The Intersection of Art and Ritual in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Visual Culture

Picturing Processions: The Intersection of Art and Ritual in Seventeenth-century Dutch Visual Culture By © 2017 Megan C. Blocksom Submitted to the graduate degree program in Art History and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Chair: Dr. Linda Stone-Ferrier Dr. Marni Kessler Dr. Anne D. Hedeman Dr. Stephen Goddard Dr. Diane Fourny Date Defended: November 17, 2017 ii The dissertation committee for Megan C. Blocksom certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Picturing Processions: The Intersection of Art and Ritual in Seventeenth-century Dutch Visual Culture Chair: Dr. Linda Stone-Ferrier Date Approved: November 17, 2017 iii Abstract This study examines representations of religious and secular processions produced in the seventeenth-century Northern Netherlands. Scholars have long regarded representations of early modern processions as valuable sources of knowledge about the rich traditions of European festival culture and urban ceremony. While the literature on this topic is immense, images of processions produced in the seventeenth-century Northern Netherlands have received comparatively limited scholarly analysis. One of the reasons for this gap in the literature has to do with the prevailing perception that Dutch processions, particularly those of a religious nature, ceased to be meaningful following the adoption of Calvinism and the rise of secular authorities. This dissertation seeks to revise this misconception through a series of case studies that collectively represent the diverse and varied roles performed by processional images and the broad range of contexts in which they appeared. Chapter 1 examines Adriaen van Nieulandt’s large-scale painting of a leper procession, which initially had limited viewership in a board room of the Amsterdam Leprozenhuis, but ultimately reached a wide audience through the international dissemination of reproductions in multiple histories of the city. I argue that the painting memorialized a storied, yet defunct ritual and, in doing so, inscribed the values of community, civic charity and tolerance within Amsterdam’s cultural memory. Chapter 2 investigates Caspar Barlaeus’s Medicea hospes, a lavishly illustrated book produced to honor the 1638 visit to Amsterdam of Marie de’ Médici, Queen Regent of France. Intended for an elite European audience, the text featured a series of etched and engraved images depicting the Queen’s ritual procession through the city as well as the tableaux vivants and water spectacles staged in her honor. I suggest that Barlaeus and the Amsterdam city council iv capitalized on Marie’s ritual entry and its subsequent representation in the Medicea hospes as opportunities to aggrandize and disseminate the city’s reputation at home and abroad. Chapter 3 considers paintings and prints of religious processions designed for an open, middle-class market. Often intimate in scale, these images demonstrate an ongoing interest in and demand for depictions of processional subjects, which civic and ecclesiastical bodies routinely subjected to legislation. I focus on scenes of parades held on Twelfth Night and Shrovetide, the two processional rituals most often depicted by Dutch artists, and argue that viewers desired such images for their pictorialization of communal identity and the concomitant cultural values they espoused. Chapter 4 examines Hendrick van der Burch’s unusual painting of the graduation procession of a doctoral candidate at Leiden University. The subject of such an institutional rite of passage, I suggest, would have appealed to residents of the surrounding university neighborhood as a familiar, seasonal marker of celebration and as a symbolic representation of the intersection between academic ritual and the local community. Collectively, the four chapters assert the changing roles, yet continued relevance of Dutch processional images within an increasingly secular, urban and culturally pluriform society. v Acknowledgments I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the many individuals and institutions whose support made this dissertation possible and enriched my life in countless ways. The Kress Foundation Department of Art History at the University of Kansas assisted with my degree progress through teaching assistantships, academic awards and research funding. During 2013– 14, the Judith Harris Murphy Fellowship afforded me a year-long break from teaching in order to focus on my writing. That same year, an award from the Graduate School at the University of Kansas partially funded a trip to the Netherlands where I conducted the majority of my primary source research. I am also thankful to Columbia University and the Nederlandse Taalunie for sponsoring my participation in courses in modern Dutch and early modern paleography. Taught with expertise and good humor by Dr. Frans Blom and Wijnie de Groot, these courses provided essential skills and research tools that facilitated the completion of this project. While traveling abroad, the professional staff at numerous libraries, museums and archives provided assistance and/or offered meaningful suggestions with regards to my research. In particular, I would like to thank Dr. Friso Lammertse at the Museum Boijmans van Beunigen and Dr. Norbert Middelkoop at the Amsterdam Museum for generously sharing their time and deep knowledge of seventeenth-century Dutch art. Additional thanks are due to the wonderful faculty in the art history department at the University of Kansas for guiding my intellectual and professional development, and for creating a stimulating academic environment. My deepest appreciation must go to my advisor, Dr. Linda Stone-Ferrier, for her unflagging support of my project, as well as professional and personal endeavors. Over many lengthy, long-distance phone calls, she patiently talked through vi interpretive arguments with me and acted as a sounding board and continual source of motivation. This study is in many ways indebted to the stimulating ideas put forth in her research on Dutch genre imagery. She continues to inspire me as a model of scholarly excellence and as an exceptional teacher, mentor and friend. I am also grateful to the other outstanding professors with whom I have had the privilege of working: to Dr. Sally Cornelison for introducing me to and encouraging my inquiry into the field of ritual studies; to Dr. Marni Kessler for imparting a critical understanding of the rich theories and methodologies of the discipline of art history; to Dr. Diane Fourny for sharing her teaching expertise, travel savviness and companionship; to Dr. Catherine Scallen for professional guidance and encouragement; and to Dr. Barbara Haeger, who first inspired my love of Dutch art as an undergraduate. While taking coursework and writing this dissertation, I was fortunate to be part of a welcoming and supportive group of graduate students, including Jennifer Friess; Denise Giannino; Emily Kenagy; Chaz Kirchoff; Christa Kuebel; Morgan Philippi; Rebecca Rolph; Lindsey Wainwright; Loren Whittaker; and Tyler York. I am especially grateful to Jen, Denise and Loren, whose friendship means more to me than words can adequately express. At home, I received the full support of my loving family and friends. In particular, my parents, Laura and Rich, have since my childhood exemplified dedication and what it means to see something through; my in-laws, Abbie and Dave, expressed their appreciation for my pursuits and offered joyful companionship during my travels; and my sister, Loren, offered her love, affection and comedic relief whenever I needed it. I owe the deepest gratitude to my husband and staunchest advocate, Reed. Thank you for your love and patience, your tireless encouragement, and for your interest in and support of my passions. Finally, to my son, Simon: vii your endless curiosity and infectious belly laughs served as a daily source of motivation. I dedicate this dissertation to you. M. C. B. viii Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Representation and Ritual in Adriaen van Nieulandt’s Leper Procession on Copper Monday, 1633: Extolling Civic Virtues ....................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 2: Procession, Pride and Politics in the Medicea hospes: A Dutch Festival Book for a French Queen ................................................................................................................................ 61 Chapter 3: The Rhetoric of Religious Rituals: Representations of Processions in an Increasingly Secular Context ........................................................................................................................... 104 Part I: Images of Twelfth Night Processions ..................................................................... 106 Part II: Images of Carnival Processions ............................................................................. 126 Chapter 4: Hendrick van der Burch’s Graduation Procession at Leiden University: Conceptualizing a Rite of Passage for a Local Community ..................................................................................... 149 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 184 Bibliography

Load more