A Calvinist view of visual art in seventeenth-century Holland : the iconography of Esther in post-Reformation Dutch painting

The Book of Esther, found in the Old Testament, has been represented in a variety of ways throughout history. In a sweeping tale of love, honor, and sacrifice, the Jewish maiden queen, Esther, is a heroine to the oppressed. Dutch Protestants in the Golden Age felt a kinship to this subject, particularly after the Protestant Reformation and the new religious freedom gained in Holland during the sixteenth century, which continued in the seventeenth century. These men and women saw many parallels between Esther’s experience and their own, both as the covenant people of God and as the remnant preserved by God’s care. By looking at the history of the Protestant Reformation, the religious climate of Holland, and a number of representations of the Book of Esther, this paper aims to explore the connection between Dutch Protestantism and the Old Testament Jews, the importance of the Book of Esther for Dutch Protestants in the seventeenth century, and the way in which artists represented Esther in Post-Reformation Holland

Tronie und bürgerliches Kostümporträt im Werk Rembrandts und seiner Nachfolger

Um 1640 entwickelte sich im Umkreis Rembrandts und seiner Schüler ein Porträttyp, der sich formal an den Tronien der Maler orientierte. Die Dargestellten erscheinen in einer den Kostümen von Tronien vergleichbaren Phantasiekleidung. Die Auftraggeber der Bildnisse stammten aus dem Bürgertum. Tronien, die vorbildhaft auf den neuen Porträttyp wirkten, waren als Darstellungen ranghoher Persönlichkeiten konzipiert. Sie waren allerdings ikonographisch nicht auf eine bestimmte Person festgelegt, sondern konnten vom Betrachter beliebig mit einem Sinn ausgestattet werden. Ebenso verhält es sich bei den Kostümporträts. Da es aufgrund der visuellen Übereinstimmungen der Bildkategorien leicht zu Verwechslungen kommen kann, werden Abgrenzungskriterien entwickelt. In ihrer Nähe zu Tronien bestand ein wesentlicher Reiz der Bildnisse: Sie waren unmittelbar als Werke von Tronie- bzw. Historienmalern zu erkennen und dokumentierten Erfindungsreichtum und individuellen Stil ihrer Schöpfer. Die Auftraggeber wurden im Kostümporträt als Personen von Adel oder hohen Ranges charakterisiert. Durch diese Aufwertung verlieh die bürgerliche Elite ihrem Anspruch auf Gleichrangigkeit gegenüber der Aristokratie Ausdruck. Gleichzeitig demonstrierte sie durch die Orientierung am Bildtyp der Tronie statt an der höfischen Porträtmalerei ihre Unabhängigkeit

Drawing on the Neighbourhood in Rembrandt’s Inscription on a Drawing

In the undisputed hand of Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, the intriguing inscription that appears beneath the drawing of an Old Testament scene, The Departure of Rebecca, c. 1637, has generated various studies. The rarity of the artist’s annotations, in general, has served to intensify scholarly interest in them. Discussions of the inscription have examined its relationship to the drawing’s attribution, the artist’s teaching methods, and his instructional intent. This study posits that the inscription’s specific wording raises additional significant questions, which have yet to be considered

Distanzbedürfnisse

Museum barriers – those ropes and cords in front of artworks – seem to be both a nuisance and a necessity. To protect the artworks, they constrain the movements of visitors. Yet it is uncertain if protection really is what barriers are about. In this article, I argue that museum barriers are a material manifestation of deep-seated cultural convictions about how to approach works of art. Even if they are absent, learned and internalized barriers step in. – In recent years, the barrier seems to be disappearing from museum galleries. Reflecting upon the reasons for their presence or absence, I examine some of the functions of barriers in art museums, ask about the relationship of aesthetic and physical distance, and look at how art itself has addressed both the beholder’s desire for proximity and the urge to keep one’s distance

Archaeometry in Serbia: Where We Are and Where We Should Go Next?

The paper presents a short history of archaeometry investigations in Serbia, from the first published work in 1932 until today. It then describes the most important laboratories and institutions that perform archaeometry investigations in Serbia today, their teams, equipment, projects, and cooperation: Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Serbia, Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Faculty of Physical Chemistry, National Museum of Serbia, Institute of Archaeology, the Heritage Lab, Gallery of Matica Srpska Novi Sad, and City Museum of Subotica. The paper describes plans for the future and proposes forming of Serbian Society for Archaeometry with several goals: to further interconnect research disciplines; to facilitate better use and purchase of equipment, to establish a dedicated laboratory for archaeometry; to introduce archaeometry study programs at different levels of teaching; to introduce archaeometry into scientific plans of Serbia; to start a domestic archaeometry journal, and to promote the awareness of the potentials and benefits of archaeometry to institutions dealing with cultural heritage and to the general public

Un programa iconográfico veterotestamentario en el Camarín de N. S. del Rosario (Granada)

The Camarín of Our Lady of the Rosary of Granada is considered by the historiography of art as the culmination of the Baroque chambers. In addition, one of the elements that make it more unique is the extremely complex counter-reform iconographic program that is part of its decoration. Since it is impossible to carry out an exhaustive study of the entire iconographic program, in this case we have focused on a small part. It is an Old Testament program located in the reliefs that decorate the base of the central room of the dressing room. This program is mainly carried out by women of the Old Testament who prefigure the Virgin Mary, at the same time that they seek to exalt their main virtues.El Camarín de Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Granada está considerado por la historiografía del Arte como el culmen de los camarines del Barroco. Además, uno de los elementos que lo hacen más singular es el complejísimo programa iconográfico contrareformista que forma parte de su decoración. Puesto que es imposible llevar a cabo un exhaustivo estudio de todo el programa iconográfico, en este caso nos hemos centrado en una pequeña parte. Se trata de un programa veterotestamentario sito en los relieves que decoran el zócalo de la estancia central del camarín. Dicho programa está protagonizado principalmente por mujeres del Antiguo Testamento que prefiguran a la Virgen María, a la vez que buscan exaltar sus principales virtudes