Reviews 63 chapels, each of which is examined individually. These are followed by an examination of the main altar, the cupola, and the parish hall. Chapter five looks at the artistic and cultural value of the decorative stonework and painting in the church while simultaneously contextualising its religious iconography and ornamentation within the larger framework of church decoration in Italy, thus moving the study beyond its local context. This volume is an excellent chronicle of the spiritual and secular history of the confraternity and its two churches. Though the study is largely focused on the modern period, it is a fine example of the wide-ranging impact a confraternity can have in shaping the cultural, social, and artistic identity of a city over time.

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This article discusses the propagation of the devotion of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary in the Low Countries around 1500. The central argument is that the secular goal of the promoters of the devotion was to create a large spiritual and emotional community in support of the Burgundian-Habsburg dynasty and its ideology of peace and territorial unity. To this end a whole array of old and new media was exploited. The article analyses the dynamics of this devotional communication and gives special attention to the role of miracles, vernacular theatre and the printing press.

Cover illustration: Detail, Liber authenticus sacratissimae utriusque sexus christifidelium confraternitatis septem dolorum beatae mariae virginis nuncupatae, Archives of the City of Brussels/Archief van de Stad Brussel, Historical Archives/Historisch Archief Register 3413, fol. [2]r.

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