Hello Folks,
I was distracted on my walk to the Musee Royaux des Beaux-Arts by an Iris Festival .... it was spread out over an area that started adjacent to the museum and then gradually descended towards the Grand Place area. It seemed to be a celebration of spring and included street theatre, food and drink samples, live entertainment and family picnics ... very colourful and celebratory.
The Musee is described as a 'tour de force' ... representing many of the greatest names in art history ... the bulk of them home grown ... Reubens, Brueghel, van der Weyden, Jacques Louis-David, etc. ... the Musee is currently under renovation so several exhibits could not be viewed ... but I think I found what I was looking for ... I was interested in the paintings from the oldest period represented in the gallery .... the 1400 to 1500s ... the ones commissioned for and paid by the Church ... all these paintings depicted scenes from the bible, but no painter could, nor still can, avoid sneaking in his/her point of view into a commissioned piece.
Several of the paintings showed Christ eating and drinking ... several showed templar knights ... of course none would show the two together ... so I was thinking that maybe there might be 2 paintings side by side ... not a panel per se, but just a proximity hanging of the two and therein might lie a clue ... after about 90 minutes in the musee I found what I was looking for ... I have included pictures of the paintings here ...
The first painting depicts the anointing of Christ's feet by Mary Magdalene ... the second a Knight Templar with some local dignitaries ... but closer inspection reveals that Mary Magdalene is reading something on Christ's leg in the first painting ... and the second painting depicts a message being delivered by the knight to the person kneeling ... by the touch of his right hand ... possibly the same message 1400 years later ...
There had to be have been a tattoo of a symbol on Christ's leg .... there had to have been some sort of recognized symbol that the knight was 'drawing' with his fingers on the shoulder of the person kneeling ... I needed to find out what that symbol was ....
I left the Musee and walked down into the Grand Place ... it was Mother's Day and families were out in force treating Maman to dinner or just a sunny afternoon out. I sat down in a cafe and ordered a Grimbergen Brune .... followed by a Grimbergen Blonde ... these are beer of course :-) .... and pondered what that symbol might be ... an older couple were sitting beside me and they struck up a conversation ... English, yes ... where from .. Canada ... have you been to Bruges .. we are from there ... no not yet ... well you must go ... it is the best of Belgium ... yes, I am going on Tuesday .... how do you like the beer here ... it is great ... yes, the beer should be our national symbol .... but be careful ... Belgian beers are strong ... you may succumb to a ;sudden death' .... and with that they bid au revoir ... hmmm .... sudden death ... la mort subite ... a famous bar not too far from the Place ...
I made my way to La Mort Subite ... ordered a Westfalle .. and admired the rococo surroundings ... this is one of major temples of Belgian Beer ... several on tap ... hundreds in the bottle ..La Mort Subite indeed .... the waiter was very helpful ... and guided me through the beer menu maze ... he laughed when I shook my head at the number of selections ... yes, he laughed .... maybe beer should be our national symbol ... beer ... symbol ... yes ... maybe ...
There is another musee ... the Musee Bruxellois de la Gueuze ... it's in the old Cantillon Brewery ... it appears that a visit is in order .... I retreated from La Morte Subite and made my way to Leons for .. what else ... moules et frites ... I washed it down with a Gueuze ... tart and golden ... yes, it's a beer :-) ....
To quote from verse 1453 of the Krome Koan,
' ... beauty is in the eye of the beer holder ... '
The G.R. Ale Hunter (aka The Night Templar)
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