Left to Right: Saint Sebastian; Saint Christopher carries the baby Jesus; Saint Michael (patron Saint of Brussels): Saint George; Saint Géry of Chastre

Sculptures created in the nineteenth century by Charles Auguste Fraikin

Archivolt: scholars and lawmakers

(Photo: http://www.brusselspictures.com/)

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Justice Trumps Family Loyalty

Facade sculpture depicting the legend of Herkenbald

In the year 1020, Herkenbald, a judge in Brussels, heard of a rape committed by his nephew. Herkenbald was ill at the time, so the young man's friends advised him to lay low; perhaps when the judge recovered, family loyalty would prompt him to pardon the offender. But when the nephew came into the judge's sickroom, the old man grabbed him by the hair and plunged a sword into his chest.

Note the upside down dragon's head beneath the scene

Click here for the adjacent images of the Herkenbald story

Musician and scupstoel on a facade capital (click here for the story)

Small facade sculptures depicting daily life

City Council Room

(Photo: http://brussels-star.com)

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Mayor's Meeting Chamber

The Gothic Room, with wall panels representing the outstanding guilds of Brussels

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The guilds honored in this room were the ten principal guilds in the history of Brussels: masons, brewers, weavers, painters, gold- and silversmiths, embroiderers, swordsmen, crossbowmen, arquebusiers and archers.

A 360 degree panorama of a wedding party in the Gothic Room

Brewers' Guild Tapestry (second from the end in the above image)

The guild tapestries, based on designs by Guillaume Gets,  were woven between 1875 and 1881 in Mechelen.

The Current Wedding Chamber (formerly the court chamber for guild representatives)

Marriage in Belgium is a civil ceremony. Husband- and wife-to-be sit before the presiding city official