CODART, Dutch and Flemish art in museums worldwide

December Issue of Oud Holland

One hundred and forty years ago, founder of Oud Holland, Adriaan de Vries, sent a note to his friend and fellow editor Nicolaas de Roever. The message, dated 7 February 1884, informed him that, due to fever, he would be unable to complete a Rembrandt article he was working on. De Vries died a day later, aged just 32. In this winter issue the extended editorial dives deeper in this moving relationship and the early days of Oud Holland.

Thanks to a detailed comparative study of two formerly undocumented altarpiece shutters from the last quarter of the fifteenth century, an Annunciation and four scenes from the Passion cycle, Alexandre Dimov and Didier Martens now attribute them to a member of the workshop of the so-called Master of the View of St Gudula in Brussels.

Through indepth archival research, Peter Hancox presents a thorough overview of the members of the Dutch and English Verelst family, in particular of the genre painter Pieter Verelst, and his sons Herman, Simon, John and William. Four of Herman’s children and one of Pieter’s great grandchildren became portraitists in London.

Henri van de Waal, inventor of Iconclass, also worked on a little known classification system of the arts which he called ‘Beeldleer’ (Iconology). In his article, Charles van den Heuvel explains this system and explores its potentials to complement historical debates on iconology and for future application in digital art history.

Oud Holland 137 (2024) 4

Editorial
Adriaan de Vries and Nicolaas de Roever: A 140-year-old friendship

Alexandre Dimov & Didier Martens
The legacy of Rogier van der Weyden: A pair of altarpiece shutters by the workshop of the Master of the View of St Gudula (c. 1480-1500)

Peter Hancox
The multigenerational and cross-national artist family Verelst (c. 1618-1752): The myth of Cornelius and Maria

Charles van den Heuvel
Henri van de Waal’s (1910-1972) unfinished Beeldleer: Exploring new potentials of an iconological classification for the history of the arts

Oud Holland 137 (2024) 4

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, visit oudholland.rkd.nl.