George Wharton Edwards

Name: Some Old Flemish Towns/Louvain — Louvain
Author: George Wharton Edwards

Some Old Flemish Towns/Louvain… (1911)

Summary

“Some Old Flemish Towns/Louvain — Louvain”, published in 1911, is a work by George Wharton Edwards. It explores elements such as the Hotel de Ville, gables and pinnacle.

Quotes from Some Old Flemish Towns/Louvain… (George Wharton Edwards)

George Wharton Edwards, Some Old Flemish Towns/Louvain… (1911)

“ The streets are full of young priests, for there are many schools here besides those of the Great University, and I saw daily a number of them studying the tombs and paintings in St. Peter's Cathedral which faces the wonderful Hotel de Ville. There are good shops, the people are well dressed in the streets, and apart from the immense, blackened pile of the cathedral and the façade of the Hotel de Ville, an air of modernity is over all. The Brabantians are much more up to date than the people of Western Flanders ”

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Source: Wikisource

George Wharton Edwards, Some Old Flemish Towns/Louvain… (1911)

“ Upon emerging from the rather imposing station, one sees the exquisite pinnacles of the Town Hall rising before the roofs, at the end of the long and uninteresting street, and half hidden by a tall, white, modern building seemingly given up to apartments, which quite spoils a vista that would otherwise prove a delight to the eye, and it is a sad comment upon the taste of the authorities, which view is later confirmed by their indifference to the rapid deterioration of some, if not all, of the really fine pictures by the early masters hung in the Museum on the second floor. ”

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Source: Wikisource

George Wharton Edwards, Some Old Flemish Towns/Louvain… (1911)

“ The towers at each angle are also in two stages of platforms of open work like gray lace, and finished by a gilded iron flèche shining in the sunlight. Over all is a most prodigal lavishment of lace work in stone, and the result is bewildering. ”

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Source: Wikisource

George Wharton Edwards, Some Old Flemish Towns/Louvain… (1911)

“ They were intensely Flemish in form, with fantastic gables and low-toned, red-tiled roofs which accorded admirably with the immensity of the church walls, and formed a picture at once interesting and unique. The porch is large and their are two stages of windows of good design; the gables of the chapels and the pinnacles are all in keeping with the picture. Of the interior, one can only say that it is most majestic and very rich in monuments and works of art. There is a great Gothic "Jubé," a Tabernacle, many tombs which will well repay study and really good, modern, painted glass. ”

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Source: Wikisource

George Wharton Edwards, Some Old Flemish Towns/Louvain… (1911)

“ The most singular object in the old church is a figure of Christ clad in a dark, plum-colored robe of what seems to be velveteen. This figure is greatly venerated, because, says the legend, "It disengaged one arm from the cross on a certain occasion and seized the thief who attempted to steal the Chalice from the Altar." A richly-dressed woman was on her knees before this figure which is in the gloom at the side of the altar, and as we studied the figure with its arm hanging hidden in the long sleeve, she raised her hands high above her head and remained in this attitude of supplication. ”

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Source: Wikisource

George Wharton Edwards, Some Old Flemish Towns/Louvain… (1911)

“ Like many of the Belgian towns its downfall is due to the oppression of the rulers of old, in this case the Dukes of Brabant, and to the spirit of independence shown by its inhabitants, which caused them to revolt and transfer elsewhere the fruits of their labor and industry. ”

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Source: Wikisource

George Wharton Edwards, Some Old Flemish Towns/Louvain… (1911)

“ Louvain is the seat of the well-known University and the headquarters of the Clerical party of Belgium. Once a most important industrial center with a population of 200,000, it has dwindled to 45,000 or thereabouts. ”

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Source: Wikisource

George Wharton Edwards, Some Old Flemish Towns/Louvain… (1911)

“ IV, p. 39, says: "Not only is the Hotel de Ville of Louvain the most remarkable municipal edifice in Belgium, but one may seek in vain its equal in Europe," and while it was known that its designer's name was Mathiende Layens, nothing of his history could be found until in 1846 two historians, Van Even and Thys, discovered in a parchment that he was a native of Neufvilles in Hainaut, a small, obscure hamlet ”

George Wharton Edwards

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