Bruges was a cosmopolitan trading centre, a luxurious hub synonymous with good living, and attracted an international merchant clientele, as well as the Burgundian rulers of the Netherlands with their magnificent court, and great painters such as Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling whose masterpieces, interwoven with sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, and the buildings of Bruges itself, conjure up life in this medieval metropolis. 

In this lecture, their masterpieces, interwoven with sculptures, illuminated manuscripts and the buildings of Bruges itself, conjure up life in this medieval metropolis evoking the city during its late-medieval heyday, when it was the richest and most vibrant city in northern Europe.