Drawing and Dissent. Pictorial Notebook Culture and the Politics of Art in the Dutch Revolt

This project offers a new perspective on the political and emotional valence of art during the Dutch Revolt (1568-1648). At the center of this study is a neglected treasure-trove of Renaissance visual culture: the diary-notebooks of the Protestant polymath Paulus de Kempenaer (ca. 1554-1618) and the hundreds of unpublished drawings contained within. These pictorial self-narratives not only illuminate his inner life but also open up surprising perspectives on the greater ideas and events that governed the war-torn Low Countries around 1600. Politico-religious conflict and censure also transformed this highly personal medium into a fascinating space of refuge for dissident ideas and artistic experimentation. Hence, the pictorial notebooks of Paulus de Kempenaer provide a compelling and alternative lens through which to examine the intersections among art, emotion, and politics in early modern society.

Keywords:Visual Culture, Dutch Revolt, Low Countries, History of Emotions, Manuscript Culture

Disciplines:Graphic arts