Moralistic iconography in Northern European art of the modern period 14-OG-EN-NE-L

Beginning with mid-15th century, and particularly in Northern Europe, depictions of scenes from life, that may have had precedents in motifs found in small Gothic architectural sculpture and manuscript drôleries began to circulate more broadly thanks to the development of graphic techniques. Their proliferation may have also been due to the rise in the number of preachers aiming for the broad public in the later Middle Ages and during the Reformation, as well as to the dissemination of printed texts, especially folk tales. The generally moralizing mindset of the time becme reflected in a more educated way, starting with the 1530's, in emblematic books, which in turn influenced in quantity and quality representations of the new iconographic type, now also more often employed in painting. The peak in number and type of scenes warning directly or à rebours against immoral behaviour, with erotic rules of conduct topping the list, has been reached around 1600 in the Low Coutries. After mid-century, these depictions serving both Protestant and Catholic recipients slowly succumbed to ossification as picturesque motifs, ultimately losing their meaning in the 1700's and becoming, particularly in France, what was later named „genre”.
The basic research on the subject, the conclusions of which are however challenged by some scholars, started as late as the 1960's at the Utrecht University, and continues especially in The Netherlands, Germany and the USA.