# Exterior view [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [ARCHITECT, Flemish]() - Date: 1451-1500 - Technique: Photo ## Commentary The large communal building projects of towns in the Netherlands were the "halls" and town halls. The halls had a dual function as warehouses and as meeting rooms for the community. In addition, they were often also town halls in the modern sense, in other words administrative centres. As the expression of civic pride often took the widely visible form of huge towers in the Netherlands, these hall towers acquired more or less the same function as church towers and became more and more like them in appearance. The town hall in Leuven was built without a tower since the tower of the nearby collegiate church acts as a communal bell. The building was given the shape of a shrine. With its excessive decoration, abundant niches for statues, high-pitched roof, and slim pinnacles on the narrow sides, it does indeed recall the architecturally designed reliquaries that were so popular during the era of High and Late Gothic. The photo shows the Town Hall in Leuven. ## Related artworks - [Belfry]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() - [Exterior view]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()