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I think the better translation is "Jacob of Artevelde": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_van_Artevelde

@pennylrichardsca: You are right. The french text on the photo also says 'jacques' (≠ jacob).

pennylrichardsca and it is aai: Thanks for your comments! The title of John of Artevelde was taken from the English language catalog published by the Detroit Publishing Company, and I agree that the translation they provided seems less than accurate. Apparently, the gentleman who inspired this statue was best known as Jacob van Artevelde (c.1290-1345), but was sometimes referred to as Jacques van Artevelde as well. (An example being this 1942 book on Artevelde.) Since the caption on the photochrom itself is in French, the use of Jacques there seems to fit. We will expand this description to better reflect the various forms of Artevelde's name when we update.

This is absolutely certain the statue of Jacob van Artevelde (Jacob = Jacques = James). John van Artevelde was a city sheriff in the beginning of the 14th century (John = Jan = Jean). John may or may not have been a relative of Jacob, some sources claim that Jacob is Johns' son. But the origins of Jacob remain very unclear. Jacob played an important role in negotiations between Flanders and England about wool trade, and hence made him an enemy of France. He was murdered on 24th July 1345, for until now unknown reasons. The statue was erected in 1863. The building at the right hand side in the picture, het Toreken, was the guild house of the tanners, now housing a poetry centre. Saint Jacobs church is behind the houses in the background, and has no link with Jacob Van Artevelde.

From the new Liberas web gallery "Planes, Trains and Automobiles". Check it out here: www.liberasexpo.com/Folders/Planes-trains-and-automobiles...