A lot of our trips involve a necessary pilgrimage on my part. In Japan, the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima; in Belgium, Jan van Eyck’s altarpiece in Ghent at St. Bavo’s Cathedral. Prior to coming to Belgium I considered Van der Weyden’s “The Lamentation” at the Prado in Madrid to be the altarpiece to end all…
Day: April 29, 2026
From mystic lambs to relay races
First thing this morning (10am ), Grubb had tickets for us to visit the famous Ghent altar piece, a triptych called The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by Hubert and Jan van Eyke at St. Bavo’s cathedral. Grubb will wax eloquent but I wanted to praise the technology. Before being allowed to view the painting, we…
Late lunch / early dinner in Ghent
I had waterzooi with chicken along with a Gin fizz. Grubb had some sort of pork tenderloin with potato croquettes. “Waterzooi” comes from Dutch “water to boil” or “watery mess” Waterzooi is a stew-soup chock full of vegetables. Traditionally potatoes, carrots, leeks and celery. The broth is enriched with a little cream and egg yolks….
Bruegelund
Traveling to Ghent by train the pastoral landscape looked like something Bruegel would have painted six hundred years ago. Sheep grazed on grassy meadows with church spires poking above the tree line in the background. The only touch lacking that Bruegel might have brought to the scene were peasants toiling with farm tools on their…
L’ombre du jour
Shadow of the day