The Matter of Piety - (Studies in Netherlandish Art and Cultural History) by Ruben Suykerbuyk (Hardcover)

About the Book

The Matter of Piety provides the first in-depth study of Zoutleeuw's exceptionally well-preserved pilgrimage church in a comparative perspective, and revises dominant narratives about Catholic culture and patronage in the Low Countries.

Book Synopsis

The Matter of Piety provides the first in-depth study of Zoutleeuw's exceptionally well-preserved pilgrimage church in a comparative perspective, and revaluates religious art and material culture in Netherlandish piety from the late Middle Ages through the crisis of iconoclasm and the Reformation to Catholic restoration. Analyzing the changing functions, outlooks, and meanings of devotional objects - monumental sacrament houses, cult statues and altarpieces, and small votive offerings or relics - Ruben Suykerbuyk revises dominant narratives about Catholic culture and patronage in the Low Countries. Rather than being a paralyzing force, the Reformation incited engaged counterinitiatives, and the vitality of late medieval devotion served as the fertile ground from which the Counter-Reformation organically grew under Protestant impulses.

About the Author

Ruben Suykerbuyk, Ph. D. (2018), Ghent University, is postdoctoral researcher at the same institution. He is the author of several works on fifteenth- to seventeenth-century religious art, material culture, and patronage in the Low Countries.