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240 Route 24. LOUVAIN. Hotel de Ville.
(PI. L; 1547-1606), the philologist, who for the last fourteen years
of his life was one of the most famous professors at the university,
leads straight to the (3/4 M.) Groors Marxr (Grand’ Place; Pl. B,
C, 2), with the Hétel de Ville and the church of St. Pierre.
The **Hotel de Ville (Pl. ©, 2, 3), a very rich and beautiful
example of late-Gothic architecture, resembling the town-halls of
Bruges, Brussels, Ghent (in the older part), and Oudenaarde, but sur-
passing them in elegance of detail and harmony of design, was
erected in 1448-59 by Matthew de Layens, and has been under
restoration for some years. The building consists of three stories,
each of which has ten pointed windows in the principal facade, and
is covered with a lofty roof surrounded with an open balustrade.
At the four corners and from the centre of the gables spring six
slender octagonal turrets, terminating in open spires. The three
different facades are lavishly enriched with sculptures. The statues
in the niches represent persons prominent in the history of the town.
The corbels which support the statues embellished with reliefs
representing scenes from Old and New Testament history, in some
cases with medieval coarseness.
The InTERIOR contains little of interest. Most of the apartments are
fitted up in a modern style, with handsome fi s, furniture, etc., and
adorned with pictures by Vuentus, De Crayer, and ot The Salle Goth-
ique, on the first floor, was adorned in 1888 with pai by A. Hennebicq,
consisting of four scenes from the history of Louvain and portraits of
eminent citizens. — The small Museu, on the second floor (shown by the
concierge, /s-4 fr.), contains local, antiquities and some old and modern
paintings (many copies). Among the originals in { chief room may be
noted: 65, 66. M. van Mierevelt, Portraits (1629); 25. M. Cowie, Ascension
(triptych); (8. P. J. Verhaghen, Adoration of the Magi (1780); in the centre,
91-94. Jan van Rillaer the Elder, Two triptychs, the most important wor
of this Louvain master. Here also are preserved those parts of the original
sculptures of the facade which could not be made use of in the restor-
ation, and, in a side-room, a stone model by Josse Matsys of the projected
towers of St. Pierre (1525). — The extensive Archives also are preserved here.
oO
The late-Gothic *Church of St. Pierre (Pl. ©, 2), a cruciform
structure of noble proportions (especially in the interior), flanked
with chapels, was begun in 1425 (to replace an earlier building of
the 10th cent.) and finished in the early 46th century. The W.
tower lost its wooden spire in a storm in 1606.
The Interior (the sacristan, who is usually in the church in the
morning, may be enquired for in the shop at Vieux Marché 55; fee 1/2-1 fr.)
is 393 ft. long, 84 ft. broad, and 83 ft. high.
Nave. The swinging doors inside the principal portal are finely cary-
ed in wood in the somewhat exaggerated style of the late Renaissance
(1556?). — The Pulpit (Chaire Vérité), carved in 1742 by J. Bergé, re-
presents Peter’s Denial on one side and the Conversion of St. Norbert on
the other. The lifesize wooden figures are overshadowed by lofty palm-
trees, also of wood.
North Aiste. 4st Chapel (left of the main entrance): late-Gothic brazen
font, formerly furnished with a lofty and heavy cover, which was remov-
able by the still-preserved cast-iron bracket. — The following chapels
on the same side have marble parapets in the baroque style.
South Aisle. 4st Chapel (right of the main entrance): old stained
glass of the 17th cent., und analtar-piece (covered) copied from the original |
