Edited by John Oliver Hand and Ron Spronk

2006. 256 pp.
13 color and 63 b/w illus.
7 x 10 in.

ISBN 978-0-300-12140-7
Paper. $40 ($36 for Members)
Trade distribution by Yale University Press

With contributions by Marina Belozerskaya, Till-Holger Borchert, Lorne Campbell, Reindert Falkenburg, Ivan Gaskell, Laura D. Gelfand, Peter Klein, Maximiliaan P. J. Martens, Carol J. Purtle, Victor M. Schmidt, Hugo van der Velden, Hélène Verougstraete, and Yvonne Yiu.

Published in conjunction with the exhibition Prayers and Portraits: Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych (National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, November 12, 2006 through February 4, 2007; and the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, March 2-May 27, 2007), this book features essays by leading scholars that explore a wide range of topics relating to 15th- and 16th-century Netherlandish diptychs. The text addresses the practical and social uses of the diptych, the history and origins of the format, and the philosophical issues related to the practice of researching these diptychs. It also analyzes the devotional function of these works in the context of contemporary texts and religious practices in northern Europe.

John Oliver Hand is Curator of Northern Renaissance Paintings. Ron Spronk is Research Curator at the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Harvard University Art Museums.