Hotel de Ville ANTWERP. 13. Route, 177

From the Matsys Well the short Rue des Emaux (Maaldery-
Straat) leads to the N.W. to the Granp’ Piace (Groote Markt;
Pl. B, 3), which is adorned with the Brabo Fountain, erected in
{887 from the designs of Jef Lambeaur. This is surmounted by a
statue of Salvius Brabo, a mythical hero who defeated and cut off
the hand of the giant Antigonus. The giant used to exact a heavy
toll from vessels entering the Scheldt, and ruthlessly cut off and
threw into the river a hand of every shipmaster who refused to pay.
Hence the old explanation of the name of the town (‘Antwerp’,
from ‘hand werpen’; werpen = to throw; comp., however, p. 169).
— On the W. side of the Grand’ Place rises the —

Hotel de Ville or Stadhuis (Pl. B, 3), erected in 1561-65 in
the Renaissance style by Cornelis de Vriendt, and restored in its
present form in 1581, after its partial destruction by the Spaniards.
The facade, 256 ft. in length, 112 ft. in height, with arcades in the
two principal stories (Doric and Ionic), terminates in a colonnade
which supports the roof. The central part, with its round-arched
windows, rises in three additional stories, diminishing in size as
they ascend, to a height of 184 ft. In a niche above stands the Virgin
as the tutelary saint of the city, a figure placed here in 1585; below
this, on the right and left, are allegorical figures of Wisdom and Justice

The Interior (adm., p. 168; entr. for sightseers by No. 9, the
third door from the S.E. corner; rooms opened by a ‘Wegwyzer’, to be
found on the ist floor) was thorougbly restored in 1852-99 from ‘designs
by M. J. Dens. The Srair E (E£scalier @honneur, Trapzaal) is lay ishly
decorated with coloure elgian marble, and the glass roof is supported
by carved wooden Caryatides, representing different branches of industry.
The mural paintings on the first floor, executed in 1898-99 after designs
by A. de Vriendt, commemorate the period of Antwerp’s zenith, in the
16th century. On the left, P. Verhaert, Shipping (the burgomaster wel-
coming the captains of the first sugar- -ships to arrive from the Canary
Islands, 1508); Ch. Boom, Commerce (ope ning of the Exchange, 1532). On
i Hl deta Music (Benedictus de Hertogen performing before
. de Jans, Fine Arts (the burgomaster greeting
Quinten Matsys as p dent of the Guild of St. Luke, 152 £. Farasyn,
Literature (the magistrates receiving ‘De Violieren’, the victorious club
in the contest of ‘Rederykamers’ at Ghent in 1539; comp. p. 114). The
bronze candelabra are by Alf. van Beurden.

The rooms are all embellished with carved wooden panelling. The
BurGcomasterR’s Room contains a Chimney Piece, finely sculptured in the
Renaissance style, from the old Abbey of Tongerloo (p. 208), representing
the Last Supper, above which are the Raising of the Serpent, the Cruci-
fixion, and Abraham’s Sacrifice. — Passing through an anteroom, with
numerous portraits of the royal family by Van Br: ‘ec, Wappers, and Nic.
de Keyser, we enter the handsome great hall, or *SaLuz pe Ritceprion,
decorated in 1864-69 with a series of admirably executed paintings by
H. Leys: 1. (end-wall), Independence, or Solemn Entry of Charles V.,
who swears to respect the privileges of the city, 1514; 2. (on the prin-
cipal wall), Self Defence, or the Burgomaster Van Ursele entrusting
the magistrate Van Spanghen with the command of the municipal guard
for the defence of the city, 1541; 3. Municipal Rights, or the rights of
ship conferred on Battista Pallavicini of Genoa, 1541; 4. (end-wall),
Se tovernment, or Margaret of Parma committing’ the keys of the city
to the burgomaster during the troubles of 1567. Also portraits of twelve
princes celebrated in the ‘annals of the country, from Henry I. of Lorraine

 

 

   

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