Art historian Wendy Wauters gives you a unique glimpse of 16th century Antwerp through the eyes, ears and noses of the people who lived there. Her story is set in the very heart of the city: the Church of Our Lady, which became the cathedral in 1559, where devout parishioners crossed paths with pie sellers, pilgrims and cattle merchants. A bell sounds for the hundredth time at one of the side altars, and people bustle in and out. Organ music and the ringing of bells drown out the cries of a pedlar at the door. And what about the rising stench of corpses or the smell of chopped-off fingers that women hide under the altar? Religious serenity was sometimes in short supply.Music for the lecture will be provided by the keyboard player Markiyan Popil on the virginal, with works by John Bull and Peter Philips.
(Dutch spoken)
