Abstract
The Belgian architectural world of the 19th century has been considered a fascinating though little studied crossroads of influences. The same could be said of the architectural historiography of Belgium, which only established its independence from its powerful neighbours in 1830. Two of its canonical architectural historical publications, the <em>Histoire de l’architecture en Belgique</em> by A.G.B. Schayes (1808–59) and the <em>Histoire de l’influence italienne sur l’architecture dans les Pays-Bas</em> by Auguste Schoy (1838–85), represent two different ways of dealing with textual and visual material. This emerges from a precise analysis of context, authorial voice, use of sources and illustration media and relation to repertories of images such as private print collections. Typical of Schayes’s voice are the sparsely expressed personal appreciations and the many references to archives, literature and in situ observations, as if to prove every statement in word or image. Meanwhile, he rarely refers to his authoritative position as ‘national archéologue’ (as curator of the first national collection of <em>antiquités</em>), nor to his collection of prints and engravings. Schoy, on the contrary, does not shy from emitting personal opinions and boasting about his precious collection, his broad knowledge of rare manuscripts and collections and his in situ explorations of buildings. The fact that Schoy’s text did not make it into the accepted references in twentieth-century architectural histories in Belgium, whereas Schayes’s did, reveals much about how the discipline was formed and which methodological selections were made during its formative period.
Highlights
In his study of the Flemish Renaissance Revival in Belgium between 1830 and 1930, Alfred Willis, in a somewhat disgruntled tone, calls A.G.B
For instance in the Art en Belgique published in 1939 (Fierens 1939), Schayes’s Histoire is mentioned in the bibliographies of the chapters on Romanesque and Gothic architecture and sculpture, whereas Schoy is omitted in the chapter on 16th-century architecture and sculpture and only one minor publication of his is mentioned in the chapter on the baroque
Schayes’s approach remains the most intact as a tradition in subsequent architectural history: his use of documentary illustrations, footnotes and critical attitude, his self-effacing position as an author, his national delineation and the fact that his descriptions to a large extent relied on personal observation of buildings — all this seems to ensure him a relatively unproblematic position in the Belgian canon of architectural history
Summary
In his study of the Flemish Renaissance Revival in Belgium between 1830 and 1930, Alfred Willis, in a somewhat disgruntled tone, calls A.G.B. Reprints of treatises and images from the Renaissance period and after were, becoming available, such as the Recueil de façades, pignons, lucarnes : cheminées et détails d’architecture of Vredeman de Vries, edited by Van Trigt in 1877, or Schoy’s own recueil de planches of 18th-century buildings and furniture designs, published in 1868, drawing in part from his own collection (Schoy [1868]) (Fig. 14).
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