Netherlands Yearbook for History of Art / Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 70 (2020): Ars Amicitiae: The Art of Friendship in the Early Modern Netherlands

The seventieth anniversary edition of Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek is dedicated to the theme of friendship in the art of the early modern Low Countries and its diaspora. Its essays consider friendship as an analogy for the agency of artworks, and the ethics and politics of friendship as a motivation for artistic creation, patronage, and cross-cultural exchange. Contributions examine social ideals and lived experiences of friendship in relation to works by Van Eyck, Rembrandt, Rubens and Van Dyck as well as Titia Brongersma, Maria Tesselschade and the Chinese landscapist Wu Li. They also explore the intersection of discourses on friendship with studio practice and collaborative work, with portraits and their gifting, and with the material and performative cultures of enlivenment. Conceived as a kind of album amicorum, this volume interweaves full-length essays with shorter contributions by members of the Editorial Board.