The Western outlook., 1915-10-30

hanging there last month. The cathe-
dral also contains the tombstone Of
Christopher Plantin, who was COM
PEELED nine times to ransom his print
ing establishment, that is still intact
in the Plantin museum, in the south
western quarter of old Antwerp. The
stained glass of Notre Dame is COM
paratively modern, owing TO the out
RACES of the Iconoclasts. It's tower,
rising to a height OF more than four
hundred feet, is prominent feature
for miles in a fiat county. In the
Place Verte, before the cathedral,
there is bronze statue of Rubens.
The organ of the cathedral is the
largest In all Belgium.
So many are the interesting old
buildings Of Antwerp and the number
of treasures contained In them that
the barest outline of them can be
given here. Besides the cathedral and
the Musee Plantin there are the Hotel
de Vile, the Royal museum and the
churches of st. Paul, ST. Jacques, st.
Andrew and St. Augustine, erected in
the fifteenth, sixteenth and seven
teenth centuries. The Royal museum,
while modern in structure, has been
the home Of SO many art treasures
that 1t has become one of the best
known buildings in the world. The
collection of old masters numbers
more than eight hundred priceless
paintings, of which the most notewor.
thy are the works by Rubens, Titan,
Van Dyck, Van Eyck, Matsys, De vos,
Frans Halls, Van der Weyden and
Hans Holbein.
Ancient Hotel de Vile.
The Hotel de Vile, built toward the
end Of the sixteenth century by Cor
nelius de Vriendt, was destroyed in
part by the Spaniards during the
Spanish Fury of 1856, when more than
six thousand citizens were put to the
sword, and the Antwerp burghers
were hanged by dozens in various
parts of the town The building was
restored in 1851, and since then has
been unframed. In it are the burgo
masters room, with its beautifully
carved chimney piece and various val
liable paintings that depict the his.
toric events of the city. In the Sale
des Marriages, the Sale du Conseil,
the Sale Legs and the Sale du Milice
are other interesting paintings and
sculptures, among them a significant
subject by Godding, who shows Bur.
gomaster van Straelen on his way to
execution after having been subjected
to the cruelest forms of torture at the
duke of Alva's orders.
On the Grand place, where the Ho-
tel de Vile is located, are also the
homes of those forerunners of the la
Dor unions, the trade guilds. These
organizations built their permanent
offices, If they were to be called such,
In the sixteenth and seventeenth cen.
turtles. The various guilds represent.
ed on the square are the coopers, arch
ers, clothiers and carpenters. On the
same square there is the birthplace of
Van Dyck
The earliest mention of Antwerp il
III the NTH century, when it was in
cluded as one of the towns of Ger
many. When the Mortimer engaged
In their raids they sailed up the
Scheldt and stormed the town. At the
time of the Crusaders the town formed
one of the principal bulwarks of the
Germans against the counts of Elan
ders, and its first claim to historic
prominence was under the margrayi-
ate of Godfrey de BouiIlon In the
eleventh century. Three hundred
years later Edward III Of England
made the town his temporary head
quarters.
II was not until the decline OF
Bruges that Antwerp rose to it's height
of wealth and prosperity. When the
Netherlands were able to secure con.
troll of the bulk of the trade from
Spanish cities and central Europe.
the rich men of Antwerp became
known the world over. .