Frank Brangwyn

I have noticed, in the last several of my blogs an alarming tendency to didactics. It recalls the old saying, 'You can take the girl out of teaching, but you can't take teaching out of the girl.' Really, just because I do love historical facts about the background of processions, the history of buildings etc, can it be acceptable to foist this on others? Discuss! Obviously, I am aware of this but even so there is a 'royalty of inward happiness' when I do discover the history of a place and even more when I can disgorge this interesting information for others. The quote above is from a beautiful prayer by Thomas More, a copy of which was given to me last week at the English Convent. It is short but has some arresting phrases in it; the last line talks of 'the infection of good courage', another felicitous phrase. What a multi-gifted man Thomas was! And his gifts went down the family line; witness Mother Mary Augustina More, Prioress of the English Convent in Brugge, and her brother, Thomas More [1722-95] the English Jesuits' Provincial Superior. Both were either the eighth or the ninth [according to the reference used] generation of descendants of Henry V111s ill-fated Lord Chancellor. They were, of course, the last.

What have I done this week? Saturday last to Liss

-ewege with my son and his wife, to see the sculptures exhibition at Ter Doest, around a mile outside Lissewege, [het Witte Dorp; the white village] and inside the village itself,  in the street and the enormous church. I had been once but loved the chance to see it all again and incidentally show off the enormous and wonderful Abbey barn at Ter Doest and the cathedral-like Knights Templar church in the small village to my visitors as if it were All My Own Work. Both are very important cultural structures and in impressively good condition. The Roman Catholic church in Belgium maintains its buildings in splendid shape even when they are, like the Lissewege church, in a context wholly out of proportion to their size. The barn had a major renovation about thirty years ago and retains the majestic, ancestral feel of centuries.

Portrait of Frank Brangwyn, 1931
by Joseph Simpson

To celebrate the ever-smoother walking, I decided to re-visit my joint favourite museum, the Arendtshuis, which houses the works of art given by Frank Brangwyn in 1936, to Brugge, city of his birth. Brangwyn was a polymath; a water colourist, graphic artist, illustrator, designer of furniture and carpets, erstwhile apprentice to William Morris. He donated 400 of his works to the city in return for which, Bruges conferred on Brangwyn the distinction of making him Citoyen d'Honneur de Bruges, only the third such award ever given. Parts of his prodigious output, estimated at more than 12,000 works, are in many galleries in the UK and Europe including the British Museum.



 Yoshijiro Urushibara

I re-visited the Bruges museum admiring the forceful, robust lithographs and the many dramatic paintings and one, which I had admired before, caught my eye. I loved its ethereal grace but knew immediately that it couldn't be by Brangwyn. It is by Yoshijiro Urushibara, 1888-1953, a Japanese print-maker and illustrator who worked over many years with Brangwyn, as well as with other artists. They produced 'Bruges' together in 1919 and in 1924, 'Ten Woodcuts by Yoshijiro Urushibara after Designs by Frank Brangwyn'.

Frank Brangwyn

A rather robust descent here, from the sublime art of Brangwyn and Urushibaraa to the less elevated topic of cleaning; apartment cleaning and my search to find a willing girl to do mine. Nearly 18 months ago, I entered  the massed ranks of Belgians and joined a Mutualiteit, not only for health cover, but for the services of said cleaner. First, a young man who said he wouldn't come again as there was too much work. A replacement was offered with similar terms to the first; four hours every two weeks with no negotiation over timing. I was in a Dutch class at the time specified, so this refusal placed me on the waiting list. Eventually I found a fellow student willing to earn 'black' money and she came every week until March of this year, when she stopped for family reasons. Despite robust efforts, I have found no one to replace her outside the Mutualiteit/Agency system till, out of the blue, in late July, an email from the Mutualiteit informed me that Katrien could start on August 1st. Much rejoicing, after a cleaner-free four months. Katrien was super but she had refused my offer of moving her car into the parking for this building but said she would do that next time. Result was, apparently not having paid the parking fee in the square outside, she had a fine of 30 euros. Phone call two days ago; Katrien would not be coming again. BUT a Thai girl would be here on  August 29th. Yesterday, a sad email to say she had tennis elbow and will not be fit for some weeks; earliest, mid to late September! Really, the only memento I ever wanted to bring from Wye, apart from furniture, clothes, etc, was Kim my cleaner! She is much missed.
 

The living room; can you see the dust?. 





The English Convent

Earlier this week, I went with a knowledgeable friend to visit the English Convent. I have intended to

 The image above, reversed from the original, in no way
conveys the present gloomy, indistinct state
 of this revered portrait. 

go for at least a year, but when I thought of it in 2015 I discovered that the portrait of Sir Thomas More was being renovated. As he is one of my historical heroes, I was keen to see this Hans Holbein copy brought to Bruges by Mother Mary Augustina More, an eighth generation direct descendant of the great man. She was elected Prioress in the English Convent in 1766 and presumably the portrait arrived, perhaps inherited, at some time during her education at the Convent school or after her profession there as a Canoness in 1753.

There is a long and often tumultuous history to the English Convent which began on September 14
1629, when five English nuns disembarked from a barge at Minnewater in Brydges [now Brugge]

They had come from Saint Monica's in Louvain, an English convent founded twenty years before, which now needed to expand. Bruges was chosen because of its proximity to the sea making more easily accessible a future possible return to England.
 

They soon found a home, a small house called Nazareth on Carmersstraat, a former hospice for travellers. There they established the Priory of Our Lady of Nazareth, founded, as was St Monica's in Louvain, on the religious philosophy of Windesheim. Windesheim, established as a Congregation in 1395, was an order based on the voluntary withdrawal from life to follow a life-time based on prayer, meditation and study of the Scriptures to enable a contemplative existence lived in the service of

 15th century Nun at Saint Monica's

others. The five sisters, accompanied on their original journey by Ursula Palmes, daughter of Sir George Palmes, a young girl who eventually became a member of the community, were later joined by five other sisters, also from Saint Monica's in Louvain.

Over many years, often in the midst of turbulent wars, plague and persecution, the Priory of Our Lady of Nazareth flourished, led by distinguished and far-sighted Prioresses. A boarding school for English girls was established early and new members of the Community continued to arrive until, again, space became a problem. A new architect-designed church replaced the original tiny chapel in 1739 and stands today dominating its surroundings, while its wonderful, Renaissance-style cupola, its rich Roman altar and apse, indeed, the whole octagonal structure, dazzle in
the huge interior. On the day when we visited, our guide sang to us under this same cupola to demonstrate the wonderful acoustics. I had been so impressed already by Sister Mary, our guide, an elderly, lively  nun with a mischievous sense of humour but her clear, bell-like singing, uplifting and with perfect pitch, added the final graceful touch.

She more than made up for the disappointingly dark and forbidding portrait of Sir Thomas which is one of the Convent's most prized possessions. I would love to have seen more of the building but the tour really covered only the large and handsome entrance hall and the Church. The gardens too, were not visited which was a loss. I may go again and ask if it is possible  to see the gardens which were on public view last September during the Open Monuments weekend. In the meantime, I have, at least, seen the copy of the Holbein Thomas More, owned by the last blood descendant of this historically important philosopher-writer and brought over to Bruges from England at some point during the mid-eighteenth century.

Charles 11 and his brothers, dining in Brugge
in the late 1650s.

The famous poet- priest-philosopher Guido Gezelle, who lived in Rolweg near the Convent, became Chaplain there during the last part of his life, dying in the convent in November 1899.

He is considered one of the masters of European lyric poetry and among many notable achievements, founded the Societe Archaeologique de Bruges in the 1860s and is chiefly responsible for preserving Bruges's mediaeval architecture.

Another historically famous figure, Charles 11, had his H.Q. in Brugge during his exile in the mid seventeenth century, and was offered continuing support by the Convent nuns. In his turn, after he became monarch, he proved to be a generous benefactor to the Convent and other Communities in Flanders. The English Convent is the only mediaeval religious house left in Flanders today and the original commitment to leading the contemplative life continues under the care, at present, of eight elderly sisters.

  Italianate apse and altar in the English Convent