The collegiate church of Notre-Dame in Antwerp developed into one of the most important musical centers in the Netherlands during the 15th and 16th centuries. This recording traces the lineage of the music directors and singers associated with the church, later the cathedral. Their music illustrates how polyphony evolved from its late medieval roots to the early Baroque period. Gregorian chants from the Antwerp tradition are included in the polyphonic works as a reminder of the daily offices and their music: there were always chants in the choir, in the chapels, and during the services of the confraternities and guilds spread throughout the day. The name and image of the Virgin Mary were present everywhere, not only in the church liturgy but also in the daily life of the city. This same link remains visible today in the many statues of Mary on façades and street corners — even on the façade of the town hall — and during the celebration of the Feast of the Assumption. The program concludes with the early Baroque period, a period during which Peter Paul Rubens was also active. Assumpta est Maria by Peter Philips shares the same artistic context as Rubens’ monumental Assumption of the Virgin, in its place above the high altar of Antwerp Cathedral.