Giants for the Prado

14/11/24 - Acquisition - Madrid, Museo del Prado - If the figures seem disproportionate to each other, this is not a mistake on the part of the painter. The painting depicts the Ommegang procession in Brussels, which featured giants built on wooden or wicker structures (ill. 1). Although this festival still takes place today, it is more of a historical re-enactment. In the 16th and 17th centuries, religious brotherhoods, guilds and professional and military guilds marched through the streets, and the festivities lasted several days, just before Whitsuntide. The most important procession was that of the Sablon, dedicated to Notre Dame des Victoires, patron saint of the Gand Serment des Arbalétriers, the oldest and most prestigious of the urban militias. The other guilds responsible for defending the city were the Swordsmen’s, Archers’ and Harquebusiers’ Oaths and the Small Crossbowmen’s Oath. The journeymen who made up these militias had to swear allegiance to the Duke, which explains their name.

1. David Noveliers (active c. 1610-1640)
The Procession of the Giants in Brussels on 31 May 1615, 1616
Oil on canvas - 118 x 237 cm
Madrid, Museo del Prado
Photo: Museo del Prado

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Charles V and his son, the future Philip II, attended this procession in 1549, which was described by a Spanish chronicler, Juan Cristóbal Calvete de Estrella, who described a pair of giants "of frightful and great stature" and a child "fierce in gesture and size".
Daughter of Philip II of Spain and granddaughter of Charles V and Henry II, the Infanta Isabelle-Claire-Eugenie married Archduke Albert of Austria in 1598, bringing him the Southern Netherlands and Franche-Comté as his dowry. The couple regularly took part in the Ommegang festivities between 1604 and 1615 to legitimise their power and secure the loyalty of the elites and guilds. The procession in 1615 went down in the annals of history: the Archduchess took part in the shooting…