The aim of my talk is to discuss how elements of economic history and art history continue or change between 1400 until 1700. Confraternities of lay men and women, mostly dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and featuring literary and various artistic activities, called puys, existed in various cities from 1400 to 1700 in several French urban centres (Amiens, Rouen, Abbeville, Paris…). Visual images such as huge paintings, material objects such as silver reliquaries, chapel dedications in cathedrals or a sculptural program in the sacred space were underlining as well as undermining the pious undertaking. The textual productions of the Paris confraternity, as well as those of several older communities in Rouen and Amiens, show the entanglements of literary culture, visual art, and social practices of pious association and economic distinction. I analyze the textual and visual sources produced by these confraternities to express their devotion.