ABSTRACT
Arnold Houbraken sources included earlier biographical sources, interviews with artists or their family members, guild records, and poetic encomia. The result of Houbraken’s “serious investigative process” is a historical work that is widely considered an essential source regarding seventeenth-century Dutch painters. The use of “theatre” in the title, though, immediately invests what had become a rather standardized biographical genre with a sense of excitement, implying that the text is like a grand drama in which various characters will perform their part. Houbraken further develops this tactic by emphasizing character portrayal through the incorporation of memorable anecdotes, and including a variety of character “types,” which results in a broader range of artists discussed, including women. The biographer offers glowing praise for each of the female subjects he includes, and his efforts did at least bring somewhat more recognition to the achievements of women.
