Antwerp Art After Iconoclasm

The beeldenstorm, or the Iconoclastic Fury, that raged throughout the Low Countries in 1566 is a key concept in the history of the Netherlands. This popular uprising, which was partially grafted on Protestant ideas, has traditionally and unquestioningly been considered a turning point in the history of the Low Countries. It is all the more striking, therefore, that this occurrence has never received the attention it deserves in art history and that there has been little interest in the development of painting just after the beeldenstorm and before the advent of the great Baroque masters. Featuring previously unpublished materials, "Antwerp Art after Iconoclasm" investigates how the esteemed painters of the period – including Adriaen Thomasz Key (1544-1599), Maarten de Vos (1532-1603), Frans Pourbus the Elder (1545-1581), and Michiel Coxcie (1499-1592) – sought a new visual idiom. This study explains why this little-studied period of Netherlandish history should be considered an...