De Witt offers a detailed biography based on a thorough review of the documentary evidence. He traces Van Noordt's origins back to a prominent musical family, details his artistic development under the guidance of prominent Amsterdam painter Jacob Adriaensz Backer, and reveals his synthesis of the styles of the two dominant Netherlandish artists, Rubens and Rembrandt. Using a systematic analysis of technique, manner, and approach to form, de Witt proves that over half the paintings and drawings presently attributed to Van Noordt are not his work - virtually recasting the accomplishments of an artist whose vibrant, often daring works challenge our concept of seventeenth-century Dutch art.

At once military, social and art history, this book elucidates various visual media, much of it little known, that denounce military cruelty in the Netherlands of the 16th and 17th century. This unique Netherlands specialty contrasts with Rubens' glorification of war, and its justification in patriotic siege prints, Scipio Africanus, and the "courtiers" of the civic guard groups and Ter Borch.