"The ephemeral art of festival, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, was created for public events, such as triumphal processions, weddings and court funerals. Large-scale monuments combining painting, sculpture and the performing arts were devised for the duration of the event, but as soon as this was over, these extravagant constructions were dismantled and their individual components ultimately destroyed. Before the monuments ceased to exist, the city council would ensure their conservation in words and images, thus materializing the ephemeral art of festival into the more lasting medium of word and image on paper. One of the most celebrated such festive events was that of the 1599 Antwerp Triumphal Entry of Archduke Albert of Austria and the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain, the new Spanish governors of the Netherlands."--Back cover.