Of more than forty churches that fortified Antwerp as the bulwark of the Counter Reformation in the Netherlands, only St. Jacob's stands now with its art and archives intact. Parish church of the city's elite, it is filled with masterpieces, including the altarpiece that Rubens painted for his own burial chapel. Works of architecture, painting, sculpture, and hundreds of sacred objects, documented by the archives, enable a reconstruction of the integral role that art played in the transformation of a whole society over the span of two centuries, from 1585 to the 1790s. It is a history of real people and organizations, who used art for religion, politics, and social purpose, joined together in a church that embodied a diverse community.
Author(s): Jeffrey Muller
Series: Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, 253. Brill’s Studies on Art, Art History, and Intellectual History, 13
Publisher: Brill
Year: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 658
Acknowledgements ix
List of Illustrations xi
List of Tables xxv
Abbreviations xxvi
Introduction 1
1. St. Jacob’s Parish and Construction of the Church: 1491–1780 13
2. Ornament for the Church: 1585–1656 67
3. Circa 1660: Crisis and Ornament: The Creation of a New Interior for the Parish Church 92
4. Sacraments in the Parish 152
5. The Blessed Sacrament Chapel and the Marriage Chapel 185
6. The Lady Chapel in Search of an Image 264
7. St. Jacob’s New Collegiate Chapter of Canons and Their Choir 291
8. Private Chapels in the Church 309
9. St. Jacob’s Counter Reformation Confraternities 398
10. Death in the Church 491
11. Church Against State in the Time of Enlightenment and Revolution 532
12. Conclusion 552
Appendix 1: Documentation of Private Chapels in St. Jacob’s 558
Appendix 2: Foundation, Membership, Location of Brotherhoods at St. Jacob’s in Chronological Order 586
References 592
Index 615
