Mechelen in the context of "Burgundian Low Countries"

Early Netherlandish painting is the body of work by artists active in the Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands during the 15th- and 16th-century Northern Renaissance period, once known as the Flemish Primitives. It flourished especially in the cities of Bruges, Ghent, Mechelen, Leuven, Tournai and Brussels, all in present-day Belgium. The period begins approximately with Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck in the 1420s and lasts at least until the death of Gerard David in 1523, although many scholars extend it to the beginning of the Dutch Revolt in 1566 or 1568 – Max J. Friedländer's acclaimed surveys run through Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Early Netherlandish painting coincides with the Early and High Italian Renaissance, but the early period (until about 1500) is seen as an independent artistic evolution, separate from the Renaissance humanism that characterised developments in Italy. Beginning in the 1490s, as increasing numbers of Netherlandish and other Northern painters traveled to Italy, Renaissance ideals and painting styles were incorporated into northern painting. As a result, Early Netherlandish painters are often categorised as belonging to both the Northern Renaissance and the Late or International Gothic.

The major Netherlandish painters include Campin, van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Dieric Bouts, Petrus Christus, Hans Memling, Hugo van der Goes and Hieronymus Bosch. These artists made significant advances in natural representation and illusionism, and their work typically features complex iconography. Their subjects are usually religious scenes or small portraits, with narrative painting or mythological subjects being relatively rare. Landscape is often richly described but relegated as a background detail before the early 16th century. The painted works are generally oil on panel, either as single works or more complex portable or fixed altarpieces in the form of diptychs, triptychs or polyptychs. The period is also noted for its sculpture, tapestries, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass and carved retables.

The Senne (French, pronounced [sɛn] ) or Zenne (Dutch, pronounced [ˈzɛnə]) is a small river that flows through Brussels, Belgium. Its source is in the village of Naast near the municipality of Soignies. It is an indirect tributary of the Scheldt, through the Dyle and the Rupel. It joins the Dyle at Zennegat in Battel, north of the municipality of Mechelen, only a few hundred metres before the Dyle itself joins the Rupel.

In total, the Senne is 103 km (64 mi) long. The Woluwe and the Maelbeek are some of its tributaries.

A crucifix (from the Latin cruci fixus meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the corpus (Latin for 'body'). The crucifix emphasizes Jesus' sacrifice, including his death by crucifixion, which Christians believe brought about the redemption of mankind. Most crucifixes portray Jesus on a Latin cross, rather than a Tau cross or a Coptic cross.

The crucifix is a principal symbol for many groups of Christians, and one of the most common forms of the Crucifixion in the arts. It is especially important in the Catholic Church, and is also used in the Lutheran Churches, Anglican Churches, Eastern Orthodox Church, and in most Oriental Orthodox Churches (except the Armenian Church and Syriac Church). The symbol is less common in churches of other Protestant denominations, and in the Assyrian Church of the East and Armenian Apostolic Church, which prefer to use a cross without the figure of Jesus (the corpus).

The Catholic University of Leuven or Louvain (French: Université catholique de Louvain, Dutch: Katholieke Hogeschool te Leuven, later Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven) was founded in 1834 in Mechelen as the Catholic University of Belgium, and moved its seat to the town of Leuven in 1835, changing its name to Catholic University of Leuven. In 1968, it was split into two universities, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the Université catholique de Louvain, following tensions between the Dutch and French-speaking student bodies.

The Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels (Latin: Archidioecesis Mechliniensis–Bruxellensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is the primatial see of the whole of Belgium. Additionally it is the centre of the local ecclesiastical province governed by the Archbishop of Mechelen–Brussels, which covers the middle of the country corresponding to the now defunct Belgian Province of Brabant and a few other municipalities adjacent to it.

The Archdiocese was formed in 1559, and the bishop has a seat in two cathedrals, St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen and the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels. The current archbishop is Luc Terlinden, who was installed in September 2023.

Brabantine Gothic, occasionally called Brabantian Gothic, is a significant variant of Gothic architecture that is typical for the Low Countries. It surfaced in the first half of the 14th century at St. Rumbold's Cathedral in the city of Mechelen.

Reputed architects such as Jean d'Oisy,Jacob van Thienen,Everaert Spoorwater,Matheus de Layens,and the Keldermans and De Waghemakerefamilies disseminated the style and techniques to cities and towns of the Duchy of Brabant and beyond.For churches and other major buildings, the tenor prevailed and lasted throughout the Renaissance.