St Bavo’s Cathedral is the most majestic church in Ghent. It is also the principal church of the diocese of Ghent and serves as the seat of the chapter of canons. Furthermore, St Bavo’s Cathedral is the oldest parish church in Ghent.

The most ancient parts of this place of worship date all the way back to the 10th century. The current building dates from the 13th to the 16th centuries. As Ghent began to grow into a city, the original Romanesque church was transformed into a Gothic building.

St Bavo’s Cathedral also boasts a striking interior and an impressive collection of religious art. Besides work by Joos van Wassenhove, Pieter Paul Rubens and Hieronymus Duquesnoy the Younger, it also houses one of the greatest masterpieces of Flemish art: the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by the Van Eyck brothers.

No physical traces of the 10th-century parish church remain. The oldest elements date back to the 12th-century Romanesque church. This was a three-aisled cruciform church with a lantern tower and a three-aisle choir above a crypt of the same size, although the latter was divided into four aisles.

Only the crypt and two of the four original aisles remain. They form the basis for the Gothic additions (new side aisles and spacious radiating chapels) which were added at the end of the 13th century. The crypt of St Bavo’s Cathedral is the largest in Flanders. Traces of the original murals can still be found there.

As the city of Ghent steadily increased in size, the Church of St John the Baptist was transformed into a Gothic building in the 13th century. The works started with the choir. The side aisles were demolished at the end of the 13th century, and in the 14th century work began on a larger choir in the Scheldt Gothic style . It was not until towards the end of the 14th century that the choir was completed with the addition of five spacious apse chapels, in the high Gothic style . 

After the completion of the choir, a Gothic tower was added in front of the Romanesque lower church between 1462 and 1543. In 1602, the wooden spire, which was probably intended to be temporary, burned down and was never replaced. Even before the tower was complete, the Romanesque lower church was destroyed to make way for the first stone of the new Gothic lower church in 1533. The large upper windows are a feature of the high Gothic style. The vaulting was started in 1552 and the works were completed in 1559. This meant that by the mid-16th century, the outside of the building looked much as it does today.

 

 

St Bavo’s Cathedral is the oldest parish church in Ghent, and was originally called the Church of St John the Baptist. The origins of this church date back to the 10th century. According to lore, a small church was founded on this site in 942, near the bustling harbour of the trading post of Ghent, by Transmarus, the Bishop of Tournai and Noyon. St Bavo’s was not given its present name until 1540.

Prior to that, in around 630, St Amand, or according to legend, St Bavo himself, had founded St Bavo’s Abbey: a community of secular priests who later followed the Holy Rule of St Benedict.

St Bavo’s Abbey would grow to become one of the most important abbeys in Flanders. At the request of Charles V, however, St Bavo’s Abbey was transformed into a chapter of canons in 1536. After the Revolt of Ghent in 1539, the abbey was disbanded, and the canons moved to St John’s Church, which was called St Bavo’s Church from then on.

On 12 May 1559, when the Papal Bull ‘Super Universas’ was promulgated by Pope Paul IV, Ghent became a diocese and St Bavo’s Church became St Bavo’s Cathedral.

 

 

As well as being the most majestic church in Ghent, St Bavo’s Cathedral as a whole constitutes a particularly impressive collection of religious art.

The objects date from the 8th to the 20th century and are among the most remarkable art treasures in our country.

HUBERT AND JAN VAN EYCK, the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, 1432

St Bavo’s Cathedral houses one of the greatest masterpieces of Flemish art: the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. After the death of Hubert van Eyck (circa 1366-1426), the retable was completed in 1432 by Jan van Eyck (circa 1390-1441) on commission from Joost Vijdt, an alderman of Ghent and the church warden of what was the Church of St John the Baptist at the time, and his wife Elisabeth Borluut.

Originally, the work was intended to hang in the chapel they had founded in the ambulatory; now it can be seen in the former baptistery . The iconography in the panel is centred on the Agnus Dei, an attribute of John the Baptist, patron saint of the parish. The central theme is human salvation through the crucifixion of Christ. The outer panels depict the people who commissioned the altarpiece.

The Van Eyck brothers are considered to be the absolute masters of the Flemish Primitive School, and the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb is a veritable masterpiece of the oil painting style they developed.

Of all the events in the altarpiece’s turbulent history, the theft of the panels depicting the Just Judges and John the Baptist in 1934 appeal most to the imagination to this day; the panel with John the Baptist was returned , but the one portraying the Just Judges has never been found.

In 2012, the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage in Brussels embarked upon an ambitious restoration of the altarpiece at the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, and an exhibition on the history of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb was held at the Carmelite Friary.

JOOS VAN WASSENHOVE, Calvary Triptych, second half of the 15th century

The northern arm of the transept holds a triptych generally attributed to Joos van Wassenhove, dated to about 1464-1468.

Joos van Wassenhove (circa 1430 - after 1480) was a Flemish painter who became a member of the Antwerp Guild of St Luke in 1460 and a freemaster of the Ghent painters’ guild in 1464. In 1470 he travelled to Italy, where he was known as Justus of Ghent. He combined the Early Netherlandish School with the Italian Early Renaissance style.

This work depicts the Calvary, with the crucified Christ: Mary can be seen on the left, fainting and supported by John and Mary Magdalene, and Longinus appears on horseback on the right.

The side panels show scenes foreshadowing the crucifixion. The left panel shows Moses throwing a log into the bitter water of Marah at God’s command, making it sweet, which is moreover a rare theme in the paintings of the Low Countries. The right panel again depicts Moses, this time with the bronze serpent. The outer panels depict St Lawrence and St Louis.

On the front of the right panel, two portrait-like figures are depicted in the middle group, on the left-hand side towards the edge of the panel: a man with a jewel on his hat and a veiled woman. These may be the people who commissioned the work. The panel was probably commissioned by Laureins de Maech and his wife Louise van den Hove.

PETER PAUL RUBENS, Conversion of Saint Bavo, 1624

A particularly valuable piece is the one now hanging in the chapel of St Peter and Paul. The painting, entitled The Conversion of St Bavo, was painted by Pieter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) in 1624.

He painted this work, commissioned by Bishop Antonius Triest, for the former high altar; when a new high altar was built in 1702 or shortly afterwards, the painting was moved. It represents Bavo’s conversion and entry into the monastery.

According to legend, Bavo, born in Liège in around 589, had led a very licentious life. After the death of his wife, however, he repented, gave all of his possessions to the poor and became a monk and follower of St Amand.

On the steps at the front, we see the bailiff giving all of Bavo’s possessions to the poor as instructed by Bavo. On the left, to the side of the steps, Bavo’s daughter looks up towards the main scene on the steps: Bavo, dressed in armour, kneels and St Amand, with his hand on the balustrade, welcomes the convert. After his death in 654, Bavo was buried in Ganda Abbey, which he or St Amand had founded; this abbey later became St Bavo’s Abbey.

The painting is among Rubens’ most significant works.

LAURENT DELVAUX, pulpit, 1741-1745

The pulpit in St Bavo’s Cathedral is a masterpiece of Rococo sculpture. It was built in 1741-1745 by the Flemish sculptor Laurent Delvaux (1696-1778). After a working visit to England and a trip to Italy, he completed several commissions for various churches and abbeys in the Netherlands.

The central group on the pulpit is composed of two allegorical figures: clearly inspired by the work of Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), they depict ‘Truth Unveiled by Time’. Behind the figures, a tree trunk supports the enclosure. Each of the two staircases leading to the pulpit is flanked by an angel bearing Bishop Antonius Triest’s coat of arms.

Three marble reliefs decorate the enclosure: they depict the birth of Christ, the conversion of Paul and the conversion of St Bavo. Two apple trees support the abat-voix, which is covered by a drapery. Above it, two cherubs are twisted around a giant cross.

HIËRONYMUS DUQUESNOY DE JONGE, monument of Bishop Antonius Triest, 1652-1654

The choir houses the tomb of Bishop Antonius Triest (1621-1657), as one of four tombs of Ghent bishops. The magnificent tomb was made in 1652-1653 by Hieronymus Duquesnoy the Younger (1602-1654), the son of Hieronymus Duquesnoy the Elder (circa 1570-1641) and the brother of Francis Duquesnoy (1597-1643).

The Flemish sculptor was trained by his father and later worked in his brother’s studio in Rome. After the latter’s death, he returned to Brussels and embarked upon a glittering career. From 1644 to 1651, he made works including four statues of apostles for St Michael’s Church in Brussels and a statue of St Ursula for the Sablon Church in Brussels.

From 1651 onwards, he worked on the tomb of Bishop Antonius Triest at St Bavo’s Cathedral in Ghent. The work depicts Mary and Jesus in an architectural setting according to the Italian model, looking down on the semi-reclining bishop who is gazing into the choir. Below, two cherubs hold a cartouche with an inscription and above, two more cherubs are holding up the bishop’s coat of arms and mitre.

Antonius Triest was the seventh bishop of Ghent. He had a significant impact on the sumptuous, baroque interior of the cathedral as we still see it today.

KAREL VAN POUCKE, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, 1776-1782

On opposite sides of the rood screen are two statues, one of St Peter and the other of St Paul. Both monumental statues were sculpted in 1776-1782 by Karel Van Poucke (1740-1809). After spending time in Italy, this Diksmuide-born sculptor set up a sculpture studio in Ghent in 1776; he was later appointed director of the art academy.

St Peter is shown in the classic contrapposto position, holding two crossed keys. St Paul is depicted throwing the adder that bit his hand into the fire. Although this is based on a Bible story, it is a very unusual way of representing the saint.

Gospel Book of Livinus Gospels, 9th century

In the crypt of St Bavo’s Cathedral is the book known as the Gospel Book of St Livinus. This precious manuscript on parchment dates from the 9th century and is among the possessions of St Bavo’s Abbey that were transferred to what was then St John’s Church in 1540.

Slipped among the pages is a letter from Abbot Othelbold (1019-1030) to Countess Otgiva concerning the relics from St Bavo’s Abbey, as well as an inventory of the abbey’s art treasures that survived the Viking invasions.

The manuscript was probably produced in Northern France; the title pages and the miniatures of the evangelists are Carolingian, while the initials with their fantastic tracery are in Anglo-Frankish style.

The red velvet binding with silver fastenings was made by Jan van Sychen in the second half of the 17th century; the engraved medallions depict St Livinus as a bishop with his crosier and his tongue held in a pair of tongs. The gospel book belongs to the large collection of manuscripts, silverwork and liturgical robes owned by the cathedral.