LUCAS Explains #1: Where would you bring your Tinder date on 3 May 1646? On 14 February, it will be Valentine's Day! When choosing what to do, you might decide to bring your Tinder date to the movies. But were would people have brought their date in the 17th century? Tim Vergeer explains that this would have been a Spanish play. Tim Vergeer • February 11, 2020 • 1 comment
The Cat in Medieval Western Europe How come cats were worshipped in ancient Egypt and reviled in medieval times? It seems that the spread of Christianity is to be blamed. Fortunately for the cat, the feline folklore is still going strong. Johanna Feenstra • February 06, 2020
A Theatrical Whodunit II: Was this Sherlock mistaken? In the second instalment in the hunt for the source of the Dutch translation of Calderón’s ‘La vida es sueño’, I will consider an alternative source that might have been used by Schouwenbergh for his Dutch translation made in Brussels in 1647. Tim Vergeer • January 23, 2020 • 1 comment
A Theatrical Whodunit How did Calderón’s popular play 'La vida es sueño' come to the Low Countries? It seems that the Flemish-Portuguese printer Paulo Craesbeeck is responsible for this. In 1647, he published an anthology of Spanish plays, including Calderón's masterpiece. Tim Vergeer • January 09, 2020
“Whatever Will Be Will Be” in Spanish Plays When you are fluent in a language, you can still make mistakes. This is what happened to the Dutch playwright Theodore Rodenburgh when he adopted his life’s motto “Chi sara sara”. Tim Vergeer • November 28, 2019
Sex in Leiden’s Student Culture since the Golden Age How different were students during the Dutch Golden Age? Not that much actually. Tim Vergeer discusses some historical and literary examples of the sexual adventures of some of Leiden’s students in the seventeenth century (and after). Tim Vergeer • November 07, 2019
The Crux of the Matter: The Truths and Fictions of Crucifixions How did Roman crucifixions work? And did medieval artists depict the Crucifixion accurately? An ancient historian and a medievalist combine forces to shed their light on matters of the cross. Lieke Smits and Renske Janssen • October 17, 2019
#OTD: Cyclical Experiences of Time in the Digital Age Today, 3 October, is the official city holiday Leiden's Ontzet. Why do we care so much about anniversaries of past events, and how are they commemorated on digital media? Lieke Smits • October 03, 2019
The Omval Defaced: Thoughts on Rembrandt’s Anonymous Interlocutor This post examines a curious late state of Rembrandt's etching, The Omval—largely dismissed in the literature as a defacement or mutilation of the copperplate—and asks what we might gain from giving it another look. Jun Nakamura • September 27, 2019
