Oud Holland latest issue presents three articles that show how important international networks were for the development and dispersal of Dutch art. The authors discuss paintings and prints from Antwerp to Stavanger in Norway, and from Haarlem to Saint Petersburg.

Abbie Vandivere and Christiaan Vogelaar offer a new digital construction of Lucas van Leyden’s least known triptych. Christ healing the blind man of Jericho (1531) was sold in 1772 from Paris to Catharina the Great and has led a somewhat forgotten life in the Hermitage (Saint Petersburg). The authors re-establish it as one of Lucas’ most significant works. They argue that the exceptional subject reflects emerging humanist and Lutheran ideas that took root in the Netherlands and Leiden in the 1520s.

Guy Tal explores Jan van de Velde II’s magnificent engraving The Sorceress of 1626. He identifies the new fashion of smoking American tobacco as its most intriguing and innovative component. Attributing the invention to Van de Velde himself, Tal holds that the print not only demonstrates Van de Velde’s technical proficiency as a printmaker but also underscores his originality as an artist.

Prints are also at the heart of Charlotta Krispinsson’s article, that centers on the periphery of European art. In Stavanger and Bergen, in Norway, the locally prolific Gottfried Hendtzschel and Elias Fiigenschoug managed to presented the designs of Rubens to the Lutheran congregations.

See the RKD website for more information.

Oud Holland 138 (2025) 1

Christiaan Vogelaar & Abbie Vandivere
Lucas van Leyden’s Triptych with Christ healing the blind man of Jericho (1531): A reconstruction of its history and original appearance

Guy Tal
Witchcraft and pipe-smoking devils in a print (1626) by Jan van de Velde II

Charlotta Krispinsson
Copying Peter Paul Rubens: Religious painting after prints in Norway (1630-1650)

Oud Holland – Journal for Art of the Low Countries

The oldest surviving art-historical journal in the world is a Dutch periodical. From 1883 until now Oud Holland – Journal for Art of the Low Countries publishes scholarly articles about important archival finds and major art-historical discoveries. The scope of Oud Holland is art from the Low Countries from ca. 1400 to 1920. For more information and news about recent issues of Oud Holland, online reviews, subscriptions and information for authors.