Page:Three Years in Europe.djvu/282

244 Of the numerous paintings of Flemish masters which this cathedral boasts of, two are of more than ordinary importance. One is the celebrated "Adoration of the Immaculate Lamb" by the two brothers Van Eyck. It is said to be the most extensive and imposing work of the Flemish School. The two wings of this picture are at Berlin and Brussels, respectively.

Not far from the cathedral is the celebrated Belfrey of Ghent which in the remote past often called the hardy and turbulent sons of the town to arms. One of the oldest and heaviest bells in the Belfrey bears the significant inscription which in English is,—"My name is Roland, when I am rung hastily then there is fire; when I resound in peals, there is storm in Flanders!" The total height of this Belfrey up to the point of the spire is 375 ft., and the spire is surmounted by a vane consisting of a guilded dragon 10 feet in length which was taken by Count Baldwin VIII. of Flanders from the church of St. Sophia at Constantinople in 1204 A. D. and presented to the Ghenters. There is a story told about the Belfrey of Ghent which is worth repeating. When the cruel and bigoted Duke of Alva proposed to the Emperor Charles V. that he should destroy that turbulent city which had caused him so much annoyance, the enlightened Charles is said to have taken Alva to the top of the Belfrey and pointing to the vast panorama of buildings and shops and churches all round, replied "Combien faudrait il de peaux d'Espagne faire un Gand de cette grandeur?"