Carolus V Festival places famous anatomist front and centre
The Carolus V festival is organising several tours in Brussels focused on Vesalius, the personal physician to the 16th-century ruler
Brussels, circa 1549
Besides the Ommegang, a recreation of the procession and pageant that was staged in 1549 on the occasion of Charles V’s visit to Brussels, there are also exhibitions, guided walks, conferences, concerts and a Family Day at Coudenberg Museum.
There are four guided tours offered in English, all of them focused on Vesalius, the anatomist who was also personal physician to the emperor. The first is a tour of an exhibition about Vesalius and 16th-century medicine in the Coudenberg Museum. On Sundays, the guide will be clad in either the uniform of a crossbowman or the robes of a plague doctor.
Another walk explores the Royal Quarter, starting at Coudenberg and ending in the Marollen district. Along the way, the guide brings Renaissance medicine to life through the physicians, barber-surgeons, botanists and artists of Brussels.
The third tour takes visitors through the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, where a selection of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance works are discussed in the context of medical, scientific, social and religious developments of the time.
The fourth walk takes place in the Kleine Zavel and Egmont Park, using the statues as well as plants and trees to tell the story of scientific progress, great physicians and botanic discoveries of the 16th century. There are special editions of this tour offered for the visually impaired.
Tours are organised by the heritage group CAP, which collaborates with cultural institutions in Brussels on educational projects. According to Bernard Slachmuylder of CAP, “the tours are not only about medicine but offer insights into daily life, politics, religion and the culture of the time.” Reservations are recommended but not required.
Until 30 August across Brussels
