On "Suelling" the Hips and Crossing the Legs hazardous operation quiókly disappears. Indeed, seems quite likely that it was those same ambitious plaJls, the parents' wish to prepare their children for promising careers, that had made them so alarmed about Constantijn's neck. During most of the earþ modern period, it was one of the most important requùements that wellmannered people keep their bodies and their heads erect. The elite had to know how to move, not only ûguratively but a"lso quite literally. Adopting an elegant and upright posture was a central tenet of the prevailing codes of behanor. Of course, the contemporary manners books dea.l with many more requirements than just that of an erect posture. For example, in his pathfinding study on the "civilizing process," Norbert Elias particularly emphasized the rules concernins the essentia.l activities of life. He discussed thé more psychoanaÌytically significant prescdptions about urinating, defecating, or hiding one's nudity and also the lesser ones about blowing the nose, sneezing, coughing, or spitting, in short, all those activities which "we share with the animals," as the author of one of the most important manners books, the Frenchman Antoine de Courtin, explained. However, the manuals are much richer than Elias, from his strongly Freudian point of leew, suggested. Generally speaking, they established codes of behavior, if only among the elite, for all sorts of "relations in public."3 In fact, the insights and explanations set forth in these treatises constitute an early, though already highly accomplished, example of the study of nonverbal communication. Thus, many of the manuals deal at length with phenomena, such as posture, gesture, facial expression, or even "paralingual phenomena" (the pitch or intensity of the voice). Attention to such details, so readers were told, was a prerequisite for "conversing agreeably," and for successfully moving in the upper waìks of life. To explain the rules, the authors included all sorts of blunderc and faux pas. We may rightly say that the manuals are teeming with all the larger and smaller social mistakes that for our own society were analyzed so carefully (and almost lovingly) by Erving Goffman.a it On "Suelling" the Hips and Crossing the Legs: Distinguishing Public and Prfuate in Paintings and Prints from the Dutch Golden Age Hrnlr¡N RooorNeunc An Unwilling Little Neck IN 1632, Constantijn Huygens and his wife, Suzanne van Baerle, noticed much to their alarm that the head of their eldest son, Constantijn Jun., irclined a bit to the left. The boy was then four years old. At first, the parents decided to refrain from interference, though the mother had considered the possibility of bringing the child to a "famous peasant," probabÌy a boneset ter, in the village of De Rijp. For the moment, the parents turned to other, more gentle methods. They gave the boy a stiff collar, attached ribbons to his bonnet, and also steamed his little neck. It was only in 1637, when all these efforts had proven to be of no avail, that Huygens declded to have his son operated on by a physician from the city of Utrecht. It was probably not a very pleasant experience. The doctor made an incision two rnches long in the poor boy's neck, separating (according to his own report) the many entangled sinews there and greasing the whole machinery with some oil.r It is a weird and rather dismal storv. but there is no reason to doubt its veracity. I hâve taken it from Huygens's own notes on the childhood and adolescence of his children. The charmins little anecdotes contained in these entries and also the parents' feelings, their love and concern, seeing their children grow up, make these recollections one of the most vivìd and imÞortant documents in the histoïy ol Dutch l-amily Life. We learn. for example, about the illnesses of the children and the apprehension of their parents at such mo- ments. We also learn about the frßt cautious steps of the children, the first words they uttered, their early presence of mhd, and their first lessons il reading, writing, Latin, mathematics, and music. Clearly, Huygens had ambitious plans for his children, especially for his sons, who received a broad, humanist training, prepadng them for professional careers in the highest circles of the Dutch Republlc.2 Considering these high hopes it comes even more as a surprise that the parents exposed their eldest son to such a fisky operation. Of course, in the years preceding the operation they had tried other solutions. Moreover, feeling "horrified" about the "incision," Huygens had asked the physician for a detailed description of the operation before he finally consented, but it remained a drastic intervention. Constantiin was away from his family for months and would even miss the birth of his littìe sister, Suzanne. Eventually, things took a very tragic turn, when tbe mother contracted a fatal fever in childbed and died a few months later. In the meantime. Constantijn's neck had definitely rmproved, the operation was a great success, but he would not see his mother again. The physician had deemed it better that he stayed in Utrecht. The Importance of an Elegant and Upright Posture Täking a closer look at the events, the seeming contradiction between the parents' plans and the 65 they should strive for a graceful and natural posture, a certain casual¡ess that was also stressed by Baldassare Castiglione in hís Cortegiano of 1528.5 "It is becoming," as Erasmus explained, "that the body is gently raised." Equally imDortânt was the wav one carried one's head: "let .ihe neck hang noi to the left nor to the right side," it was a sure sign of "hypocrisy." Since his book was written for a young boy, he even added a fatherþ admonition, "those who have become used to holding their heads to one side grow flxed in that habit, with the result that theu efforts to alter it in later life are to no avall."'6 We ca¡ trace the popularity of Erasmus's book not only in the numerous editions and transia. tions alÌ over Europe but also in its impact on mannèrs books published later under the ancien régime. An interesting example is a booklet that was published in Antwerp in 1587 and that, for the purpose of memorizing its contents, was written as a series of questions and answers. One of the questrons the schoolboys had to answer was "who are used to bend the neck to the shoulders and to rest the head on them?" The answer was brief and to the point: "rude and lazy dreamers and those who fill their stomach so much that they desire only to dream."7 Many years later, in the Groot ceremonie-boech d.er beschaafde zeeden, published in 1735, the author stiÌI cautioned his readers that they should adopt the upright posture and thereby avoid that one s head "was constantly hanging to one side or the other."8 Unfortunately, it is still unclear when and, esin what tempo the rules of civiJity, of courtoisie and citilité, were adopted in the Dutch Republic. It has been sfessed that before the middle of the seventeenth century hardly any manual on civilty was translated into Dutch. Even Erasmus's littie treatise, popular as it may have been in other European countries, was not widely read in the northern NetherÌands.e Judging from such data one would almost say that the seventeenth-century Dutch, these botmuiLen (Iit. "bìunt mouths") as they were cheerfully 1abeled by the Flemish, were hardly set on any Erasmus's De cfuilitate morum puerilium. courtoisie or ciailité and that their manners were published in I530 and one of the most influentiaì still as "unfeigned" arld "plain" as Erasmus demanners books of ail times, is a case in point. scribed them jokingly in his Pr¿ise of Folly of Elias discussed this little treatise at length, but 1509. r0 We should remind ourselves, however. Erasmus also cautioned his readers-a þoint that the elite, the classes that were most internot mentioned by Elias-that well-bred pãople ested in adopting the rules of civility, had a reashould always keep their bodies upright. Of sonable command of languages. Many of the course, they should not exaggerate: "it is a sign regents and other wealthy cltizens read French, of conceit to bend the body backwards." Instead, had access to the French ma:rua-ls on civility, and peciaJly, .I'HE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE IN DUTCH CULTURE OF THE GOLDEN AGÊ could thus clisseminate the new rules amons their tamilics and acquaintances. lndeed. theré were many oral and extralingual channels for learning social deportment. In the course of the seventeenth century, it became more and more habitual for the sons of the elite to make the "Grand Tour." They traveled to France and Italy and thus could observe the ruies of civility as they were practiced by the French and Italian elites. At the sarne time, it was increasingly more common for the daughters of the Dutch upper classes to attend the so-called "French schools." There they received a general cultural education (including learning French), but they were also instructed in the rules of courtoisie ar,d, citilité. In addition to these channels, there was also the education provided by private instructors and dancing_masters and, of course, by one's own " parents. An early, and for us quite interesting, example is the education that Huygens received from his father, Christiaan Huygens.12 From i578 to 1584, this extraordinary man had served at the court of William of Orange as one of his secretaries. It was there, so the son tells us, that he had observed the manners "deemed proper for young people of rank" and had apparently decided "to put this behaviour into practice at home with his children."l3 Part ofthe lessons consisted of teaching them the complexities of greeting and leave-taking: "in the covering and baring of their heads, in offering their ha¡ds, grasping the knee, lowering the head and raising it for a candid look, and stretching the leg backwards." The father deemed it of the utmost importance that his children would be abÌe to move in an easy and exemplary manner, even in the company of their superiors: "In meeting with people of hisher rank we were not allowed to be more nervoui than in meeting with people of equal rank, provided of course that the standards of civility and due respect were observed."ra The Uses of Corsets and Physical Exercise Before discussing other aspects of Huygens's education, Ìet us flrst have a look at another source that may inform us about the significance of an upright posture. After a-ll, it was not only the parents' consent but also the doctor's willingness to perforrn the operation that had subjected the little Constantijn to the knife. Indeed, doctors were quite interested in the carriage of the body and in the furthering of a good and healthy posture. As the French historian, Georges Vigarello, argued, it was especially from the end of the sixteenth century that the role of parents and physicians in keeping watch over a child's growth, in molding, shaping, and sÍaightening its body, was heavily emphasized. 15 Vigarello based most ofhis case on France, but we can easily confir-rn his findings with a few data from the Dutch Republic. Quite telling is a letter written in 1733 by Count Willem Bentinck to his future wife, Charlotte von Aldenburg. Apparently, the grl, who was then seventeen or eighteen years old, had some probÌems with her spinal column. For a couple of years, she had worn a stjff leather corset that covered her body from the hips to the armpits, but the count was still dissatisfied with her ungraceful pose. He ad- vised her "to carry herself upright, with her shoulders backwards." When walking, the count continued, "put your feet outwards, draw il your bottom, carry your head high and lofty, throw out your chest and let your arms hang loosely: that is how it should be." Not surprisingly, the marriase was not a success.16 Accoiding to the doctors, the first months of life were aìreadv important. It was then that the desired uprightness-should be established, especialÌy in swaddling the child. In 1636, the wellknown physician, Johan van Beverwijck, observed that the children in his counûy were swaddled "from head to foot," because in this way the limbs were "best protected and kept straight."l7 CÌearly, the straitjackets that the children of the elite had to wear until they were five or six years old served a similar purpose. In the middle of the eighteenth century, when opposition to such habits began, an opponent commented that most mothers Þut their children into sffaitjackets, "because it is-common practice and also, as they say, to keep them upright and to lend them a good posture."18 The eighteenthcentury physician, Petrus Camper, shared his criticisms. He opposed the genera-l opinion that little children could only develop an erect posture with the heÌp of such appliances and he objected in particuÌar to the stays that gfuìs had to wear even after the age of five or six. "If the boys can grow upright without them, why not the girls," he wondered. It was an "abuse" that he had mostìy observed in the towns, particularly "amons the rich."ls Almõst simultaneousþ with corsets for children, women's corsets had become popular as On "SweLLing" the Hips and Crossing the Legs 67 had answered that he did not understand why the ministers made such a fuss about it. To him it was important that his children "from early on nated at the French court and then spread to the would get used to those things that create beauty courts and elites of other countries.2o The in appearance and posture and make the gait eleFrench poet, Henri Estienne, spotted the new gant and unconstrained.' 30 lt is again his son in 1579: "the ladies now use the whale- who recorded this event. In another part of his Þractices -bone corset," he wrote, and they do so "in order recollections, he a.lso tells us that he loved skatto keep straighter."2l From the French court and ing with his friends, for example, when the upper classes, the corsets must have found their meadows were under water. We are subt\ inway to the towns of Flanders, where the wea.lthy formed that his skìll drew everyone's attention, ladies were equallv known for their fondness of but also that he used to adopt "a graceful posture, the stays.22 TLese'same Ìadies may have intro- because my father was a.lso in this sort of relaxduced the new fashion in the Dutch Republic, ation very particular about this."31 particûlarly after the fall of Antwerp in 1585, Intêrestingly, Huygens conveyed these same when so many refugees, even of the richest fami- attitudes to his children. We have no information on skating, but in 1644, he provided his eldest Iies, had fled to the north.23 Of course, a similarly,erect posture was re- sons, Constantijn and Christiaan, with dancing quired from the sons of the elite, though most of lessons "in order that the body wâs put so much them were freed from the corsets after the age the better into good shape."st lt is Þossible that of five or six. Instead, they were urged to practice some thirty years earlier, the period in which physical exercises, such as dancing, riding, or Huygens received hls own dancing lessons, fencing, to deveÌop the desired uprightness.2a dancing and especially its importance for deLooking at the Southern Netherlands, we en- veloping good manners and a graceful posture counter such notions in a little-known tract on were still contested. In the 1640s. however, when the education of princes and nobles written by his own children learned to dance, most of the Philips Marnix van St. Aldegonde. As it happens, regents' and other wealthy families must have Marnix and Christiaan Huygens were close ac- shared Huygens's feelings. In 1643, the famous ouaintances. which makes the contents even minister, Gisbertus Voetius, even complained more interestins.2s It was written around 1583 that he was often fobbed off with such arguat the request of Jan van Nassau, the elder ments. The art of dancing, so many parents had brother of William of Orange. Though the teit toìd him, would enhance the beleefthegt der mawas known to a closed circle, it was only pub- nieren. the civilitv of manners.33 lished, well after Ma¡nix's death, in 1615.26 What stdkes one directly is Marnix's emphasis on reThe Elegance of a Swelling Hip Iievìng mental exercise with physical exercise. Books are important, the author tells us, but so So far, using examples from various sources, I is relaxation. Boys should exert their limbs and posture.2T At have tried to indicate that the carrtage of the thereby deveÌop an elegant gait and the same time, they should avoid "rough lump- body was far from neutral within the Dutch Reishness in mânners and appearance," as they pubbc. ln a wide range of sources. in manners should also avoid the "shocking frivolity, which books, in medical and educatÍonal writings, in is currentlv often in fashion at the courts of mon- memoils, Ietters, and in featises on danclng, we have found statements suggesting that this bearchs and brinces. "28 was havior, this physical "presentation of self," was It is not unlikely that Christiaan Huygens to exhemely important to the tegent and other one of those acquaintances who were allowed his weaÌthy families of the seventeenth and eighas he obviously shared read the manuscript, physical uses of exercise. teenth centuries. As a result of the gradual friend's ideas on the provided with lessons in fencing and strengthening of social hierarchy, the body was his sons He great and more subjected to a growing discipline importance more riding and also attached horse give of manners. Compared to the dedecided to and formality In 1610, he even to dancing.2s velopments in the southern Netherlands or in Interestingly, when lessons himself. the dancing another friend, the Amsterdam minister Werner France and Engìand, this process may have Helmichius, had reproached him for doing so, he started reÌatively late. It also seems likely that weÌl. Unfortunately, our knowledge of its history is still as fragmentary as that of the childrens' stays, but it seems likely that the fasbion origi t' 68 l,t t,uBl,rc.{ND pRrvA'f't,ì tN DUTCH CULTURÉ oF THE coLDEN AcE the rules o| ('(ìlt'l,oisie and, citiLité, rluc t<r the narrowcf rttr gtr ol' social distinctions p|cvailing in thc l)rrtclr lìepublic, were tal<cr¡ somcwhat mo|c llglrtly in compalison with thcse other courrt|Io¡i. l]ut it is beyond any doubt that the lulfirg cl"rsses, certainly thosc l¡r the towns of l loll¿tnd, were keen on distaÌìcing themselves in thclr "relations in public" lrom the lower classes. They readily adopted tho new rules of civility, including the formalization and stylization of their own bodies, their physical presentation of r seìf.34 To the sources already mentioned, however, we might add another interesting type of source, that of the contemporary painters' manuals or socalleð, schilclerboeken.In these treatises, we often encounter observations that are quite close to the ideas we have found so far. Thev also help us visua.lize the much-desired uprightness 1and. of course, its opposite, a stooping and hunched over figure), either by giving us a helpful technical description or including a couple of illustrations. In some instances, we even encounter remarks on a slanting neck that remind us immediately of the views expressed in the manuals on civility. We have seen how Erasmus spoke of hypocrisy and how the author of the little manners book, published in 1587, could only think of a Iazy or a dreamy character. The verdict passed by the schilderboelzen was hardly less severe. In 1678, Samuel van Hoogstraten concluded, "The head pushed backward over the neck points to haughtiness and pride, but falling headfirst to humility, and hanging sideways to falntheaJtedness. "3s Four years later, his feelings were copied almost word for word by Willem Goeree. Ffust, he stated as a general principle that "by moving our heads we reveal many states of our inner feelings." Again and in accordance with the prer ¡ iling p5ychology of the time. outward traits were inteipreted as a direct and infallible indication of a person's inner nature. For example, a head "carried backwards and stiffly on the neck" indicated a "proud and haughty heart"; a head hanging headfirst pointed to a "humble, meek and dejected" nature, just as a head hanging sideways could only indicate an "unmanly faintheartedness." The addition "unmanly" makes one suspect that alÌ these observations, not only in the schiLderboeken but also in the manners books and other sources, applied primarily to men. As a matter of fact, Goeree confirms this impression when he discusses the portrayal of women and expiains that a slightly slanting neck can only enhance a woman's gracefulness and gentleIndeed, we should always bear ln mindan aspect that was aìready touched upon by Castiglione3T-that the rules of civiiity applied to women were different from those apphed to men, althoueh this difference was never to neutralize the soCia.l distance between a weÌÌ-bred lady and a woman from the Ìower classes. Of course, in using the terrn "unmanly," Goeree may also have alluded to effeminacy, at least in its seventeenthcentury connotation of the shady skirt chaser.38 Discussing a head hanging to the left, he even speaks of an "adulterous and unchaste omen"; men like these would only have "scandalous things" in mind. The fact that Goeree dedicated his book to Huygens gives these observations a curious twist. Obviously, he never knew of Constantiin's little neck. For the moment, it is hard to say whether such specific readings, especiaJly those of Goeree, were generaÌly accepted. Perhaps they just remained.the preoccupations of a few intellectuals who were versed in the classical writings on physiognomy and reÌated subjects. It is clear, however. that Van Hoogstraten and Goeree. just as the authors of the manners books, attached a negative meaning to a slanting neck. Appar.ently, they were well acquainted with the prevailing codes of civility and even felt that a paÌnter, in depicting the human figure, should incorporate these codes. Thls becomes even more aþDarent where they discuss the whole carriage ol the body, relating the human figure to social categories, such as status, gender, and age. A fine example is Gerard de Lairesse's Grooú Schilderboeh, published in 7707. According to contemporary theory, to porffay the human figure correctl¡ the artist had to be versed in anatomy, physiognomy, and the principles of proportion. Another important requirement was the knowledge of positur: roughly the techniques which are used to lend a standing figure a certain elegance, and to embellish it \ ¡ith the sugness.36 gestion of movement.3s As De Lairesse explarns, the body should always be rendered in such a way that its weight would rest on one leg only and not on both legs. He writes, "It is certain that for the sake of standing well (welstand) all haìting statues, be rt man or woman, may only rest on one leg and carry the weight of the body, never on both legs simultaneously, by which then one hip will swell. "ao De Lairesse was certainly not the first author to wlite on the theme of welstand or "the srace- On "SweLling" the Hips and Crossing the Legs 69 fulness in bending and turning."ar Before him, other words, in depicting this second, more culKarel van M-andea Samuel van Hoogstraten, and tured peasânt one was actuaJl; allowed to apply Willem Goeiee had touched upon the same sub- the rules of contrapposto: the man might be ject and had equally emphasized the "swelling" given a morë elegant and uprlght stance to disôr "swinging out" of the hip. The rules of classi- tinguish him from the other man with his short caI contrapþosto had been more or less rediscov- and stocky posture. Still, his elegance should not ered by Àculptors and painters prior to and be overdone. The painter had to take care, "if including Michelangelo and Giambologna and si- some gracefulness had to be noticed, that it multaneõusly encodèd and developed in the writ- would be equally in the peasants' way. "a7 Ths ings of Leon Battista Alberti, Leonardo da Vincì, was especially important when some figures of and Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo.a2 De Lairesse, higher rank were inserted among the peasants. however, takes a special position because he went As the author put it, "if one has to put an office into a full consideration of the social status of the holder (amptmøn) or fine citizen Çraay borger) figures to be depicted. For example, in discussing among them," tlis rnan 'lgught_ to be known contrapposto, he caurioned hls readers that as a among them all by his well-b¡ed gait and civil rule they should never render peasants in this manners."a8 way. Before him, Van Mander had already made Besides these rules in the handÌing of contrapan exception for the portrayal of old age. If an posto, De Lairesse a.lso established other rules old man or woman was depicted standing, they regarding posture and gesture, including the difshouÌd hold onto something.a3 In general, Goeree ferent ways of sitting (sitting erect or hunching pointed to the old, sick, and weak: it would be over) or holding a spoon, cup, or glass (usilg two ilsky for such people to rest theil weight on one or three fingers or using one's whole hand, etc.). hip only. If they did not need a caÌìe or "third Obviously, it wouìi lead u-s -too far_ afieÌd to go Ie[," they would definitely need their two legs.aa into all these details as wel], but it should be eviIn fact, De Lairesse is not so much ilterested in dent that there were many correspondences bethe physical defects of the peasants but ii their tween the instructlons of the schilderboehen and sociãl defects, in their "boorishness" or lack of the numerous rules of civility as they were encoded in the manners books. Historians and a¡t manners. As a rule, he states first that a painter should historians have seÌdom written on this interestalways portray his figures in accordance with ing interface, but the authors themselves were their state, office, or dignity. He can express such well aware of the analogies. Van Mander, in dÍsdifferences in their "posture, being, color and cussing the portrayaì of women, explicltly removement."45 Peasants, for example, should have ferred to Castigìione;ae Lomazzo, in dealing with their feet firmly on the ground. De Lairesse the unbecoming posture of crossing the legs, knew, of course, that they had a range of social referred to a well-known manners book by Giodistinctions and individual characteristics, that vanni Della Casa, published ln 1558.'s9 De Laithey hardly dispÌayed the same gait and posture. resse even pointed to the civility one could Intèrestingly, hè goes on to explain that painters observe in the streets and other public spaces. can exploit such differences, especially in intro- He urged his readers not to move in thef own circles only. They should also mingle with the ducing variety in the rendering of a crowd. To make himself clear, De Lairesse included a upper classes, with the deftige gezelschappen. Of couple of illustratrons showing men and women course, not every painter had access tbere, but from various social backgrounds. Using one of then they could always use thetr eyes: in church, these prints, he tells us that a "rude peasant" not in the theater, or on making a promenade. There only sioops but also "rests and stands simultane- they had enough opportunity to see fraage lieden ously on both legs, the toes being parallel to one and to watch theù elegant manners. Before he another, the knees somewhat bent and the feet himself was accepted in those circles, he always turned inwards." In the same prlnt, he also used to carry a notebook ald seeing, for example, showed a "better educated" peasant, a wholly dif- afraaye juffer pass by, he would analyze why she ferent man: "The other one stands upright, rest- looked to him more graceful than another one.5r ing his body most on one leg . . . , the other leg It is rather surprising that the problem of how sìiþhtty turned, a bit more to the front, and the to nsualize social distinctions was only raised _in stomaòh pointing slightly outwards; displaying a 1707 when De Lairesse's schilderboeh was frnally more graceful posture than the flrst one,a6 In published. Indeed, for many decades, such pænt- On "Swelling" the Hips ancl Crossing the Legs :,':::,.;: :l:,: -. -,. t _,., t 1.,1.::: ,:,..',,_ì\t, .,,,.,..:,,,.-\ Adriaen van Ostade, Festiae Peøsøøús, 1630s, Mauritshuis, The Hague. ers as Adriaen Brouwer, Adriaen van Ostade, Jan StandíngMen ønd, Worøøn, from Gerard de Lairesse, Het groot schililerboek (Lmster' dam, 1707). University Library Amsterdam. Mrense Molenaer, or CorneÌis Dusart had put on canvas what De Lairesse so much later was to put in writing. Obviously, as one of the most Drominent adherents to French classicism he was hardly an admirer of their work. They depicted lÍfe "as it is ptesented to them" or. even worse. "one sees them imitate it even more unsightly than nature created it."52 Clearly, Brouwer, Van Ostade, or MoÌenaer (Bamboccio is another one of De Lairesse's targets) did not adhere to any hoger trant. They did not render LÍfe at its most elegant, but that does not alter the fact that in applying contrQ.pposto or rather in nof applying it in the depiction of peasants, they had created a pictorial tradition upon which De Lairesse could fa.ll back in his discussions of posture and gesture.s3 After all, in many of their paintings, we almost never encounter any upright postures. Most of the figures depicted are stocky and hunched over even when sitting, and most of them twist theil heads to all sides. Van Ostade's Festiue Peasants is a case in point. The comic effect of a-ll these stooping peasants is heightened by the remarkably high ceilngs. A sardonic viewer might even wonder what these silly men and women were afraid of. Even when peasants were depicted standing, their postures were invariably nonerect. The man at the front of Van Ostade's Shaters is a good example. First, he keeps "both his hands at his arse," a gesture that was deemed "more boorÍsh than respectful." in the words of Goeree.sa Second, he has planted both his legs firmly on the ground. For him no graceful "swelling of the hip," no contrapposto; this is unmistakably De Lairesse's "crude" and not his "better educated" oeasant. Of cóurse, Brouwer and Van Ostade were not the first painters who played these jokes on the peasants. One of the best examples of the distlnctions involved âre two drawings attributed to On ",Swelling" the Hips and Crossing the Legs 73 Theodorus de Bry, A Court Døncø, end of the 16th c., Rilksmuseum, Amsterdam. l.]',: Theodorus de Bry, A Peasant Dance, end of the l6th c., Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Adriaen van Ostade, 'The Skaters': Peasants in an lnteríor, 1650, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Theodorus de Bry and dating from the end of the sixteenth century. The frrst one shows a court dance and the second a countrv or Deasant dance. ln the first. the Êgures are aìmosi static. elegantly upright, and almost fully vertical in posture. By. conhast, the second shows a group of violentÌy swfuling figures, whose movement tends almost to be horizontal. We can even discern a couple of bare women's legs among the dancers. A-lmost the same comþarison mav be made with Lwo later examples. the Dancing'Lesson by Pieter Codde, dating from 1627 and the On "Swelling" the Hips and Crossíng the Legs Jan Steen, Doncìng Peqsøn¡s, ca. 1646-48. Mauritshuis. The Hague. Pieter Codde, The Døncíng Lesson, 1627, Musée du Louvrg Paris. Dancing Peasants by Jan Steen (ca. 1646-1648). Looking for such contrasts, other painters, such as Hans Bol, Jan van de Velde, or David Vinckboons, spring to mind. In some cases, the elegant Þostures of the rich were even contrasted in ã single scene with the stooping postuïes of dumb peasants.ss An enlightening example is a tide þrint taken from one of the editions of Bacchu-s Wonder-werchen, written by Dirck Pier ersz. Pers.56 The prÍnt (of which the etcher is unknown) shows us both rich and poor crowding round the as-ever-rnerry-looking god. To the left we see the rich, easily recognizable both by their expensive clothes and their elegant "swerving out of the hip." To the right, we see the peasants and the poor. Their dress is simple or shabby, and they keep their feet firmly on the ground. As with all caricatures, these peasant scenes certainly contained a grain of truth. Farrnwork was hard and strenuous, straining the body to the utmost. However, when we compare this pictorial fadition with the ideals of elegance and uprightness as they were expressed in manners books, medic?l and educational writings, in the schilderboehen, and other sources, we rather suspect that these scenes offer us more than a caricature of lower-class life. Intentionally or unintentionally, they show us the exact opposite, a convincing mirror image of the elegant manners required, at least in public, from the Dutch upper classes.5T To put it differently, the postures we encountered in many seventeenth-century paintings were far from neutral.ss On the conûary, the expressiveness, the "feeling value," as I have terned it, of these particular symbols must have been d.irectlv accessible On "Szuelling" the HiPs and Crossing the Legs Public and Private: Trvo Pictures of Wealthy Haarlem Merchant a In the previous pages, we approached the manners books primarily as documents written for the elite. Concentrating on just one aspect, on the importance of an elegant, upright posture, we have seen how the manners books can enìighten us on the ways in which "high" and "low" were visualized in many seventeenth-century paintings. In doing so, we have concentrated especially on the negative examples, the type of behavior that was deemed unseemly for any wellmannered man or woman, in short, for every member of the elite. We have also seen how the manuals on civil-ity were only concerned with "relations in public." They dealt with the complexities of formal encounters, not with those of a more informal and private nature, which, of course, raises the question of whether these same manuals, in mentioning behavior that was deemed improper in public, might not also inform us on the elite's behavior in private. In other words, if a painter could select some specific postures and gestures as social markers, as a sort of shorthand to indicate high and low, could he also dispose of specific postures and gestures to mark :. :;, ,.,:..:..:,, . ,{non., Title-piint taken from Dirck Pietersz, Pers, Bacchus Wond¿r-øercken: Waer ¿tu het Recht Cebîugck en Misbrugck dps Wíjns iloor oerschegilen oermaecWíjcke, eerlijcke en leerlijcke hìstorien øort øfgebeehl (Âmsterdam, 1628), University Library Amsterdam. the dividing lines between public and private? This is a diffrcult question, as so often with questions of public and private, but let us concentrate on one posture only, that of crossing one's legs. In fact, this was one of those acts that was condemned in a-lmost any manners book. Erasmus aJready disapproved. In his eyes, it was a posture only to be associated with "rude people."se Della Casa took a similar view and, as mentioned previously, was referred to by Lomazzo when this author advised his readers never to paint a highborn person with his legs crossed. Again, h the Goede manierlijche zeden, the little manners book published in Antwerp in 1583, the posture was caÌled."ugÌy" and deemed more befittins to the so-called stouuers or cattle drivers.60 Muih later, in the Groot Ceremonieboech, it was still condemned as behavior that no gentleman should dispÌay.61 Of course, a lady would not even think of doing this. It is interesting to compare these condemnations with two portlaits of a Dutch gentleman, the Haarlem merchant Willem van Heijthuysen, oainted around the middle of the seventeenth century by Frans Haìs. The first portrait. in which we see the man standing, is a perfect example of elegant contrapposto. He is standing 77 upright, stretching one leg forward, and really flaunting his swelling hip. This ls obviously a wo4lhy member of society. However, the smaller, second portrart is definitely the more interesting of the two. It shows Van Heijthuysen not only rocking on his chair, a posture that we rareþ find in portraiture of the period, but also with his legs crossed. In other words, this prosperous Haarlem citizen had himself depicted by Frans Hals in an "ugiy" and very ungentlemanly way. Or was it not that ungentlemanÌy? Should we not consider the well-known fact that postures and gestures tend to be polysemous, that their meaning may vary from one context to the other? In other words, was this second porfait perhaps part of a special portrait genre in which the elite could have itseìf depicted according to other, more informal codes tha:r the ones established in the manners books? It is agaiiî Samuel van Hoogstraten who provides us with an interesting clue. In his schiLderboeh, he tells us that a palnter in depicting a listening crowd may enliven it with such postures as crossing the legs, leaning the head on the hand, and "other acts of sitting comfortably. " Clearly, crossing the legs in the anonymity of a listening crowd was something different than adopting this posture in a more or less forma-l encounter, the type of situation that was dealt with primarily in the manners books. Indeed, it seems plausible that crossing one's legs lndicated first and foremost a state of comfort and relaxation, just as in our own time. In other, more formal contexts, especially when in the company of one's equals and superiors, it could also be interpreted as a serious lack of respect, a blatant breach of decorum.62 In the case of Van Heijthuysen it was undoubG edÌy the ûrst and more inforrnal context, Van Hoogstraten's "sitting comfortably," that was depicted. Of course, porûaits had their own requirements of decorum depending, among other things, on the functions they fulfilled and the location where they were hung. As it happens, we also possess the probate inventory made after Van Heijthuysen's death in 1650. It emerges from this document that the large standing portÏait was hung downstairs, in rhe grote salet, lhe official reception room of his house, but the other, much smaller porfait had found a place in one of the rooms upstairs.63 In other words, the þorûaits were not onlv different i¡ size and sub¡ãct, they had different functions as well. Thev belonsed to different sections of the house: Frans Hals, Willem aøn Heijthugsen, ca. 1638, Koninklijke Musca van Schone Kursten van tselgië, Brussels. Frans Hals, Willem aan Heíjthugsen, ca. 1625, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesamrnlungcn, Nluuich. On "Swelling" the Hips clnd Crossing the Legs Adriaen van de Yenne, Gentlzmøn Making His Toilzt, d^te and whereabotts rrnknown. the larger one to the pubìic, representational Gerard ter Botch, Portrait of a Møn ín Hís Studg, ca. 1668-1669, The Lord Mayor's Residence, Mansion House, London. part, the smaller one to the more private and secluded part of the house. Indeed, this smaller palnting may have been a celebration of Van Heijthuysen's other, more infornaÌ side. The fact that he is also hoÌding a whip and wearing spurs might refer to his Ìove for horse riding and to the country house where he kept his horses. Similarly, the book on the table might refer to his love of reading. The probate inventory also mentions a comptoir, a study or private office, where this wealthy merchant kept some 140 books, includins 76 music books. Interestingly, such portraits were not ex- ceptional in the seventeenth century. A fine example is Ter Borch's Man in His Stucly. The identity of this other worthy citizen is unknown, but judging from the wdting desk, he was probably portrayed inhis comptoir. Sitting there with crossed legs, he obviously felt at ease and at home. What we may surmise is that this posture \.vas just as much a marker as hunching over or having both feet firmly on the ground. In this case, however, it was a convenient sign to mark the private sphere as different from the public sphere with all its requrements of clvility. Another interesting example is Van de Venne's G¿ztlemøn at His Toileú. Obviously, this is not a high- 82 THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE IN DUTCH CULTURE OF THE GOLDEN AGE minded gentÌeman; the allusions to idleness and Roodenburg (Ithaca, N,Y, 1991), 152-89, esp. 157-64. 5. Baldassare Castiglione, ll cortegiqno (Venice, 1528). sloth are unmistakabÌe. He is shown at a moment It was only in 1662 that his book was banslated into Dulch; of privacy and, as if to emphasize that moment, a second edition was published in 1675. has crossed his less. 6. Desiderius Erasmus, De ctuilitcLte morum puerilium Writing about the rise of the study in LíbeIIus (Basel, 1530). The book was originaìly wlitten for seventeenth-century France and England, the the eleven-year-old Henry of Burgundy. A Latin/Dutch was published in 1678. For a facsimi.le edition, historian, Roger Chartier, aptly called such edition see Het BoecLje 1)qn Erøsmus aengaende de beleeftheidt der rooms a "retrait hors du monde, Liberté con- hinder\ijche zed.en, ed. H. de la Fontaine Verwey (Amsterquise loin du public." Here a gentleman could dam, 1969). retire both from his professional and his domes7. The full title of ùfs anonymous work is Goede ric life.6a It seems likely that the .seventeenth- manier\gche zeden, hoe jonghers gaen, st(len, eten, drinchcn, sprehen, swgghen, ter tafelen dienen, en de spijse ontcentury Dutch witnessed a similar development. ghìnnen sullen, met teLe andere schoene onderwijsinghen. Though the evidence to be gleaned from probate Ghecolligeert wt ditersche Autheuren, ende meer andere inventories is still rather deficient, it seems that gheleerd.e Boechen, door Yraghe end"e Antwoorde ghestelt the office where the master of the house worked (Antwerpen, 1587). I have not seen the original (perhaps next to his clerks gradually gave way to a pdvate it has not even survived). For some extensive quotations, office, where he could work alone and also house see G. D. J. Schotpl, Yqderlandsche tolhsboehen en tolhssproohjes tøn de troegste tijden tot het einde der 18e eeulL' his library. Roughly from this pefiod, a comptoir (Haarlem, i874), 1: 203-10. could both denote an office and a study. Quite 8. C. van L[aarl, Het groot cet'emonie-boech. der often it was both.65 What we can equallv trace beschøafde zeeden, welleeaendheid., ceremonieeL en wehtoeto lhe seventeenth centuïy. to this particúlar pe- gende hoffelgkheden onderwgzende hoe een ieder ... zich te gedrøqgen, om zich zelÐen in deeze wereld, beriod in the history of pdvacy, is a small but behoorden mind en geluhhig te maøhen (Amsterdam, n.d. [1735]), 68, distinct portrait genre, showing prosperous gen- 169, 171, 179. A second edition was published in 1755. Actlemen "sitting comfortably" and obviously en- cording to Irene Groeneweg, the book was only published joying theìr private "retreat" to the full. Within in 1757; she rejects the dates provided by Dutch librades. this genre, such painters as Ha"ls, Terborch, and See Irene Groeneweg, "Enkele aspecten van mode en Nederland naar aanleiding van de brieven others adopted the well-known posture of cross- kÌeedgedrag inVan Hogendorp uit de late achttiende eeuw," van de familie ing one's legs as a conventional and convenient Tþ :xtielhist orische Bij dr qg en 3 1 ( 199 1) : 60-98. marker to distinguish the public from the L For thls argumenl and for a general, though incompnvate. plete, overview of Dutch manners books, see Pieter Spierenbutg, Elites qnd Etiquette: Mentø.IitA qnd" Soci( StTucture in the Eqrl! Modern Northern Netherlønds (Rotterdam, Notes I wish to thank Mark Meadow, both for 1981). correcting my English and for offering some helpful comments. 10. Cited after S. W. Bä1, Erasmus in het Ned.erland.s tot 1617 (Leiden, i978), 250. Cf. J. G. C. A. BrieÌs, "Brabanrce blaaskaak en Hollandse botmuil: Cultuurontwikkelingen in het begin van de Gouden Eeuw," De Zeoentiende Eeuu 1 (1985): 1. 14. 11. For a fuller discussion of these problems, see Roodengenheid lan de 300ste sterfdqg lqn Constantiin Hullgens, burg, "The 'Hand of Friendship,"' 154-57. 12. We even possess a few notes written by Huygens Sr. ed. ArLhur Eyffrnger (The Hague, 1987), 96-101. 2. It seems likely that Huygens was all the more con- on the education of his children. See Huygens herdacht, cerned about the education of his sons, as the famil¡ be- 79-88. 13. Constantijn HuygeÌls, Mijn jeugd, ttans. aJjd ed.. cause of its Brabant origins, did not have access to political office and thereby to the urban regent class. Such offrces C. L. Heesakkers (Amsterdam, 1987),32. The odginaì remained the prerequisite of the "naLives of this country." manuscript, written in Latin, rests wirh the Koninklijke BiFor the diffrculties of the Huygens family, see H. A, bliotheek in The Hague. For an edition of this manuscript, Hofman, Constantijn HuAgens (1596-1687): Een chris- see Bijdragen en Mededeelingen !øn het Historisch Genoottelijh bourgeois-gentilhomme in dienst !øn het Orqnjehuis schøp 18 (1897): 1-122. (Utrecht, 1983), 28-29. 14. Huygens, Mijn jeugd,24. 15. Georges VigareÌÌo, "The Upward Tiaining of rhe Body 3. The phrase is, of course, Ewing Goffrnan's. See his Rel(úions in PubliÇ: Microstudies of the Public Order (New from ttre Age of Chivalry to Courtly Civílity," i\ Frøgments York. 1971). for ø History of the Human Body, ed. Michael Feher (New 4. See especially Erving Goffrnan, The Presentation of York, 1989), 2: 749-96. This contribution was taken from the author's Histoiîe d,'un pouloir péd,o,gogiq¿¿e (Paris, SeLf in Etergday Life (New York, 1971). On my reservations regarding Elias, see also Herman Roodenburg, "The 'Hand 1978). For arÌother important and sLimulating overview, of Friendship': Shaking Hands and Other Gestur€s in the see David Kunzle, Fqshion and Fetishism: A Social HisDutch Republic," tn A Cultural HistorA of Gesture from tor! of the Corset, Tight-Løcing and Other Forms of BodgAntiquitA to the Present DaA , ed. JanBtemmer and Herma¡ Sculpture in the West (Totowa, N.J., 1982), 70-104. For the 1. For the full story, see: Huygens herdacht: CatøIogus bij d.e tentoonsteLliw in de Koninhlijh.e BibLiotheeh ter gele- 83 On "Swelling" the Hips and Crossing the Legs 33. Gisbertus Voetius, Een hort tractqetjen 1)qn de ddrnseaù Dutch Republic, see Heûnan Roodenburg, "Over korsetten, lichaamshouding en gebaren: Een cultuurhistor- sen, tot dienst lqn den eewoudigen (Ufecht, 1644), 79. ische verkenning van de 'nieuwe fatsoenen' tussen ruwweg 1580 en 1630," Textielhistorische Bijdragen 3i (1991): 20-39. 16. Quoted after Hella Haasse, Mel.)rouu Bentinch: On- ærenigbo.qrheid aøn hørahter (Amsterdam, 1990), 50, 119. 17. Johan van Bever\¡¡ijck, "Schat der gesontheydt," in Alle de taerchen, soo in de medecgne als chirurgge (.Utrecht, 1651), 182. 18. Jacques Ballexserd, "Verhandeling over de natuurkundige opvoeding der ki¡deren. Van de geboorte tot den huwbaren tyd, welke hier bepaald word om 15 of 16 jaaren," n Yerhøndelingen uitgegeelten d.oor d.e Hollandsche Maqtsch(rypAe der Weetenschappen te Hq(trlem, vol T , 2e stuk (Haa em, 1763), 186. This treatise, winning the first prize, was an answer to the question: "Wat is het beste bestier, 't geen men moet houden omtrent het lighaam der kinderen, zo met opzigt tot hunne kleeding, voedsel, oeffening, als anders, van hunne geboorte af, geduurende hun kindsheid, om ze lalg en gezond te doen leeven?" 19. Petrus Camper, "Verhandeling over het besÍer van kinderen," in Verhandclingen, 384, 388. With his answer CamÞer won the second plize. 20. The corsets probably originated at the Spanish coult and reached the French court via ltaly. See Kunzle, Fqshion and Fetishism,71. About the upright posture of Spanish courtiers, interpreLed by other counhies as proud and arrogant, and its relationship with Spanish fashion, see Roodenburg, "Over korsetten," 31-32. See also the important essay by Peter Burke, "The Language ofGesture in Early Modern Italy.' in A Cullurql Histor!.77J8. 21. Henri Estienne, Deux dialogues du nouteau langage français italianizé, ed. P Ristelhuber (Paris, 1885), l: 253. Also quoted in Vigarello, "The Upward Training," 155. 22. Kunzle, Fashion and Fetishisltt, 75. 23. For Flernish influences on Dutch fashion, see Roodenburg, "Over korsetten," 25-29. 24. Vigarello, "The Upward Tiaining," 179-80. 25. For this ftiendship, see Huygens, Mijn jeugd, 39. Marnix was the first secretary and confidan¿ of WiÌIiam of Orange; Huygens was his fourth secleLary. 26. Phllippi Marnixü Domini Sancti Aldegondani, De lnstitutione PùnciDium. ac Nobilium Puerorum Libellus Uti{ traneKet lolÐ,. 27. We stft encounte; such notions in the eighteenth ¿¿ss¡mus century. See Van Laar, Ceîemonie-boech, 171ff: dancing, riding, fencing, a¡d other physica.l exercises are favorable to develop a beeter gesteldheid. 28. Phllips van Marnix, Heer van Sr. Aldegonde, De opvoedina ùan de ieuqd, trans. and ed. H. de Wit-Van Westerhuisi Kampen", tù'92r, bl, This translation is closer to the orisinal than the Larin edirion of 1615. lg. See Huggens herdacht, T9-86. For Marnix's feelings on dancirg, see also Marniixi epistula.e: De briefu./isseling a(tn Marnin utn St. Aldegonde, Een lxritische uitgal)e, ed.. A. Gerlo and R. de Smet (BrusseÌs, 1992), 2: 82-83. This text is a letter fiom 1577 and written to the Calvinist minister Caspar van der Heyden. In his letter, Marnix defends (civilized) dancing against the negative views of the ministers. To him one of the uses of dancing was physical exercße. 30. Huygens, Mijn jeugd, 23-24. 31. Huygens. Mijn jeugd.53-54. 32. Huggens herdacht, 14O. The same text was originally \,lTitLen as a disputation held in 1643, The same passage also quoted in Herman Rooden- bvg, Onder censuur: De herhe\ijhe tucht in de gerefor- meerde gemeente oan Amsterdam, 1578-1700 (Hiìversum, 1990). 328. For an excellent overview of seventeenthcentury dancing and the ideas of the church, see F. G. Naerebout, "'Snoode exercitien: Het zeventiende-eeuwse Nederla¡dse protestantisme en de dans," Volhshundig Bulletin l6 (1990): 2, 125-56. 34. For the strenghtening of social hierarchy in the Dutch Republic and its impact on posLure and gesture, see Roodenburg, "The 'Hand of Friendship."' 35. Samuel van Hoogshaten, InleAding tot de hooge schoole der schilderhonst, anders de zichtbaere werelt (Èotterdarn, 1678), 117. 36. Willem Goeree, Natuurlgh en schilderhonstig ontwerp d.er menschku?de (Amsterdam, 1682), 297-98, 309. 37. Ba.ldassare Cas Lighor'e, Den 1)olm(rqhten hoøeLing: of schat 1)qn ltetenschap, nood"igh tot welleventheAt (Arnsterdam. 1675), 300ff. 38. According to Theo van der Meer, effeminacy was only associated with homosexua.ls after the gulf of prosecutions starting in 1730. See Theo van der Meer, "Gruwelen onzer eeuwe, Jacob Campo Weyerman en de sodomietenvervolgingen van 1730," Mededelingen øan de Stichting Jacob (i993): 2, 33-51, here 43-46. Carnpo Wegennan 16 39, For a recent and inLeresting study of this aspect, J. Bolten, Posi¿z¡: Ga.an en sta"qn in de beeld.ende hunst de 16d.e en 17de eeuw (Letden, 1991). see lqn 40. Gerard de Lairesse, Het groot schilderboeh (Amster' dam, 1707), 1: 33. 41. For the exact meaning of the term welstand and for Van Mander's usúrg uelstqnd anð. graceliichhellt in 't bu!ghen en zuenden interchangeably, see Hessel Miedema's commentary in his edition of Van Mander's schilderboeh: Kareì van Mander, Deæ grondt der edel try schilder-const, ed. Hessel Miedema (Utrecht, 1973),2: 448-49. 42, Van Mander, Grondt, 1:114-17 (see also Miedema's comments in ibid., 2: 451-52); Van Hoogstraten, Inlegding, 295; Goeree, Ontwerp, 243ff. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48, 49. 50. Van Mander Grondt, | 125-26. Goeree, Ontwerp,242 43. De Lairesse. Schilderboeh,1i 52. De Lairesse. Schilderboeh. 1: 54-55. De La esse. Schilderboeh, 1: 52. De Lairesse. Schilderboeh, l:59. See above, p. 70. G. P Lomazzo, Tiattq.to dell'Arte de La Pitturq (M1- Ian, 1584), 141. 51. De Laùesse. Schilderboeh, 1:56. 52. De Lairesse. Scltilderboeh, I: 173-:74. For a similar verdict on Brouwer, c.s. Val Hoogstraten, Inlevding,67. 53. For my use of th e teúns pictorial trqdition alld icono- grøphic contention and their importance for studying fo1m as a carrier ofmeaning, see Eric Jan Sluyter, "Nieuwe kunsthistorische benaderingen en het veranderende beeld van de zeventlende-eeuwse Nederìandse schilderkunst," in De Gouden Eeuw in perspectief: het beeld lqn de Nederland"se zeaentiende-eeuwse schiLdeîhunst in later tiid, ed. Frans Grijzenhout and Henk van Veen (Nijmegen and Heerlen, 1992), 360-98, herc 374-:75. 54. Goeree, Ontuerp, 316. 55. For some examples and commentary (but not on 84 THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE IN DUTCH CULTURE OF THE GOLDIIN AGE posture or gettute), see Svedana Alpers, ,,Bruegel's fes_ 59. Erasmus, Boecåje, 19. As hephrased it, it was charac_ tive peasarits," S¿mioLus 6, no. 3/4 (1972J3): 163_76, and teristic of the i?zep¿orum o\ in the Dutch translation, o?¿oe_ -Seen 'paintins her "Realism as a Comic Mode: Low-Life schichten (meanng rude or unruly). through Bredero's Eyes." S¡rn¡o¿¡ls 8, no. 3 ( 197"5-76): 60. Quoted after Schotel, Volhsboehen, 1: 207. For the l15-45. Cf. Miedema's critical remâ¡ks on rhe conceDl of term stouuer, see the Woordenboeh d.er Ned.erlclnd.sche T(tal, "comic mode." as suggested by Alpers in Hessel Miedèma, 15:2032-36. "Realsm and Comic Mode: The pèasant," Sim¡ol¿s 9. no. 4 61. Van Laar, Ceremonie,boech, 204. (1977 ): 2o5-19: see also Sverlana Alpers. ,.Täking pictures 62. In -a modern study of nonverbal communication, Seriously: A Reply ro Hessel Miedemã," Simiotu; lO, rlo. 1 crossing the legs is a sign ofrelaxation and thus ofa certain ( l978Jg)t 46-50. For an inrelligenr discuss¡on of posture carelessness,. if not indifference, toward the other person. arid gesture in Jan Steen. see Ma.riët Westerma¡ñ. .The Cfì A. Mehrabian, Nowerbal CoÌnmunícation (Chicàgo and, Amusements of Jan Steen, Génerically Looking,,' a lecture the author held at the Courtauld Institute on ã6 Februarv 1992. 17ff. She also poinrs to Sreen s subverring of propei gestur-e for comic effect (which was practiced on tt e stâge as well r, for example, where he depicis his women of lessãr repure with quite graceful gestures. 56, I owe this reference to Elizabeth Wvckoff. . 57. For a helpful srudy ofsuch contrasis. see paul Va¡rdenbroeck. t)þer uilden cn narren, boeren en bedelaars: BeeLd ùqn d^e- a,nd:re, verloog ouer hel ze\ t Antweryen. 1987), esp. 63-116. 58. For some criticisms on the concept of,,disguised s¡n_ bollsm," sej James H. Marrow, "Sym6ol and ñleanin! in Nor_thern European Arr of the Late Middle Ages and"rhe Eafly Renaissance." Simjolas 16 ( t986r: 15l:lan Baptist Bedaux. Tfte Reality of Sgmbols: Studies in the tconoloou oJ Nelherlandish Art ],400-1800 t s-G¡avenhage and Maais"sen. i990).21-63. New York, 1972), esp. 153. 63. Municipal Archives Haarlem, Notadeel Archief 153, ^ fols. 328v-334r. The room is described as ,,de camer boven het grot salet.' the painting as -her conterfeütsel van den overleden int cleiin in swarre lijst." 64. Roger Chartier. Les pratjques de I'écrit,'in H¡sro¡re dc lq vie priaëe. ed. Ph. Aries and G. Duby { paris. l9g6). 3: 113-62, here 135-44. 65. R. Meischke, Het Ned.erktnd.se woonhuis tqn 18001800 (Haarlem, 1969), 410, 413, 428. Thera Wijsenbeek, Achter de getels uøn DeLft: Bezit en besta.an t,an riih en arm i-n^y1n gelo! ua,n glhteruitganq t t700_i800, r Hilversum, 1987).-163-64. C. W Fock, "Wonen aan her Leidse Rapen_ burg door de eeuwen heen," i¡ Wonen in het rerfed.en 1 7 e-20e eeuu./ : Economie, poLitieh, ?olhshuis,re stinq. cul_ tuur .en bibliogrøfie, ed. P M. M. Klep et al. ¡Amstðidam, 1987).201.