The moving statues of seventeenth-century Amsterdam: automata, waxworks, fountains, labyrinths

Abstract

"Explores the visual and cultural history of Amsterdam in the early modern era, focusing on the doolhoven: winding mazes behind pubs and taverns that featured pleasure gardens, waterworks, wax galleries, and automata"--Provided by publisher.

Contents

Introduction. The closed door : walking in -- Ritual routes. The courtyard fountain : Bacchic rites ; Into the labyrinth : containing the human monster -- The moving statue strikes. Automata : activating human behavior ; Strange things for strangers : transcultural automata -- Protestant paganism. Wax portraits : body politics ; Time machines in the golden age : the Kairos of clockwork -- Epilogue : obsolescence.