The Matter of Piety : : Zoutleeuw's Church of Saint Leonard and Religious Material Culture in the Low Countries (C. 1450-1620) / / Ruben Suykerbuyk.

• Superior document: Studies in Netherlandish Art and Cultural History Series ; Volume 16
• VerfasserIn: Suykerbuyk, Ruben,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, The Netherlands : : Koninklijke Brill NV,, [2020]; ©2020
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Edition: First edition.
• Language: English
• Series: Studies in Netherlandish art and cultural history.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (453 pages) :; digital, PDF file(s).

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.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements -- List of Illustrations -- Abbreviations -- Note on Currencies -- Introduction: The Matter of Piety in an Age of Religious Change -- A Pulverized Image? Status quaestionis -- Sources, Methodology and Set-up -- Part 1: Late Medieval Piety in Perspective -- 1 The Cult of Saint Leonard at Zoutleeuw -- Saint Leonard’s Altarpiece -- Protohistory of the Cult -- The Fortunes of Devotion: Offerings -- The Promotion of Devotion -- 2 The Image of Piety at the Dawn of Iconoclasm -- Old Sources, New Views: Miracles and Indulgences -- The Cult Circuit in the Low Countries -- A Spirited Devotional Culture Materialized -- part 2: Catholic Piety in Iconoclastic Times -- 3 1520. The Waning of Medieval Piety? -- Cornelis Floris’ Sacrament House -- The Introduction of Protestant Thought -- The 1520-Thesis -- Continuities -- 4 Pilgrimage -- The Public Debate on Images, Miracles and Pilgrims -- The Cult of Saint Leonard at Zoutleeuw: Tradition and Innovation -- Miracles and Cults, Old and New -- Miracles as Anti-Protestant Statements -- 5 Parish Liturgy -- The Eucharist -- Musical Embellishment -- 6 Patronage -- The Memorial Landscape in Zoutleeuw -- Van Wilre’s Project -- Countering the Reformation -- Sacrament Houses as Objects of Defiance -- 7 1566: The Beeldenstorm and Its Aftermath -- Destructions and Descriptions -- The Wonderyear: Facts and Theories -- Les villes bonnes -- Zoutleeuw and the Hageland Region -- Part 3: The Miraculous Counter-Reformation -- 8 The Resumption of Miracles -- Paulus Gautier’s Miracle Memorial Painting -- A New Era? -- The Rise of Votive Paintings -- A Culture of the Miraculous -- Zoutleeuw, 1612 -- 9 Devotional Negotiation with the Archducal Government -- The Object of Devotion: Image versus Relic -- The Gift -- The Translation -- Conclusion: The Thin Line Between Tradition and Transformation -- Appendix 1: The Churchwarden Accounts of Zoutleeuw’s Church of Saint Leonard -- Appendix 2: Graphs -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Primary Sources -- Published Sources -- Literature -- Online Databases -- Index.