Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/630

 598 BELGIAN ARCHITECTURE. Part II. Bel^j-ian ecclesiastical art. Almost all the churches erected afterwards, thouo-h some of them very beautiful, are characterized by the elaborate weakness of their age. Among these may be mentioned St. Gommaire at Lierre, commenced a. d. 1425, but not completed till nearly a cen- tury afterwards ; and St. Jacques at Antwerp, a large and gorgeous church, possessing size and proportion worthy of the best age, but still unsatisfactory from the absence of anything like true art or design pervading it. The same remarks do not apply to St. Waudru at Mons, 1450-1528, one of the very best specimens of its age — pleasing in pro- portion and elegant in detail. Internally a charming effect of poly- chromy is produced by the cold blue color of the stone, contrasted with the red-brick lilling-in of the vault ; this contrast being evidently a part of the original design. By some singular freak of destiny it has escaped whitewash, so that we have here one instance at least of a true mode of decoration, and to a certain extent a very good one. The exterior of this church is also extremely pleasing for its age. Its tower and spire are unfortunately among those that we know only from the original drawings, which are still preserved, and show a very beautiful design. Of about the same age (1522-1558) is St. Jacques at Liege (Wood- cut No. 446), a church of the second class in point of size, being only 254 feet in length internally, by 92 ft. across the nave. At the west end it still retains the screen of the old church, marked darker on the plan. The prin- cipal entrance is a splendid porch of flamboyant design on the north. The east end may be said to be a compromise between the French and German methods, for it is not a chevet, inasmuch as it has not the circumscribing aisle, while its circlet of chapels prevents its being con- sidered as a German apse. Altogether, the plan is characteristic of its locality, on the borders of France and Germany, for in it we find mixed together most of the peculiarities of both countries. For its age too the details are generally good, but as construction was no longer the ruling motive, confusion is the result. 446. Plan of st..iac„ue.s, Liege. (From The most remarkable thing about the '^^^^^scafe wo'ft.'toun.^^''""^ church is, that it is One of the very few churches in Europe which retain their ■polychromatic decorations in anything like completeness, especially on the roof. The paintings, however, are of late date, bordering on JSf-