The Cathedral as an interior is disappointing. It contains no pictures of any importance, and its architecture is less striking within than without. The stained glass, indeed, is famous; none of it, however, is mediæval. The best windows date only from the High Renaissance; the remainder are 17th century or modern.
Walk first into the centre of the Church, where you can gain a good idea of the high Choir, with its Apse and Triforium of graceful Early Gothic architecture, as well as of the short Transepts, the two additional chapels, R. and L., the Nave and single Aisles, and the great west window.
Now, begin the tour of the church with the South Aisle, to the L. as you enter. The glass here is modern. It represents the story of the Stolen Hosts, some of the subjects being difficult to decipher. We see the Jew bribing a Christian, who removes the Hosts in a monstrance: then the Christian departing from the Jewish Synagogue with his ill-gotten gains. The third window I do not understand. After that, we see the Jews betrayed by one of their number; the Miracle of the Blood, with their horror and astonishment; the Recovery of the Hosts; and in the North Aisle, their Return to the Church in procession, and the various miracles afterward wrought by them. I cannot pretend to have deciphered all these accurately. The Nave has the usual Flemish figures of the Twelve Apostles set against the piers, most of them of the 17th century. The great west window has the Last Judgment, by Floris, a poor composition, overcrowded with indistinguishable figures.
The pulpit, by Verbruggen, is one of the usual unspeakable abominations of seventeenth century wood-carving. Below are Adam and Eve driven from Paradise: above, on the canopy, the Virgin and Infant Saviour wound the serpent’s head with the cross: the Tree of Life, supporting the actual platform, gives shelter to incredible birds and animals. This ugly object was made for the Jesuits’ Church at Louvain, and given to the Cathedral by Maria Theresa on the suppression of the Society of Jesus.
Return to the Transepts. The window in the North Transept represents Charles V., kneeling, attended by his patron, Charlemagne, who was a canonized saint, but who bears the sword and orb of empire. Behind him, Charles’s wife Isabella, with her patroness, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, holding the crown. This window, erected in 1538, from designs by Bernard van Orley, was the gift of the Emperor. That in the South Transept represents the Holy Trinity, with King Louis of Hungary kneeling in adoration, attended by his patron, St. Louis of France. Behind him is his Queen, Marie (sister of Charles V.), with her patron, the Blessed Virgin. This window also is by Van Orley.