7.7 Northern Bourgeois and Aristocratic Art (17th century)

middle class prosperity, world view

Amsterdam a center of trade and commerce=____________________

Amsterdam; France, England, and Austria

Northern Bourgeois Baroque→ ______

as

Northern Aristocratic Baroque→ ____,______, and ______

the democratization of painting

Holland a Republic with an egalitarian society=_______________________

very little religious art commissioned

Protestant church is not a patron of the arts=______________________________

new sense of nationalism

Freedom from Spanish occupation=___________________________

Flanders, Holland

1556 Revolt of the Netherlands against Spanish rule began.

resulted in…

Split : _______ remains Catholic/_____ is Protestant

Merchant/middle class prosperity

______/_______________= New patrons of the arts/New subject

Divine Right of Kings/Absolutism

“I am the state” Louis XVI. France the largest and most powerful country in Europe=

effect on art:

=reality and fiction combine to mythologize ruler and divine right to power

Art is the service of royal power

art function as:

• propaganda- French monarchy under Louis 14th consolidated absolute power

• nostalgia for another time/place

• myth and landscape make Arcadian dream

Royal Academies

______ _____________ established for arts/sciences (England/France Rationalism)

effect on art:

=official tastes through patronage of the king and aristocracy

Velazquez

Who is the artist?

• masterful organization of space and figures within it

• optical reality and coherent ordering of figures in space

• a more analytical and distanced approach to subjects within the paintings—psychological portraits

• external surfaces and world of appearances stressed along with a portrait of character

• subtle relationships between figures with the painting

• subtle light, often interior light, with contrasting values

Rembrandt

Who is the artist?

• Psychological depth to subject matter

• soft, undefinable light due to glazing techniques and loose brush strokes

• inner world of sitters and events

• drama of events and subjects, often emotion-charged

• dramatic contrast between light and dark areas

Vermeer

Who is this artist?

• world of appearances with little hint of artist’s point of view

• clearly defined space and light source, often from one side

• little evidence of brush stroke - highly polished detachments, cool interiors, no emotion

• stillness calm with little movement and little or no discernible emotion or expression

• contrast of light but executed with finesse and precision I very subtle gradations of value and color

Rubens

Who is this artist?

• richness and lavish colors

• complex compositions

• contrast between light and dark

• “rich colors of Titian with drama of Tintoretto”

• movement

• dramatic

Peter Paul Rubens

• Known as a Flemish Baroque painter born in Germany

• He spent his youth in poverty and decided late teens to become an artist

• Accepted painters guild-age 21 Showing his energy, intelligence and determination

1600-_____ left for Italy

art dealer, Raphael, Italian Renaissance

Peter Paul Rubens

• He studied in Rome, functional ___ _______, he was made a rich man, but maintained amiable and humble

• Rubens compared to _______-successful learned philosopher-

• Studied ______ __________ (Michelangelo and Titian)

Marie de’Medici; France; triumph

Context

• ____________ regent for her young son-Louis XIII

• Glorify her role in ruling ______

• paintings-Rubens portrayed Marie’s life and political career as a continuous ____________ overseen by gods

Henri IV Receives the Portrait of Marie de Medici

What paint contains this content?

Ancient gods and cupids presenting a portait to a suitor

The heavens look down in approval over the “marital Union”.

Message→ even the king of gods can be subdued by love.

Reality and fiction combine to mythologize ruler and divine right to power.

• The Capitoline Triad of Jupiter (Zeus), Juno (Hera) and Minerva (Athena), presided over the scene of Henry IV Receiving her portrait. Minerva (Athena) goddess of peace and war, whispers words of wisdom into the king’s ear, ar thsitroians also consider this figure to be a personification of France. The celestial scene above assures everyone that marriages are indeed made in heaven, where Jupiter and Juno with her peacocks and his eagle bestow their blessings. Cupid (the god of love) holds up the portrait. Hymen (the god of marriage) is the other allegorical figure holding the frame.

France; Louis XIV, 17th century

• ______ during the Baroque period is increasing monarchical authority that had been developing.

• Consolidation of power was embodied in King ____ ___ whose obsessive control determined direction of French Baroque society

• France became largest and most powerful European country of the ___ _________

architecture

Baroque Classicism in ____________

City of Amsterdam 17th Century

• Became financial center of the Europe with the founding of the Bank of (city)

• It initiated transfer banking and allowed a wider distribution of wealth through broader and easier acquisition of merchandise

• Equally Dutch seamanship also facilitated and increased the Dutch economy

Rembrandt’s Large Workshops

__________ __________ ___________-many pupils=have made it difficult to define his body of work

• Popular with Amsterdam clientele the artist ran a busy studio producing works that sold for high prices

• Pupils imitated his manner have made it difficult for scholars to define his body of work

the etching process

prior to beginning the art piece, the artist coats the metal with a waxy, acid resistant material.

1) The artist draws through this ground with an etching needle to expose the metal. 

2) The plate is then dipped in acid, which “bites” into the exposed metal leaving behind lines in the plate. By controlling the amount of time the acid stays on the plate, the artist can make shallow, fine lines or deep, heavy ones.  

3)After the coating is removed, the plate is inked then put through a high-pressure printing press together with a sheet of paper to make the print. 

*Typically, an artist can produce about 100 excellent impressions from a single plate.

camera obscura

• used by Vermeer (see the painting *View of Delft)

an optical device that led to photography and the camera. 

• it is created by eliminating all light from a room, and making a small hole in the wall. this will project an image from outside the small hole onto the wall, but upside down.

Bourgeois; Flanders, Spain; Amsterdam

• ___________:  Middle-Class / Citizen of Town

• ______ broke with _____ 1568 and joined together King of Spain & United Republic, the Vatican, Holy Roman Empire, and France (peace negotiations)

• ____________ was true center of power because of its sea trade

portraits

(Dutch Baroque)

• took many forms, ranging from single to people in elaborate costumes.

• success → accurate portrayal of settings, costumes, facial features often idealizing to convey personalities

• (groups) documented the membership of corporate organizations (Dutch specialty)

Rembrandt

• Important painter working in Amsterdam in 17^th century and known as one great artists of all time.

• Born to a miller and his wife sent to University of Leiden age 14, but dropped out few months to study painting.  He apprenticed to a Leiden artist, then briefly worked in Amsterdam

• Painted religious, mythological paintings, landscapes and figure studies, but primary source of income was portraiture

• Studied Peter Paul Rubens work (selected image #86) and incorporated some of his compositional ideas

Flemish Baroque

• 17^th century Flanders returned to direct Spanish rule and remained predominantly Catholic 

• Antwerp-capital city & major arts center artists of talent flourished there, bringing commissions from foreign patrons.

• Baroque Art of (Flanders-Netherlands) retained close connections to the Baroque art of Catholic Europe

• Dutch schools of painting developed their own subjects & styles

Dutch Genre Paintings

• term used to categorize paintings depicting scenes of everyday life, including domestic interiors, street scenes, inn scenes

Vermeer

• Greatest Dutch genre painter was _______. An innkeeper and art dealer who painted only for local patrons

• Meticulous in his technique with unique compositional approach and painting style.

• ______ produced small # of works

• Frequently scenes of women in their homes, alone or with a servant who are occupied with some activity (genre)

• Such as, writing, reading letters, playing music,

• _________ also produced history paintings views of Delft

• He may have experimented with the mechanical device known as camera obscura -an early camera like device

Still Life

A painting or drawing of an arrangement of objects

• These types of art were considered unimportant because they were merely copies from nature (16th and 17th century art theorists)

• Netherlands are specialists of this.