2.1 Cornelia Ewouts Teellinck, Een Corte Belijdenisse Des Geloofs: Voormaels Schriftelijck Overghegeven Den Kercken-Raedt Binnen Ziericzee (Amsterdam: Broer Jansz., fifth edition, 1625), Leiden University Library 36
2.2 Frans Hogenburg, Sack of Naarden 1572. In Frederik Muller, De Nederlandsche geschiedenis in platen. Beredeneerde beschrijving van Nederlandsche historieplaten, zinneprenten en historische kaarten. Amsterdam: F. Muller, 1863 42
2.3 Hogenburg, Murder in Haarlem following the siege of 1573. In Frederik Muller, De Nederlandsche geschiedenis in platen. Beredeneerde beschrijving van Nederlandsche historieplaten, zinneprenten en historische kaarten. Amsterdam: F. Muller, 1863 43
2.4 Anon., The Globe with Netherlandish Allegories, print 3, “The Evil World”. (Religiöse Allegorien von Herzog von Alba als Rute Gottes, “Dije quade Werlt … mijt Roeuers bludich”). Herzog August Library, Wölfenbuttel 45
2.5 Anon., The Globe with Netherlandish Allegories, print 4, “Woe To You.” (Religiöse Allegorien von Herzog von Alba als Rute Gottes, “Wee w, Motten … werck gads verstaat”). Herzog August Library, Wölfenbuttel 46
3.1 Gerrit Gerritsz. Cuyp after an Anon. artist, Maid of Holland, detail 1595–1597, Gouda, Sint Janskerk 73
3.2 Gillis Huppe, Maid of Dordrecht, 1618, Groothoofdspoort, Dordrecht 74
3.3 “Maid of Holland” coin, 1573 75
3.4 Adriaan Gerritsz. de Vrije after Joachim Wtewael, Freedom of Conscience, detail, 1596, Gouda, Sint Janskerk 77
3.5 “Maid of Holland” coin, 1681 78
3.6 Matthias Quad von Kinkelbach, Kenau Simonsdr. Hasselaer, 1573, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 81
3.7 Anon., Kenau Simonsdr Hasselaer, c. 1590–1609, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 82
3.8 Anon., Kenau Simonsdr. Hasselaer, 1573, Atlas van Stolk, Rotterdam 85
3.9 Claes Jansz. Visscher, Batavian Mirror, 1610, detail, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 88
3.10 Engraved frontispiece from Famianus Strada, De thien eerste boecken der Nederlandsche oorlogen, 1632 89
3.11 Attributed to Cornelis van Barlaer, Maid of Holland with Portrait and Arms of William III, detail, 1660, Biervliet, Reformed Church 91
3.12 Engraved frontispiece from Pieter C. Hooft, Neederlandsche histoorien, 1642 92
3.13 Gerard van Honthorst, Amalia as Diana at the Hunt with her Sister the Countess van Brederode, 1627, present location unknown 96
3.14 Gerard van Honthorst, Portrait of Elisabeth van Solms as Minerva, 1632, present location unknown 97
3.15 Ferdinand Bol, Margarita Trip as Minerva, Goddess of Wisdom, Teaching her Younger Sister Anna Maria Trip, 1663, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 98
3.16 Engraved frontispiece from Philips Angel, Lof der Schilder-Konst, 1642 99
3.17 After Anna Maria van Schurman, Self-Portrait, from Jacob Cats, ‘S Werelts Begin, Midden, Eynde, Besloten in den Trou-Ringh, Met den Proef-Steen van den Selven, 1655 104
3.18 Engraved frontispiece from Johanna Hobius, Lof der vrouwen, 1643 107
3.19 Jacob Houbraken, Double Portrait of Joanna Koerten and Anna Maria van Schurman, c. 1720–1740, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 109
3.20 Jan van Vianen, The Maid of Amsterdam with Tribute to Joanna Koerten, c. 1726, Gemeente Stadsarchief, Amsterdam 110
3.21 Philip Tideman and Arnold Houbraken, Monument for Joanna Koerten, detail, c. 1720–1725, Gemeente Stadsarchief, Amsterdam 111
3.22 Joanna Koerten, Roman Liberty, 1697, Westfries Museum, Hoorn 112
3.23 Engraved frontispiece from Philipp von Zesen, Leo Belgicus, 1660 113
3.24 Jacob Houbraken after Georg Gsell, Maria Sibylla Merian, 1708–1780, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 114
3.25 Michiel van Musscher, Allegorical Portrait of an Artist (probably Rachel Ruysch), c. 1680, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh 116
3.26 Maid of Holland fire back, 1644, Museum de Lakenhal, Leiden 119
3.27 Willem Pietersz. Buytewech, 1615 Allegory on the Deceitfulness of Spain and the Liberty and Prosperity of the Dutch Republic, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 120
3.28 Quiringh van Brekelenkam, Interior with Three Women and a Girl, 1663, Kunsthaus, Zürich 121
3.29 Maria Block, Sampler, detail of the Maid of Holland, 1665, Amsterdams Historisch Museum, Amsterdam 123
4.1 Anonymous, Ana Maria de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, c. 1770. Denver Art Museum, Denver 131
4.2 Sofonisba Anguissola, Elena Anguissola, 1551, City Art Gallery, Southampton 132
4.3 Diego Velazquez, Jeronima de la Fuente, 1620, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid 133
4.4 Attributed to Jean-Francois de Troy, Anne Stonor, c. 1725, Stonor Park, Oxfordshire 134
4.5 Pieter Leermans, Portrait of a Carmelite Novice, 1678, present whereabouts unknown 136
4.6 Peter Paul Rubens, Ana Dorotea of Habsburg, 1628, Apsley House, London 137
4.7 Peter Paul Rubens, Michiel Ophovius, c. 1615–17, Mauritshuis, The Hague 139
4.8 Albrecht Dürer, Metzgen and an older woman, c. 1520, Musée Condé, Chantilly 142
4.9 Peter Paul Rubens, The Adoration of the Eucharist, c. 1626, Art Institute, Chicago 146
4.10 Louise-Hollandine of the Palatinate, Self-portrait, seventeenth century, present whereabouts unknown 148
4.11 Anon. Flemish artist, Ann, Mary or Cecily Tunstall, early to mid-eighteenth century, Burton Constable Hall, East Yorkshire 152
4.12 Anon. Flemish artist, Anne Bedingfeld, c. 1680, Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk 153
4.13 Master Sommeren, Odilia of Nassau, 1681, Sint-Catharinadal, Oosterhout 156
4.14 Master Sommeren, Elizabeth of Breda and of Lek, 1681, Sint-Catharinadal, Oosterhout 157
4.15 Master Sommeren, Machtild of Polanen, 1681, Sint-Catharinadal, Oosterhout 158
4.16 Workshop of Gerard van Honthorst, Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, Princess of Orange, 1650, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 159
4.17 Anon., Portrait of a Benedictine Nun aged 67, 1656, until 2013 in the Abbey of Sint-Godelieve, Bruges 162
4.18 Anon., Florence de Werguignoeul, Abbess of Notre Dame de la Paix in Douai, 1627, until 2013 in the Abbey of Sint-Godelieve, Bruges 163
4.19 Anon., Portrait of an Augustinian sister, late sixteenth century (?), Diocesan Sisters, Overijse-Mechelen 164
5.1 Anon., title page engraving for Catharina Questiers, Casimier of gedempte hoogmoet. Bly-spel (Amsterdam, 1656), Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague 190
6.1 Anna Francisca de Bruyns, Self-Portrait with inscription ‘Mon maman dada’, sketchbook, Department of Prints and Drawings, 6507/40r°, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels 193
6.2 Wenceslas Hollar after Anna Francisca de Bruyns’, Self-Portrait, engraving after the prototype of 1629, 1648, MS. 819, f. 425, Bibliothèque Municipale, Lille 195
6.3 Anna Francisca de Bruyns, Portrait of Jacques Francart, 1622, MS. 819, f. 399, Bibliothèque Municipale, Lille 196
6.4 Lucas Vorsterman after Anthony van Dyck, Portrait of Wenceslas Cobergher, c. 1634–1644, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa 198
6.5 Title page of Isaac Bullart, Académie des sciences et des arts, contenant les vies et les éloges historiques des hommes illustres qui ont excellé en ces professions depuis environ quatre siècles parmy diverses nations de l’Europe, avec leurs portraits tiréz sur les originaux au naturel et plusieurs inscriptions funèbres, exactement recueillies de leurs tombeaux par Isaac Bullart, volume 1, Amsterdam, 1682 199
6.6 Jacques Ignace Bullart after Anna Francisca de Bruyns, Portrait of Isaac Bullart, 1648(?), MS. 819, f. 421, Bibliothèque Municipale, Lille 200
6.7 Jan Swart van Groningen, Three Mameluk Horsemen, 1526, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 204
6.8 Anna Francisca de Bruyns after Jan Swart van Groningen, Three Mameluk Horsemen, 1616, MS. 819, f. 417, Bibliothèque Municipale, Lille 204
6.9 Wenzel Cobergher, Mount of Piety of Arras, 1624 207
6.10 Frederik Bouttats after Anna Francisca de Bruyns, Self-Portrait, engraving after the prototype of 1629, 1648, MS. 819, f. 633, Bibliothèque Municipale, Lille 209
6.11 Anna Francisca de Bruyns, Richly Dressed Woman (possibly a self-portrait), 1633, present location unknown 210
6.12 Chapel of Notre dame du Bon Vouloir, Havré, interior view 212
6.13 Anna Francisca de Bruyns, Assumption of the Virgin, high altar, Notre-dame du Bon Vouloir, Havré 215
6.14 Anna Francisca de Bruyns, Mary, the Christ Child and St. John, sketchbook, Department of Prints and Drawings, 6507/50, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels 216
6.15 Anna Francisca de Bruyns, Mary, the Christ Child, and St. Anne Surrounded by Angels, sketchbook, Department of Prints and Drawings, 6507/19, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels 217
6.16 Anna Francisca de Bruyns, Mary, the Christ Child and St. John, sketchbook, Department of Prints and Drawings, 6507/13, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels 218
6.17 Anna Francisca de Bruyns, St. Cecilia, sketchbook, Department of Prints and Drawings, 6507/5, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels 219
6.18 Anna Francisca de Bruyns, Diana, sketchbook, Department of Prints and Drawings, 6507/9, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels 220
6.19 Anna Francisca de Bruyns, Magnanimity of Scipio, sketchbook, Department of Prints and Drawings, 6507/10, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels 221
6.20 Paulus Pontius after Peter Paul Rubens, The Assumption of the Virgin, 1624, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC 223
6.21 Anna Francisca de Bruyns, Self-Portrait (?), sketchbook, 6507/40v°, Department of Prints and Drawings, 6507/40v°, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels 226
6.22 Michaelina Wautier, The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine, 1649, Grand Séminaire, Namur 227
6.23 Michaelina Wautier, Triumph of Bacchus, c. 1655, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna 228
7.1 Frans van Mieris the Elder, Young Women with a Pearl Necklace, c. 1664, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie 230
7.2 Gabriel Metsu, A Man Visiting a Woman Washing her Hands, c. 1664–62, private collection 231
7.3 Pieter de Hooch, Interior with Women beside a Linen Cupboard, 1663, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 232
7.4 Egerton Workshop, Birth of the Virgin, from the Breviary of John the Fearless and Margaret of Bavaria, c. 1410–1419, Harley 2897, fol. 385, British Library, London 234
7.5 Unknown artist (probably from Lille), Judith Beheading Holofernes, from the Marquette Bible, c. 1270, Ms. Ludwig 18, v. 3, fol. 241v, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles 235
7.6 Bartholomeus van der Helst, The Governers of the Kloveniersdoelen, 1655, Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam 235
7.7 Frans van Mieris the Elder, Head of a Black Woman, 1650–1681, The British Museum, London 242
7.8 Jacob Jordaens, Self-Portrait with Family and Servant, 1621–22, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid 243
7.9 Frans Hals, Catherina Hooft and her Nurse, 1619–20, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie 244
7.10 Gabriel Metsu, Portrait of Jan Jacobsz. Hinlopen and His Family (or the Burgomaster Dr. Gillis Valckenier), c. 1655, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie 246
7.11 Pieter van der Hulst, Live Larsdatter, 1698, Museum of National History, Frederiksborg Castle, Hillerød, Denmark 248
7.12 Anon. (Flemish school), Family Portrait with Servant, 1610s, private collection 249
7.13 The dolls’ house of Petronella Oortman, c. 1685–1705, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 253
7.14 Dolls’ house of Petronella de la Court, 1670–1690, Centraal Museum, Utrecht 254
7.15 Nurse, Dolls’ house of Petronella Dunois, c. 1676, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 256
7.16 Scrubbing brushes and street brooms in the cellar of the dolls’ house of Petronella Oortman, c. 1690–1700, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 258
7.17 Geertruyd Roghman, “The Scouring Woman,” Plate 5 from Female Activities, c. 1648–50(?), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 259
7.18 Jacob Coeman, Pieter Cnoll, Cornelia van Nijenrode and their Daughters, 1665, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 260
7.19 Anon. (Netherlandish school), Pontius Pilate Washing his Hands, detail, Croesinck Hours, c. 1494, MS. M.1078, fol. 44v, Morgan Library, New York 262
7.20 Anon., Miracle at the Marriage at Cana, from the Très Belles Heures de Notre-Dame, c. 1380, Ms. nouv. acq. lat. 3903, fol. 67v, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris 263
7.21 Jacob Jordaens, Kitchen Scene, seventeenth century, École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris 264
8.1 Façade of the Jesuit church, Antwerp, constructed 1615–1621 267
8.2 Jacob Neefs, Templum et domus professa societatis Iesu, mid-seventeenth century. Engraving depicting the Antwerp Jesuits’ complex built c. 1607–1625 268
8.3 Attributed to Barbara van Ursel, Statue of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel, c. 1605, chapel of the Virgin, Carolus Borromeuskerk (former Jesuit church), Antwerp 269
8.4 Sebastiaan Vrancx, Interior of the Antwerp Jesuit Church, c. 1630, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna 270
8.5 View of the chapel of the Virgin towards the altar. Photo: author 270
8.6 View of the chapel of the Virgin towards the west and north walls 271
8.7 Houtappel and Sgrevens family tree 274
8.8 Geldop Gortzius, Portrait of Cornelia Boot, 1597, The Hermitage, St. Petersberg 277
8.9 Geldop Gortzius, Portrait of Godfried Houtappel, 1597, The Hermitage, St. Petersberg 278
8.10 Franciscus Ehrlinger, Castellum Sevenberghen, in Jacob le Roy, Notitia Marchionatus Sacri Romani Imperii hoc est urbis et agri Antverpiensis, Antwerp, 1678 281
8.11 Pieter Huyssens, plan for the Jesuit complex, c. 1620–1622, Archive of the Carolus Borromeuskerk, Antwerp 287
8.12 Hans van Mildert (?), marble figure of God the Father at the top of the altar in the chapel of the Virgin, c. 1625, and the barrel vault above with a hidden window on the south wall, Carolus Borromeuskerk (former Jesuit church), Antwerp 290
8.13 Peter Paul Rubens, Assumption of the Virgin, c. 1611–1614, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna 291
8.14 Hans van Mildert (attr.), design for the altar in the subterranean crypt of the chapel of the Virgin, 1635. Archive of the Carolus Borromeuskerk, Antwerp 293
8.15 Ceiling with gilt stucco decoration, attributed to Andries de Nole, c. 1631, chapel of the Virgin, Carolus Borromeuskerk (former Jesuit church), Antwerp. Photo: author 295
8.16 Robrecht and Andries Colyns de Nole (attr.), Virgin and Child, c. 1638, chapel of the Virgin, Carolus Borromeuskerk (former Jesuit church), Antwerp 298
8.17 Robrecht and Andries Colyns de Nole (attr.), St. Joseph, c. 1638, chapel of the Virgin, Carolus Borromeuskerk (former Jesuit church), Antwerp 299
8.18 Sebastiaan de Neve (attr.), St. Susanna, c. 1638–1640, chapel of the Virgin, Carolus Borromeuskerk (former Jesuit church), Antwerp 300
8.19 Jacques Couplet (attr.), St. Anne, 1640–1642, chapel of the Virgin, Carolus Borromeuskerk (former Jesuit church), Antwerp 301
8.20 Anon., St. Peter, undated wooden copy after a marble original by Robrecht and Andries Colyns de Noles and Jacques Couplet (attr.) completed by 1642, chapel of the Virgin, Carolus Borromeuskerk (former Jesuit church), Antwerp 302
8.21 Anon., St. Paul, undated wooden copy after a marble original by Robrecht and Andries Colyns de Noles and Jacques Couplet (attr.) completed by 1642, chapel of the Virgin, Carolus Borromeuskerk (former Jesuit church), Antwerp 303
8.22 Sebastiaan de Neve, St. Catharine, 1644, chapel of the Virgin, Carolus Borromeuskerk (former Jesuit church), Antwerp 304
8.23 Sebastiaan de Neve, St. Christina, c. 1644–45, chapel of the Virgin, Carolus Borromeuskerk (former Jesuit church), Antwerp 305
8.24 Cornelis Schut, Circumcision, c. 1640s, chapel of the Virgin, Carolus Borromeuskerk (former Jesuit church), Antwerp 307
8.25 Gerard Seghers, Christ Returning from Purgatory to Greet his Mother, c. 1640s, Royal Museum of Fine Art, Antwerp 308
8.26 Gerard Seghers, John the Evangelist Administering Communion to the Virgin Mary Accompanied by Three Women, c. 1640s, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna 308
8.27 Anon., confessional, c. 1635–44, chapel of the Virgin, Carolus Borromeuskerk (former Jesuit church), Antwerp 310
8.28 Antony Wierix, John the Evangelist Administering Communion to the Virgin Mary, late sixteenth/early seventeenth century. British Museum, London 319