Review
"[O]ne of the most valuable achievements of this book is its demonstration that this topic is as delightfully complex and problematic as any historian could desire. This book is a fascinating, subtle examination of love, youth, and courtship in seventeenth-century Dutch art and a significant contribution to our understanding of this culture and its art." Erin L. Webster, Art Gallery of Ontario; University of Toronto at Scarborough, Sixteenth Century Journal
"This book admirably fills a long-standing need for a critical interpretation of scenes of merry gatherings...A main strength of this study is that it considers the literary material of marriage manuals, songbooks, poetry, and emblems in conjunction with close visual analysis as keys to interpretation. Another strength is that the author emphasizes how the visual material may have been regarded and interpreted in its time...A third strength is the range of interpretations proposed, and their presentation as intentionally fluid and ambiguous." Renaissance Quarterly
"Although many of the artists' names and their works are familiar to specialists, Nevitt probes their content in novel ways.... He writes with a light touch that includes humor, witty turns of phrase, and personal insight, as well as intelligence and wisdom. A splendid, original, richly rewarding book, the second contribution to Cambridge Universtity Press's four-part series on Netherlandish Visual Culture." Historians of Netherlandish Art Review of Books
"Rich in ideas...beautifully produced." CAA Reviews
Book Description
Art and the Culture of Love in Seventeenth-Century Holland examines pictorial subjects and artists which collectively examine one of the most important themes of Dutch art of the Golden Age. H. Rodney Nevitt offers analysis of paintings and prints of "garden parties," merry companies, courting couples, and even landscape etchings that have amorous overtones. Placing these works in the context of the contemporary culture of love, Nevitt reconstitutes the viewpoints from which these works were understood, taking seriously their moral and celebratory aspects.