Art, Science, and Witchcraft in Early Modern Holland: Jacques de Gheyn II (1565-1629) (Studies in Netherlandish Visual Culture)

Art, Science, and Witchcraft in Early Modern Holland is the first sustained study to offer an account of the rise of scientific naturalism in Dutch art and the simultaneous interest in fantastic imagery, representations of witches in particular. Claudia Swan uses the work of artist Jacques de Gheyn II (1565-1629) to explore the reciprocity between visual representation and early modern descriptive science, and of the parallel demonological theories of the human imagination and artistic theories of creation. This book is the first to examine De Gheyn's work in the context of cultural history and image theory.