visitors' guide to the presentation (PDF, 341 kB) - Koninklijk Museum ...

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Ordre van den Ommeganck, manuscript dating probably from the late
seventeenth century and setting out the scenography for the presentation
of the Ommegang on the Grote Markt, Antwerp City Archives.
A seventeenth-century manuscript entitled Ordre van den Ommeganck
(Order of the Ommegang) in the Antwerp City Archives gives a
detailed description of the organisation and execution of the festive
Ommegang on the Grote Markt. The duration of the event is given
(“ten hours precisely”), as is the distance between the Ommegang
chariots (“about fifty paces”). Stated, too, is the place of the chariots in
the procession and the sequence of the route through the streets and
over the market square. The musicians with cymbals and trumpets are
to lead the way, followed by The Great Ship, The Little Boats, The
Whale, The Small Dolphins and the Sea Chariot. Horn players are to
accompany The Maiden’s Chariot, St. Michael’s Chariot and The
Mount Parnassus, and to bring up the rear of the festive parade are
The Giant, The Lion, The Small Giants and The Elephant. The
Ommegang was well organised. A section of the procession was to wait
in the Hooghstraat while the cavalcade on the Grote Markt was
directed by aen-lijders (stewards), who gave instructions to the musicians
and chariots: certain chariots were to circle round, others to
remain stationary or to manoeuvre in a complex pattern over the
market square (“laverende door malkanderen” – ‘navigating a passage
between the others’). The Mount Parnassus was equipped with a
stream of water, and The Whale spouting its water must have been a
sensational sight, too. The margin of the document contains instructions
about the organisation for the water supply: “Nota tobben te
stellen op de plette vant stadhuijs” (‘Don’t forget to put tubs on the
Town Hall steps’).
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