Here is Now

The trouble with the gorgeous hot weather is that it is ….SO hot. At least two days this week have been around 32 degrees, unbearable for me though I love to see sunlit mediaeval buildings, the sun-dappled squares and streets, and the terrace nodding gently in the unaccustomed heat. So walks are early where practical and outings as near to Woensdagmarkt as is possible!

Jeruzalemkerk
 

Thus I thought of Jeruzalemkerk, feeling guilty that it is over a year since I last visited this little gem, my favourite ecclesiastical spot in Brugge. There is the added attraction of a current exhibition by Aleksandar Avramovic, a Serbian artist who lives in Brussels. Along the canyons, half in bright sun, half in welcome shadow, I wandered towards Jerusalemstraat and the welcome cool of the beautiful old interior of the small chapel, the floor space dominated by the memorial to Anselm Adornes and his wife, Margareta van der Banck.

The chapel was built in 1428 by the grandfather of Anselm in imitation of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, but its subsequent fame sprang from Anselm himself. Born in 1424, he became a diplomat, patron, politician, merchant, the fifth generation of his family, originally from Genoa, to live in Brugge. In 1468, he travelled to Scotland at the head of a mission to negotiate the return of Scottish merchants to Bruges after their withdrawal by King James 111 the previous year. His negotiations with King and Parliament were successful and so began a strong friendship between Adornes and James, one which subsequently favoured the Belgian with lands, finance and honours, including Knight of the Order of the Unicorn and a Baronetcy. A journey to the Holy Land by Adornes in 1470 was supported by both Kings of Scotland and of England, and he represented the Scottish Crown in Rome and ‘among the Muslems of the East’.




Memorial plaque to Anselm Adornes
in Linlithgow

Adornes made a number of diplomatic trips to Scotland over the next ten years and in 1482 commanded a military expedition to Linlithgow on behalf of King James. A subsequent pilgrimage saw him lodging in a monastery at Linlithgow where he was murdered by a marauding gang. He is buried there and his heart eventually returned to Jeruzalemkerk and his family. An extraordinary life.




Equally extraordinary is the fact that, seventeen generations after Anselm Adornes’ death, his descendants, the Limburg Stirum family, still own the Adornes’ domain and are dedicated to keeping the estate alive through public access and a variety of cultural events like the Avramovic exhibition, entitled, 'Here is Now'.  The work is interesting with the emphasis on moments in the present, experienced Now. I liked several immensely; two especially of older people together sharing a moment of tenderness, another of mutual support. There are bold sweeping strokes visible in some painting while others are almost photographic in their minute accuracy. I liked the swimmer in mid-dive; the old man descending from a mountain bent with age or fatigue, violin carefully held in one hand; a man shushing someone unseen, perhaps you, the viewer.



 Chuut by Aleksandar Avramovic