The Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of St. John (Sint-Janskathedraal) of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, North Brabant, is the height of Gothic architecture in the Netherlands. It has an extensive and richly decorated interior, and serves as the cathedral for the bishopric of ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
The Building
Interior of the crossing tower of St. John’s CathedralStatuettes on one of the cathedral’s flying buttresses
Brabantine Gothic
St. John’s cathedral represents the zenith of Brabantine Gothic in the current Netherlands.
Structure and dimensions
The cathedral has a total length of 115 metres (377 ft) and a width of 62 metres (203 ft). The Gothic nave has five aisles, that is two on each side of the nave in the narrow sense of the word. These aisles continue under the transepts. The aisles then continue under the choir. Along the apse, only the inner aisles continue. These give access to 6-7 apse chapels that are located in the way of the lacking outer aisles. Originally there was a third aisle on both the north and south side of the choir. The one on the south side was dedicated to Saint Nicholas, and was finished by 1405-1406, and is still standing.
The tower is a remnant of the first romanesque church. Which means that it is older than the nave and choir. At the feet of the tower is a part of the church that is built in tuff. The part south of the tower, with the small corner tower, was not built before the fourteenth century. North of the tower is the Chapel for ‘Our sweet lady of ‘s-Hertogenbosch’ in Dutch: Zoete Lieve Vrouw van Den Bosch. It might date from 1268, as was historically claimed, but it might also have been built as late as the mid-fourteenth century.
The tower reaches a height of 73 metres (240 ft). It is the highest for a Catholic church in the Netherlands. Underneath the clock tower there is a carillon. The clockwork can be found at the top of the Romanesque tower.
Chapel of the Illustrious Brotherhood / Holy Sacrament
The Illustrious Brotherhood of Our Blessed Lady maintained a chapel for Mary before the church got its current form. In 1374 this had a tower with an attic. Shortly after the construction of the third aisle on the southern side of the choir in 1405-1406, a similar third aisle was planned on the northern side. The Brotherhood deemed this northern third aisle to be too small, but had to accept it. This brotherhood chapel was completed in 1426.
In 1478-1479 the brotherhood wanted to start construction of a new chapel. This is the current the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament. This involved demolishing parts of the northern wall of the chapel it had in use, but permission to do this was only obtained in 1485. The design for this new chapel was made by Alart du Hamel, who also led its construction till 1488, when he was in practice replaced by Jan Heyns. In 1494 the new chapel was consecrated. In 1516-1517 the interior was finished, so that it could be whitened.
The Illustrious Brotherhood Chapel is the most independent creation by Du Hamel and Heyns. The architects were bound to the height of the vaults of St. John’s and the space between its bays. However, they were free in their design of the flamboyant buttresses, which appear as luxurious candelabrums. This freedom also applied to using a complex rib vault in the chapel. In the early sixteenth century, similar chapels on the side of the choir became a trend for large city churches. Such a chapel at the Grote Kerk in Breda was probably designed by Jan Heyns. The chapel at Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula was built after requesting the drawings of the ‘s-Hertogenbosch chapel.
Angel with a mobile phone
During the restoration 25 new angel statues were created by sculptor Ton Mooy, including one with a modern twist. The last angel in the series holds a mobile phone and wears jeans. “The phone has just one button,” the sculptor said. “It dials directly to God.” The mobile-using angel had to be first approved by the cathedral’s fathers, who rejected earlier designs which included jet engines on the angel’s back.
The Organ
The pipe organ of the cathedral was built by Heyeman between 1617 and 1621
The large organ in St. John’s Cathedral is one of the most important organs of the Netherlands. The case of this organ is one of the most monumental of the Renaissance in the Netherlands.
This organ has a long history that begins with the construction in the period 1618-1638 by Floris Hocque II, Hans Goltfuss and Germer van Hagerbeer. The rood loft and the organ case were built by Frans Simons, a carpenter who probably came from Leiden. The sculpture of the organ case was carved by Gregor Schysler from Tyrol, who, however, like Floris Hocque, was originally from Cologne.
The organ was renovated, expanded and improved in past centuries by several organ builders, according to the latest fashions. The last renovation took place in 1984 and was conducted by the Flentrop firm. The organ was restored to about the situation of 1787, as the German organ builder A.G.F. Heyneman left it. Use is made of many pipes of that era, but also of pipes from later periods. In late 2003 the organ was thoroughly cleaned.
