The portrait of a building

Medieval and Early Modern Studie

Het portret van een gebouw

Oratie uitgesproken door Prof. dr. Stijn P.M. Bussels bij de aanvaarding van het ambt van hoogleraar in de Kunstgeschiedenis, in het bijzonder voor 1800 aan de Universiteit Leiden op vrijdag 12 oktober 2018Medieval and Early Modern Studie

The wondrous town hall of Amsterdam: laudatory poems on the impact of art and architecture

Medieval and Early Modern Studie

The portrait of a building

Medieval and Early Modern Studie

The portrait of a building

Medieval and Early Modern Studie

The portrait of a building

Medieval and Early Modern Studie

Theories of the Sublime in the Dutch Golden Age: Franciscus Junius, Joost van den Vondel and Petrus Wittewrongel

This article explores how writers from the Dutch Golden Age thought about human contact with that which is elevated far above everyday life. The Dutch Republic offers an interesting context because of the strikingly early use there by seventeenth-century humanists of the Greek concept ὕψος, from (pseudo-)Longinus, to discuss how writers, artists and their audiences were able to surpass human limitations thanks to an intense imagination which transported them to supreme heights. Dutch poets also used the Latin sublimis to discuss how mankind constantly aims at that which is far above it, but, despite this, can never entirely be a part of it. Thirdly, protestant writers discuss the concept of the Fear of God by explaining that elevated contact with God should be accompanied by the contrasting emotions of attraction and fear. With reference to the humanist Franciscus Junius, poet Joost van den Vondel and preacher Petrus Wittewrongel, I will discuss how these artistic, literary and religious discourses concerning contact with the sublime are related to one another.Medieval and Early Modern Studie

Los Hermanos de Vondel y el poder de la imaginación

This article discusses the first series of performances of Joost van den Vondel’s Brothers in Amsterdam in 1641. The drama focuses on the heart-rending decision king David has to take to follow God’s will to ratify the executions of Saul’s sons and grandsons. With the staging of Brothers Vondel made an experiment in spreading the Word of God as profoundly, but also as respectfully as possible. He avoids showing the executions explicitly. Instead he uses diverse dramatic and visual means and most prominently a tableau vivant to urge the theatre-goers to create strong mental images and thus to empathize maximally with David. Vondel’s experiment in theatre practice has striking parallels with theatre theory of the same period. In his poetics Vondel’s close friend Gerardus Vossius initiates modern discussion on the overwhelming effect of dramatic performances. With the help of Longinus’s On the Sublime Vossius makes a distinction between the ‘cheap’ momentary effect of staging explicit cruelties and the long-lasting effect of our imagination. By placing a tableau vivant in the performance of Brothers at the center of attention we get a privileged view on theatre practice and related theoretical discussion on the effect of the dramatic performance in the Dutch Golden Age.Medieval and Early Modern Studie