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Emanuel De Witte's Sermon Paintings EMANUEL DE WITTE’S SERMON PAINTINGS: SIGHT, SOUND AND SPIRITUALITY by Sara Rachel Bordeaux A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Art History Spring 2014 © 2014 Sara Rachel Bordeaux All Rights Reserved ProQuest Number:10185113 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent on the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ProQuest 10185113 Published by ProQuest LLC (2020). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All Rights Reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346 EMANUEL DE WITTE’S SERMON PAINTINGS: SIGHT, SOUND AND SPIRITUALITY by Sara Rachel Bordeaux Approved: __________________________________________________________ Lawrence Nees, Ph.D. Chair of the Department of Art History Approved: __________________________________________________________ George H. Watson, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Approved: __________________________________________________________ James G. Richards, Ph.D. Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ H. Perry Chapman, Ph.D. Professor in charge of dissertation I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ David M. Stone, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Lawrence Nees, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee I certify that I have read this dissertation and that in my opinion it meets the academic and professional standard required by the University as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Signed: __________________________________________________________ Mia M. Mochizuki, Ph.D. Member of dissertation committee ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my advisor, Perry Chapman, for her guidance and support. I must also thank my patient and understanding husband, Christopher Bordeaux, without whom none of this would ever have been possible. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ xxi Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION: SENSING THE SPIRITUAL ........................................... 1 ENDNOTES ..................................................................................................... 17 2 SECULARIZING THE CHURCH ................................................................... 22 The Church Interior as a Portrait of a Place ..................................................... 23 The Church Interior as Semblance of Reality .................................................. 26 Pieter Saenredam as the “Master of Perspective” ............................................ 29 De Witte and The Delft School ........................................................................ 34 Formal Concerns ........................................................................................ 35 The Church Interior as Civic Space ............................................................ 41 Iconoclasm and the Vocabulary of Reformation Art ....................................... 47 Conclusion: A Point of Entry ........................................................................... 54 ENDNOTES ..................................................................................................... 56 3 DE WITTE AS TRUTH SEEKER ................................................................... 67 “Every Painter Paints Himself” ........................................................................ 69 De Witte’s “levenswyze” According to Houbraken .......................................... 72 De Witte as Diogenes ....................................................................................... 77 Truth in Fiction ................................................................................................. 87 Conclusion: De Witte as Observer of Humanity .............................................. 96 ENDNOTES ..................................................................................................... 99 4 PAINTING THE WORD ............................................................................... 110 Naturalism and Calvinist Aesthetics .............................................................. 112 Spiritual Light ................................................................................................. 120 v Visualizing the Invisible ........................................................................... 121 Poeticizing Light ...................................................................................... 125 Painting Sacred Light ............................................................................... 128 Sanctification of Space ................................................................................... 134 A Signature Style ............................................................................................ 141 Opticality and Illusionism in Delft ........................................................... 141 Bravura Brushwork in Amsterdam .......................................................... 147 A Lively Brush for a Living Word ........................................................... 155 Conclusion: An Invitation to the Service ....................................................... 157 ENDNOTES ................................................................................................... 159 5 THE ART OF PREACHING ......................................................................... 167 Speaking Likenesses and Eloquent Orators ................................................... 172 The Sound of Sermons ................................................................................... 186 The Pedagogy of the Preacher and the Rise of the Rhetorical Tradition ....... 197 The Performative Preacher and the Language of Gesture .............................. 203 Perceptions of the Preacher ............................................................................ 213 Conclusion: “Sermons” in the Kleyne Kerck .................................................. 221 ENDNOTES ................................................................................................... 223 6 THE COMMUNITY OF THE FAITHFUL ................................................... 238 Diversity and the Discriminating Ear ............................................................. 240 The Netherlandish Tradition of Religious “Listening” .................................. 248 The Permeability of the Calvinist Community ............................................... 257 Public Engagement and the Calvinist Church .......................................... 259 Liefhebbers and Liminal Space ................................................................ 263 Conclusion: A “Sound” Faith ......................................................................... 276 ENDNOTES ................................................................................................... 279 7 GOD’S INSTRUMENT ................................................................................. 289 The Organ Controversy .................................................................................. 291 The Nieuwe Kerk Organ in Text and Image .................................................. 299 The Organ in Text .................................................................................... 300 vi The Organ Rebuilding Project .................................................................. 303 The Organ in Image .................................................................................. 307 The Aural Appeal of De Witte’s Painted Organs ........................................... 314 De Witte’s Contemporaries and the Pictorial Promotion of the Organ .......... 320 Pieter Saenredam and Haarlem’s Bavokerk ............................................. 321 Anthonie de Lorme and Rotterdam’s Laurenskerk .................................. 331 The Organ as Sacred Instrument .................................................................... 339 Conclusion: Closing the Curtain .................................................................... 342 ENDNOTES ................................................................................................... 344 CONCLUSION: THE IMAGE OF THE CHURCH ................................................ 357
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