Paradise
In the old tales, it is reported how an angel with a sword has driven man out of paradise. The swordsmen have the sword as an attribute and they were responsible for the protection of the city. The guild of the swordsmen introduces this scene. The creation is entrusted by God to man. But man is at the same time good and evil. The greatest sin is the hubris, the pride, out of which arises envy and quarrel. Because evil is rooted in man, he remains his whole lifetime looking for happiness, peace and the meaning of his existence.
Abraham
Because the Brokers acted as intermediaries by trading in the cosmopolitan market of Bruges, they present the scene of the Covenant.
At the invitation of God’s voice, symbolised by a horseman, Abraham moved away from his familiar surroundings to a strange but better land to begin his life anew. He is the symbol of the searching man who trusts in God.
