We are delighted to announce that Mia M. Mochizuki’s book The Netherlandish Image after Iconoclasm, 1566–1672: Material Religion in the Dutch Golden Age has won the 2009 ACE / Mercers’ International Book Award. The prize is awarded for a book which makes an outstanding contribution to the dialogue between religious faith and the visual arts. Mia Mochizuki’s book is the fruit of fifteen years’ research, and it well deserves all the plaudits it has been receiving.
Graham Howes, who presented the award, had this to say about the book:
Outstanding… It sets one building – the Great Church at Haarlem – in an exceptionally broad context – as built form, as culturally symbolic artefact, and as a vehicle for didactic decoration… Her story begins in the Roman Catholic era, examines the motives behind iconoclasm, its destructive force as well as its generative power, and then details the appropriation of the church by the local Reformed Community. All this is done with exceptional precision, imaginative insight and scholarly depth. The judges themselves found the book ‘enthralling’ and referred frequently to the way in which it re-shaped their entire perception of the relationship between a, perhaps the Protestant aesthetic and their own visual and emotional experience of that aesthetic. They also praised the sheer quality of the book’s production, and especially the way in which the excellent illustrations are placed throughout in close association to the text.
Other reviews and endorsements:
‘The long-term impact of iconoclasm on the development of art in the Reformed Netherlands is one of the most urgent and least understood problems in our field. Mia Mochizuki’s book gives us nuanced new answers, deftly combining concrete historical description and analysis with a sophisticated understanding of the theological, political and aesthetic issues at hand. Dutch Protestants cared about art. Mochizuki tells us why and how.’
Mariët Westermann, New York University, USA
‘Mochizuki has conclusively shown how artistic vision, like artistic style, is not only transitory in nature, but also how it is interwoven with theological insights and social circumstances. She has given art its place in society, indeed one that goes to the heart of the Church Masters’ and Church Council’s views on attracting viewer attention through design, by drawing well considered and profound conclusions from archival documents, abundant literature, artifacts and comparable examples. For the Netherlands, I am pleased our culture has been illuminated by such an impressive and knowledgeable scholar.’
C.A. van Swigchem, Vrije Universiteit, The Netherlands
‘Mia Mochizuki’s The Netherlandish Image after Iconoclasm is a highly original approach to the subject of art and the Reformation and a major contribution to our understanding of the early modern period on various levels. This book breaks new ground through its conceptual structure and its approach to art in sacred space and helps explain how the rejection of religious imagery led to a redefinition of art itself. This is history at its best, and as such, it should command the attention of a wide range of readers: anyone who is interested in the Reformation, the Netherlands, religious symbols, art and aesthetics will find this book indispensable.’
Carlos M.N. Eire, Yale University, USA
‘… a beautiful book, illustrated with lots of wonderful images, all in colour … The author’s commitment and thorough engagement with her materials is also evidenced in generous footnotes and wide reading … a remarkable contribution to the developing field of early-modern religious art history.’
Art Newspaper
‘Mochizuki’s book is praiseworthy for numerous reasons. It demonstrates the richness offered by interdisciplinary studies of art and religion, as it skillfully encourages readers to reconsider the relationship between sacred word and image through numerous high-quality color images of objects rarely illustrated… Mochizuki presents an insightful interpretation of Reformed visual piety, one that should encourage scholars to look at seventeenth-century Holland in new and exciting ways.’ caa.reviews
‘Highly recommended.’ Choice
