where please and satisfy the mind in contemplating the cathedrals of France.
These remarks apply solely to ecclesiastical art. In specimens of the civil and domestic architecture of the Middle Ages, Belgium surpasses all the other countries of Europe, on this side the Alps, put together. Her town-halls and markets, and the residences of her burghers, still display a degree of taste and elegance unsurpassed by anything of the age, and remain to this day the best index of the wealth and independence of the communities to which they belonged.
All this is, of course, only what might be expected from what we know of the ethnographic relations of the people. An Aryan race, loving independence, cultivating self-government, and steadily following those courses which lead to material well-being and wealth; and underlying these a Celtic race, turbulent at times, loving art, appreciating its beauties, and clothing the municipal requirements with the picturesque graces of architectural design.
The difference between this country and Central France appears to be that in the latter country the Celtic element was in excess of the Aryan, while in Belgium this condition was reversed, and this at least is precisely what we find expressed in her art.
Of the oldest churches of Belgium, a large proportion are known to
us only by tradition, they having been pulled down to make way for
the larger and more splendid buildings which were demanded by the
continually increasing wealth and population of the cities. Of those
which remain, one of the oldest and most interesting is that of St.
Vincent at Soignies, built in 965 by Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne,
and though probably not quite finished within that century, it still
retains the features of the 10th century more completely than almost
any church in Europe. This church, that of St. Michele at Pavia,
and the Minster at Zurich, constitute a trio very similar to one another
in design and in size, and differing principally in the degree of finish
they display, this being by far the rudest in construction of the three.
It possessed originally a western tower and a central lantern, the
Tipper ]>arts of both which are modernized. The east end was square,
though possessing a shrine, the tomb of the saint whose name it bears.
It may have been altered, and is built up on the outside so as to render
examination impossible.
Another church, only slightly more modern, that of St. Gertrude at Nivelles (Woodcut No. 439), presents the same peculiarity, of having a square termination towards the east, though it seems originally to have had an apse at the west end, where the fa9ade was carried up to a considerable height, and adorned in the centre by a square tower, flanked by a circular one on each side. The latter retain their
