Construction and Collapse on Paper: Clades Judacae Gentis of Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569 Open Access

Abstract

Abstract
Construction and Collapse on Paper: Clades Judacae Gentis of Maarten van Heemskerck,
1569
By Frances C. E. Allitt
Maarten van Heemskerck was an artist who lived in the Low Countries in the Sixteenth
Century. He was one of the first Northern European artists to devote a large amount of time
to the production of prints using the new professionalized system. Like many of his
contemporaries he was influenced by the growing popularity of biblical illustrations
functioning as moral exempla, and near the end of his life produced a series of 22 prints titled
Clades Judacae Gentis, or The Vicissitudes of the Jewish People. This paper is an exegetical
study of the series, examining the works both individually and in a narrative context. It is
possible to understand the portion of the series that focuses on the Old Testament as divided
into groups of six, and further subdivided into pairs. The following two scenes are
illustrations of the New Testament and the first and last images stand alone. Through these
groupings, Van Heemskerck shows his viewers how God's relationship with the Israelites
worsens throughout their history and eventually disintegrates entirely. The artist uses the
visual tradition of the Northern and Italian Renaissance and portrays himself as a latter-day
ancient in his understanding and use of architecture.

Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction 1

I. The Self-Fashioning of Van Heemskerck and the Style of the

Print Series 6

II. The Prints 13

1. The Frontispiece 13

2. The First Three: Stories from Genesis 21

3. Joshua and Samson: Man and God in Dialogue 35

4. The Absence of God: The Final Old Testament Scenes 45

5. The New Testament: The Final Pair 56

6. The Destruction of the Temple by the Emperor Titus: The

Final Print 61

Conclusion 64

Images 66

Bibliography 71

About this Honors Thesis

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Emory College
Department	Art History
Degree	BA
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Art History
Keyword	Northern Renaisance Engraving
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Melion, Walter S, Emory University
Committee Members	Pastan, Elizabeth, Emory University Duke, Marshall, Emory University

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