$BAROQUE The art of the 17th and early 18th Centuries is termed Baroque because of its exuberant, florid style. Baroque art is art which appeals to the senses. Baroque was a term criticizing the works of artists who departed from the High Renaissance ideals of cool, formal Classicism. But Baroque artists had to fulfil a much wider range of needs encompassing both religious and secular life. The Catholic Church in its struggle with the Protestants required art which would overwhelm the senses and engage the viewer's body as well as his mind with religious truths. The realism found in Baroque painting was intended to shock the senses and challenge the eye. This art fitted well the new religious piety of the Jesuits, whose devotional practices were based on visualizing the sensual details of religious belief. Baroque artists depicted man's relations with the spiritual world capturing in a moment's glance the sufferings and joys, the poverty and wealth, and the miseries and splendours of life. These contrasts were created by using · strong diagonal asymmetrical arrangements · strong light against darkness. Their use of light was expressed in two ways: natural light emanating from where the spectator stood; and supernatural light pouring down from heaven or radiating from figures or objects. Secondly, the great rulers of Europe, especially in Spain and France required paintings to express the magnificence of the Court. Royal patronage created overpowering paintings and buildings. Thirdly, the growing wealthy nobility, merchants and urban rich became an ever-growing source of patronage for the artist as the Renaissance ideals spread and took root. Landscapes, intellectual allegories, portraits, still-lifes, peasant scenes: all became a means of spreading the new Renaissance sensibilities and life-style. · Southern Baroque · In southern Europe of Italy and Spain the intensity of emotion in the works by Italians Caravaggio and Carracci, is matched by the Spaniards El Greco and Velazquez. Italian Baroque art quickly spread from Rome over the rest of Italy and then the rest of Europe. Some great painters came to Italy and settled there. Some came to study and returned with their new-found knowledge. The artists of the 17th Century had developed a new confidence in themselves and each other. They met together in Academies to discuss their form of art. Standards of training for future artists were encouraged. Patrons and commissioned works were still their livelihood, but somehow the artist had developed a new consciousness of his creative power and responsibility to mankind. In France, De la Tour, Poussin and Lorrain reinterpret the Renaissance ideals in the traditional gentleness and courtliness of French art and continued to reflect its halfway position between Catholic and Protestant - North and South. · Northern Baroque · In the Netherlands, Baroque Art is divided in style by religious and geographical divisions - Catholic and Protestant; North and South; the Flemish School and the Dutch School. Rubens and van Dyck of the Flemish School are firmly within the Grand Style of Italy. Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hals, and de Heda, reflect both the strong Northern Renaissance traditions and the growing political and religious independence of the Dutch Republic. They form the Dutch School. Dutch art formed a separate tradition right through the 17th Century. The majority of Dutch were Calvinists, displaying open tolerance and welcoming free thinkers and new philosophers to their country. Travellers to their land would note their sober tastes and routine lifestyles punctuated by pride and cleanliness of both public and private property. Pride in personal possessions created a need for painters to specialize in one theme, be it portraits, landscapes, still-lifes, and genres. Details were captured of men and women in everyday activities - their surroundings, customs, places, streets, countryside, land and sea, and still-lifes. Their lifestyle also dictated the extraordinary small size in some works, because of the small modest dwellings. Thus, portraits were rarely full-length. In still-lifes, the viewer is drawn to share in the pleasures of the senses. Objects depicted always reminded the viewer of their relation to people through signs of wear and usage. The artists played with the senses: taste, smell, touch and hearing. Private domestic life was appealing. Everything he did was worthy of record. Ruisdael and Hobbema, in their landscapes, developed an original expression of space, light and water. The sky is not one element, but becomes the painting itself, taking up the biggest surface and focal point of the canvas. One of the biggest challenges facing Dutch landscape painters was that Holland was flat providing less interesting subjects. So Dutch artists learned to manipulate and dramatize reality. Great skies, thus, were a feature of their work. #CARRACCI 1560-1609 Annibale Carracci was the founder of the Italian Baroque school and was determined to see the fusion of the art of the Renaissance Masters and antiquity, with a sincere study of nature. His most famous works are in the Palazzo Farnese. The strength in his studies were in their monumental power: gestures and proportions are exaggerated to effect the deepest emotions. *601 Carracci CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN 1591 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Here, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, crown Mary, Mother of God, before the singing choruses in heaven above and on earth below. Angels and cherubs sing and play instruments bringing musical images to the viewer. An illusion of the great depth of the universe is suggested around the three principle figures. #CARAVAGGIO 1575-1610 Caravaggio was another of the Italian Baroque school. His technique of painting direct, without preliminary sketching, came from Venetian tradition. His early paintings were of a secular nature, with little use of the effects of chiaroscuro. His great step into fame and controversy began with the commissions of S. Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. His later works became very simplified in composition and heroic in nature. He was a fiery-tempered man, spending several periods in jail for assault, even murdering one of his creditors. He deplored the elevated theme and grand stage settings of the Classical authorities. His naturalism, strong contrasts of light and darkness and his flair for tragedy, his contemporaries could not assimilate. *602 Caravaggio BACCHUS 1593 Uffizi, Florence. In this early self-portrait, Caravaggio is the god of wine, Bacchus. There is not hint of depth of space beyond the foreground, nowhere else to look but the foreground, a subject portrayed with an unreal clarity. The contrast of textures, the soft pale skin, the white toga, various fruit, grape leaves and the wine, reinforce the challenging, piercing gaze. *603 Caravaggio THE CALLING OF ST MATTHEW 1598 S. Luigi dei Francesi Contanelli Chapel, Rome. St Matthew, a tax collector, on the left among three soldiers, pointing to his chest, is called to be an Apostle. To the right is Christ and one disciple. Caravaggio uses strong use of light and tone and sacrifices the elegant colour so familiar to Italian painting. The setting is stark accentuated by the dramatic light which comes from an unreal source behind Christ and directs itself to St Matthew's startled face. A simple, fine gold circle above Christ's head establishes his power reinforced by his gaze and the direction in which he points. A similar gesture also caught in the light, from the disciple beside him, strengthens the power of the ray of light. The angle also dramatizes the effect of it, drawing the viewer's eye from St Matthew past the window looking for the source and back again. Another light source catches details on the soldier's costume and defines a small band of colour repeating the reds to carry the eye again back to Christ. This gesture which has been taken from the gesture of God in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. The cross created by the small window panes provides some dramatic foreboding for the future. *604 Caravaggio DESCENT FROM THE CROSS 1603 Vatican Gallery, Rome. This study is tight and compact in composition, the black background denying the spectator to wander from the spectacle caught in a harsh light. The strong diagonal arrangements of the figures allows the viewer no freedom from the expressions of grief on the faces of Mary Kleophas, Mary Magdalen, Mary, Peter and Paul. Mary's uplifted arms reach feebly into the darkness echoing the feeling of helplessness in Christ's followers. The rendering of the figures is stark and realistic, emphasizing the form and playing down the colour. *605 Caravaggio CRUCIFIXION OF ST PETER 1600 Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome. It is a traditional belief that St Peter was crucified upside down at his death, as Peter did not believe he was worthy to suffer exactly the same fate as Christ. Peter, an old man with leathery wrinkled skin, focuses on the reality of the moment. Painted for the side walls of the small Chapel of Cerasi, this painting, along with the Conversion of St Paul is viewed from an angle. Caravaggio adjusted the perspective accordingly. The composition is light and limited to four figures with little embellishment or any background. The figures of the executioners are intent on their job. Caravaggio made a point of bringing coarse, common people into his religious works. They were created with heroic dignity and depth of feeling. Peter, an old man appears to have second thoughts at the moment of his martyrdom. Twice he had tried to evade the inevitable result of his faith, now his eyes focus on the nail which holds him to his word. *606 Caravaggio SUPPER AT EMMAUS 1573 National Gallery, London. The unknown visitor, the resurrected Christ appears to the Apostles at Emmaus, the scene capturing the moment of revelation to St Thomas. The sheer realism and dramatic point is shown vividly. #EL GRECO 1541-1614 El Greco or Domenico Theotocopoulos, was a Spanish Baroque painter. He was originally a native of the Greek island of Crete, governed by Venice. Crete was an area where the Byzantine artistic tradition was still dominant: a style of painting that was solemn, rigid and remote from any semblance of natural appearance. Fascinated by Tintoretto's art in Venice he felt the urge to tell sacred stories in a new and stirring manner. El Greco went from Italy to Toledo Spain in 1577 where he painted with bold disregard for natural forms producing stunning and dramatic visions. *653 El Greco BURIAL OF COUNT ORGAZ 1586 Church of Santo Tome, Toledo, Spain. St Stephen and St Augustine intervene at the funeral of Count Orgaz, in the presence of nobility, and an Augustine monk. The transparent shape of an infant, the Count's soul, is received in heaven. In this painting reality and spirituality fuse into one. El Greco chose to portray the figures in contemporary dress and included many dignitaries above the tomb, creating the impression that the body is being lowered to its resting place. *654 El Greco VIEW OF TOLEDO 1600 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In this view of his new home, Toledo, the artist has moved buildings and altered the skyline to suit his artistic and spiritual needs. The violent night sky hides the moon and casts a shadow on the Cathedral and Alcazar in a foreboding of the state of the spiritual world. The heavens are separated from the harsh green earth by a black horizon. Much of his work is painted as nightscapes with strong light radiating from either a spiritual source, a candle or even the moon itself. The painting is remarkably abstract for its time, very little depth of field, and many landscape elements left vague. *655 El Greco DESPOILING OF CHRIST 1587 Munich Museum. This work was initially commissioned for a vestry of the priests of Toledo Cathedral. It is a painting of contrast, the excitement of the crowd against the repose of Christ. The proportions are deliberately exaggerated: the expressive hands, the smaller head of Christ, the focus of the painting looking to heaven. The frenzy of movement in the crowd in the back continues in a circular motion around the painting. It did not please the experts, initially, because the heads of the two thieves, the captain, and the crowd were higher than the head of Christ. Also the Three Marys were standing close by whereas the Gospel states that they looked from afar. *656 El Greco CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE 1600 National Gallery, London. El Greco's technique was to paint from dark to light. There is full underpainting establishing areas of light and dark and local colours are applied in broad fluid brushstrokes. The twisting turning forms, the harsh acid colours, the flickering light evident even in the shadows, are all part of El Greco's ecstatic and passionate rendering of Christ's desire to bring peace and stability back into the world. *659 El Greco CARDINAL 1600 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This portrait is thought to be Cardinal Fernando de Guevara, the head of the Spanish Inquisition. El Greco captures his presence with the full-length view, and the hands tensely gripping the chair. *657 El Greco LAOCOON 1610 National Gallery, Washington D.C. Laocoon and his Trojan sons are killed by snakes sent by Apollo and Diana who supported the Greeks in the Trojan War. This was modelled on the statue in Rome, from which Michelangelo gained inspiration for the dynamic portrayal of heroic figures in the Sistine Chapel. Here El Greco has added the gods to the group, made Troy after Toledo, and interpreted the scene with intense spiritualized vision. #VELAZQUEZ 1599-1660 Diego Velazquez was a Spanish Baroque painter, born in Seville, and secured a position as court painter with Philip IV. Although he had not been to Rome, he admired the work of Caravaggio's imitators. His own early works reflected this. In Rubens he found a man who helped him discover the beauty of the many Titian masterpieces in the Prado and in also securing his first visit to Italy to study the great masters. He returned to the court of Philip IV and remained there for this rest of his life, painting portraits of the Royal family. But Velazquez managed to turn this task, which would seem so tedious, into some of the most interesting paintings. He was absorbed by Naturalism and his court paintings included not only the Royal family but fools and dwarfs as well. Velazquez always kept his independence and was proud of his artistic ability. In 1649 he returned again to Rome and in this time painted at least ten portraits, one of which was that of Pope Innocent X. On returning to Madrid, he was appointed the Chamberlain of the Royal Palace. *647 Velazquez WATER CARRIER OF SEVILLE 1620 Wellington Museum, London. Painted at the age of 20 in Caravaggio's style this work shows his early interest in genre painting. The old man is tenderly rendered with worn and wrinkled face and ragged jacket. Surfaces and textures are vividly highlighted. The composition is stark and simple, the colours drab, the background dark. Yet the picture has a quiet dignity and the whole is joined together in a rich harmony which marked his early work. *648 Velazquez SURRENDER OF BREDA 1635 Prado, Madrid. The victorious Spanish General, Ambrosio Spinola, is receiving a key to the fortress of Breda from the Dutch fighting for freedom during the Thirty Years War. The surrender takes place in stark clarity so much in the foreground that the viewer feels witness to the occasion. In contrast, the middle and background are very hazy presenting a panorama of flooded land and smoke-filled sky. The defeated Dutch appear disorganized, weapons to the left, which are in contrast to the numerous erect lances held high by the triumphant Spaniards on the right. A defeated young Dutchman stands beside the tired horse of the Dutch commander. Spinola's horse dares present its backside to the viewers, stamping his impatience to get on with it. The human element of the moment is caught in the dejection of the Dutchman looking out at the viewer, daring him to bear witness, and in the compassionate courtesy between the two leaders. *649 Velazquez PRINCE BALTASAR CARLOS 1634 Prado, Madrid. This painting was displayed at the same time as the Surrender of Breda in the ceremonial hall of the Buen Retiro Palace, where it hung over the door. Hence the unusual foreshortening in the pony's leap forward. This portrait has obvious influences from Velazquez's contact with Rubens. The quickly sketched landscape behind is presented in soft blues and greens. The young prince sits proudly in his elaborate saddle dressed in a rich green coat with gold and silver embroidery on a purple sash. The strong movement created by the pony and rider's diagonal is countered and held by the soft sloping and opposing diagonals repeated in the background. A masterly work in which the moment is captured in balance with nature. *650 Velazquez MAIDS OF HONOUR 1656 Prado, Madrid. The daring blend of beauty and grotesque, austerity and great grandeur, of age and youth comes together in what is actually a very informal grouping of the Royal Family and court members. Velazquez has dared to include himself, placing the king and queen out of the picture with the viewer catching only their reflection in the mirror on the far wall. Margarita is the focal point of this canvas, with lights converging upon her from various sources. The seemingly casual grouping of the figures forms a cleverly knit pattern, in gestures and glances. The deep perspective of the room draws the viewer to the open door, where a courtier exits creating another light source. The illusion of the mirror on the back wall is quite abstract floating in the space above the young girls, so as not to be missed. *651 Velazquez JUAN DE PAREJA 1650 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This portrait of Velazquez's slave captures the inner life, the pride and humanity of the subject, the quick brushstrokes creating the impression of character. *652 Velazquez VENUS WITH MIRROR 1648 National Gallery, London. This Venus with Cupid holding the mirror, was the only one the artist made. The reclining nude genre created by Giorgione and Titian was now becoming a standard subject for artists. #RUBENS 1577-1640 Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish Baroque painter who grew up in Antwerp. By the time he was 23 Rubens was on his way to Italy where he lived for almost eight years studying the High Renaissance artists as well as meeting with his contemporaries like Caravaggio. He built Rubens House, a wonderful Italian Palace containing his studio, living facilities and a gallery of fine Italian works. While his central concern was historical and religious paintings, Rubens enjoyed almost every genre of his time. His greatest works were those painted for the Church and the Court. Here he combined the Italian heritage and Flemish tradition. But equally important are his works depicting scenes from mythology and Roman history. To the heroes and pagan gods he gave a new energy and life, presenting human passion with heroism. His sometimes robust realism shocked his Flemish public so much more accustomed to a more reserved rendering. Whatever Rubens chose to paint, his expression explained his exuberance for life. Rubens also clearly presents his passion for women in his works. His splendid paintings of female nudes and portraits, particularly of his second wife, Helene Fourment, demonstrated his veritable triumph in his depiction of what are known as the "Rubenesque women". *611 Rubens RUBENS AND HIS WIFE 1609 Alte Pinakothek, Munich. Painted shortly after his return from Italy and marriage to Isabella, Rubens clearly indicates in this soft, quiet portrayal of a married couple, the frank and honest devotion he had for this woman. The two figures together create an oval within the rectangle, which is filled with the darkened backdrop of the honeysuckle with only a hint of sky beyond. The detailing on their costume is typically Flemish in style but the relaxed, informed pose startling in concept for his time. *612 Rubens DESCENT FROM THE CROSS 1611 Courthauld Institute, London. This painting is a perfectly finished study for what became the central panel of the altarpiece in the Antwerp Cathedral. Painted two years after his return from Italy, this work clearly indicate this study of the Classics and the works of his contemporaries in Italy, the Carracci school and Caravaggio. Light and shadow are dramatic but not as contrasting as Caravaggio. Gestures are exaggerated yet flowing and figures strong but less muscular than his Italian counterparts. A strong diagonal movement as created with the combination of the pale body of Christ and the white cloth. This is softened by the attention drawn to the exaggerated gestures of each of the figures reaching out and encircling the body. The composition is typically busy, filled with suggestions of movements and life. A hint of the landscape beyond is indicated by the colours of a sunset to the left of the canvas. *613 Rubens RAPE OF THE DAUGHTERS 1618 Alte Pinakothek, Munich. Entitled the Rape of the Daughters of Leucrippus, the twin sons of Zeus, Castor and Pollux, abduct the two Royal sisters at their marriage ceremony. His early studies of the Classics and mythology presented for him much subject matter in this period. The eight figures portrayed are contrasted, the two voluptuous sisters' gestures are repeated seen from in front and the other from behind. The brothers, one in armour, one naked; the horses, one chestnut, one grey; move in opposite directions, as do the cherubim restraining the horses. All this action is enclosed in a square canvas within four diagonals. The ground is the only horizontal reference, holding the tumultuous action earthbound. *614 Rubens ALLEGORY 1630 National Gallery, London. In this Allegory on the Blessings of Peace, Minerva, goddess of wisdom and the civilized arts, drives away Mars and the Fury of War, surrounded by the symbols of prosperity and joy. This painting was a gift to Charles I of England to try and induce a signing of peace with Spain. Peace offers her breast to a child, Pan licks his lips in anticipation of the sweetness of the fruit; a panther plays peacefully like a big cat; three children shelter each other from the ugliness of war behind them. Mars glances back, almost longingly, as if he would prefer to join in. The rich details and play on the senses and vivid glowing colours contrast with the dark and foreboding landscape and stormy sky beyond. This painting is indicative of Rubens' splendid style marked by such imagination yet surprising reality. Even his brushstrokes contain a life and quality of exuberance not seen earlier. *615 Rubens GARDEN OF LOVE 1634 Prado, Madrid. The subject matter, the Garden of Love, was a familiar one in the Gothic period. These earlier versions were popular scenes with groups of young lovers in gardens. Rubens here creates a fantasy and put himself and his young bride within it. This painting demonstrates the late style of Rubens' paintings which were marked with a new softness and tenderness, perhaps inspired by his new marriage to the young 16-year-old Helen Fourment. In this late style, Rubens employed a palette of higher key colours, less shadows, less heavy browns and blacks. His brushstroke is lighter, with less pigment, and more expressive. A tribute to the pleasures of life, Rubens painted himself, with Helen dancing to the left, lost in her own world, oblivious to the other party makers. #VAN DYCK 1599-1641 Van Dyck was one of the most successful Baroque portraitists. His influence was felt through Europe and even among portraitists in America. He was influenced by Rubens and may have worked on his larger canvases, and after a trip to Italy made notes about the works of Italian Baroque artists. He became the court painter for Charles I in England, his best works being portraits for the king and his family. *617 van Dyck QUEEN HENRIETTA 1633 National Gallery, Washington D.C. Charles I endeavoured to model the English court on the Baroque courts in Europe; dwarves were considered essential appendages to the court. Here van Dyck has idealized the French-born princess with slim gracefulness and with an air of aristocratic power. Van Dyck's brushwork creates a sense of flamboyance in the court, a quality annoying to the English Puritans who criticized the king for these signs of decadence. *618 van Dyck CHARLES I 1635 Royal Collection, London. Charles I endeavoured to model the English court on the Baroque courts of Europe. Here van Dyck has made a portrait from three viewpoints in order for Bernini to make a marble bust of the subject. Van Dyck made sure that this preparatory work was seen in its best light by Italians so he has made great detailing and splendid colouring. #REMBRANDT 1606-69 Born in Leyden, Rembrandt van Rij worked most of his life in Amsterdam where he became the greatest of all Dutch Baroque painters. Here his success rose and fell foremost as a portraitist. But his works varied in subject and media including themes from the Bible, mythology, history, landscapes and genre studies. He frequently chose to work in black and white: drawings and etchings. To him, portraits, were the soul of man, made visible. He was honest in his representations, refusing to smooth over signs of age or roughness. His friends, therefore, were more willing to sit for him than new clientele. And like Frans Hals, Rembrandt dared to charge his canvases with compositional excitement. The influence of the Italian Baroque artist, Caravaggio, is apparent in Rembrandt's very personal use of very strong light and shadow. For Rembrandt, the shadow signified the sorrows and perplexities born upon man's life. The extraordinary phenomena of Rembrandt's self-portraits is still unequalled in the entire history of art. There exist at least 60 painted, 20 etched, and 10 drawn. The continuity of these self-portraits allows art historians to follow clearly the development of his various styles as much as his own changing appearance and personality. He persisted in his search for the spiritual in man, and to this end painted and sketched his own image in an effort to penetrate his own soul. Rembrandt was the last of the great religious painters: in the next century painters tended to concern themselves with the pleasures or secular activities. *619 Rembrandt SELF PORTRAIT 1630 Oil, Aerdenhout, Netherlands Rembrandt was 23 when he painted this portrait. He made numerous studies and etchings of himself at the same time, all frivolous in nature. For example, 'Self-portrait in a cap open-mouthed and staring'. This work shows his experiments in the Caravaggio style, with chiaroscuro effects, strongly contrasting light and dark, to create an animated effect. Strong light falls dramatically on his face which is rather crude in rendering and formless. The suggestion of expression in the mouth and sense of humour in the eyes are early hints at the genius of this artist. Rembrandt's early portraits reveal a frankness of statement and bold simplicity. *620 Rembrandt SELF PORTRAIT 1658 Frick Collection, New York. Here Rembrandt defies the accepted formality and rhetoric of portraits in the past, by this pictorial fancy. The familiar warm glowing colours and the rich texture of the paint, accentuate this rich display of himself as a wealthy Oriental gentleman at the height of his career, content with life and all its trappings. *622 Rembrandt SELF PORTRAIT 1669 Kenwood House, London. This late portrait sees the artist posing before a canvas. The two half circles are startling abstract forms for his time. The structures of all his later works demonstrated his obvious understanding of the strength of point, line, and plane. The lights and darks clearly divide the canvas, strong light accentuating the white hat. His conscious exploitation of these abstract forms, forecasts the future of painting. *623 Rembrandt THE NIGHT WATCH 1642 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning was a subject of Dutch independent pride, here shown rallying. In this work, Rembrandt reveals his unconventional enthusiasm and daring. The personalities of the members is subordinate to the capturing of the moment of general commotion. The two central figures step forward, painted with striking realism in contrast to the group behind. Their movement is repeated in the angles of the lieutenant's pike and the rifle and lance above and behind. The composition though quite complex is integrated and clear. The dramatic use of light and shadow is typical of Rembrandt's early works. *624 Rembrandt CHRIST HEALING THE SICK Etching, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. 1643 to 1656 was the period of Rembrandt's greatest etchings and drawings. He enjoyed great popularity for his etchings in particular. Rembrandt combined etching with burin and dry point techniques. His inventive use of dry point, drawing directly onto the copper plate, created a softness and spontaneity in his lines. The whiteness of the paper was his source of light and opens up the composition. A strong chiaroscuro effect is created by the glowing light around Christ's head which seems to penetrate the darkness around him. Darkness signified the sorrows of life for men in the shadow of God. *625 Rembrandt ARISTOTLE WITH BUST OF HOMER 1653 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This work is one of the three idealized portraits of Classical personalities, Rembrandt painted during the 1650s and 1660s. In 1652 an Italian patron commissioned a work about a philosopher. Aristotle is completely absorbed, his gaze turned inwards, his right hand reaches out to touch Homer's bust, symbolizing their spiritual unity. The composition is very sober. The viewer's eye follows the line from the face of Aristotle to Homer's bust, or to follow the gold chin around Aristotle's shoulder to the medallion of Alexander the Great, Aristotle's famous pupil, and back up to the highlights of the sleeve of his left arm to his face. The light source is unreal, glowing out of the warm brown shadows to create a feeling of contemplation. *626 Rembrandt WOMAN BATHING 1659 Leiden National Gallery. This lovely study of Hendrickje Stoffels was by far the most outstanding of Rembrandt's works with his lover as model. The light, colour and lines are soft and warm. Rembrandt's first wife, Saskia, had made it difficult in her will for him to marry Hendrickje, so she never enjoyed the status of his wife. But we see a simple warmheartedness and motherly nature, which was obviously missed after her death in 1663. *627 Rembrandt SUPPER AT EMMAUS 1642 Louvre, Paris. Rembrandt has made Christ's head a source of light, creating a gentle diffused effect as the other figures are detailed by the light. *628 Rembrandt DRAPERS' GUILD 1662 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. These sampling officials were part of a great clothing industry in the wealthy expanding Dutch empire. Rembrandt captures the significance of these proud men, key patrons of artists in his time. #VERMEER 1632-1675 Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch Baroque painter, born in Delft, the son of a tavern keeper and art dealer. His specialty was still-life and though his paintings were few, the meticulousness with which he chose to present even the simplest of objects, involved a great deal of time. A true Dutchman, he found his own ordinary domestic life attractive enough to record. Each room of his house was depicted and usually showed domestic activity. The pictorial space and atmosphere he created with simple lines and saturating light, is harmonious. The observer is made to feel like a voyeur viewing the works through a partially pulled-back curtain in some works. Interiors bask in light with the suggestion of an open window. There are only 40 paintings attributed to Vermeer, two of which are dated. *629 Vermeer GIRL ASLEEP 1657 Oil, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This early Vermeer confirms his already sensuous interpretation of still-life. The articles on the table, the worn leather on the back of the traditional chair create a domestic atmosphere. Unlike other genre works, Vermeer avoids narrative. Single figures, usually women, engage in everyday timeless activities. Vermeer astonished the viewer with the depth of space. The framed mirror sets up a play of horizontal and vertical lines. The viewer is drawn through the front room, through the partially-opened door to the back room. The warmth of the reds, yellows, and browns creates a friendly domestic environment. *630 Vermeer WOMAN WITH A WATER JUG 1660 Oil, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This work reveals Vermeer's fascination with light and its tendency to absorb and embellish all that is captures in its path. Pure simplicity makes this an outstanding example of 'genre' painting. Note the brilliant compositional structure in the play of horizontal and vertical line; and the rich colours, Prussian blue, gold, and crisp white in the sunlight. *631 Vermeer THE LETTER 1666 Oil, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. One of Vermeer's most perfect works, the harmony is simple but not bare; rich but not extravagant. The surfaces bathe in natural light, and the tones balance so that no single colour dominates. The startling depth of space places the observer in a chair in the foreground darkness, with a table between. *632 Vermeer THE LACEMAKER 1664 Louvre, Paris. Vermeer captures the contented tranquillity of the everyday work of lace-making. Perfect repose of the subject and precision of detail and colour make this work one of his finest. Note how effective the little touches of contrasting colours makes the work attractive. *633 Vermeer A PAINTER IN HIS STUDIO 1665 Oil, Fine Arts Museum, Vienna. This work, his largest and most ambitious, was still in Vermeer's collection after his death. Whether or not the painter represented is Vermeer cannot be confirmed. The scene is made vividly real by the artist's suggestion that the viewer has drawn back a curtain to see the artist and model, to bridge the space between the viewer and the pictorial space. Warm light coming from a window just out of view suggests a world beyond the canvas. #DE HEDA Willem de Heda was a Dutch Baroque still-life painter, from Haarlem. He was a contemporary of Rembrandt and Vermeer. *634 de Heda BREAKFAST TABLE 1631 Oil, Art Gallery, Dresden. Willem Claesz de Heda from Haarlem, restricted his art to still-lifes. The skill in still-lifes at this time was based on limiting tone and colour to a common denominator. Light sources are used to define each object, to create surface reflections, and transparencies. The senses of touch and taste are evoked in studies of a most ordinary nature. Backgrounds are plain. In this work, the passage of life is alluded to: pleasure in eating, sloth in the broken glass and half-filled plate. de Heda completed a series of similar works experimenting with different surface materials such as silver, pewter, gold; and varying the transparencies. #HALS 1581-1666 Frans Hals was a Flemish Baroque painter, born in Antwerp but remained in Haarlem, Holland, most of his life. He made only one brief trip to Amsterdam at the age of 53 and died at the ripe old age of 86. His 22 paintings survive as a record of a life often lived in poverty. His work consisted primarily of portraits. Most of his sitters were from the prosperous middle class. But his work was to step out of the conservative formula. More than just likeness, a portrait was meant to convey an image of pride and a projection of social position. But Hals portraits spoke mostly of his exuberance for life and truth of a more daring nature. He expressed a different temperament from the often too sober rendering of other Dutch portraitists. His techniques become easily recognizable, the famous smiles and the swiftness and fluency of his brushstrokes. But is was more than technique which made his works so exciting. It was his playful and totally unconventional compositions which add a new element of reality which hints at the development of contemporary realism. *635 Hals JOLLY ROPER 1628 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The identity of this man is not known but his gesture is inviting the viewer to join him in a drink. Held in this welcoming gesture, Hals has captured the moment. The twinkling eyes, half-open mouth, raised hand and tilting glass, give the painting immediacy. Bold, dashing brushstrokes animate the surface of the canvas in close observation but harmonizing at a distance to attest to the finest details in the costume. As if to catch the viewer, as he passes by, the Drinker turns slightly. The fullness of his dark hat is startling and catches the eye immediately. This draws the viewer to the face at the centre of the canvas. The white colour pulls the eye down to the gesturing hand and the belt at his waist carries the eye across to the tilting glass in the corner of the work. The glowing ochre colours suggest warmth and wealth. The rosy cheeks of the Drinker suggest the pleasures of being alive. *636 Hals SHROVENTIDE REVELLERS 1615 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. This scene is one of his most popular paintings of merrymaking before Lent. Traditional Shroventide food features in this work, pancakes and sausages. The two gentlemen represent the characters 'Hand Wurst': a long sausage from his beret; and 'Perckelhaering', the pickled herring, who embrace a young woman or man. The figures portrayed are mainly actors, women being scarce in the theatre of the day. Other objects in the cramped picture allude to fun and debauchery. The bright colours are typical of early Hals' works. Strong diagonals work to emphasis an already very busy and entertaining work. *637 Hals LAUGHING CAVALIER 1624 Oil on canvas, Wallace Collection, London. The work demonstrates Hals' unprecedented ability to present a personality with a vitality and spontaneity which became his mark. The composition is daring, seen slightly from below, the viewer looks up at his face which gazes down with an arrogant air. His eyes flash, left arm protruding in a demanding fashion, presenting lace embroidery of love-bees, arrows, lover's knots and flames. *638 Hals GIPSY GIRL 1628 Louvre, Paris. This lively work, a very popular painting, is typical of Hals' freedom with the brush, spontaneous capturing of the mood of the subject. #RUISDAEL 1628-1682 Jacob Ruisdael and his pupil, Hobbema, were Dutch Baroque landscape painters. They made a great impact on the European art of landscape painting. Ruisdael's greatness lay in his ability to bring out the drama of nature, without losing realism. *639 Ruisdael JEWISH CEMETERY 1665 Detroit Institute, Michigan. Ruisdael painted this scene twice with many sketches to develop the dramatic brooding atmosphere created by the lighting and deep shadows contrasting with the rainbow giving hope of the resurrection. #HOBBEMA 1638-1709 Meyndart Hobbema, a Dutch Baroque landscape painter, worked with Ruisdael in the 1650s and 1660s. His works are open and sunny, quite the opposite from Ruisdael's brooding landscapes. *658 Hobbema AVENUE AT MIDDELHARRIS 1689 National Gallery, London. This famous landscape by the close friend of Ruisdael, shows the artist's talent for manipulating the environment for maximum compositional effect. A daring use of deep perspective from the centre of the canvas carries the viewer's eye along a typical narrow Dutch road. But the scenes right and left are strong enough to balance the composition. The repetition of the vertical lines on the right, the road veering to the right, and the red toning of the farmhouse roof invite the viewer's attention, while the view of the townhall spire and dark shrubs on the left draw attention to the left. This became one of the most memorable and popular landscapes. #DE LA TOUR 1593-1652 Georges de la Tour was a French Baroque painter, who specialized in religious paintings lit by candlelight. He was strongly influenced by Caravaggio and the Flemish Baroque painters. *640 de la Tour THE PENITENT MAGDALEN 1638 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Mary Magdalen was a person from the Gospels, an adulteress whose sins Christ forgives as she is about to be stoned. This is immediately recognized as La Tour by the only source of light, a candle glowing in the darkness, and the simplicity of the composition. Mary Magdalen, stripped of her worldly treasures, sits before the mirror and contemplates man's mortality symbolized by the skull on her lap. The candle is cleverly reflected in the mirror. De la Tour loved the effect of natural, soft light on skin, and painted it sensuously, but matter-of-factly. *641 de la Tour JOSEPH THE CARPENTER 1645 The Louvre, Paris The boy, Jesus, holds a candle, the only light source, as if to illuminate his father's work. But it is his beautiful innocent face which is captured, almost flooded by the light. The detailing of the light passing through the fingers of the child's hand and catching the wrinkled brow of Joseph are part of the magic seen in this artist's work. Again, the composition is simple, and any suggestion of background not apparent. #POUSSIN 1594-1655 Born in Villers, in Normandy, Nicholas Poussin was to be considered France's greatest Baroque painter of the 17th Century. He was certainly the first to gain international fame. From the age of 30 he lived in Rome where he died. Very early in his development, he was drawn to the classics through access to the royal sculpture picture collection in Paris after befriending the curator. This was to influence his life and his work. His debt to classicism is most obvious in his paintings from around 1640. Subjects were selected from Roman history and theatre. His compositions were built with geometric clarity to the rules of classical painting. But in his later works, new layers of meaning became evident, symbols and colours which were once restrained, find new expression. *642 Poussin RAPE OF THE SABINES 1637 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. A popular classical theme, Poussin depicts the moment when Romulus signals to the Romans to seize the Sabine women. In this theatrical work, Poussin transports the emotions of his subjects into gestures, each of which tells a story frozen in time and space. The strongly modelled figures are like Roman statues. The setting of Roman architecture adds to the monumentality of the work. It lacks spontaneity in its statement sacrificing this Rubenesque quality for the presentation of order and harmony, an appeal to the intellect rather than the heart. Rich colour is sacrificed for form and compositional elements. *643 Poussin FUNERAL OF PHOCION 1648 Louvre, Paris. This depicts the burial of a Greek hero who was condemned to death because he refused to conceal the truth. In the foreground two men, unnoticed, carry a simple bier. This landscape painting follows the tradition of the Carracci school of ideal landscapes. The calculated order of every element is almost mathematically measured. The tranquillity of the landscape is created by the classical buildings and austere beauty of the scene. #LORRAIN 1600-1682 Claude Lorrain was a French Baroque painter, almost a generation younger than Poussin and devoted his career to landscape painting. He softened the austerity of Poussin's classical structure and introduced sunlight, air and atmospheric effects, creating a more lyrical impression in his work. Like Poussin, Lorrain spent most of his adult life in Rome. A personal record, his Liber Veritatis, holds a collection of drawings he made of each painting he completed to safeguard against forgeries. He spent most of his life travelling around the Roman countryside sketching tirelessly, studying the effects of changing horizons, air flows and light. He paid little attention to foreground detail. His works were to influence many schools of landscape painters to come. *644 Lorrain THE EMBARKATION OF ST URSULA 1641 National Gallery, London. The painting glows with the absorbing warmth of the sunset. The subtle graduation of colour and tone across the surface of the sea carries the viewer's eye from foreground to the horizon. The eye continues from the crisp lines of the columns in the foreground to the diffused lines, bathed in the light of the buildings beyond. Lorrain used strong linear perspective to enhance the feeling of depth in space, in his early works, especially those of his seaports. *645 Lorrain CLEOPATRA LANDING AT TARSUS 1642 Louvre, Paris. Cleopatra was ordered to report to Mark Antony about her war with Rome. This first meeting was the beginning of their famous love story. Lorrain enjoyed painting seaport landscapes, especially at dawn or dusk. He interprets the historical event with contemporary ships and costumes. *646 Lorrain ASCANIUS SHOOTING THE STAG 1682 Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. From Virgil's Aeneid, here Ascanius, son of Aeneas, kills a pet stag belonging to Silvia, which provokes a war. The Classical nature of the subject is told instantly in the presence of the Greek monument to the left. His colours have become rather melancholic: grey blues and dark greens. But the presence of atmosphere and space is still felt by the viewer.