Putting a Face on Justice: Group Portraiture in Early Netherlandish Painting

Abstract

At first glance an essay on fifteenth-century group portraiture may seem quite removed from the central issues discussed in this volume. Yet, as we shall see, there is much to learn about communal justice and cultural democracy from looking at these paintings. Group portraits do not merely mark the identity of those represented. Nor do they simply show members of a community in opposition to foreigners. On the contrary, these paintings actively promote communal solidarity among the persons portrayed and call viewers to preserve the purity and sanctity of community from the dangers of dirt and filth.KeywordsPicture PlaneTown HallLinear PerspectiveCritical HistorianDivine InterventionThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.