LECTURE the dutch baroque flanders was extremely prosperous in 1500s and 1600s spain is so wealthy during this time period this is because of their exploration of the new world spain s financing of the counter reformation came from the gold of the america s a lot of gold in churches is coming from pre columbian gold philip II holy roman emperor ruler of spain member of great hapsburg dynasty his father was charles v who knighted titian flanders is trying to keep their land but spanish conquer south of it protestant holland catholic spanish netherlands problem is that their churches are empty so they need to be filled with decor this calls for flemish baroque period PETER PAUL RUBENS leading painter in baroque flanders director of a large workshop well educated fluent in several languages numerous diplomatic contacts knighted five times by different monarchs spent eight years in italy but from the north flemish artist tradition like van eyck the other half of him is influenced by italy italian traditional flemish style gets to experience antiquity plays a huge role in his transformation makes a copy of the laoc on influenced by leonardo and michelangelo makes copies after them high renaissance is also influential towards him also loves caravaggio so also influenced by him present high renaissance and antiquity have influence on him biggest influence on him is venice and work of titian works with painterly handling just as titian did 1608 rubens returns to antwerp to fill catholic churches with decoration elevation of the cross 1610 first work for a church triptych all three panels are the same scene not different this is a baroque sort of idea as it is the split second scene shows tenebroso of caravaggio as well as his realism shows painterly handling the biggest thing that shows he was from italy was the portrayal of strong bodies this is straight from classical the plunging diagonal of titian s pesaro madonna is also incorporated along with the church the other great apron of rubens and his workshop was the aristocracy and they loved glamour portraits and the aristocracy especially loved paintings that celebrated their power and ex marie de medici queen of france this is the time of absolutism rulers believed they had the absolute power divine glory power her husband dies a year after their son is born so she rules made a lot of paintings to show her rulings these were put in her house today they are in the louve people suspected she had a role in his death rubens marie de medici cycle 21 large canvases he had to show the country that she was the divine ruler king henri if receives a portrait of marie de medici a city is burning is in the distance cupid and god of marriage is holding portrait zeus and hera are in sky happily married peacock is symbol of marriage france is whispering in his ear the gods themselves are aiding that this happen this is the divine plan baby angels are playing with shield and he is forgetting to make war this shows marie is bringing peace to the land arrival of marie de medici in marseilles 1622 1625 dramatic scene neptune and his mermaids are celebrating in water angels are blowing trumpets in the air everyone is welcoming her absolutism the divine right of kings and queens ANTHONY VAN DYCK started out as assistant to rubens becomes famous as a celebrated portraitist painter of the aristocracy his format is almost consistently full length portraiture has very good control of showing textures always shows a subtext that you are less than the sitter which is exactly what queen of england is shown with her favorite dwarf and pet monkey showing they wanted wealth for pet there is a crown tucked away on the right he always presents his sitters in moments of leisure at ease you can still tell they are in a position of tremendous power column in back shows this is part of huge complex glamour portraiture always communicate power of sitter charles I dismounted 1635 absolute ruler shown on leisurely stroll but cannot mistake he has tremendous power can tell this because he is staring you down his groomer is also there to make sure to take care of the horse someone else has his coat walking stick shows his rule as well 18th century english portraiture of the aristocracy is totally indebted to van dyck JOHN SINGER SARGENT american 1800s and 1900s society portraitist a vocabulary that is consistently used since van dyck even 1900s fashion photography is derived from van dyck s vocabulary it makes you want to be that person dutch baroque art in holland spain could never get their hands on them these provinces are known as the united provinces so prosperous protestant country no church patronage of art no all powerful monarchy commissioning art yet holland is a place that is an explosion of art 1600s 2 million paintings the middle class is patronizing all of these arts art market in holland dominated by the dutch middle class have enough money that can buy something to decorate their house holland is a costal country which means a lot of harbors this equals a lot of money have a huge shipping fleet and an enormous navy they import and export goods go to china directly through boat go to south pacific south america africa truly global enterprise the shipping countries are owned by middle class because they all own shares this middle class is broad and dominant dutch shipping companies dominate world trade in 1600s middle class patrons are not used by commissioning art they just want to go buy it slowly artists learn to cater their work to middle class open competitive art market in holland leads to specialization the little dutch masters specialists in one specific genre genre subject theme there are a bunch of different categories in market most popular is still life CLARA PEETERS still life with flowers goblet dried fruit and pretzels 1611 she made a life with doing only still life paintings WILLEM KALF still life with late ming ginger jar 1669 shows chinese porcelain which was very special works as sort of advertisements porcelain extremely costly and only chinese know how to make PIETER CLAESZ vanitas still life 1630s shows reflection of painter painting in silver ball death is playing a role here everything is in a disarray vanitas refers to the fact that nothing lasts they warn you that you can t take all those precious objects you can buy with you the after life is more important vanitas literally means empty you can t take it with you when you die these