Caravaggio (1573-1610) Italian painter, active mainly in Rome

Notable stylistic characteristics and other important aspects of his art:

-Highly dramatic use of chiaroscuro (contrasts between light and dark)

- Dramatic use of foreshortening (e.g., in Supper at Emmaus – hands and fingers thrusting out at us, nearly perpendicular to the picture plane

- His figures often fill the frame, and are sometimes cropped by the edge of the canvas

- Uses harsh raking light on his figures to create an almost tactile sense of flesh – e.g., wrinkles on foreheads

- Figures in his paintings are often quite recognizable as specific individuals – used live models posed, probably in darkened studios, and lit by artificial illumination

-Most of his best known works are religious in nature, and many have a violent and disturbing edge.

Rembrandt – (1606-69)

Notable stylistic characteristics and other important aspects of his art

-Subtle use of light; often shows figures illuminated by light from a window (sometimes, the window is not shown) – his light is often intense, but not harsh

- Revered by many for his exploration of human nature and psychology: has been called the Shakespeare of painting; often depicted playful moments and often created works involving children and characters from the humbler strata of society (e.g., rat catchers!)

- Often suggests textures (for example, of fabrics or of metal) with very loose brushwork, incorporating thick dabs and daubs of paint that catch and reflect light differently as one looks at the painting from various angles

- Works – especially prints and drawings – often present dramatic contrasts between highly rendered areas and other sections that are merely suggested, sketched very lightly or rapidly, with the final work seeming almost unfinished: the effect of different degrees of “finish” and rendering (carefully controlled shading aimed at depicting the illusion of three-dimensional form: a “realistic” technique), as in his print of St. Jerome reading in an Italian landscape, is to direct our attention in very interesting ways around the image.

- A great innovator in printmaking, especially etching

Rembrandt and his exploration of an important Baroque theme: vision and blindness

The next few works by Rembrandt involve the theme of blindness. Sight is extremely important to most of us: to many artists, its importance is, one would imagine, even greater. Rembrandt is noted, respected, and beloved because he seems to be able to reveal character through his use of light and surface texture: through appearances. It might seem almost perverse on Rembrandt’s part to depict blindness as often as he does: the following few images are but a few that could be included in this sort of survey. Later in the year, I hope we will get a chance to see works by an artist – Pablo Picasso - as important to his own time, the 20 th century, as Rembrandt was to his – who was obsessed both by Rembrandt and by this same theme of blindness. (Both seem to have had outstanding vision! – at least, so far as I can see!) In any case, Rembrandt’s concern with vision and blindness was not just a personal quirk. I’ve included a painting by a minor Baroque artist that explores the same theme, along with a sophisticated three-dimensional “peepshow” device by a well-known Dutch painter known for his images of domestic (household) interiors. The theme of blindness and possibly the insight of those who cannot see everyday reality certainly might carry weighty significance. One of Rembrandt’s best-known paintings is Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer. In this work, the famous philosopher, known for his interest in the actual physical world, taking that world as a starting point for his activity of categorizing and ordering, seems to connect in a spiritual way to the bust of the blind Homer, touchstone of classical Greek culture. It’s as if Aristotle were contemplating not just Homer, but the nature of wisdom and knowledge. Around his neck, Aristotle wears a medallion bearing the portrait of his most famous student, Alexander the Great. Thus, the painting, through this small and easily overlooked (especially in a powerpoint reproduction!) detail, suggests the immense “other” world of power, politics, and battle – other, that is, in contrast to the world of quiet contemplation and search for truth and beauty. There is a dramatic contrast between the calm and subtle aspect of this late painting and Rembrandt’s much earlier, and much more melodramatic, depiction of the Old Testament story of the blinding, at the hands of the Philistines, of the strongman and hero Samson. This is part of a larger pattern: it is well accepted that Rembrandt’s style developed greatly over the years, and that his later works involve less action and deeper exploration of rather subtle yet still powerful psychological states.

Peter Paul Rubens – (1577 - 1640) Flemish painter strongly associated with Antwerp, but also highly influenced by his time and studies in Italy

Notable stylistic characteristics and other important aspects of his art

- “Fleshiness” of his figures – loved to paint nudes, and often used them allegorically (i.e., as representations of various qualities, such as Truth (who was traditionally depicted as a beautiful nude woman: Rubens was following this tradition)

- Warm tones – lots of browns and oranges and reds

- Used drapery – both the clothing of/on/around figures and other drapery such as actual drapes (!) and flowing fabric generally – to help create a sense of movement

- Paintings are full of movement, and this movement often seems to swirl around a single point, creating a unified emotional feeling

- Did a great deal of portraiture, including of royal subjects

-- Works often combine Christian and Pagan (i.e., Roman and Greek) imagery and elements: in fact, Rubens’ fusion of these elements was both highly influential and a key element in the Baroque style and period

-- Worked as a diplomat and associated with the nobility: an artist-statesman

The next three slides show Rubens’ painting Horrors of War, first in its entirety and then two details.

See the handout (given in class) about this image. Here, Rubens presents a number of allegorical figures to present a strong anti-war statement. In a letter to a court painter, Rubens explained the iconography (what various elements “mean”) of this work, presumably so his friend could better explain the work to his employer, a nobleman who had the painting in his possession. The notion that paintings might have to be decoded is characteristic of the Baroque outlook, and can be related to the extended metaphors used by Elizabethan poets and dramatists: people got pleasure out of the work of deciphering messages that were clothed in elaborate verbal or visual language. The handout you have on the emblem book by Cesare Ripa, called Iconologia, is very relevant to an understanding of a work such as Horrors of War. Rubens notes in his letter that the woman in black, robbed of all her jewels, arms upraised in despair, represents Europe, devastated by religious wars. The two main figures are Venus and Mars: Venus, mistress of Mars (but wife of Vulcan), tries (to no avail) to hold him back. As he rushes into battle, led by the Fury Alecto, he already is trampling figures and objects (such as an architect and a lute) representing the arts: war, says Rubens, destroys civilization. This is indeed an argument that gets at the heart of major elements of the human drama: religion, war, culture.

Rubens and extended allegory: dressing up reality in the Medici cycle

Peter Paul Rubens’ most important commission, in terms of establishing his reputation, was given to him by Marie de Medici. Marie came from the ruling Medici clan of Florence, and it was for political reasons that a marriage was arranged between her and the French King Henri IV. The marriage was not a happy one, full of squabbling and discord. To get a sense of just how unsuccessful the marriage, consider that when the king was assassinated on a Paris street by an apparently deranged attacker, strong suspicion attached itself to his wife, as having arranged the fatal deed. Marie had herself crowned regent, ruling in place of the young prince, later to become King Louis XIII. She and her son, who came to resent her seizure of power as well as her extravagant spending, got along well enough that he exiled her from France at one point! It is therefore both understandable that Marie (some time after the exile was lifted and a degree of reconciliation had been effected) would want to put a better face on the course of her life than a strict recitation of facts might merit, and astounding that Rubens, in consultation with Marie, managed to devise an elaborate allegorical sequence, involving twenty-four ambitious paintings full of gods and goddesses, Tritons, Neptunes, Fates and Fortunes, symbols of nations and power, and actual personages such as Marie herself, her son, and her husband, that places Marie in the pantheon of the gods. In fact, this series of paintings is a fantastic example of how art could legitimize royalty by associating it with the (pagan!) gods and other elements of classical culture.