Representing the Criminal Body in the City: Knowledge, Publics and Power in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch Republic Anuradha Gobin Department of Art History and Communication Studies McGill University, Montreal September 2013 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Anuradha Gobin, 2013 Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………..4 Résumé……………………………………………………………………...6 Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………8 List of Illustrations………………………………………………………….10 INTRODUCTION: Representing the Criminal Body in the City: Knowledge, Publics and Power in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch Republic…………………………………………………………………….20 CHAPTER ONE: Communicating Criminality: Ceremony, Space and Image at the Amsterdam Town Hall………………………………....44 Peace, Prosperity and Publicity: The Construction of the Amsterdam Town Hall………………………………………………49 Locating Authority: Criminal Prosecutions and Judicial Appointments at the Amsterdam Town Hall………………………...71 Pre-Execution Rituals: The Criminal Traversing the Judicial Spaces of the Amsterdam Town Hall……………………….85 Conclusion…………………………………………………………..108 CHAPTER TWO: The Criminal Body on Display: Promoting and Subverting Authority in Representations of Gallows in the Dutch Landscape…………………………………………………………………..112 Official Methods of Disposal and Display: Picturing and Presenting the Executed Criminal Body…………………………….116 The Potential for Subversion: The Gallows as a Naturalized Feature in the Dutch Landscape……………………………………..137 Symbolic Transformation: The Gallows as Location for Recreation, Entertainment and Humour……………………………..150 Conclusion…………………………………………………………...160 CHAPTER THREE: Dissecting the Criminal Body: Publics, Performance and Prestige in the Anatomy Theatre……………………..163 2 Situating the Practice of Dissection: History, Tradition and Transformation…………………………………………………..165 Formulating a Public of Dissection: Medical Knowledge, Moral Education and Spectacle at the Anatomy Theatre…………….183 Serving the Public Good: Reform, Surveillance and the Productive Criminal Body……………………………………….205 Picturing Prestige and Power: Formulating Authority and Status through Dissection Practices……………………………..214 Conclusion…………………………………………………………...228 CHAPTER FOUR: The Transformation of Touch: Flayed Skin and the Visual and Material Afterlife of the Criminal Body……....230 Rembrandt’s Anatomy: On the Threshold of Old and New…………233 Interacting with Objects: The Anatomy Theatre as Site of Discovery………………………………………………………….243 Skinning the Subject: Flayed Skin as Symbolizing Social Rupture………………………………………………………..252 Paper and Parchment: Illustrating the Anatomised Body………….. .266 Medicine and Morality: Folding the Flap and Penetrating the Surface…………………………………………………………....273 Conclusion…………………………………………………………....287 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………….. 289 Images………………………………………………………………………..295 Bibliography………………………………………………………………....409 3 Abstract Representing the Criminal Body in the City: Knowledge, Publics and Power in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch Republic This dissertation explores representations of the punished criminal body as it moved in, out and through the city during punishment rituals in the seventeenth- century Dutch Republic. The transgressive body was put on view at a number of publicly accessible sites such as the Town Hall and Town Square where criminal trials and executions occurred; the gallows field where dead criminal bodies were placed on display; and the anatomy theatre where cadavers were dissected in search of new anatomical knowledge. This study investigates the social, religious and legal importance of spaces of criminal punishment, placing particular emphasis on the uses of various media to advertise and transmit information about public executions and dissections. The main objects of analysis include paintings, drawings, prints, anatomical illustrations, sculpture, flap-sheet anatomies and preserved body parts, which were actively circulated during the seventeenth century. This dissertation argues that the visual media related to criminal punishments served a key role in asserting republican ideals and demonstrating the ability of civic officials to maintain order and control. Conversely, the wide circulation of some types of visual culture had the potential to subvert official messages through their ability to engage an expanded audience in discussion and debate. Visual culture related to criminal punishments thus opened up a space in which dissenting positions could be formulated. As this thesis demonstrates, the dissemination of visual culture related to the delinquent body brought together 4 seemingly disparate groups of people and solicited their participation, especially in the generation of new knowledge about the body. This participation, however, may have been an unintended outcome of punishment rituals and underscores the increasingly collective and public nature of knowledge in the seventeenth-century Dutch Republic. 5 Résumé Représenter le corps criminel dans la cité: Savoir, public et pouvoir dans la République hollandaise au 17e siècle Cette thèse porte sur le corps criminel châtié tel qu’il est représenté circulant à l’intérieur, à l’extérieur et à travers la cité au cours de rituels de châtiments qui ont eu lieu au 17e siècle, dans la République hollandaise. Le corps du criminel était exposé dans bon nombre de sites accessibles au public tels que l’hôtel de ville et la grand-place où des procès et des exécutions de criminels avaient lieu, les potences où les corps des criminels morts étaient exposés, ainsi que les théâtres anatomiques où les cadavres étaient disséqués dans le but de parvenir à de nouvelles connaissances anatomiques. Notre étude se penche sur l’importance sociale, religieuse et juridique des espaces où ont eu lieu les peines criminelles, et met particulièrement l’emphase sur l’usage de divers médias qui ont permis de publiciser et de transmettre de l’information concernant les châtiments publics, les exécutions et les dissections. Les objets principaux de cette analyse incluent les peintures, dessins, gravures, illustrations anatomiques, sculptures, feuilles volantes anatomiques et parties de corps préservées qui circulaient activement au cours du 17e siècle. Dans cette thèse, nous avançons que les médias visuels qui représentent des peines criminelles ont joué un rôle essentiel dans la défense des idéaux républicains et la démonstration de la capacité des fonctionnaires municipaux à maintenir l'ordre. Inversement, certains des objets précédemment nommés, étant largement diffusés, ont pu remettre en cause les discours officiels par les discussions et les débats qu’ils ont instigués au sein d’un auditoire élargi et 6 captif. La culture visuelle représentant les peines criminelles a ainsi ouvert un espace au sein duquel des positions dissidentes ont pu voir le jour. Comme nous le démontrons dans cette thèse, la diffusion de la culture visuelle, telle qu’elle est liée au corps délinquant, a réuni et sollicité la participation de groupes de personnes, en apparence disparates, et ce, particulièrement au cours d’une ère où ont été produits de nouveaux savoirs anatomiques. Toutefois, cette participation peut avoir été un résultat inattendu des rituels de châtiments, et souligne la nature de plus en plus collective et publique du savoir tel qu’il prend forme dans la République hollandaise du 17e siècle. 7 Acknowledgements The completion of this dissertation was made possible through the generous financial support of a doctoral fellowship from the Fonds Québécois de la Recherche sur la Société et la Culture, travel and research grants from Making Publics: Media, markets & association in early modern Europe, 1500-1700 (MaPs), a Canadian Center for Architecture Research Collection Grant, a travel fellowship from the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies of British Art, travel and research awards from Media@McGill, the Wolfe Fellowship in Scientific and Technological Literacy, the Max Sterne-McCord Museum Fellowship, as well as a number of travel and research awards from the Faculty of Arts and the Department of Art History and Communication Studies at McGill University. I feel very fortunate to have completed this project in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies under the supervision of Dr. Angela Vanhaelen. Dr. Vanhaelen has been a true mentor and has provided unwavering support and enthusiasm for this project from its inception. She has been extremely generous with her time, resources and expertise and this dissertation could not have been completed without her guidance. I would also like to thank Mary Hunter and Matthew Hunter for their thoughtful feedback and suggestions at various stages throughout this project. Thank you also to Susana Machado and Maureen Coote for always having the answers to my many administrative questions. 8 Many friends have contributed in a number of vital ways to the completion of this project. I would particularly like to thank Peter Santlal for all our Montreal adventures and for welcoming me into his circle of family and friends. I was also very fortunate to participate in a dissertation writing workshop organised by the Faculty of Arts at McGill University. I would like to thank all the participants for their thoughtful suggestions and feedback on my research. My parents instilled the importance of an active curiosity and lifelong learning. They also served as models of discipline and integrity. Finally, I would like to thank Gregory Taylor for his unfailing