Don't Even Think About It

When visiting Ghent it is necessary to stay at least three weeks. In order to feel the rhythm of this city, its history and culture and mood, the traveler needs time -- days and nights, walking the streets and riding the canals, wandering the cathedrals and sitting the cafes.

Because this is my first time in Ghent, and because I came here on a whim, I was unprepared for the beauty and history of this astonishing place. And since we are leaving Ghent tomorrow I have had little time to research some of the amazing stories I've encountered.

Thus this blog post is simply a visual feast of a few of the things I've found during our short time in Ghent.

Saturday morning
Vrijdagmarkt

On the north end of the city is the Vrijdagmarkt, a central square that has been hosting markets and executions since 1199. On this Saturday morning it was a place for old timers to share gossip, while vendors sold pajamas next to the statue of Jacob Van Artevelde.

Ghent is famous for resisting authority; apparently Jacob Van Artevelde is just one of the leaders of an uprising which took place in 1337 against the Count of Flanders, Louis I of France.

Statue of Jacob Van Artevelde
at Vrijdagmarkt

boaters on the River Leie

On Saturday afternoon the sun came out in a glorious array of light. All the humans of the city, along with a few of their dogs, also emerged for a day at the canal. It felt festive and cathartic, as though the last gasp of winter was expelled with one communal breath.

canal sitting youth and boaters on the River Leie

on the Vleehuis brug

This guy played the theme song from Fiddler on the Roof along with a modified version of Spanish Nights, both of which could be heard by the canal sitters and the boaters on the water.

motor boats and castles on the River Leie

kickin' it on the canal

On a different day I headed southeast to the museum district. My destination was STAM, the Ghent City Museum which tells the story of the region from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Belgium represents Emma

As I approached the building, which used to be an abbey and hospital dating to 1228, I was surprised to see a huge image of Emma González -- one of the survivors from the latest school shooting in Florida -- projected on the wall facing Godshuizenlaan. It was an inspiring show of solidarity with the youth of North America.

It's clear to me that I have only just barely begun to see the beauty and dignity of Ghent. So don't be like me and stay only for a week. Don't even think about it. Stay for a month, or maybe the rest of your life. It's that kind of place.

The Bear of Theresianenstraat

Yesterday, while walking around Ghent, I ventured down Theresianenstraat, a narrow street just outside the old city.

The street, named after a monastery around the corner, is lined with two and three story houses which date to at least the 19th century. It is possible that some of the houses are older, however, since the women of the monastery after which the street is named dates to the 17th century.

One house, in particular, caught my attention. Across the brick facade of the building a series of panels weave around three bay windows under the roof.

Theresianenstraat 24, Ghent

The artistry on the facade of the house is known as faïence, a French term used to describe fine tin-glazed pottery on an earthenware tile. In this case, the tiles are painted with a decorative hint at Art Deco.

The word faïence is associated with French merchants who were exporting tiles from northern Italy, where the process was perfected in the late Renaissance.

According to city records, Theresianenstraat 24 was built around 1835. Later it was owned by Camille Ganton (1872 - 1946), a ceramicist and glass painter who, while still a student in 1893, won an award for his work from St Lucas - Ghent an architecture and design school in the city.

The Ganton family came from Lyon, France to Ghent, Belgium in 1797, toward the end of the French Revolution. It's likely there is a story there, about their migration east, although I have not yet discovered it.

At any rate, a couple generations after the family's move to Ghent, Camille Ganton learned the craft of glass painting from his father, Jean Baptiste Ganton. By the time he was 27 years old, Ganton had established himself as a glass painter, ceramicist and engraver with a shop on Theresianenstraat. 

Here one can see the bronze name plate on Ganton's door, a signal of his pride and artistry.

bronze name plate at Theresianenstraat 24, Ghent

Because Camille's two brothers also set up glass painting shops in Ghent, Camille changed his name to Camille Ganton-Defoin, adding his wife's last name as a way to distinguish his work, and perhaps to honor Elise Defoin who worked in the shop with Camille.

Ganton-Defoin became a reputable glass painter and artisan, obtaining commissions across Belgium.

For instance, he painted the windows at the Catholic parish church of Saint-Hubert in Aubel, Belgium. A close-up photo of a panel shows his signature and symbol of the bear in the lower corner under the scene of the Annunciation.

signature of Camille Ganton-Defoin
Saint Hubert, Aubel, Belgium
photo courtesy of G Friehalter

This image of the bear also appears in two places on the tiled facade of his house on Theresianenstraat: at the bottom of the two outer panels. 

Camille Ganton-Defoin
bear motif
facade of Theresianenstraat 24, Ghent

 Most striking of all are the two central panels, one containing the image of a woman with the word ARS -- art in Latin -- and the other with a man under the word LABOR.

The woman is dressed elegantly, while the man holds a palette and paint brushes. It is possible that the woman is a representation of Elise Defoin while the man is a portrayal of himself.

As I continue to research the life and work of Camille Ganton-Defoin it becomes clear that this could become a much larger work than simply a blog entry. He represents a paradox. The work he did was traditional, from an old school practice of glass painting. Yet he was modern, in that he adopted his wife's last name at a time when this was almost incomprehensible. Thus, for now, I will simply leave you with these images and the compelling idea that there is much more to come.

ARS

LABOR

Ghent, A City of Paradox

A couple days ago, Hope and I left Den Haag, heading for Belgium. We took trains and trains, ubers and taxis before finally arriving in Ghent.

It's a handsome city in a region referred to as Flanders. Here the people speak many languages, including a dialect of Dutch which contains a sprinkling of French, German and Spanish. Indeed Belgium is a liminal country bounded on the west by France, while Netherlands and Germany press in from the east. Luxembourg brings up the tail in the south. Historically this combination of regions was known as the Low Countries, a term that is often used in texts even to this day.

In architecture, language, food and culture, everywhere there is evidence of Dutch steadfast practicality combined with the creative elegant influence of France.

Ghent is an old city. And it is heartbreakingly beautiful. Towering cathedrals date back to the 15th century, along with some of the of the most important artistic and intellectual traditions from the Renaissance.

interior,
Sint Baafs Kathedraal
Ghent
photo courtesy of Anton Yerin

Indeed Charles V (1500 - 1558) -- who was also the father of Philip II  -- was born here in 1500. As is typical of people today in Ghent, Charles V spoke French, Dutch, German and Castilian Spanish.

Baptized in Sint Baafs Kathedraal, Charles traveled widely but viewed the Low Countries as his home.

anonymous Flemish school
Portrait of Charles as a young man
c. 1515, oil on panel
43.8 x 32.2 cm
Hampton Court Palace

Here he is depicted by an unknown painter as a young prince. His infamous lantern chin -- sometimes also referred to as the Hapsburg jaw due to generational inbreeding -- juts without censor. Perhaps the painter's honesty about his subject also explains his anonymity.

In 1516 he was known as Charles I, ruler of the Spanish empire. By 1519, upon the death of his father Maximilian I, he also become Charles V, ascending the throne as the Holy Roman Emperor of the Hapsburg dynasty, which included the Low Countries region.

Ghent began as a city for the Catholic church but over the centuries it has come to known for its creativity and challenges to authority. This may be attributed to the role of education, as Ghent University claims on the opening page of its website to be "looking for critical spirits."

Thus, with a population of about 260,000 and nearly 70,000 of those being university students, Ghent is also a very young city.

As was the case in most of the cities of The Netherlands, bikes are ubiquitous in Ghent. Young lovers ride side by side holding hands. Parents ride their children in special seats on all parts of the bike. Intrepid bicyclists ride while texting on their cell phones. There are more than 700 one-way streets in Ghent where cyclists are allowed to go against car traffic, and there are about 250 miles of cycling paths in and around the city.

Therefore Ghent is a city of paradox. It is old, yet it is young. It is steeped in orthodoxy, yet it evokes new ideas.

I, for one, am glad to have arrived.

tapestry
Sint Baafs Kathedraal