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Cathedral. GHENT. 6: Route. 59
pieces by @. de Crayer (2nd chapel on the right, Beheading of John
the Baptist, 4th chapel on the left, Assumption), Abr. Janssens,
Th. Rombouts, and others. A marble slab to the left in the 4th chapel
records the names of the priests who refused to recognize Bishop
de la Brue, appointed by Napoleon in 1843.
Transgrts. In the right transept are the coats-of-arms of the
Knights of the Golden Fleece who attended the chapter of the order
held here in 1559. At the entrance to the choir are statues of
SS. Peter and Paul by C. van Poucke, 1782. — Ten steps lead up
to the choir.
Cuorr. The choir was enclosed in the early 18th cent. by lofty
balustrades of black and coloured marble, against which the choir
stalls, carved in mahogany by Dom. Cruyt, are placed. Above the
stalls are scenes in grisaille from the Old and New Testament, by
Van Reysschoot (1774). The high-altar is adorned with a Statue
of St. Bavon in his ducal robes, hovering among the clouds, by
Verbruggen (1720). The four massive copper Candlesticks bearing
the English arms, long (but groundlessly) believed to have once
decorated St. Paul’s in London, were executed by Benedetto da
Roveszano of Florence (1525) as part of the decorations for the un-
finished tomb of Henry VIII. at Windsor and were sold during the
Protectorate of Cromwell. In the choir, adjoining the altar, are mon-
uments to bishops of the 17th and 18th cent., the finest of them
being that of Bishop A. Triest (d. 1697) by Duquesnoy (1654), the
first to the left, and that of Karl Maes (d. 1673) by Rombout Pauwels,
the first to the right.
Rgerro-Cuorr, beginning by the S. transept. 1st Chapel: Pour-
bus the Elder, *Christ among the doctors; most of the heads are por-
traits : left, second from the frame, Alva, then, Charles V., Philip II.,
and the master himself; on the inside of the wings the Baptism
and Presentation in the Temple, on the outside the Saviour and
the donor Viglius Aytta (1574). — 3rd. Opposite the altar, Gerard
van der Meire(?), Christ between the malefactors, with Moses strik-
ing water from the rock and the Raising of the Brazen Serpent on
the wings (1460; covered). — By the choir-screen, monument
of Bishop De Smet (4.1744), by J. Bergé (1745). — 4th: Lucas de
Heere, Queen of Sheba before Solomon (1559). Tomb of two bishops
(1599). — We now ascend the steps
6th: Jan and Hubert van Eyck, **Adoration of the Immaculate
Lamb, the most imposing work of the early-Flemish School (comp.
p. xliv). It was begun by Hubert van Eyck for Jodocus Vydt,
an important patrician of Ghent, and his wife Isabella Borluut,
about the year 1420, and finished by John in 1432. The share
which each of the brothers took in this work cannot be precisely
ascertained. he central piece, and the figures of God the Father,
Mary, John, Adam, and Eve, are usually attributed to Hubert, and
the rest of the work to his brother. Only the central panels as we |