Cathedral of Our Lady (Antwerp)
The Cathedral of Our Lady or Dutch Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal in Antwerp is the cathedral church of the diocese of Antwerp . The church is one of the highlights of Brabant architecture; its tower belongs since 1999 to the World Heritage of UNESCO .
history
Since the 10th century there has been a Lady Chapel on the site of today's cathedral. When the parish church of St. Michael was handed over to the Premonstratensians , the Marienkapelle was raised to the rank of parish church in 1124 and subsequently expanded into a larger, Romanesque church. In 1352, construction began on a new Gothic-style church with a central nave and six aisles, but construction was stopped in 1521. The church was badly damaged in a fire in 1533. In the period that followed, the Antwerp people rebuilt it.
In 1559 the diocese of Antwerp was founded and the church was elevated to a cathedral. On August 20, 1566, Calvinist iconoclasts destroyed a large part of the cathedral's works of art and furnishings. In 1581 Antwerp came under Protestant rule, which led to the further destruction and sale of priceless works of art.
As a result of the French Revolution , French occupation troops looted the building, which was temporarily used as a cattle shed and suffered severe damage. In the course of the following time the cathedral was changed several times (the tympanum of the main portal was not built until 1903). In 1965, the province of Antwerp began restoration work, which was largely completed in 1993.
architecture
The Cathedral of Our Lady is a seven-aisled building with a transept and a choir with radial chapels . Of the planned two-tower facade in the west, only the north tower was completed in the 16th century, which, however, is a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture both with its height of 123 m and its filigree construction with a lantern . The crossing tower (like the tower of the Sint-Niklaaskerk in Ghent ) was designed as a lantern tower ; However, it was not completed and closed in the 17th century by a three-tier wooden dome construction . The slightly and almost floating-looking tracery octagon , which leads from the square cross-section of the crossing tower to the hood, is also noteworthy.
Furnishing
Four paintings by Peter Paul Rubens hang in the cathedral :
- Erecting the Cross (1609–1610), panel 460 cm × 340 cm, side panel 460 cm × 150 cm. The work entered the cathedral in 1816.
- Assumption of the Virgin Mary (1626), panel 490 cm × 325 cm. The picture was used as a replacement for an old altar.
- The Resurrection of Christ (1612), central panel 138 cm × 98 cm, side panel 136 cm × 40 cm, a picture for the grave of the Plantin Moretus family from Antwerp.
- The Descent from the Cross (1612), central panel 421 cm × 311 cm, side panel 421 cm × 153 cm, the picture was commissioned by the Rifle Guild and is one of Rubens' most famous paintings and at the same time one of the most important masterpieces of Baroque painting. (St. Christopher can be seen on the left outer wing ).
Other notable works:
- A portrait of Francis of Assisi praying in a patched robe by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.
- The neo-Gothic choir stalls by Karel Hendrik Geerts, richly decorated with figures .
- A beautifully styled Madonna with the baby Jesus on her bent left arm escaped the Protestant iconoclasts.
Peter Paul Rubens : erecting the cross
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo : St. Francis praying
' Beautiful Madonna ' with child (14th century)
Vertical panorama of the crossing
Organs
There are two large organs in the cathedral .
The main organ was built in 1891 by the organ builder Pierre Schyven (Brussels), financed by a donation from a parishioner. The instrument has 90 stops on four manuals and a pedal and is largely preserved in its original condition.
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- Coupling : I / II, III / I, III / II, III / III (sub-octave coupling), IV / II, IV / IV (sub-octave coupling), Grand Orgue à la machine, I / P, II / P, III / P, IV / P
- Playing aids : Forté général, Anches Positif, Anches Grand Orgue, Anches Récit, Anches Bombarde, Anches Pédale.
On the east wall of the south transept, directly at the crossing, hangs the transept organ as a swallow's nest organ . The instrument was built in 1993 by the Swiss organ builder Metzler. It has 44 sounding stops and a transmission on three manual works and a pedal.
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Bell and carillon
In the 123-meter-high north tower there is a ringing of eight bells for liturgical services, the largest of which is the so-called Karolus . Due to the limited space in the bell cage , the two largest bells can only be rung separately; the full bell sounds without the second largest bell.
The following is an overview of the data on the liturgical bells:
No. |
Surname |
Casting year |
Caster |
Diameter (cm, approx.) |
Mass (kg, approx.) |
Strike tone (approx.) |
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1 | Karolus | 1507 | Willem and Jaspar Moer ( 's-Hertogenbosch ) | 212 | 6,434 | as 0 |
2 | Henricus or Thomas | 1770 | Joris Du Mery ( Bruges ) | 177 | 4,200 | b 0 |
3 | Maria | 1459 | Johannes and Willem Hoerken ('s-Hertogenbosch) | 164 | 3,000 | c 1 |
4th | Do-klok | 1655 | François and Pieter Hemony ( Amsterdam ) | 147 | 1,900 | of the 1st |
5 | Grote Lofklok | 1655 | François and Pieter Hemony (Amsterdam) | 141 | 1,650 | d 1 |
6th | Small Lofklok | 1655 | François and Pieter Hemony (Amsterdam) | 132 | 1,400 | it 1 |
7th | 1957 | Marcel Michiels ( Tournai ) | 94 | 600 | as 1 | |
8th | 1957 | Marcel Michiels (Tournai) | 82 | 450 | b 1 |
The north tower also houses a 47-part carillon with a total mass of 27,648 kg and a range of four octaves .
See also
Web links
- Official website
- Historical view of Lodovico Guicciardini from 1588 as ( digitized )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Entry on the website of the UNESCO World Heritage Center ( English and French ).
- ↑ More information on the organ at the Aeolus label .
- ↑ More information about the organ on the website of the builder company
- ↑ Sound recording of Karolus
- ↑ Sound recording of the full bells for the Assumption of Mary | Information on the bell data
Coordinates: 51 ° 13 ′ 13.6 ″ N , 4 ° 24 ′ 2.1 ″ E