The Baroque (3)

1

Dutch relationship to the Land

Generally not idealized or classical

Specific identifiable scenes

An individual relationship with the land

No feudalismReclaimed landShow work at hand, historical

3

JACOB VAN RUISDAEL, View of Haarlem from the Dunes at Overveen, ca. 1670. Oil on canvas, 1’ 10” x 2’ 1”. Mauritshuis, The Hague.

4

JACOB VAN RUISDAEL, View of Haarlem from the Dunes at Overveen, • Saint Bavo church in

background (Ghent Altarpiece)

• Windmills refer to land reclamation efforts

• Foreground linen is being stretched Dutch painters took pride in homeland and activities of life- specific landscape, not idealized

• Low horizon line, sky fills majority of composition

• Quiet serenity that is almost spiritual

• Movement if birds and clouds implied- Baroque all about movement

5

6

7

8

Idealized

9

Specific, real-not idealized

10

11

By painting the landscape as a specific place in a specific time, rather than an idea, the viewer is considered also as a unique individual in possession of his/her own identity.

Documentary details privilege the experience of the observer as individual

12

13

14

15

Jan Vermeer • Small, luminous, and captivating

paintings

• Intimate Dutch interiors of insignificant events (in other words, not religious) Typical paintings have light coming from source on left side, uses yellows and blues, subjects tended to be women

• Classical serenity to his images

• Shadows are not colorless

• Only painted 53 works

• Ran a Inn/Tavern. Died in his forties, left his family in debt

• Believed to have used the camera obscura, an instrument that created an image through a hole set inside a dark box

JAN VERMEER, Woman Holding a Balance, ca. 1664. Oil on canvas, 1’ 3 7/8” X 1’ 2”. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (Widener Collection).

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

JAN VERMEER, Woman Holding a Balance

• Girl is member of merchant class- new customers of secular paintings and “genre scenes”

• Light draws attention to balance

• Scales are empty

• Mirror refers to self-knowledge (or sin of vanity)

• Jewels represent vanity

• Last Judgment painting on wall emphasizes religious undertone

• Matchless serenity and optical realism

• Shadows full of color

• “circles of confusion”-slight areas out of focus

29

Camera Obscura

A technical aid, widelv used in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which consisted of a darkened box or tent containing lenses and a mirror. The artist could project the image of an object or landscape onto the oil painting surface and then trace it out in charcoal or graphite.

30

31

JAN VERMEER, The Letter, 1666. Oil on canvas, 1’ 5 1/4” x 1’ 3 1/4”. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

32

JAN VERMEER, Allegory of the Art of Painting, 1670–1675. Oil on canvas, 4’ 4” x 3’ 8”. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

33

34

35

36

37

JAN VERMEER, View of Delft, ca. 1661. Oil on canvas, 3’ 2 1/2” X 3’ 10 1/4”. Mauritshuis, The Hague.

38

39

JAN STEEN, The Feast of Saint Nicholas, ca. 1660–1665. Oil on canvas, 2’ 8 1/4” x 2’ 3 3/4”. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

40

Jan Steen• holiday gatherings,

representations of school life, rowdy taverns, love-sick women, and dissolute households.

• scenes of everyday life in a direct and amusing way.

• keen wit and narrative ability ridiculed human nature in a good humored and entertaining manner

41

42

43

JAN STEEN, The Feast of Saint Nicholas, ca. 1660–1665. Oil on canvas, 2’ 8 1/4” x 2’ 3 3/4”. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

JAN STEEN, The Feast of Saint Nicholas

• Whimsical scene of chaos and disruption

• Saint Nicholas (Santa)

• Some children delighted-others disappointed

• Allegorical dimension-children’s activities can be satirical

• commentary on foolish adult behavior

• sweet white bread, called a duivekater, was traditionally enjoyed at the Feast of St. Nicholas, as well as at Christmas, and on the Dutch New Year. 

44

45

46

47

48

49

Saint Nicholas

The Christian Saint Nicholas, or as the Dutch call him, Sinterklaas, was a 4th century Bishop of Myra (a town located in modern day Turkey) who was known for his generosity and kindness especially to children.

He died on December 6th in 343 C.E., and it is this day that is commemorated. Although traditionally a Catholic holiday, the Feast of St. Nicholas survived in the Protestant Netherlands, although in a secularized form to be celebrated by all.  

Nevertheless, Sinterklaas continues to be shown wearing his customary bishop’s garb: a tall, pointed red mitre (hat) and long red robes. In the 18th century, when Dutch immigrants brought their traditions to America, the well-loved Saint Nicholas eventually developed into the figure known today as Santa Claus. 

50

PIETER CLAESZ, Vanitas Still Life, 1630s. Oil on panel, 1’ 2” x 1’ 11 1/2”. Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg.

PIETER CLAESZ, Vanitas Still Life,

vanitas: literally ‘worthlessness’ refers to death and the emptiness of life. Vanity of personal possessions-transience and ephemeral nature of existence.

Skull, glass tipped over, watch, half eaten food, musical instruments- all symbolic of ephemeral nature of life

51

52

The Presence of “Absence”

53

PIETER CLAESZ, Vanitas Still Life, 1630s. Oil on panel, 1’ 2” x 1’ 11 1/2”. Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg.

54

55

56

WILLEM KALF, Still Life with a Late Ming Ginger Jar, 1669. Oil on canvas, 2’ 6” x 2’ 1 3/4”. Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis.

WILLEM KALF, Still Life with a Late Ming Ginger Jar

• Reflects the wealth Dutch citizens had accrued through trade as well as painters exquisite skill

• Exotic items from far off lands

• Inclusion of watch and peeled lemon suggestive of Vanitas tradition

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

Rachel Ruysch• Extremely successful

• Paintings sold double of what Rembrandts sold for

• Father was famous botanist

• 250 paintings over seven decades

66

RACHEL RUYSCH, Flower Still Life, after 1700. Oil on canvas, 2’ 5 3/4” x 1’ 11 7/8”. The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo

67

68

High degree of skillful realism.

Scientifically accurate floral details. Each petal, stem, and leaf is minutely and precisely rendered.

Textures are remarkably realistic, from the delicate paper thin poppy petals to the crinkly, brittle leaves.

tiny insects: a caterpillar crawls on a stem, a bee gathers pollen from the center of a poppy, a white butterfly alights on a marigold. 

69

Flowers: A National Passion

The Netherlands became the largest importers of new and exotic plants and flowers from around the world.

Once valued primarily for their use as herbs or medicine, flowers became newly appreciated simply for their beauty and fragrance.

Prized luxuries and desirable status symbols for the wealthy.

Botanists and gardeners sought the rarest specimens imported from overseas trade.

The tulip was the most exotic and prized.

70

Tulip Mania

At the peak of tulip speculation in 1636, some bulbs sold for more than a skilled craftsman earned in ten years.

A rare “Semper Augustus” tulip sold for 5,200 guiders, more than the price of a fine house, a ship or twelve acres of land.

February, 1637, investors suddenly decided that tulip bulbs were grossly overpriced, and began to sell.

Within days, panic ensued. With more sellers than buyers, demand for tulips evaporated. Prices plummeted, tulip bulbs lost 90% of their earlier value, and the market crashed. The world had just experienced its first financial bubble.

The Rise of France• France shifted the center of

European art and culture away from Italy

• Louis XIV took over in France in 1661, everything changes

• Reigns for 54 years, established France as the leading superpower

• From 1661-1789 French art took prominence

French Society 1600-1700

King Louis XIV• Obsessive control determined the

direction of society and culture

• Royals brought to Paris from their territories and then to Versailles where they could be manipulated by the King and his advisors into compliance.

• Created the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture Largest and most powerful European country of 17th century

• Not as wealthy as Dutch society

After Reformation, Protestants challenged royal authority

1598 King Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes

Granted religious freedom, but Protestants were still driven from the country

The “Sun King”• Louis XIV (1661-1715)

• All life “revolved” around him, he envisioned himself as Apollo

• “l’etat, c’est moi” (“I am the state”)• le Roi Soleil

• ruled by “divine right”, receiving his authority directly from God. The concept of divine right allowed Louis to quash emerging rebellions while establishing legitimacy.

• Oversaw the construction of Versailles – palace and gardens were unfortified

• Style emphasized glory; lavish and luxurious

• At 63, most famous portrait not just for the opulence of his position, but also the vanity of his legs

74

75

Versaille

The Hall of Mirrors

78

Queens Bed-chamber

79

Classical architecture was intended to remind people of the greatness of the antique Greek and Roman past.

This ancient past was seen as the root of the intellectual and aesthetic superiority they believed had descended to the French nation.

French Baroque

• No motion or emotive gesture

• Calm, classical repose

• Even Lighting

• Lacking surface detail

• Simplified body volumes

• Organized picture plane

• Grand Theme-no genre scenes

81

The Arcadian Landscape

A mountainous region in the heart of the Peloponesse, Greece.

Isolated in the ancient times Its people, away from civilization, were living a pastoral life.

The concept of a pure life in accordance to the nature was praised in the Hellenistic era poems very popular among the elites.

Classicism in the 17th century revived this love towards nature.

82NICOLAS POUSSIN, Et in Arcadia Ego, ca. 1655. Oil on canvas, approx. 2’ 10” x 4’. Louvre, Paris.

NICOLAS POUSSIN, Et in Arcadia Ego• Even in Arcadia, I am

present• Precursors-Titian, Raphael

• Female spirit of death

• Classicizing through Moderation orderly Grouping.

• Bodies: classical statuary

• Reserved, thoughtful mood

• Idealized landscape

• Even lighting

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

NICOLAS POUSSIN, Burial of Phocion, 1648. Oil on canvas, 3’ 11” x 5’ 10”. Louvre, Paris.

92

CLAUDE LORRAIN, Landscape with Cattle and Peasants, 1629. Oil on canvas, 3’ 6” x 4’ 10 1/2”. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia

CLAUDE LORRAIN, Landscape with Cattle and Peasants• Well defined foreground-middle-

background

• Serene orderliness

• Landscape dissolves into luminous mist

• Ideal classical world bathed in sunlight in infinite space

• “golden hour”

• Infusion of nature with human feelings

93

94

95

96

LOUIS LE NAIN, Family of Country People, ca. 1640. Oil on canvas, 3’ 8” x 5’ 2”. Louvre, Paris.

LOUIS LE NAIN, Family of Country People,• Somber stillness of rural family

reflects the thinking of French social theorists who celebrated the natural virtue of peasants

• Grave dignity of peasant family, stoic-resigned to hardship with little reason for merriment

• Peasant life very miserable during Thirty Years War

• Docile calm family does not reflect the many uprisings and revolts, which possibly appealed to Le Nains Aristocratic patrons

97

98

99

100

101

GEORGES DE LA TOUR, Adoration of the Shepherds, 1645–1650. Oil on canvas, approx. 3’ 6” x 4’ 6”. Louvre, Paris.

102

103

Virtue and Civilization

With the advent of the Age of the Individual-Artists look away from Western Civilization to the Romanticized past and the margins of society in search for models of consciousness unburdened by the ills of and vices required to survive in the world of the individual.