Dutch Baroque

1600-1700

Protestant Reformation

• Before the Reformation, 90% of Dutch art was religious in content

• Afterwards, this flipped to only 10%!– This led to the development of brand-new secular

genres of painting…

Popular New Genres!

• Portraiture (Paintings of people [this one isn’t new, but it becomes more popular than ever])

• Genre Paintings (Scenes of daily life)• Landscape (Images of nature)• Architecture (Church Interiors, etc.)• Still Life (Arrangements of inanimate

objects)

New Genres

• Throughout Unit 2, think about how these new genres can convey a subtle spiritual message without overt religious subject matter.

Judith Leyster

Self-Portrait

1635

Frans Hals

Catherina Hooft with her Nurse

1619-1620

Portrait

Frans Hals, Officers of the Haarlem Militia Company of St. Adrian, 1627. Group Portrait

Steen, The World Turned Upside Down (“Beware of Luxury”), 1663. Genre Scene.

Gerard ter Borch

The Suitor’s Visit

1658

Genre Scene

Jacob van Ruisdael

View of Haarlem with Bleaching Fields

1665

Landscape

Pieter Saenredam

Interior of Saint Bavo’s Church, Haarlem

1648

Church Interior

Pieter Claesz., Vanitas, 1630. Still Life.

Memento Mori = Reminder of death

Rachel Ruysch

Floral Still Life

1700

Jan Vermeer

Woman Holding a Balance

1664

Genre Scene

Camera ObscuraA box with a lens and mirror. Predecessor of the modern camera. Did not produce a

print or fixed image but allowed user to trace images in real time on a flat surface. MAY have been used by Vermeer and others to create convincing sense of perspective (but

there is no solid proof).

Vermeer

The Lacemaker

1665-1670

Rembrandt van Rijn

Self-Portrait

1628

Rembrandt is a true innovator. Each of his paintings is a fresh, lively take on an existing genre. Notice how he reverses tenebrism here and plays with experimental textures.

Rembrandt, Tronie, 1659

Rembrandt

Self-Portrait

1668

He paints himself as an artist rather than a nobleman to advance the image of his career (which was not as well respected in the north).

Rembrandt, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp, 1632

A straightforward group portrait becomes a genre painting in Rembrandt’s capable hands. See also The Night Watch (next slide).

Rembrandt, Captain Frans Banning Cocq Mustering His Troops (The Nightwatch), 1640

Rembrandt, Three Crosses, 1663, first state

Rembrandt, Three Crosses, 1663, fourth state

Flemish Baroque

1600-1700

Characteristics of Flemish Art

• Heavily influenced by Italian Baroque and Renaissance ideals– Flanders remains Catholic – Peter Paul Rubens studied in Italy

• Also heavily influenced by Northern tradition of depicting details of daily life

Look for elements of both!

Rubens, Raising of the Cross, 1610

Van Dyck

Charles I at the Hunt

1635