Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 7.djvu/398

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286 NOTICES OF FOREIGN SEPULCHRAL BRASSES. and more elaborate character, one of them being of the fourteenth century. I have been unable to learn whether they still exist ; but I am disposed to hope that they may have been the identical brasses subsequently in the possession of Mr. Terbruggen, of Antwerp, by whom, about ten years since, they were sold, as I am informed, to Mr. de Man de Linnick, who had placed them in the private chapel of his chateau, situated between Brussels and Mons. During a journey in the Netherlands, in 1838, for the special purpose of making search for engraved works of this nature, so as to adduce, if possible, proof of the Flemish origin of the noble sepulchral brasses at Lynn, St. Alban's, and other places in England, I was only able to find certain examples at Bruges, in the cathedral church of St. Salvador, and in the church of St. Pierre. In the chapel of the Cordonniers, in the former, six brasses exist, of very large size, but mostly concealed from view by cumbrous confessionals. One of these, the memorial of Martin Van der Capelle, who died in 1452, is a most striking example of military costume. It has recently been made known to the Institute by a facsimile exhibited by Mr. Nesbitt.^ In the same church another very large plate may be seen, much defaced, representing two male and one female figure, of the same period, and probably engraved by the same hand, as the brasses at Lynn. The numerous works of a like nature in the church of St. Pierre are likewise of a very interesting nature, well deserving of careful atten- tion. At Ghent, I was unable, during that visit, to find any sepulchral brass, with the exception of a small mural tablet, in the cathedral, representing a man in armour ; it is dated 1599, and is enriched with colour. On revisiting that city during the last autumn, I had the good fortune to ascertain the existence of the remarkable brasses, now brought under the notice of the readers of the Journal, and, as I believe, hitherto unknown to English antiquaries. For this valuable addition to the series I am indebted to the kindness of M. Felix do Vigne, a talented artist and antiquary, of Ghent, whose publications, illustrative of medieval costume, manners, and architecture, well deserve to be better known in this country.^ ■' See Report of the May Meeting, in in tlic Correspondence of Charles Stothard. this Volume, p. 189. These curious pro- See his Memoirs, p. '.^C?,. ductions of Flemish art were first noticed ^ The curious series of specimens of