Mechlin was the capital of the Netherlands while Margaret was Regent. Her palace, now the Palais de Justice, shows both the old and new styles. The older parts date from 1507, and were built in the late Gothic style by Rombout Keldermans. Before the palace was finished, in 1517, a French architect, Guyot de Beau-grant, was associated with Rombout in the work. This part of the palace is the oldest Renaissance building in Belgium.

It is somewhat puzzling to reconcile Margaret's preference for Gothic art with the fact that her own palace shows a halting between two opinions. It may be that she merely drew the line between civil and ecclesiastical edifices, and would welcome in a palace, or town hall, decorations that she would exclude from a church.

Oudenarde, the birthplace of Margaret's grand-niece, who was also to be Regent of the Netherlands, contains work that marks this transitional period. The doorway of the Council Chamber in the Town Hall is a splendid piece of Renaissance wood-carving, executed by Paul van Schelden in 1531; and a fine chimney-piece carved in the Flamboyant style only two years earlier. Another late Gothic chimney-piece, by his brother Peter, is in the Salle des Pas Perdus.

Guyot de Beaugrant was the architect who executed the most famous and important monument of this period.

This is the chimney-piece of the Palais de Justice at Bruges. Of all the productions of this kind that the sixteenth century has bequeathed to us, and they are numerous, none is more remarkable, either for its dimensions or the beauty of the work. Its general effect is imposing, and its masses are distributed with that feeling for effect that reveals the man of genius.

The lower part is of black marble with four reliefs in white marble on the frieze, representing the story of Susanna and the Elders. The painter, Lancelot Blon-deel of Bruges, supplied the designs for the upper part, which is of carved oak. The statues represent Charles V as Count of Flanders, Mary of Burgundy and her spouse, Maximilian, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, all ancestors of Charles. Busts of his parents, Philip and Joanna, adorn the throne; and on two small medallions are Margaret herself and Launoy the commander at Pavia.

As for the details, pilaster, figurines, bas-reliefs, shields, medallions, trophies of arms, etc., everything is of incomparable finish, and the art of wood-carving has never been so boldly pushed to its uttermost expression. This occupies nearly the entire side of the Court Room and was made in memory of the Battle of Pavia and the Peace of Cambrai, by which the independence of Flanders was recognized. This masterpiece was begun in 1529; it was completed in 1530, the year of Margaret's death.

Lancelot Blondeel, of Poperinghe, was essentially a painter of the transition period. He was a man of most extraordinary gifts, being at the same time a painter, sculptor, mason and engineer. Besides painting, he designed several masterpieces of sculpture in addition to this celebrated Cheminee du Franc. He was also a wood-engraver, and made drawings for the glass painters and tapestry-workers. In 1546, moreover, he submitted plans to the magistracy of Bruges for a canal to connect that city with the sea. He gave his daughter in marriage to Peter Pourbus, the last of the great painters of the school of Bruges. Pourbus was as versatile as his father-in-law, and was intrusted by the city with the organization of public festivals and rejoicings. He dabbled a little in architecture, engineering and cartography.

Works of the early Renaissance are rarer in Holland than in Flanders; but Holland possesses one of the most remarkable carvings of the sixteenth century, the stalls of the Groote Kerk in Dordrecht done by Jan Terween Aertsz, of Antwerp, in 1538-42. Four years only were required to carve this great allegory. These stalls, of magnificent proportions, are divided into two sections: one, at the side of the altar, consists of thirty stalls in two tiers. This is the most richly treated, being intended for the clergy. The sides on the passageways are most elaborately carved. The second section is much simpler and has no separate seats. It is intended for the choristers. No work in the Low Countries surpasses this. The spectator is first attracted by the superb construction and handsome outlines, but it is only when the details are examined that the work is fully appreciated. The dazzled eye notes such a profusion of ornamental figures and motives that it would be hard to find their equal. The only carvings in the Netherlands that can be compared with them are the choir-stalls in the cathedral at Ypres, made in 1598, but these have not quite the same distinction in execution.

The first carvings one notes are the friezes in relief above the seats and under the graceful little columns that adorn the back. The subjects of these bas-reliefs are the Triumph of Christ; the Triumph of the Eucharist; Scenes from the Old and New Testament; the Triumphal Procession of Mutius Scaevola; and the Triumphal Entry of Charles V in Dordrecht, on July 21, 1540. The cycle of the Triumph of Christ opens with two archangels with trumpets, announcing the King of Kings; then follow Adam and Eve, Noah with the Ark, Moses with the Tables of the Law, Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac, David with his harp, Jonah, Samson with the lion, Elias and John the Baptist - all prototypes of Christ. Then come the twelve apostles with palm branches, and Christ in a triumphal car, decorated with dragons' heads and richly ornamented with the symbols of the Cross and dove, and drawn by symbols personifying the four Evangelists. Chained to Christ's car is Death, accompanied by the monster Sin, swallowed by the colossal open jaws of Hell, in which the Devil is seen riding.

Lastly, come Mary and the four saints, Catherine, Barbara, Lawrence and Christopher.

The Triumph of the Eucharist opens with choristers and other children singing, followed by Franciscan monks, nuns, canons, deacons, deans, the Fathers of the Church - Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose and Gregory, then the Church in a triumphal chariot with the Holy Sacrament, then the Pope, cardinals and bishops. The procession of Mutius Scaevola is, of course, Roman in character, and consists, likewise, of eight panels. The Triumph of Charles V resembles in some respects the Triumph of Maximilian by Durer (Durer visited the Low Countries in 1520). Two cavaliers with trumpets open the march and are followed by three others; then comes a grandee of Spain with the orb of the Empire, his horse led by pages. Other grandees follow, then the imperial train, guided by allegorical virgins, and the Emperor, seated under a baldequin in a richly-decorated chariot, with the palm of peace in his left, and the sceptre in his right hand. The sword and orb of state lie at his feet.