HANKAR, Paul
(b. 1859, Frameries, d. 1901, Bruxelles)

Hôtel Ciamberlani: façade

1897
Photo
Rue Defacqz 48, Ixelles, Brussels

Hankar built this house in the same style as his own house, the Hôtel Hankar in the same street. He bestowed on the studio of the painter Ciamberlani a striking façade that shows echoes of the Quattrocento architecture of northern Italy. It was a tribute to the client, who came from a distinguished Bolognese family. Passers-by would stop and stare at the exotic building, but the critics also indulged themselves with complacent sneers such as "a rather delirium of obsessive originality."