Focusing on how Hendrick Goltzius (1558–1617) and Pieter Lastman (1583–1633) assimilated local rhetorical dramaturgy and performance practices found in the work of local rhetoricians (rederijkers), this book examines four examples of biblical history visualized in paintings by Goltzius and/or Lastman and analyses these paintings in comparison to stage texts written for the local chambers of rhetoric and which dramatize the same biblical narratives. Lea argues that Goltzius and Lastman each displayed their powers of poetic invention (poeterije) and their interest in advancing affective moral arguments by staging their history paintings in the manner that the rhetoricians staged their plays.