
The water is now mostly diverted along the canals and the moat by the
ramparts.
_E._ THE CHURCHES
[The =original Cathedral= of Bruges (St. Donatian) was
destroyed, as we saw, by the French, in 1799; but the town still
possesses two fine =mediæval churches= of considerable
pretensions, as well as several others of lesser importance.
Though of very ancient foundation, the two principal churches in
their existing form date only from the most flourishing period
of Bruges, the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries.
=St. Salvator= or =St. Sauveur=, the larger, was erected into
the =Cathedral= after the destruction of St. Donatian, whose
relics were transferred to it. To this, therefore, we will first
direct ourselves.]
Go down the Rue des Pierres as far as
THE CATHEDRAL,
which replaces a very ancient church built by St. Eligius (St. Éloy) in
646.
Externally, the edifice, which is built of brick, has rather a heavy and
cumbrous effect, its chief good features being the handsome square tower
and the large decorated windows of the N. and S. Transepts. The Choir
and its chapels have the characteristic French form of a _chevêt_. The
main portal of the N. Transept has been robbed of its sculpture. The
Choir is of the late 13th century: the Nave and Transept are mainly in
the decorated style of the 14th.
The best =entrance= is near the tower on the N. side. Walk straight on
into the body of the Nave, by the archway in the heavy tower, so as to
view the internal architecture as a whole. The =Nave= and _single_
=Aisles= are handsome and imposing, though the windows on the S. side
have been despoiled of their tracery. Notice the curious high-pointed
=Triforium= (1362), between the arches of the Nave and the windows of
the Clerestory. The =Choir= is closed by a strikingly ugly debased
Renaissance or rococo Rood-Screen, (1682), in black-and-white marble,
supporting the organ. It has a statue of God the Father by the younger
Quellin. The whole of the interior has been decorated afresh in somewhat
gaudy polychrome by Jean Béthune. The effect is on the whole not
unpleasing.
The Cathedral contains few works of art of high merit, but a preliminary
walk round the Aisles, Transept, and Ambulatory behind the Choir will
give a good idea of its general arrangement. Then return to view the
paintings. The sacristan takes you round and unlocks the pictures. Do
not let him hurry you.
Begin with the =Left Aisle=.
The =Baptistery=, on your L., contains a handsome font. R. and L. of the
entry to it are admirable brasses. In the Baptistery itself, _L. wall_,
are two wings of a rather quaint triptych, representing St. Martin
dividing his cloak with the beggar; St. Nicholas raising to life the
three boys who had been salted for meat; St. Mary Magdalen with the pot
of ointment (in the distance, as Penitent in the Desert); and St.
Barbara with her tower; dated 1613. Also a rude Flemish picture (16th
century) of the lives of St. Joachim and St. Anna, and their daughter
the Blessed Virgin:—the main episodes are the Marriage of the Virgin,
Birth of the Virgin, and Rejection of St. Joachim from the Temple, with
other scenes in the background.
The _end wall_ of the Baptistery has Peter Pourbus’s masterpiece, a
*triptych painted for the =Guild of the Holy Sacrament=, attached to the
church of St. Sauveur, and allusive to their functions. The _outer
wings_, when closed, represent the Miracle of the Mass of St. Gregory,
when the Host, as he consecrated it, was changed into the bodily
Presence of the Saviour, to silence a doubter. It thus shows in a
visible form the tremendous mystery of Transubstantiation, in honour of
which the Guild was founded. Behind, the Brothers of the Confraternity
are represented (on the right wing) in attendance on the Pope, as
spectators of the miracle. One of them holds his triple crown. These may
rank among the finest portraits by the elder Pourbus. They show the last
stage in the evolution of native Flemish art before it was
revolutionized by Rubens. The _inner picture_ represents, in the centre,
the Last Supper, or rather, the Institution of the Eucharist, to
commemorate which fact the Guild was founded. The arrangement of the
figures is in the old conventional order, round three sides of a table,
with Judas in the foreground to the left. The _wings_ contain Old
Testament subjects of typical import, as foreshadowing the Eucharist.
_Left_, Melchisedec giving bread and wine to Abraham; _right_, Elijah
fed by the angel in the Wilderness. All the faces have still much of the
old Flemish portrait character.
On the _R. wall_ are the wings of a picture, by F. Pourbus (the son),
painted for the Guild of Shoemakers, whose chapel is adjacent. The
_inside_ contains portraits of the members. On the _outside_ are their
patrons, St. Crispinus and St. Crispianus, with their shoemakers’
knives. Also, an early Crucifixion, of the school of Cologne (about
1400), with St. Catherine holding her wheel and trampling on the tyrant
Maximin, by whose orders she was executed, and St. Barbara with her
tower. (These two also occur together in Memling’s great triptych.) The
picture is interesting as the only specimen in Bruges of the precursors
of Van Eyck on the lower Rhine. The Baptistery contains, besides, a fine
old candlestick, and a quaint ciborium (for the Holy Oil) with coloured
reliefs of the Seven Joys of Mary (1536).
The vistas from the =North Transept= are impressive. It terminates in
the =Chapel of the Shoemakers’ Guild=, with a fine carved wooden door of
about 1470, and good brasses, as well as an early crucifix. It is
dedicated to the patron saints of the craft, and bears their arms, a
boot.
The first two chapels in the =Ambulatory= (behind the Choir) have good
screens.
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.
The picturesque building with turrets to the L. of the church was
originally the =mansion= of the family =Van der Gruuthuus=, one of the
principal mediæval stocks of Bruges. It had a passage communicating with
the family gallery in the church of Notre-Dame. The building, recently
restored, is now in course of being fitted up for the Town Museum of
Antiquities. A Museum of Lace is already installed in it; the entrance
is by a doorway over the bridge to the left (50 c. per person).
=Enter the church=, and walk straight into the Nave, below the great
West Window, a spot which affords a good view of the centre of the
church, the vaulted _double_ Aisles, and the angular Apse. The Choir is
shut off from the body of the church by a very ugly marble Rood-Screen
(1722), still bearing its crucifix, and with a figure of Our Lady,
patroness of the church, enshrined above its central arch. Rococo
statues of the Twelve Apostles, with their well-known symbols (1618),
are attached to the pillars. (Note these symbols: they recur in similar
situations everywhere.) In spite of hideous disfigurements, the main
portion of the interior is still a fine specimen of good middle Gothic
architecture, mainly of the 14th century.
Walk up the =outer left Aisle=. The last bay is formed by the
=Baptistery=, originally the =porch=, whose beautiful exterior we have
already viewed. Its interior architecture is also very charming. It
contains the Font, and the usual figure of the patron, St. John the
Baptist. This Aisle terminates in an apsidal chapel (of the Holy Cross)
containing inferior pictures of the 17th century, representing the
history of a relic of the True Cross preserved here.
The =inner left Aisle= leads to the =Ambulatory= or passage at the back
of the Choir. The Confessionals to the R. have fairly good rococo carved
woodwork, 1689. On the L. is the handsome mediæval woodwork =gallery=
(1474), belonging to the Van der Gruuthuus family, originally approached
by a passage from their mansion behind. Beneath it, is a screen of
delicate early Gothic architecture, with family escutcheons above the
door.
The windows of the =Apse= have good modern stained glass.
On the L., at the entrance to the Apse, Pourbus’s Adoration of the
Shepherds, a winged picture, closed. The sacristan will open it. On the
wings are, _left_, the donor, Sire Josse de Damhoudere, with his patron,
St. Josse, and his four sons; _right_, his wife, Louise, with her five
daughters, and her patron St. Louis of France, wearing his crown and
robe of fleurs-de-lis, and holding the _main de justice_. He is
represented older than is usual, or indeed historical, and in features
somewhat resembles Henri IV. This is a fine picture for its master. On
the outer wings are the cognate subjects, the Circumcision and the
Adoration of the Magi, in grisaille.
The chapel in the Apse, formerly the Lady Chapel, now contains the Host.
It has a gaudy modern altar for the monstrance.
In the =South Ambulatory=, over a doorway, Foundation of the Church of
Santa Maria Maggiore at Rome, by Claeissens.
A =chapel= to the =L=., just beyond, locked, but opened by the sacristan
(1 franc; or, for a party, according to notice displayed at entrance),
contains the celebrated =**tombs of Mary of Burgundy and Charles the
Bold=, her father. Mary was the wife of Maximilian, and died by a fall
from her horse in 1482, when only twenty-five. Her =**monument= was
designed and executed by Peter Beckere of Brussels, by order of her son
Philippe le Beau, in 1502. The sarcophagus is of black marble: the
statue of the Princess, in gilt bronze, lies recumbent upon it. The
style is intermediate between that of the later Middle Ages and of the
full Renaissance. Beside it is the *tomb of Charles the Bold, of far
less artistic value. Charles was buried at Nancy, after the fatal
battle, but his body was transported to St. Donatian in this town by his
descendant Charles V, and finally laid here beside his daughter by
Philip II, who had this tomb constructed for his ancestor in imitation
of that of Mary.
(I advise the visitor after seeing these tombs and the great
chimney-piece of the _Franc de Bruges_ to read up the history of Charles
the Bold and his descendants, down to Charles V.)