The record-union., 1897-12-07
hNTWERP'S TWO GEHIUSES.
RUBENS, THE GREAT PAINTER,
AND MORETUS.
OF the Artist and
Pairter-Eow the Combination
Impressed EGr. Drysdate on His
Visit to the Quaint Old City.

1t is a grand thing to be able to de-
sign and build a great cathedral IKE
this one in Antwerp. Yet no form OF
art can be more unsatisfactory to the
artist, for he seldom lives to see his
work completed l should much like
to have a few minutes talk with Jean
Amel Of Boulogne, who died IN 1870
1t was he who designed the cathedral
and gave forty-six years of his life 10
it, He was succeeded by his son, Pc
ter; and the old gentleman would
doubtless have some strong remarks
to make about Peter if he were able
to talk, for it is not in the nature OF
things that one architect should exactly
carry out the ideas of another The
people would not let him do it. il there
was a long interval between. Art Is
long but public taste changes, ana the
best of architects must bow TO the pow
er that furnishes the cash.
Then. in his time, Peter Amel would
have something to say about Jean Tao,
who took UP the work in 1884. Peter
changed his fathers details, I'M
proved" them, as he would doubtless
say if he could, and Jean Tac changed
Peters. The big church was almost
a family affair by that time, Peter hav-
ing added thirty-six years work to his
fathers forty-six. Tao held on for
only sixteen years, but that brought
the date up to 1449-a century, lacking
three years, under the guidance of those
three men. Then came Master Everaert
who worked away at it for fifty-three
years. And when the last Of these four
1ong-lived architects had been laid IN
acrsA Inf
see how much of the cathedral had
been built: Jean Tao left it with the
choir and its ambulatory and chapels
finished, the sacristies, and the tower
up to the first gallery Master Ever
aert added the north and south aisles
1t was in the latter years of Ever
aert's work. that America was discov-
cred.
Each succeeding architect had some
changes to make in the original plan.
and how old Jean Amel would turn up
his Dutch nose at the changes they
made! But when Herman van Wag-
hemakere and his son Dominic took
charge. or the death OF Everaert they
secuted old Jean completely, and fin
ished the upper part of the north tow
er in f1amboyant style. After all, the
building looks as well, perhaps, as II
one mind had directed the whole. And
after all these centuries of toll vandals
We're not satisfied to let the work alone
when il was finished It was Puritans
(save the markD who tore out the in
terror in 1866. and it was French re-
publicans who did it like favor in
1894.
BIRTH AND GROWTH OF A CA
THEDRAL.
There is a brief account of the birth
and growth Of q cathedral. The nave
and aisles were rot vaulted till 1911,
nearly three centuries after the founda-
ton was laid. And all is not finished
Yet, nor viii be tin long after you and
take no more interest in architecture.
And after all it does not rank among
the largest Of the worlds cathedrals.
It's area Is 10000 square feet. the Co.
logne Cathedral having 81. 900, St.
PauI's in London 10000, and st. Pc
ter's in Rome 2f2.000 But what it
lacks in size it makes up in noise.
live Just beside 1t, and I ought to
know There are ninety-nine bells in
the chimes. the largest Of which is near
" 400 years old, and weighs eight tons.
They begin ringing in the morning at
precisely that hour when a man turns
over for his best sleep and keep it UP
till the early Antwerp bedtime.
Does Monsieur wish to ascend ze
towaire?" the old concierge asked as L
pasged the portal where he spends most
Of his time waiting for victims. 1T is
re belle view from re towaire. Fife
hundaise an fourteen steps take you
10 ze premiere gallerfe. But ze gran
view is from the secong gallerie. All,
Tics
bien. Viz ze bong glass; ze telescop.
You see from ze secong gallerie ze
FIooshing. ze towaires OF Bergen-op-
Zoom. re Breda ze Brussels, ze Malines,
ze Ghent. Onlee re demi- i-franc, Mon
sieur!"
only ze demi-franc. ten cents. Cheap
enough. certainly. for the privilege Of
climbing 616 stone steps and seeing
Flushing. which is at the mouth Of the
River Sckeldt, and the towers Of Ber-
een-op-Zoom, which I never heard Of,
and AIalines. which IS the French
name for the town that we know as
Nechlin. where the lace is made, and
an through ze gran telescop. But
while struggling against the temptation
TO enjoy this pleasure, remembered
my experiences with the Antwerp
stairs, which go up as nearly perpen-
dicularly as possible, with treads about
four inches wide. so that you have TO
step upon them sideways. That recol-
lection turned the balance. and I left
ze belle view for the next Englishman.
did not leave the worn old portal,
however. without look al the big cru
ciax over the door, which gave me
chance to ponder over the folly of hu
man vanity You remember some
thing about the Duke of Alva, no doubt
not the present one. but the one who
was a big gun in Spain some centuries
ago. Philip H. thought so much of
Alva that he had a statue of him made
and set it UP in the citadel of Antwerp.
There it stood great many years. and
the grandees who unveiled it no doubt
said it was to stay there through all
time. just as we say about such things
ourselves. But when the citadel was
pulled down II could not we'll stand
there any longer; so in 1885 the Ant
werpers melted down the metal and
made a cross Of #, which has stood ever
since over the entrace to the cathedral
tower.
A RELIGIOUS LIGHT AND HAZE.
Several hundred small boys of Ant
werp occupied the seats when / went
inside-or more exactly, they occupied
the low benches in front of the seats,
for they were all kneeling, each with
a little book open before him: and
priest far up IN the hazy distance was
intoning something. In these cathe-
drals there IS not only the dim relig-
fFf,+ h4-4 a