To Proclaim, to Instruct and to Discipline: The Visuality of Texts in Calvinist Churches in the Dutch Republic

• A fundamental work on the use of scripture for decoration and furnishing in Protestant churches
• Inventory of text use in Calvinist Churches in the Dutch provinces between ca 1575-1800

The visual display of Scripture became common in Dutch Calvinist churches after the Beeldenstorm: text panels and text paintings filled the lacunas left by removed images and altars. This richly illustrated volume shows how text decoration marked the Reformed appropriation of church space.

This book shows how text decoration evolved into an innovative form of Reformed visual culture after iconoclasm, and was used to transform church spaces to accommodate Reformed worship. A story of continuity throughout the Reformation appears in the pre-Reformation roots of designs and spatial arrangements of displayed texts, beyond evident and major change. The work is based on a comprehensive inventory of text panels and text paintings installed in churches throughout the Dutch provinces between ca 15751800. A North Sea perspective presents text decoration as a universal Protestant phenomenon, which took different forms according to the liturgical and dogmatic requirements of denominations: from English Ten Commandments boards, and catechism altarpieces in churches in the Lutheran Danish Kingdom, to Lutheran text altarpieces that showcase the presence of Calvinism in northwest Germany.