"Although the conditions for a flourishing art of sculpture in the Netherlands received a serious setback after the Iconoclasm and the Reformation, around 100 sculpted sepulchral monuments were nevertheless erected in the 17th century, ranging from simple memorials to completely free-standing tombs. Behind these remarkable works of art lies a world of prominent patrons and first-class sculptors, of major financial investments and costly materials, of status and personal sorrow." "The patronage of this funerary sculpture is the thread running through this book - the first detailed study of 17th-centry Dutch sculpture for more than 50 years. Who ordered these monuments and why? Who were the artists involved and how did they organise their work? What were the functions and meanings of this sepulchral sculpture? What were the costs involved in erecting the tombs, and how were they viewed by the 17th-century public? These and other questions are examined from various different angles."--BOOK JACKET.