1660: The Gent law library (might not be by Hansche)

Address: Voldersstraat 3, 9000 Gent
Co-ordinates: 51.05213, 3.72418
Distance from central Brussels: 54 km
Open: by special arrangement only
Parking: two car parks within 300m
How to get there by public transport: Tram #1 from Gent Sint Pieters railway station to Gent Korte Meer, 3 mins walk
Date of my visit: 5 February 2022

The Inventaris Onroerend Erfgoed is the official Flemish index of built heritage. It lists a number of Hansche’s ceilings, with some exceptions (obviously, the two in Wallonia, the one in Brussels and the one in storage); it also lists two ceilings that, according to Marc Van Vaeck, a literature professor at the Catholic University of Leuven, are definitely not by Hansche, and have been included on the Inventaris Onroerend Erfgoed list in error.

One of the two ringers is actually very close to where I live, the chapel of the Rooikapelhoeve in the village of Blanden, which has a stucco ceiling dated to around 1680. It is in private hands, apparently blackened by centuries of smoke, and I have not been able to see it for myself. The owners assured me by email that it contains no work by Hansche. Professor Van Vaeck agrees with them, and I guess that is the end of the story.

The other is easier to reach, and is worth a side trip if you happen to be in the area anyway. The law faculty of the University of Gent is open for visitors by appointment, and Luc De Bie, the faculty secretary, is an enthusiastic guide. Again, there is a Jesuit connection – the building was originally Jesuit central HQ in Gent, before being incorporated into the university. 

The library has had a bit of a history – at one point it was a laboratory for chemistry students (one shudders to think of the effect on the stucco) and at a different time it was a gymnasium when the building was a girls’ school.

The ceiling dates from 1660, and is beautifully ornate; I would find it quite difficult to study in a room as beautiful as this.

There is a gallery all round the side of the room, from which you can get a closer look at the detail.

It lacks the shocking three-dimensionality of Hansche’s works, completed around the same time, but it gives us an idea of what the standard expectations for a stucco ceiling in the Spanish Netherlands would have been, expectations which Hansche exceeded every time. The detail is still beautiful. Mythological beasts cavort in pursuit of wisdom, and people and plants soothe the nerves.

Incidentally I think the dragons are boy dragons. 

It’s a shame that the artist’s name has not been recorded. There is a bit of me that wonders if it might yet be by Hansche, in that we don’t know of any other master plasterers doing this sort of work at that sort of time. But it lacks his signature three-dimensionality, and also lacks his signature itself, which is to be found on most of his surviving work; and the style is very different. So I guess I’ll go with the consensus that it’s not by him.

There are two genuine works by Hansche in the Gent area, but unfortunately neither is open to the public. However, there is plenty else to look at if you are in town.

(All photographs copyright Nicholas Whyte)

Introduction: The amazing stucco ceilings of Jan Christiaan Hansche

(The one that might not be by Hansche in the Gent law library)

The ceilings of Jan Christiaan Hansche, from most to least amazing:

Leuven – Park Abbey | Modave Castle | Gent – Brouwershuis | Antwerp – Sacristy of the Church of St Charles Borromeo | Sint-Pieters-Rode – Horst Castle | Machelen – Beaulieu Castle | Gent – Canfyn House (in storage) | Wesel, Germany (Fischmarkt) (destroyed) | Kleve, Germany (destroyed) | Perk – Church of St Nicholas | Wesel, Germany (Zaudy) (destroyed) | Brussels – Church of the Sablon | Franc-Waret – Church of St Remigius | Aarschot – Schoonhoven Castle | Leuven – Priory of the Vale of St Martin (destroyed, little known)

The ceilings of Jan Christiaan Hansche, from earliest to latest date of creation:

1653: Antwerp – Sacristy of the Church of St Charles Borromeo | 1655: Sint-Pieters-Rode – Horst Castle | 1659: Machelen – Beaulieu Castle | 1666-72: Modave Castle | 1668-70: Perk – Church of St Nicholas | 1669: Franc-Waret – Church of St Remigius | 1670s: Leuven – Priory of the Vale of St Martin (destroyed) | 1671: Aarschot – Schoonhoven Castle | 1672: Wesel, Germany (Fischmarkt) (destroyed) | 1672/79: Leuven – Park Abbey | 1673: Gent – Canfyn House (in storage) | 1673: Gent – Brouwershuis | 1677: Kleve, Germany (destroyed) | 1677 Wesel, Germany (Zaudy) (destroyed) | 1684: Brussels – Church of the Sablon

The ceilings of Jan Christiaan Hansche, from most to least accessible to tourists:

Open to the public: Brussels – Church of the Sablon | Leuven – Park Abbey | Modave Castle | Perk – Church of St Nicholas | Franc-Waret – Church of St Remigius

Not normally open to the public: Antwerp – Sacristy of the Church of St Charles Borromeo | Sint-Pieters-Rode – Horst Castle | Machelen – Beaulieu Castle | Aarschot – Schoonhoven Castle | Gent – Brouwershuis

Not accessible: Gent – Canfyn House (in storage) | Wesel, Germany (Fischmarkt) (destroyed) | Wesel, Germany (Zaudy) (destroyed) | Kleve, Germany (destroyed) | Leuven – Priory of the Vale of St Martin (destroyed, little known)

The ceilings of Jan Christiaan Hansche, from west to east:

Gent – Canfyn House (in storage) | Gent – Brouwershuis | Brussels – Church of the Sablon | Machelen – Beaulieu Castle | Antwerp – Sacristy of the Church of St Charles Borromeo | Perk – Church of St Nicholas | Leuven – Priory of the Vale of St Martin (destroyed, little known) | Leuven – Park Abbey | Sint-Pieters-Rode – Horst Castle | Aarschot – Schoonhoven Castle | Franc-Waret – Church of St Remigius | Modave Castle | Kleve, Germany (destroyed) | Wesel, Germany (Fischmarkt) (destroyed) | Wesel, Germany (Zaudy) (destroyed)