NORTHERN EUROPE,1600-1700

GARDNER CHAPTER 25-1PP. 673-679

NORTHERN EUROPE IN THE 17TH CENTURY

17th century was a time of widespread unrest and warfare

The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) -> conflict between militant Catholics and militant Protestants -> conflict between the Bourbon dynasty of France and the Habsburg dynasties of Spain the Holy Roman Empire

Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 ends the last war of religion -> resulted in the political restructuring of Europe

EUROPE IN THE 17TH CENTURY

Heightened economic competition in Europe

MERCANTILISM

Changes in financial systems, lifestyles, and trading patterns plus expanding colonialism = creation of a worldwide marketplace

Dutch found the Bank of Amsterdam in 1609 -> transfer banking -> more complex trading practices

Increasing array of products available -> coffee, tea, sugar, tobacco, rice

Slave trade and plantation agriculture

International trade changes the face of Europe -> increase disposable income of the newly wealthy = new sources of patronage

FLANDERS AND FLEMISH BAROQUE PAINTING

In 16th century Protestants in northern provinces of the Netherlands broke away from Spain-> establish the Dutch Republic

Southern provinces that remained loyal to Spain and retained Catholicism as their official religion became the Spanish Netherlands or Flanders (more or less modern-day Belgium)

Flemish Baroque painters retained close connections to the Baroque art of Catholic Europe

PETER PAUL RUBENS Peter Paul Rubens -> by completing the

fusion of the realistic tradition of Flemish painting with the imaginative freedom and classical themes of Italian Renaissance painting, he fundamentally revitalized and redirected northern European painting

A diplomat, artist, consort of kings, and man of the world; Rubens was the most financially successful artist of his time.

ELEVATION OF THE CROSS

PETER PAUL RUBENS, Elevation of the Cross, Antwerp Cathedral, Antwerp, Belgium, 1610. Oil on panel, 15’ 1 7/8” x 11’ 1 1/2” (center panel), 15' 1 7/8" x 4' 11" (each wing)

Triptych acts as one continuous space across three panels

The Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens synthesized in his art a variety of mostly Italian influences to create an international Baroque style. His various influences are evident in the Elevation of the Cross painted for Antwerp Cathedral

Dynamic diagonals direct viewer’s attention to Christ

strong modeling in dark and light, and anatomically powerful figures involved in violent action creates a scene of intense physical and emotional drama

MARIE DE MEDICI PETER PAUL RUBENS, Arrival of Marie de’ Medici

at Marseilles, 1622–1625. Oil on canvas, approx. 5’ 1” x 3’ 9 1/2” -> one of 21 paintings celebrating the wife of King Henry IV -> hung in the queen’s new Paris Palace

Marie arrives in France after a sea voyage guarded by Neptune and sea nymphs; France falls to her feet to greet her; angel with two trumpets heralds her arrival; Marie in silver is almost lost in the welcoming crowd

Heroic gestures, demonstrative spiraling figures

Mellow intensity inspired by Titian and Caraggio

Sumptuous full fleshed women

Splendid costumes suggest opulent theatrical production

The rich, decorative splendor of Rubens's painting of the Arrival of Marie de' Medici at Marseilles is enlivened by the inclusion of allegorical personifications and mythological figures

CONSEQUENCES OF WAR

PETER PAUL RUBENS, Allegory of the Outbreak of War, 1638. Oil on canvas, 6’ 9” x 11’ 3 7/8”

Mars with his shield & bloodstained sword, threatening all peoples with disaster pays little attention to Venus, who tries in vain to hold him back with caresses and embraces

ANTHONY VAN DYCK Anthony van Dyck. Self-Portrait. 1620-

1621. Oil on canvas

Anthony van Dyck is one of the greatest Flemish painters. A student of Rubens, he spent most of his career working for the English court. In his court portraits Van Dyck established a style of characterization that was to persist all over the Europe for more than two centuries: in his visions of tall and aloof, yet relaxed, elegance, he showed the most subtle ability to bring a precise physical likeness into compositions of fluent and elaborate Baroque splendor. He was in particular a stimulus to English painters, such as Gainsborough, Reynolds and Lawrence.

ANTHONY VAN DYCK

ANTHONY VAN DYCK, Charles I Dismounted, ca. 1635. Oil on canvas, approx. 9’ x 7’

Charles I of England walking before his bowing horse

Image of royalty at ease in natural setting

Engages the viewer with a direct look, haughty pose

Charles’s shortness minimized by his relationship to the figures around him

Venetian landscape

CLARA PEETERS CLARA PEETERS, Still Life with

Flowers, Goblet, Dried Fruit, and Pretzels, 1611. Oil on panel, 1’ 7 3/4” x 2’ 1 1/4”

A pioneer of still-life painting was the Flemish artist Clara Peeters

STILL-LIFE = inanimate objects artfully arranged

Peeters won renown for her depictions of food and flowers together