ABSTRACT
The Waldensians were Protestants who lived in the Alpine regions between France and the Dukedom of Savoy in Italy. Between 1655 and 1663, the Duke of Savoy and Catholic authorities waged a campaign of religious repression that resulted in looting and massacres. Protestant propaganda produced in northern Europe was quick to exploit the Waldensian tragedy to foster anti-Catholic sentiment, to warn against the perceived danger represented by the Catholic Church to all Protestants and sought to provoke sympathy for their plight. Arranged around the allegorical representation of Religion weeping, are vignettes representing the persecutions of the Waldensians with short explanations in Dutch. The images of violence portray helpless victims and are designed to provoke sorrow among Protestant viewers but also anger against the Catholic Church.
