17 th Century Europe sees division of categories of art
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Transcript of 17 th Century Europe sees division of categories of art
• 17th Century Europe sees division of categories of art
• History painting is on the top—consists of myth, allegories, and history. Is moralistic, and meant to teach people how to behave
• Genre painting is the painting of scenes of everyday life
Hierarchy of Genres
• History• Nudes• Portraiture• Genre• Landscape• Animal Paintings• Still Life
Willem Kalf Still Life with Late Ming Ginger Jar 1669
Changes in patronage—newly emerging Middle class shows wealth byCollecting art
Luxury items are portrayed in paintings
But scale of paintings is modest, in lineWith Protestant teachings
Clara Peeters Still Life With Flowers, Goblet, Dried Fruit, and Pretzels 1611
• Genre painting is not moralistic in character, unlike history painting
• Genre painting is said to appeal to women due to its portrayal of worldly goods over high-minded ends
• South perceives Northern painting as too exact and not about heroic subjects, and therefore lower in the hierarchy
William Kalf Still Life with Drinking Horn c. 1653
Still life=Representation of Inanimate forms
Celebrates the Accumulation of goods
Is scientifically accurateIn detail
All about textures andsurfaces
Philippe_de_Champaigne_Still-Life_with_a_Skull c. 1671
Example of “vanitas” painting: reminds the viewer of fleetingness of life, human finitudeAnd mortality. Contains skull as memento mori
Has to to with Protestant belief in temperance
Caravaggio Basket of Fruit 1599
Jan Vermeulen Vanitas 1654
Jan de Heem Still Life of Books 1628
Books in disarray show fleetingness of human life and activity
Franz Snyders Still Life with Game and Larder c. 1610
Dutch Landscape
• Depicts land reclamation efforts (windmills, canals)—swampland is made agriculturally useful
• Paintings are made repetitively—artists will reproduce same subjects over and over (artists become specialized)
• Landscape paintings are all about the specificity of place and a national spirit
Claude Lorrain Landscape with Sacrifice to Apollo 1662-3
Ideal landscape: not based in nature. Often contain ruins of classical architecture as A reference to the high art tradition. Combines elements of landscape and history painting
Cuyp Distant View of Dordrecht late 1640's
Cows refer to prevalence of dairy industry in the NetherlandsRecognizable architecture
Jan Van Goyen A Windmill by a River 1642
In Dutch landscapes, windmills replace classical temples. Land is rendered exactly, withoutidealization
Jan Vermeer View of Delft 1660
Descriptive painting renders the world as it is seen, not for significant actions, as in the caseOf history painting.Painting is almost like a map. “Roving eye” vs perspectival construction
Peter Breughel the Elder View of Naples 1562-3
Jacob van Ruisdael View of Haarlem c. 1670
People are inconsequential. Painter remains a craftsperson—continuity of tradition is evident
Vermeer The Letter 1666
Interior domestic scenes become a subject for Dutch 17th century paintingVermeer is most prominent painter of these scenesPaintings are descriptive but contain symbolism, such as lute, which is a Symbol of love.
Pieter de Hooch Courtyard of a House in Delft 1658
Vermeer the Procuress 1656
Jan Vermeer Allegory of Painting c. 1666
Vermeer pays close attention to the impact of lightUses small dots of paint called “pointilles”—give the impression of light on formUsed a camera obscura to make imagesThis produces “halation,” or the distortion of the image around the edges
Painter in this scene is Recognizable as Durer
Model is Clio, the muse of History
L: Titian Venus at Her Mirror 1555R: Jan Vermeer Woman with a Pearl Necklace 1664
Difference between Southern and Northern depictions of women dressing—Southern is Allegory about female vanity, Northern is more ambiguous
L: Jan Steen in the Tavern 1660'sR: Jan Vermeer Girl With a Wine Glass 1659-60