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32 Route 3. BRUGES. S.W. Quarter:
left wing of the triptych the daughter of Herodias receives the Baptist’s
head, and dances before Herod. On the right wing St. John Evangelist
is seated and looks towards heaven, preparing to note the vision before
him. He sees the king of kings, the elders, the lamps of the Apocalypse,
the lamb, the symbols of the Evangelists, and Death on the pale horse,
bursting with his three companions on the men who flee; on the placid
surface of the sea, the vision is reflected and forms a grand and imposing
picture. On the outer face of the wings, Jacques de Keuninck, treasurer,
Antoine Seghers, director, Agnes Cazembrood, superior, and Claire van
Hultem, a nun of the hospital, are depicted under the protection of their
patron saints.” — Ibid.
By the entrance is a smaller masterpiece by Memling, represent-
ing the Adoration of the Magi, also painted in 1479 and presented
by Jan Floreins, and in excellent preservation. On the inside of
the shutters, the Adoration of the Child and Presentation in the
Temple; outside, John the Baptist and St. Veronica.
The thin, bearded man looking in at the window, with a cap such as
is still worn by the convalescents of the hospital, is said to be a portrait
of the master himself. To the left, on the central panel, the donor, kneeling.
Between the windows are two other pictures: a Pietd, painted in
1480, with the portrait of the donor, A. Reins, and SS. Adrian, Bar-
bara, Wilgefortis, and Mary of Egypt on the wings (the last two on
the outside); and a diptych, painted in 1487, representing the
Virgin offering an Apple to the Child on one wing, -and on the other
the donor, Martin van Nieuwenhove, unquestionably the best of
Memling’s portraits. Beside the second window is a Portrait Head,
representing the daughter of burgomaster W. Moreel (comp. p. 33),
by Memling (1480), styled by a later inscription ‘Sibylla Sambetha’
(i.e. the Persian Sibyl).
Above the fire-place is a copy of Van Dycks Rest during the Flight
into Egypt; in the corners of the room are a valuable chalice of 14619 and a
small Gothic ciborium, with a statuette of the Madonna (gilded wood-
carving).
The Hospital itself is well worthy of a visit. The large old hall,
divided by partitions, is used as a store. The Dispensary also is
interesting.
On quitting the Hospital we turn to the right, cross the Pont
Notre-Dame, which affords an attractive view of the river-front of
the Hospital, and follow the Rue Ste. Catherine, No. 84 in which,
the old Ecole Bogaerde, formerly an orphanage, is now the seat of
the Academy of Art (PI. B, 7), founded in 1749, and of the School
of Industrial Art. The old chapel contains the —
“Musée Communal, or Musée de Tableaux, a collection of great
interest to the student of early-Flemish painting. A new building
(PI. B, 6) is projected. Admission, see p. 24. No catalogue. Good
photographs at 2 fr,
The chapel is divided into three sections by partitions. The
masterpieces of the collection are hung in the middle: Jan van
Eyck, *Madonna with the Infant Christ, St. Donatian and St. George,
and the donor Canon George van der Paele (1434-36; from the |