Studies in the Northern Renaissance

In this collection honoring Robert A. Koch, Professor Emeritus at Princeton University, eight of his former students employ a variety of methods to investigate topics in Northern Renaissance art and society. Drawing on approaches as disparate as archival research and mycology, these papers reflect the richly varied modes of inquiry currently being pursued in Northern Renaissance studies.


Cryptic iconography is unveiled by Gregory Clark, who examines sinister plant symbolism in Bosch, and by Charles Minott, who detects significant patterns in the painted and carved scenes of the Baerze-Broederlam altarpiece. Lynn Jacobs draws on contemporary documents to construct a detailed account of the commissioning of Early Netherlandish carved altarpieces, while David Farmer provides a wide-ranging study of evolving workshop practices in the atelier of Bernard van Orley. Images with both theological and social implications are the subjects of Craig Harbison's reading of the sexuality of Christ in a print by Burgkmair, and of Dorothy Limouze's study of the reception of prints by Jan Sadeler and Joos van Winghe in Catholic and Protestant milieus. John Hand introduces a Saint Jerome in His Study, attributing it to Joos van Cleve and placing it in the broader context of van Cleve's images of Jerome; and the late Burr Wallen investigates the meaning and influence of the concepts of gloire and vaine gloire within the Burgundian chivalric ethos.