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Graphic arts --- book review --- Leyden, van, Lucas

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paintings [visual works] --- book review --- Early Netherlandish --- Bouts, Dieric

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At the end of the 15th century, the underground ruins of Emperor Nero's famous palace were discovered in Rome: the Domus Aurea. The walls were painted with sumptuous symmetrical decorations teeming with a host of bizarre animals and mythical creatures. This was the beginning of a new visual language, which was known as grotesque after the site found in grotto-like ruins. Hans Vredeman de Vries and Cornelis Floris spread the grotesque style with its endless variations through their printed designs. In the 16th century, grotesque ornaments became popular not only in painting and architecture, but also in glass painting, metalsmithing and book printing. Today we still link the term grotesque to the capricious, bizarre, monstrous - but also to the caricatural and laughable. Bosch and Bruegel were the great pioneers of the grotesque in printmaking with their fantastic drolleries. James Ensor, Fred Bervoets, René De Coninck, Carll Cneut and others are part of a long tradition of artists who were, and still are, inspired by the grotesque: both as a concept and as a figural style.

Graphic arts --- prints [visual works] --- grotesques --- Museum Plantin-Moretus (Antwerpen) --- grafiek --- grotesken --- kunsthandel --- lelijkheid --- schoonheid --- Cneut, Carll --- Plantijn, Christoffel --- 76.041.7 --- Grafische kunsten. Grafiek. Prentkunst--Populaire prentkunst.Volksprenten --- grotesken. --- schoonheid. --- lelijkheid. --- kunsthandel. --- Museum Plantin-Moretus (Antwerpen). --- Cneut, Carll. --- Plantijn, Christoffel. --- Drawing --- Flanders

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This dissertation focuses on the origin of the printed city portrait in the German countries and the Netherlands in the 15th and 16th centuries and takes a closer look at the oldest printed view on the city of Leuven. The title of this paper refers to this monumental frieze, that is preserved in the Print Room of the Royal Library of Belgium. In the first chapter, the emergence of the printed city portrait in the German areas and the Netherlands is thoroughly investigated. Firstly, the medium of the woodcut and the increasing demand for topographical information are studied. Then, an overview is given of the 15th-century German printed works that form the basis of the printed city portrait in Northwestern Europe. In this section, five incunabula are discussed, including Fasciculus temporum, containing the oldest printed image of a real city, Peregrinatio in Terram Sanctam, containing the largest city views and the Nuremberg Chronicle, containing the largest number of topographical representations. Subsequently, the earliest printed city views of the Netherlands are examined, dating from 1515 to 1542. Four out of five prints that are examined here depict a view on Antwerp. The fifth print contains the oldest view on Ghent and is reconstructed using a newly discoverd, intact copy. The second chapter contains a case study and contextualisation of the oldest preserved view on the city of Leuven. Firstly, a complete description of this monumental woodcut is given, including the coats of arms, eight allegories, buildings and places, and human figures and actions that are depicted. Then, the target market of this frieze is researched. This woodcut is a private and commercially motivated creation that was probably sold to students as a souvenir of their stay in Leuven. Subsequently, the 19th-century reproductions of this frieze and the former, false attribution to Anton Woensam are investigated. Thereafter, the content and influence of the woodcuts of monogrammist AP and an anonymous designer are researched. Also one series of prints of AP is compared to the monumental frieze. Based on stylistic similarities, it seems reasonable to attribute the frieze to the master AP and his anonymous designer, but there are no other visual indications or written sources that confirm this attribution. Finally, the influence of the frieze on the 16th-century city views of Leuven is examined. Co-workers of prominent publications as Descrittione di tutti i Paesi Bassi and Civitates orbis terrarum relied on this frieze to depict Leuven. Not until the 17th century a city view of Leuven is printed that is completely independant of this frieze.