Jan Steen, one of the most popular painters of the Dutch Golden Age, is known for his humorous depictions of dissolute households, tavern interiors, quacksalvers and love-sick young women. He was unrivalled in poking fun at every conceivable human weakness and vice. A lesser known fact is that he also painted history pieces: scenes based on episodes from the Bible, apocryphal writings and mythology - stories full of excitement, drama and passion. As he did in his genre pieces, Steen devoted a great deal of attention in his history paintings to the interaction between the figures, and was keenly aware of the satirical possibilities of every story. In contrast to what his later image suggests, Jan Steen was a versatile and ambitious artist with a profound knowledge of art history and literature: knowledge that comes to the fore in his history pieces. This richly illustrated publication, written by experts on Jan Steen, focuses on this little-known part of the artist's oeuvre. AUTHORS: Ariane van Suchtelen, curator at the Mauritshuis, is the author of an introduction to the life and work of Jan Steen, in which she discusses the place occupied by history painting in his (otherwise humorous) oeuvre. Which themes did he prefer? What were his sources? For whom were these paintings intended? Wouter Kloek, former curator at the Rijksmuseum, writes about the form and content of Steen's history paintings, and the thin line that separates representations of biblical and mythological themes from scenes of everyday life. Mariet Westermann, executive vice president of the Andrew W Mellon Foundation, writes about Steen's exceptional ambition as a history painter. Her essay clarifies the national and international context in which these paintings originated. SELLING POINTS: * For the first time in book form, presenting history-pieces by Jan Steen * 17th century paintings from the Dutch Golden Age * Contributions by Ariane van Suchtelen, Wouter Kloek and Mariet Westermann 125 colour, 25 b/w images

Dutch society in the Golden Age was predominantly an urban one. From 1600 onwards the cities of the

The Mauritshuis has ten paintings by Rembrandt.The most famous is undoubtedly The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp, but just as popular are Simeon's Song of Praise, Portrait of an Old Man and Self-Portrait, one of the last which the Master painted. In t

Truly collaborative paintings, that is, not simply mechanical but also conceptual co-productions, are rare in the history of art. This gorgeously illustrated catalogue explores just such an extraordinary partnership between Antwerp's most eminent painters of the early seventeenth century, Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) and Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625). Rubens and Brueghel executed approximately twenty-five works together between around 1597 and Brueghel's death in 1625. Highly prized and sought after by collectors throughout Europe, the collaborative works of Rubens and Brueghel were distinguished by an extremely high level of quality, further enhanced by the status of the artists themselves. Published to coincide with an exhibition at the Getty Museum to be held July 5 to September 24, 2006, the catalogue features twenty-six color plates of such Rubens/Brueghel paintings as The Return from War, The Feast of Achelo�s, and Madonna and Child in a Garland of Flowers, along with Rubens and Brueghel's collaborations with important contemporaries such as Frans Snyders and Hendrick van Balen. This is the first such publication to fully address and reproduce these works in depth.

An Anthology of Writings from 1483 to 1999. Firmly I Believe and Truly celebrates the depth and breadth of the spiritual, literary, and intellectual heritage of the Post-Reformation English Roman Catholic tradition in an anthology of writings that span a five hundred year period between William Caxton and Cardinal Hume. Intended as a rich resource for all with an interest in Roman Catholicism, the writings have been carefully selected and edited by a team of scholars with historical, theological, and literary expertise. Each author is introduced to provide context for the included extracts and the chronological arrangement of the anthology makes the volume easy to use whilst creating a fascinating overview of the modern era in English Catholic thought. The extracts comprise a wide variety writing genres; sermons, prayers, poetry, diaries, novels, theology, apologetics, works of controversy, devotional literature, biographies, drama, and essays. Includes writings by: John Colet, John Fisher, Thomas More, Robert Southwell, Philip Howard, Edmund Campion, John Gother, John Dryden, Mary Barker, Alexander Pope, Richard Challoner, Alban Butler, John Milner, Elizabeth Inchbald, Nicholas Wiseman, Margaret Mary Hallahan, A. W. N. Pugin, John Henry Newman, Henry Edward Manning, Frederick William Faber, Bertrand Wilberforce, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Vincent McNabb, Hilaire Belloc, Maurice Baring, G. K. Chesterton, R. A. Knox, J. R. R. Tolkien, Caryll Houselander, EvelynWaugh, Graham Greene, John Bradburne, Cardinal Hume

Genreschilderijen hebben het dagelijks leven tot onderwerp, variërend van boerentaferelen tot chique interieurscènes. Regelmatig bevatten de voorstellingen een wijze les die soms voor zichzelf spreekt, maar in andere gevallen slechts met enige moeite kan worden ontrafeld.De collectie van ruim 100 Hollandse en Vlaamse genrestukken van het Mauritshuis behoort tot de absolute wereldtop met meesterwerken van specialisten als Jan Steen, Frans van Mieris, Gerard ter Borch, Adriaen van Ostade, Gabriël Metsu, Gerrit Dou en David Teniers. De conservatoren en restauratoren van het Mauritshuis geven in deze nieuwe, rijk geïllustreerde en complete bestandscatalogus hun actuele, wetenschappelijke visie op alle genrestukken in de collectie. In twee inleidende essays komt de ontwikkeling van de genreschilderkunst uitvoerig aan bod en wordt ingegaan op de schildertechniek van deze rauwe of juist verstilde taferelen, die ons blijven verbazen.

"Holland Frozen in Time is the first publication in a long time which offers an overview of this typically Dutch phenomenon. In addition to elucidating the art-historical aspects, this catalogue treats various winter pleasures engaged in on the ice, the role played by winter in seventeenth-century literature, and of course the climatic conditions prevailing at that time. Finally, there is an account of the fascinating early history of the winter landscape, from medieval illuminated manuscripts via the winter scenes of Pieter Bruegel the Elder to the beginning of the seventeenth century."--BOOK JACKET.