Key Works
The Waterseller of Seville 1623, WELLINGTON MUSEUM, LONDON, UK
Christ Crucified c.1632, MUSEO DEL PRADO, MADRID, SPAIN
The Toilet of Venus (the Rokeby Venus) 1647–51, NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON, UK
Innocent X c.1650, GALLERIA DORIA-PAMPHILI, ROME, ITALY
Las Meninas (Maids of Honor) 1656–7, MUSEO DEL PRADO, MADRID, SPAIN
VAN DYCK
1599–1641 • BAROQUE
Charles I at the Hunt
c.1635 OIL ON CANVAS
266 × 207 CM (104¾ × 81½ IN)
MUSÉE DU LOUVRE, PARIS, FRANCE
Set against a bright sky, his horse and servants blending into the foliage, this life-sized portrait of the king of England shows him confidently looking down on viewers. His shimmering silver satin jacket and the soft brushwork propel him to the fore.
The most gifted pupil of the great Rubens, Anthony van Dyck became one of Europe’s greatest portrait painters. His depictions of royal and aristocratic sitters characterized the Stuart era and influenced English portrait painting for the next 150 years.
After Rubens, van Dyck was the most important Flemish painter of the 17th century. As well as working in oils, he painted in watercolor and also produced engravings and etchings that publicized his work to a wider audience. Born in Antwerp to a wealthy family, by the age of about ten he was apprenticed to Hendrick van Balen (1575–1632), a skillful Flemish artist.
Showing significant early precocity, by the time he was 16 van Dyck set up his own studio with Jan Brueghel the Younger (1601–78). In 1618, he was admitted to the Antwerp painters’ Guild of Saint Luke, the most renowned of artists’ guilds, which meant that he could take on apprentices and sell paintings to the public. He was soon appointed chief assistant in the large workshop run by Rubens, who described him as “the best of my pupils.” In 1620, he traveled to London and worked for King James I, and from 1621 to 1627 he stayed in Italy, painting portraits for the aristocracy.
A devout Catholic, his religious paintings were highly emotional, but on his return from Italy, he concentrated increasingly on portraiture, infusing these works with dignity and realism. By 1632 he was again in London, on the invitation of Charles I and Queen Henrietta-Maria, who gave him a house and studio, the position of principal painter to the king, and a knighthood. As First Court Painter, he executed numerous portraits of the king and his family, and overall, he portrayed Charles I as a relaxed, noble and authoritative figure. Other members of the royal court wanted the same sort of refined representations of themselves and their families, and as his commissions increased, he extended his studio and organized his assistants with disciplined precision. Painting at least one portrait a week, he worked to a system: he painted the faces while his assistants painted the clothes, which they modeled on dummy figures. Finally, he added finishing touches to the work.
After Rubens, he most admired the work of Veronese and Titian, and, where possible, incorporated elements of their styles into his painting. While achieving good likenesses, his unique, formal yet relaxed approach flattered his subjects, and his elegant style profoundly influenced a generation of portrait painters after him, including notably Sir Peter Lely (1618–80) and Thomas Gainsborough (1727–88). He became the dominant influence on English portrait painting for the following 150 years.
Key Works
Samson and Delilah 1620, DULWICH PICTURE GALLERY, LONDON, UK
Portrait of Charles V on Horseback 1620, GALLERIA DEGLI UFFIZI, FLORENCE, ITALY
Susanna and the Elders 1621–2, ALTE PINAKOTHEK, MUNICH, GERMANY
Portrait of a Man in Gilt Armor 1624, KUNSTHISTORISCHES MUSEUM, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Portrait of Philadelphia and Elizabeth Wharton LATE 1630S, STATE HERMITAGE, ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
CLAUDE
1600–1682 • BAROQUE, LANDSCAPIST
The Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba
1648 OIL ON CANVAS
149.1 × 196.7 CM (58¾ × 77½ IN)
NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON, UK
Here, the Queen of Sheba is visiting King Solomon in Jerusalem and this imaginary seaport is bathed in glowing light. Antiquity is evoked by the ethereal, yet stately architecture. Perspective is carefully considered and becomes a foil for the luminous atmospherics.
In the 17th century, landscape became a subject in its own right. Claude, a painter, draftsman and etcher, became the most celebrated landscapist of all.
Claude Gellée was often called Claude Lorrain after his place of birth, or, even more commonly, simply Claude, demonstrating his great fame and reputation. At the age of about 13, he moved to Rome, where he worked as studio assistant to Agostino Tassi (who raped Artemisia Gentileschi). By then, Tassi was a landscapist and the leading Italian painter of illusionistic frescoes—he instilled in Claude a fascination with perspective and landscape painting. Claude spent a short time studying in Naples and in 1625 he returned to Lorraine to work with the court painter Claude Dernet (1588–1660) on church frescoes in Nancy. Within two years, he was back in Rome, where he remained for the rest of his life. Establishing himself as one of the leading landscape painters in Rome, in 1633 he became a member of the highly respected Accademia di San Luca. His landscapes differed from the realism of traditional Dutch landscape paintings, as he created ideal scenes of nature that were more beautiful than reality. His nostalgic, melancholic or dream-like features are always bathed in ethereal light.
During the 17th century, many of the middle classes had new homes built, and Claude’s popularity was fueled by the trend for interior decorations. His patrons were mainly wealthy French or Italian noblemen and he always worked on commission. Because his style was so popular, he never changed it. His work remained hugely influential for the following two centuries.
Key Works
Port with Villa Medici 1637, GALLERIA DEGLI UFFIZI, FLORENCE, ITALY
Italian Coastal Landscape 1642, STAATLICHE MUSEEN, BERLIN, GERMANY
Mercury Stealing Apollo’s Oxen 1645, GALLERIA DORIA-PAMPHILJ, ROME, ITALY
Port Scene with the Departure of Ulysses from the Land of the Feaci 1646, MUSÉE DU LOUVRE, PARIS, FRANCE
Dutch Realism
c.1600–1700
During the 17th century, an extraordinarily realistic style emerged in the Netherlands. It occurred for many reasons, but mainly because of the Reformation—the establishment of Protestantism as a branch of Christianity—in the previous century. Religious and political unrest had divided the Low Countries into two nations. Flanders stayed Catholic and royalist, while the Netherlands became a republic and a center of Protestantism.
The Dutch Golden Age
The stripping of all Catholic large-scale religious art in the Netherlands left a space in the artistic sensibilities of the Dutch people. Growing trade and prosperity had initiated what became known as “the Dutch Golden Age” and resulted in an increased confidence and awareness of cultural identity. Yet the visual exuberance of the Baroque and its Catholic associations was totally different from the Protestant ethic of self-denial and sobriety. Apart from being commissioned for portraiture, artists had no real purpose and their professional status had become insecure.