The ‘Toreken’ on the Vrijdagmarkt in Ghent

François Boulanger is mainly known for his cityscapes of Bruges, Amsterdam and especially Ghent, the city of his birth. Here we see The ‘Toreken’ on the Vrijdagmarkt in Ghent. The Toreken, the guildhall of the tanners, was built around 1450 and was the heart of the largest market square in Ghent. It is Gothic in style and was later used…

François Boulanger is mainly known for his cityscapes of Bruges, Amsterdam and especially Ghent, the city of his birth. Here we see The ‘Toreken’ on the Vrijdagmarkt in Ghent. The Toreken, the guildhall of the tanners, was built around 1450 and was the heart of the largest market square in Ghent. It is Gothic in style and was later used successively as a depot, shop and inn. When Boulanger painted it, it housed a clothing shop; we can see this from the inscription in the centre of its façade.