Virginal

Hagaerts is mentioned in 1626–27 as master of the Guild of St. Luke and was also a member of the joiners’ guild. His method of building the virginal was identical to that of the celebrated Ruckers family, for whom Hagaerts probably worked. The soundboard of the instrument is beautifully decorated with various flowers and birds. The Latin phrase ‘Sic Transit Gloria Mundi’, (thus passes the glory of the world) probably comes from the book De Imitatione Christi (The Imitation of Christ) by the mediaeval Augustinian monk Thomas à Kempis and is closely connected to the idea of vanitas that is also expressed in still lifes.