When you enter the church, the first impression is of a rather sober and harmonious interior.

Around 1855, half a century of Neoclassical plastering was removed and the church was restored to its original Late Gothic style. The upper windows of the gallery in the rib-vaulted nave were partially sealed, probably in the 17^th century, and the gallery was replaced with twelve canvases by Nicolas De (1600-1646).

As you head towards the choir, you will be astonished by a colourful and evocative interior with 19t^h-century, Neo-Byzantine murals by the Ghent-based painter and director of the academy of fine arts, (1817-1892). You can see his glorious Christ the Redeemer, under a radiant, starry sky.

This five-metre-high painting of Christ Pantocrator makes for an imposing presence gazing down from his throne at anyone who enters this gorgeous building. The paintings, combined with numerous sculpted figures to create a single, overal work of art, were recently restored, with the bright colours revealed to their full advantage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The original chapel, an austere, single-aisle place of worship, became too small for the growing number of parishioners. In 1550, a church was built on the site of this chapel, with financial support from Charles V. It was to be a Late Gothic building with a three-aisle, six-bay nave.

The religious wars meant that the building works were never fully completed. In the 18^th century, the church was extended with a Holy Sacrament Chapel, the current choir, and the addition of a sacristy.

The Neoclassical façade, designed by P.J. de Broe, dates from 1812 and is a legacy from the French period. (1855-1900).  The current Neo-Gothic interir is from the second half of the 19th century (1855-1900).

 

The parish church of St Salvator used to stand on a small square. The western façade looked out over an open space, with the other façades enclosed by the surrounding buildings. The northern façade was opened up when the houses to the left were demolished. That side used to be called the Papestraat, later renamed Priesterstraat and now Doornzelestraat after the refuge of the former Abbey of Doornzele that used to be located there.

The sanctuary to the right of the church was remodelled by Bishop van Eersel (1713-1778), who came here to practice the Spiritual Exercises in peace. His coat of arms still takes pride of place above the entrance: a crown, staff, mitre and three otters depicting the virtues of diligence, perseverance and patience.

On the square in front of the church is a refurbished piece of the bow of a barge, the Rihera. The name Rihera is derived from the first letters of the names of the boatbuilder Richard Wijnakker, his wife Hélène and son Raoul. This monument is a reminder that this used to be a bargemen’s neighbourhood, which emerged after the construction of the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal and the docks in the mid-19th century.

This bow symbolises the bond between this church and the community of bargemen. Over the years, the church came to be known as the parish church of Flemish bargemen. Many bargemen married in this church, had their children taught and baptised here, and are also buried here.

As you enter the church, look through the rows of tall white columns with rib vaulting to see all the way to the starry ceiling of the choir, with the painting of Christ the Redeemer at the centre.

The iconostasis in the foreground gives it a Byzantine feel, a representation of the faith of the Ukrainian Byzantine Rite community that has its parish here.

Holy Sacrament Chapel and main altar

The Holy Sacrament Chapel, with its long procession of life-size saints, is imposing. Théodore Canneel (1817-1892) painted these murals between 1857 and 1862. The works had suffered considerable damage, but they were restored to their original, vibrant colours in 2017. A five-metre-high Christ rises above these saints, with his arms outstretched towards those seeking solace. The apostles are represented at the same height, between the six windows. In the distance, you can see the monks and bishops at the head of the procession, and on the right, the women bringing up the rear. Canneel painted his figures in different poses and gazes. Some saints are looking at Christ or have their arms outstretched towards him, and others have their eyes on the old tabernacle, now hidden behind the new main altar that dates from 1857.

The concealment of the old tabernacle has partly spoiled the overall effect that Canneel wanted to create, and the monumental figure of Christ is no longer as impressive with the addition of the new altar. The gold lettering above the figures indicates who the figures are. Canneel also strove to make the clothing, attributes and characters of the saints historically accurate. A good example is the Imperial Crown of Charlemagne.

Saint Bartholomew is depicted with a knife because he was skinned alive. This is why he is also represented here as the patron saint of leatherworkers, the forerunners of tanners. Many of them lived near the church and some were buried here. There are also several local Ghent saints featured, such as Saint Macarius, one of the ‘Plague Saints’, who was originally a bishop in Turkey before he found his way to Ghent in 1012.

The main altar, built in 1857, was designed by Jean-Baptist Bethune (1821-1894), the carvings are by Leopold Blanchaert (1832-1913), the polychromy is by Adriaan Bressers (1835-1898) and the paintings are by Jules Helbig (1821-1906), all of whom were associated with St Luke’s School in Ghent, founded by Bethune, the great advocate of the Neo-Gothic. Here, you can see a number of scenes from the life of Christ. The foot of the altar features three medallions showing the Annunciation to Mary, the Birth of Jesus and the Adoration of the Magi.

Chapel of the Confraternity of St Joseph

In 1604, in the midst of the Counter-Reformation, St Salvator’s Church was designated by Archduke Albert and Archduchess Isabella as the seat of the Confraternity of St Joseph. The saint was the personification of the Catholic Church’s pushback against Protestantism. In 1608, the rulers donated seven paintings to the church depicting scenes from the life of St Joseph, by Hendrik van Baelen (1575-1632). This painter was one of the teachers of Antoon Van Dyck .

Confraternities or brotherhoods existed to do good works. Their members prayed together and attempted to live a pious life. Incidentally, the chapel features a sculpture of the founder of this confraternity: Magdalena de Trazegnies (1547-1642). After the death of her husband, the count of Trazegnies, a knight of the Golden Fleece, she became a lady-in-waiting to Archduchess Isabella. In 1602, she left the court to join the Order of the Colettine Poor Clares. A year later, she had herself walled into an anchorite’s cell, a small room attached to the side of the church, where she lived until her death. Despite this hard, hermitic life, she survived to the age of 95. Her grave was found here in 1808.

Above the altar hangs the painting ‘The Rest on the Flight into Egypt’ by the Antwerp Baroque painter Erasmus Quellinus II, also known as Erasmus the Younger (1607-1678). He was a pupil of Rubens and one of his closest colleagues.

The silver reliquary of the Plague Saints

The church treasury includes a valuable silver reliquary, donated to the church by Michiel D’Hooghe in 1730. The heavy reliquary cabinet bears the coat of arms of the donor, who came from a wealthy family of leatherworkers and was one of the parish priests. In the reliquary cabinet, you can identify three of the Plague Saints: on the right is St Adrian, dressed as a Roman warrior with the anvil with which he was martyred; in the centre is St Roch with his pilgrim's cloak, with at his sides an angel and a dog holding a loaf of bread in its mouth, and on the left is St Anthony the Hermit, with a hood over his head, holding a staff with a bell. On his right-hand side is a pig.

They were named the ‘Plague Saints’ because this marshy area was a breeding ground for this disease. Those with the plague carried a bell in their hands and wore a hood over their heads. These saints were still invoked well into the 19th century. The plague virus might have disappeared by then, but Ghent was still regularly ravaged by other epidemics, such as cholera.

The statues of the Plague Saints were made by Franciscus Van Wambeke in 1673. The ciborium by Ghent silversmith Franciscus Fraeys (1687-1743) was added in 1730. In other words, this work was made entirely in Ghent.

A leatherworker from the parish saved this beautiful reliquary cabinet from the clutches of Joseph II by keeping it hidden in his tanning pits. However, the cabinet did suffer damage as a result. The former chapel of St Bartholomew, the patron saint of leatherworkers, now forms the choir of the church.

Stations of the Cross

The Stations of the Cross that you see in the side aisles at the front of the church, framed by finely carved woodwork, are painted by Théophile Lybaert (1848-1927) on delicate copper panels. His interpretation of the Stations of the Cross is in a sequence of panels, like a storyboard.

The first scene shows the courtyard of Pilate's Palace, then the streets in the centre of the city, the city walls, the gates to the city and finally Golgotha outside the city walls. He sets the story in Ghent, in the late Middle Ages. We recognise the Belfry and the Castle of the Counts. Some bystanders can also be identified as well-known Ghent residents from that time. The first five scenes are calm and static.

As of the sixth scene, they become more agitated. Observe the emotions on the faces of the bystanders. The twelfth scene, the crucifixion, shows a thunderstorm erupting and lightning tearing up the sky. In the final scene, where Jesus is laid in his tomb, calm has finally been restored.

The four confessionals in the side aisles, and the panelling in which the Stations of the Cross are set are by the German woodcarver Matthias Zens (1839-1921).

Pulpit

The 1737 oak pulpit is by an unknown master. It recounts the Mystery of Redemption, which ties in with the name of this church. The podium rests on the tree of life, laden with ornate apples, while the serpent that fascinates Eve wraps itself around it. Adam and Eve stand on either side, and we see the snake offering Eve an apple. Christ, portrayed as the Redeemer of the World, leaning on his cross, makes a gesture of blessing between the first humans.

On the three sides of the pulpit podium, we see bas-relief carvings depicting scenes from the gospels: the Annunciation, the birth of Jesus, and St Joseph leading the infant Jesus. The eagle is for John, the lion for Mark and the ox for Luke.

The four banisters are made to resemble leaves and fruit, and encircle the medallions borne by cherubs. The angel’s head at the entrance is probably a reference to Matthew, the fourth evangelist.

The Baroque pulpit is the most artistic and intricate sculpture in St Salvator’s Church , and it is a textbook example of a ‘naturalistic pulpit’ from the Southern Netherlands: an overall work of art in oak, whose components (stand, podium, staircase and sounding board) are rendered to create a sculptural whole.

The side altar and the Pietà statue

A large painting by Lybaert hangs on the side altar on the right: ‘The Presentation of Christ in the Temple’. Underneath is a small statue, which you may not notice at first.

This is a figurine representing the ‘Pietà’. It shows a grieving Virgin with the dead body of the crucified Jesus on her lap. It is the oldest statue in St Salvator’s Church, which was already venerated back in the time when the church was a chapel attached to the almshouse for the blind. The figurine is said to have been made by the woodcarver Jean de Bloc (14th century). As the story goes, Ghent aldermen paid him 30 Tournai shillings for it on 11 May 1399.

The figurine that now stands on the right-hand altar of the church is not the original statue from 1400, but a replica dating from around 1515. On 22 August 1452, when a serious fire broke out in Meerhem, some 300 houses in the area and the chapel were destroyed, and the original figurine would also have been in that fire.

The consecration of the new chapel in 1480 and the foundation of the Confraternity of the Pietà leads to the assumption that a new figurine would have been made for use in worship, presumably in the likeness of the original.

In any case, this oak statue has an interesting legend behind it. As the story goes, it disappeared after the church was destroyed by Calvinists in 1587. It was found six years later, floating in a little channel that ran at the time from the River Lys via Sleepstraat to Meerhem . It was returned to the church but placed outside because the church was still closed. The next day, the little statue of Mary had miraculously found its way to the altar. Whenever the statue was moved, it returned to this spot.

After a robbery in the 1960s, it was recovered by chance from an antique dealer and once again returned to the church.

Iconostasis

This church is also the parish church of the Ukrainian Catholics of the Byzantine Rite in Ghent. It serves both Ukrainian worshippers living in Ghent and those from the surrounding area.

The iconostasis of St Salvator’s Church was painted by Volodymyr Sykuta (born in 1971, Ukraine) and consists of four icons (from left to right): St Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Mother of God, Christ Pantocrator and John the Baptist depicted as Angel of the Desert. The iconostasis in Eastern European churches is the boundary between the sanctuary and the profane world, between ordained priests and deacons and the congregation of the faithful, in a similar manner to the rood screen and presbytery in Western churches. An ordinary Ukrainian iconostasis consists of many more icons, painted doors, with smaller icons above them depicting Bible stories, sometimes all the way up to the vaulted ceiling.

A much smaller iconostasis was chosen for St Salvator’s Church, partly because it sometimes needs to be moved for the local Catholic community’s services. However, the Ukrainian iconostasis complements the Neo-Byzantine murals by Théodore Canneel (1857) so well that it almost seems intentional. This all helps to evoke the atmosphere of an Orthodox church.

There are also some curious icons in the church, such as the replica of the miraculous icon ‘Mother of God, Queen of the Universe’ from the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos, on the right-hand-side altar. A modern John the Baptist icon can also be seen in the choir, depicted as the ‘angel of the desert’, by the Ukrainian artist Denys Tymchyshyn (born in 1997). Two icons by the Ghent-based icon painter Joris van Ael (born in 1949) are also exhibited: the Holy Face (2005) and a triumphal cross (2010).