Bruges

We are in the screenplay – because we are in Bruges. With the very beginning of this screenplay by Martin McDonagh we dive into its very title. Shots of the city's architecture introduce it to us before we can see any of the characters. The importance of the place is obvious – it is in the title and since it is in the title it is only logical to start the film with it. It may be understood as a character itself. The architecture can therefore be regarded as its characterization. The way the city is represented in the initial shots sets a certain tone: it is cold, eerily Gothic, unmodern. It fits the story that Ray, one of the characters, tells in voice over. (Later on there will be shots presenting us a very pretty and Christmassy Bruges, and that also will fit a certain purpose.) Without giving many details, we immediately find out what the situation is: Ray (even though we do not know his name yet) has committed a lethal crime, more than one have died, he is not the only one involved in this crime, and, in relation to this crime, there has been a problem and he has been sent to Bruges together with somebody else – which is not little information given in only a few lines without any visual support (that is, pictures of what has happened, not of Bruges's architecture). What is more, it is exactly the amount of information that leaves us, the audience, not completely in the dark, but has us ask for more, since it raises more questions than it answers: 'Who has been killed?', 'Who is it that sends him to Bruges?', and 'Why to Bruges?' Since Bruges is with a little over 100,000 inhabitants not exactly a big city, and since it is not known to be one of the first stops for tourists in Europe, it is very likely that a majority of this film's audience have never been to Bruges. In fact, it is even likely that a majority have never even heard of Bruges. This is important, because neither have Ray and Ken ever been to Bruges – and in the very first scene where we can actually see them, they are arriving there. We are therefore arriving with them; they do not get a head start. They know as little about it as we do and we are going to explore the city together with them. They have to play tourists, so we can play tourists too. Two protagonists quickly develop within the first ten pages of IN BRUGES – Ray and Ken. The fact that we can hear them before we can see them gives free rein to our first impressions of them: one is a pessimist (who turns out to be Ray) and the other is an optimist. Since the film starts with Ray's voice over, since we know that he has murdered somebody, and since he seems to be the more troublesome character, so to say, he sticks out as a protagonist more than Ken. Neither of them is easy to label with respect to characterization, since neither of them is a true extrovert nor introvert. Ken appears to be much more sensible and balanced – yet we can guess that he also is a gangster, and before we know what his situation is really, it is hard to identify with him or rely on him.

After taking possession of the Belgian coastal region in 1914, the Germans installed the Kaiserliche Marinewerft Brügge, thus transforming the newly constructed inner port of Bruges into a spearhead for the naval war theatre. Its increasingly strategic importance throughout the war, turned the Marinewerft into a rewarding target for aerial bombing. This confrontation between the new tactical layers of submerged and aerial warfare is condensed in the planning and construction activity in the port, hinting at a changed spatiotemporal experience of conflict space in the context of industrialised warfare. Throughout this paper, the analysis of the transformation of the inner port of Bruges before, during and after the war, raises two questions. One leads to the perception of an extemporised military planning attitude, as opposed to the advanced engineering of some of the constructed buildings in the area. This insight is supported by a more detailed case on the application of reinforced concrete in shelter constructions. The other is related to the possible catalyst whether obstructing effects of military presence for the development of the port, or, in more general terms, to the tension between civil and military spatial planning.

De masterproef voert een prosopografische studie uit naar de dekens van de Brugse librariërsgilde ca. 1450-1500 en sluit aan bij de tentoonstelling Haute Lecture by Colard Mansion. Die gaat indirect over de librariërs en vormt zo een welgekomen aanvulling op de beperkte of verouderde literatuur.

Omdat de librariërsgilde geen inschrijvingslijsten naliet, zijn historici aangewezen op de rekeningen van de nering-gilde. Deze vermelden allerlei betalingen van leden doorheen het volledige ancien régime, startend in 1454. Echter, enkel de periode 1454-1500 krijgt hier aandacht. Het archiefstuk bestaat uit verscheidene jaarrekeningen die de deken tijdens zijn ambtstermijn opmaakte. Pas later werden ze samengevoegd. Door een grondige analyse van de expliciet vermelde relaties en betalingen in de rekeningen (discoursanalyse) was een reconstructie van de carrière en in mindere mate van het netwerk van de dekens mogelijk. De conclusies daaruit zijn representatief voor bestuursleden van middelgrote corporaties. De methode is dan ook een nauwkeurige analyse van de rekeningen, die uitmondt in een prosopografie over de dekens. Een meer kwalitatieve aanpak werd gehanteerd om algemene trends en discrepanties te verklaren.

Het doel van de studie is om de leefwereld van de dekens van de nering-gilde te schetsen. Het vraagt zich af wat een lid moest doen om deken te worden en vervolgens te blijven. Dat doet het op basis van de betalingen uit de rekeningen. Konden leden zich inkopen in de nering-gilde-elite? Bepaalde kapitaal de status van een lid? Deze masterproef heeft daarnaast ook oog voor de onderlinge relaties van de dekens, zowel met familieleden en secundaire leden als andere dekens. De masterproef wil onderzoeken of zij er mee voor zorgden dat een lid kon opklimmen tot de nering-gilde-elite, deken kon worden en misschien zelfs langer dan één termijn aanblijven. De hypothese is echter dat, hoewel nepotisme door belangrijke families zeker voorkwam, de librariërsgilde relatief democratisch opereerde.

This article undertakes an object-focused study of a single work of art of great material and visual complexity: the Wallace Collection pax. This object stimulates an important discussion on how the making, materials and form of a work of art are fundamental to unravelling the object’s function and meaning for a contemporary audience. In placing at the core of the object a rare example of a late medieval amber Vera icon, the Wallace Collection pax also opens up a wider discussion on the nature and popularity of amber as a material of artistic expression in the later Middle Ages. In basing this article on the physical and material history of the work of art, I hope to illustrate the importance of going back to first principles when undertaking object-based research, and I intend to highlight the complex interaction between material and form in late medieval art.

The winners of the jousts of the tournament company
'The White Bear' in Bruges, 1380-1458.

An authentic manuscript from the Burgundian period. The manuscript in the Royal Library of Brussels is dated around 1460. It shows the coats of arms of the participants who won the tournament in this period. Participants came from Lille (Epinette), Ypres, Douai, Tournai, Vallenciennes, Ghent and Mechelen. These participants belonged to the patriciate and nobility of their city. Flemish squires and knights also took part, as well as noblemen from the surroundings of the Burgundian court.

Les gagnants des joutes de la société du tournoi
'L'Ours Blanc' à Bruges, 1380-1458.

Un manuscrit authentique de l'époque bourguignonne. Le manuscrit de la Bibliothèque royale de Bruxelles est daté d'environ 1460. Il montre les blasons des participants qui ont remporté le tournoi à cette époque. Les participants sont venus de Lille (Epinette), Ypres, Douai, Tournai, Vallenciennes, Gand et Malines. Ces participants appartenaient au patriciat et à la noblesse de leur ville. Des écuyers et chevaliers flamands y participaient également, ainsi que des nobles des environs de la cour de Bourgogne.

Anthonis de Roovere, poet in Bruges, rhetorician, is discussed in this article which gives an overview of former research and tries to establish his place in Burgundian Flanders and Late Medieval Bruges. In delivers an inventory of his works and the sources in which they have come down to us. This publication is followed by part 2 (Jaarboek 1997)

All the Macedonians are familiar with the ancient folktale of 'Silyan the Stork' (Mkd.Latin: Silyan Štrkot, Mkd.Cyrillic: Сиљан Штркот). It is one of the longest (25 pages) and unique Macedonian folktales. It was recorded in the 19th century, in vicinity of Prilep, Central Macedonia, a territory inhabited by the most direct Macedonian descendents of the ancient Bryges and Paionians. The notion of Bryges appear as from Erodot (Lat. Herodotus), who noted that the Bryges lived originally in Macedonia, and when they moved to Asia Minor they were called 'Phryges' (i.e. Phrygians).
Who was Silyan? The story goes: Silyan was banished to a faraway island and migrates from there like a stork to his homeland. He has a bottle of magic water around his neck that should turn him from a stork into a human, but the first time he breaks it… nevertheless, later he transforms successfully. Silyan’s parents are called 'Božin' and 'Božinitsa' (God's and Goddess's), and so on…

This master's thesis on Michelangelo's Bruges Madonna situates the sculpture within the context of early sixteenth-century altarpieces. It examines how Michelangelo created a sculpture that embraces the traditional role of an altarpiece while exploiting the creative opportunities that such an object presented to an artist who was deeply concerned for both the artistic and spiritual merit of his sculpture.

Cet article se penche sur quelques familles qui ont contribué à faire de Bruges une « métropole médiévale », un centre industriel, commercial et culturel qui rayonnait dans toute l'Europe. Ce sont toutes des familles appartenant au premier cercle du pouvoir communal, ce que l'on appelle communément le "patriciat" qui a dirigé Bruges pendant tout le Moyen Âge.

Countries, regions and peoples have always needed stories about the history of their own country, region or people. This is how myths, sagas and legends were created. The problem is that we are dealing with history here, but that those stories were rather embroidered with the necessary fiction. Yet, even for a historical researcher, it remains worthwhile to investigate those stories and to test them with known historical facts. Many of those stories -like Gudrun, Beowulf or Reinaert the fox- can help clarify history. That is also possible with the myth of the Brugge (Bruges) bear.

Abstract: Focusing on the largely unpublished 'city accounts' ('Stadsrekeningen') of Bruges, this article examines the city's giving of prestigious Baltic beeswax to their lords, the Valois and (later) Habsburg dukes of Burgundy. It sheds new light on urban government by analysing how civic leaders across northwestern Europe used the apiary product to manage often fraught relationships with their rulers and reinforce their identities as trading centres or outposts of international repute. More broadly, the gifting of Baltic beeswax points to the political and diplomatic prestige associated with the trade and display of the commodity in the later medieval period and the desire of urban leaders and communities to extract symbolic and political capital from its exchange.
Available online: [open-access] https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/5EB984A03F5F2E4C6659D82E88A0F6A3/S096392682100050Xa.pdf/on_behalf_of_the_city_wax_and_urban_diplomacy_in_the_late_medieval_baltic_and_north_sea.pdf

The aim of this article is to propose an interpretation of the musical elements of the painting The Fountain of Grace. Art-historical and musicological analysis allow us to conclude that the painter, acting in all likelihood between 1445 and 1450, used drawings from the workshop of Jan van Eyck and also turned to miniatures with musical motifs from the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry by the Limbourg brothers. The author addresses the angel musician motif with regard to the Eucharistic aspects of the painting. The music performed by the spiritual beings is interpreted as an attempt to demonstrate the magnitude and splendour of the Church.
[En este artículo se propone una interpretación de los elementos musicales de la Fuente de la Gracia. El análisis históricoartístico y musicológico permite constatar que el autor de la pintura, ejecutada probablemente entre 1445 y 1450, utilizó dibujos del taller de Jan van Eyck y también recurrió a las miniaturas con motivos musicales de Las muy ricas horas del duque de Berry de los hermanos Limbourg. Se propone interpretar el motivo del ángel músico en el contexto del aspecto eucarístico de la pintura. La música ejecutada por los seres espirituales se interpreta como una demostración de la grandeza y el esplendor de la Iglesia.]

L’Agneau Mystique.
Van Eyck.
Art, Histoire,
Science et Religion.
Danny Praet & Maximiliaan Martens (eds.),

© Flammarion, Paris, 2019
ISBN : 978 2081492868
No d’édition : L.01EBUN000761
Dépôt légal : octobre 2019

L’Agneau mystique des frères Van Eyck (1432) est unanimement reconnu
comme oeuvre picturale sublime, avec un rayonnement et une influence
exceptionnels. Ce fut la première peinture à l’huile de grande taille et
le mysticisme religieux s’en dégage avec force. Le retable se lit presque
comme un ABC du christianisme, allant de l’Annonciation au sacrifice
symbolique du Christ : « l’agneau mystique » représenté sur un autel dans
un paysage paradisiaque, versant son sang dans le Saint Graal.
Ce livre regroupe pour la première fois un grand nombre de savoirs lié à
l’Agneau mystique – soit le monumental polyptyque réalisé par les frères
Hubert et Jan Van Eyck en collaboration avec un atelier de renom et
un ensemble de conseillers sur le plan du contenu. Ce livre nourrit une
ambition similaire : réunir des experts des disciplines les plus diverses.
Ce n’est qu’en combinant les points de vue des spécialistes en histoire de
l’art, des historiens, des philosophes, des scientifiques du religieux, des
mathématiciens et des spécialistes de l’optique que l’on peut pleinement
saisir la richesse et la profondeur de ce chef-d’oeuvre.
Richement illustré de dizaines de détails d’une précision inouïe – parfois
invisibles à l’oeil nu – révélés durant la campagne de restauration en cours.

Visitare un luogo è un prodotto di consumo, di cui si vende il significato simbolico e l'immagine del luogo. Per questo penso che caratterizzare il territorio del Parco delle Groane con un’immagine naturalistica e culturale sia un fattore competitivo per diversificare il turismo dell'hinterland milanese, al fine di non limitarlo al centro città e al turismo business o di shopping.
Revisione dei temi toccati durante la tesi: organizzazione territoriale, sociologia urbana, turismo, arte, cyber-spazio, case-history: Parco delle Groane.

This paper is an introduction to the Neolatin poet Janus Lernutius (1545-1619) of Bruges and his 'Kisses' (Basia), with some fragments in a first Dutch poetical translation. The article was published July 2019 in Hermeneus 91.3, pag. 98-103. The fragments have been selected from my complete translation of Lernutius' Basia, published in 2018 at P (Leuven).

Northern European and Spanish Paintings before 1600 in the Art Institute of Chicago. A Catalogue of the Collection, by Martha Wolff, Susan Frances Jones, Richard G. Mann and Judith Berg Sobré, with contributions by Ilse Hecht, Peter Klein, Cynthia Kuniej Berry, and Larry Silver, Yale University Press, 2008, pp. 155-58

Due to the exceptional preservation of the historical cityscape in Bruges, numerous roof constructions from the Middle Ages up to the early modern period can still be found in historical buildings. In this catalogue the typology and chronometric dating of 148 roof constructions – known from literature or discovered during site inspections by Flanders Heritage Agency – are described. In 59 cases the dating of the roofs is based on a dendrochronological analysis.
This catalogue not only includes the roof constructions of renowned historical buildings in Bruges (halls, churches, hospitals) but also numerous residential houses. The oldest roofs in this catalogue are common rafter roofs without longitudinal bracing, dating from the first decennia of the 13th century. It is striking to see that this type of roof was built until the 15th century. The roof of the central sick ward l of St. John’s hospital, built in 1226-1241d, is the oldest preserved rafter roof in the Low Countries with roof plates on trusses. More recent roof constructions with trusses and roof plates or purlins date from the 16th century. As such, this catalogue provides an overview of the evolution in roof building during the late Middle Ages in Bruges. The Bruges roofs are embedded in the overall evolution of roof constructions in the Low Countries, although a number of roofs proved to belong to rather rare types for which parallels can be found in Northern-France.

Dankzij de uitzonderlijk goede bewaring van het historisch stadslandschap vindt men in Brugge nog talrijke dakkappen uit de middeleeuwen en nieuwe tijd. In deze catalogus wordt de typologie en datering van in totaal 148 dakkappen - gekend uit de literatuur of ontdekt en onderzocht tijdens werfinspecties door het agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed van de Vlaamse Overheid - beschreven. De datering is in 59 gevallen gebaseerd op een dendrochronologische analyse.
Deze catalogus omvat niet alleen dakkappen van beroemde historische gebouwen in Brugge (hallen, kerken, hospitalen) maar ook van talrijke woonhuizen. De oudste kappen in deze catalogus zijn sporenkappen zonder langsverbinding uit de eerste decennia van de 13de eeuw. Opvallend is dat dit type kap tot in de 15de eeuw werd opgetrokken. De kap van de centrale ziekenzaal van het Sint-Janshospitaal, opgericht in 1226-1241d, is de oudste bewaarde sporenkap met flieringen op schaargebinten in de Lage Landen. Jongere kappen met schaargebinten en flieringen of gordingen situeren zich in de 16de eeuw. Zo biedt deze catalogus een overzicht van de evolutie in kapconstructies tijdens de late middeleeuwen in Brugge. De Brugse kappen schrijven zich in in de globale evolutie van dakkappen in de Lage Landen, al zijn er ook kappen aangetroffen die behoren tot eerder zeldzame types waarvoor parallellen ook in Noord-Frankrijk moeten worden gezocht.

Grace à la conservation exceptionnelle du paysage bâti du centre historique, on retrouve à Bruges des nombreuses charpentes datant du Moyen Âge et du début de l’époque moderne. Ce catalogue décrit la typologie et la datation de 148 charpentes, connues par la littérature ou découvertes lors de visites par l’Agence du Patrimoine de Flandre. Dans 59 des cas, la datation se fonde sur une analyse dendrochronologique.
Ce catalogue n’inclut pas seulement les charpentes de bâtiments historiques renommés (halles, églises, hôpitaux), mais contient aussi celles de nombreuses maisons privées. Les plus anciens toits décrits ici sont les charpentes à chevrons formant fermes sans contreventement longitudinal, datant des premières décennies du 13ème siècle. À Bruges, ce type de construction est en usage jusqu’au 15ème siècle. La charpente de la salle centrale de l’hôpital Saint-Jean, érigée en 1226-1241, est constituée de sablières soutenues par des portiques surélevés, c’est la plus ancienne charpente de ce type connue dans les anciens Pays-Bas. Des charpentes plus récentes à portiques et sablières ou pannes datent du 16ème siècle. Ce catalogue offre donc une vue d’ensemble de l’évolution de la charpenterie à Bruges au Moyen Âge central et tardif. Les toits brugeois s’inscrivent dans l’évolution générale des charpentes dans les anciens Pays-Bas, bien qu’un certain nombre est d’une typologie assez rare pour lesquelles des parallèles doivent être recherchés dans le nord de la France.

Bruges-Gand 1510 circa. Sono queste le coordinate che vedono un gruppo di miniatori fiamminghi congegnare, per il mercato internazionale, il singolare manoscritto (BUB, ms. 1140), a noi noto come Offiziolo di Benedetto XIV. L'opera, già attribuita al Maestro dei Libri di Preghiera del 1500 ca., si rivela frutto della rapsodica collaborazione, tra gli altri, del cosiddetto Painter of Additional 15677 e del Maestro di Sir George Talbot. Sono qui individuati i ruoli giocati dagli accorti autori, la circolazione di modelli – come l'Albero di Iesse, i fantasiosi "capricci architettonici" e i close-ups alla Marmion – e la rielaborazione di idee, in voga, in quella che fu l'ultima sfolgorante stagione del manoscritto fiammingo. Attraverso l'analisi del calendario, dei suffragi e delle personalizzazioni, viene inoltre ricostruita la destinazione geografica dell’opera e la fisionomia del primo devoto lettore, un sensibile benedettino inglese. Si scoprono infine le significative analogie con il King's 9, Libro d'Ore di Anna Bolena, il quale dovette nascere nel medesimo operoso workshop che costruì il nostro manoscritto, nel Settecento entrato – quale pregiato dono – nella biblioteca di Papa Lambertini, il quale ne poté apprezzare la vena classicista ante-litteram.
Bruges-Gand, around 1510. These are the coordinates that see a group of Flemish illuminators devising, for the international market, the singular manuscript (BUB, ms. 1140), known as Benedict XIV's Offiziolo. The work of art, already attributed to the Master of the Prayer Books of around 1500, is the result of the rhapsodic collaboration, among others, of the so-called Painter of Additional 15677 and the Master of Sir George Talbot. Here are identified the roles played by the shrewd authors, the circulation of patterns–such as the Tree of Jesse, imaginative "architectural capricci”, and close-ups à la Marmion–and the reworking of ideas, in vogue, in what was the last dazzling season of the Flemish manuscript. Through the analysis of the calendar, suffrages, and customizations, the geographical destination of the book and the personality of the first devout reader, a sensitive English Benedictine, has also been reconstructed. Finally, we discover the significant analogies with King's 9, Anne Boleyn's Book of Hours, which was born in the same workshop that created our manuscript, in the eighteenth century entered–as a valuable gift–the library of Pope Lambertini, who could appreciate the classicist ante-litteram vein.

Northern European and Spanish Paintings before 1600 in the Art Institute of Chicago. A Catalogue of the Collection, by Martha Wolff, Susan Frances Jones, Richard G. Mann and Judith Berg Sobré, with contributions by Ilse Hecht, Peter Klein, Cynthia Kuniej Berry, and Larry Silver, Yale University Press, 2008, pp. 205-11

The small figure reflected in St George’s shield in Jan van Eyck’s Virgin and Child with Canon Joris van der Paele (Bruges, Groeningemuseum) did not receive any scholarly attention until the mid-twentieth century. Taken to be the artist’s self-portrait, the reflection is usually seen as analogous to its counterpart in the Arnolfini Portrait despite significant differences between them. This essay investigates the particularity of Van Eyck’s self-representation in the Van der Paele Virgin in terms of its function and meaning. Through consideration of the surface on which the reflection is depicted, the saint with whom it is associated, and the setting in which the painting was located and experienced, it is argued that Van Eyck depicted himself in a highly self-conscious manner, closely linked both to his identity as a painter and to the desire, shared with his patron, for remembrance after death.

This article examines prostitution in late medieval Sluis, the port suburb of Bruges. It aims to place prostitution in its appropriate social and urban context, within a major port town with a large transient population. By drawing on evidence contained in the bailiff’s accounts (chiefly fines for brothel-keeping, but also judicial records and inventories), it is possible to assess the shape of the sex industry and its stability over time, to study prostitutes, brothel-keepers and customers, and to evaluate the sex industry’s role in the town. This study of prostitution serves a second purpose, to examine the idea of marginality. Prostitutes have traditionally been seen as perfect examples of marginals, but that view is overly simplistic, given the diversity within the industry. Instead, the article argues that individual prostitutes were, indeed, marginals, but that prostitution itself cannot be described as marginal.