The Panpoëticon Batavûm
The Portrait of the Author as a Celebrity
Description:... Résumé en 4ème de couverture: "The Panpoëticon Batavûm was an eighteenth-century cabinet that housed the portraits of over 300 Dutch writers. The remarkable collection was started by the wealthy Amsterdam painter Arnould van Halen (1673-1732) around the beginning of the century. It offered tangible proof of the power of Dutch literature in a period that has traditionally been described in terms of the Republic's decline, Frenchification and loss of cultural identity. This helps to explain the popularity of the Panpoëticon Batavûm, wich attracted many visitors and was the subject of several books. Lieke van Deinsen traces the history of the collection, offering valuables insights into eighteenth-century engagement with the literary past, the growing fascination with the author behind the work and the emancipation of women writers. The Panpoëticon Batavûm is the first volume in the Rijksmuseum Studies in History."
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