Festivals and Films

Dying in the Middle Ages

From 02 Dec 2010 to 23 Apr 2011

3 December - 24 April 2011. A selection of 200 objects and works of art reveal how people in the 16th century perceived death. Due to factors such as malnutrition, disease and war, life expectancy of

mediaeval man was much shorter than today.

The exhibition focuses on funeral practices over a period of 1,000 years by examining burial, mourning and commemoration ceremonies from that era. Societal differences are highlighted between burials of the wealthy and the poor by their respective mausoleums, tombs, common graves and mass graves.

Many of the paintings, sculpture, relics, manuscripts, weapons, implements of torture, skeletons and grave offerings come from the collections of the Mus