Seductress of Sight. Studies in Dutch art of the Golden Age

Feminine beauty and seduction, love and desire, chastity and unchastity. Paintings about these intriguing subjects hold a special position in the 17th century art. Seductress of Sight offers surprising insights into the significance of these images to the painter and his audience. Why were certain subject matters selected? Why were these subjects considered appealing and interesting to depict and look at? Which thoughts and associations were evoked by these visual pleasures? These are but a few questions discussed in this book. Seductress of Sight is published as the second volume in the series 'Studies in the Nederlandish Art and Cultural History'. In this study, Hendrick Goltzius and Gerrit Dou hold a principal position. The book shows how these two developed a breathtaking virtuosity in service of their subject matter. But it also shows the ideas the artists had about their special position as creators of the seductive and how they expressed these ideas in their art.