The latest issue of Oud Holland opens with Tamar van Riessen’s examination of four satirical paintings by Adriaen van de Venne, which utilize marriage lotteries to explore themes of moral instruction and social order. Next, Kirsten Derks investigates Rachel Ruysch’s experimental use of a blue ground in a 1742 floral still life, analyzing its compositional function and relationship to drawing techniques late in her career.

The issue concludes with four book reviews: Emma de Jong and Jan de Jong assess Ilja Veldman’s extensive publication on Maarten van Heemskerck; Weixuan Li reviews Jos Beerens’ study on painter communities in seventeenth-century Brussels; Klara Alen examines a major 2024 monograph on Rachel Ruysch; and Lieske Tibbe offers critical commentary on a recent biography of Willem Witsen.

Oud Holland – Journal for Art of the Low Countries vol. 139 (2026) nr. 3

Tamar van Riessen
Take a chance? Allegory and reality in Adriaen van de Venne’s marriage lotteries (c. 1650-1660)

Kirsten Derks
Out of the blue? An exploration of Rachel Ruysch’s (1664-1750) use of a blue ground

Emma C. de Jong & Jan L. de Jong
Review of Ilja M. Veldman, Maarten van Heemskerck: 1498-1574, Zwolle [W Books] 2024

Weixuan Li
Review of Rudy Jos Beerens, Painters and communities in seventeenth-century Brussels: A social history of art, Leuven [Leuven University Press] 2024

Klara Alen
Review of R. Schindler, B. Ebert, and A.C. Knaap (eds.), Rachel Ruysch: Nature into art, Boston [MFA Publications] 2024

Lieske Tibbe
Review of Linda Modderkolk, Odilia Vermeulen and Ester Wouthuysen (eds.), Willem Witsen (1860-1923): Een kunstenaarsportret in brieven, Hilversum (Verloren) 2023

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.