Theme

In Europe and beyond, knocking on wood is a common ritual intended to positively influence one’s fate. Celtic and Germanic cultures practiced it Kotoukaritual, in which druids performed incantations at sacred trees, which they believed were the dwellings of many gods. Wood was considered divine and was believed to ward off evil spirits.

Objects given to saints—and placed or hung near a statue of a saint—serve to seek intercession, ask for favors, or express gratitude for interventions that have already taken place. These can be everyday objects, such as the crutch of a person with a limp who can now walk again without assistive devices.

Provided by Erfgoedcel Brugge.

SaintWalburga played an important role in the Christianization of Germany. While traveling from England to Germany, she is said to have stopped at St. Walburga in Bruges. Holy, healing oil dripped from her bones. When that oil had dried up in the nineteenth century, Guido Gezelle, then serving as an assistant pastor, was able to have a vial of holy oil sent over from Germany. He did so again in 1870 when he was involved in a major St. Walburga celebration in Veurne in 1870. To this day, a small bottle of holy oil stands at the back of the church. The church itself is a truly beautiful setting.

Provided by the Bruges Library.

These three tapestries may have been created by the Augustinian Sisters who served at this guesthouse. In eighteen scenes, they depict the miracles that took place there through the intercession of Our Lady of Potterie. Inscriptions explain the events depicted. The three tapestries hold special significance for the collective memory. For example, the long-standing devotion to Our Lady of Potterie is still very much alive. The imagery is based on a typologically exceptional and richly illustrated 16th-century book of miracles.

Provided by Musea Brugge.

At pilgrimage sites, believers could buy all kinds of devotional items at a small stand or shop at the back of the church or outside the church: relics, medallions, ex-votos, palm branches, holy water …

Provided by Musea Brugge.

A fantastic story about a priest from Bruges who, in*Là-bas*—the novel by Joris-Karl Huysmans—is portrayed as a satanic priest. In*Là-bas*, the author Durtalis weary of the emptiness and banality of modern society. He seeks solace in researching the medieval Satanist Gilles de Rais, but then it turns out that Satanism still has many followers in modern times as well…

Provided by Musea Brugge.

Documentary by Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts.

This is the first documentary by 26-year-old Syrian citizen journalist Waad al-Kateab. She dedicates the film to her newborn daughter. “I want you to understand why your father and I made this choice, and to know what we were fighting for.” Using a simple digital camera, she documents the Syrian uprising against dictator Assad in the rebel stronghold of Aleppo, from the beginning until the forced evacuation in late 2016, despite the life-threatening situation and her status as a new mother.

In Bruges during the nineteenth century, it was believed that the construction of a new seaport would usher in a period of prosperity similar to that which the city had experiencedduring the Burgundian period . This is best illustrated by the program for the inauguration celebrations of the new port from July 22 to 28, 1907, which included a joust, an exhibition on the Golden Fleece, and a historical procession that served as the precursor to the Golden Tree Procession.

Provided by the Bruges City Archives.

All kinds of badges collected during pilgrimages.

Provided by Raakvlak.

“Plus and and you’ is the personalmotto of Louis of Gruuthuse, the most legendary resident of the Gruuthuse Palace (see the portrait of Lodewijk van Gruuthuse). The motto refers to the Bruges elite’s pursuit of self-aggrandizement, prestige, and perfection. An exceptional source is the Gruuthuse Manuscript, a reflection of the bourgeois culture of rhetoric, which reached an unusually high level in Bruges.

Courtesy of Musea Brugge.

During the Calvinist Reign in the late sixteenth century, the relic of the Holy Blood had to be hidden. It was hidden in various locations throughout the city, such as the Perez de Malvendahouse . At the end of the nineteenth century, commemorative stones inscribed with poems by Gezelle were placed at four locations where the Holy Blood had once been hidden.

Provided by the Bruges Library.

“The Lonely Funeral” is a literary and social project in which poets write a personal poem for people who died alone and recite it at their funeral. It is a final tribute to people who were often left behind during their lives and are therefore buried without family or friends present. All that remains is a small ritual: the coffin on trestles, the flowers, and the poem.

In 2020, Erfgoedcel Brugge, Werkplaats Immaterieel Erfgoed, the City of Bruges’ Diversity Department, and HuisvandeMens Brugge compiled stories from Bruges residents with different worldviews about their perspectives on saying goodbye and the rituals associated with it. These stories were compiled in the brochure “Time to Say Goodbye.”

Provided by Erfgoedcel Brugge.

In the heart of the city stands the Belfry, where bells were installed very early on to mark the passage of the day with their sound: from the opening and closing of the city gates to the hours when trading in the market was permitted. Starting in 1523, the carillon could play songs automatically, and a little later, Bruges hired a carillonneur… music for everyone! The current instrument dates from 1741 and was cast in Bruges by Joris Dumery.

Provided by Concertgebouw Brugge.

Phallus cup, used in the christening of boats (to ensure a safe voyage).

Provided by Raakvlak.

In this triptych (1502–1508), Gerard David masterfully depicts the baptism of Christ. The baptism draws on the purifying function of water. Water possesses the power to wash away sins . “Reie” originally means “holy water.”

Provided by Musea Brugge.

Manuscript 008: This 13th-century miniature illustration is part of a convoluute (a collection of manuscripts bound together in a single volume) that includes, among other things, a liturgical calendar and a psalter. A psalter or psalterium is a prayer book containing psalms from the Old Testament. In the Middle Ages, it was a particularly popular book used mainly by clergy during daily prayer. The manuscript, made in Ghent, is beautifully decorated.

Provided by the Bruges Library.

At the Haverbilkenarchaeological site in Beernem, a 25-centimeter-long nail was found in the central cremation grave (50–100 CE), which was presumably used as a defense against evil spirits.

Submitted by Raakvlak.

Pewter chalice from Grave VI (Mariastraat, Church of Our Lady, Bruges), the grave of a priest. The chalice consists of a circular, nearly flat base surmounted by a nearly cylindrical stem (which tapers slightly toward the top). Attached to it, at about halfway up, is a disc-shaped handle (or nodus) and a bowl (or cuppa) with a hole in it. The exterior of the chalice clearly features spiral ribs, but there are no decorations or markings. The chalice was covered with a pewter paten, a type of small plate that belongs to the vasa sacra of liturgical vessels in the Catholic Church. During Mass, the host is placed on the paten and later broken upon it.

Submitted by Raakvlak.

To lose something, get it back, and consciously lose it again – 2019

The Colombian artist Monica REstrepo created freehand clay replicas during a residency in Antwerp, based on several religious gold objects from the Janssens Collection at the MAS in Antwerp. The provenance of the objects was unknown, and the region from which they originated was only partially known. The objects were photographed and later entrusted to the Scheldt River during a performance. Among the objects was a small house (probably from 1800 BCE) from the region where Monica Restrepo is from. During the photo shoot, the digital camera mysteriously froze—something the photographer had never experienced before. Nevertheless, a single photo was produced, half black, as if a presence had been captured. Monica Restrepo and the residents of the region where she grew up believe in the existence of spirits in objects and houses, which can be friendly or become displeased …

In a devotional niche or enclosed courtyard, Christ sits on the cold stone. In a paradisiacal setting, Jesus is surrounded by dried flowers, seashells, figures cut out of paper… It is likely the work of a nun from the hospital. A secluded courtyard as a “spiritual self-portrait of the religious.”

Courtesy of Erfgoed Damme.

“Holy Beeldekens Guild and the Neo-Gothic Style in Bruges.” The Public Library holds a treasure trove of Neo-Gothic prayer cards from the presentation albums of the Jacques Petyt and Karel Vande Vyvere-Petyt. This family of printers specialized primarily in Neo-Gothic lithographic prints (1845–1914). The Neo-Gothic movement in the nineteenth century transformed the cultural and political landscape. During the TwoAt the Catholic Congress in Mechelen in 1864, the need to distribute high-quality prayer cards was discussed. Following this, Guido Gezelle and Adolf Duclos, Joseph Neurath, Louis Grossé, and Michael Joseph Buckley the “Holy Image Guild.” The flourishing of the Neo-Gothic style in devotional prints fully permeated Bruges chromolithography. The “saint cards” gained international recognition.

Provided by the Bruges Library.

The Desclée-De Brouwer publishing house was founded in 1877 by the brothers Jules and Henri Desclée and their brother-in-law Alphonse De Brouwer. They were also the managers of the former gasworks in Bruges. The Desclée brothers also owned a printing house, Saint-Jean l’Evangéliste, in Tournai. In Bruges, they primarily printed and published religious works —including missals and catechisms—as well as schoolbooks. After the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) and during the second iconoclastic movement, the use of the popular missal in Flanders declined sharply. This marked the end of the publishing house.

Provided by the Bruges Library.

The difficult path of monastic life is depicted in the painting “SistersCarrying the Cross.” It is a story that unfolds from right to left and, once all obstacles have been overcome, ends at the upright cross. The hardships of daily life and the temptations are symbolized by the cross, the trees, the road…

Provided by Erfgoed Damme.

Hieronymus Bosch continues to inspire. In the painting “The Last Judgment” at the Groeningen Museum, Christ appears before a sinful world populated by grotesque characters and naked figures who are either misbehaving or being tortured. As is often the case with the idiosyncratic Bosch, vice and sin take center stage. On the side panels, we see the outcome of “The Last Judgment”: on the left, devout believers are allowed into a paradisiacal heaven; on the right, sinners must face the fires of hell.

Courtesy of Musea Brugge.

Few sculptures have as many stories associated with them as the Madonna and Child in the Church of Our Lady. It is the only sculpture by Michelangelo that left Italy during his lifetime. Jean Mouscron, a member of a wealthy Bruges family of cloth merchants, purchased the work from Michelangelo in 1506. In 1514, it was placed in a sculpted altar in the south aisle of the Church of Our Lady. Several members of the family Mouscron is buried at the foot of the altar. In a document, they state that the statue must never be moved, but history had other plans… Napoleon seized the Madonna for his National Museum in Paris, but in 1815, after his defeat at Waterloo, the statue returned to Bruges. During World War II, the Madonna was looted a second time: this time, Hitler wanted her for his grand museum in Linz . The Allied Monuments The statue was rescued, along with many other valuable works of art, from the salt mines of Altaussee in Austria.

Courtesy of Musea Brugge.

Open church in a historic building; since 1995, the Orthodox parish of Bruges-East Coast. The primary goal of the Orthodox Parish of Saints Constantine and Helena in Bruges is to integrate the Orthodox faithful of the region into liturgical life, in accordance with the tradition of the Holy Orthodox Church. The collection of this Orthodox church has been fully cataloged by volunteers under the guidance of the religious heritage consultant from Musea Brugge and Erfgoedcel Brugge.

Provided by Erfgoedcel Brugge.

Amber is the fossilized resin of prehistoric conifers. The amber found in Bruges comes from the Baltic region. In Bruges, paternoster makers who crafted their beads from amber were first mentioned in 1299. Until 1480, the Bruges guild of paternoster makers, together with Lübeck, held a monopoly on amber processing for our regions. What is remarkable about this object is that the beads have been reconstructed into a bracelet, even though they were certainly intended to be part of a paternoster.

Provided by Raakvlak.

Pilgrimages have spiritual significance. Since the Middle Ages, Bruges has been an important starting point for two routes to Compostela (including the route via Paris). The Jerusalem Chapel refers to the pilgrimage to the “Holy Land.” Jerusalem is also depicted in a dramatic painting by Jan Provoost.

Provided by Musea Brugge.

When one thinks of church music, one often spontaneously thinks of the drawn-out sounds of the Franco-Flemish polyphonists such as Dufay, Obrecht, and Richafort. The Low Countries—and certainly Bruges as well—were widely associated with high-quality polyphony. Thanks to excellent trade and diplomatic ties to all corners of the world, Bruges music spread throughout Europe, whether through precious manuscripts or in performances by the (sometimes very young)singer-composers themselves. In Bruges, music was inextricably linked to social life. The court, the brotherhoods, and also parishes and monasteries vied with one another for the best, the most beautiful, and the richest music… because no matter who is listening—God or your neighbors—you don’t earn a good spot in heaven or on earth just like that!

Provided by Concertgebouw Brugge.

Guido Gezelle (1830–1899) was a Flemish Roman Catholic priest, satirical poet, and translator from Bruges. He wrote many captivating religious poems and songs, characterized by a romantic sensibility and an appreciation for nature. Through his work, he sought to express Christian virtues, but he was equally adept at writing sharp political satire under the pseudonym Sponker. Today, there is a Gezelle walking tour in the city that takes in various Gezelle sites, including the Gezelle House, the English Monastery, and the rectory on Verversdijk. The poems and songs could serve as inspiration when combined with a visit to one of Gezelle’s sites.

Provided by the Bruges Library.

Hans Memling created the Shrine of Saint Ursula on commission from the monastic community of St. John’s Hospital, where Saint Ursula was venerated. The wooden reliquary is shaped like a chapel with a gabled roof. The paintings serve, as it were, as the stained-glass windows of the shrine. Six scenes depict the fantastical story of the pilgrimage of Ursula and her 11,000 virgins.

Provided by Musea Brugge.

In a cave, Anthony is tempted by a woman and terrorized by hideous monsters. This scene is depicted, among other places, on Hieronymus Bosch’s “Job Triptych” at the Groeninge Museum. Gustave Flaubert wrote a book about it: “La Tentation de Saint-Antoine.”

Provided by Musea Brugge.

A votive painting is an expression of the devotion of the person who commissioned it and who is portrayed in the painting.

Provided by Erfgoedcel Brugge.

A votive ship is a model ship placed at the altar of a skippers’ guild, either as a decorative piece or as a memento of a naval battle.

Provided by Erfgoedcel Brugge.

Fake news has been everywhere lately. Some people say the Earth is flat, while others claim there are aliens living on it. Even presidents lie without a second thought. Why do so many people believe this nonsense? And how do you know if something is true or not? Journalists and scientists can’t just make claims out of thin air; they work according to established methods. Because journalists uncover the truth, they’re often arrested and sometimes even killed by dictators.

Brother Cornelis Brouwer is a fanatical preacher who, in his sermons, lashes out at any resident of Bruges who is a moderate Catholic or who sympathizes with Protestantism. He gets a taste of his own medicine. Two satirical booklets about him are published, filled with juicy stories. For instance, according to the author of the satire, Cornelis Brouwer allegedly enjoyed whipping sinful women on their bare behinds with a scourge. Both the character of Cornelis Brouwer (a strict adherent to the doctrine that there is only one truth) and the satirical stories and sermons remain very recognizable today: people who impose high moral standards on others are themselves viewed with great skepticism.

Courtesy of Musea Brugge.

Various artists and works in the Musea Brugge collection depict the Last Judgment: Hieronymus Bosch, Memling (The St. John Altarpiece), Rik Poot (The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse). The Last Judgment inspires highly imaginative scenes. Most recently, it served as the inspiration for a video by David Claerbout, shown at St. John’s Hospital.

Provided by Musea Brugge.

During the interwar period, the Bruges-based publishing house Desclée-De Brouwer published Dutch-language picture books under the name De Kinkhoren. “ The Journey of Goudvleugeltje and Nachtegaalte” is a wonderful example of this. Wies Persyn (1914–1999), daughter of writer and literary critic Jules Persyn, wrote a children’s fairy tale based on the seven works of mercy. The story fits perfectly into the publishing house’s Catholic tradition. The Ghent-based illustrator and miniaturist Jeanne Hebbelynck (1891–1951) illustrated the book. The deeply devout artist initially made a name for herself by painting small religious scenes, but later devoted herself to illustrating children’s books and First Communion cards.

Provided by the Bruges Library.

Manuscript 009 (M 008), Augustine, De Civitate Dei, 2e half 15th century. Aurelius Augustinus (430) wrote the 22 books of *The City of God* between 413 and 426. The impetus for this extensive work was the accusation that Christianity was responsible for the sack of Rome by Alaric in 410. In the first part, Augustine refutes the claim that the Roman cult of the gods was a blessing for both earthly and eternal life. He then elaborates at length on the theme of the contrast between the Civitas Dei and the civitas terrena, faith and unbelief, good and evil. This *Theology of History* is perhaps Augustine’s most widely read work. Approximately 400 Latin manuscripts have survived, and translations into various modern languages already existed in the Middle Ages. This miniature is a striking illustration of the central theme of Augustine’s work: the antagonism or struggle between, on the one hand, the City of God (the good) and, on the other hand, the civitas terrena or the civitas diaboli (evil).

Provided by the Bruges Library.

Speculum doctrinal, Vincent of Beauvais, late 13thth century. Around 1250, the Dominican Vincent of Beauvais (c. 1264), commissioned by the French King Louis IX and with the help of his fellow friars, compiled a massive encyclopedia. This *Speculum* Maius consisted of three volumes, and the second volume was the *Speculum Doctrinale , which in turn comprised eighteen books. Manuscript 251 contains the first nine books of the Speculum Doctrinal (Bruges, OB, MS 252 contains the remaining nine books) and covers logic, rhetoric, poetics, geometry, astronomy, education, anatomy, economics, mechanics, medicine , and jurisprudence. It is written with great care (with section headings in red and blue, Lombard with penwork and headings) and is also beautifully illustrated with historicized initials and marginal decorations at the beginning of the various books. This last aspect, in particular, makes the manuscript appealing. The marginalia contain, in addition to the stereotypical caricatures (hybrid creatures wearing miters, a woman playing the fiddle with a rake as a bow), a series of realistic scenes (ball games, puppet shows, a post mill, a sower) and possibly literary allusions, in which a touch of piquancy is not shunned.

Provided by the Bruges Library.

Simon Stevinplein in Bruges is named after Simon Stevin (1548–1620), a Dutch scientist who rose to become an advisor to Prince Maurits. With a fresh perspective, he continually made contributions to new fields such as hydraulic engineering, navigation, accounting, physics, military science, architecture, urban planning, political science, and mathematics. The exhibition at the City Archives brings together all of Simon Stevin’s works and manuscripts for the first time, including ten works from the heritage collection of the Bruges Public Library. Two films recount his life story and explain how his insights and discoveries are still present in everyday life today. Many items in the collections of the Public Library, the City Archives, and Musea Brugge are related to this scientist.

Provided by the Bruges Heritage Unit.

In a prayer, Bernardus pleads with Mary: “Show yourself as a mother.” To which she replies: “Just look,” and squirts her breast milk into his mouth. In a variation of the legend, Bernard prays to Mary for so long that his lips become dry. Mary takes pity on him and heals the cracks with her milk.

Provided by Musea Brugge.

When Bruges was an international trading city in the fifteenth century—a melting pot of foreign cultures—residents were persecuted on charges of homosexuality (then described as sodomy). Even during the sixteenth century—the era of Protestantism and Calvinism—monks were executed on charges of sodomy. In the seventeenthth century, it was witches who were persecuted. “Being different” was punished time and again.

Provided by the Bruges City Archives.