1615-16—Brussels, Belgium

Archduchess Isabella visits Brussels and subsequently commissions several paintings to portray the related celebrations. In a series of several paintings, Denis van Alsloot, court painter for Archduke Albert and Isabella, depicts the ommegang, or procession, that had taken place outside the Brussels church of Notre Dame du Salon. One of the paintings depicts the 6-member civic wind band of Brussels that had been part of the procession (see 1st detail and full image, below; public domain). The group includes trombone, cornetto, dulcian, and several sizes of shawms, and occupies a place of honor between the relics and the statue (Denis van Alsloot, Procession en l’honneur de Notre-Dame du Sablon a Bruxelles le 31 mai, Museo Prado, Madrid) (Lesure 94-95; Forney, Antwerp 363; Whitwell, Baroque 181; Wangermée, vol. 1 241). Another artist, Antoine Sallaert, also depicts the procession, portraying the wind band in nearly the same posture and configuration as Alsloot, then in a slightly different configuration (see final 2 details, below; public domain) (Galleria Sabauda, Turin).