Beautiful Buildings in France CBk Belgium
to
of ilje
of 3torcmto
The Executors of the Estate
of the late Reverend W.G. Wallace, D.D.
Beautiful Buildings in France & Belgium
ARRAS: HOTEL DE VILLE
(T. S. Boys)
iful Buildings nee 6? Belgium
have been de- ll the war. Reproductions Monochrome from rare old wings, by and after Prout, W. Callow, David Roberts, ) < with descriptive
nsend, F.R.I. B. A.
528074
5. ic
KING CO.
Beautiful Buildings in France & Belgium
Including many which have been de- stroyed during the war. Reproductions in Colour and Monochrome from rare old Prints and Drawings, by and after Prout, Boys, Coney, W. Callow, David Roberts, C. Wild axj^ others, with descriptive notesbyCl Harrison Townsend, F.R.I.B.A,
528074
3. 10. 5«
THE HUBBELL PUBLISHING CO.
New York
First published in 1916
(All rights reserved)
Preface
HE volume includes, among its reproductions in colour and monochrome from rare originals several, which, apart from the claim they make upon the artist, have the additional melan- choly interest of recording beautiful works of the past now destroyed, while others, it may be feared, are still in jeopardy — if not of destruction, at least of serious damage.
To turn back the leaves of History till we reach the page that tells us of the simple days, the happy quiet life in the well- ordered old city or the sleepy but pros- perous country town, has a double purpose.
A* 7
It may serve to remind us of those once happy portions of Belgium and France now racked and rent and dashed with blood by the worst of all wars, and it may, in doing so, make us more determined to maintain our resolution to see that unhappy land re- created and its wounds and scars obliterated.
The book has the further value, from a purely artistic point of view, of relying for its illustrations upon the work of artists whose reputations, based upon the sympathy and charm with which they recorded the picturesque qualities of the old towns and buildings, have of late years enormously increased.
Many of the drawings and prints have been placed at the publishers' disposal by Mr. Augustus Walker, of Bond Street.
List of Plates
PAGE
Arras: Hdtel de Viile (T. S. Boys) Frontispiece
Abbeville: Rue de Rivage (T. S. Boys). . 14
Abbeville: Church of St. Wulfran (G. Simonau) 18
Amiens: Cathedral, West Front (C. Wild) . 22
St. Amand : Abbey (T. S. Boys) . 26
Antwerp : Street and Cathedral Tower (5. Prout) 30
Antwerp: Cathedral, West Front (G. Simonau) 34
Antwerp : H6tel de Ville (J. Coney) . . 38
Antwerp : Interior of St. Andre* (Jos. Nash) . 42
Beauvais: Transept of Cathedral (G. Simonau). 50
Bergues: The Belfry (J. Coney) . . 54
Bruges: Les Halles and Belfry (S. Prout) . 58
Bruges : Les Halles and Belfry (J. Coney) 62
PAGE
Bruges : St. Sauveur, Choir Chapel (Jos. Nash) 66
Brussels: Hdtel de Ville (Benoist: after N.
Chapuy) . . . . .70
Brussels: Church of St. Gudule (G. Simonau) 74 Caen: Church of St. Pierre (T. S. Boys) . 78
Calais : H6tel de Ville ( J. Coney) . . 82
Dieppe: Street Scene (T. S. Boys) . . .86
Dieppe: Church Interior (David Roberts, R. A.) 90 Ghent: Street Scene (S. Prout) . . .94
Ghent : Chateau des Comtes (T. S. Boys) . 98
Ghent : The Belfry (T. S. Boys) . . .102
Ghent: Church of St. Nicholas (W. Callow,
R.W.S.) .... 106
Ghent : Hdtel de Ville (Gh^mar) . . 110
Huy: Church of Notre Dame (W. Clarkson
Stanfield, R.A.) . . . .114
Laon: Cathedral (T. S. Boys) . . 118
10
PAGE
Lie*ge : Palais de Justice (5. Prout) . , 122
Lie"ge: Palais de Justice (W. Clarkson Stan- field, R.A.) .... 124
Louvain: Hdtel de Ville (G. Simonau) . . 128
Malines: Kraenstrate (S. Prout) . . 132
Malines: Cathedral from the Grand* Place
(S. Prout) . . . . .136
Namur: The Old Citadel (W. Clarkson Stan- field, R.A.) .... 140
Northern France : Old Courtyard (T. S. Boys) 144
St. Omer: Abbey of St. Bertin (J. Coney) . 148
Paris : La Sainte-Chapelle (T. S. Boys) . . 152
Paris : Church of St. SeVerin (T. S. Boys) . 156
Paris: St. Etienne-du-Mont (T. 5. Boys) . 160
St. Quentin: Rbtel de Ville (Benoist) . 164
Rheims: Cathedral, West Front (G. Simonau) . 168
St. Riquier: The Abbey Church (G. Simonau) 172
Rouen: Church of St. Ouen (N. Chapuy) . 176
Rouen: Cathedral, South Entrance (C. Wild) 180
11
PAGE
Rouen: Cathedral, South Entrance
(G. Simonau) 182
Rouen: Church of St. Laurent (T. 5. Boys) . 186
Senlis : Cathedral, North Transept (N. Chapuy) 190
Soissons: Street Scene (T. S. Boys) . . 194
Tournai: Cathedral and Belfry (5. Prout) . 198
Ypres: The Cloth-hall (J. Coney) . . 204
Ypres: Cathedral, Interior (J. Coney) . . 208
12
Q -S-
14
Abbeville
RUE DE RIVAGE
(T. S. Boys)
HE old fortress-town of Abbe- ville is still quaint and pic- turesque, though the River Somme, on the banks of which it stands, has lost through canalization much of the charm of Boys' sketch.
It was a cheerful, thriving place, with a miniature inland harbour and many cloth- looms at work in its busy days. Abbeville makes historic appeal to Englishmen as having passed to the English Crown in 1272, when it formed part of the dowry of the bride of Edward I, and as having remained an appanage of our sovereigns some two
15
hundred years. After the English domina- tion it was ceded to the Duke of Burgundy, and in 1477 it was finally annexed to France by Louis XL
Its narrow, quiet streets, with their many quaint gables and dark arches, are full of charm for the artist. Among the pic- turesque old houses that appeal to him, that known as the Maison de Fra^ois Fr, dating from the XVIth century, is the most remarkable.
16
ABBEVILLE : CHURCH OF ST. WULFRAN
(G. Simonau)
18
Abbeville
CHURCH OF ST. WULFRAN
(G. Simonau)
F the two principal churches of Abbeville— St. Wulfran or Vulfran and St. Gilles— the former, a magnificent speci- men of the flamboyant Gothic style, is of much interest to the architect. The dignity and importance of its West Front, as seen from the Place du Guindal, are well set forth in the drawing of Simonau, that ardent lover of Gothic archi- tecture in England as well as in France and Belgium.
The building is of the XVth, XVIth and XVIIth centuries, but the original grand proportions upon which it was commenced
19
were not adhered to, and it was completed on a smaller scale. The nave has only two bays, while the choir is short and so in- significant as to be unworthy of the propor- tions of this fine church. The three portals, which have elaborately decorated doors in the Renaissance style, are rich with sculpture and figures, on which the old craftsman piously wrought and handed down to us of to-day the
Crowd of statues, in whose folded sleeves Birds build their nests,
which forms one of the glories of St. Wulfran.
20
AMIENS: CATHEDRAL, WEST FRONT (C. Wild)
22
Amiens
CATHEDRAL: WEST FRONT (C. Wild)
HE reproduction of C. Wild's sketch shows us the West Front of what is perhaps the most imposing Gothic church in France.
Its three lofty recessed porches are rich in reliefs and statuary, where, "by a former age commissioned as apostles to our own," the old builders present us with rank upon rank of
Dedicated shapes of saints and kings, Stern faces bleared with immemorial watch,
all leading up to and dominated by the majestic figure, in the middle arch, of the
23
"Beau Dieu d'Amiens," one of the finest works of the great Xlllth century sculptors.
The Cathedral was planned by Robert Luzarches, and was carried out, almost con- temporaneously with those of Rheims and Chartres, chiefly between 1220 and 1288, the side chapels being somewhat later in date. The West Front is flanked by two square towers without spires, which, however, are so small in proportion to the immense build- ing behind as to emphasize the heaviness of the latter. This effect of overweight is not relieved by the beauty of the slender spire, which rises, at the crossing of the nave and transepts, to a height of 420 feet from the ground.
The interior, only exceeded in height by Beauvais (see page 50), contains beautifully wrought choir-stalls of the early XVIth cen- tury, and a highly interesting choir-screen or jub& in the flamboyant style. 24
ST. AMAND: ABBEY (T. S. Boys)
26
St. Amand
ABBEY
(T. S. Boys)
HE drawing by Boys illus- trates characteristically one of those subjects that in his time lay ready to the artist's hand, vivid with the pic- turesqueness of decay and of time— which mellows, though it may destroy. In our own day, the zeal of the restorer, while it claims to give us back much, too often does so at the cost of all the sentiment with which the old is charged. The completion of the parapet of the apse, and the con- jectural treatment of the unfinished tower shown in the Plate, are doubtful gains when
B 27
compared with the old-world quaintness of the building and its surroundings as our artist saw them some sixty or seventy years ago.
28
ANTWERP : STREET AND CATHEDRAL TOWER (S. Front)
30
Antwerp
STREET AND CATHEDRAL TOWER
(S. Prout)
UR view shows us the plea- sant Antwerp of nearly a century ago, and as it existed before the picturesque old town had so lamentably suf- fered from the bombardment of its Citadel in 1830, and from the subsequent great siege by the French in 1832, when this fort was reduced to a heap of ruins.
The sketch, taken from the Place de Meir, records some of the old houses, a few of which still obscure the base of the Cathedral. Some of those near the principal fa$ade were actually in process of being removed when the present unhappy war
31
began. The spire, notable for its unusually slender proportions, and one of the highest in Europe— reaching the great height of 402 feet — was finished towards the end of the XVIth century, though the South tower has only attained a third of its projected height.
It was Napoleon's admiration for this beautiful work that led him to compare it with a piece of elaborate Mechlin lace, while Charles V is said to have declared it was almost too precious to exist out of doors, and was worthy of being enshrined in a case.
32
ANTWERP: CATHEDRAL, WEST FRONT (G. Simonau)
Antwerp
CATHEDRAL: WEST FRONT (G. Simonau)
N size, the Cathedrals of Bel- gium are at least equal to those of France, while none of the latter exceed the Cathedral of Antwerp as a gorgeous example of Gothic architecture. It is one of the most remarkable churches in Europe. Its seven aisles with their series of arches, and the play among them of light and shade and gloom, together with the great length — nearly 400 feet — of this fine building, give it great charm and dignity. Though much of its detail and carving is late and almost decadent in feeling, still, as a great writer says, "A man
B* 35
must have very little feeling for the poetry of art who can stop to criticize it too closely." As we have said, the old houses encumbering the lower portion of its exterior were in process of removal a couple of years ago. It is only too likely that, under German conditions, this work is, for the present, suspended.
A writer of to-day speaks of "the fairy- like structure of the Cathedral spire, with its flying buttresses, rising high above the expanse of the city in such strong contrast to the horizon fringed with poplar-trees — the characteristic feature of the Scheldt land- scape " — and pictures it for us on that " awful night of the bombardment and fire, when its dainty masonry was silhouetted against the blazing sky under the black pall of smoke."
36
Antwerp
HOTEL DE VILLE
(J. Coney)
N the heyday of its prosperity the old Trade Guilds of this, the principal part of the Low Countries, all congregated in the Grand' Place, the chief commercial centre of the town. Here were the Halls of the Archers' Company, the Tailors', and the Carpenters', those—
mechanic guilds
Who loved their city and thought gold well spent To make her beautiful with piety.
Here also, its simple, dignified fa9ade speaking the security of well-established commerce and forming one side of the Square, stands the Hotel de Ville.
39
It is characteristic of the troublous life of the country that within twenty years of its building, in 1561, it fell to Antwerp to restore or rebuild the Town Hall after its partial destruction by the Spaniards.
It may be taken that neither this building nor the Cathedral, nor, indeed, any of the most precious historical monuments, suffered greatly in the bombardment of October 8, 1914, when the actual damage was confined to some of the houses round about the Place Verte and Marche-aux-Souliers, and in the rich residential quarters near the Boulevard Leopold.
40
ANTWERP: INTERIOR OF ST. ANDRE (Jos. Nash)
42
Antwerp
INTERIOR OF ST. ANDRE
(Jos. Nash)
HE identity of the art of Flanders — as shown so clearly in its architecture— with her national life was manifested for us not only in the XVth century, but again in the XVIIth. It was in the latter period that the churches not only enriched themselves with the works of the great school of later Flemish painters, but sought to place these in worthy surroundings, and in architectural settings that spoke their more modern time. Much was done in the way of enrichment of the interior of buildings by adding to them, in the later style, fittings and adjuncts such as fonts, pulpits, and altar-
43
pieces. The drawing by Nash, a typical example, shows how in their design these were treated with a sublime indifference to the earlier Gothic work. Time, in most cases, has, with a kindly hand, softened and reconciled all differences of style.
44
Arras
HOTEL DE VILLE (T. S. Boys)
(For Plate, see Frontispiece)
T was at Arras that, after the battle of Agincourt, the Eng- lish and French signed their Treaty of Peace, but the name of the little town will for ever be associated with war of even a fiercer and more terrible kind.
On October 16, 1914, the Germans began a deliberate bombardment of an undefended town, and it now lies a heap of ruins, which, though not on the scale of unhappy Ypres, are impressive and dreadful enough. " Hardly in Rome itself," says one who wrote after the work of destruction was complete, "can
45
you see ruin on a more colossal scale than in this unhappy town."
The beautiful Hotel de Ville was the particular mark of the German gunners, and, of the seven famous Gothic arches of its lower story, but three now stand — and those chipped and battered and all but destroyed. The upper stages of the Belfry, finally yield- ing to the bombardment,;* fell in ruins on November 23rd, and, beyond the height of the ridge of the roof, the tower no longer exists.
The Hall, standing in the then picturesque Petite Place, was one of the finest in the North of France, and, like many civic buildings of that district, showed in its design strong Flemish influence. The arcade of arches of various sizes giving on to the Place has considerable affinity to that of St. Quentin (see page 164), a resemblance more complete than the reproduction of Boys' 46
drawing suggests, since the original tracery of the Gothic windows was restored in 1837. The principal side elevation was in an elaborate Renaissance style, probably dating from 1572.
The Plate gives us a faithful and sympa- thetic impression of this beautiful building as it was, and is an excellent example of Boys' powers as a draughtsman of archi- tectural subjects. As a writer on this artist says: "He drew with a sure hand what was before him, and we are under debt to him for the record of the 'forties which is preserved for us in his drawings and lithographs."
47
BEAUVAIS: TRANSEPT OF CATHEDRAL
(G. Simonau)
SO
Beauvais
TRANSEPT OF CATHEDRAL
(G. Simonau)
OMMENCED five years later than that at Amiens (see page 22)— that is, in 1225- the Cathedral of St. Pierre at Beauvais is noteworthy for a general similarity of style to that of its neigh- bour, with which it was the intention of its builders that it should compete. But in their rivalry they seem to have set themselves a task beyond their powers. True, that of their mighty scheme they only put in hand the transepts and choir of a church "gigantic to the verge of temerity," but the construction of even this portion was so far in excess of their skill that in 1284 its roof collapsed and led to its rebuilding. An ingenious strengthening of the pier arcade by additional columns and arches emboldened the builders to carry the clerestory to the height of 150
51
feet, while the choir alone is 120 feet long, and its windows no less than 55 feet in height. " There are few rocks, even amongst the Alps," says Ruskin in his " Seven Lamps of Architecture," "that have a clear vertical fall as high as the choir of Beauvais."
Simonau's drawing shows us the South portal, which, it has been truly said, can of itself compare in size and magnificence with the fa£ades of many other Cathedrals. Its wooden doors by Jean le Pot are master- pieces of that great carver's work.
The fall in 1573 of the openwork spire, which rose above the crossing and reached the extraordinary height of 500 feet, seems to have been taken as a warning against too-ambitious projects of building, and since then little addition has been made.
The nave of the church, known as the "Basse GEuvre," is that of the older Cathe- dral, erected at the end of the Xth century, and is of simple and severe design, almost Roman in its character. 52
BERGUES: THE BELFRY (J. Coney)
54
Bergues
THE BELFRY
(J. Coney)
HE Belfry, or rather the Clock- tower, of the little French town of Bergues, though not comparable in size with some of its Belgian rivals, is often declared to be the finest in French Flanders. Its existence and importance emphasize afresh the fact that when the cities of the Low Countries were gradually acquiring their great wealth and civic dignity, the early architectural expression of their rights and privileges was the erection of a belfry. The right to possess a bell— that symbol of power and means of summoning the citizens for public debate or to resist a threatened assault
c 55
— was one of the first privileges granted in all old charters.
The tower at Bergues is a brick building, mellowed by time, and dating from the middle of the XVth century. Some twenty years ago it was restored, with, perhaps, a little too much zeal, but, still beautiful, it dominates the quiet, sleepy town, where, as Lowell says, it to-day- soars upward to the skies
Like some huge piece of Nature's work, the growth of centuries.
56
i
BRUGES: LES HALLES AND BELFRY
(S. Prout)
58
Bruges
LES HALLES AND BELFRY (5. Prout)
T is possible to compare the tower of this well-known building with that of Bergues, shown in the preceding Plate, and to admit that the latter building, though on a less grandiose and important scale, has all the advantages when proportion and gracefulness are considered.
Both this drawing by Prout and the following one by Coney allow us to esti- mate the value of the alterations which, under the name of "restoration," took place towards the end of the last century.
The tower, built at the end of the XHIth century, formerly terminated in a spire
59
flanked by four turrets. This upper portion was destroyed by fire and replaced by the present octagon, with its flying buttresses, erected quite at the end of the XlVth century. It now houses the celebrated chime of bells and carillon.
60
BRUGES : LES HALLES AND BELFRY (J. Coney)
62
Bruges
LES HALLES AND BELFRY (J Coney)
ONEY, of whose drawings this collection has several examples, was an architectural draughtsman of great skill, and noteworthy as being amongst the earliest of artists to devote himself with enthusiasm to the recording of those Gothic buildings so much out of repute in his day. His rendering, however — charming as his drawing is — of the Belfry and old Market Hall of Bruges has to yield, as regards proportion and detail, to that of Prout as shown in the last Plate.
The Hall dates from the Xllth and XlVth centuries, but was largely altered and modi-
c* 63
fied in 1561-8. Built as a Cloth-hall— that civic building of which so many Belgian cities give us examples — one wing of it now contains the municipal offices, and the other for the last hundred years has been used as a meat-market.
64
BRUGES: ST. SAUVEUR, CHOIR CHAPEL (Jos. Nash)
66
Bruges
ST. SAUVEUR: CHOIR CHAPEL
{Jos. Nash)
HERE is considerable resem- blance between the sketch by Nash of this side-chapel, with its classic treatment in white, black, and gray marbles, and that by the same artist reproduced on page 42. The oak door dividing it from the transept dates from 1513, the altar— hardly shown in the Plate — being a few years later, and introducing in its design armorial reliefs of a much earlier period. The Chapel, together with the other four side-chapels, was built in 1482.
Joseph Nash, the artist whose drawing is here reproduced, must not be confounded
67
with the artist of the same surname whose beautiful work, " The Mansions of England," was inspired by a spirit that makes it still rank as a very special contribution to archi- tectural history. The field of Joseph Nash's work and industry was usually North France, Holland, and Belgium, where he is known to have executed no less a number than five hundred water-colour and crayon drawings of such subjects as the present, with a fine feeling for light and shade and great knowledge in the expression of architectural detail.
68
,*^*v./^ BRUSSELS : H6TEL DE VILLE (Benoist : after N. Chapuy)
70
Brussels
HOTEL DE VILLE
(Benoist: after N. Chapuy)
GAIN, in this Plate, is im- pressed upon us the fact that the Town Halls and the Trade Halls of Belgium were the characters in which she wrote or graved the record of that civic and commercial enterprise that gave her distinction amongst neighbouring nations. And grandest of them all, and placed in the favourable setting of one of the finest mediaeval squares in existence, is that of Brussels. Its size is inferior to the now un- happily ruined Cloth-hall at Ypres, but the spire that rises from its highly ornate yet dignified fa9ade is unrivalled for beauty of
71
outline by any spire in Belgium. This slender and graceful feature — which for some reason was not constructed in the centre of the front of which it forms part — rises to a height of 370 feet, and is surmounted by a gilded metal figure of the Archangel Michael, over 16 feet in height, and put in position as early as 1454.
72
BRUSSELS : CHURCH OF (G. Simonau)
74
Brussels
CHURCH OF ST. GUDULE (G. Simonau)
HE Church of St. Gudule (often erroneously called the Cathedral) now stands in very different surroundings to those shown in the Plate. The old buildings of Simonau's sketch have been swept away, and the district is laid out with wide streets, and covered with fine and fashionable houses.
The imposing building belongs to several centuries. It was commenced in the XIHth upon the foundations of an even earlier church, and was finished about 1273, with the exception of the two towers, which were added in the XVth century and
75
remain unfinished. The steps shown leading up to the West Front have made room for the present handsomer approach, added about fifty years ago.
To architects the stained glass, dating from the XHth to the XVth century, is in particular of the highest interest, that in the Chapel of the Sacrament being especially noteworthy.
76
CAEN : CHURCH OF ST. PIERRE
(T. S. Boys)
78
Caen
CHURCH OF ST. PIERRE
(T. S. Boys)
HARING with Rouen the claim of being the two most interesting towns in Nor- mandy, Caen supports it by an abundance of fine churches and old houses. In the centre of the town stands, in the Rue St. Jean, its chief and very beautiful church, St. Pierre, full of appeal to the architect whose interest is wide enough to appreciate a history spread over the various epochs from the XIHth to the XVIth century. Its architecture is in the main Gothic, but the choir, the apsidal chapels with their elaborate external and internal decoration, and the turret of the
79
apse are of Renaissance workmanship. The particularly graceful tower — not shown in Boys' sketch — is a fine example of the work of the XlVth century.
80
82
Calais
HOTEL DE VILLE (.7. Coney)
HE spirit of the old and sleepy Calais of Coney's time, and its difference from the busy arrival and starting point for continental travel of to-day, are made clear to us from his drawing. Then an important harbour, certainly, but of moderate proportions, it is now a huge shipping and naval centre, with docks and harbour upon which, of late years, no less than £3,000,000 have been laid out.
The Hotel de Ville, in the Place d'Armes, the subject of the sketch, is a late Renaissance building of 1740, standing on the site of an earlier building. The bronze
83
busts surrounding the balcony commemorate Richelieu, the founder of the Citadel, which overlooks the town on the west, and the Due de Guise, " lib£rateur de Calais " in 1558. The Belfry is a portion, somewhat modernized, of the older building, and belongs to the XVIth and early XVIIth centuries. To the left of the picture is the Tour du Guet, a massive watch-tower, used as a lighthouse till 1848.
The ramparts of Old Calais — a portion of the town separated by the harbour from Calais St. Pierre, the newer industrial portion of the town — have been demolished and replaced by a new circle of defences and a deep moat.
84
DIEPPE: STREET SCENE (T. S. Boys)
86
Dieppe
STREET SCENE
(T. S. Boys)
HOUGH Dieppe, like Calais, bears to-day a decidedly modern aspect, with wide streets and hotels for the holiday-lover, it has, how- ever, away from the Plage and its gay crowd, several remains of the old town and monuments that appeal to the lovers of its old life, and to the architect and painter.
The quiet streets, of which Boys' sketch gives us a pleasant example, were, but lately, in the height of the Dieppe season, gay and busy thoroughfares, and a busy throng of pleasure-seeking visitors replaced
in this — one of the most frequented pleasure-
D 87
places on the coast of France— the old- world restfulness and leisurely life the artist shows us.
The town possesses two or three note- worthy churches, notwithstanding that in its modernization these have suffered from a too-zealous restoration — the fate of so many French buildings. Amongst them are the Churches of St. Jacques and St. Remy, the latter now standing in the centre of a place, freed from the houses that grouped around its base, a clearance that has meant a gain in architectural interest at the cost of the quaintness and picturesqueness dear to the painter.
DIEPPE: CHURCH INTERIOR
(David Roberts, R.A.)
90
Dieppe
CHURCH INTERIOR
(David Roberts, R.A.)
HE treatment of the stone- work of the church interior which David Roberts has made the subject of his sketch, and the intricacy of the carved detail in such features as the triforium or gallery, lead us to wonder, with Fergusson, "that stone could be cut into such a marvellous variety of lace-like forms," and to join with him in doubting whether sober reason should approve of so great an amount of detail and elaborate finish.
The glazed triforium shown is not an English feature, but it is one of frequent
91
occurrence in French architecture, "and," says the same author, "where it retains its coloured glass, which is indispensable, pro- duces the most fairy-like effect." He goes on, however, to profess a preference for the deep shadow and constructive propriety of the English usage, and to doubt whether in a stone building more apparent solidity of construction is not required to produce a perfectly pleasing result.
92
GHENT : STREET SCENE
(S. Prout)
Ghent
STREET SCENE (S. Prout)
KENT, rich, prosperous and enterprising in its earlier days no less than now, has evi- denced its later wealth by civic changes on the largest scale, which have left it without many of the characteristics it possessed at the time of Prout's sketch. Wide roads and open squares have taken the place of picturesque Flemish houses and narrow, twisting streets. In no less degree have the old buildings changed, for the hand of the restorer has been a busy one here. The following Plate gives us, in the Chateau des Comtes, an example of this,
and we have a further one in the case of
D* 95
the Belfry or " Belfrood." Never completed, nor carried more than two-thirds of its intended height, but harking back to the XIHth century for its beginning, the tower has undergone many alterations and mutila- tions. One of the crowning wrongs wrought it was the addition — some sixty years ago — of an iron spire, painted to look like stone! The building, however, has very lately been restored to its original form, for which the original drawing is still in existence.
The Cathedral of St. Bavon— a XVIth century building — has little to offer us in its rather cumbrous exterior, but internally it is one of the most richly decorated churches in Belgium. It is, in its treatment, still entirely Gothic and free from any trace of the Re- naissance, though built at a time when in France, or even in England, its design would have shown a strongly Italianized influence.
96
GHENT: CHATEAU DES COMTES (T. S. Boys)
Ghent
CHATEAU DES COMTES
(T. 5. Boys)
INCE Boys' sketch was made, the whole of the buildings shown by him as obliterating the greater part of this old Palace of the Counts of Flanders have been swept away, and an interesting — though perhaps too conjectural —restoration of the building to its Xllth century condition has not long been com- pleted. Open on its frontages to streets and market-place, the old Castle now stands "four-square to all the winds that blow," and the picturesque jumble of houses shown by the artist leaning against its ancient walls has disappeared. Again we have brought before us the problem as to how far we to-day are the gainers by sacrificing such accretions of buildings as these (which are,
99
of themselves, paragraphs in the history of the life of the town) to the revelation, by their destruction, of what the original building was — or maybe, even of what we imagine it to have been.
It is commonly supposed that it was in this stronghold of the Counts of Flanders that Charles V was born, in 1500. As a matter of fact, his birth took place in the Cour des Princes, long since destroyed, leav- ing no other record than the name of a street, and not far from the old monastery now adapted to hold the town's collection of pictures.
The surrender of Ghent was, on Septem- ber 7, 1914, demanded by General Von Boehn, and, in view of the loss to the world which its destruction would have implied, the Burgomaster and the invaders entered into a treaty which has, at all events, saved the city from more than partial demolishment.
100
GHENT: THE BELFRY (T. S. Boys)
102
Ghent
THE BELFRY (T. S. Bovs)
HE Belfry or " Belf rood "—the middle tower of the group shown on page 94, and re- ferred to in the note — is represented in fuller detail in Boys' sketch. In most cases of unfinished buildings in Belgium the original drawings have been carefully preserved, and in the present instance, those engaged, as has been mentioned, on the restoration and completion of this tower possessed in the city archives a record of the intentions of its first builders. These, commencing the work in 1183, left it incomplete — and wanting its spire — in 1337. The vane, a gilded dragon some 10 feet
103
in length, is an interesting piece of loot from the Church of St. Sophia at Constantinople, whence it was taken by Count Baldwin VIII in 1204 and presented to his town of Ghent.
104
GHENT : CHURCH OF ST. NICHOLAS (W. Callow, R.W.S.)
106
Ghent
CHURCH OF ST. NICHOLAS
(W. Callow, R.W.S.)
HIS reproduction of a charm- ing drawing by Callow gives us his characteristically bright and sunny treatment of the Church of St. Nicholas, in the Marche-aux-Grains. The old covered-in market-stalls, which he shows nestling in between the buttresses, have been swept away, but the busy life of the market still gathers round the building. The church it- self, dating back to the Xth century, is one of the oldest in Ghent as regards its actual foundation, but its greater part dates from the beginning of the XVth century, while the interior has been a good deal over- restored and modernized.
107
GHENT: HOTEL DE VILLE
(Ghemar)
110
Ghent
HOTEL DE VILLE
(Ghimar)
OWARDS the end of the XVth century, the inhabitants of Ghent, greatly prospering, determined on the erection of a Town Hall on such a scale of magnificence as would have dwarfed into insignificance the civic buildings of their neighbouring rivals. At the close, however, of the following century, during which time its building had been intermit- tently carried on, and when the work was barely two-thirds completed, the design was abandoned. The fa9ade towards the Rue Haut-Port — a portion of which is shown in the Plate — in the florid Gothic style, was
111
restored in 1829, and again some fifty years later. Despite the over-ornamentation of detail to which Fergusson takes exception, one can agree with him that, on the whole, it is " a pleasing and perhaps beautiful building."
112
fe I
O <«
?• i
m ^ *
Bj ^ o
114
Huy
CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME (W. Clarkson Stanfield, R.A.)
UY, that once delightful and fascinating town at the mouth of the River Hoyoux, has, alas! suffered much at the hands of the Prussians, and many of its streets lie in blackened heaps.
Though the XIHth century gave rise to the purest and best Gothic in France* Belgium did not share to any extent the impulse then given to Church architecture. Her buildings of note were spread pretty evenly over the wider period stretching from the Xth to the XVIth centuries. And it is to the XlVth century that we owe the small but elegant church at Huy, shown in the
115
Plate. It is conceded to be one of the most beautiful and perfect examples in Belgium of the early part of that century, though portions of it show later work, renewed after a fire in the XVIth century.
The Citadel, shown in the background of Clarkson Stanfield's sketch, crowned a hill which rose in terraces from the river bank, and, strengthened as it was by defences cut in the solid rock, was considered all but impregnable. In view, however, of the later system of Belgian frontier protection it was demolished some twenty years ago.
116
I
•
•
LAON: CATHEDRAL (T. S. Boys)
118
Laon
THE CATHEDRAL
(T. S. Boys)
ROWNING an isolated hill which rises abruptly some three or four hundred feet above the surrounding plain, and on which the town itself lies spread, the Cathedral of Laon lifts high its cluster of towers and spires. The building is one of the most important architectural creations of the Xllth and Xlllth centuries. Its West front is flanked by two towers, which rise to the height of the base of the spires, while both of those of the North transept and one of the South transept are complete. The six towers had, as seen from the plain and the banks of
E 119
the little river Ardon, a highly picturesque effect; but, lying as the town does within the war zone, it offered only too tempting an objective to the German gunner, and has suffered lamentably.
120
122
LIEGE : PALAIS DE JUSTICE (W. Clarkson Stanfield, R.A.)
124
Liege
PALAIS DE JUSTICE
(5. Prout; W. Clarkson Stanfield, R.A.)
HE Palace of the Prince- Bishops of Liege — used in modern times as the Courts of Justice — was the largest and most beautiful ever built for any Belgian Prince and one of the finest of mediaeval Europe. Its details, elaborate and full of invention, are full of interest to the architect, though, if a purist in style, he will probably take exception to its manifes- tation of that Renaissance tendency that at the time of its erection— 1508— was beginning to assert itself, more or less incongruously, side by side with the late Gothic.
The building consists of two large inner courts or cloisters, each surrounded by
125
arcades with depressed arches. The shafts, bases, and capitals of the latter indicate a wonderful variety of sculptured ornamen- tation by the celebrated Dorset, of Liege.
Two interesting views of the quadrangle of the Palace are given in the Plates, if only as fuller record of a beautiful civic monument in an unhappy town that has suffered grievously at the hands of the Germans.
The principal bridge — the Pont des Arches — which spanned the Meuse, was blown up, as a defensive measure, by the Belgians themselves, but bombardment and fire, on the part of the invaders, have destroyed the Cathedral and the University — the latter under the impression, on their part, that it was the Parliament House. Elsewhere the town lies shattered and ruined. "Of the tale of houses destroyed by incendiarism or by shell-fire there is no end."
126
LOUVAIN : HOTEL DE VILLE
(G. Simonau)
128
Louvain
HOTEL DE VILLE
(G. Simonau)
OUVAIN, that Oxford of the Low Countries, rich with the old associations and quiet of its English prototype, pictu- resque to the painter and full of appeal to the architect, was in great part destroyed by the Germans on August 25, 1914. The magnificent Church of St. Pierre, dating from 1425 — the possessor of one of the most renowned rood-screens in Belgium and of fine examples of the work of Mat- seys — is now but a mangled ruin. Its poor remains tell of the cruel and methodical system of incendiarism that kept the town
E* 129
burning for thirty-six hours, and it now lies roofless, with bare and battered gables.
The University, perhaps the most famous in Europe in the XVIth century, was origin- ally the Cloth-hall, or warehouse for the Cloth-makers' Guild, and contained the most valuable library in Belgium, now dealt with at his will by the invader, and looted or destroyed.
The Hotel de Ville, however, one of the most remarkable and elaborately decorated pieces of architecture in existence, has miraculously almost escaped uninjured. Though, perhaps, there is in this charming building an excess of ornamental detail, yet the whole is so consistent, and the outline and general scheme so good, that it can justly claim to be one of the most beautiful buildings we know.
130
MALINES: KRAENSTRATE (S. Prout)
132
Malines
KRAENSTRATE
(5. Prout)
ALINES— a prosperous and well-to-do town, but one the inhabitants of which have enjoyed, since the Middle Ages, the reputation of not being overwise or enterprising (gaudet Mechlinia stultis, says the old monkish distich) — is a place of broad streets and handsome squares. Besides these, however, outside the main thoroughfares and current of its life, the artist and lover of the pictu- resque can find many narrow and winding lanes bordered by old houses.
One of these is recorded for us in Prout's sketch, a fine and characteristic example of
133
that artist's power in selecting and skill in dealing sympathetically with those subjects he loved to find in the —
Quaint old towns of toil and -traffic, quaint old
towns of art and song, Where memories haunt the pointed gables.
134
O §
136
Malines
CATHEDRAL FROM THE GRAND' PLACE (5. Proui)
HE choir of the Cathedral of St. Rimbaut at Malines has been called a crowning ex- ample of the architecture of the latter half of the XlVth century. The nave, however, was rebuilt, after a fire, about a century later, and the huge, unfinished tower which forms the back- ground of Prout's sketch was not carried even to its present height till the XVIth century. The people of Malines felt what Coleridge calls "that instinctive taste which teaches men to build their churches with spire- steeples, to point, as with silent finger, to the sky and stars," and it was their proud hope
137
that this should exceed and overtop all other spires. It, however, was never com- pleted, and of the intended height of very nearly 500 feet but a little more than 300 were ever completed.
The interior of the church is imposing, and worthy of being the seat of the one Arch- bishop Belgium possesses, but it has been much marred by modern work of restoration, the stained glass being especially open to criticism.
The Germans subjected the defenceless town to a merciless bombardment, and on September 27, 1914, directed their fire particularly against the Cathedral, adding to their act the gratuitous cruelty of selecting the hour of worship, when the Cathedral was crowded, for making it the target of their guns.
138
140
Namur
THE OLD CITADEL
(W. Clarkson Stanfield, R.A.)
HE ideal position, from the point of view of the strate- gist, occupied by Namur has meant that the town, thus unfortunately gifted, has been fated to see many of the horrors of warfare and siege, the bloodiest and most cruel of its pages being almost in writing at the present time. Caesar's "unum oppidum egregie natura munitum"— his "one town wonderfully fortified by nature" — is situated at the junction of the Sambre and the Meuse, the rocky promontory between these views being crowned by the Citadel.
Namur has, in the past, sustained
numerous sieges since Don John of Austria
141
made it his headquarters, and died here in 1578. It was captured by Louis XIV a hundred years later, and even Vauban's would-be impregnable fortifications did not prevent its falling again into the hands of William III of Orange. A portion of the town escaped the rigours of the latter siege, as the surrender took place earlier than was expected. It was here and then that "my uncle Toby " received his memorable wound. The Citadel, shown by Stanfield as occu- pying the summit of the cliff-like hill, ceased to exist as a military work when, in 1888, it was abandoned under the new scheme of Belgian defence. Great fortress-town as Namur was in the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, it was even more strongly fortified in the XXth, but of the range of nine out- lying forts of unprecedented strength then constructed from three to five miles round the town, none, alas ! now remain.
142
NORTHERN FRANCE: OLD COURTYARD
(T. S. Boys)
144
Northern France
OLD COURTYARD
(T. S. Boys)
HIS sunny corner of the old courtyard of a derelict cha- teau— evidently in Northern France — has offered Boys a subject full of the quiet atmosphere of tranquillity and peace with which he so usually invests his subjects. This artist, charming alike in his water- colour sketches and in his chalk drawings (of one of which latter this Plate is a re- production), was one of that band of workers who, in the early half of the last century, made Belgium and the Northern part of France their hunting-ground. The present volume has many subjects by his hand, and
145
shows us how much we have to thank him and them for their careful and loving records of "those pleasant times that were." Boys' work found much favour in his day, and he exhibited frequently between the years 1824 and 1858.
146
ST. OMER: ABBEY OF ST. BERT IN (J. Coney)
148
St. Omer
ABBEY OF ST. BERTIN
C/. Coney)
T. OMER is a small and somewhat uninteresting town lying in the middle of a flat and marshy district, a few miles from Calais. It never-
theless is happy in the possession of a fine church, the principal feature of which is the tower— an excellent and typical example of the late or transitional style. Its date is between the years 1431 and 1520, but some buttresses and a few of the arches of the nave are, beyond this tower, all that remain to us of the old church. Interesting remains of the ancient Benedictine Abbey and its twenty-five gardens have lately been dis-
149
covered. The church now stands in a place, led up to by the streets made during the improvements to the town some fifty years ago.
The Plate is a good example of the work of John Coney, who, as an architect, had the advantage, in dealing with such subjects, of being able to invest them with true archi- tectural value. His drawing gives expression to the intricate richness and beauty of the Abbey tower.
150
PARIS : LA SAINTE-CHAPELLE (T. S. Boys)
152
Paris
LA SAINTE-CHAPELLE
(T. S. Boys)
HE Sainte-Chapelle, as we know it to-day, is an al- together different building from that of our Plate, in which, indeed, Boys shows it undergoing one of its many restorations. This evidently was the work carried out upon it for so many years by the architect Lassus. The exterior staircase leading to the gallery or narthex of the upper church only, how- ever, remained till Viollet-le-Duc's time, who, in his turn, when acting as architect to the building, dealt with the whole of it in his accustomed manner. Eminent and justly admirable historian of architecture as was the great author of the " Dictionnaire Raisonne
F 153
de 1'Architecture Fran9aise," his many works of restoration throughout France show, all too evidently, that those gifts of veneration, conservatism, and self-suppression, so neces- sary when dealing with ancient buildings and historic monuments of architecture, were not his. Even in his treatment of Mont St. Michel he did not, in his many years' work there, lay so heavy a hand upon the old Castle as when dealing with the Sainte- Chapelle.
The original church was begun in 1242 or 1245, and was completed in 1247— a sur- prisingly short time for a building of so much intricacy of detail. It was originally intended for the housing of the sacred relics brought by St. Louis from the Crusades. The stained glass in the upper chapel has been " restored " by Steinheil— even the rose-window, which dates from the XVth century — and with but poor result.
154
PARIS: CHURCH OF ST. SEVERIN (T. S. Boys)
156
Paris
CHURCH OF ST. SEVERIN (T. S. Boys)
NOTHER drawing of Boys' gives us the opportunity of learning once more the appearance of one of the old buildings of Paris before it underwent, a few years later, a change for the worse. The little pinnacle on the roof, his sketch shows us, has now been replaced by a high spire of poor design, that speaks plainly, in its meagre detail and want of pro- portion, the middle of the XlXth century. Most of the original church was built in the last years of the XVth century. The Western entrance was added in 1837, when the XIHth century porch of St.-Pierre-aux-Boeufs was
157
(on the demolition of that church) removed and rebuilt here stone by stone. The in- terior treatment of St. Severin, especially its vaulting, has a strong suggestion of our own Perpendicular style. Its chapels are decorated with mural paintings by various modern artists and of no very high degree of success.
158
PARIS : ST. ETIENNE-DU-MONT (T. S. Boys)
160
Paris
ST. ETIENNE-DU-MONT
(T. S. Boys)
F, in the Church of St. Etienne- du-Mont — thanks to its irre- gularities and unorthodoxies — we do not find any direct appeal as an architectural example, it still offers us the charm of grace- ful fancy and of variety of detail. Its design, as regards the exterior, shows the first striving of the Renaissance spirit to impress itself on the architecture of France, for it was rebuilt on the site of an older church in 1517, in the reign of Francis I. Its Western porch dates from a hundred years later— 1610— when, in the last year of Henry
F" 161
IV, his first wife, Margaret of Valois, laid its foundation-stone.
The building in Boys' time, and for many years after, presented a dilapidated and half- decayed appearance, due to the defects of the too soft stone and poor mortar employed in it. There was a very complete restora- tion some twenty years after this sketch was made, and the church, inside and out, was largely restored
162
ST. ^UENTIN: HOTEL DE VILLE
(Benoist)
164
St. Quentin
HOTEL DE VILLE
(Benoist)
N its fine Gothic Hotel de Ville and the neighbouring church of St. Quentin, this ancient town puts forward two promi- nent claims to the notice of the artist and the architect. Like those of Saumur, Orleans, and Beaugency, the former building — partly flamboyant and partly Re- naissance— is one of those small but inter- esting civic undertakings that were the outcome of the prosperity of North France and Belgium in the XVth and XVIth cen- turies. The exterior, with its arcade of seven pointed arches and the nine fine windows above them which still retain their
165
original tracery, is in the flamboyant style. The interior, especially the mantelpiece in the main hall, shows the incoming influence of the Renaissance.
On September 21, 1914, the town was in the possession of strong German forces, but the Town Hall and the beautiful church do not appear to have suffered by bombardment or fire.
166
RHEIMS: CATHEDRAL, WEST FRONT (G Simonau)
168
Rheims
CATHEDRAL: WEST FRONT
(G. Simonau)
N September 19th, 1914, the Cathedral of Notre Dame at Rheims began to suffer that persistent and cruel bom- bardment, which has left it a shell-torn ruin. There is not the least doubt that this was an act of vandalism deliberately conceived and directed, in the spirit of " frightfulness," against this beautiful building, for the heavy-gun attack left other parts of the town practically untouched.
The unimportant houses shown in Simonau's careful and sympathetic sketch have long since made room for the Place du Parvis and for modern public buildings—
169
the Palais de Justice and the Theatre. In the centre of this square rose the Cathedral, "perhaps the most beautiful structure pro- duced in the Middle Ages." Its wonderful porches, with their statues and carving, were amongst its chief glories. As regards the interior, it owes its dignity and simplicity to the fact that it had escaped restoration more successfully than many other Cathedrals.
"Nothing," says Fergusson, "can exceed the majesty of its deeply-recessed portals, the beauty of the rose window that surmounts them, or the elegance of the gallery that completes the facade and serves as a base- ment to the light and graceful towers that crown the composition."
170
ST. RIQUIER : THE ABBEY CHURCH (G. Simonau)
172
St. Riquier
THE ABBEY CHURCH
(G. Simonau)
HE church of the ancient Royal Abbey of St. Riquier shared in the many vicissitudes of the old town. It escaped the vandalism that wrought else- where so much harm to architectural monu- ments in 1793. It was finished in the Late Pointed style in 1539, but suffered from fire on two occasions, and its last rebuilding, in what, in the XVIIIth century, was understood to be the Gothic style, did not, as Simonau's drawing shows us, result in the greatest of successes.
As we have said, the town itself has suffered in its time at the hands of Normans,
173
Burgundians, French, Germans, and English. In the attack upon it by the troops of Charles V the women of the town joined valiantly in its defence, and the townspeople still tell legendary stories of a certain heroine, in particular, named Becqueville, who gallantly captured with her own hands one of the enemy's flags.
174
ROUEN : CHURCH OF ST. OUEN (N. Chapuy)
176
Rouen
CHURCH OF ST. OUEN
(N. Chapuy)
OUEN, still happy in the pos- session of many examples of mediaeval architecture, was, till forty or fifty years ago, even richer in quaint old houses and buildings and picturesque winding lanes that appealed to the artist and architect. The replanning of the town and the forma- tion of wide streets and boulevards have, however, swept away a large number of these, yet the town can still claim to possess three of the most important churches in Normandy— its Cathedral of Notre Dame, St. Maclou, and St. Ouen, the subject of Chapuy's sketch.
The Plate gives us a delightful rendering of the apse, transept, and tower of this,
177
the most perfect of the abbey-buildings of France, and, indeed, as Fergusson says, perhaps the most beautiful thing of its kind in Europe. He deplores, and naturally enough, the imperfect proportion and loss of aspiring character of the central tower, built, as it was, so much later than the body of the church.
Most of the building is of the date of 1318-39, but the Western fa£ade and portal, the latter flanked by two towers, was not undertaken till 1846. The interior, exceeding the Cathedral in dimensions, and, indeed, in architectural interest, gains much of its light- ness and beauty from the simplicity of its treatment and purity of style, and from the absence of non-essential ornamentation. The ancient stained glass, occupying the huge windows that almost displace the walls, and which —
Flecks the gloom with glow, dusking the sunshine,
is justly celebrated as presenting excellent examples of the work of the XVth and XVIth centuries.
178
££flHHMHI
ROUEN: CATHEDRAL, SOUTH ENTRANCE (C. Wild)
ROUEN : CATHEDRAL, SOUTH ENTRANCE (G. Simonau)
182
Rouen
CATHEDRAL: SOUTH ENTRANCE
(C. Wild; G. Simonau)
HE Cathedral of Notre Dame at Rouen is confessedly one of the finest Gothic buildings in Normandy. Its remark- able want of symmetry as regards plan, and disregard of rule in its constructional features and details, have not prevented the magnificent church from being, as a great critic says, "so splendid and so picturesque that we are almost driven to the wild luxuriance of Nature to find anything to which we can compare it."
Built on the site of an earlier building destroyed by fire in 1200, its construction lasted from the beginning of the Xllth century to the early part of the XVIth, when the Tour de Beurre was completed.
183
This tower, on the left of Simonau's vivid and brilliant sketch, is the loftier of the two towers flanking the West front — both of them unfinished. It owes its name to its having been built with the Indulgence-money paid for eating butter in Lent. The beautiful central tower, scarcely seen in the drawing, is surmounted by a modern iron spire of mean and poor design.
The South portal, shown in both Simonau's and Wild's drawings— which it is interesting to compare — is known as the Portail de la Calende, an imaginary animal supposed to symbolize Christ. The reliefs — very vigor- ous and charming — above the two door- openings represent the Passion.
The houses encumbering and obscuring the lower part of the church in the time of the two artists have been swept away, and, within recent years, the Cathedral itself has been — somewhat too thoroughly — restored.
184
ROUEN: CHURCH OF ST. LAURENT (T. S. Boys)
186
Rouen
CHURCH OF ST. LAURENT
(T. S. Boys)
HE small churches of Rouen, none of them perhaps highly important, still present points of interest and appeal to both the architect and the painter. Among them are St. Vincent and St. Patrice (both notable for their fine XVIth-century stained-glass windows), St. Gervais and St. Godard. Near the latter is the little square —the statue of Flaubert in its centre — in which stands the Church of St. Laurent. The surroundings of the building present to-day a very different appearance from those in the time of Boys' sketch. Then
c 187
desecrated and half ruined, it has since been restored. It is in the flamboyant style, its fine tower, however, dating from quite the end of the XVth century.
188
SENLIS: CATHEDRAL, NORTH TRANSEPT (N. Chapuy)
190
Senlis
CATHEDRAL: NORTH TRANSEPT (N. Chapuy)
F its old Gallo-Roman fortifi- cations and walls Senlis still retains a considerable portion, including sixteen of its original twenty-eight towers. The remains are amongst the most perfect and typical in France. It is a pleasant little town, interesting from its antiquity, its ancient monuments, and its beautiful situa- tion in the valley of the River Nonette.
The Cathedral, planned on vast dimen- sions, was begun in the middle of the Xllth century, but proceeded slowly, even with a reduction in scale that has left the nave considerably less in length than the choir.
191
The transepts are of late flamboyant work, and, as the Plate shows, are very full of the intricate ornamentation of the period.
The town generally has suffered much from the bombardment, more particularly as regards its business quarters, though, for- tunately, the Cathedral itself has not been greatly damaged.
192
SOISSONS: STREET SCENE (T. S. Boys)
194
Soissons
(T. S. Boys)
F late years the picturesque street of Boys' sketch has in great measure been modern- ized and "improved," while the Cathedral itself has undergone very vigorous restoration. The building, though one of the smallest of the churches of Northern France, is in its propor- tions one of the most charming of the district, and is in its detail very pure and severe. Its tower dates, as does the main structure, from the middle of the XHIth century, and is in close imitation of those of Notre Dame, Paris, with which also its height closely corresponds.
Perhaps, unhappily, it would have been G* 195
more fitting to refer to the beauties of this delightful building in the past tense, for, though far from being an Ypres, the town of Soissons is a considerable wreck. Here "was the spot where St. Louis dedicated himself to the Crusades. Every stone of it was holy, and now the lovely old stained glass strews the floor, and the roof lies in a huge heap across the central aisle." In September 1914 the invaders had seized the town, and on the 13th of that month, as another writer says, "above all the smoke and flame and ruin arose the tower of the old Cathedral, which had dominated the ancient town for seven long centuries."
196
OURNAI :
(S. Prout)
Tournai
CATHEDRAL AND BELFRY (S. Prout)
HE history of Tournai, the most important town of Hainault, and one of the most ancient in Belgium, is not so largely written for us in its architecture as is the case with other Belgian cities. It has led a troublous life, in the course of which it has not only under- gone many sieges, but was sacked at various epochs by the Vandals, Normans, French, and Spaniards. In these our own days the worst lot of all has befallen it.
The Civitas Nerviorum of Caesar, Tournai was, later, the seat of the Mero- vingian kings, but its re-building under Louis
199
XIV cleared away many of the earlier houses and monuments, and beyond the few Romanesque remains it has to show, and here and there an interesting mediaeval house, few traces of its venerable age now exist.
The Cathedral is an imposing example of the Romanesque style, though its original facade was altered considerably, and a porch (not shown in the illustration) — noteworthy for its sculptures of the Creation and Fall- was added, in the Pointed style, about the middle of the XlVth century. The removal of the buildings, shown in Prout's charming and characteristic sketch as clustering round its base, has revealed much of the beauty of this noble church.
The Belfry, that feature of so much pro- minence in most Belgian towns— Ypres, Bruges, Ghent, Mons, Nieuport, for example — underwent considerable modification in the
200
restoration that took place some thirty years after the drawing was made, and this record of its earlier state is an interesting one.
The steeple now existing was added at that time— in 1852, the year in which Prout died — and his view enables us to come to the conclusion that this subsequent work has not been altogether an improvement.
201
204
Ypres
THE CLOTH-HALL
(J. Coney)
PRES now lies a shattered mass of ruin and desolation. "Belgium weeps," a writer says, "for her devastated cathedrals, her ruined library, her churches and houses numbered by the score, and— for her Grand' Place at Ypres . . . The ruin of the latter means more to the Belgians than words can express, and a wound which will smart for many a day." For, as the Belgian Minister of State has said, "Of all that made its beauty and its glory, nothing remains but skeletons of monuments on a pile of rubbish."
The Cloth-hall is levelled to the ground,
205
and even of its fine tower but one corner, with its broken and battered pinnacle, re- mains. This former magnificent memorial of the old town's golden days was the most beautiful of the Trade Halls of Belgium, as well as the earliest to be built. It was begun in 1201, but was not finished for more than a century later. In the centre rose the massive and noble belfry, crowned by a spire containing the bells, and unquestion- ably the oldest part of the building. The Town Hall, shown in the Plate at the east end of the Hall, is a late addition of 1730.
The restoration of the whole building had been barely completed when the destroyers robbed the world for ever of one of its fine and gracious flowers of art.
206
YPRES: CATHEDRAL, INTERIOR (J. Coney)
208
Ypres
CATHEDRAL: INTERIOR
(J. Coney)
F the Church of St. Martin at Ypres — formerly the Cathe- dral— little but ruins now remain. It shared with the beautiful Cloth-hall the fury of the German cannonading, as purposeless as it was cruel. The building, though never completed, was one of the finest religious edifices in Belgium, and, as Coney's drawing indicates, was particularly remarkable for the beauty of its interior fittings — its pulpit, the choir-stalls, shown in the Plate, and the frescoes in the choir, despite the bad hand- ling of the latter in their restoration at the beginning of the last century. The portal
209
of the South transept was later in date than the body of the church, and was rich in carving and figure-sculpture. The West tower — to which the spire was never added — was of 1434.
210
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