The  Town  Hall  of  Brussels  has  always  been  considered  as  one  of  the  finest
specimens  of  this  style  of  architecture  in  the  Low  Countries.  The  Gothic  ornaments ­
  with  which  it  is  enriched,  are  not  indeed  by  any  means  so  highly  wrought
as  those  of  the  magnificent  Town  Hall  of  Louvain,  which  must  be  allowed  to  be
the  ne  plus  ultra  of  this  gorgeous  style.  Those  of  the  Town  Hall  of  Brussels  are,
however,  sufficiently  rich  to  give  the  edifice  a  highly  ornamented  appearance.
The  most  remarkable  part  of  the  building  is  the  light  and  beautiful  tower,  which
is  364  feet  in  height,  and  terminates  in  a  spire  of  open  work,  surmounted  by  a
Statue  of  St.  Michael,  seventeen  feet  high,  which  serves  as  a  weathercock,  whence
it  is  sometimes  called  St.  Michael’s  Tower.  The  building  of  the  Town  Hall  was
commenced  in  the  year  1380,  and  it  was  completed  in  1442.
The  Vignettes  represent  a  stone  cross  at  a  short  distance  from  the  city;  and
a  stone  group  representing  the  Virgin  Mary  with  the  body  of  Christ,  and  angels,
with  a  richly  ornamented  pedestal  or  bracket,  and  canopy.