DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26747#0789
Chap. I.
CATHEDRAL OF AHTWERP.
725
the parts, ancl of subordination and proportion, sadly destructive of
true architectural effect; so that notwithstanding its size, it looks
much smaller internally than many of the French cathedrals of far less
dimensions. If there had heen at least 10 hays in the nave insteacT
of only 7, ancl the central aisle hacl heen at least 10 ft. wider, which
coulcl easily have heen sparecl from the outer, the apparent size of the
church would he very much greater; hut hesicTes this, it wants height,
ancl its details show a decadence which nothing can redeem.
Its magnificent portal, with its one finished tower 406 ft. in height,
was commenced in 1422, hut only finished in 1518, and more in accord-
ance with the taste of the 16th century than of the original design.
Although it is, in consequence, impossihle to be satisfied either with
the outline or the detail, it is still so gorgeous a specimen of art, and
towers so nobly over the huildings of the city, as to extort our ad-
miration and regret that the sister tower was not also completed to
make up a fagade which then might for certain effects challenge any
that the middle ages have produced.
The church of St. Romhaut at Malines, though very mucli smaller
than that at Antwerp, heing only 300 ft. in length internally, and
including the tower, only 385 ft. over all externally, is still a far more
satisfactory church in every respect. Indeed, it is one of the finest
of those which have round pillars in the nave instead of the clustered
columns which give such heauty and such meaning to most of the
churches of this age. It was originally designed to have one western
spire, which, if completecl, would have risen to the height of nearly
550 English feet. It was never carried higher than to the commence-
ment of the spire, 320 ft., and at that height it now remains. Even
as it is, it is one of the nohlest erections of the middle ages, the
immense depth of its huttresses and the holdness of its outline giving
it a character seldom surpassed.
St. Pierre’s, of Louvain, is a worthy rival of t.hese two; for though
perhaps a century more modern, or nearly so, it seems to have heen
huilt at once on a uniform and well-digested plan. This gives to
the whole huilding a congruity which goes far to redeem the defects
in its details. The fagade has never heen completed, which would
have rendered it the nohlest huilding of the three. It was designed
on the true German principle of a great western screen, surmounted
hy three spires, the central one 535 ft. in heiglit, the other two 430 ft.
each.1
These are certainly the finest specimens of Belgian ecclesiastical
art. Almost all the churches erected afterwards, though some of t.hem
very beautiful, are charaeterised hy the elahorate weakness of their
age. Among these may he mentioned St. Gommaire, at Lierre, com-
menced a.d. 1425, hut not completed till nearly a century afterwards;
and St. Jacques at Antwerp, a large and gorgeous church, possessing
size and proportion worthy of the hest age, hut still unsatisfactory,
1 A beautiful drawing of this fa^ade t.o a of the city, and a model in stone, from which
very large scale still exists in the town-hall the effect may be seen.
CATHEDRAL OF AHTWERP.
725
the parts, ancl of subordination and proportion, sadly destructive of
true architectural effect; so that notwithstanding its size, it looks
much smaller internally than many of the French cathedrals of far less
dimensions. If there had heen at least 10 hays in the nave insteacT
of only 7, ancl the central aisle hacl heen at least 10 ft. wider, which
coulcl easily have heen sparecl from the outer, the apparent size of the
church would he very much greater; hut hesicTes this, it wants height,
ancl its details show a decadence which nothing can redeem.
Its magnificent portal, with its one finished tower 406 ft. in height,
was commenced in 1422, hut only finished in 1518, and more in accord-
ance with the taste of the 16th century than of the original design.
Although it is, in consequence, impossihle to be satisfied either with
the outline or the detail, it is still so gorgeous a specimen of art, and
towers so nobly over the huildings of the city, as to extort our ad-
miration and regret that the sister tower was not also completed to
make up a fagade which then might for certain effects challenge any
that the middle ages have produced.
The church of St. Romhaut at Malines, though very mucli smaller
than that at Antwerp, heing only 300 ft. in length internally, and
including the tower, only 385 ft. over all externally, is still a far more
satisfactory church in every respect. Indeed, it is one of the finest
of those which have round pillars in the nave instead of the clustered
columns which give such heauty and such meaning to most of the
churches of this age. It was originally designed to have one western
spire, which, if completecl, would have risen to the height of nearly
550 English feet. It was never carried higher than to the commence-
ment of the spire, 320 ft., and at that height it now remains. Even
as it is, it is one of the nohlest erections of the middle ages, the
immense depth of its huttresses and the holdness of its outline giving
it a character seldom surpassed.
St. Pierre’s, of Louvain, is a worthy rival of t.hese two; for though
perhaps a century more modern, or nearly so, it seems to have heen
huilt at once on a uniform and well-digested plan. This gives to
the whole huilding a congruity which goes far to redeem the defects
in its details. The fagade has never heen completed, which would
have rendered it the nohlest huilding of the three. It was designed
on the true German principle of a great western screen, surmounted
hy three spires, the central one 535 ft. in heiglit, the other two 430 ft.
each.1
These are certainly the finest specimens of Belgian ecclesiastical
art. Almost all the churches erected afterwards, though some of t.hem
very beautiful, are charaeterised hy the elahorate weakness of their
age. Among these may he mentioned St. Gommaire, at Lierre, com-
menced a.d. 1425, hut not completed till nearly a century afterwards;
and St. Jacques at Antwerp, a large and gorgeous church, possessing
size and proportion worthy of the hest age, hut still unsatisfactory,
1 A beautiful drawing of this fa^ade t.o a of the city, and a model in stone, from which
very large scale still exists in the town-hall the effect may be seen.