theHISTO'RY

of

theHISTORY
of

IPA,IINTIING FROM ,GilOTTO TO T,HE P;RESENT :DAY

A. N. HODGE

fit:
ARCTURUS

ARCTURUS

Arcturus Publisbing Limited

26/27 B~cl<ds <l!IU Y

151~153Berrnondsey Street London SE13HA. Published ln association with

foulsham
w. Foulsham

&: Co. Ltd, The Publishdng House, Bennetts Close, Cippenlli1<ln1, S~ough,. Berkshire SLl .!JAP,. England

Thi~ edWnn j'lrDflh"l.un 2008 Cnpyr.ighl ©2007 A~lrigh i~ re;;':TI',~1 The f.opyrigh! A<;! prob~hil!i (su~j;I':C_! c.~r~un very Urn:u!('cl no Arcmrus ['lllillishung Umc~eA"l

oJ c.opie;; or any mpyrlgiIl ,mrl: or ,)1 ~ ~nhllran!ia~ pmn .)hmh., \''01'11" inrJlldlng the making 01 copies by p hem':>t;opying OCt lrnllar IY""'-;ess Wrumen pe~m_l!ti!f}:n(Q Ina'!:", a .~"'py ~ t
ex.;ej'li:ioIL~)~he mabng or copies nmst d],~reWo.re norma[~, be Oh!:'l' ned Irom [he publisher advance, II .~~ad\li1:ab]e also 10 con~:lh asro ~he lega~i!}' nfa.n)' mp)d og \ihk h
~8 robe U ode

~n

i1lf~pl.lhl!~her if En all)' dOl.l"tin r~ke.n,

Bri.li:!: Lubr.u)' Camlngl:l ing'.in ~['.1ticati'':>fl Da ta: a carralngL1e h b

record for !his hnol is ""'<IiIl;!.ble Em.llli'he H.ritiBh Libra ry

D($Bgner: ZneMe ~Inl"!i Consuhanr efHoc.r: Ubhy Anson J:M'.k.e~d~ign:: El,zah~~h Healf"
P:lilll,ca

in Chirm

CONTENTS
6 ]ntroollClion

7f1 THiEAGEOFELEGiU'ICE
72 FrenchRoccco Frilk and Fancies The Venetian ApjllOJl.ch Social S a~jre Simplicity and Stillness Captu.ring Animal~ The Art ofCareiU,1 Ca!culati()[l 74 76 78 RO 82 84

i40RRE.iU:CINQ

'"fHEBOlJNDARI.ES

s
10 12

142 Paving the W'!!'f 144 Riotol.J..~ Colour 146 Colour, Line andPatrem 148 Deep Emotions 150 Playing the Harlequin

THE I'FM...IANRENAlSSANCE
Oiotto and the Early Fre,~~ Decorative E!~nce ModeDing in Siem The ]llmion of Weigh.t and Perspective and Fo[eslw.rrnning A.I.legoryand and IlwenlDr

14
16

152

]n Three Dimensions

154 From Orphism to Lyricism

18
20 22 24 26

GI'aC€ .&6 REVOLUTIONS 88 The Horrors o(WaI '90 Cool Lucid Colours
92 '94 916 98 Vjsionary Romanticism Light and Space Sketches from N ature M~Tic Landscapes

Eknai:smn.;:e Gmi~", Hraughtsman Human Bodies with Sculptural Farm Beauty andau~ical. Harmony Venetian 'Go1om and lLigin

156 A New Dynamic: 15 S M},;:Ej;;:al1Expression ism 160 Towards A~~haC'tion

162PL11ie Geometry

164 Another .Real.ity

166 Meto:phr5<ic:al. Painting 168 Dream,
ana

Chance Events

28
30

NORTHJE.RN RENAISSANCE
Clarity and Naturalism NH::L.~ on Rdi.ginn Observation and Obsession Early Landscapes Inventive Fantasies Court Portraits and Miniatuecs Dose to the Land

170 The Aftermath of \Var 172 T.hB View from Amenea 174 ]mages of Self 176 Making W@.ves

100 Poetic Vi~ion-~

102 Portraits and Nudes ]04 ]08 History and Drama New Realism :1.06 Hired frum Nature

32 .34
36 .38 40 42

]10 The Pre-Rapbaelires ]12 IMPRE$SIONISMAND POST,;.IMPRESSIONISM

]14 The Free Handli.ng of Pajnr 116 The Phy of Li;ghr Us, CaptuEingihe Momenc

178PAINT.lNG NOW 180 Mlipping Spae:e

182& pmro, of Colour

184 AU or Nothing
186 The F1!c:tory Line 190 Tricks of the Eye 192 A]!olltofTurl)ulence 194 The Body Made Flesh 196 The Narrative Tradition 19 8 Issues of Identity 200 A New Sense of Unease 202 A History of'Techniques by Lihby An~n 204 Index 20SPictLlre credits

44
46 48 50 52 54 56 58

THE JB.AR0Q.UE ERA

Free Expressive Brushwork Heightened Drama and Tension Distmdol1 of llirm Dramatic Light and Shade Volupll.!ou~ Nudes Fll"nch Neo-Classicism Character Studies and Royal Po.rlrniil> A Feeling for Humanity Inner Tmih Laid Bare Still. .lLife Painti.ng: DutchLandscapes Domestic ]ntimacy

188 PopL1larann Pl"yful

no

The Female Gaze Farm

1122 Colouras

]24 Subtle Tones ]2;6 Muscular Re:1I1i~m

60
62 64 M 68

nR
]30 ]32

AnguiihOO Vi~ion

EXODC Primitivism
OffCe.n!re

:ll34 RawAn~1:
l!.36 Explic:idy Erotic.

138 Intimate Interiors

INTRODU'CTION

T
where

his book was designed to map out a popular hist~ry of ~ainting in the western world, from medieval ttmes to the present day..Rather than I have looked in detail at in time, with which

imperfections, I hope that my idiosyncratic, narrative

approach gi.\leS ynn a greater understanding of why,. say, Vermeer wo.tkcedin a.particular style, as well as where he
stands in the greater scheme of things. Inevitably a book of this kind demands that choices be made; not every painter worthy of inclusion can he represented, The selection process is, of
COUfS>e,

£oc:using on the hiographi!cal derails of individuals and

their specific contributions, artists movements were located

they were associated and who or what

inspired them to work in the way that they did,

subjective and guided by personal taste, On mat basis it

It is no stmightfo.nNard taskto pres/ent painting as a

chmnological history of styles and movements. The history of painting is not' a near, tidy affa.rr. Labels are inconsistent and often overlap. Sometim.es it is difficult to sort our exactly who bclongswhere faet that they belonged point inmelr
00

may be possible to detect a bias towards Eving artists, as wen as a celebration of the many women artists who
ar,e;;tiU. excluded from most considerations of the

"OM Masters',
I have tended not to rely upcm any particular definition of what constitutes a painting. Hence, in this survey, I have considered painting in its widest sense, from the wooden paintersto tempera panels of the medieval the diverse media appliedto the canvases of

andwhether

the

a particular grouping at one

careerwas relevantto their later, and

perhaps more mature, work. In somecases paint,ers have been brought together here under one umbrella, not necessarily because they worked together or even had any contact, btu: because their work shares common themes and ideas. Rather rhanairbrushing our all the

oont,empo mryp ractitio ners, Painting is an exciting medium and I hope this hook demonstrates that .it ;dW';l.YS been, Although attimes has

painting has been knocked off course hy photography, video, insrallationrsculpture and performance, In the end artists return to paint because in no other medium is it possible to experience the thrill of applying a brush tothe surface or of squeezing paint from the tube as wen as the visceral, intuitive prooess of creating an image from raw materials. Currently, it seems that painting is as:popular as ever, and that old hierarchical Without distinctiomue ~o~l,lggest largdy that all with seems to meaningless. the wanting

really spoken to you: the moment which critic jeanette Winteroon 1995),
QS
${'I

memorably described in her book, Art

Objects, EJJqyJ rnt Ecst.acy and Efficmtery (Jonathan Cape, when 'my heart flooded away'. vviHl ppeal as a referefice work a the gene:ral reader and artists looking to I hope that thisbook tostudents,

refresh their kmrw1.edge of the story ofwestern art. The text here is really only the start and I hope mat the book
will inspire
YOll

to make yom: ownlinks with the work of

to

some of the artists presented. Reading about painting means starting think seriously about pai.nting - after a while you. become more confident in your opinions and begin to see, for example, the connections between the paintings of Maner and Goya, or the equivalence beMeentiheemo[~o.nalweight been of a ROl:hko and a Caravaggio. The challenge for TJx History qf Art has

contemporary painting is of a qllalitytocompete

",try best of thetraditional

paintersvthere

be a visual richness about much recent work that relates to the past, while projecting firmly into the firmre, Through knowledge of public collections I have tried to include as many images of accessible works as possible. Take time to go and visit the originals; there is

to guide

YOl,i make these associations, as well as to

simply no substitute :for standing in f[Tontof a painting and really looking, There is no experiencethatcan
match the moment when
yOUL

toinspire and. inform,

fed that a painting has

A. N. Hodge! .London 2007

THE ITALIAN RENAISSAN'CE

cI2

5
period, to

- 155 o
from ah(lltt

stylized

n the late. medieval mainl~ monks im'!.ge[y

J\.P 11,000,

:figu:reswere nq longer stiff,. cardboard cut-outs

solidity emotions, that

but

had

~aintillg

took place in the monasteries, illuminate manuscripts,

while

and depth
GiiOtto

on both

a physicalllnd
a range

emotional

H~.

wowd use gold leaf and a ·range of

level, With were

h:is. gift for p{)ftraying

J,VaS

of human
stories

able fo c:onv,ey~iigiou,S (:mnpellingand time, the in the narrative

uccasionilly the wills would be decorated with some simple scene from the Bible .. Most, if not all, of the imagny that was produced du.r.ing this: time was
religious. late There were
110 true

oonvinci.n~, For tih:efirst

deeply viewer could

and the
01).

compassionate. empathize with

key characters

portraits

trntil

the

impact that this radical approaeh

cannot be-overstated,

had

pai.nting

Middle Ages, no neal landscapeseirher and very little ;lttempt to -draw from life. COIlS<1:quently, there
were
00

Renaissance. means 'rebirrhor

its development antiquityby painting~the the .cultural elite,

"revival' and central, to

painters

of any real ~ignifi:caooe. There

vr:e,1Ce

in Italy was the .red_i.$oco~ry <if classical

sculptors in the 13th century in the cathedralcities Strashourg

human

of

By

the time G;!c;rtto was in Padua and ksisi

and Naumburg

whose knowledge

of the
iNa.S

walls of small churches

body led them

to make

lifelike and 'ronvinE:ing

in northern
the world

Italy at the heginning

around

of the 14meentury,
to change,
new

statues, but this was nortrue of paintktg. Painting

him. was; beginning

Trade

flat and Iifeless,

A]_[ this d!.Jl.n~d

routesinto with
the arrival of O~ot'to. in influeilce

northern

haJy

.had

opened up

markets

and prompted new rretworks of exchange the merchant the emerged class, old certainties humanistic

both in terms of

Florence, Noionly did Giatto~s work sigrttll a complete

break with tradition, but it had a far-reaching

of goods: and ideas. With the new w~ealtJh. ana the riseof
l.i~e the authority (')[ the

on subsequent generatio[]$

of Florentine

painters lind
tine

church were hrOH~t intoquestion, Wealthy patrons

as the revival begm classical to gadi,er p4oe,

hence on western art. Giotto created a window on

world the il:i.h of which had never been seen befO'Hl. His

irrfluene:e in arts: andarchitecture

12$4

:1:297

1347
·0;1''1''111,

14}O
JTJI;m

.~'~ .•... '."

~

Hiorlb ·rifMa'l"w Pdo expfr1!r:el, wbr1! to bring pOfta~() Itilly fNlm CJtirill

=~

Magrlfl

'.:i'nfomedby Eduard. I- entered

"ErI$liih
rolb
{If

Itoi!ll:e

Bul!JJrli.r:plllgue i~1 EtlI"Of'!!/ ",rit;inoted i~II'ridill; 13.12. 75 m i!!b'i dmt&

law

of :At, .r:"Pfund, lokerlhi Erlglmld Later she wm puhlidy!J limed in .RXNlI!rI, .FrtmU

1454
lwi; tii'lJided inti}

fou.e rna;ioI"r.t'¢io1J5,·
rlerlii"e,Mil'J"rI" Flr"Hi!n~~the Papal Slaw!> and Naffer-

Masaceio was the next painter to come dong and take upsome-of'the artistic ch;l.U~!1ges po sed by GiQmd,
it

was when thee. three great artists" Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael, we're at the height of their creative pawers:.
Florence
'IN'<I$

It was nor, 'of course,

relay race withthe

baton being

still the main centre of ~~iili.c activhy. but

handed from one artistto another - more a prooess that evolved against the increasingly rapid advances thai: were heing made t!lU'o:l1ghmrt science, literature, architecture, the parallel wo.rlds of music, invention and

by this time both Rom.e and Y~ruoe w,er;e startingt'(!

fl.ollr~~h. In Hurenae" LBQ[1ardo! in particular, developed

di~oovery. For the firsrtime, 1Ihe~.c:: parallel worlds begrn

~o conv,erg~ - quite .literally, with the diSiOOVefYof onepoint perspective, It was the architect Bnmelleschi who the idea that to give a pk:ture depth it was .neooosary for its lines to ,converge upon a:;ingl,e
developed

fledgl.ing scientific and mathematical ootl!cept:s .in 4. relentless intellectual pursuit that was. part and parcel of his own artistic practice, Ewrything 'WaS there to be dis>c:ov,ereQ, Ilothing could he taken [oe granted a ny longer. .Lednardo's Mallu; Lisa opened up the.possibilities for
a new Wo!Y' Dflo;oki ng at painting.

Still probably the most history

famous portrait

in the whole

IOf art, her

vanishing point. This in turn inspired experiment with rudimentary

Masaecio to in his

e.nigmatic smile and soft- features' must have been shocking to a·contemporary Midie.lan~cl() predominantly audience, b«flignt ttp on a diet largely of stiff~£eatu:red and goOld-hal!oed Madonnas. too, thn;:mg!h.

perspecrive

painti ngs, .givin ghiil Iigtrre s a rnonurne ntalvsculptural quality and Ifelping to bt;lild the illusion ofreal space,. F"i)limving on from Masaccio, other artists such as

me

raw energy Sistine

to

of his

male nudes on the

Chapel.
the

Uccre.IJ..o; Manregrra and Pi,eru della Francesca took these

experimental ideas one stage IilTther, all the time adding toth.,~ technical knowledge ufhow ,oonviming picture, or a mirror
D[

oeili ng, wn.s pursuing a vision that was

influence

way that the human figure was n~pre~ented in art from

that moment 'Onwards. The quiet and subtleharmonies

best to create a r,eality. The period

.knownas the I-ligh Renaissanee -namely 15:00to H20 -

of colour and tone produced by Raphaf:l were also admired and copied fM centuries to come ..

149'2:·
Cdumfn~ do/ilJ"rud

151°
Spa,i'IJ'

1st]

f5J!9
OllieJ

Palm,

in

saarch Vim lndic$ l.I;nd:dir((}'f¥!ua

Spair< kgan ]:etthmel1t$ in jllnulira', Twa yean In:h!r'iT!. ("ulm

Mm:o NWUiJ!. de IJoilJOa Ifomd

falX!!
IiI,

oro.ught
II

ArnOt"
ier

rim) ~Patifo:'

lirxlyrif

~M

roms to Amliriru Spojn

p9m

15M Se~tUm Ctdwt publirhed <l mat ,1'

the wQnd with 1fI!mal'hzhle ddail

1555
Pint tWtiu.{} Wl'H tuhn jr'JmAm('Pim

to Spain

Ameri.ra

10

GIOTTO AND
r'SHARD

THE
TO KNOW WHEI'!E TO In

EARLY
Florence a nd other Italian cities. Much of his work
W"J:S

the E'Jlzantine traditions

use ofstyli.zod

begin when It comes

the history

done in fresco,

figures, gl.ving

me

people 1.0. his paintings

ina painting

of wes Ie mpainting.

There had

This method of painting involves applying water-bared

pigme.nt directly on to wetplaster; the paint andplasrer then fuse: together as they dry.

a.much greater degree of realism. Look

at any groiiEpofllgllres

been painters before Giorm, 1Y1Itwhat he achieved through his simple, timeless compositions was tt) set the whole

by

GiotlQ and there is real emotion intheir fw:esj be man,lg[ld to depicr a range of

of'wesrern art on an. ex.dting n.cw ctY\.lrse,

becoming something of a legend in
£0.[

The technique had been used 1'0 decorate chapel> "andother rdigiouts buildings
throughout

feeIJ.ngs - such as awe, sadness,

suspicion, rage and jeaID'l\l$j'- in way$ that had never beenseen in

his own liferime, He produced works rhe Pope andthe menrioned

Im]y.

Glotto's

pol. i.nting

Ki.ng of Naples and is

grealeSt ackievemcntw-.;s

the series of

before. This createsa sense of

in Dante's Divi71ff Crm:!edy. (l2!67-1337)

\I\'8.cS

freswes he pain red inside the Scrovegni, or Arena. Chapel, in Padua, depicting scenes from the lives ofJes us 11Ildthe Virgin

compassion which helps to in.volvc us

in. the

GiotOO di Bondone the son of'a Florentine

unfolding
is

drama ..

farmer. Born into

There
movement narrative

"ako a great sense of

povt:rty, he wns d~$('overM Cimabue drawing

by the

painter

Mary: He
in Assisi,

also painlltd the St

in his closely observed

rheperfecr

likeness of

Francis of Ass.isi cjcle for the Upper Church

works. Hands remonstrate and

a.sheep on a rock. Ginno learnt q!.i!i.ckly

from hisnew master and, before long, wasrunning and accepting his own busy workshop commissions to decorate

flutter and figures bend and Jean with a

conrriburion believable sense of space, weight and distance, Giotto shows a real

Bue

it was Giotto's

towards the develop ment of the hu man

:figure withinpainting always be recognized, for which be will H~ broke free of

Feeling

for

colour too, particularly the way in which

tile walls of rel.igio".s buildings in

it interactswith light.

~ THE RAISING 01; LAZARUS, lJOJ

Grrrrro

Gioltr/s mlifl.dellce in i!£l1iIilillg largf grr)lIps

·iffigli m is shown

her.eas Mar:tba and Mary

iMagdtdtl1 imp[rJu Christ to bring il;JI:irhmthtr

La:zams bark to

liP.. In

a momen:

rf drama;

Chmt raise« his h£aldo'J)f,r thfJ bawfd bodies of the .two wrm~ell with 'i,iJirlding bac]: in

fbI: st(}1'J}lam/scale

mart relief

'!fIIilIE

II'!fAIL,IAN

II'IIEINAIISSAINCIE

III

--_--

-.--.......-.----

12

DECORATIVE IN SIENA
WAS, THE MOST

ELEGANCE

;. GIOTTO

primarily IQr

a religious arrtha r crop basized

vi~i,o.nthrough the

Other important

representatives

of

important

painter in Fforenee

a powerful orthodox

the Slenese school include Duccios pupil Simo.ne Mar tini (c1284-1344), brothers Pierro (dZOO-1348) and the and

mt.lch oEthe 14th century, the painter Duccio di Buoninsegnn

(c1255-1319) to

use of symbols and stylized fi:f!;1Jres. Giorro, and to a lesser extent Duccio, developed a more naturalistic challenged style that

was the principal painter

Am b rog10 Lorenzetti Simone Martini,

(c1290-1348).

come

out of SiemL TIH~ two Tuscan

this ritualistic convention.

whose work drew upon

cities of Florence and Sie.n>\were artistic rivals at the begi.n.n.ing oftbe eennrry; The Sienese 14th
'W'J;$

Even. tod.ay rhe medieval mwn of

Siena is still dominated. hy its cathedral. For this, Duccio created th.e Mae.tfa, a double-sidedalrarpiece with over ,60

bis master'" brilllanr colocr and gracdirtl line, was summoned French .ki.ng ofNaples

to. work .fin the

and kiter for

school

often

seen as the mo re eo nserva twe of .IIM:

with

rwo,
and

the Pope at hi, court in. Avignon. The refined and courtly manner exemplified by the work of Martini dominated the

painring

that emphasized

the

scenes, and it 'was .i.05hl.11OO. there in. 1311. Daccio

~d

decorative illuminated Eyzantinc tradition,

qualities found in mosaics manuscripts of the ear lier

i.nrucseshis narrative scenes with

new sense of life. There is real in his sacred figures - they against

arts across El;I!rope at the end of the

period. The BY6antine datlng back to Ihe E'll$tern ioooded. in. AD 330, was

movement

Middle Ages.
The brothers Lorenzettiwere probably assistantsiu Duccios also workshnp,

are

l.ilDt

simply Slimy ananged

Roman Empire,

a gold bac.kg(ound.

hut whil.e M,trtil'li painted w.rithrefi.ned

elegance, the brothers Giotto were influenced by

and fillfmJired an observational,

Lorenzetti Cf}(J.dandBadCQ'lJBJ71m,O'll, a

narrative stJ!,lc.Ambrogio painted

frCSLl) series for the Town Hfill in Siena.

between

1338 and 134{L This is an. work, dib'Phry.ing

im.pre$si.ve andinrricare
a hitherto in. its depiction

unseen m,a~tery of perspecrne of small :figures winding

through the hilly streets of Siena .

• l'vlAEsTA

(detail), 1'311 Ducoo

This is the r£1JtruJpmu:i ojDuccir/J; mast

,~r"idJratalwtm~,. howing the Virgin Mary s and Christ on
... ALLEGORY thrrJ1JM surrounded

ry angels

or

GoOD

GOVERNMENT

(de.tEtii)"1:338

LORENZETTI

and saints .. Mary stands

[Jutft·om tlg rest:

This detail from th~fttsw in the Pala'Z,z,fJ Pubbliro Sit1J.amows part

featuring a bridal pr{}c~io1J, and t& rAdnatirmJtakingplax;e walt painting w."" dmgrled to UWW tbe .gluts ihM botb grNJdand

of a street

ftt;'ne,

rfthe grr)up

ry vi, fut! 01 het n~eal!dth~

J

at an inn. L(}re~!zettii
b,.dgp'JJ,emmf'111am

irltt1i'£eultramarine Nut! of he r robe sEt

against tk richly g_r;L,l-dewTU;kd halw!f dathe~ and
thrrJ!:u.

hav.e on t:ity and rountry,

14

THE

ILLUSIO'N AND

OF MODELLING
and was able tn give heightened directness,it paintings realism, austerity and is evident that Masaccio s

WEIGHT
ITH HIS MANYPAINTiERLY

time by Donatello

innovations, (14D1-1428) the most important

Masaccio
'WaS

the figures a ilill.idJty and volume that hadnever existed btfor.e in painting.

one of of the

were not seeking to charm

forerunners

The Expuirirm

rf Adam

and Eve,

l1n..1 please, unlike works produced by

manyearlier artists, (1387-1455), who lived. i.11 a a Fra Angclim Dominicanfriar
monfLstay

Italian Renaissance, Another Florentine

artist, Masaccio'a early Life and tra:ining are not known, huf front hi, earliest works there is clearly a rejection. of the li near Gothic styl(_~ at f that had of flm.lrishe.,;lfrQ.m tI::H: middle of the 12th

d42$-8, a fresco from the cydein the Braneacci Chapel in Florence, shows til.!': ffull extent of M'ifl:.Icdo:',~extraordinary
innovations with light, space and perspecrive. The bodies of Adam and

~a,tFiesole near Florence, illuminator

started out as a manescripr and there is

<1.

Eve have a mouemcntal, sctllphl!l".ll

quality and seem to erist in three

decorative ,stylized in his early

century, Masaccio took up Giotto':~

concern with. depicting believable human

element that can beseen

dir.l1Jen:slons" esnnes G
expressions

and facial

fresco work However, in 1436, Fro

t1gt1res, but managed to go one step

fUrther

are carefully highlighted

by

Angelico was commissioned

to decorate

by applying

the rules of

the light that falls from. one source, with

the friars'· cells at the conve.nt of

San

perspective

that had been developed thearchitect

by

the shadows cast behind. them helping to sUJ!ggestvolume. The composition unified by the
U~

Marco in Florence witharound :6.fty

frescoes.While these were designed as of direct expressions

his contemporary, Brunelleschi. sculptures

is

Masaccio also looked at the

oJsingl.e-poinr

me friar~' Elth,

that were being created at the

perspective of the gates. With their

they also show a basic understanding

of'perspecrive

and how .figures recede in.

space. In the last decade of his life, Fra Angelico travelled t'ORome to work

on frescoes for Pope Nicholas V's

private chapel in. the Vntiean .

. TIlE HEALING OF'PALLADIA. IliY ~ SAINT CasMASAND SAINT DAMIAN,

1438- J440

ERA ANGELICO

St Cosmas and St Damian were twiN bnJthers '!Dhopmriis.ul medicine ill

Syria

ThiJ;mud] painting, one ifeightpands

that origin:att:ll/'rom a Dominican

mrmastery in Florence, mows the physicians

!wrTJi7iJ!, oui a mi ram/oils cure. The right-

hand ride :rnr7<U, St Damian reteioi ~Ig a gift for his healing/owen.

iflHIE

IlifAIL,lAN

II'IIEINAIISSAINCIE

115

,~ExIJUI.SION "ROM PARADISE c1427

IviAsACCI

Part

if a cyd.e iffre$w&ipainte4 ry
de:! Dlrmi7l.e, Florence.

i'i1aJuuio for th~ Brancaai Chapel in

Santa iHarill

This dramatic depictionrfthe: plight Adam and E'tX broh it, realism due to
tal:: 'U~Q ground

,if

in

'Ii mpiicity and

thre.e-dil1unflonality

0/ the ,couple

and

their

emo.ti

otJ-,charge:riex/!'em om.

PERSPECTIVE FORESHORTENI'NG
ASAOCIO AND

AND

FRA

ANGELICO

if Sail

Romano (1454-7). These three

positioned. at Christ's feet, looking upwards at the truncated, confined dramatic

In

had started

In

make ulit of

panels, depicting the hostile territorial

cold

body

$Lngle,Of oDt:-potnt,
perspective, A number of other 15thce.ntmy Italianartists were also ql1:ic k

hattie hetweenlhe
Mediclfamily

Florentines

and

the Sienese, were commissioned

hy

me

the slab, is one of the most

examples of aforeshorrened

for d:u,;ir palace in Florence.

body in the history of painring, Piero della Francesca wasinfluenced

to :exploit the new prindple~ of linear

This decorative, frieze-li~

presented Uccello with

wOIk with

(d416-1492)

perspective. This was the system. where lines converge on a vM.i:shi.ng point,
C'1l mIng

iI'S <:wh:ing lances and rearing horses

b--r

the advanoe,~ of

!t~topportun.i.t_y

co.ntem.porariecg such as Masaccio and

Uccello but, in. addition frescoes, he
W'_J.-S

objects and people to recede in. perspective

In U:lihdge his IQ\I\C of perspective.

Foreshorrenlng, perspective ",;un.ely;)pply.ing to a. single object or figure to

In

pain.ti.ng

space, Linear or goo m,elric

anaccomplished

was developed by the architect

mathematician,

'writLng treatises on.

Bnmelleschi ..rid remained inregral to

the idea of how painting best represented

create the illusion of projection. or depth, first appeared on Greek vases dOD EC,

geom.etry and the rules of'perspecrive. However, to consider Pi,ero della

Fmncesca'$ works purdy as eJ{,amples

reality Mta the late lSlt~~ce.nlJ,.! ry,

Paolo Uooello (1397-1475),a

The master of the foreshortened

was the early Renaissance Manregna

fig-rn-e

artist, Andrea

of' g!X.lmetry, bala.ndng space, scale

11 nd 11

Florentine

painter ~app.rt.nti.!loo. the to reality

(1431-r~m6). Mantegna'$
was an and painter; and he

proportion,

'would be to do them

sculpmr Gh:ibertl, became fi:xat:ed.with how to represent three-dimensional on the pi.Ltll![t.plane bymeans of

adoptive father, Squarcione, archaeologist

great disservice. Later painrings

reveal his cousummate

skill in. creating

instilledaninreresrin
and antiquities

classical sculpture

a serene, timeless and spiritual mood

perspective. Nowhere is this scientific ob,,,essi(ll1 more apparent than in. Thf! Raid

in his son. Tbe Dew'

in ",'b:Lch the viewer is

through the use of pale colours and soft, "U)!I1,earrhly light.

Chrnt (d470),

.~TI:m

ItOUT

OF SAN RoMANO,

1456

PAOLO UCCELLO

The iift-h{,;lI'/_d pm.ei in a thr;l:e-/art series for the Medici palau depicting fhl: c.tmjlict
in whir;h the Sim,5fwere
,&tl1,13I]

by the
~!}{}r-jt.-

FlurentinO;. AJ! the ddailr in t&

ftwn the' wl"eji,llypiaceds}.e:ru'i

and. Jonas

tot!;.('.tinyflguTU

an .the hiUsi,de: be:hin;J-

ha'lJl':bee» t:arifidiy placedto m.aximi:;;;.e the p(}ITlltial filr pmp,lXtive.

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IlifAIL,lAN

II'IIEINAIISSAINCIE

117

... THE DEAD

CHRIST,

c1470

ANDREAIViANTEGN'"

In thj~portrayal rfChri~~ t/)6' Virgin and StJoJm art shourn wttping over hi!;dmtt,. 'TbiJ; is
IWt an idmliud i'ortrait,'lhll funds and/ed dra111utU;.per:p&;ti rf tb~fo"f~!:irJrtl'rlalwrp§e,..th~, ola i12 the 1U!1' h and ,disr;r;lwatia'l1 rfthe din lend it a r.mlinn helangi ng to the mtJrtu(ffJ siab.

18

AND
ANDlW BOTTICELU (1445-1510)

took tiP an interest in paganism meeting

<1 gro

after

which had not been seen in art before.

was born in Florence and spent most of his lile in the city. For the most part Botricelli
I'I"&S

up of Neoplato nists who from. a cunv'entional

Borticelli's only significa of trIp

outside Florence was
"it

had broken Christian

~l\ii'.ly

visit to Rome

unaffected

v.i{:w of the world.

in. 1481-2 when he worked on. frescoes in. the S.i,~tineChapelin

talent as a draughtsman in the Vabnm. He ran a bl!lS)'studio and his supreme meant that,

by the drive tnwards realism that was so

much part of his time, he rejected the n.ew~ientific discoveries, producing;

This led Borncelll to produce his most f;um:l'us pagdJ1 works, The Birth

of Venu1 and Primavera. Both. these

painti ng,. feature myrhologic which pale, elongated

wo:rk that was quite distinct from comemporaries, Hetrained

his

al ax: nes

at d:Ie peak of his career, his work was much in. demand . He also produced portraits and pen

under Fra

bea'lLItleS, semi-dad

Filippo Li.ppi, wh~~e gracclttl frescoes werea model of refinement, and inl1ue.nced the developmenr
01'\1]]

.in. fl(lV!,ring;drapery and with I,)ng, flowing locks, float againsr an. unearthly
line ~J,f'I:c1the patterns of

dra wi.ng.s

to illustrate Danre's Di vi 1M;

undoubtedly

backdrop, Botricelli is iateresred in

the rhythmic his idea1i:ze.d figures; he is h-yn.o means trying to convinceus substanceIt oJ their weight and

Come;dy, FoUol'{i.n.g the death of Lorenzo de Medici, his work became more sober

of Eo Itirent fs
talentfor

delicate, linear style.

'0.

Botticdlihad
commissions

real

llJtd

unusual

and intense ~"nd,when the crusades were

at their height, Eo rticelli destroyed some of his earlier work which went against there1igio!Js fce1ing,~ he had developed. AJtnough

drawin.g which led to from patrons includingrhe

is hard, however, to imagine

'VI'.lS a n

MeJ.i.ci.fum.i1y, who wanted him ro paint subjects trom classical mythology. The
Florentine ruler, Lorenzo de Medici,

the effect that Bottioelli's Ven.ll~ had on the public at the time. Here

he enjoyed great popularity in

'almost life-size naked woman, the like of

hill lifetime, he died inobscuritj;

.~MADONNA

AND CHILD WITI-ll

1'wo ANGELS (detail), 1'465

FRA F1LIPl'O

ilwr
a!1i~d.t()tbe lure

All orphan, Fra Filippo Lippi =:1" a monl: whflsetaJtltJt for painting

.0/ a more "lJ)oridlylifo ev.tlntutllty caused him

to a.handrm the .r;ir;i!Jifn Filippo Lippi tl knoson ill particl/!arfrn

htl itudi.eJ; oftht:

Virgin and Child, which, like this head: if

the Mad:imna, reuea! gO{J.d,dr.aughtSJn4mhip

and are
Ofi(!11

rich in ornamental drlail.

'!fIIilIE

II'!fAIL,IAN

II'IIEINAIISSAINCIE

119

"'THEBIRTH OFVENUS,1485-86

BOlTICELLI

On.,e rfBoltir;diii

most' ,[debmtal

worK$." Venu.r with a satin

smme:illo be r;rzeiveti a reJein-aJirm

ry .a ny mph
hm.ty;this

u- b/f}\ii1'/'J Wou by jlyingwind-godi rm a a doak amid a :rhowIJr of ro.l"el". Thought to be

,II

if piritmd

suas nonetbelas

pagan image prod!!<c,edat fbI! height

rfthe injl!le:n,~e ofthf' ROmfl11. Catholic Chl/rd!,

20

RENAISSANCE DRAUGHTSMAN
URING THE PER.IOD KNOWN AS,

GENIUS AND
In this case, Verroc{:hi.o
VI,".1.S

,
Leonardo left fcv.' authenric
paintings, hilt grel.tl.yl.nlh.lenotd suck. as Correggio, contemporaries Giorgione dramatic Leonardo

so impressed

the High Renaissance,

when

by his p'UJipil that he gave up paiming 'altogether. From 1481, Leonardo 17 yeats in. Milan spent

the greatest artists in the

history of western art weft at the pinnacle

oftheir powers, one in particular stood out fo[ the sheer breadth of his talent. Leonardo da Vin.ci (1452-1519) -

,!O!,curki.ngor the Duke f

to Florence

and Raphael, In phryingwith

of Milan, before retmning

contrasts of light and shade,

pre6gured the chiaroscur;rJ

where he painted the iconic Mona Lim

between 1$03 and 13'06. The Mona Lisa is signifieantlOr

»

elfocts that were to rome to fr!1lilio.nin. a the

d.raught~man,

p~l:inter,sculptor, writer, musician, invenror

E'aroque

period wilh Caravaggi.o His finely judged group

arcbirecr, scientist,

number of reaso ns. The pose - with the

body at \ln~ngle, head t!l1rnedfilrwardhad not been seen before. The aerial perspective of the landscape, and the way

and Rembrandt, compositions,

was regarded as the greatest of ill Renaissance method artists.

where the figurt,~ often

His

scattershot

form a pyramid, are a defining Fearot(:

of'the High Renaissance Leonardo style.

0,1" working, however, left behind

projects and a series of 611ed with $t1;:ldicsof

marry' unfinisbed notebooks

it fades 'aVl,~"yinto the distance, was

'il

also

created paintings of
bClUlty

notable advance.

a$tm.undifig
paradoxically was what has

andrealism,

yet

skeletons, clouds, flowing water and flowers,

:l;"

Leonardo's real conmburion to 'the

history of painling,lhollgh, become known ~t~ M:iLto - from. the .~fu Italian word for 'smoky' - namely the rendering nf.fOrmhy subtle tonal

he "was mainly interested

and

well as 0 bservarions

on

in solving problems of composition

p!.](,,!..!.I.ng
~1 nge 0 f til C-Q1llCt

scientific subjects such as proponion, optic", goology and Hying machines. Like many Renaissance Leonardo appientke artists,

I:ntellecrual ideas. ofthe French King He

He joined the

Francis I in 15'17, where his work was gready appreciated and admired.

learned his craft as an to another artist, Verrocchio.

gmdatioll.$, as seen in the soft fearures of iM(lm<! isa} face. L

lived in. France i.lntil hi, dt:;.;ltlL

~.STUDY FOR nillE HEAD OF LEDA,

~ MONA LtSA,

l503

c1506

LEONARDO DA VINCI

LEONARDO DA VINCI

In Gr:~',l:kmyth, Leda ~ nduced by .the

god Zeus, who appea1>"d to her jnlhe foro!

Va.l"utii .biography
published

of Leonardo

dCI Vi71ri,

.1.1 JUlrS after Leml£lrdo~ dtYlth,

of a

;I;Ilj},(f/J •.

Leonardo wmpided

this drtt'wi'llg

id&Jtiftf'S
'i..l1ifo

tw Ji.tter as Lisa

Cherar:dini, fht

if Leda ifltll t&d hair by drard)j ~g hatchi flg.

f.llrmgfix 1in(.$ ifthr:fimn, f.llahniqul'

ifaWrI'llthy

Florenh ne .bud nessman.

ar

Ho'W.eve:r; thai" is a rese:mJdmu;e to tk

tist

h& inlmdllcdi1UI) beforf' 1500,

his drawi1!JJs shortly

bi msdt leuding others to s!w;e.l"t that the

Mona Lisa t:o!dd be the por trait or eue» prmibly a seif-portrait,

oJ a man

121

22

HUMAN

BODIES

WITH F'O'RM

S'CULPTURAL

A
wasraised Ghirlandaio,
\'\"J.S

A SClJLI'TOR,

PAINTER,

POET

before resettling

in Florence in 1501.

metaphorically Miehelangelo's painting

to the rest of Creation.

ND .AR..CHIT.'ECT. '

Mi.C.hdangdo

In. the '... arne yeat Michelangelo carved the marhle s[C"ffiptllfeDavid in
Florence, embarking exploration

real contribution

to

Mllollarroti (1475-1564)

can be seen. in Ad~ill1"~ fully

was another hugely accomplished Renaissance artist, Twenty-three yeats

Michelangelo Here he trained

Dna lifetime mainly the

realized body, with irs perfectly jUfdged combination

of how best to represent

h:imselfto he a sculptor and

of strength and grace.

ever -

younger than Leonardo, in. Florence,

the male fnrm. Michelaogelo

considered

Thetirst artist - and, many wO'UJild 'sacy,th.e grealCS[

depicting

tospecialize

in.

b rieUr under the fresco painter as well as receiv.ingmit.lon of the

had to be coaxed into decorating

the malenude,

Michelangelo

Sistine Chapel ceUlllg In. the Varican

with. fre,'>Coe.$. he chapel had been built T

devised a bril6a.nt scheme for the Sistine

in sculpmre under the patronage

Chapel ceiling. His complex design. of

interwoven scenes was painted as he

all-powerful Medici fam.ily. Histalenr

recognized

early Oil.

Aged 19,

by Pope S.ixtlis IV, bur it was his nephew Pope JlliilllcS who commissioned the n
work. The ClImtirm if Adam (1508-12)
forms the central panel ofthe cl1apd and shows God handing life to Adam and,

hy

on. his back looking up at the ceiling over an exhaLlsting fOI!JJ'-year period. The
series ofna£ruti1f;es tell the: biblical stary

after the death of his patron Lorenzo de

Medici in 1492, Michelangelo Jeft for Bologna, the .•! lived. in Rome from 1496, :

:from Genesis th.ro!,l!ghto the life of Christ. The Lost judgement was
completed separarelyfor the altar will in asrounding

15'34·. It is

a monumenraland

vision that earned its artist the title ii divjn~ jMirhe:kllgdr),

and ensared that to the task

to trust

his influe.nce persists to this day. In his extraordinary of completing commission dedication

the Sistine. Chapel and his willingness

his own innate geni.ij],~, Michelangelo

did

more than any other artist m elevarerhe crafts of pai.nting and ~~cillptlire to the

states of Fine Arts,

... THE CREATION

OF ADAM

(dami), .1511

MICHELANGEl.O

l1J this dd:ail Film the' centra! ptmd

·if thr! Sistine

Ch:apdcming, God s riskt fing&' is

$~pwatalfrom Adams bytht meres« chink rfligbt. The $imi!arpo,f.'Jio/ Gr).d and Adam bo.th their leg>are in IU-a-rry ideniir;ulperitirm:r - rejled tbt! m=agt! t}fGemri~ 1:27, in wbir;h Gad
wa.j"

,aid to have created man i'l his .r;wn i'nUlge.

if llil IE

II if A IL ,I It N

11'1 IN It II S S A IN C IE IE

123

.. THE

LAsT JUDGEMENT

(d~tail of Sin ners Being Dragg,edDawn to Ref!), 1535-1541

MICHELANGEI..o

.IInightflrurim

vil-ion rftht5 arxa!),pst5 in whirh bvdi,~ contort and ~i1rithe, with Sfmis ming their ji"lil:. A huge 1l/1f}rk: it !ipml!i the BTI..ti:>;,;'
J

and d~tilJding aur;rdirig to hor,/1Chml jUdg,5

'IWi} &hi:old th? altarrfthe

Si§1in,,;'Ch"",F'tmdlr;ak $Ix

yefH!i

to mmpkt.e.

24

BEAUTY CLASSICAL

AND HARM'ONY
R.aphsel
composltion and have a ~.re nity an. untrcueled
:1bout

with Leonardo
ofthe Renaissance,

H .E S.ON. Or-A .

I'A. INTER,

main Vlrall in the Stanza della Segnanira,

(1483-152D,

real name

them, preseming of the world.

vision

with its m.any grot1pi.ngs of scholars in a

great architect\,lral csttti.ng,

RaffaellI) Sanzio) was, along and Michelangelo, one

This perfect calm. andsense wellbeing are what separate

of

is the most famm.lll ofthese frescoes,

In his later years in Rome, Raphael painted portraitsnoted also for their subtlety as well as

three greatm;asters

of the Italian

rhearr

YOl!1nger than Leonardo

Raphael
to

of Raphael fmm the moreintellectual approach

and Michelangelo,

moved from

!if the othertwo

g.reatm:a.stu~ Michelangelo

and acute characterizanons, de$igningi.n.te.riors

the small town ofUrbi:no

Florence in

of the It.w.an Renaissance.

for other wealthy

1;04 where he studied their work, quicklyrealizlng rhe extent to which

these: two weretransforming conception of painting, li~e Bellini, or the whole

1/ir:tsrcp~ltooly Jealous of his YOljng,er rival's charming and

Romans _His work displaysa

great dign.ily

ek,Y

manner,

sureness; in the compositions,

and Raphael's evocations Golden of the

'JiJ::cusing him of ,.ti:<l]ing his ideas,

and grace combine with a sense of calm,

B!!Itwhile

Raphael's compositions

classical

In Florence.Raphael, was a painter of Madonnas Mad{mncieTe_ln the Vi:rgin is

draughtsrruU1csh.ip might owe a lot to Leonardo and Michdwlgdo,

Age were to become the model

it was

for study in the academies,

these early pa.intings,

s1110V.f]] W;i1

really his rich feeling for colour and

His work was also

inspiration oflater

.1 gI'eat

source of painters

tender, gentle

emotional harmony that consritured

his unique contr.i.bJlJJti.OI'l .. In 1508, Raphael decorated the papal

to the great Classical

figUlite,whollY' immersed
harmonious

in caring for
oot

centuries

such as I\:YIIL'><'.in and the papal court was

her baby Christ, with an ideajized, landscape stretching

Ingres, Reputodly, grief-stricken

apartments

Stttllze in. the Vatican f-or

Oil the

on hearing of his early

beyond. These works show a rrmstery of

Pope JuliUtS U. The Sr/}ool.if Athens

death from fever at the age of 37.

~ SAINT

CATHERINE RAPHAEL

OF ALEXA NDRlA,

c1507-8

A typi,;,;Ii barmon: ..us c.rnnp{}fitiorJ

a}TJ.~bi li:>lggraGii'and a ~
SiJ71SI:'

of will".

but

made

ntO":E"

dynami,c .ly Saint Catherin.t's t& ~!)oed Ip01'l wbi.rh

Iij!ill"

giirnu tr;ward5 tOt: bt&tJen.rr.. Shit i>.depic.tttd

lean. iriS on

me

IW.<iJ;

,r.omltimnced to die; b!!twhid;

mir.cu;ulrmsly destrayed by a thtmderlmlt<

...T[~

SCliODL

OF ATHENS (de.tail), 1509-11

RJ\PI-M.EL

A frtl'm flrmincgpart·if
mrr9un.dfd

Raphad's commission to dtwrate rooms in. the Apol'toEc Palace iii

lUI~ Jmr,fnJ

the patiam. Plato and Aristoilt

iii thtJ .c,tnire,et!.gaged in. philomphiuddebtlt~

'U{ffiO!H

by

a dynmuir;

group if figur;~~ r.prfJ;frllirlg the

Hid:!

mbj~A th£d

need tv .be

maJt;cral/iJr r.!a'Ima/llIaming

as ashrmomy,. gemndry and urithm.t!tic.

if IIiIIE

II if A IL ,I A N

11'1 IN A II S S A IN C IE IE

125

VENETIAN
C'O'LOUR
RILE THE SCHOOL IN to

AND

LIG

HT
da the oil Messina oil painting passed his knowledge of on to Giovanni Bellini

At the same time, Anmnello Messina paintiilg (c 1430-79) introduced

FLQRENICE

was central

the great flowuiilg

of the

technique of Van Ey.;:kro

(d431-1516),
I)

who was to become one

ltali.aD. Renaissance, the school in Veil.ice

was developing some important innovations of its own. Atthe

Venice. Messina had first Currie across oil paintings

f the mos r importa ut artists ofthe

of oil ghl'zing and l!anded it later Titian.

by the Netherlands

artist in

Venethm school, Bellini adopted the technique

end of

NapJes, and used !he technique: m good e:fFect in his own. work -mainl-y portraits

the lSth teu!l!1ry, Venice WaS;t powerful, independent city stare and an important

Oil.to h:isf.'l mous p'l,lpils, fLr·stGi.orgi.mi.e

andreligimJ.$ works, Up until this point, Italh'ln. artists had mainly beenworking in tempera, a fa~'lt-dryi:ng medium in which the pigmen.rs are suspended egg in slow-

(1477-1510),md

p,ltt of the trade route fpr pi.g:m.enH, 'spices and si:lk~. One of tile major influences in Venice in the late 15th

(c1488-1576). Bellini painted. mainly religio!bls themes, hut he was qaickto

show an ability to create. lyrical harmony

century Vilasthe school of Padua, inparticelar the OCl!11ptlJlI'ul threeand

the painter

yolk.

Oil pai:nt

by contrast

iII".lS

between hisfigures andtheir setting,

Bellini's mature styleimpre&~'es because alit. high degree ofrealism and

drying and this had the advan tage of

dimensffinru eff6ct~ achieved by the

gH~at master ofperspectiee, Andrea Manregna.

creating a greater deg·ree.of realis.m, as

arrisrs were able to build up an image more slowly, layer Ill' layer.

the subtle variations of tone and colouc In The' Doge' Leonardo

Eoredan;

15'01-1504, Bellini shows the ruler of

Venic~ as a wise, sensitive and

dignified or
feeling

character, There hadn't been. portraits which

expressed such

insight ieding

before. This Venetian

for light

and colour is also to be found in the work ofGiorgioile, whose life remains an

e ni:gm.a. His highlY' coloured, atmo>p heric small pai.nd.ngs i.il.oil, generany of non-

religions S"uhjecrs,were painted mostly

fo.([i.(;h private collectors,

to THE DOGE

LEONARDO LonEDAN,

cJ504 GIOVANNI BELLINI BdJillis =si.tivt:portrayai rftlg powerful ruler go.e:r:r017M' .w.ry. heYrJlld merejlatt:er-y .
.... THE TEM:PEST

(detail),. ci5l0

GIORGJ:ONE

Belli l1i

uteS

his iruit hi a1Jd skiN to •..:mv<,}

mix.tw"ti

r:t

historians have long debatt£llhe· Jignificam:e if the ~nigmati,cflregroulidif

with iH stu 71ud wiumn!i,
(j

The

f n the Doge} /ac,ea

of emotwll$-

Tempest,

w1di6r and a stmi-naketl

~IJOnumbret1Jt-fleding

compassion, intdiigence and ,r;rn:fidai.Uifrom tOt! minimum an.umnt

her .hild. IrJ .thtl badtgr:ourJd,. a jlaJh rj"Jigbtningjills

th~'pid"ur;6'i:J]ith a ,<'me ·rifjiJrdJrJdirlg

0/ infornUltirm.

'!fIIilIE

II'!fAIL,IAN

II'IIEINAIISSAINCIE

127

NORTHERN RENAISSAN'CE
cI

4
hae that

0'0-16'0'0
the R,enaissanae was gatherinK

W
While northern humanism .harmony

Church. The revolutinnary

movement, perspective its such as the

a.spec:t~ of the Italian

scientific discoveries of northern artists less mane

momentum
changdi

in It>;l.ly,

there

were

also

taking

place in the Netherlands that

or anatQmy, interested to reproduce

and GeLmany cities

signalled a new era. For pai.rtt'rng.

evidence

tha n an aspiration

the natural world in ail artists

there ~~ome

artists trom. the

B.ruges\¥e[,e

wonder.

Northern
advances

Renaissance

of Gen~,

Antvverpand

aware of the great innovations in Italy, their work showed marked differences froil:) that of theirsouthern
0011n~erpUits. In ar.tist'$ werefess and

their paintings V\i'erea. mirmr of the world wi1Jh. very ieaf! lock IOf hair e
extraordinary

in naturalism;

anJd piece of velvet drapery tempera,a.

replicated in exquisite-derail.
the

Italy, the Renaissance was inspired by

preoccupied with their

The preferred methcdofthe Italian artists was to use

medium
.in which

and a. revival of classical antiquity; northern

plgmtots

were.

attaining

ideal

beauty

than.

Italian

equivalents.

suspended in qu.ick-ckj'ing '~gg yolk or a ".... ,egg. BQr hole a.long time, Jan van Ey,ck, the Netherlands artist, was
general.!y credited with the discovery his brother although the Hnberr ucrually invented

Throughout
previous arches,

the l5th ,century, the architecture in the of the

In

()f

oil pa:inti.ng.

North continued to look to the Gothicstyle

century, rich

There is now some doubt over whether JJlO van Eyek or

which was: characterized

andvllulted

by ptiinted
,eellings.

the technique,
that

ornamentation Gothic: tradition,

it' is widely accepted that ~b~vdiscovered

painting, northern artists w,e~~flwiy

fr,ee of the

Starting to break
ocrurtly

mixing pigment

with lin seed or walnut oil slows down

r,ej'ecting the

,e~egatl:c:eand overly decorative work that had hitherto

been much in demand,
In the North the changes took p~aceagainst a

drying process. What is clear, however, is that Jail van Eyck was one of the medium's earliest practitioners,
and that
wot~~

Jon a wooden

panel

using

glazes

enabled him to produce ail paintings

brillia neethat

with a luminous
$..

backdrop

'of .religious reform andrevole

against the

astoni she d his conremporarie

I4UO

cI4oa-r,p5
Y9;!1gU, .'JmMi'~g empW'{)r, ."uilt the

LtPQ-I5DO

Ger#fT>2Y Chaucer;
iruth~r.~he Canterbury Tales, .died i~ London .

111 Vmi'.re Girmmmi

Spi;!1,ettiprodUl1ed

'P()i1H.d.de.n Ciry' il1 Beijing, uiing

2@{),,o,OO ioiNllirtiN

tl,efi'mpimw ,'tbE 'fpinet'

1416 J()hu~l1U Gutmfiurg ill wilted ~lm('ulJ/e type. Thtl first iN)(ik; 'W/!ri'printtld
.rnlTogjmf'<ir

1;44\4 Sh.l}ues

W<i1'l1 Mktm

so

pqrtugaifrvrn Aftitll for the fint tim,e

If V<an Eyck's work, was able to show the world in a

rema.rl~ble
degree

sometimes
another

contained

no human :figures. FortIaitll[,ewas

·0£ derail, other= Flernish naturalisticadvances.

artists R>ogi.er

{)ffeIDed'other irnportant

which starred to have real meaning in. the Northat this rime - from. the insightEhl
gE!nr,~ of painting and moving 'work QfDi:iH~J: to the dignilied Ifr in the South, portraits' of

van der Weyden1. Hugo van dec Goes and Matthias: Griinewald invested spiritual and re:l.igiou;sthemes with
a new sense ofcJa:rity and purpose, paying close

the English aristocracy by Hans Holbein the Young'er.

it was: a. question

attention Ito ev,eryday objects and people, 'as v;eM as'

expressing
11

wide range of human emotions. 0'£ pr.inting was another hu~ Albrecht Durer,
advance

The invention

oonvey a)1l:ounrung new ideas, in North the question wa~ moreabout whether painting should continue at all. In the 15thcentlli")\. the Netherlands; was ina state of
turmoil, A succession of famill-es., WMS' and ~agu~s, meant

me

of how best

to

in the North,
combined

a towering figll.re,

developed skill 51 as: a woodcurter

these l:ethrricals.k.ilJs

and e ngrav'!'!r and

with
11

that ft:a:r and tm,-'ettainty

gHNith ofP[ote;$tantisro
of'popish

had displaced t>eligion; the

dedication

to

led to pictures featu:di1g any kind

detail to produee sensitive,

Diirer'1; printswere

intensely

beautifiil works, the

to

idolatry' b~ing outlawed or-even burnt. Painting

more widely available as illustrsrions

around the start of the 15tl1 century, Hieronymus Boscll's surreal a.nd pessimistic vi.~ion seemsremarkably Hi>~r(Jvllded
reflecting terror the uncertainties of

in leaflets and book!l.;,lt wasno longer, rherefore.jusr ari stocrats 'V!th.oQO.uldenj be an appmpriatef>ubj'ect ri.rnle,s>ome Cranachand rocky paintings northern

or pictl,l.[~';.

presd,e(lt

panels teem with medieval s)'robo!:i:sm,

Up until this point, landscape was nat considered

me

Jlge and :revr~iliilg a scenes

in its own right. For the nrst painters, in particular Lucas

of hell var its <core. Bo&ch'~ rugntmarj.sh.

influenced Pieter Bruegel (me Elder), whose genre pamrings of peasants _going about their everyday lives took
art in a new directio n, -aVll'3.)" from the overtay religiolls 'woIk

Albr!ecbt Altdorfe:r. painted the forest::>.and terrain of their immediate surroundings which

had

11'0

lobvious story or

me:SSla~

and

mat had dominated painting ~tpto this point.

14$1 The Va;timn Liwmy wilJfiNmdet!

I500

lSI]

1$,45

ThetrJtait'4'ulatirm
oftlxwrJr!d
40() a
,(}!l.(J(rt€'I'

I'Qje to
in J!:1tf"rljJ!e

King Fadi,iuM'9j StiliI'! announced:

comll i:r:al gardeN

c

Thefint European.
rucI f

1564
William
\!Lta~b{lffl

Sl/U.ke}<pt!tl"l\e

milJirm, 'with

'(iaig{'Jld,..humdl'l ely ifprJfSiUe, but at all

htn,.llfflf,. get grJitl '

eJ:talilishet/

1588 The Spimiy, Armada i(j Lislnm Ji;r E1Iglillul, with

in Pudllt(

and Russia

JO.OfJO_

m~tJ alJ.oard

130 ffltJH

30

CLARITY
AINTINGS, THAT S,TAIITED

AND
to at the van

NATURALISM
with oil pigment, order to paint it, the work has a documentary ftel to it (we can.

E}'1:k experimented

appear in. the Netherlands beginning

mixing the colours with different oils, ln

pJac~ of the egg medium used up!!ntil this point by artists working in tempera,

of the Hth century

see the artist and another possible wlrne.ss to the cerernonyin the COnvex

cc ntained an exrrao rdinary new depth. of pictorial reruity:Rejecting and decorative the elegant elements of the Gothic

'This pioneering, transparent mediem

allowed him "Increate perfect surfaces

mirror reflection). The 'action' takes place

in. an. interior as richly defined as m:any interiors in 17tb-tentltlty Dutch the couple,

style nfth.e previ.ou5 centllll'y, these works o~rered a window into the real world, pf01liding glimpses ofereryday interiors

lry billildi.ngrran,>1:t.leent layers of colour,

which lent a vivid, luminous intensity to' his paintings. Van Eyck'$ finesrwork,

pai.nti.ng. Van

Eyck depicts

the interior of tllI,e room. and the various

a nd re ruitri.n:g surf ..ces in mericlIlil)"t:.Ls

detail, There
VI'llS

The Arnolfini

symbols Vi.ri.min. with. unique lucidIty. it

Details, such as the light hanging the ceiling in from.

no liner exponent of

Murriage., shows tbe fullextent of his technical virtuo..sity: The portrait of a. silk
merchant a nd his bride-ro-be isthe :lIrst co Ilremporary portrait record of a double fiill-lengtli

the newnatnealism than the Flemish master, Jan van Ejck (dJ:90-H41).

perfolClly judged,

receding

spare, the aerial view ofthe

discarded

Van

Era

porl'rayoo the world with

shoes in sharp shadow and the fnJJit on the window sill combine paintinEls nnw seeminglj potential
In

an ·astol.mdin.g degree of detaillargcly because of hismasrery of oil painting. Wo:r.ld.ng with his brother Hubert, Jan

in. the North, as well asthe marriage inthe Van Ejek

indicate

Middle Age,. Although

limitless it really is.

proba hly recreated. the scene in.

to s.how th.e wnrlda!l

~ THE ARNOLF1NI

MARR11l:GE, .14.14 ]JAN VAN EYCK

A douhle por.trait
jil!;e,ty
{J,t

of Gi OWl, 11j di Nicolao .lirn.(}lfini andhh

wift in

..til

upstairs room; most

theil'"home in the Flem~h rityif

BrIlgf!!;, Th.t ~f)wJthJ ample ar,tuaify married

r;ewra

.I"<'1LIfnyears

b,t;for;ehl: tainti rig" w it doe: IlrJtprovitli:« t

rfthe.Frue.di

Ilgl"

as =.r

once h.dieved, Duf ~=pe.lchaps wmmim{]l1etiM acdebraiionof

ther;Hgin'aJ .e'lJI;"li.t.

NORTHERN

A~NAISSANCE

32

Focus

. H .E N EW NATUAALI.SM ..

OF .THE

Va n derWeytl.en
influential He

was one of the most

to the

religious scenes, including

the Portinari

Netherlands, intricate
VI'Ofk

best shown In the oOan van Eyek,

artists of the 15th. century,

Altar-piet:t, with its monumental Hgurell

gath.ered around the infa:nt Chri:st. Other

was the olticial conrrpainter

began toattractattention

and, by the

Duke of Bmgun.dy, Philip the Good, and

his painti.flgs were despatched to Spain

lesser- kn.ovm northern

reli.g:imJJ$ paintings, csu(_"C~ssf-clat combining

:;1

rtisrs made

mid-1450s,

it> influence was widespread.

Hugo vall der

hut few were as the realistic

0

Other Flemish artists, such as Rogier "an

and Italy, em)lUJ'lngthat his ~put"dtion spread Wider. His work wa~ celebrated
for its closeattennon
lD

clef Weyden. (d4{}0-14(i4),

Goes (1440-1432)

derail found i11 the work with

fVan Eyck

and the German artisr

detail and the

fO

the expressive p01li.rec orVan der

Matthias Griinewald (d470-151S),

wQ&.edalmost

e-xp.ressi:vcpathos thar he managed

Werden. or Van der Goes,

The painter whose work articulated the darkest rdigious vision was Matthias Grunewald, a. Germanartist

ex.<.;h1!lively with. religious

p ainrings a sharper se use

<1th.ieveth:roiLIIgh his moving depicrions of important religi.ous scenes, In large-scale composirinns, like Ekpositir;"/J or Pieta,. Van.
dtrWeyd~n

themes, lls.ing 11 naturalistic approach which ga:velhdr ofpLlrpose and dmity than ever before.

who. focucsod

argan.i:zc;s his group of ligures

on themes of'homan

Sl\Ifferillg. His

While there was a certain ,artificiality ill

Van Eyck'$ work - as if reality was

in shallowpictarial

'''P are so

that attention

nhl,,,rerpiece, the aha;rpjene forrhe hOcspimi

church at he:nheim in Alsace, shows in brutal detail the~gonr that Christ

is fOC[Lc!ilid the grief etched on theirfaces, on. This emotional intensity is also
fotmd Ill. the work of Hugo van der Goes, who made large-scale paintings of

trapped under glass - rhe pal.nti.ngg of

so me of these later Flemish artists are warmer, more emotional and humane.

,~!J.jfered. on the cross, his 1I.m co ntortod, bs

his twisted body covered ..in laceratious.

.~DEl>QSlTION, c14J5
DER\¥EIDEN

RomER

YAN

Depositlo.nforu.l'<'S out attention. On. nif g Th« ,ffltotion.t11 ,rhtn-geoj' tht pain. ti 11g is

fo r:therheighmud by the dramat!.r;'p(}!JM,

espmally .that' rjiHury;.
formltchrNJS

wJw.1: >wr;orJi12g

tht!

.&rW<t'1l hr;.dyrf her son.

IN GAil'

HE R N

11'1 1111 SSAIN IE All

OlE

....THE ADORATION 01' THE SHEPHERDS HUGO VAN DER GOES

(PrJrlillmi AltarpieCi' - central panel), 1476

Comm."wy thought

rf as hi1 ma~ttpit;ce,thi11arge

triptych if the Nativity

!iii:l:$co'lmminicm;~d

by Trm:1I11£lw PortiTian, an. agent for the Me:di,cifomi/:;',for the ~hutTh iflh~ Hopitai ofSta lMaria NU9'iJa in Florence. fall der GrJesS8r7W5 go(}d rngani't..ali(}11 rfthe gro&P' 'riffigUU5, wid there' is keen ,W,5fT'fJU;tirJ7J in his dpictirm'rif i1~di'fJidu~, partiwJo:dy the' O;'i,iJe-stru,r/t ,hphack

34

AND

HE

I..EA.DlNG ARTIS,T

of the

as Germarry:~ leading artist for his draughtsmanship.

as a dig.nibocl., confidenrtraveller

e-

nort .. h.em Renaissance, AJhroc. ht

DUrer (1471-1528), His father was born
111',\5:1.

His omp

tit

was

dngletred,
garments landscape

dressed in fine, noble and striking a pose before a in which the ice-capped
recall his travels to
SHW

pmdigioli.l$; he completed

more than 200

in Nercmberg.

woodcuts daring his lifetime. From. 1496 onwards, he made

where
sL"V'e["M

goldsmith who ta:ught him how to draw

in silver point. As the line could not ea~ilr be erased, thismethod forced the

trips to Italy
affected

distant mountains
Renaissance

he: was

pmfmmdly

by

the Alps. D&er dearly

himself as a curious

the revolutionary changes takl:ng place. Unlike m:an:yartists of the northern

Renaissance, he studied artists such. as

man; he was

deeply

artist to develop a ~perb linear

technique, This sparked a dedication
In

abol!It the wholeintellectual background

to

the Renaissance m.ove.rtl.ent and w.rote

close observanon lind exact renderIng

which was reinforced by other early influences, These included an apprenticeship

Leonardo and Relli:ni, whoseuse of

colour he particularly admired.and produced several oil. p·ain.ti.ng,~ showing
the Italia nate in:f1uence.1i/V1:1'ltis most distinctive abo'ut all ofDurer's work is its

treatises onthe subject. SignHlcantly, he was chielly responsible for introducing

the Renaissance ideas and a cbievemenrs he discovered in the SOUJ!tho the North, t

in 1484 to Michael

Wo1gerntlt, the leading Nuremberg painter and iDustrato[ of the day.

Diilrer's real fame lay, however, in his detailed graphic work - the etchings,
woodcuts 'and watercolours - 'fI,hich demonstrate his unique ab.ility to depict:

obsessiveness,

re'!"ea.lin.ga relentless desire

D(.irer learned the techniques of

woodcur engraving fmm. him .. in

to expose the inner truth of the subject,

Durer produced several ~'leIf-portrailS,

which in itself
W<lS

Du.re:r enjoyed. greaf StlCcCeSSarly on e

hies career and was ,~wifr1y acknowledged

something

quite

Il(;W;

the world around him with sd.enti.l:'Lc a,c'CIiliOlcy, as well as sensitivity and grace.

The self-portrait

of 1498 shows the artist

~ YOUNG flARE, 1502

ALBR~CH!T DORER

~ SELF-PORTRAll, 1498
ALBRECHT DURER

III this in.i'clise '(J)attrroir;ur

~tu4y"Albrecht
hv.th

Thi> sdJ-portmitof

the artist at 26 is

(}'IJ:t:

Dur:eT p,aint~ ,ayoung bars from lift. Y!Yoog Hare is an ,eXfJUiritl' =mpJI'rj'
Diira ~extraonli
nrtry pO'l.am

of thro:~ til.(il

have bf'trJpwBrved

With hi$

hair in rjngle,t~ Diirer atpmrs ftrmr; tht: waist up,'W.mnng

.elegant bhck-a'IJd-'1.JJhiu

if Obte1"Viltic)1J

and hi~ ability it; g" b,ryrmd a mer"

,a.tti ,e .that giVill him srJ11rt:.thi ngof the air of an Italian g,entlenum. Prior
/aintm if)

,dpic.ti(}li of nature to mrl'!!''J a sense of

wonder and euen asae,

ih~
'fud)

had neva Imm deputrdwith

prJi:reand wphi:rti(Llti{m.

NORTHERN

A~NAISSANCE

EARLY

LA'NDSCAPES
for inspiration.
the Danube

P UNTIL THIS. POINT IN THE

Both artists were part of

nudes look contrived although integrate

andawkward, to

15th century there had been no such thing a$lands~pe painting. views
011

School, a loose grouping

occasionally he managed

of artists committed to txploringtbe

Hgtlres more sll(ccessfi11lly into

Prior to the Renaissance. disph;ywcre. often hea'l'uy

the

Ge.rm;arl landscape. L1J'CllSCmnach the Elder

Wl\CS

his n.. settings. rral just Alb rechr Altdorfer was not a

sty lized with trees that looked like

one year older than D(ir.er, but his work

traveller, unlike D1l.l:rer hose w

topograph.ical watercolours of the Alps he mnch admired, H01li.rever, he made: frequent trips along the River Danube to

lollipops a rid steep lysrepped h HIs dt<lt

wovc!.:mcoO'vi.nd.ngiy i nro tl~,edistance.

does not show the "arne. degree of

1,IIlsv!'crv:ing

concentrarion

as Ihe YOllluge:r

For rhe .Iirst rime, norrhern parricularrwo German

painrers, in

artist, although

he tOO produced. work

artists Lucas

with. an. amazing degroe of naruralisnc detail. While he did not produce pure

make painti.ngs in which the landscape is the

Cranach the Elder (1472-15'53) and

only

lOcus of attention,

Albrechr AllOOrk.r (c1480-1538),

terrain of their immediate

started

landscapes, Cranaeh made the dark foreses he. grew I!1p with
fcatme of his work
'<til

In. Tht Damdre Valley, there areno peo ple at all, just an e normous swee p of sky in which clouds are. massing, the dense forest sits brooding, and there's a The distant view of bluemountains, overall effect is romantic a

to look to the pine forests and rockj

Sllti<:Ylilndings

important

Some of erana,ch's

and yet there.\ sense

~~!11htJe,alrnost imperceptible
Here
In 1(1 Me

of

foreboding,

A1tdo.rfer becomes
rstnnd the impact of

the first real artist overwhelming. landscape. dwarfed

emotional

Other works show tinyfig:lil!I'e$

hy

nature, although

in some epic

battle scenes the overall effect is Jess expressive andmore morally pre.~riptive.

t TIlE DANUBE VALLEY NE.'I.R REGEN'SIlURG, cJ520 ALHREcln AtrDoRFEu

In .cr:e;ati W a lmuiswp.e devoid 1 blJiMinger tmd~mpha:rizingtht:

....THE SlAG HUNT OF THE EU,)CTOR FREDERICK THE ';VISE, 1529
LUCAS CRANACIiIi nillE

rfp.eople
romantic

or

qualities

oJlight

and

pace,

.J11td(}1'fir was

ELDER

Oflto/

the first artists to U1idmNmdthe

poW6T £I

A$ court painNr

to fhl: eleaor ofSux(my, Crtl11r:uh ~j)flS dut}-brnm,d to pr()'!Jid~fhl: tourr with

hllgt emotional

.rlfpure landscape.

pOl'lraiH .of the ruler and hie;fomilYGts wdi tier/luord. of important oaasions. Thier hiJnti ng
pirture
r;frrlC<U

Altdorfer beianie in 1505, am/latu ,~itJ} building!f,

riti.t.&Iif Rtgt'1i.wurg
a !fllrveyor

how sm:grw6TS

'chf1jJu! intv

lhcwa.fer

to

,(!,Ilubll: .thB court party

t(}fi1Ji:rh

.tht:m

if tbl;

.r;ff mrJrt:easily.

38

I'NVENTIVE
IERONYMUS BOSCH

FANTASIES
transcriptions he embellishes iconography

of'biblical scenes which heavily with his

'0'WI1

cenrral panel depicts a setthing mass of pale, slender, heman bodies seeking gf'J.tilication WlO"ciJgh sensual pleas[.l(e.

(c1450-1S16)

tonk his name ()W'n

Itom his native Dutch

of signs, sym.bol~ and

of s'Hertogenbosch, Derails of his life are skerchj, altho ugh it is known that
he was a me mber of a.local religiD I(lS brorherhood.a Catholic group working of his

allasions to Cl(.pose the manyte mprarions

that are pcut belOre man and the fearml consequences that

These are not beings

fully realized

human

bl!J:tgothic types, whose prupose

\>',1011 incorporates

may

result for the

is to drive home the moral message.

sinner, His work i'$ borh a remarkably pmfu!lnd comment eondirion on. the human

Hosch's extraordinary

.for the spiritualimprovement

to\l\rfi.

ma.nr elements ofbizame fantasy as half-

He abo designedstained-glass beliefs were If you. look at

the Northern

as well as an expressi.on of ih{:

hu man, half-animal crea filres parade ina

fin.t~l$lical setting of imagin.ary bLlildings, parks and rivers.

win.dows. If hisreligious

mwicv"llIVlfl)rldview; this, with its

quite orthodox, however, the major.ity of his work certainly wasnot, Vim Ejck and Van der Weyden,therwo most influenti;a1 painters Renaissance,
i(1

pessimism. and terror of hell, held

until the Protestant

SW.1J!

Re.form.ation took

Ho,~h's work was admired dllrrin.g his

own 1Ifetlmt and Philip IT of Spain
VlrJ;.S

hold in the 16th cenru 1)'. Unli:ke many of his oonte.mpomrks,

Bosch didlit lilse underpainting, painted directly
.0 n 10

an avid collector !bra while after the a:rt.ist's de-ath. Boesch's crowded, energetic
work undoubtedly influenced his c-onlltmporary, Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

there ls almost no similarity

but

to Bosch .. Tht only ;~lyli..stic infl!)l!ence that can be 11.11.1::00 to Bosch are the
miniature illuminated stories found 1i\~thi.nmedieval
man uscripts,

the gtmmd, relying

on. his skills w.ilh the brush. Tb~ Carden

of Earthly
important

Deligbts is one of his most

works, consisting

He was then.largelyforgotren until the

19th century, and rediscovered

of a series of

again. in

Bosch's paintings

present

i!)'l!l:f painti ngs on folding panels. The

the 20th centcury by the Sl!JJneaiist$.

~ THE

GARDEN

OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS,

HEll. (daail-

right pand), 15()O

HIERDNYMUUS

Boscn
.[Jfth~ creation. .oftht world b,eflu and ,after
In Hdl:,. rormEI1.t1;tmd horror. await
ait $tfvtll

Botch's largt triptych gives a d$i/eilacCf}imt

man ba. m~cu mhetl to the dffldly
>11'1$,.

thrJ1;,i3

wbo hasse lranI!!'tI>S6£i and BrJKh d&i!y depicts figurn well us a giant birdfwii11g
.oN

diJtrJrtedby {t'Wrir:e' and gl&itl(}1'}.y"as

Jmman/h&

40

PORTRAITS AND MINIATURES

shovlling how the innovations
thr(ii;);gh to the North.

H~ p' on:."' .... RE,aRMX"'O" .. - inspired byrne teachings of

Martin L:"theI' - provoked ,...

of the

15'32, he was introduced. to Henry VIII

and produced a series of ou.lt'Standing court portraits, including one of the king

Italian Renaissance were now filfering

By

1525, there

crisis i.n the arts as Catholic imagerywas denounced as 'idolatrous', Protestants did all art - it was Catholic

was a g:reat deal of unease and strife in Basel as the Reformanon began to
spread WrO'UJ!gilo'lJ!t Europe. decided to go to Englend with "letter of introduction

with his thi.rdw'ife, Jane Sejmonr,

A

shrewd

yet respectful
\l,

ceyemeantthat

not condemn

Holbe.in
and set sail to the Kinffs

he steered

fine line between beall!t11)-ing

w'.uts

religious art theywere mainly again"tbut it meant that there were suddenly

bis si:JJbjoctsand e:xpo"ing them and all; his dispassionate, non-

'Very .few; if any, commissions

for

Treasurer, Sir Thomas More, from. one of

ji!l.dgem.ental style enSl!1red that he retained his position. asthe leading artist in. the Tudor
miniature fashiorung
COUiJrt.

painters .. Some arrisrs became redundant

and rna.ny chose to puesueallied or, in some cases, unrelated occupations,

his sitters, the D1l1l'Chscholar Erasmus.

Although

King Henry VlII wall

- :acountry

committed to Protestant reform, there

were openi.n:gs in. England that had no hi,tory of artistic greatness -

In. later years Holbein turned

painting (or limning),

10

Hans Holbein '!'be Yo l!!figer

(1497-1543) worked initially in his

tiny portraits of his sitter's

fat11e.r"sworkshop in A:ugsbu:rg, but left early in. his career to live ill Basel Ey
1516, Holbein portraits had started to paint that I'.<ereexquisirely rendered

for ~atalented artist like Holbei.n. He painted a portrait of the More family; this was an important
landmark as it was

head and shoulders ',lndpidci.n:g out

details with a fine brush, His only successor of ~1nl' real note was the English miniaturist

the first time anyone had painted a grO'up po rtrait of a fami.ly at home. Ona second visit to England in

Nicolas Hilliard, Elizabeth 1 in 15'62.

in the realist manner. Between 1517 and

1519, his style became noticeably sofier,

who was appointed as limner and goldsmith

In 'QlLleen

.. THE ERMINE
NICliOlAS Ermine

POIITRAIT,

1575

~ Pmtrlt'\lT

OF EDWARD

VI,. PRINCE

OF

HILLIARD

WAu:S,.1538

HANS HOUIE[N

..vas tho: 'YmDo! that.the

of r~lty

and dose

Edward and

l/Lbecam« Ki'llg at the ag.! of nino: en tirit' ru Ie' seas umductm re:ac&d

i'l1sF,r;tir:m tro6als

arJimai is

bii

ly

uge:'llti at and

wettri,Jga milliatur:e·gotd,cr.oW1l ar:ormd its wltar. Elizabd& dark !J.ejewtlJedgr7i.ll1i syllr1w!iwll'y rei r!f.onff the gwviry ifth(
painting and its 'I uh}e:t:t matt« r - ber .l:Wor:d
l'est'I .oil II;"

as ht never

mtUurity, dying

.fbI' age ·rif15. He soas a

gift&! pupil

/JOiMtl.i partrmt

rf.th~ yr}/mg lroy 'With

its serious .e.xpre>flon emphlMiU5this

intr.rJ'Ipet:tiv.(!, awdemi.c ride.

if state

tabk b.~ide: her and

stands forj!lstice,

IN GAil'

HE R N

11'1 1111 SSAIN IE All

OlE

'ViN-£Ii'D~

P.;.A;Tp..J~SA, P.J\TRI/lb Vllt,:TV'TI-S E.'f'- H£ J:i:[.S E.STG, nn:HIL MA1YS J\1..AXl1""WS OR.,111_S HA~ ~:;r. GN~TVM. ~J]IL POS;s'VNT CO,tLVM ET :NA-TVR.J\ [)EDIS8E.j !LV-EM l'ATIUS_, VIC-TVa ]"GNQItf.T ;HONOS. }tWATO 'TA-NlV{I!\,. T ANTr TV FA eTA PA, @..::£,N TIS:_. _ \lorrA H'0M.-R'"¥1\Il .. '\fiX Q..:'v:D PRQ...GJ1;.~Dli\;NTV:R... HhRl'.!~T

P }..~VV~L

Hvrvs

¥1~lSn-

:Q._V(D:::fR.r,o-,<s

If'IU$,QVS

ADOl.A'F

Ol\J!iI~

NEG

Toll: Q:.V1- 'Vl'NCF.::KL

P0S,!HT~ .t.R.Ff.

~~

42

CLOSE
lEUR IhWEGEL

THE
(e1525-15'69)
<0 f

LAND
oti!t~t:J.nding example, as it truly makes
LlS

quest for ideal classical thrm that he undoubtedly came across in Italy. He did, however, make detailed studies of the

was the last, and one

the.

fed what it Yl.""S like

In inhabit

the

greatest, .of the 16th century artists from . northern Europe. Many hut he details of his life are uncertain,

physical world he.portmrs. fascinated land and

Em15gelwas

Alps

on his journey home, and these

by those who worked on the

WJ,$

rorm the basis for many of his later

kee n In convey the man 11\1d with

was born ll.nd 11"'00 10 Antwerp. (He

spelt his name 'Emeghel' when. he lost the 'until 15$9 for some reason,

landscapes, On hisreturn, he turned to

the peasants and the cmLlltrysidt around

differingrelationships

the landsl.:ape, shown at time's as ov;e.rpowering and also capable of

'"h:, but

his native Antwerp fo.r inspiration,

often

long since forgotten., his sons d1J.ng on. to rhe or.igin.aJ version.]

~dopting a disguise to mingle wIth the

15 ngen.de:ring fi:clin.gs of great wellbeing,

Dllrin.g the last six years
!)f

ord.iwary v.'OCkingpeople in. their raucous

celebrations. He became knownas on account of'his '1'e,l$allt'Bmegel

his life

His early works clearly show the. influence of Bosch, the inventive
distortions of the 'Ibsoer

Emcgd.'$ style changed: hisfig!11res got btgger and there .is a.more sober and
concerted attempt to illustrare prover bs and moral CpithH~. His work was m'l\lch admired the and there were many who tried

if Babel

i1;re

lively genre scenes which are at once

af!ectionate and mildly satirical His real gre'iltne,<;S lies in his
depictions of'landscape, in particular

a. particw·arly gMd example of his extl:ggerated fa.ntasy style. Bruegel was a h.ighly educated, culnrred man who had 'an ext:en,~.\i"e

to imitate him. Bruegel had two sons who became 21ti:st~;J\<1n Brueghel (1568-1625), the second son, was the renowned for

series of landscapes illillstr'.l.lingthe seasons of the rear. Hunters illlh£ Snow (Da..embaIJarluary), 156.5', with its
muted palette and frozen wastes, is an

knowledge .of myth and legend. He went

Oil

a two-year trip to France and kaly in

more sLI.c{:cssfilll,becoming his delicateHower

1$52, but was largely 'unalf6cted

brine

P ainti ngs,

,~PEASANT DANCE, c1568

PutTER BRUEGEL

(TliE ELDER}

B'ruegel.b,e,citllU! Im()'iJJrJ a$ 'Peasant •Bruegel

On accou nt of

his paj~ titlg;

of lr;roJfolk
ace r,uorie;

merT)'makillg, pasting, trmn.trJ~ide,

.m..d worki'lg in .flu

TJ;1t5il: ~I:rlre,am,i:S

'i..Qitholil millir,&, yd t07Itaill amJcdotat ddaik that

1'i''lJiJuJ

much

aimut

human

llaturi'.

No.t1"

the iively interaaion

oj:th-f gmlip around

tblitabie and tbe [fmp/Ii &md in hand in

the _fol-eg'l'rJ!md, mshirlg to joi 11 the dance.

IN GAil'

HE R N

11'111::1111 SSAIN All

CIE

.....Hl1NTER5IN

THE SNOW (DECEMUERi1ANUARY),

1565 PIETER BRUEGEL '(ll-IEEJ.DER)

From Bruegd $ol'igi nal

group ~faintin,;,TS p

d~pictifW kmdscapes and Inil'lum .(lctiviti~

thro!lghthi' seasons, {miyfive baue surviv/Jd {md, ojthe-J,e:, Hanters in the Snow is

the ,fr.estlUiowi2.. In th~ time/en seen <', the countryside

thre.e hu nter;

is in the' grip o/wirJter and the'

Urn rn with orliy

a meagr;;: rabbit i11 return. for thd r 1forl$.,

THE BAROQUE
cI6oo-1700
brushwork and brilliant
whose

',E·.I··R····A
~"

was in Venioeat t first

the tail-end of the Renaissance

applied come ~

retrospectively be associated

tothis with

particlIlar

style and has

that Titian

started

to cteat:e

anentirely m~w

paintings with vigorqus

direction

fOj[ painting with his lQose,.expr.ess.ive colour sense, This in turn was in churches with
their of was

and emotional intensity. Baroque artists pu.shed. £')j[yvard the naturalistic achiev>Nnents of the
movement Renaissance.in of realitj, spectator creating drama, an ever more convincing in wanting These P ainting,$ were illusion but went in the further to involve

picked up by another V:en,etian painter, Tintoretto,

grand
compositions

the

·0xaggfrl'at:edsens.:e of space start to shoWbh.,e influence Mannerism. High

primadly

a bout

Coy,ering the period

in art between IDe

Mannerism the human

Renaissance

and the Baroque,

sometimes:

substance - distiiiing solid.believable human beings out of light and shade and placing them 0$1 a stag~ where.
they could act out a.. human

a linear styl.e that-distorted

and and

form in
<

drama, Typically;

works

:ex.aggemted Tmto.retto

otherwoddIysettings.
of Mannerism,

rea rured
enhanced gestll.res.

stron g contrasts of lig!k t and shadow which

the dramatic

El Gr'Bco were artists

characteristics

whose work:

effect"ri}ch colourand
of

expre.ssiv.e

featluredsome

ofthechief

including discrepancies in scale and harsh colour. Bllt

rhesryle is best exemplified in Parmlgianino, whose

(lq.mPQsiti.Qns were Then, airhe experiments in the distortion of

space and the elongation of£.gu:res, srartof'the 17ith .century, at a time when most of Ell.rope Wa'Sfacing gl!eat political, IDeligiQus and

diEferent diagonale on the picture plane also added a di sti net sense of dynamism. One ofthe.greatest iigu.res:of the Baroque era. was a sculptor - Giankmmz.~ Bernini {159&-1:680) - whose. colossal nlarble, sculptures and ep~c architectural designs
exl.l.He'd.'~nergy. At the same time, such as those in as;tt{)Oomy, scientific; advances

The interplay

philosophy and physics, as

tensions

social uph~aval,anew Spain! Germany

type 'of an .eme{g.ed. The Baroque style began in Rome and fUourished particularly in Italy,
!lna

well as the developm,ent

against a backdrop of

of printing) were taking place

relig:inu:s

between

Ausuia. Thee Dame Baroque was

Catholics and Protestants. In res.-ponsets the Pro tie stant

1604

1605

16I4
foh11.Nllfier inVJJnted hJJarithtm to adv_.re ihl3.fidd

Or=&!i

Thcfim s.uetltiji.

1614

The ClmThJul"ced
GaJiJIJ,(Ji.rrr.xmlt

16l!9 Thefim !lav:e~

arrioed in 8ritM

finishd tAe fim

modern n rmd, DQnQ~ix9w

de!cnptionoJ th!! diii() appe«lJ!dfMm Dutch Z,wllr:Jist, Ctzrullll Cluriur

rf Irffl.tlmfliltk:r

after he $uggeJied the earlh re'lJ{)/Vel

round

NrH'th Amel-ica
aboard
'/1elid il

Dutch

tbe

.~!l.n

&efmmatilon ,of the early 16th century, the Catholic Church embarked in th.e 1550s ana rene-val known Baroque Catholicism Reformation, Nethe:rI:an:d9 Nerherlands as the movement
was

Much admired fdr the way Ius works balanced passion

and reason waS' the Flemish Baroque portrait painter Anthony van Dyck .. In. Spain, Baroque art was largely

pr,ugramme of The where

Counter- Refcrmarion. by
tVIfO;

took root in countries revitalized in

the
the

CounterProtestant Catholic

FOM.O'wingan agreement v..as divided

in 1609, the

devotional in nature and ¥claz_qll!e2 "vas its gre~ail:'est exponent, producing his own inimitable, dignifl.'ed vi sion of hum an reality. It,,'!1 as the D urch vision th at'€::anre to cham.ete:rize the
era, withseveral artists contributing known
'tip

(or Holland) and the ~uth,ern

what cameto be

Netherlands (Belgium and Flanders). Ruled by a Spanish archduke, Flanders b~ocme the stronghold of
CaID61k:ism in northern Europe, with Protestantism continuing to hold sway in Holland and England, Du.ring the Renaissance" Florence and Veni,oe were the key artistie centres in Italy, hut during the Baroque period, Ro.me becamethe hub. In 15'92:,the great Italian

Age, of Dutc:h painting. Rembrandt, who li.ved andworked in Amsterdam, was

the most celebrated

astihe

GoMen

of these artists, with a unique gift

for p.rodllci.ng portraits ghring insight into his sitters. There was alsoa number ofDu~c::h artists who looleed to their immediate surroundings and produ1ood.elther

painter, Caravltggio, moved fr()m Milan to Rome, the destination of many other European artists at thistime, Cara1mggiQ was an unorthodox artist; he ,,¥or~ed,from red-life models with no preparatory ·dra'Ning, oFten upsetting the priests who commissioned his work. By
contrast, Rubens was a Flemish Catholic: whose work

s-umptuollSistilllifes or viral evoeatrons oflandscape, Both Claude and Poussin in France '~re painting in
the dasskallandscapeaadi:tion,ai.though the emotional irttensity of their work makes it part of the Baroque tradition, 'Iowards rhe end of the 17th oenttll"Y, the Baroque g:raduaHy became more ,qrnabeanclwentualiy gave way to the altogether lighter and more decorative

and life were more ordered and caused less .c,ontrQ1ffl[S'y. styi,e of Rococo.

1,6;0;0

The jim pilgrim>

ilrri'lJ.ed olPlymrmth R",t/i nDfNim the

Mayjl()'l1N!1'

]6,6,6 Th~ Gnat Fin of London begmi ill Pudding Lillie, thell de~royed fbul"-fiflh~
o/Lrmdrm

]68z
WiifW,m Pell7lDegall Prmmylwmio ill a

~68'3
VU7lIiiI. Jtll'w'£/.ed

a gl'luJltng thlll!e-

'H()ly &p,~I'i'mellJ,!
M$€d on "Qu\lhr

mrwih 5Wgt: liy t}je Tum iW limJ:y

prilJciples

16&5 The Edit! ojNlIlltel, grl<ntingfre{'dam ·rf ,wurshp,' ww I'rof}kM, cat/fin g P'rotenan:fl fa j1i!<' Fmtlce

169Q
Willio;m
WOIl

the Brry,1/c, .trJuchilJ;g off th~1' rensurie: :0/ I'digi!}l1~lilwdJhed

1m Boille oj

·rif Orange

FREE

EXPRESSIVE
(c1488-15'76)
VLf;lSthe

BRUSHWORK
Rome at the age of60 when Titian was
invited
In

InAN

Titian enjoyed a meteoric riseand

became the :fJ.vourite painter of wealthy intellectlnal circles in Venice. His work was wide-ranging, encompassing portraits, religiOll!$ ~mbj(l(:t.'l often

m~t important

Venetian

stay

as a guest of the Vanea n,

p~jJnte:rof the 16th century and

He is believed to ha v;e lived until he was 90, when he a plague epidemic. Titian
W\1,~

o ne of the f,'featest and most vers arile artists ofthe Italian Renaissance. Titian went

finally

sLlc(:!!lmbed to

Born in the Dolomites,

first apprenticed befo[crecei.v.ing

and mythological

scenes, Although

-a painter whorevelledin He applied oil pai.llIt

fLS

to. 61f(:in Venice as a. 1»y where he was

reluctant to travel, Titian wasinnndated with.

bischosenmedium.

to a maker of mosaics, training in Giovan.n.i

offers

from the rulers ofFer ..... ira, His paintings rell

fredy, lil$.i:ngfin.ge.rs'as well -an~tidpati:ng themodern e.m.ploy.ing materials expressive manner, own technique,

brushes,
00.

Urbino and Mannra.

emphasis

Bellini's studio. Hethenenrered Giorgione's

us much ·abour Iraly's mosr pm,'1'erflJI

families of the time; he painted the

in a direct,

studio,

thus ensuring the

best schooling
VCllic-eat Titians tn complete

he could have ha-d.in

YO:lInggrandson.

of Pope P..lullV for

Stro--l':;;iamily. He first f

He developed his applying glazes and

me time.
fast major commissinn was

example,
frescoes in Padilla.

'J,S

well us the infant dalllghter of

bright eolours over an underpainting,

thearistocra met Emperor appointed

tic

111 a

sense, light and land$crrpe

three

Charles V in 1529 and was

became his s'l!bj(ltt matter, his work exuding confidence ofwellbeing. has influenced ever since, and a great sense

Then, in 151-6, after both his early mentors, Giorgion.e and Eellini, had dioo, he
VI"'""

court painter in 1533, He

also worked. for his snccessor, Philip It of Titia.n's stature Michelangelo,

W~IS as

His warm, rich palette painters and painting

appoi.ntcd officialpainter

great as that of

the Venetian republic. At this point,

whom he finally met in

~ A IvlAN

\VITH A Q_U1UED

SLEE'lTE,

~ DAVID'S VICTORY OYER GOLIATH, 1'542 TITIAN

ctsto

TITIAN

A n ,<,arry orA .by Tlsiasr that w if} bE a Fwtmit

= bdi~'tE£1

Cf}rnminirm.ed_for the ,(.eiJing ·if.a dmr.h in Wnifo:; Titian.} Davie{ ami Cr;fiath is ,dl!rig~t:d
ttl

of thE Ita!iDlI !-f}tt A riosto,

1mt till! 5itter na!J neoer been firmly

k !J&il'l/rom beknu. Tht

idtntiflM. Rembrand: usd tht:portrait as

a modd_for fiii own Self-Portrait Age of 34,. Nr;k th!!txttu;ordinar),
at the

dramatic nature

if the

tv,tnt is con veyed and

through.the theatri~anightin.g
,w7J.t.ortulpo!Jf1,

realism

with the fig"'!"!! ofGrdiath

if the !Ile:ro(',

'fiJemiflg!y .alm"t to tOfP!'; down ,rm us,

if H·E

IBA I'IOQru

EEIR

48

HEIGHTENED AND TENSION

WERE TWO

DRAMA

Titian, Their work tells us muchaboor

HERE

other great

Tinmretro often used a =qudk, a

small scale model, to help him. plan his

decorati ..-e painter whose flattering

style

Ve~tl.anartists

In the latter_

played up to the vanIty of the aristocratic Venetian families in the 16th cenmry,

half of the 16th century bo(';Slcles

paintings. He positioned wax figurcs

under artificial light to SCe how they affected the c.ompo sltion. H1s crov.,ded pictures, f~alDrillg writhing,

Healso specialized in religious scents,

set incongruously against opulent
Venetian backgro'un,ds. Ve.ron.ese wasinreresred in dramatic

the cIty in which they Ii~a

co ntrasr in styles _Jaw

nd worked,

as wen as making for an interesting

po Ti nroretro
wail jealous

fOreshortened fig!JJres, are fuU of

movement and drama in the Mannerist

(c1518-1594) was one !)fTItiM~5 pupils

and it is said that themasrer of his talented pupa, who dedaredrhar

narrative, con:v~yed.with sumptuous

c01o:111:[

sryleIn rhe marure works, his passionate

vision produces a sense of suppressed

and tone. His

aCli.ltt:

eye fpr the

\'i(l1Y

uppearan.ce of thi n.gs and the

In

his aim was to

Tintoretto

S!lrpa;S.,~ the

rual.\Fin.gof

excitement; it i~ if something as
incredible is about to happen, His talent emerges 1.1l is paintings h fin storytelling

which he managed to capture the: luxurious surfaces ofjewellerj, satins ensured his popularity. Verornese's seemj.ngly uncomplicated silks and

Michelaegelc and the colour of'Titian,

came trom a relatiV'd:y

hll1mble backg:rotrnd; his father dyed doth, and he Lived an his

\ll!Drki.ng

for the SCIlIOh di Sail Roc'Co, which

depict the life of Christ in. a dark and

life in

but powerfill vi. ion contr asred '!llrIththe

controeersial

Venice wherehe paintedmainly reiigi.o-u;, ~Llbjects and portraits. He worked hard for success and usedall available means
to s{)cl1tr·e commissions, undercutting

otherworldly light. El Greco's work

clearly ,~howg b.i:~ influe nee. Paolo Veronese (c15'28-1588) was

approach of Tintoretro.
tribunal to explain. a

However, in. later years, Verone$c faced an Inquisition

incleding

born in Verona,
territory

0.11

the mainland a.

Dumber of "irreverent and o ffellsi.ve

his rivals' rates.

of Venice. He wasprimarily

elements" in his List Su.p~r:

~ TI'ffiE WWDING
PA:OIJOVrnoNESE

AT CANA

{detail}, 1563

At tho: weddingfeast

at Cana; Calilee (johll

2.:1'-12),. Christ firSt p.erformeda puNic miracle, turning soaier into winr!.. 1,1 this
detail foWling

on .tht: mmi.rlal1>, V<n'l1,BB

bas used himself and hit artistfri.t-nJs as nIaue/$ - Titian is dre>$al in rfJ'ii alding h
a contrabas« and VtimmrJ;e'is i 11 a white: tunic with a 'Viol
.... CRUCIJ'IXION, 1565 TrNToRETTO

Ti nioretto ~ Cmdtixion.
Crucifixion,

in tht Sc.uoia di _ScmRocco is a

wti dramatic

scent" i1:2 'Which the

I:TC'tS.

numerous tp~rt#t(Jl'srevolve around the' ,'f'ntmijigur;e:

.of Christ

on the

Writing abou:
:<I.WIlt!

He:ray jamrcr mid: 'Suury nO ri7iglfJpirmct in the:world contains

i7Jdudin.g tbe mottt::x:Y!Jmtf; heal/i].'

if buma»

Jifi,~there is .everythirlg in' it;

50

OF
ANNlElUSM DES'CR'II>!ES I1n

FORM
n.l Domenikos

El Greco (1541-1J614, Theotokopoulos)

Ey 1577, E1 Green was in Toledo,

Spain where he remained uruil his death. Here his mature style evolwed; characteristically composed his paintings were

affected, self-conscious
appeared in painti.ng,archifocru:re sculpture towards the end of the Renaissance

and
and

was born in Crete.

contrived ,~tylethat fu:,~t

A whCllly (lriginm a nd vi.sinnaI}' painter,

he was the greatest exponent Mannerist of the ,~tyle. E1 Greco initially tradition,

of dynamic, elongated

ngme.s

period. A reaction against relies on

searchfor new farms to

painted icons in the BFanti.ne

flickering cerily almost like Ilarn,cs. A.lJ themovement

classical harmnny; Mannerism

a m,big!!:!ity and
~il

bur after m.oving to Venice in. IS 60,

$we,eps!lpwards towards
and acidic colmur add :alreadyft:r'l'i.d vision. It is

hie, work, with its harsh contours and

dramatic lIght andshade, clearly tt01.'ealed the pm:fi)U!n.dlnfhlf;nJ(:e of'Tlnmrerro.

the top ·0£ the painting; the light,t',lpid brushstrokes intens itJ roan

produce compositions distortion, unnatural

that feature

ambiguous '>pare and colour, The

archetjpal

Michelangelo
impact
011

also had a $ignificant

believed he may have used mirrors and other optical aids to achieve some of
these distortions. The legacy ofthe Reformation CoumerSpain

Mlln.n,cri;st is the painter Francesco

Parmigianino (15(]3-1.540). went Bom in. Parma, Parmigianino 'to Rome in. 1523 where he started eXp'crirne,n.ti:ng to create his own, of'feminine beatlty. The resulti,ng

his development.

meant that Catholic

idea

was the natural spiritual horne fill someone with such intense religious

distortio ns and do n,g.ttion$ were not to everyone's taste and rome denounced his
work as
fOCI

beliefs, Toledo

W:i;S

a key Catholic city

and El Groen was able to find wealthy

ar tificim. His later works of

patrons there as well as in Madrid, althOlllgh he had little success in s0('Llring :royalpatrormge. forceml vision His st.range. unique and
Wl\S

in.elude the muru'"'f_'tlehmled Modonna

tbe Lang Nak with the Virgi.n'S ·1.llIfeasibly

long, yet gmc{';fully tapering pale neck. a nd shoudders,

much admired to the

20th tent!):l.l'}' the Expressionisrs, by

t ,R.ESURRECTIQN" cJ597-1604 E:LGru;:CO

.. MADONNA

OF TliiE LONG NE!CK,

1534

FRANCESCOP ARMlG1ANINO

In the Resurrectiontant!,.

part

of a .tnree-

Thu strtmgdy iJriiJU;kmudwmp~iti(}tJ, 'with its diJ.t{Jrtio1JS if the li1adimn(l'$ ned. .aid sI){}!dderr
.~r:m.temportl'J nmst bao« amjiJ!mded

level altm-pilKl' for thl' d)1.n:h if the Gof"g_ia

de Dosia lVIarfa doffAragon in Madi'iJ, extremve: distortion and in.iense drama are
combined.

idmsrf "'amiy

and

h.cmnrmJ.

111 .thi1:, one .rifE} Gra.oJ- mast

In The Story of Art, EH Gom:brirn

m,gge:ttj' thitt the i~l.tmli(m WitS to show how

uleiwltedworRJ,

Christ bursts forth from

hi1 tomh and tu.RJ the ~ouitingftg ure:

upwards t{J~lJt[rd,the neav,ffl£,

a wlutionthat
interesting

was based not

Oil

.&.rmrmy

.but dffi;.ord.r;.rmld ttrhirot5 atJefjuafly and in~agi~!ativl:'

,tjPr,t.

lSi

52

DRAMATIC
Y THE HART

AND
17th

SHADE
that the dramatic impact ofhis work

or

TH E

violence, However, if is lOr h.is

controversial working methods rather than his temperament rcmembered.Fn that he should be

centtllty, Rome had become the

main ar

might help lure s trait-laced back into m!!irches.

Protests

ms

lis tic

QCntre in Italy,

with Florence

and Ve.nice

declining in
in Italy and

:rejocti.ngth.e Renaissance

Then, at the height of his success, he was obliged to flee Rome, having killed a companion in. a brawl, He: died,

impor tance, The COll11ter- Reformanon had revit"a1i'~ nowhere

W,tS

search for ideals, Oa:rav"il.ggiodeclared

he wa oted to study nature and chose ordinary wnrk.ing me n and women as models, His method of pai.n.ling directly in oilsfrom models wasrevolmionar;v

Catholicism

this more evident rhan in

lIgod. 37, from. malaria.

Caravaggio's

Rome, the ci.ty to which the painter

inflm::nee lived on
o.fArtemisia who met

M.i.chcla.ngclo Merisl da Carav'.l:ggio

(1571-1610) moved in 1592. At this

partl.cllJilarly in thework
Genrileschi Caravaggio (1593-1651)

and led to another vir:Jl in:nov,tlion, his

use of
rhittl"()§I;Uro,

point Caravaggio
unknown However,

was srilla relatively

changed in 15'96

or extremes of'ljght

through. her painter father,

tUlor.

artist with :f~' commissions.

and. shade, His remarkabletechnique,

with its concentration

She had a t\ttl'mkn.t start to her career, having been raped at lSI by her

an this

on dramatic

when he was engaged to paint frescoes for the Contarell .. chapel SdHat!k'i,iJ series
Ca'ilS00.

gestures and doviln-ln-e;:itrth realism, showed j'ucst how posru.ring the previolls Mil.nnerist style had been,

Her work has a similar .dramatk q~al[ty

to CamvaggLo's, with :6.gl[[e~e:mergi.ng with. great streng It! and vitality from the deepestshadows, Genrileschlp ainred

His asensarion

'0,.00. as condemned w
sacrilegious'

as 'vulgar and
de~gy;

Cara'!1aggi.o had in.flill.ential patron"

who protected him, but his naturalistic

by the

fi1.'e ve rsions of the bm tal bib lie al sro rr

Of}ldi.th hardnor

Caravaggio

was a. furediil. and

technique both olfended and appealed to

the Catholic clergy, because they feared

$layi.ng Holofernes,

and rt is
to

volatile character, capable of acts of

to interpret this as symbolic of

determination

11. woman painrer'll

overcome adversit:v. Significantly, Gentileschi was the first female member

of Florence's Academy

!if Art.

to ffu:ornl

AND iHOLOFERNES, l' 620

ARTEMtSIA GENTI]~E5C['illI In Ih,1i iblical st(}ry,judith b t.ool; ba reV,tin.ge

on Nebudwdrlezez.arl gellera~ H(}liferms, for takirlg her hostage by de.capitatfng him

... THE CALLING OF ST NLlTTI-iUEW, 1598 CARAVAOGIO

~Qbellhe ~u.as drunk .. Gmti!,mhi pail1t«llh~

Cttravaggir;~ jir:t.t rnajr;rd)!u.h ,wmm~Jirm, lh~ pain.ting depicu.the mrmun.i in thl: GrJpd

rif

imago!ofJudith

SI!V.t:rai

times. hJthi,

Matthew

~iJh"rJjmH

§<l'E:I"

Matthew

at

hi!> §&.ti

ill

tbt! custom hrJu§f! 61ndmy> to him" ·FrJl!a~iJ

oersion; tbe violt:llt act is prHtra}ul in a ,dipam.rmate' and un romanticized numn.eT.

me'. Pid uredaround tbl! table in theg irJrmrj! i nl(ti or arc a gmup

rif impasriv,e hysJanden,

54

NUDES
Y THE 17TH CENTURY,

Flanders

cosmopolitan. and magnanimous

man,

adviser to Marie de' Medici, the

was the main stronghold of

Catholicism. .in an othervI ..se i

Rillbens took de menrs from. m,lny different sources, Slich as Michelangelo, the Ven,etlan master Tif.ian.and Carat(aggio, andfused them into his own
style. Rubens exemplifies all that has come to beknown

widowed 'Qt.loen Mother ofFrance,

Palace onthe

and

pmdu0ed paintings for the LU!XemboUiJrg left bank o:f the Seine. In 1629, he visited the court of C~mrles J
in. Enghmd where his vigorGU$ style was much celebrated.

Protestant

northern Eerope.Jn 1609,

separated Edgium

a nagreemenr

and Flanders from the rest of the Netherlands

sourhernmosr in tht North; the

by the term Baroque.

regIon remained

I!:mde.r

HL~[el'giml$ pai:nt.i:n.gs contain

outpourlngs of gen.!!li:nc emotion ..There's

His c~i"l.eable $t!!ld.iQ producod countless porrrairs, landsea pes, re GgiO:!!lo, andmythological
scenes as well as

Spanish rule. Following the CO:I!:mrer-

Reformation
Spain, thetwo

and the reasserrion of the

countries became a

a fueling far ligh.tou1d colour, as well as a clarity of pl1rpose that S~ggt:;5ts a deep
sincerity and. optimism,

Catholic church in both Flanders and breeding grollnd for religiol)s ideahsm.

altarpieces. Towards the end of his career, his brushstrokes beeamefieerand prod\!IlJedwork inwhich he the sruEmes were

Rubens spoke many la:nguages and

was fegarded as a diplomat due to the
ffiM)!' connections

It was agailLort this backgr«l!1nJ

that Peter PaulRabens
launched (1577-1640)

incredibly well rendered. These include

he mitn.'J:ged to secure

pai:ntings featwing his well-known,

volopruous, Heshylll.lde~ -a Flemish artistic convention equared with

hh career in Antwerp, themosr

both at home and abroad. From 1,609 to 1621, he was court pairuer to Alberr and Isabella, rulers of the Netherlands,
became an adviser and diplomat

pmspero!Js dty Ln. landers. In.1J600, F Rub-ens went to Italy In study and travelled widely overthe nexr decade. He

pm.pedlY

and for

- which. Rubens painred after srudying

after Albert's death in 1621, RJ!lb~ns Isabella. He also acted as a sptci,u

classical seuiptures. Rub,em was a great influence on many painters, including Van Dyck, Wattea'u Md, later, Renoir.

visited Spain where he became friends

with the Spani4 master, Veli:sqtuez;. A

~.RAPE OP TliE DAI,lGli'tERS OF

~ TICillE Ton.sr

or VENUS, c1613

I.EUCIPPUS, 1616-17
PETER PAUL RUBENS

PETER PAUL RUUENS

Seen us the dphtio'fl.

,if ideal

flmale

b.tauty

In Gr:ak mythology, Leutippu.t IllJ.as.tbe fotht:r if Phr;.t",b:t: Hiiadftl, and Castor Im.d who soere
{"bdutNd,by tu» yOlil1g me» kno'l'.m as:
Polyde:uc~.

i 11. W,dtan art, VelJu:r tlx goddess of lQve:,

,(3ntra'fl.<$t1 y b~'I' own re:Jl-~tio1l.,saas b
,tiC f~'lU1

,[ommrmpla,[t" mi:ie,ct irJ .Me .Re:nai$Un1Cif

B'ar!Xfue: ,eras, Rubens'

With hi> "<VarN!

atldmJirfing

Vet! !IS,

h!J~iJe'IMr,

gazeli

tone«, dramatt.lighting

nat at herself in th!J mirror;

bllt

at theiflht
l:

rompositir;n, R!lbeNs ronuI!llidzt"s

th~'

that h(1· bermty

b,ClS IIP·()t!.

t!g v~e

brutality implicit i'l the narrative and distWi.u$ the

'lJtewJJeT

from its implimtirJn~,

FREN'CH

NEO,-CLASSICISM
important patrons. PollMSln v."a.~n:t
entirely impressed by the work that he supervise the decoration of the Louvre;

RILE MANY OF' THE GREAT

landscape painters (If the

he returned rwo yea:r,5 later and. stayed there for the rest ofhi;5 life. Poussin. was a supremely intellectnal
artist, believing that paintings

17th cen~ry were Dutch,

two of rhe most important landscape

saw there, rejecting the affectatlo.n,~ o.f the Mannerists, hutfin.di.n.g

naturalistic mas tereSpainting

me

artists ofthe timewere French. :Both

Nicolas
Po'UlSslll

in the

should

(15'94-1665')

and

Claude

Baroqae style roo unrefined for his taste. Instead, Poussin chose rosrudy Italian High. Re naissance masters, p'lrt.iclll.arly Raphael and Titian,a1.on.g with. antique
sculptures, He also worked In rhe studio

appeal m the mind as well as the :eye.

Lorrain (1600-1,682) were born 111. F:ranc¢ bu t chose, like many o.f their comemporaries, tn lili't and wark in Rome. Roth. arti~bl'wQrk~hows
stronginfluence tradition in. Italy. of the; classical the

He unposed order on his smooth, highly finished, ideali:wd landscapes usi.ng models of min:iarurt stage-sets to help him p,erfecr his cornposirions. He brought a delicate and dignified app roach to bistnry a nd mythology, rejectingthe
restrained

of the arch-classicist

Domenichino. by King

Poussin came back to Pansfrom Rome in Hi40, summoned l,()jjis XIn and Cardinal RiLhclieu to.

Nicholas Poussin lefl: France for

Rome in 1614 where he quickly secured

emotional side o.f Baroque

classicism.

while bringing to it all austere,

ChUlde Lorra:i:n was a fello.w inhabitant of Rome bu t more ofa II.

inroirive artist: than rhe cerebral Poussill. Claude was known primarily for his masterly treatment
painting outdoors.

of soft, golden light

He used mjrhological

which he often observed flf'sr. hand by

and biblical stories as the basis fin- his compositions,

but adapted these, draw.ing

upon the c.011JJ1tryside f Campagn.a o

around Rome for inspiration .. Typically,

his compositions

feanire

11

'\I1Sfaover 10'w-

lyin~g CD untrys ide, with carefully placed antiquities and ruins helping to evok!c an. atmosphere of calm and nostalgia. Eotl:! Poussin and Claude dominated
imitators,
.... RlNALDO AND ARMIDA,

this

genre in the 17th centl!Jl"Y and h~admar~y

notably the Neo-Classical

1630

NIeHoUls

POUSSIN

school in late-Hlth-century

Feance .

PO!Jssi1Jwas interested in s.t.rJrytdling

Christia1J waniul'Rina/elf}, him awaylo a nwgim!

and tht slJbje;ct is .from

.the Italian pod

Tasso}

.baroque

poem, Jem'll'alemDelirered' (1580). 7'h.e Sarace» sorceress Armida

is a/:Jr;!<.t kifltht! to

but Iovt! HOP' ber ftrm~ mmmitti1:lg tbl: dtl&l..J7Jst~aJ,.

w.~taktiJ

ii/an.d whert! he kt:mna infab.iatlid 'ilJith htir.

... APA:5TORAL

LAND5CAJ'E, 1'677

CLAUDE

LoRRAIN

A 1f1Jeainting p
mood

by Claude for the Roman aristocrat; Prince Lorenxo Colonna; who

'li)OrB,

commission ed at least ~ight othr:r work; from lh~artist. Like man] of his

thr: tranqu if

if a group

,a/peopl.e with mUffed ancient Rome:

in:rtrunumts admly e:njrJyingthi' laml5,mpe I'!u.r}keshe t

pastoral am!lsfflimtsr(

58

CHARACTER AND
UR.ING THE

STUDIES PORTRAITS
He rerumed to Antwerp, then

RO'YAL
:iBAR.OQ,UE PERIOD

Hnany

the ground. This gave his work a !extUJiral quality, the lively brnshstrokes capturing

portraiture

became

settled in England

In 16-31 as court

iil('_reasingly important.

painter to Charle.~ 1 He made many portraits of the King, lending him an air of re:linednobility and intelligence, while at the same time becoming the chief chronicler

the most Hotting of fadal expression,s. Hills' sponraneous, almost impressionistic

With the decline ofreligious

particularly in Protestant

allJm.o.rity,

countries

srjle introduced a more inlOrmrJ note

into portraiture in the 17th (-entlllry; He

such as England and the Netherlands,

powerfirl secalarrulers their authority wanted tDsramp likenesses

of tilt courr and its

received and his has

palnred people v.rithoi.U ideil.lzing them

as Van Djck had done, The female artist Sofunisba An.grussola (d532-1625) was ,115Qa.

by havinglhtir

eleganr Cavalier style. Van. Djck a knigbrhood in. England

displayed. for all to see. Flemsh Rubens and AIHhony van Dyck

artists

influence on . English been profoundand Group portraits

portraimre enduring.

(1599-1641) painted images ofthese wealthy and powerful individuals dressed

in their lavish robes. These wert: carefuDy

sign iJic.ant painter of p.or traits and selfportraits, Rom and. trainedin

were produced in.

Lombardy,

greater numbers dmi:ng the Earoql)le period, particularly in the Netherlands.

Italy,
visited

she was appointed

court painter

des igned

to flatter, b1Uto ften revealed within

\1$

to Philip II of Spain in 1559 ~"nd WIl.$

much of the character Van Dyek.realized

well.

And one of the first painters to excel as a group portraitist was the Dutch

by

"'an Djck in Genoatowards

that portrait to successin

the end of her long career in 1623. AnJrtf's.~o.la mademuch use of the half-length portrait, and was keen to search for an emotionaltruth behind her likenesses, which included paintings ofhersclf. several

pa.iilti.n.g cni!t!ld be a passport

painter Frans Hals (dS'S2-1666), a contemporary Rembrandt, O'fRJjhtn,~ and

an increasingly secelar age. After becorniog chief'assistanr to' R'Jjbtn~,

Hals was also one of

0 its

Van Dycktravelled paiilting portraits

extensively in haly, ill Ve.nice and Rome.

the first artis ts to use

witho ut

under painting , applying paint directly to

.. CHARLES

I, c16J5

~ SELF-PORTRAIT PAIN liNG

AT TfiIE EASEL PANEL, 1'556

ANTliiONY VAN D¥CK

A DEVQ'tIONAL

Van Dyrk ~va.rcourt pailltE"r to Charltt; J

SOFONISllA ANGUISSOLA

and.soas knighted He pai

I'Ittil sti'll.erai

try him

in 16JJ.

SofimisbttA'lgui1wlas

g.1!'l1:c/er and uxial

different prH~trait'rf

dun ma:mt W.e W.<l" restrictedto muhin!;

thl! King, imludi1i.g this rme in ImntirJg gtrar

porlrait>if hmdf and membeu·if her

fomily:B:e,f(l!/$e .develop a
mOI".(

in which jg workd hard toft.atter the:

mOrJtm;h thmugh tlg diglliji.ed >iam:eand

if this,

m.e

W4$

abieto

irltirnate,. io/urm.aistyferf

degant silir:attire.

porMlitun::, i~l'i-Qhichh~

iargdyfimah:

,ubject5 w.et:e ,i:Jownfofh)w!1lg a rfmge

if

inserior fur'$u it» such as ,ci:Jmor painting.

60

FEELING
HE SPANISH HAPSBURG

HUMANITY
which the :figU1rec5 b,lSOOonreal were people rather than idealized. types. From
the time ofh.i$ appointitH:nt as COLlrt Rubens, Vd1sqaC'Z decided to visit Italy

IV, like his predecessors Philip II and

Philip III, ensured that devotion to

T
at

dynasty wall marked

by

where his brushwork became more relaxed under the in:iluence (If grc,lt Venetl,tn masterssuch as Titian. The 163U~ and 1640" were a. higbly
producriee period. He produced many

rdigiol[l~ 'R':~uand King PhiJip

painter to the end of his career, his paintings of Spanish royalty and life at
the court are remarkable for the insight

Catholicism was maintained hy means of

the Spanish Inquisirion. This meant that

th,1'

gl.'Ii'e

inm the human condirion,

royal and courr pa.in.t.ings in which he lent dignity to even rhe lowliest of
the court imbjects, inclnding

any artist pmdl!Jodng work considered unorthodox or here tical could be subjecr to persecution by a specially appoi.nte;j council. Itwas against this backdrop that, the age of 24, Diego V:e!isqiJe'l.
became co urf p ainrerm (15'99-1660)

Born rn Scv'ille, Vd,L~quIT trained

un.de:r Pacheco. Early in. his career,

the jesters

Vcl.aSqiLl,r;-.; made a type of gen.i't pleNr!': known asa b{}{/egone (literally Spanish for
'ta v.ern'), which. has come lU mean a.still

and fook, In. his final years in Madrid,

Ve1.Iisq:ll1tz

W'aS

made Knight of the Order

lire picture

based on ~a, scene from a

of S{!ntiagoand painted some sparkling

Philip IV. Vtla,sql,leZs early work showed

kitchen, A cdcbmred

example of this

portraits of the r«yat romily incmdifig the

great group composition, Las M~ninas.

the stronginfluence
its dramatic

of Ca:mllaggio with

style is the dig.nHled port:mit of An Old Woman Co{}king Eggs. At court,

light and shadeand a strong

This complex essay in. portraiture

combines naturalism, atmosphere

streak of grimre-alism that was much admired in. Spain. Even in his early
religious paintings, developing

Vcl1sqiLlez primarily h-ut also continued

worked. on portraits,
to

and

painrhisrorical,

insight into character and demonstrates

Vehtsquez was

religious and mythological paintings.

Vel.t~q:Ij.ez\;ability to delse below the

surface in search (If real truths,

a new naruralistic

style in

In 1628,

followillg a visit to SP'a:i1l y b

~AN OLD

WOMAN

CoOK[NG

EGGS, l' 61'8

DIEGO

VELAzo_UEZ

Painted when V:ddZIj!ie.:z.'W,a~18 or 19, this w.o1"k is an insightful p{}1"trail as well.as a rem:arkaNe ,examph material:

if his ability

to paint ,<'veryday {}bj:atJ dirff.tlyp-{}m; lift. The'Gontrasting

ttndte.xf:!ir,eJ mid the phy

rf Jight and

sbadouion

thE su ~facdgive the ~vork an

extraordina1"Y realism.

62

I'NNER
Flanderathe

TRUTH
based in
greatest of all

LAID

BARE
introspective and. penetrating portraits, One of the flrst artists to specialize in. the se1f-pormit,

RILE RUBENS, WAS,

as the leading portrait painter in the city. This was followed hy The;.Ariatrmry Lesson .ifDt NiaJJa~ Tulp in 1632 which, with
jts

D'1)t,;:b pai:nrersRemhrandt (Harmcnss van Rij", 1606-16(9)w,,5

R,emhrandtprodill!cM
and etchings of s . have

gmup of fully realizedindividuals

over 100 paintings himself

based in Amsterdam in. the Protestant

North. Here, churches had been stripped o f all Catholic pam pb ernalia painting, naturalism

gathered revitalized contimred

around a dissection. completely

the grmlp portrait. Hi~ surcess and, by Ui,19, he had earned

His

last, great self-pcrtrait

an almost shocking ahility to strip away

and,

I:Il.

all artifice

'1'0 reveal a

di.gn.ified., oldman

there 'Was renewed emphasis on

and an inrerese in ordinary, born in.

enoLlgh to bur a large house.

From the 1640$ onwards, .lOllowIng the death of his wife and mother; Rembrandt became more introspective on religious

whose suffering i$ rnanifesr in. nearly e1i'e.ry~LsreCtofhi.s face, hut whose ~o:ff featl4res betrayno bitterness or regret,
The emotional depth of his work is

everyday things. Rembrandrwas

obVIOUSsigns of

Leiden; he bad a couple of early tutors, the most influential being Pieter Lasrman, a C'iltholi<,;whose taste for

and started to concentrate

painlillg. He eventl1!J.lly married his servant, Hendriclqe Stoftds, and sbl.ytd

eqLU\\lleil by his virtuouso technique,

paintings

His

drama tic ~e.stru:es and vivid lighting had an early impact on Rembrandt's

are bi;lliltwith layers of glazes

of impasto, lea ding one

with her for the rest of his life, painting manyportraits of her. But after he portraits,

a ndpassages

deeelop lllg style, Rembrandt

a commercial

mnremporary to remark that they looked

as if theyh ad been 'daubed with a bricklajer's trowel'.

quickly decided. to pt.!:r!roe

career in. Amsterdam

tilln.od his back onfashionable

he got into financial difficulties fmm

which he never quire recovered, Human compassion understanding and of his

where he soon attracted commissions,

numerous

There is a complete mastery oflight

and shade as well as a delicate softness which is entii<dy Rembrandt's own .

His first, formal portrait in him

163,1 (of Ni(::"laes Rl1t~)established

are the hallmarks

.. WOMAN BKflilNG REMBRANDT

IN A STRE.1\M, 1654

Th~ m[ldd for .thi, dramati. portrait

\ilm.!"

!''(JeaNy fix .ar.tists common-las» wi_fo,

Haidrit.ly;e Strffd~J with'Whrmt Ral.Wrandt
Jiv,edfrom aiXmi .1649 iJrJ.ti! death ill her

t 663, Tbe paillti I'lg i$ lorm:iy handkd and hm lh~prmttmeity if a ,Ja!tdJ, appeurinJ;
unfinished infarts, f(lrticuJarly ilr:ormd the ,edgeif' her rooe:

.. THE ANATOMY

LEsSON OF DR NICOLA!!.'> TuLP,

1632
fIg

REMURANDT

Dr Tulf, of tbe A nI£tntkmt Guild rfSurgpJlJ$, ,explain, to

MSwtblalgrrmp

if m~dia;tht

muscle :rirur;mrtin ibt arm, having laidrp.t:rt a wrpse~ arm flrthtpurp,o>e, pianrJl:d arul 'weJl:-thrmght-,rmt grou/portraits he prodllralfor Hlmj>o,iti{}1'1 was Ranbralldt'ifint t/ie'brJardroam,o/lbe Cuildif

Tb~ au-efl/lly

artmpl in a series of

Surgean",

64

TIL
Y

LIFE
GENRE

PAINTING
symbolic reminders - such as
transitorv vaiJihuand.
,1

1640, ANEW

had been.

slmJl, a

and ]!an Davidss de Hcem (16iJ6-c},6S3) practised

established in. Holland, namely

pocket watch or rotting Emit - of the nature of lift: were knO'v\"(J as

in the Dutch still life tradition

the still
wa

life. With. religion

with works that quietly responded to the beauty of the everyday. De Hcem.who

ni:n.g ininfluence,

the detailed. realism

their popularity spread, along

ofthe Dutch

still life appealed to the emerging middle classes who were now

with the still life genre irself, to Flanders, Sp ai nand France. One of the earliest practiti.oner,~ of' the genre, Clara Peeters (15'94-1657)

was hom in. AntVi,rerp,concentrated

mainly on elaborate floral ammgerne:ntll,
fexll!ureS

the principal Netherlands,

patroll'~ of art in. !he

The convention was to

with themany different

detail

of

individual flo'Wersre:alb:.od in exquisite Rachel Ray"SCh (1664-17 50) was

have a table setagainsr dark backgrotlnd,with

a bkLn.kand ofren sp\ukllng gkl~'leS,

was born in. Antwerp at a time when. the

term \>tilllife'had She prodaced what 'breakfast depiction nor yet been coined.
W1[$

another Dutch. flow'er painter, whose me ticmO!1S flower and buuerfly arrangements

gleaming metal plates end the remains of

::1

termed a

srumpmotl'!l meal as the OtlJtv;,c-:ud

Paintings that contained

piece' on account of its of'plares of bread and. fruit.

imply the & agile beauty

symbols of w'e-Mt:h and conspicnous consumption.

of living Wings. In Spai.n too there were some fine examples of still life painting. Juan

WilIe.Ol Claesz Heda (1594-1600)

Sanche"b Cotrin (d5>60-1627)

was a friar

andan acquainrance of'El Greco. His Still Lifo with Qui7lu,. Cabbage,
111uclrt and CII[II?i.Wer shows a dramatic a:rnmgement

of frlllit and \IIcgetables

partly harlging from strings, one of fi1.'e srillllfes bought by King Philip IIt Sp~tnish painter Francisco de ZLLrba:nin
(1598-1664) was primarily a. portrait painter, bUiltthe Iiu\;'l!'tdy still lifi~$ he produced 'are some of the finest

examples ofthe genre. Hissimple

arrangements of'domesric object", - in.

one composition, four simple potsand

bowls are arranged in a.line
Oil

the edge

of'a table or shelf - hare a meditative,

almost mystical he/l!ll!ty . .... HERRING A

CLARA

WITH CAPERS AND A SUCED .oRANGE ON PBlilTER

PLATES,

C1620

PEETERS

Pester: is tht Flemish ~f)omtrri ,aillter r;rt;di/:e;Jwith intnjdur1 rig the Dutch lyp,eo/ 'brealifilsl p

piece" still lifo tOAIJF<IJ&rp.Her 'lJUtir;uio!Jsry ttlulert.dmmll'-!Kult

.r;verlappirlg f}ijf:id~.and typiudiy .fruit andbuked

still

rift> tendto

awitl

for; IU ,rm una71gmu'/ltJ

ofplatl:>, gohlds, iUms

if r;ulLery,

rl)lls, mrJ~t1yset agail1.# a darkba.cll.gr:rmnd,

.... SnLL JUAN

LI:I'E WITH QYINCE,

CABllAGE,

MELON AND ClJCUMUER,

C1602

SANCHEZ OrrAN a simp},e recipe, Srill,chez Cotdti. sertlts up a cut md(ln, a kn:obMy mcumlm:,. ttydlo'ifl t:£tbhage 'iflith lr7lJirJg detail. Tbt mbhttgs tmd tbt 'quirJce wet) suspended
'it/ay

Rollowing

,quince a1i.d a ktfJ

string>, a common

an

'"'/trmrvingfood

inthl!

17th

cent»

ry~ Tht:r.knity rfme

u,-nange?l:lEnl

and the un !isr,r light srmn"pmvide ..l

tlK painting with an almost "culpturui q!!la!ity.

L,ANDSCAPES
Y 16o,0, LANDSCAPE

had become

depicting the various moods of nature.

The landscapes almost always included human fig'l!lIes to reinforce the idea o.f' man asan integral part ofnature,

panoramic

Vi(;\\'8

of the low-lying his birthplace,

terrain now

established

as an anmnomous

around Haarlem,

ge[l.re~Landsea pc pa inling
:Hourished, in 17th-cen,lUry

reg.irded as the home of'Dmch landscape

Holland,

painting, Rllisdad painted

- from beaches - and qrnclcly

p~llt1y heCITUlSet wus an expression of the i pride the Dl!J!tchfelt intheir c,ol!l!ntry
,Ifter <lchi,evl.ng ,indI1Jenden,ce from

Jan '!'an Gojenalong

with Salomon

e"ery typt of'landseape to winter landscapes

van Ruysdacl (Jamb's uncle, ('1600-1670)

helped to eseabllsh the landscape school

in Holland. Van. Goren

moved aW'IT"yfio.ma
v.igomus brushstrokes

,'!Oft, sltlhdetoilal
and dramatic
,1

Spain_ },l:co.b vanRUlisdacl (c1628-16S2) is regarded distingoished

JflO van
,'IS

visited France

style toone lhatfuwU!Cod stro.ng, contrasts of light and shade, There is

great emotional srreogth
In Rllllsdad's

the greate~f .of all Dutch

CD ntempo

and travelled wideJy in Holland, usi.n.g

landscape painters, but he hadmany rariesinc ludifig

and Aelbert

his skerchesas
luminous

the basis for cairo, compositions

and atmospheric

Goyen

(15'96-165'6), Meinderr

ieat:ruing river views and low horizons. Ae1bert CIlYP was i_nlfuenced by the

mature work, with dark skies, twisted, filled branches and rlll'5hing streams
In

Hobbema (1633-1709)
CmW (1,620-1,(,91).

D!ltch artist Jan Eoth, who had boeli Italianate understanding

views ofrhe

conveying !he =whclm.ing and

m:yster ious forces of nature.

Dutch landscapes were essentially naturalistic yet nor necessarily

topographically details, suchas exact, with certain the :tIov...of a river,

Italy and from whom C!l1l1) picked up an of lighr. C uyp"s

watery landscape around

Meindert Hobbema was a friend

and contemporary best-known Th«

of Ruisdael. His
and ordered

Dortrechr bathed in a soft, golden light led to his nickname, 'the Dutch Claude', Jamb '!'an Ruisdael came to prominence in the bte 1640$ for his

work, thenar

changed to suit a composition, Dutch

artists were interested in the constanrly

AvtllUB til: J\1jdddl;urtlc!J;,.

continues

In

define the Dutch landscape tradition in

the popular imagin.ation.

changing quality of light, as well as

,~ TICillE AVENUE
1MI:~ MEINDERT

AT MIDDEUIARNlS,

Ho I1BEM A
landuu,pl:,
11i1!agtrf

This

ts

a viITJJ ofthti Dulw

flaluring

a ttraight dirt road Ii ned with

poplar .tr,,,~ lUidirJg

so toe

J'liidddhartJi, in

fbI:

dis.ta'/Jte. This ordered

land'f£ape' has bi'll"nrreatl'd and maintained

by man1ind - dep JitdJ~ carry water to

tl;g
$l/

rrou ndi ng ormards, while a

tree:

1!1.<m

prunes the

with a imifi: The ,effie! is

simple

Viii

strmigdy imprmiv/!:.

... A

STORMY

SEA, cJ650

JACOB VAN Rl,Jl5DAEL

Emphasizing

thepawer andgrandi:!lrrf

nature, Ruisdael shows a mugh sea in the grip

if a

powtifw

storm Severa! kats art stmggiillg towards the mftty olthe h#l'bfJU1'. Tbe drama i1 ofth.e'paintin.g are laktli

tnhan.a:dby the ftut thauwo-thirdJ

up 'lvl<0the dmk;ming sry,

68

HE

DUTCH

PRODUCED

the 'middle classes', There is a

Employing with a lens

this simple darkened. box

0 uthe

SttC;Ce,S$i~1l0

f~ainte:($ w~o ,aU

tre rnendous intimacy a bm.lt these works, most show women caught up in various domestic
Of

s ide meant that he

had th,t_u parb:':mar spec,illity,

scenes than Jan

could make an. i.rn:ageof his subject

appear upside down. on a blank canvas attached to the wl111. The pmjecred image could then he sketched in oils.

but there was no artist better at Pal,utl,ng interior domestic

recreational

tasks, either

totally self-absorbed eiltcbing our eye.

or self-consciously

Vermeer (1632-1675} Vermeer li'li'eJ d~ring the Golden

In. these compositions,

Vermeer

X -ra-y evidence for this has been

Ag>e of Dutch p'ainting and is now reg~lrd{)d fl" one of'tbe greatest painrers
innorrhern Rembrandt, Europe, second r.)nJyro U.nbelie\"Jlbly,

shows a masterly 1!JIst f silvery light o and colour - ohjeets, drape.ry, frun.ishings andfloors 'are ill. rendered with great to

discovered underneath

the layers of also

his finished. compositions,

Pieter de Hooch (1629-1684) worked in the School of'Delftand

he was

almost

clarity and with. minnre attention surfaces and rexteres,

entirely overlooked until the 1360s

when be was rediscovered by a French art critic who partieularlyadmi.red tmpretentious, direct realism.

produced a. number of'Durch interior or

cOU!rtya,rd scenes.With a. real sense oflanguid scrupulous his work, there is

Above all, there is an air of'seremry land cnntentment about Ve:rmOE:r:~ best the world

his

calm

about the

work that borders onabstraction; viewer is drawn into

~limeless t

ill"r:angerncnt of h:g-ures,for

Vermeer was born in. Delft and it is rh,o!Jighr that he spent all of his He there apart from one visit tothe Hagi1le in

example, framed ag·ain.st a doorway; his pil.i.I,.Hl'IgSi:fi:er from. those ofhis d

of simple, medirarive calm .. To Cilpture the exact light conditions and. to help frame his compositions, Vermeer made use of a camera obscura.

younger contemporary
perhaps more parochial.

Vermeer since

1672. Most ofhis small genre paintings pr=nt domestic interiors and portray

hill vision tends to be Jess powerful and

.~YOUNG WOMAN

lNlTH A WATER JUG ,

~ TI'ffiE COURTYARD DELFT,1658

.oF A HOUSE

[N

dli62 .jJAN VERMEER

PIETER DE

Ho DC I-:!

Wnneer mainly paint:t.d irlwi ..r ge'1Jre

yubja.~ and about baff',riftheu wrJ'Wwlitu,ty fimalt: figut:eCI engaged inordilJary" df}m~dtic

After kgimling hir {}W1i.fnliily in the mid-.l650!;, D~HOr;\,/} !JCdli.tch.ed hit fl'u~.w
domdti,[

:rrme.t and family p(}r:tmits, While

artiviiy. Thi> interirJr il- remflrii.abie for its

trail quillity a'nd the. rubt!~ gradation"

bringing tvelJoday domfiti, lifo in Delft

into marp

of
on if}

foru~ it. is th~ ulV:!i.ttr:.m.rd daaiii

Gourty.ard,11;.(' tbr,r;ugh

daylight folling thr:o!lgh tiJi" window

the fJ.bjerl:r tk table andth.!'w!Jn.um on her>dJ inpa~:tir!llar h~ h&uldr;=,

- the ,riuifullyftumed

ptlSSag.lJ

and th!!pr;ep{miler1mt;e

if redbridl.'

that r:t:aily Slimd out in ihu work.

if H·E

IBA I'IOQru

EEIR

THE AGE ELEGANCE

eI
'1' "
[1

OF

I
pamti.ng terms, a nine can betraced

78o
£r,om the
power of reason, Li,ving standards in Eu.mpe were
the rise, thanks to foreign trade
011

m,.inh,ihit,ed, gpOIlHln, eQU,'-,S,In, arks mad, e b,~,Y"Titia!1,in, , the 15th century. th:rough the wild, dark

and the colonization

fr·ee:dom

ofdistarrt lands. Tile general trend wasoowards

adventuroushess the 18th ,century. This

of the Baroqll.e era,

to

the

start of

and eha nge.

In 1682 Louis :xIV had taken up residence in his extravagant palace at Versailles, where court Hfe was
conducted amidcortsiderable gFJ.ndeur. This did not stop 1715 and 'soon

something aitqgeth1er nighter and frothier at the stan new style, favouring asymmetrical

of

curves,

deom:abonaI1JO :&~vnJity, rrrS1l captivated rhe French, then spread taltal), and other puts of we stem Europe, The

sryte "vas known as; R,QoQo,oo,1I:1l Italianterm

decorated grottoes in French
and early 18th .c:entu:ry. The Europe, 18th ,century was gardens

derived from

the Regent. his successor, introduced the. Rococo f~sruon fqr .lighter elements with more curveaand patterns. The delicacy and playfuil.ness of RQOoC'Q servedas a riposte to the dogged empire-bulidmg of Louis XIV'sreWme. Vilith
its emphasis on personal and pleasurable pursuits, Roeoeo became

him from succnm bing to gangte,ne in

the F rench word '["prailll!, used to describe the shells that

in the late 17th

a time of gpeat ch-ange in role

'A'h:il,e die Church still play,ed an important

in ~ociety, there were many, parti,c:uh.dy.in

Enghnd and

w-elR established, firsrinthe royal palace and then thrQug!llc)'i.llthe upper echelons of French 'Slode:ry. t In rhiacontext, the artist Antoine vVa.t1te;'!.,u, wh'\t
jl

France, whorejectedall forms. of I!€;ligio\ls ijogma and who ,clmMenged the absolute power of the mo'na.tclly. Radical developments i.n philosophy andscience had opened up new possibilities, with the expansion of
education
.emphasis
to

meved to Paris in 1702 to work with

costumier, was perfectly
placed to ,capture

'tt:;!lejllTk:d
the

light-

hearted, shimmering opulence of the new ari~tvc.n~cy.

When Watt.eau

died

at the age of 37~ heVl"9.s

it

the middle classes leading

to a growing as,

immediatelyreplaaedas fashionable set by Boueherand

chronicler

IOf the

on the: ide a of the indiyidna1

well as the

his pupil Fragonard,

1700
Triggt::,l'ed /;y a huge ,earthquake in -

1707
Th«ActojUlIi,m fed if} .the formation ,r!thi! United

1740i

1;411
1m B=
Str:er:t.

'Frl!deriik The
Orml'tjP'/"ImUJ errded tOrtUre as weD as. Kf'I111ttl1gfieed(Jm
fCXfll1llirm

1755

The,O"t'iilt

Rur:men;, un ('l1'riy

California,. a
mI}$$i'U.l!

lsllnll'mi'

Kingdom

!.buckJapan

prJiu fon:e" gi up in London py tl')'lJ(!IW Hel1ry FiddirJg

Eoi'th!jl'mk~ 0/ LZW(Jl1 kifled O'lJ(!1" 70,aoopefJpi(

both of whom imade ornamental

work willi more

charm than substance. Ch ardin was another French

worked alongside Boucher and. Frago.nard,! but his work revealed a. very d.ifterent sensibility. Chardin's style was more modest; he was painter
interested in painting the most humble objects and 'ordinary people', investing both with
it

who

simple dignity.

of as 'French taste' ..William Hogariih embarked OIl acareeras a satirist, pl()dlidng paintings -and prints shQi;'Vmg: the.
hypo!trisyand immorality

In England, Rococo was hrg,elydl;ought

Reyoolds with his fOGUS on the humanity of hissitters, The ROJ<;oc:i:jstyle was- r>ea.dl:tyrMeived in the Catholic parts of Germany, .Bohemia" aod Austria, where it merged with the l.iye1y Gennan Baroque tradition, In Italy, and particularly in Veni,ee~ Rococo found expression inthe great allegorical compositions of Ti-epolo - especially an ceilings and murals - and the precise pe;r£eet~o;:l. frhe Venetian canalscenes produced o by Canaletto.Jn Tuscany and Rome, painting still !~ved more ta the Baroque,
However, the to\~t>e for lempty hrxu.ry and decoration in!evitabiy ran its course, In France, by the 1760s" the

mat he discerned in all walks

of'life, In painting, R{)oocowasalso reflected in.a love.of nature and-a r.ising interest in the landscape.

Artists such as Geo:rge Stubbs and later Ed'lNin Landseer turned to the animal 1,¥Orld for inspiration, The 18th oentm:y was the go~den age of portrait painting; suddenly it was fashlo:nabte £brthe \veruthy to' havetheir likeness hanging on the wall. Gai.n!:bo.rough and Reynolds represented the creme de Ia creme of the new portrait painrers vand both sign.ificandy
cantributed to advancement of the art - Gainsbomugh with his attractive English landscape backgroundS' and

age ·~)f elegance was overtaken by that of reason and enlighlIenm,e.nt, Rationalist thinkers and rwriters, pre do mi nan rly based in L~)nd.O!1and Paris, believed that
reasoncould be used to combat tyranny and ignolanoe tu build a better world. One Frertchartisr .in pJl:rti!culjlr looked back ibn the classical age as a time of g.reat

tt~edom, heroism and balance. By the rime of the

Frent:h Revoh~tion in 1789, the N eo-Classical p'ainti_n.,gs of Jaoqlles-Louis David sounded the death knell for the excesses of previ.crus years"

]757
G(memlCli'Ull difrz-ati2d .the Nawab

1769
Sir Rid;rmd Arkwrigbt piitelJted

1773
The
BW(ln -prolr!!ttlJn

Tea P"rry

British l!itablirhed a ]owhld in India

of Be~gp.l11J;tm

a Jpin~i~g muWi~.e
'the lliibntrilil Ri'Wiuii{l1J '''Need rm
tI~

l'bsrur{titlJ

dumped in B1}rio/i H(l~bu; defom~ iN

The Dedal'at1,cm. ,if Indepmdenc,e_· die

I776

.1778
Jamej Ci1rm trdded Htl'l1Jai'ij Nund£ to

17S,0

A great h!<vl'ica~l.(l
ktJi(d24,()()()

iftl;e uaAil

Gewge HI ~[JitJ .trN'.1IW~rm ill t New Thr} City

Jj£Jille oj

hiJ dimi'Wm~.They
wej"" christ,e~~d fhl'

i'n1he CilriMelln tIMBrrmhjkct

F1'k

and nearly dIJ.yr;i1j'£d

Satuiwich lrlmuh

72

FREN'CH
EAN-AMJ1QINE WATTEAU

in. French paintingknown

as Rococo.

Palate where he Em.lnd.inspiration in the vibrant, cSVi~.rling .ligures that Ruhens had produced in paintings for M~ild'e de> Medici. Mlh.o·ugh composition,
Wiltteall.

(1684-1721) was born in VMenc:iennes, a. t(lVl'l1 in nor theastern France that had only passed over to the French from Flanders six Y("1U'S
earlier under one of the treaties of

Watte:1.!l1 arrived in Paris in 1702 ar -a ti I1'H~ when the d~~sic:ala rt

or
with

Nichola, Poussin had passed its zenith, Until abocr 1708, Wfltteauworked a theatrical designer Claude Gillot, who inrrodaced him. to the commedia
ddl'm:t,e"a

wasnoted

tor

his ability to place manyngl!lrcs in a his groups of figl;lJ'esare no r as energetic and robust as Rillbens ', Watrell'!;L'~$ is ,altogether mort: style poignanr and delicate and, in rime, he came to be regarded. as the elegean~ epitome of thenew Rococo spirit. Watf.eal!l.painted flt5 gaia'ntfl,
fl.

Nijmegen ..A1thol.lghmere are strong links with. Flemish art in. hi. work, du:ring his short life Wattea'iiJ: cam,e to be regarded as one of the key French painters of the 18th century, More than a ay other artist, he helpedto create the new mood ofclegance and sophistication

form of Italian pantomime

based.uponimprovizarlon and i.nvolving a set of'srock characters such as harlequins and jesters. Afte:r 1'708, WatrefiU sh.i:died under Claude Audnl,Jl at the LU]~bO'l!JJrg

term

firstused by the French Academy in 171 7, roeanin.g feasts of cour ts.h:ip. Thisnew ,stJ,leapplies ro scenes in. which a sociable grOil.IJpf fashionable o poo pIe - elegantlY' attired musicians, acrorsand oouples - .U'eshown picnicking, laughi.ng and openly i.ndLUJging in courtship and flirtation. What d:lstingl11i.shell Wa,ttca'VJJrom f otherpainters who worked in the genre is the wistfulness that he creates in the face.'! of some of his p.mragonist!l_ Thisnor only serves as a reminder th.at happiness isnor a permanent condition, bur could. also have been a reflection. of the :&ct that Warreau sn.lfFeredfrom mberculosis for most ofhis life. His paintings certainly CDnVlCy gm'l'ity and a sadness mat separates his work from the
more decorarive painters oftheRococo,

sum as Boucher and Fragona:rd.

... AN EMHARRA:SSING

PROI~OSAL,

c1716

JEAN-ANTOINE

\VATTEAU

Watfell.ii1. W.L~a great colourls s r and

Wattam

iMCD/1U fomr;us as

a pajnt~rrf w-ca!Jed€e; ees g,al.anf¢.'! in whir h members

,0/ the'

used to apply' colour directly on to hill canvas, a method which inspired De Lacroix and later the N 00Impressio.n.lsts, in.dilldjng Seurar.

fMhirmaOle!id

me

shown. amu!Ji11g thf;fliJd'f£>

in the' r;ourltrpido:.
and iaviW

In:

An. Embarrassing
ssene in

Proposal, a part,.

offtvt;

are !J:utbeud tmder some trees: it

u a casuai j1irmtio!H
.rrntli ?ne!>.

whidl pleamre ..em be' dcriv,ed fr{}mth~' ;

g ra[~fui gntuus

THE

AGE

O~

ELEGANCE

... ITALIAN COMEDIANS,

G1720 JEAN-Al\1TOINE

VVA'ITEAU

This trmming w{}rk was anumg U0lteuu1Iastpaintings"

Assembfedmlstage;prmi.bly

for a

curtain call; & atr{}ul'e' o/ta:pular Italia» crmud}act(}r~ (commedia dell'arre), The central. inert
Pi,'ITTO~

drtssed ail in white, j{}ok vulnerahie and it is thrmghtthat

Watt;eau $4w

something

rif himJdf

in the :Nulfigllre.

74

FRILLS
I' ANTOINE WATrEAU

AND
heralded

FANCIES
managed to capture the carefree spirit oJ the epochfor The son posterity. spirit, declanngthar

he preferred to
roM}' portraits

the new spirit in French Rowen, then equally the work of both Francois Boucher Jean-Honore best embodied (1703-17701

paint from lunnan life as nature was 'roo g~enl'lnd badly

ora

Parisian painter and

lie. His

and

bee designer, Francois Boucher began

oftlt$h-fMde

women in prosocatise 'until

Fragonard

(17.32-1006)

his career making engravings from the

pictures of Antoine WJ.ttcaCl!.In 1721 Boucher went
In

poses became hi~stock-in-trade

the decorative elegance

the public started to tire of them, f'5eling

,\ nd frivolous charm most commonly

Iraly fo:rfi:)'t,lryears and the

associated with. the new style.

Both of these arrisrs made work rhar

returned ro enjoy a h.ighl}' :$l1cces$f~~

they lacked the necesssry moral depth. Jean- Honore Fr~!)J!Iard was ell pupil
ofChardin 1756

career at the French court, becoming fG:n.g's court painter in. 1765. He was

retlecrsrhe arlifid.ality and

the 18th century; delighring

,'l!!l perfk.hillty

"0 1761,

and also of Boucher, From he lived in

kaly

where he

ofrhe French court in the middle of in the llW!xurIOlu.s.ncss 0 f the costumes - thee silk
dresses, the pOVi.td,~ed wigs, theruHles and bows - a ndthe fashiona ble

the fitV()!!trlle artist ofthe .King's mistress, Madame de Pompado.ur, and painted her

became familiar with the work of

Tiepolo. He ,11'>0 visi.ttd the Tivoli

garde.ns whiCb became an important motif in his later work Fragonard painted in the genres that were history

portrait seeeral times. Boucheralso

worked as ." decorative artist, .devising

elaborate schemes tOr the palace at

surroundings,

Each artist is easy ro that was

as

VerS'"aille'; and he completed

designs as well as de'ligning

opera tapesrries.

r:.t~hion.able itt thetime: portraits,

11 nd

dismiss as cmhodyi.ngall

pasroral scenes set in.

me landscape.
by

frirolmM about the age, bur this would

be to. deny their superiortechnique well as to. ignorelhe fact that they

Li.keWattea1!JJ, Boucher painted Sr;iin.e5

ga!u,tJkJ,

However, he achievednotoriery
specializing in painting

burt injected his mythological

love -aifuirs

and pastoral scenes witha muchbolder

conducted furtively in garden settings.

.. YOUNG GIRL READING, JEAN - HONQRE

0776

~ MAoAME FR.A.NQOIS

DE POMPADOUR,

1756

F RAGONARD

B. OUC HER

This study is OIU of ~ev,traf that FmgfJl'wrd

made

A ji<!i-Jel2g th por:trait

,0/lHadamt:

.de

of young

girls,. shrRQiI2g them dup

P:ompttdrmr; the degal2tl:y attired 1'IIistr:mof Louis XK IcfiCiinil2g ,on it couch: here,
Bom-herfowse's onib« sum.ptuou~foori~

in introspection. These works have tin

unft'l'limed qualitylo than, having fum

painted very quickly with rapid, ooldar:ml

of

tbt: rose-covered dr;till"whiJe pointing so tbt: iniefJatulli intere'Jts of this pomeifid

WGfflt.m

if bright

colour; FragfJnard

U5'.e;d

the wrJaarn

en.d o/th,e: brush to scratch and dif!ll e tbi" gid5 mjfodrofiar:.

tl:mmgh th.e- indu5ir]1J ifthfJ earli;

desk,

and the: writing

THE

VENETIAN
HAD !NOT S,EEN

ApPROACH
Canalerro became knowuas a

century, painting in Veru,ce was revi.ved by Giovanni

:Btltllst"il

V:

NICE

a great

historical sltlbjoct matter and. were full of

sparkling light and colour. ]n Germany and Austria in particular,thefe was great

"ai.nte:r. Si.ntt. Ve:ronese. in. the

vedu,tu.ti'l, a painter of view;s,IDrnsi.ng on the canals and archit-oLture of his home

<6 th centlill'y. In the 18th

demand for these grand oma mental scenes and, in 1750, Tiepolo 'Was inwirod

town. He was a master of perspective

and his topographical compositionsare packed with rich derail, Venioe was

Tiepolo

(Hi%-1f70), who came to be regarded as the most .i.rn.pre;~$ivexpon.e Dr of d'iLe e

Rococo school in. Italy. Tiepolo studied

to produce \\ monamenral scheme of

ttescoe" for the huge palace of the

rapidly becoming a centre £o:r arr in Europe. Wealthy tr:avdle:rs, in particular

those from Britain, delighted in his work and hotlgla hi, Venetian \'leW" to rake home as souvenirs,

Archbishop

ofWu[""bu:rg_

in Ve.n.lc-ewhert he benefited from the

city's rich artistic llistory, but moved on from
$00.11

In. his lKl1uh, Giovann.i Antol'llo Canal, known as Canalerro (1697-1768), worked in Venice and Rome as a theatrical scent painter with. his Father.
Although C analerros p'ilinli:n:gs are imbued with the Roooc-o spirit, his

painti ng

in oils to

designing enormous :frescots to decorate

the ceilings and 'walls of buddings and palaces in

Canalerros's brilliant naturalistic

technique ceremony

portnryed the pomp awl of many state occasions, as

It-aly and clsevvhtre.

Commissioned by patricians and

men: hant princes, these highly decorative compositions featt:tred. allegorical or

particuihrl)pe
landscape

of well-ordered

Venelian

well as scenes of eve.ryday life in which

he captured the texture of old buildings reflected in. the warm Venetian 6gb.

painling evenrually led to a

renewed interest in classicism ..

t OLYMPUS,

1761

GIOVANNI HATTISTA TrEl~aLo

'Ti,prJm was thl' lus.t ,o/t/j,e gr:eat /?el!.l'lian ptlintrrs commissioned if] adorn andgtrJriJj

scmwoftho: great buildin.g>rfEurop~. In this rJil sliielrh for the {;,eiling in

.st P"j.,;ffl;UI'g, Ti~rJlo portrays the hmvens
... THE PIER SEEN FRDM HIE BA:.."TN SAN MARCO ~dd-ai!), (:1730-35 CANALElTO 'OF

and tbl! ,earth as a ~arJrldrG!lJ rornzicvm(Jll in ~iJhir.h ~!Jffld)iag/ an

Cbarar.taj,tir, 'ifCanu1.etw~viruJ'

if Venin;

ih~,p{linti rlgfl'am r~ lh~ Dogr;':; alace, P the drHIU! rf the' dmnh

if Jlrmtittg

Me Pia:t;t_,tt San M,m;,G {llld" il1 the ,badi.gnmnd, ThegGndrlJm

rf Scm

lhla-rc[;l

mJthoJogir;al and all~gr;rir;al figum foll and rise.

in the for.egroundbril1g thE soene to lift and

help to cr_tepiclvrid dpth.

78

SATIRE
, LUAM HOGAR.TH

to fll1rom portraits of themselves and

their land, or views of the foreign places they visited. Hogarth's inllmential vision

frivoloas, fashionable excesses of Rococo

painting, intending his srudies of the seamier side of life to be seen as a critique of the pampered elegance ofhls He was

(1697-1764) was born in. London, the son of a Latin reacher, Due initially to the popelariry of his prints and paintings satirizing con:ternponuy $Oci.ety,he became the renowned painter in.

appealed to the ex.pan.di.ng middle classes

who, freed from the control ofthe Chruch and aristocracj; liked to think of

French and Italian counterparts.

11

staunch nationalist

and saw himseff as British values \lga.in.'lt

most internationally Erit.ti.n. of

themselves as being abose the social

upholdingsensible
11

the

time. In comm.enJing on of 18th cenrury

abuses and immoralities

However, Hogarth

that Hogarth
wasnoe only immorality

wave of fo.reign aff6:tation and va.ni.ty" Hogarth

the manners andmores

e-xposed in hlsmelod .... amaric tableaux.

concerned with highligbring

trained as an. e.ngrave.r and

with European

life, Hogarth. tapped into a British taste that wall perhaps more documentary than. aesthetic, since the British tended

became familiar

painli.ngs to

by looking at r:::ng:r'ilvi.ngcs. Apprenticed

English. painter, Sir James Thornhill, Hognrrh tl'entuillly

he was also vehemenrly opposed to the

married his daughter in 1729,

[Ilheriting an academy that

ofrhe

becamethe forenmner

Royal
pieces, In

Academy; His t1rst works consisted of

small grm.!ps and coneersarion 1731, he produced

T& Harlot's Progms,.

series of

the first of his storytelling paintings

&om which he produced sets enf,'i"ilv:ings,including

of extraordinary

Tlu RaMs Progrm and Marriage

were endlesslyreprodaced, that they could be Cflljlfyed public and that Hogarth independent of'rich

a fa

JWode. These wert hugely popular a:nd which meanr

hy

a wider

could be

patrons, In 1753,

his tract, The /llJai:ysi5r:{ Betlui)\WaS

poblished, setting our his theory about

the line of beauty in the shape of'an 'S' heing intrinsic to the str ucrure of a

composition. HogJ:Cth's ability to read character

.... THE

RAKE'S POOGRESS,

'ThlE

ARREST', 17J5
{I

\¥ILLIAM

HOGARTIi

provided uncompromlsing the h uman condition.

illsights into

This mon:ochrcwutngravll1g

ispltltef(Jur in

serle: of dgbtftMJ. Hogar:th! origimu Ibm: RaJ:S'i.udl . .lifor f(pm7J.d~ritJg

Corn bined 'W:ith

pu,jrJlitJgi sOlI'i.ving the de.rJi'll5 U1i.dfojj of pEndthrift his

li.vdy, SPClnrilnOOIJ.tS brushwork, his observaticns tale nts as

11

11WI2"Y,

RaKe.wAl is drags&! fr·um; a >&.km[hair outside S.tJames" PamrBj London and

prove his considerable p()tttaitp'ilin.ter~

takmftTft fa Fle.et Prison mldthm on to B.ediam,.th5 !unati.r asylum.

THE

AGE

O~

ELEGANCE

... FRANCLS MATTHEW SCHUlZ IN' lilS BED,

1755-60

WILLIAM

HOGARTH

This
illt!)

lUll/Sua!

imager{

Francis Sdmtz
if

(distantly

uiawilrJ th,e myaJJamily) sboum '(J!}miting

a pot

'ilia>

ilJkl1..d"d as

moral war III 11g to th!}:J~ who rmer-induigai. Tig direct and

u'nmmmrmfyfiank portrait rum altered intbe early 1"9threntury by rome"if Schutz} descendant« to sbou: him widing in.: bed.

80

SIMPLICITY
EAN- ]?;APT! S,TE-SIMEoN CHARDIN

AND

STILLNESS
servant, most commonly engaged. in a ho usehold tas k, These delica te and \,ln~lff6c:tod genre pa inrings avoid sentimentality by focu;~in.g directly on what the artist saw, and as such are estraightfuT'W~1,J"d portrayals of the dignity of labour, Desp itt sw immi ng ag:ai.nst the prevailing frothy tide, Chardins modest nature anduepretentious
t..enrswere I

landscapes or elegant portraits that were so fashionable arrhe time. By contrast, Chardin looked afOt'Lnd him for inspiration, inithilly making small-scale paintings ofanimals andfruit inthe Dcrch estill life gen~~. In 1728, Thi" Simte, one of his still lifes, was praised by the French writer, Diderot, fnr its realism, and earned Chardlna French AC.l:demy. Char din expanded his largely domestic.jntimare vision to. include portraits of
11 single

(1699-1779) was born into the

Roco,c-o age, hut his own work
Vi,F:L~ <1 nd

",ery diffe rent from the ostentatious contemporaries. The son of <1 court crafisman, Chardin had impeccable
Rococo, credentials, having restored

exu ber ant sty le of his pleasure-seeking

decorations at Fontainebleau and br.i.e:flr t!!'ltored Fragonflrd .. Largely self-ra 1;lght, Chardln livedandworked
in Paris all

place at the

recognized within. hi, own lifetime, His genre paintings were made popular by
~d

hi5~fi::. Here, be qlJiietly pursueda naturalistic style distinct from the lavish

figure, quire ofren

engravers, in 1740,he was presented to Louis XV who bought some of this workiand he became the: oH1.ci.alhanger record
of' work at the Paris Salon in 1UiL

Chardin had arare anility

to

the perfect moment ofa gesture or 1.0 ok; his compositions appearto be frozen in time, giving them significance beyond the m.erdytv,~yd::J.y Or the purely representationa L His brilliant technique alIov..ed him to build I(lPte:xtme and '$lJ]otle tonal contrasrs. Courber end Maner
Were .in.f1!1lcn.coo by him; Van Gogh and

Cezanne were also am.ong his admirers.

~ Tr-fl!E SCULLERy;r,1AID,
JEAN-BAPTISTE-SIMEON

.1738
C.·nARDIN

111 Chardins

IjtJiet;. thoughtful

study; a
and dJ./'

scullery maid cleans a pan i 11 a w(i~t-high barrel Tbera is no rU'1lningwatl:r

.. THE SKATE,

c1728

JEAN-BAI>TISTE-S1MEoN

CtIARDIN

"<QiF~it with straw fi~,

1:ig b/ack.pi tcJ;,e and a r bread,
!li!aS

as saaier; /ikt

Tbe reilliJm of/hi! unu~ ua! c.omp.f}sition of a

tet!.$,~,ftighttned

$kill l1i"d$lt:ati",.a gie ami

a very vaiualrie'c{?mmodity in

kilttm lrtludi7Jg r»i.r>')',:tenr tuivrlishttl Chardin'> ,a'm.l~mporarits .an.d.rturn&f

thr! .l8th cenn« ry, Th.ee m;pt)' ,[~pperastern

is th.cv!3nd in '<.ohirlJ th~,water has been haul~

him a p!au ut thl: Fnmm A aukmy. Proust likEned thl: deJirak !itTu~ftNce'rfthB flam

j'i5h

so 'th.6

rf a p{}/ymrmnafi,[

ro;thedral:

yam

thl: river.

82

CAPTURING

ANIMALS
meant he stood apart from. most 18th.-oent!iU'Y landscape artists, At the tunc, stock The precocious Landseer talent of Si:r Edv;'in red him to

A
patriotism.

NEW MO!rEMENT

known as began. in the

N~o-Classicism

(1802-1873)

IfiId-18th ctnlJJry, before the

b reeding
populara

W~lSbecoming

fi:rst exhibit at the age of 12 at the Royal

tn

Rococo style had tirl,aDydisappeared. The Neo-Classical spirit was an attempt 'art of

increasingly roster-a
paintings

rid this helped

Academy

in 1814. Younger than Srubhs

taste IOranirnal painting.

Stubbs"

but eql;l:ally conversant with amltomy,

Lundseer applied a less sophisticated
51.] bjet.:l$,

to return to the simple, dignified

of horse-s revealed his deep

classical Greece wh:ile conveyi.ng serious

kn.owredge of the equine form, which. he

rrc,urne nr to his an imal

typically
in

moral ideas such as honouc and

British artisrs in. the mid18th century working predominantly with landscape started to favour more formal, conrrolled compositions of convejing English as a way

ccnveyed with amazingaccuracy and

lyrki~m .. There'sasubtle ene.rgy and which ease ahm.lt his composirions, sometimes

lending them human characteristics

order to rella story, or convey amoral. The fa:voi11rir.e rtist of 'Q~een.Victoria, a

feanrre groups of people, but

he also modelled the lion.s below Neloo.n'cs Column in. Tra.faJg1l1 Square,
London, French artist Rosa :Bonhcu.r (1&U-1399) a1,,0 painted animals, a been completely :Bonhc"l!ll~

more ofren depict noble beasts in precise anatomical detail, either individually or

the elegant e-ase of the

Stubbs used his fashionable

aristocracy. George

togeth.er in the landscape. Stubbs had wealthy patrons and painted tnp racehorses for their owners. He also produced portraits of a host of

(1724-180,6) parkland

v1~f;asprimarily as a backdrop

genre that had hitherto dominated

for hi, pain.tln.gs of animals, StUlibbs, whose firsr love was anatomy;
decided to specialiae in paintinghorses, which proved an astute move as this

by maleartists,

other wild creatures that he observed. in private menageries, including lions,

highly s11l·ccess.ftlil. career was partly

supported

by the anatomical drawings

her red a radical

giraffe~ a nd monkeys.

that she made on the dissecting table, or

otrt

in. the fidds. Dtspi~ views, Bonheur

conservative

ltt"e find &sgillised herself as a man. to

visit the ho rse marke tin. Paris, sinee
women pru.nterll were

di!>COl)r.lgoo

at

the

time. Her HUr-!It: Fair; of 185'3, was the I.argesr animal painti.ng produced tn date .

.... THE

Honse

FAIR,

1855

RoSA BONHEUR

This tntrgetic and powerful painting ofbors4 being pamdedby version

their halJdim i~a smaller Brmbtur

rf Brmhl:Ut~ mIlCh jatgerorigirta~

Horse. Fair, whi,h war.16 fUllrm;§

bdieve.d irl dir;ert ohitlT'Ul!.ti

On. .r'.l ml.rn re .blli,

to tdftnd .fbI:ai/-male horse marke: in Paris,

sh.e wdfinl to disguise heTHJifin nrens dathing.

THE

AGE

O~

ELEGANCE

.. A

BAY HUNTER,

SPRINGER

SPANIEL AND

SUSSEX SPANIEL,

1782

GBO~GE Srunas Gwrg.e Stubk "/"diul anatomy, ,ddaikd rerjcli!>~.~ be that and this pu,intin.g

·of it, ho~.~ andtwo

:pani.d~ rroetdt the

l'IUl11;r.gplto

master in. hi> pair!.litlg>co/aIJimJm" The barkgr:()!md, addJ a ~mterf'y~-i,llimtv the scene.

an 18th-~~nturypastoralland$(;up.e,

84

THE

ART

OF

CAREFUL

CALCULATION
ORTRAIT [>AINTING

in Britain in

painter in London. His portraits have a classical dignIty stemmi.ng in part from his great mtcrest til Reilaissan{:e art and 'antiquity; he also painted sentimental portraits of children. His attempts at producing allegorical and history paintings in rhe grand stylt wert less successfol. Hi. was .\ .;,-.rreIUJ1y calculated art thatl:IlVOLited reason over the romanric and the noble and Sllhlirne over

the landscape, while fuJJiUing the dema nds of hispatrons, UnJikeReynQld,s, Gainsborough did not travel l'I'i.dcly. But he did move to London in 1774 where he painted the family of George TIl, and in 1783 he toured the Lake Disrricr. Hic<;landscapes,
with their free andspontaneous

the middle of the 18th century displayed an eqUM mixture of Rococo and. Neo-Classical The Neo-Classical tendencies, spirit was most

obviousin the g:rand, heroic portraits of Sir Joshua Reyn.okh (1723-1792), the leadingacademic painter ofhis day, who also painted gen.re paintings of aJleg!)rkal subjects. Reynolds wasinitially apprenticed a second-rate portrait painter, Thomas Hudson, in London. He visited Europe
betwflt In

brushsrrokes,

show a gen.jji.ne.feeli.n.g for

in

nature, which led painter john Constable to remark: 'I fancy I see Gainsborough <t:l'ery hedge and hollow tree.'

the particular. Reynolds

1.'\':\$

the first

president ofthe Royal Academy when it

was f01!JJndedin 1768,ancl in his career

S'Wis:s painter AngelicaKa~fFmMn

(1741-1807) was also" timndcr member of the Academy and a dose friend of Joshua Reynolds~Kau{fmann came to England to secure work, eShLblishi.ng herself as a fashionable, decorative
portrait painter who .1100 painted

n 1749 and 1752, sti;!Jying the

he did much to mise the standing of flne arts in Britain. It is thought he painted
around 3,000
pOT traits

Old Masters and spending two years in Rome perfecting hisrechniqce, By 1760,
he was the most f,t~hi.!lI:la e portrait M

in his lifetime"

Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1738)

1.'\".1-" also

a founding member of the

In

Royal ACl\d.emy, but he displajed a lyrical approach in sharp contrast Gainsborough closely studied. the portrait$ of Van Djck and, after he discovered that he could 'easily captLlrea likeness of his clients, he s!l:iggesfod rhar they pose for him on. their country esraresIn rhis v.':\y, Gainsboro!jgh was able to indulge his great love of painting the academic das~icism of Reyilolds.

historical subjects, Nicknamed 'Miss Angel' by Re--ynold.s. she was also a friend o f Goethe and her life was the inspiration fur anumber of bcoks,

~ CONVER!>AlIDNIN
THOMAS

A PARK, c174fl

GAINSHORDUGI·I

ThiJ ,t.(Jrry'iJJrJrk CainsiJrJrrJugh is a by ,wl2vtrmtionpie.r;t /rJrtraiture a;

gtftlri?·if irtformal

that fugal2 in the 1720~

"prmiatJerml"

:rh.rJwi1Jsfig!>r;es i 11 a more
man
12~

tban h~d "WIth,!! case up IOtltil

a;

then. Her«;
.. MASTER BUNBURY,

]t:l!mg aristocrat is shou»:

.1780-81

JOSIiIUA

REYNOLDS

,courting his jbn.ak compamon who., ahead afhim.

A yO!lng h~y sit's under a tre.! in a ~aooded lallJs,~pElooking intently John Ilunou ry
Will"

Charles

with Imface turned (J!iVO)!, afPea~'j"to

,be U1t~ro;potlll'Uf3lf}

the Wl2rf Rf'y:>l oJds'ftimds - Cathf'ri ne Hr}lcl2,~di arid ~tlri~a.mri~l H.tnry

'Whf'12

his att&i.tW'f}s.

Bu nuury - a;ndbl: =.r n illc

th~ ,iffer;tirm.att p.rH-trait =pai12t,ed. Bunb« ry became

Tbe

rrH!U11Jti;;:

tkm~ il" enhanced

ly lUl"h

an arnry ojfir;rr and died at th.~ "Iff

rif"26.

wrJrJ.deti ,backgrmmd

REVOLUTIONS
cI
I

T
.
011

he European

movement

known

as Ne(:I-

From the middle of the 18th century; momentous

Classicism started in the, 17BO£:as. a reaction of th~ Baroqeeaud of ancient

events wen! ,taking pi ace .in Europ e and the .rest of the.
world. In 1789, the French Revolution tore its took pboe1a colonial sttt'llgg~eaga:inst Britain, with

a~.a.inst whatr~~ained

vvay

Rococo styles, and stood as evidence of the desire to Greece and Rome. Thediscovery of rui ns at Pompeii in: book;. Rejlertiom

through Franoe. [n America, the W'M of Independence

return to the perceived purity of the-arts

13

colonies declaring independence in :l! 776. Revolutionary fervnur was on the rise, which inevitably meant that ratienalism tonk a

1746 had fed a growing interest in antiqllit~ Gelman

archaeologist Johann Winckelmann's

hacksear, By the: end of the eenrury,

again~t rhe sterile, academic

the Painting and Sculptttt;e. oftbe Greeks"published in

there was: a reaction

1755, which stressed the noble. simplicity of Greek art,

disciplines of Neo-Classicism,
In the revolutionery era, there was a transformation in the way tharthe artist was peroe.iv,ed. The artist became a liomantic:figuC!e,a visionary; whose art was capable ,ofexpress:ing the

was extremely influential inthe development of the new mavemenr, N eo - Classicism. was ev.erythi[')g th at Ro (;000
was not: sober, controlled, high-minded In contrast
M

and moralistic.

Rococo,

NM-Classi(::alpaintings

"ery depths ontis or her soul;

eschew pastelhues

and sofmess; instead, they opt fot paintings often make use of by Jean-Al~glisteportraits and

even .in the, renewed r,es.PQ,fiSle.m nature, the emphasis

was on the anise,. sl,lbje;ctillity: l<or a wllile,. Neo-Classicism and Romanticism
CQ-

sharp colours and ehiaroscnro; In France Jllcql1.e~-Louis David's Neo-Glassieal virtues, David Greek elements to extol the French Revolution's austere was, followed Dominique Ingres,whose meticulous

existed side by side .. Neo-Classi(:ism

started in the

IfJld,dl,~ of thee 1sm century but was in decline by the eady 19th. century; Romanticism didn't become a fully
Hedged movement until the 1780 sand itco ntinued until. the mid -19th century,

paintings of "!10m en bathers are supreme exa mples of the Noo- Classicalstyle,

178Q

I;'S3

Demmet!x fi:l'$i us state io nlic/irh ili'll.el'Y (fw :o1~Whrlmlrmfy)

P(!f'lnjyl'fMll'li~

I/eahrJ'lltm'! fin';/;
printed WclrkJ; pcwii.dJd; fhl! Meriinsky (Kir(Ju) Balk! ~~! flllrl.fkd

1789 TvI'! Bmtifle ~ttll.f stormed, marking th.e h.egjnning rift'he Fnm..h R:ewilttunf

1]93
umiiXVI Mid Muriti A~11(Ji1Jette 'W£1:i:' eXilc.wed and Fmnrl!~ Rtign.o] T{l'nJl'ilegan

1799
The lMmtta Stone 'WOlf t:&WlMfI'd in Egypf, leading.w the derI'pbeFing 0/ hie'/'gglyph~

Romanticism began as a

i:i:l:etny

and philosophical

Blakean:d
s.lightly

Samuel Palmer different

took Romanticism

in a.

movement {although It was not called by this name un til.

much later), The "term comes from 'roma nee' ,a prost or

poetic narrative favouring heroism that originated in medieval times, Romanticism individualityand In contrast to Nee-Classicism, and expression, favoured wildness

unbridled cm.ativi.t~ It 'was .fil.lI. of raw

direction, working primarily in wateroo1()tJr~oexpre~s their intense imaginary and visionary experi,ene:es.W.ith their emphasis on dramatic colour and emotive subject matter, French painters Theodore G6.ricauitand .E:ogene Delacroix best defined the sensibility of French Romanticism. Caspar David
Friedrich, TUrner's

emotions, ranging from longing and awe: to fear and

horror, and an upr.i.s.ingagaim.1'ntiDnalism.

f:orrt!emporafy in Germany .. was

a[guably the gre ate sf Romantic ofthem

10

In the r'e'volurionary ag:e, for the first time

the

ill. In Britain and France, Romanticism created a

history of western art,art.i.$ts became truly individual and idiosyncratic figures, loolci.ngwherever they wanted
forinspinrtion considered - suddenly

elimare whichlooked to rural H£e inthe be1iefthat those who wlorked tilt: land posses-sed an hOIl!t:~stynd di$nity a
uncorrupted by the towns and cities. Painting directly from the loeal landscape, Constable rapped intethis
-1\5

any topic or subject was

painting, This inquiring,

worthy

of

independent" spi.rit was fosrered by the heroism and

rebelliousness of the age. The Spanish painter and etcher Francisce Gota was one of the first to ,explore radically di££'erent s-u'bjectmatter, the bloodyexecutions (If the Spanish resistance by Prenc:.h troops. Rorna nticism in Br luin was embodied in the work of
Constable and Turner, whose paintings showed new, but ~vide!y differing, approaches
N

didthe new realism and sincerity fmlifid in the work of Millerand Courbet in Ftanoe. By.c::ontras:t,in ·expressing
his own subjective teelings, Ctrrot's landscapes came closer the

to the

work of the Impressionists, At the end of this new

18th

,~enfiu:y, reflecting

mood of
to

t:ame"tn~ss:,

the Pre- Raphaelire Brotherhoodaimed

art"

makework

that evinced some (If the truth and gravi.ty

Isndscape,

V\'iltam

they perceived in early Reuaissance

18 oj' Lrml NekJ!ll1 difrziltild the Frend) and Spanirh fled Ilt

ISo6 GIN!the pwliJhed

l!k':S

I&::6

1834,
C;'iirle'[ BaMmge in~nkdlJ.!!! 'ima!ytiml.rmgine'. :'her p!'Oll'J-ca"tjm:tc.er

1848
Kurl MUIXtlnd J<riedri'.ch E ngfk puliltihedTh>e
CommLmi)'>t

tIJejir.Jt ftogmilni ,ifFau.1

The font mil'Way,

from St!)cktrJt1 to Dar/ingtlm, 'U1<l:f ,ripened G&ll'I"ge

Trafalgar Intt ~[lm fatully wo~N.d~d

Slqihen=

ii,

So;mudM"ry ptltmted thl! interna! ul1nlmrtirJlJ

erigi;<l,f,

Manifesto

88

THE
Il:ANCISCO LuCIENTiES

HORRO'RS
Jost
GQYA Y

OF

WAR
deaf, and this brought about a firrther,
very dramatic change in style as he devoted himself tna series ofsmillJ, inside the

produce his own portraits which reveal

(1746-1828)

was

an acete ability tn penetrate coupled .....,1:11a realfedi.ng ,

the most importantaud o riginal a rtist of histime, billthis talent developed slowly and it was not IlntiJ he
was in his thirties that the thll'(2{tent of

mind of hi, sitter. This Lnsightf\l1ness,

for beauty,

morbid p aintings, In December 1007, Napoleon Bonaparte: marched his troops across Sp,lin and took Madrid. In. responc,e Goy-a. painted a pair of dramatic
paintings
French

brought him m the attention of the: Spanish court.

his gen.i!,Ji,~ ecame apl,'are.rn.lniti.a11y b i.ntluenced by the Oe rrnan NonClassiciSt Anton

Cora became courr plti.ruer to

Ki.n.gCh:arle$lV in 1779; he rapi.dly
discovered. that
C01!J:rt

Men:g,~,Goyl,~early ofMeng's gte<lir::r:afl:i:n.ity Goya

life was

ofthemoment

when the
on.

work shows

$!)medi.i.n.g

osrenratious, pleasure-seeking and full of inmgue. His portraits of the Spa.nLsh

court are candid, genlly mocking the vanity and avarice that he foood, yet

shot Spanish. h(lest<lge.,

J. MllY

majestic $tyllf:, uras Goy"ol':S paintings b developed, there

WJ.$<!

1808. He sobseqaently

produced other

P ainrings and. cOboravings that were

with the emotional

and expressive appeal

critical ofthe horror and stupidity of war. This was an entirclyn.ewand

revolu nonary subject for p aintin.g.

oPlcli:squez anJRtmbran.dt. and Reynolds -

trying not to cause roo much offence,

since he was mindfal of retaining his position. In 1792, an illness leit Goya

studied their work -along with. that of

Gil.i.n'shoro-'!lgh
to

Gora was a prolific graphic artist

and pioneered a. n.eV!'pr.inting method,

,cujuatint, which allowed for shaded patches of tone rather than lines, Like his paintings, his illustrations do his personal ViSLOns ofwirches disturbi.ng apparitions,
not

fall into any known gefi~e but rep rest

and

nt

Ga-ya enjoyed a long and saccessful

careerand was
11

g.reat inspiration. to

many artists, ind!l:di.ng Delaeroix, Manet, Daumier,

KoUwitz<1:nd

Picasso.

He was a. hll1gely inventive, reflectiveand,

at times, tormented. artist who singlemindedly pursued his own dark vision. In 1818 hemoved
into a house outside

Madrid where he pain red a series of

morals known simply as his Black
... DrSA.5TERS OF \iVAR,. No 19: THERE IS NO TIME NOW, 181()-1814 GOYA

Paintings, :rulJ of dark niglu.,n.a rish images,

tOI'".tul'",M

invention

and

l1J this sent$ of dching, r:epresmting Me Spall iw, ~f)hrJ jourul their futility

lilt Qr1r1'(}rSof

the Napok.on.ic in.v,(;$ir:mofSpain, Goya

sam!]> that actsrf brutality wert:'wmmitudby

lJo.tbsidf.5.,French wldim brutaLly

0/

at =7:

Oiilm

crue] ways

resprmili rig, leadirJg G(}ya to r;ifhd on .tbe

11'1 EVOILU

i lOIN

... THE THIRD

or ]"1Ay 1808 (d~taif),. 1'8J4 Gma

A detaifftom

Goya 1- partmyal

,0/a moment

in the Spiln ish

=1'0/ liberation

wben innocent

doillans we:>;e by the invading Napoleonic. troops The drama unfolds at night; the lamp sbot pid:s ,r",.t tig mnoant band!I central figure dressai ill a ,vlite' shirt wk." stares 1tmight down the

of T!l.tlt!.y

pointed g!4ins

90

drawin.g and. there is a strong linear

T.

HE PRIN.ICI!>A.~ INT~R.. ST.oF E

There

Vi.".1.$

an. emphasis on dr-awin.g,

regarded as the painter of the Revohuio n, and made three paintings

featmrio.gm.a rtyl's to the cause. In 1794, Da vid was imprisoned in the Bastille; on. his release, In 1798,

jacques-Louis David
(1748-1825)

which meant that form wassharply

was dcline:ltOO and subject to strang contrasts

as a child

of light and shade, His work gaven,ew

expression tothe

quality that runs throlJgh all of his 'Work.

Da vid trained in the Romeo traditio n -

themes of heroism,

his ex-wife evenruslly interceded behalf and secured

honesty and devotion to dUll}! that

his

he was distantly related to Fr'anlflis Eoud\er - but it wall in Romerhar his mature sl:'J,lefirst emerged, He won the Prix de Rome in 1/'74 and spent the next six.jeursthere, inspired by both
the ancient scolprure and the 'work of Nicholas Poussin to develop his
OWIl

encapsulated the prcV';W.ingnational

mood. O'VCrall, the style favoured an a'lusferity andrestraint that, in. turn,

once Napoleonhad painreda

corn.!!:to power,

David became his propagandist and series of portraits that glorified the Emperor "and his exploits,
It is, however, for

recalledthe puri.ty th ar Vli:a~'l felr ro belong

to the art and antiquities of the ancient

his

early portraits,

classical ~f(Jtld. David 'was elected to the Academy

where his sense of colour and line and

including those of'famous society people,

that David is largely remembered. These haw: all the coo] gr:andeur of cl-.)Ss.icism; his bodies ~arelike marble statues from

p articular class.ical slJ'lc. Back in France, David qu.kkLy deseloped into the lead.i.ngflgmre of Neo-Classical pain.ting_ The style marked a retum to cool, lucidcolours
av"ay [tom the pastel hues of Rococo,

his academic consposirions .... much rere admired. By the time of the French
Revo.lu tin!'! in. 1789, Da rid, who as

the ancient 'World, with. the contours ofeach one picked our in sharp relief Gerard, Gros and lngres were among
his many pupils,

a friend of Robespierre

wasactively

involred and sympathetic to its aims, was

~ THEDEATI-lorMARA't,
JAcQUES-Loms DAVID

1793

One

if th

defining images rfthe Frend:

R,evaitltilm mo~as the assassination i12 the

bathtub if!hl: radical writn, Je(m -Paul

Marat;r:i:li. act carried out by Chari(Jttl'

Corday'j .ar,uomal:l'i..ai.th oppooingp",litira;l

vin:lJi,. AithrJugh

bo.th the po,,, u;ndthe

skin disea'i~ which

golde'1J light ideaJioz,e arat, in real lifo he M soas bdi(!'IJ.ed to have:

'I

me,mt he sought (JmifrJl:t in regl/1m- b4th,.

11'1 EVOILU

i lOIN

92

'VISIONARY

ROMANTI'CISM
Schools, Here, however, he was nor interested

T
Romantic expound

HE ENCR,~~~R' PAINTERAND POET

him; his art

Vi.' as

a mea ns to of his

W,IJlI,am Blake jiglj]feso.fthe

interested ln painting in oils, nehher was he

LO

expr,tss the veryinrensenartne revelatory experiences.

(1757 -1827) was one of the

nrerned

",<jib

the academic work

most extraordinary

Sir Jocsh.UJJ;J. Reynolds or what the Academy stood for. A supporter of the
French and the American revolutions,

Blake mainly painted in watcfcolour.

From the 1780.s, he printed his own illustrated poern,~, both text andimage,

period, As a child he claimed every br.rugh. like shIrl.

to hare seen a tree fdled with angels, 'hespangling

lBlakel;hl:rned his back on organized

[eiigi,on" believing that only artists were

and then, wirh his wife, hand-coloured

each print. HE: went on to make relief prin.ts,usi.ng sometimes coloured inks, and rerouching in paint. His areimmedi

Blake went on. to develop an. i,n.tt:n,~ely personal art which drew upon, a ra,nge of

in touch with divine insplratiorrIn every

literary, mythical and biblical a, uniqueand

to Born in. Lunden, apprenticed
'iJ;I1

S01:LiC¢$

1'0

way, Elake was the ,,u:chet)pal Romantic

- individualistic, solitarj; and
m..lt

mysterious

vision.

of

dra mariecompositions
recognizable show the inspiration stud)irtg time, IvIimdangdo.

arely
fig;ures

Elake wa~ first

step with the rational thinking that

had become
SD

- the mnscularnude

engraver and made

intluential

in the second

he .derived :rrom At the same

studies of London ihlli'ch.es, before

s!1udyi:ngbriefly at the Royal Academy

part of the 18th ce ntnry, lrnagin.atio n

and the creative proce!>s Were what

his H.g!,lres are ethereal and often surroanded by balls

unearthly,

of lighr, Blake enjoyed very little success in his lifetime, although Pre-Raphaelires his death. S.wiss-bom artist and writer He:nry Fuseli (1741-1825) painted some ke:y championed the

him after

works of the: Romantic era in whiih he:

combined themes ofho.rror,mysrcry and

rorrueed sexuality. Fuseli was a close

friend. of Blake's and aspired to an art that was subliroe; llpeci6c.illy; hewas interested in showing the grandenr and

violence of nature.

Samuel Palmer (1805'-1881),

landscape

the

painter, printmaker
visions as

and etcher,

was one ofBlake's Blake, experienced

.... NEViITON, 1795
\'VILUAM

disciples and, like

11

child

BLAKE
tllli ne]

that led him to make highly wrought, 'lJi:ri~1i and ,could

Ol1ry

Blake]; vision

if Ne'11Jt{;1J

$uggpf's. that he had

,explain thing, by

visionary paintings,

charged with fecli.ng

UJ:i12g a:il~ maibemaiira] formulus H

Blakep.airltalthB paper ,{mto lhewdpain.t

Thier is {me if a series of large colou« priliH in which

a

and asense of ether-worldliness.

,ddigllrm so a flat J:mjiu;t: tmdta.t:11. ,r:r;I!u.tm th.1! prirlibJP~ing H.e' thenfi flimed tbe ,dmg:n in ink and =terwlour.

:rned'if

11'1 EVOILU

i lOIN

.. THE NIGI-ITMARE,

.1781

HENRY

FU.5ELI

Fuuli painted two versi(")n~ifth~ the RrJyal.lirddemy

notorious picture, the first.ol which soas ~xhibite;d at stallion thruHing its btadthrough a ,lit tn

in 1781. Thewiid-,ryal

.tbB

'"!JI'"Mi 1'1,

th~H,pinejigll re rf th~}rJ!Jl1g seaman ,md lb.1! rwmf!- filtti g

r

ftgure seatedon

herpdvi, combine to giv( thepainti '1& a disJinctiyerati

ouerione:

94

LI

GHT

AND
TURNER

SPACE
drawings and. watercolours forming the
basis for later oil palerings. Turner

05EPH NlALLORD WILLIAM

prepared the sl.Irfuce ofhis canvases by smoothingthem

andthen

(1775-1351) was, with John

with a white oil ground

COl1srable, one of

1:\1\'0

01l11:$landil1g

pmdLIotd a. v;~de range of1and.~.ipe work, from the mort: formal, earlier historical co mposinons - which show the
influence ofDutch ll'th-c-entury marine

~lpp1-yingthin pale wn..shes

painters of the .British School inthe 19th century. Both of them specialized
in landscape

which he built up in. s!l:!bseqlJ!entlayers. A~ a sense of place became secondary, light became his real $llJ!bjectmatter; Johll C()rl;,~tilble remarked rhar late Turners
were 'p ainted with tinted steam' .

and both belonged tn the rhat had

English Romantic tradition

paj nlers - to the later, semi-absrracr works in Vi' hich luminosity 'and at.mnspher:e predominate,
Between 1802 and 1 S3(l, Turner

started with Thomas Gainsborm.lgh. What set Turner's work aparr from. other Romanricswas that he gave full reinro his imagination, producing poeti.c work
that at times came veryclose to
:U

Turner, li.ke 'wya. and Blake.was something of

an

isolated ge.ni1;JJ$ who in. his lifetime;

wag

made repeated trips abroad tn study the landsca pc, The mountains and Iakes of
Switze:r1anda.nd the canals ofVenke, for

not fully appreciated

many f(Jllnd his later paintings too

abstract for their taste. However, he
'W"dS

bstraction. nU:Ile.r was

bo rn in. London :and

the Royal Academy

example, were the inspiration for many

oil compositions, brushwork Airer 18j.(J, Turner's became freer and more

cha.mpioned by John Ruskin,lhc

in:ll:lLlcntialcritic whose treatise, Mod~'ll Painsers, did much to enhance Tittmer's

his precocious talent for d[a'Wing secured him a placear Schook From 1792, he b,egan. to undertake sketching tours, deeeloping topographical drawings and waterccloura
of'views and the landscape, Turner was a

expressive. He used a palette kn.ife and raW' in addition to brushes and. his coloru becameincreasingly radiant, characteristically
featuring a palette of

repuratlon ..In. painting lighf, Turner greatly influenced the Impressionists,

especially Monet and Pissarro, He is

buriednext to Sir JoslmaReynold.5 in St Paw's Cathcrl.ral

hugely pmductive:rrtist, his slretihbooks,

bright ye11«w;s, blilits and pinks. Ti,lmer

.~ULB5.ES DERIDING POlYl'liEMU5.,

t 829
fr=the

JOSEJ>Ji MALLORD

TURNER

A depiction

if high

drama ,(,n t/g 'Pen sen

GreiI'R. myth in which UlYS$,e:r

,em:lf~cm a huge galleoll, havi IIg Minded the

cmt-rytdgiu1J1 Polyphemus, What apparr.

to 'fud!}' interest'Turner here;, though, i1
th~ sp,rrtfu;!Jlirrsunrise with the :u;r.m:hirJg

light rejleded in

me" swirli1~g sky andsea;

11'1 EVOILU

i lOIN

-... CAtAfS SANDS, . Low \iVATER,POfSSARDS JOSI;:P.hl MALLORD TURNER COLLECTING BAIT, 1830

&t agaimt a .brilliant sunsa; agmup Tbe vitality

o/'i/J{}?Jwn hund;} truer thi" sand wllerling

tbi" bait. /JrmhstmklJ:I.

is i.tlrgdy ml1veycd through luminous t:dour al1dimld, expansive

In. this S(,!t1IJ,'Ii1r11apays

larg~' lan.dKape s

/;=ge to his ~rJn1en.p(}rtJryir:hard B{}l1inglon, who aim prt;I.dl(;c.ai R

.if Wi" F'r<enr:hcoast:

NATURE
I' TURNiE.R~S,

ROMA.NTlCISMreveals

find Sll.e;:cecSSuntil his forties. COI1b~ta ble developed his own style over time, after initially looking to Gainsbo:rough other 18th-century who. he laterfelt, landscape
1lnd

records of weather, colour and light conditions, generally withnotes scribbled

itselfin a poetic intensity; the paintings of John Constable (1776-1337) are equally lyrical, hut take

on the: back. These enabled him to

replicate theatmospheric (8)ocfS in the

artists.

a more prosaic sl\Ib joct as their sta rting point, Con,st:able loved the ordinary and the fam.iliar, taki.ng great pride iu painting

were too concerned

lar ger, finiShed painti ng:s that he

executed in. his London studio. He made full-slze sketches which he described as his 'six-footer$' - onaccount

with prettifyi:ng nature mld alrering their oomposinons to ,,'uit the conventions

(if

the Suffolk countryside

where

the dar- Valuing energy,md tmt:J:afw.ne$$,

Constable wanted. to let nature speak for

he was born and lived. which broke new

ror most
in

of his

of tile .fact that they were six. feef wide-

life. There isan immediacy

gffi'U nd

to his work

itself, withmJJr "bering or trying to improve on it in any i'.e,ly.

His paintings were based an. sketches done outside, llsing pure colours laid

and whid,. show his lively handling of paint. He exhibited Th~Haj Uki;>J at the
Paris salon in 1824, winn.inga gold medal. Constable coeld be said to be a rather than tnt days were were

dispensing

with the classical notion of idealized landscape, fO(:l!lsi:ng on the reality directly in front of him. TIle son of a pro.S'perO'lasmill owner,

rapidly \'l.citb a brush, He also made

numerous small studies of skies, trees and douds which. were notnecessarily part ofa.large composirion, but were

painter of the particular

ge.n.etal In tlis words, 'notwo

alike,nor there eYer rnlO leaves ofatree

Co nsrable

WC(lf

to Ih.e Royal Academy

even two hOllfs,neithcr

School in his earlytwenties, btu did not

alike:

.~ SKETCI-I FORHAoLEIGH

CASTLE,

1828 ThiJ

JOHN CONSTABLE ,expr.crsivf: $ix-foal

skei:ch

war

an me:thad

essential part of CrmstahfdwrJrk:'ng

,CI$

i.tallowd him to tryout i.d.~M bifan!

resoivi;>Jg them in thefinim,ed oil pain,tin.g.

OmJtab/'e vmted Hadleigh

ttftu his wifl~

death in .1828 and, it Jeans, the remote,

Tuinat,r;ustie r:mmtlutl with his ftding>

of

10% an.d Irmdil1tH.

11'1 EVOILU

i lOIN

... TI-n;: R\Y\¥A1N,

182'1

JOHN CONSTAI1LE

Thi, Suffolk scene near Flatfordon

the river St,(}urjiu!Jse>rJl'l a borse-draean

IYlT!

iimown as a

hty ~aai1J." ith a gr:oup ofhaymakm beyond in the distance. Crmstabii'" first ma.d~ sh:tchs w the scen« in the ,OPi'"11 b; but ,thefirJilI pmnting a
w.a;r

if

cr:eated in the {tr,tist'$ ~t!Jdif} in London.

98

LANDSCAPES
M[>AR

Dnvm FrmmRlcH
visual artist of in. Germanj,

reflection of the soul and emotion these objects".

in

such as a 'sharp ,crag, or a rock, or a tree,

(1 '7'74-1340) wasthe most important the Romantic

are sta rtlingly accura te and sh arply

delineated, stretchof

Friedrich trained at the Copenhagen

Academy in Dresden between 1794 and in 1798 and then serried permanently

wh,ere-a;s the backgrollnd

mountains or sea is often.

movement

although hisl'l'ork

was virtually forgotten

swathed in mist This helps to reinforce an overall sense of contemplation - the

at the time of his death and only rediscoeered Romanticism

Dresden, Romanticism Friedrich

in Germ-any

fully inthe 20th century.

came to fruiti.on. in

flo!1l:rblhoolfi Drccsden and there

met other artists, .i.ncl.u&ng the

mood is generaUy calm and optimistic. Light, too, is highly significant paintings \'II1.1hhe particular t in his

Germ.any, France and Britain in. the early 19th century, with manyartists looking up

poet

Goethe. Initl.aUy he worked ..In. sepia

tlm.e of day

wash and pencil, but>'l'l'ltch.ed to oils in 1807. Although he turned his hand. to

- dawn, sunset orreiligh t - Irobtied wIth significance. There is a. concern also with

to the landscape as a way of conjuring mood and atmosphere, Landscape for F riedrieh was a "Ira y of.!,'onveyi_ng

other subject matter, Friedrich always

the aspect of'Romanticism known as

'su blime', a new aesthetic c-oncept that

returnedto landscape, in whim be

often included ruins and solitary figlllIeS, in !;howing these lone individ!lflls as insignificant Friedrich's before namre,

pooilerm! emotional feelings; he saw a

reJ:igi.ous and symbolic importance nature that he wanted to cornmnnic ate. Friedrich

developed in. We 18th ce.nti1l'y, focusing

on the gm.n.d passions stirred in man when confronted with the wildness and

himsclfrealist:dm:a

his work case,

p-ainllngs have an. almost

:;1.

vastness

0f

nanrre, Fdedric b:'s intr 'giill.l'lg,

the work of the Pre-

was not, as it was in. Constables about 'tl1.eEl ithfui representation

water, rocks and trees ... bl!J!t the

dismrbing darit;v, as
meticulousness.

result of the

derailedand atmospheric paintings

foreshadow

of air,

F,lct that they are painted with. such His f'Oregrmmd forms,

Raphaelites in the late 1840 ...

~ CHALK CLIFFS IN lhiGEN,

.1818 CA:S:PARDAVID FRIEDRICH

Friedrich mad" secera! pain.ti ~gs based on his ,k;"tri;l-f'J and studies
Dresden. Thi!J ,)mb.aiir; w(}r/t"with i.i'.r halan,r;ea wmpontirm,
ts

of scenic plam, Jm.!

the

dijj~ on Rugtn, G,m1UmJ~ fm'gest islim.d,.and !hI! areas rf.outstandillg natsaa] iltauij around
a 11.udita.tion on thB asoeinfPiringljualiticr

rf nature.

11'1 V 0 II.. U i lOIN E

1199

100

POETIC
RILE ROMANTICISM WAS,

art

0 f uki)'G-t'.

Born in Edo (now Tok-yo),

After studying European

art and how

coming to prominence

in

Hoknsal

was the son of a. mirror-maker before

perspecrise could beused in a picture,

HnkuSal concentrated landscape. Altogether primarily on hemade over

ELlI'ope at the begi_nnlng

of'rhe 1'9th century, a poetic movement known as

who Itarncd woodcngraving

training under a painter named Sln:lIlsho. H()kllSai had various disputes with his master regarding work methods and left

w:iyo-e

was the dominant

art

30,000 dra wings, mostly book illustrations made by the block printing
melhod.

form in Japan. Ukiyo-" means ''p icrures of the floati.llg world', a term which describesa geme ofJ<Lpan.ese woodblock produced between of

in. 178!;'. He then went on to de\'elop a method of woodblock prinling that subject

His moJttFitrnO"l!ls block print i$

The Wa'!.lf!,.·a.hhough in. his sixtiesand

prinrs and painrings

foCillcscd a range ofeveryday nil. matter, lncluding birds

,VlIO

seventies he abo created and published

the

rhe

1 I'thand

the 20th cenrurj; Theart

men an d

cqu,t11y

inill.lenr.iru woodblock

prints,

ukryo-~ reflects the transient p1easm~s of cw:ryd:a.y life and. makes

U;<;C

aspects of the landscape.

important and. dominant

Ukiy{}-~ was an
ad movement

Tht! Thirty-Six Vie<i.OffMMnt i between 1826 and 18-33.

F'uj~

of'
0 f the

irn:8.ge.ry drawn

from. pop ular idols

in. Japan because it was easy to masspmdu(:t: and thus affordable,

Ukiyo-e had a huge impact on the wcsterll world. In the middle of the 19 tit cenru:ry, ma.n}' foreign merchants

time such as actors and rmirtesans,

Karsushika HoblSai (1760-1&49) was the le ailin.g exponent nf the japanese

while

"howing people going about their lives without idealization,

11i:5itoo

Japan bringing with them manywestcrn

influeuces, i.• ¥.:huling phot!lgnp hya lid printing techniques, japanese art was taken back to the West, where it became a source of inspirarionfor many
Ernopt\l.i:'i artists

scum

as Monet, Degas the age of 89

and Klirnr, Hokusai

diedar

and left many followers, Ando 'Iokiram Hiroshige (1797-1858)

is another ]ap,mcse artisr of the Ufdyo-t school will) adapted block printing to
express his poetic vislon ..T}Tically;

Hiroshige's

prints feature landscape

subjects in which small flgll!reS are

shown journeying
,aLIOSS

bridges or 'Mong

old roads or planting rice in the ficld~ Hiroshiges co1o!(trfUJ1 graceful 'IiI'ork and
'was also a po'wcrful inflaence on the
.. MOUNT

FUJI

FROM ()1,vARI

,c18J.1

KATSUS,HIKA HOKUMI

Impressionists .

FJ~j<lmd,r,reatedThe Thirty-SIx

Views of Mount Fuji wben be war in hit seventia .. The

series plierenu v'''''"Ydijfor,m:t viruJ, althe' diJ;tinr;tive ame~wa;petl mrmtJifl.in' tli",difj-""~rl.t times

.r;})ear.In
formol

j~

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