theHISTO'RY

of

theHISTORY

of

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

A. N. HODGE

fit:

ARCTURUS

ARCTURUS

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

151~153 Berrnondsey 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 Arcmrus ['lllillishung Umc~eA"l

A~lrigh i~ re;;':TI',~1

The f.opyrigh! A<;! prob~hil!i (su~j;I':C_! no c.~r~un very Urn:u!('cl ex.;ej'li:ioIL~)~he mabng oJ c.opie;; or any mpyrlgiIl ,mrl: or ,)1 ~ ~nhllran!ia~ pmn .)hmh., \''01'11" inrJlldlng the making 01 copies by

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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

s THE I'FM...IANRENAlSSANCE 10 Oiotto and the Early Fre,~~

12 Decorative E!~nce in Siem

14 The ]llmion of Weigh.t and

ModeDing

16 Perspective and Fo[eslw.rrnning 18 A.I.legoryand GI'aC€

20 Eknai:smn.;:e Gmi~", Hraughtsman

and IlwenlDr

22 Human Bodies with Sculptural Farm 24 Beauty andau~ical. Harmony

26 Venetian 'Go1om and lLigin

28 NORTHJE.RN RENAISSANCE 30 Clarity and Naturalism

32 NH::L.~ on Rdi.ginn

.34 Observation and Obsession 36 Early Landscapes

.38 Inventive Fantasies

40 Court Portraits and Miniatuecs 42 Dose to the Land

44 THE JB.AR0Q.UE ERA 46 Free Expressive Brushwork

48 Heightened Drama and Tension 50 Distmdol1 of llirm

52 Dramatic Light and Shade 54 Volupll.!ou~ Nudes

56 Fll"nch Neo-Classicism

58 Character Studies and Royal Po.rlrniil> 60 A Feeling for Humanity

62 Inner Tmih Laid Bare

64 Still. .lLife Painti.ng:

M DutchLandscapes 68 Domestic ]ntimacy

7f1 THiEAGEOFELEGiU'ICE 72 FrenchRoccco

74 Frilk and Fancies

76 The Venetian ApjllOJl.ch 78 Social S a~jre

RO Simplicity and Stillness 82 Captu.ring Animal~

84 The Art ofCareiU,1 Ca!culati()[l

.&6 REVOLUTIONS 88 The Horrors o(WaI '90 Cool Lucid Colours

92 Vjsionary Romanticism '94 Light and Space

916 Sketches from N ature

98 M~Tic Landscapes 100 Poetic Vi~ion-~

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

]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 no The Female Gaze

1122 Colouras Farm

]24 Subtle Tones

]2;6 Muscular Re:1I1i~m nR AnguiihOO Vi~ion ]30 EXODC Primitivism ]32 OffCe.n!re

:ll34 RawAn~1:

l!.36 Explic:idy Erotic. 138 Intimate Interiors

i40RRE.iU:CINQ '"fHEBOlJNDARI.ES 142 Paving the W'!!'f

144 Riotol.J..~ Colour

146 Colour, Line andPatrem 148 Deep Emotions

150 Playing the Harlequin 152 ]n Three Dimensions

154 From Orphism to Lyricism 156 A New Dynamic:

15 S M},;:Ej;;:al1Ex pression ism 160 Towards A~~haC'tion 162PL11ie Geometry

164 Another .Real.ity

166 Meto:phr5<ic:al. Painting

168 Dream, ana Chance Events 170 The Aftermath of \Var

172 T.hB View from Amenea 174 ]mages of Self

176 Making W@.ves

178PAINT.lNG NOW 180 Mlipping Spae:e 182& pmro, of Colour 184 AU or Nothing

186 The F1!c:tory Line 188 PopL1lar ann Pl"yful 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

INTRODU'CTION

This 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 £oc:using on the hiographi!cal derails of individuals and their specific contributions, I have looked in detail at where artists were located in time, with which movements they were associated and who or what inspired them to work in the way that they did,

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 andwhether the faet that they belonged 00 a particular grouping at one point inmelr 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

imperfections, I hope that my idiosyncratic, narrative approach gi.\leS ynn a greater understanding of why,. say, Vermeer wo.tkced in 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, subjective and guided by personal taste, On mat basis it 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 tempera panels of the medieval paintersto the diverse media appliedto the canvases of oont,empo mryp ractitio ners,

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

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 distinctiomue largdy meaningless. Without wanting ~o~l,lggest that all contemporary painting is of a qllalitytocompete with the ",try best of thetraditional paintersvthere seems to 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 simply no substitute :for standing in f[Tont of a painting and really looking, There is no experience thatcan match the moment when yOUL fed that a painting has

really spoken to you: the moment which critic jeanette Winteroon ${'I memorably described in her book, Art Objects, EJJqyJ rnt Ecst.acy and Efficmtery (Jonathan Cape, 1995), QS when 'my heart flooded away'.

I hope that thisbook vviHl appeal as a referefice work tostudents, the gene:ral reader and artists looking to 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 some of the artists presented. Reading about painting means starting to 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 of a ROl:hko and a Caravaggio. The challenge for TJx History qf Art has been to guide YOl,i to make these associations, as well as toinspire and. inform,

A. N. Hodge! .London 2007

THE ITALIAN RENAISSAN'CE

c I 2

5

-

155

In the late. medieval period, from ah(lltt J\.P 11,000, ~aintillg mainl~ took place in the monasteries, H~. monks wowd use gold leaf and a ·range of stylized im'!.ge[y to illuminate manuscripts, while 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. There were 110 true portraits trntil the late Middle Ages, no neal landscapeseirher and very little ;lttempt to -draw from life. COIlS<1:quently, there were 00 painters of any real ~ignifi:caooe. There vr:e,1Ce sculptors in the 13th century in the cathedralcities of Strashourg and Naumburg whose knowledge of the human body led them to make lifelike and 'ronvinE:ing statues, but this was nortrue of paintktg. Painting iNa.S flat and Iifeless,

A]_[ this d!.Jl.n~d with the arrival of O~ot'to. in Florence, Noionly did Giatto~s work sigrttll a complete break with tradition, but it had a far-reaching influeilce on subsequent generatio[]$ of Florentine painters lind hence on western art. Giotto created a window on tine world the il:i.h of which had never been seen befO'Hl. His

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:figu:res were nq longer stiff,. cardboard cut-outs but had solidity and depth on both a physicalllnd emotional level, With h:is. gift for p{)ftraying a range of human emotions, GiiOtto J,VaS able fo c:onv,ey~iigiou,S stories that were oonvinci.n~, (:mnpellingand deeply compassionate. For tih:efirst time, the viewer could empathize with key characters in the narrative and the impact that this radical approaeh had 01). pai.nting cannot be-overstated,

Renaissance. means 'rebirrhor "revival' and central, to its development in Italy was the .red_i.$oco~ry <if classical antiquityby the .cultural elite, By the time G;!c;rtto was painting~the walls of small churches in Padua and ksisi in northern Italy at the heginning of the 14meentury, the world around him. was; beginning to change, Trade routesinto northern haJy .had opened up new markets and prompted new rretworks of exchange both in terms of goods: and ideas. With the new w~ealtJh. ana the riseof the merchant class, old certainties l.i~e the authority of the church were hrOH~t intoquestion, Wealthy patrons emerged as the humanistic revival (')[ the classical irrfluene:e in arts: andarchitecture begm to gadi,er p4oe,

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Masaceio was the next painter to come dong and take upsome-of'the artistic ch;l.U~!1ges po sed by GiQmd, It was nor, 'of course, it relay race withthe baton being handed from one artistto another - more a prooess that evolved against the increasingly rapid advances thai: were heing made t!lU'o:l1ghmrt the parallel wo.rlds of science, literature, architecture, music, invention and di~oovery. For the firsrtime, 1Ihe~.c:: parallel worlds begrn ~o conv,erg~ - quite .literally, with the diSiOOVefY of onepoint perspective, It was the architect Bnmelleschi who developed the idea that to give a pk:ture depth it was .neooosary for its lines to ,converge upon a:;ingl,e vanishing point. This in turn inspired Masaecio to experiment with rudimentary perspecrive in his painti ngs, .g ivin ghiil Ii gtrre s a rnonurne ntalvsculptural quality and Ifelping to bt;lild the illusion ofreal space,.

F"i)limving on from Masaccio, other artists such as Uccre.IJ..o; Manregrra and Pi,eru della Francesca took these experimental ideas one stage IilTther, all the time adding toth.,~ technical knowledge ufhow best to create a ,oonviming picture, or a mirror D[ r,eality. The period . knownas the I-ligh Renaissanee -namely 15:00 to H20 -

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was when thee. three great artists" Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael, we're at the height of their creative pawers:. Florence 'IN'<I$ still the main centre of ~~iili.c activhy. but by this time both Rom.e and Y~ruoe w,er;e startingt'(! fl.ollr~~h. In Hurenae" LBQ[1ardo! in particular, 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 famous portrait in the whole history IOf art, her e.nigmatic smile and soft- features' must have been shocking to a·contemporary audience, b«flignt ttp on a diet largely of stiff~£eatu:red and goOld-hal!oed Madonnas. Midie.lan~cl() too, thn;:mg!h. me raw energy of his predominantly male nudes on the Sistine Chapel. oeili ng, wn.s pursuing a vision that was to influence the way that the human figure was n~pre~ented in art from that moment 'Onwards. The quiet and subtleharmonies of colour and tone produced by Raphaf:l were also admired and copied fM centuries to come ..

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10

GIOTTO

AND

THE

EARLY

r'SHARD TO KNOW WHEI'!E TO

begin when It comes In the history of wes Ie mpainting. There had been painters before Giorm, 1Y1Itwhat

he achieved through his simple, timeless compositions was tt) set the whole of'wesrern art on an. ex.dting n.cw ctY\.lrse, becoming something of a legend in

his own liferime, He produced works £0.[ rhe Pope andthe Ki.ng of Naples and is menrioned in Dante's Divi71ff Crm:!edy.

GiotOO di Bondone (l2!67-1337) \I\'8.cS the son of'a Florentine farmer. Born into povt:rty, he wns d~$('overM by the painter Cimabue drawing rheperfecr likeness of a.sheep on a rock. Ginno learnt q!.i!i.ckly from hisnew master and, before long, wasrunning his own busy workshop

and accepting commissions to decorate tile walls of rel.igio".s buildings in

Florence a nd other Italian cities.

Much of his work W"J:S done in fresco, This method of painting involves applying water-bared pigme.nt directly on to wetplaster; the paint andplasrer then fuse: together as they dry.

The technique had been used 1'0 decorate chapel> "and other rdigiouts buildings throughout Im]y. Glotto's grealeSt ackievemcntw-.;s the series of freswes he pain red inside the Scrovegni, or Arena. Chapel, in Padua, depicting scenes from the lives ofJes us 11Ild the Virgin Mary: He also painlltd the St Francis of Ass.isi cjcle for the Upper Church in Assisi,

Bue it was Giotto's conrriburion

towards the develop ment of the hu man :figure withinpainting for which be will always be recognized, H~ broke free of

the E'Jlzantine traditions use ofstyli.zod figures, gl.ving me people 1.0. his paintings a.much greater degree of realism. Look at any groiiEp ofllgllres ina painting by GiotlQ and there is real emotion intheir fw:esj be man,lg[ld to depicr a range of feeIJ.ngs - such as awe, sadness,

suspicion, rage and jeaID'l\l$j' - in way$ that had never beenseen in pol. i.nting before. This createsa sense of compassion which helps to in.volvc us

in. the unfolding drama ..

There is "ako a great sense of movement in his closely observed narrative works. Hands remonstrate and flutter and figures bend and Jean with a believable sense of space, weight and distance, Giotto shows a real Feeling for colour too, particularly the way in which it interactswith light.

~ THE RAISING 01; LAZARUS, lJOJ Grrrrro

Gioltr/s mlifl.dellce in i!£l1iIilillg largf grr)lIps ·if figli m is shown her.e as Mar:tba and Mary iMagdtdtl1 imp[rJu Christ to bring il;JI:ir hmthtr 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 fbI: st(}1'J} lam/scale 'i,iJirlding bac]: in mart relief

'!fIIilIE II'!fAIL,IAN II'IIEINAIISSAINCIE III

--_-

-- ~

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

12

DECORATIVE IN SIENA

ELEGANCE

;. GIOTTO WAS, THE MOST important painter in Fforenee IQr mt.lch oEthe 14th century, the painter Duccio di Buoninsegnn (c1255-1319) was the principal painter to come out of SiemL TIH~ two Tuscan cities of Florence and Sie.n>\ were artistic rivals at the begi.n.n.ing oftbe 14th eennrry; The Sienese school 'W'J;$ often seen as the mo re eo nserva twe of .IIM: rwo, with painring that emphasized the decorative qualities found in mosaics and illuminated manuscripts of the ear lier Eyzantinc period. The BY6antine tradition, datlng back to Ihe E'll$tern Roman Empire, ioooded. in. AD 330, was

primarily a religious arrtha r crop basized a powerful orthodox vi~i,o.n through the use of symbols and stylized fi:f!;1Jres. Giorro, and to a lesser extent Duccio, developed a more naturalistic style that challenged this ritualistic convention.

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 scenes, and it 'was .i.05hl.11OO. there in. 1311. Daccio i.nrucses his narrative scenes with ~d new sense of life. There is real movement in his sacred figures - they are l.ilDt simply Slimy ananged against

a gold bac.kg(ound.

... ALLEGORY or GoOD GOVERNMENT (de.tEtii)" 1:338 LORENZETTI

This detail from th~ fttsw in the Pala'Z,z,fJ Pubbliro Sit1J.a mows part of a street ftt;'ne, featuring a bridal pr{}c~io1J, and t& rAdnatirmJtakingplax;e at an inn. L(}re~!zettii walt painting w."" dmgrled to UWW tbe .gluts ihM botb grNJdand b,.dgp'JJ,emmf'111am hav.e on t:ity and rountry,

Other important representatives of the Slenese school include Duccios pupil Simo.ne Mar tini (c 1284-1344), and the brothers Pierro (dZOO-1348) and

Am b rog10 Lorenzetti (c 1290-1348). Simone Martini, whose work drew upon bis master'" brilllanr colocr and gracdirtl line, was summoned to. work .fin the French .ki.ng ofNaples and kiter for

the Pope at hi, court in. Avignon. The refined and courtly manner exemplified by the work of Martini dominated the arts across El;I!rope at the end of the Middle Ages.

The brothers Lorenzettiwere also probably assistantsiu Duccios workshnp, hut whil.e M,trtil'li painted w.rithrefi.ned elegance, the brothers were influenced by Giotto and fillfmJired an observational, narrative stJ!,lc. Ambrogio Lorenzetti painted Cf}(J.dandBadCQ'lJBJ71m,O'll, a frCSLl) series for the Town Hfill in Siena. between 1338 and 134{L This is an. im.pre$si.ve andinrricare work, dib'Phry.ing a hitherto unseen m,a~tery of perspecrne in. its depiction 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"idJratal wtm~,. showing the Virgin Mary and Christ on thrrJ1JM surrounded ry angels and saints .. Mary stands [Jut ft·om tlg rest: rfthe grr)up ry vi, fut! 01 het n~e al!dth~

i rltt1i'£e ultramarine Nut! of he r robe sEt against tk richly g_r;L,l-dewTU;kd halw!fJ dathe~ and thrrJ!:u.

14

THE ILLUSIO'N OF WEIGHT AND MODELLING

ITH HIS MANYPAINTiERLY innovations, Masaccio (14D1-1428) 'WaS one of the most important forerunners of the 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(_~ of at f that had flm.lrishe.,;lfrQ.m tI::H: middle of the 12th century, Masaccio took up Giotto':~ concern with. depicting believable human t1gt1res, but managed to go one step fUrther by applying the rules of perspective that had been developed by his contemporary, thearchitect Brunelleschi. Masaccio also looked at the sculptures that were being created at the

time by Donatello and was able tn give the figures a ilill.idJty and volume that hadnever existed btfor.e in painting.

The Expuirirm rf Adam and Eve, 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 Eve have a mouemcntal, sctllphl!l".ll quality and seem to erist in three dir.l1Jen:slons" Gesnnes and facial expressions are carefully highlighted by the light that falls from. one source, with the shadows cast behind. them helping to sUJ!ggest volume. The composition is unified by the U~ oJsingl.e-poinr perspective of the gates. With their

heightened realism, austerity and directness,it is evident that Masaccio s paintings were not seeking to charm l1n . .1 please, unlike works produced by manyearlier artists,

Fra Angclim (1387-1455), a Dominicanfriar who lived. i.11 a monfLstay ~a,t Fiesole near Florence, started out as a manescripr illuminator and there is <1. decorative ,stylized element that can beseen in his early fresco work However, in 1436, Fro Angelico was commissioned to decorate the friars'· cells at the conve.nt of San Marco in Florence witharound :6.fty frescoes.While these were designed as direct expressions of me friar~' Elth, 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 '!Dho pmriis.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 righthand 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 a

Part if a cyd.e if fre$w&ipainte4 ry i'i1aJuuio for th~ Brancaai Chapel in Santa iHarill de:! Dlrmi7l.e, Florence. This dramatic depictionrfthe: plight ,if Adam and E'tX broh 'U~Q ground in it, realism due to tal:: 'Ii mpiicity and thre.e-dil1unflonality 0/ the ,couple and their emo.ti otJ-,charge:riex/!'em om.

PERSPECTIVE AND FORESHORTENI'NG

ASAOCIO AND FRA ANGELICO

had started In make ulit of

$Lngle, Of oDt:-potnt, perspective, A number of other 15thce.ntmy Italianartists were also ql1:ic k to :exploit the new prindple~ of linear perspective. This was the system. where lines converge on a vM.i:shi.ng point,

C'1l mIng objects and people to recede in. space, Linear or goo m,elric perspective was developed by the architect Bnmelleschi .. rid remained inregral to

the idea of how painting best represented reality Mta the late lSlt~~ ce.nlJ,.! ry,

Paolo Uooello (1397-1475),a Florentine painter ~app.rt.nti.!loo. to the sculpmr Gh:ibertl, became fi:xat:ed. with how to represent three-dimensional reality on the pi.Ltll![t. plane bymeans of perspective. Nowhere is this scientific ob,,,essi(ll1 more apparent than in. Thf! Raid

if Sail Romano (1454-7). These three panels, depicting the hostile territorial hattie hetweenlhe Florentines and

the Sienese, were commissioned hy me Mediclfamily for d:u,;ir palace in Florence. This decorative, frieze-li~ wOIk with

iI'S <:wh:ing lances and rearing horses presented Uccello with !t~t opportun.i.t_y

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

Foreshorrenlng, ",;un.ely;)pply.ing perspective to a. single object or figure to create the illusion of projection. or depth, first appeared on Greek vases dOD EC, The master of the foreshortened fig-rn-e was the early Renaissance artist, Andrea Manregna (1431-r~m6). Mantegna'$ adoptive father, Squarcione, was an archaeologist and painter; and he instilledaninreresrin classical sculpture and antiquities in his son. Tbe Dew' Chrnt (d470), in ",'b:Lch the viewer is

positioned. at Christ's feet, looking upwards at the truncated, cold body confined In the slab, is one of the most dramatic examples of aforeshorrened body in the history of painring,

Piero della Francesca (d416-1492) wasinfluenced b--r the advanoe,~ of co.ntem.porariecg such as Masaccio and Uccello but, in. addition In pain.ti.ng frescoes, he W'_J.-S anaccomplished mathematician, 'writLng treatises on. geom.etry and the rules of'perspecrive. However, to consider Pi,ero della Fmncesca'$ works purdy as eJ{,amples of' g!X.lmetry, bala.ndng space, scale

11 nd proportion, 'would be to do them

11 great disservice. Later painrings reveal his cousummate skill in. creating a serene, timeless and spiritual mood through the use of pale colours and soft, "U)!I1,earrhly light.

.~ 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 FlurentinO;. AJ! the ddailr in t& ~!}{}r-jt.ftwn the' wl"eji,llypiaceds}.e:ru'i and. Jonas tot!;.('. tinyflguTU an .the hiUsi,de: be:hin;Jha'lJl': bee» t:arifidiy placedto m.aximi:;;;.e the p(}ITlltial filr pmp,lXtive.

iflHIE 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 dra111utU;.per:p&;ti 1U!1' rf tb~fo"f~!:irJrtl'rlal wrp§e, .. th~, hola i 12 the funds and/ed 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) was born in Florence and spent most of his lile in the city. For the most part Botricelli I'I"&S unaffected by the drive tnwards realism that was so much part of his time, he rejected the n.ew~ientific discoveries, producing; wo:rk that was quite distinct from his comemporaries, Hetrained under Fra Filippo Li.ppi, wh~~e gracclttl frescoes werea model of refinement, and undoubtedly inl1ue.nced the developmenr of Eo Itirent fs 01'\1]] delicate, linear style.

Botticdlihad '0. real llJtd unusual talentfor drawin.g which led to commissions from patrons includingrhe MeJ.i.ci.fum.i1y, who wanted him ro paint subjects trom classical mythology. The Florentine ruler, Lorenzo de Medici,

took tiP an interest in paganism after meeting <1 gro up of Neoplato nists who had broken ~l\ii'.ly from. a cunv'entional Christian v.i{:w of the world.

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 al ax: nes in which pale, elongated bea'lLItleS, semi-dad . in. fl(lV!,ring; drapery and with I,)ng, flowing locks, float againsr an. unearthly backdrop, Botricelli is iateresred in

the rhythmic line ~J,f'I:c1 the patterns of

his idea1i:ze.d figures; he is h-yn.o means trying to convinceus oJ their weight and substanceIt is hard, however, to imagine the effect that Bottioelli's Ven.ll~ had on the public at the time. Here 'VI'.lS a n 'almost life-size naked woman, the like of

.~ MADONNA AND CHILD WITI-ll 1'wo ANGELS (detail), 1'465 FRA F1LIPl'O ilwr

All orphan, Fra Filippo Lippi =:1" a monl: whflsetaJtltJt for painting a!1i~d.t() tbe lure .0/ a more "lJ)oridly lifo 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.

which had not been seen in art before.

Borticelli's only significa of trIp outside Florence was "it visit to Rome in. 1481-2 when he worked on. frescoes in. the S.i,~tine Chapelin the Vabnm. He ran a bl!lS)' studio and his supreme talent as a draughtsman meant that,

at d:Ie peak of his career, his work was much in. demand .

He also produced portraits and pen dra wi.ng.s to illustrate Danre's Di vi 1M; Come;dy, FoUol'{i.n.g the death of Lorenzo de Medici, his work became more sober 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 he enjoyed great popularity in hill lifetime, he died inobscuritj;

'!fIIilIE II'!fAIL,IAN II'IIEINAIISSAINCIE

119

"'THEBIRTH OFVENUS,1485-86 BOlTICELLI

On.,e rfBoltir;diii most' ,[debmtal worK$." Venu.r u- b/f}\ii1'/'J aWou by jlyingwind-godi rm a smme:illo be r;rzeiveti ry .a ny mph with a satin doak amid a :rhowIJr of ro.l"el". Thought to be a reJein-aJirm if piritmd hm.ty;this suas nonetbelas ,II pagan image prod!!<c,edat fbI! height rfthe injl!le:n,~e ofthf' ROmfl11. Catholic Chl/rd!,

20

GENIUS

,

RENAISSANCE DRAUGHTSMAN

AND

URING THE PER.IOD KNOWN AS,

the High Renaissance, when 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) - d.raught~man, p~l:inter, sculptor, writer, arcbirecr, scientist, musician, invenror » was regarded as the greatest of ill Renaissance artists. His scattershot method 0,1" working, however, left behind marry' unfinisbed projects and a series of notebooks 611ed with $t1;:ldics of skeletons, clouds, flowing water and flowers, :l;" well as 0 bservarions on scientific subjects such as proponion, optic", goology and Hying machines.

Like many Renaissance artists, Leonardo learned his craft as an appientke to another artist, Verrocchio.

In this case, Verroc{:hi.o VI,".1.S so impressed by his p'UJipil that he gave up paiming 'altogether. From 1481, Leonardo spent 17 yeats in. Milan ,!O!,curki.ng for the Duke of Milan, before retmning to Florence where he painted the iconic Mona Lim between 1$03 and 13'06.

The Mona Lisa is signifieantlOr a 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 it fades 'aVl,~"y into the distance, was also

'il notable advance.

Leonardo's real conmburion to 'the history of painling,lhollgh, was what has become known ~t~ .~fu M:iLto - from. the Italian word for 'smoky' - namely the rendering nf.fOrmhy subtle tonal gmdatioll.$, as seen in the soft fearures of iM(lm<! Lisa} face.

~. STUDY FOR nillE HEAD OF LEDA, c1506 LEONARDO DA VINCI

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

god Zeus, who appea1>"d to her jnlhe foro! of a ;I;Ilj},(f/J •. Leonardo wmpided this drtt'wi'llg if Leda ifltll t&d hair by drard)j ~g hatchi flg. f.llrmg fix 1in(.$ ifthr:fimn, f.llahniqul'

h& inlmdllcdi1UI) his drawi1!JJs shortly beforf' 1500,

Leonardo left fcv.' authenric paintings, hilt grel.tl.yl.nlh.lenotd contemporaries suck. as Correggio, Giorgione and Raphael, In phryingwith dramatic contrasts of light and shade, Leonardo pre6gured the chiaroscur;rJ elfocts that were to rome to fr!1lilio.nin. the E'aroque period wilh Caravaggi.o and Rembrandt, His finely judged group compositions, where the figurt,~ often form a pyramid, are a defining Fearot(: of'the High Renaissance style.

Leonardo created paintings of a$tm.undifig bClUlty andrealism, yet paradoxically he "was mainly interested in solving problems of composition and p!.] (,,!..!.I.ng ~1 til nge 0 f I:ntellecrual ideas. He joined the C-Q1llCt ofthe French King Francis I in 15'17, where his work was gready appreciated and admired. He lived in. France i.lntil hi, dt:;.;ltlL

~ MONA LtSA, l503 LEONARDO DA VINCI

Va.l"utii .biography of Leonardo dCI Vi71ri, published .1.1 JUlrS after Leml£lrdo~ dtYlth, id&Jtiftf'S tw Ji.tter as Lisa Cherar:dini, fht 'i..l1ifo if aWrI'llthy Florenh ne .bud nessman. Ho'W.eve:r; thai" is a rese:mJdmu;e to tk ar tist bi msdt leuding others to s!w;e.l"t that the Mona Lisa t:o!dd be the por trait oJ a man or eue» prmibly a seif-portrait,

121

22

HUMAN BODIES WITH S'CULPTURAL F'O'RM

AA SClJLI'TOR, PAINTER, POET ND .AR .. CHIT.'ECT. ' Mi.C.hdangdo Mllollarroti (1475-1564)

was another hugely accomplished Renaissance artist, T wenty-three yeats younger than Leonardo, Michelangelo wasraised in. Florence, Here he trained b rieUr under the fresco painter Ghirlandaio, as well as receiv.ingmit.lon in sculpmre under the patronage of the all-powerful Medici fam.ily. Histalenr \'\"J.S recognized early Oil. Aged 19,

after the death of his patron Lorenzo de Medici in 1492, Michelangelo Jeft for Bologna, the .• :! lived. in Rome from 1496,

before resettling in Florence in 1501.

In. the ' ... arne yeat Michelangelo carved the marhle s[C"ffiptllfe David in Florence, embarking Dna lifetime exploration of how best to represent

the male fnrm. Michelaogelo mainly considered h:imselfto he a sculptor and had to be coaxed into decorating the Sistine Chapel ceUlllg In. the Varican with. fre,'>Coe.$. The chapel had been built by Pope S.ixtlis IV, bur it was his nephew Pope JlliilllcS n who commissioned the work. The ClImtirm if Adam (1508-12) forms the central panel ofthe cl1apd and shows God handing life to Adam and,

... THE CREATION OF ADAM (dami), .1511 MICHELANGEl.O

l1J this dd:ail Film the' centra! ptmd ·if thr! Sistine Ch:apdcming, God s ri skt 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.

metaphorically to the rest of Creation. Miehelangelo's real contribution to painting can be seen. in Ad~ill1"~ fully realized body, with irs perfectly jUfdged combination of strength and grace.

Thetirst artist - and, many wO'UJild 'sacy, th.e grealCS[ ever - tospecialize in. depicting the malenude, Michelangelo devised a bril6a.nt scheme for the Sistine Chapel ceiling. His complex design. of interwoven scenes was painted as he 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 :from Genesis th.ro!,l!ghto the life of Christ. The Lost judgement was completed separarelyfor the altar will in 15'34·. It is a monumenraland asrounding vision that earned its artist the title

ii divjn~ jMirhe:kllgdr), and ensared that his influe.nce persists to this day. In his extraordinary dedication to the task

of completing the Sistine. Chapel commission and his willingness to trust 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,

if llil IE II if A IL ,I It N 11'1 IE IN It II S S A IN C IE 123

.. THE LAsT JUDGEMENT (d~tail of Sin ners Being Dragg,ed Dawn to Ref!), 1535-1541 MICHELANGEI..o

.IInightflrurim vil-ion rftht5 arxa!),pst5 in whirh bvdi,~ contort and ~i1rithe, with Sfmis ming and d~tilJding aur;rdirig to hor,/1 Chml jUdg,5 their ji"lil:. A huge 1l/1f}rk:J it !ipml!i the BTI..ti:>;,;' 'IWi} &hi:old th? altarrfthe S i§1in,,;' Ch"",F'tmdlr;ak $Ix yefH!i to mmpkt.e.

24

BEAUTY AND CLASSICAL HARM'ONY

T H . .E S.ON. Or-A I'A. INTER, R. aphsel (1483-152D, real name

RaffaellI) Sanzio) was, along with Leonardo and Michelangelo, one ofthe three greatm;asters of the Italian Renaissance, YOl!1nger than Leonardo and Michelangelo, Raphael moved from the small town ofUrbi:no to Florence in 1;04 where he studied their work, quicklyrealizlng rhe extent to which these: two weretransforming the whole conception of painting,

In Florence.Raphael, li~e Bellini, was a painter of Madonnas or Mad{mncieTe_ln these early pa.intings, the Vi:rgin is s1110V.f]] W;i1 tender, gentle figUlite, whollY' immersed in caring for her baby Christ, with an ideajized, harmonious landscape stretching oot beyond. These works show a rrmstery of

composltion and have a ~.re nity :1 bout them, preseming an. untrcueled vision of the world.

This perfect calm. andsense of wellbeing are what separate rhearr

of Raphael fmm the moreintellectual approach !if the othertwo g.reatm:a.stu~ of the It.w.an Renaissance. Michelangelo 1/ir:tsrcp ~ltooly Jealous of his YOljng,er rival's charming and ek,Y manner, 'JiJ::cusing him of ,.ti:<l]ing his ideas,

B!!It while Raphael's compositions and draughtsrruU1csh.ip might owe a lot to Leonardo and Michdwlgdo, it was really his rich feeling for colour and emotional harmony that consritured his unique contr.i.bJlJJti.OI'l ..

In 1508, Raphael decorated the papal apartments Stttllze in. the Vatican f-or Pope JuliUtS U. The Sr/}ool.if Athens Oil the

... T[~ SCliODL OF ATHENS (de.tail), 1509-11 RJ\PI-M.EL

A frtl'm flrmincgpart·if Raphad's commission to dtwrate rooms in. the Apol'toEc Palace iii the patiam. Plato and Aristoilt lUI~ Jmr,fnJ iii thtJ .c,tnire,et!.gaged in. philomphiuddebtlt~ mrr9un.dfd by a dynmuir; group if figur;~~ r.prfJ;frllirlg the 'U{ffiO!H mbj~A th£d need tv .be maJt;cral/iJr r.!a'Ima/llIaming Hid:! as ashrmomy,. gemndry and urithm.t!tic.

main Vlrall in the Stanza della Segnanira, with its m.any grot1pi.ngs of scholars in a great architect\,lral csttti.ng,

is the most famm.lll ofthese frescoes,

In his later years in Rome, Raphael also painted portraitsnoted for their subtlety and acute characterizanons, as well as de$igningi.n.te.riors for other wealthy Romans _ His work displaysa great sureness; in the compositions, dign.ily and grace combine with a sense of calm, Raphael's evocations of the classical Golden Age were to become the model for study in the academies,

His work was also .1 gI'eat source of inspiration to the great Classical painters oflater centuries such as I\:YIIL'><'.in and Ingres, Reputodly, the papal court was grief-stricken on hearing of his early death from fever at the age of 37.

~ SAINT CATHERINE OF ALEXA NDRlA, c1507-8 RAPHAEL

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

a}TJ.~bi ~li:>lg graGii' and a SiJ71SI:' of will". but made ntO":E" dynami,c .ly Saint Catherin.t's giirnu tr;ward5 tOt: bt&tJen.rr .. Shit i>.depic.tttd lean. iriS on t& ~!)oed Ip01'l wbi.rh me IW.<iJ; ,r.omltimnced to die; b!!twhid; Iij!ill" mir.cu;ulrmsly destrayed by a thtmderlmlt<

if IIiIIE II if A IL ,I A N 11'1 IE IN A II S S A IN C IE 125

VENETIAN C'O'LOUR AND

LIG HT

RILE THE SCHOOL IN

At the same time, Anmnello da Messina (c 1430-79) introduced the oil paintiilg technique of Van Ey.;:kro Venice. Messina had first Currie across oil paintings by the Netherlands artist in NapJes, and used !he technique: m good e:fFect in his own. work -mainl-y portraits 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 in egg yolk. Oil pai:nt by contrast iII".lS slowdrying and this had the advan tage of creating a greater deg·ree.of realis.m, as arrisrs were able to build up an image more slowly, layer Ill' layer.

FLQRENICE was central to

the great flowuiilg of the ltali.aD. Renaissance, the school in Veil.ice was developing some important innovations of its own. Atthe end of the lSth teu!l!1ry, Venice WaS;t powerful, independent city stare and an important 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 century Vilas the school of Padua, inparticelar the OCl!11ptlJlI'ul and threedimensffinru eff6ct~ achieved by the gH~at master ofperspectiee, the painter Andrea Manregna.

.... THE TEM:PEST (detail),. ci5l0 GIORGJ:ONE

A r:t historians have long debatt£llhe· Jignificam:e if the ~nigmati,c flregroulidif The Tempest, with iH stu 71ud wiumn!i, (j w1di6r and a stmi-naketl ~IJOnum bret1Jt-fleding

her .hild. IrJ .thtl badtgr:ourJd,. a jlaJh rj"Jigbtningjills th~'pid"ur;6'i:J]ith a ,<'me ·rifjiJrdJrJdirlg

Messina passed his knowledge of

oil painting on to Giovanni Bellini (d431-1516), who was to become one I) f the mos r importa ut artists ofthe Venethm school, Bellini adopted the technique of oil ghl'zing and l!anded it Oil. to h:isf.'l mous p'l,lpils, fLr·st Gi.orgi.mi.e (1477-1510),md later Titian. (c1488-1576). Bellini painted. mainly religio!bls themes, hut he was qaickto show an ability to create. lyrical harmony between hisfigures andtheir setting,

Bellini's mature styleimpre&~'es because alit. high degree ofrealism and 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 character, There hadn't been. portraits which expressed such insight or feeling before. This Venetian ieding 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 nonreligions 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 . Belli l1i uteS his iruit hi a1Jd skiN to •. .:mv<,}

f n the Doge} /ac,ea mix.tw"ti of emotwll$compassion, intdiigence and ,r;rn:fidai.Uifrom tOt! minimum an.umnt 0/ infornUltirm.

'!fIIilIE II'!fAIL,IAN II'IIEINAIISSAINCIE 127

NORTHERN RENAISSAN'CE

0'0-16'0'0

c

I

4

Whae the R,enaissanae was gatherinK momentum in It>;l.ly, there were also changdi taking place in the Netherlands and GeLmany that signalled a new era. For pai.rtt'rng. While there ~~ome evidence that artists trom. the northern cities of Gen~, Antvverpand B.ruges\¥e[,e aware of the great innovations in Italy, their work showed marked differences froil:) that of theirsouthern 0011n~erpUits. In Italy, the Renaissance was inspired by humanism and a. revival of classical antiquity; northern ar.tist'$ werefess preoccupied with attaining ideal .harmony and beauty than. their Italian equivalents. Throughout the l5th ,century, the architecture in the North continued to look to the Gothicstyle of the previous century, which was: characterized by ptiinted arches, rich ornamentation andvllulted ,eellings. In painting, northern artists w,e~~flwiy Starting to break fr,ee of the Gothic: tradition, r,ej'ecting the ocrurtly ,e~egatl:c:e and overly decorative work that had hitherto been much in demand,

In the North the changes took p~aceagainst a backdrop 'of .religious reform andrevole against the

I4UO

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

cI4oa-r,p5 Y9;!1gU, .'JmMi'~g empW'{)r, ."uilt the 'P()i1H.d.de.n Ciry' il1 Beijing, uiing 2@{),,o,OO ioiNllirtiN

Church. The revolutinnary a.spec:t~ of the Italian movement, such as the scientific discoveries of perspective or anatQmy, interested northern artists less tha n an aspiration to reproduce the natural world in ail its wonder. Northern Renaissance artists mane extraordinary advances in naturalism; their paintings V\i'ere a. mirmr of the world wi1Jh. every ieaf! lock IOf hair anJd piece of velvet drapery replicated in exquisite-derail.

The preferred methcdofthe Italian artists was to use tempera,a. medium .in which the plgmtots were. suspended in qu.ick-ckj'ing '~gg yolk or a " .... hole ,egg. BQr a.long time, Jan van Ey,ck, the Netherlands artist, was general.!y credited with the discovery ()f oil pa:inti.ng. There is now some doubt over whether JJlO van Eyek or his brother Hnberr ucrually invented the technique, although it' is widely accepted that ~b~v discovered that mixing pigment with lin seed or walnut oil slows down the 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 with a luminous brillia neethat astoni she d his conremporarie $..

LtPQ-I5DO

111 Vmi'.re Girmmmi Spi;!1,ettiprodUl1ed tl,efi'mpimwJ

,'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 ·0£ derail, other= Flernish artists {)ffeIDed 'other irnportant naturalisticadvances. R>ogi.er van der Weyden1. Hugo van dec Goes and Matthias:

Griinewald invested spiritual and re:l.igiou;s themes with a new sense ofcJa:rity and purpose, paying close attention Ito ev,eryday objects and people, 'as v;eM as' expressing 11 wide range of human emotions.

The invention 0'£ pr.inting was another hu~ advance in the North, Albrecht Durer, a towering figll.re, developed skill 51 as: a woodcurter and e ngrav'!'!r and combined these l:ethrricals.k.ilJs with 11 dedication to detail to produee sensitive, intensely beautifiil works, Diirer'1; printswere more widely available as illustrsrions in leaflets and book!l.;,lt wasno longer, rherefore.jusr the ari stocrats 'V!th.oQO.uld enj or pictl,l.[~';.

Up until this point, landscape was nat considered to be an appmpriatef>ubj'ect in its own right. For the nrst ri.rnle,s>ome northern painters, in particular Lucas Cranachand Albr!ecbt Altdorfe:r. painted the forest::> .and rocky terrain of their immediate surroundings - paintings which had 11'0 lobvious story or me:SSla~ and

14$1

The Va;timn Liwmy wilJfiNmdet!

lSI]

King Fadi,iuM'9j StiliI'! announced: '(iaig{'Jld, .. humdl'l ely ifprJfSiUe, but at all htn,.llfflf,. get grJitl '

I500 ThetrJtait'4'ulatirm oftlxwrJr!d I'Qje to 40() milJirm, 'with

a ,(}!l.(J(rt€'I' in J!:1tf"rljJ!e and Russia

sometimes contained no human :figures. FortIaitll[,ewas another gE!nr,~ of painting which starred to have real meaning in. the Northat this rime - from. the insightEhl and moving 'work QfDi:iH~J: to the dignilied portraits' of the English aristocracy by Hans Holbein the Young'er.

Ifr in the South, it was: a. question of how best to oonvey a)1l:ounrung new ideas, in me 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 that ft:a:r and tm,-'ettainty had displaced t>eligion; the gHNith ofP[ote;$tantisro led to pictures featu:di1g any kind of'popish idolatry' b~ing outlawed or-even burnt. Painting around the start of the 15tl1 century, Hieronymus Boscll's surreal a.nd pessimistic vi.~ion seemsremarkably presd,e(lt Hi>~r(Jvllded panels teem with medieval s)'robo!:i:sm, reflecting the uncertainties of me Jlge and :revr~iliilg a terror of hell var its <core. Bo&ch'~ rugntmarj.sh. scenes 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 mat had dominated painting ~tpto this point.

1$,45

The fint European. comllci:r:al gardeN rucI f eJ:talilishet/

in Pudllt(

1588

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

I JO.OfJO_ m~tJ alJ.oa rd 130 ffltJH

1564

William Sl/U.ke}<pt!tl"l\e \!Lta~b{lffl

30

CLARITY

AND

NATURALISM

AINTINGS, THAT S,TAIITED to

appear in. the Netherlands at the beginning of the Hth century

cc ntained an exrrao rdinary new depth. of pictorial reruity:Rejecting the elegant and decorative elements of the Gothic style nfth.e previ.ou5 centllll'y, these works o~rered a window into the real world, pf01liding glimpses ofereryday interiors a nd re ruitri.n:g surf .. ces in mericlIlil)"t:.Ls detail, There VI'llS no liner exponent of the newnatnealism than the Flemish master, Jan van Ejck (dJ:90-H41).

Van Era porl'rayoo the world with an ·astol.mdin.g degree of detaillargcly because of hismasrery of oil painting. Wo:r.ld.ng with his brother Hubert, Jan

van E}'1:k experimented with oil pigment, mixing the colours with different oils, ln pJac~ of the egg medium used up!!ntil this point by artists working in tempera, 'This pioneering, transparent mediem allowed him "In create perfect surfaces

lry bill ildi.ngrran,>1:t.leent layers of colour, which lent a vivid, luminous intensity

to' his paintings.

Van Eyck'$ finesrwork, The Arnolfini Murriage., shows tbe fullextent of his technical virtuo..sity: The portrait of a. silk merchant a nd his bride-ro-be isthe :lIrst double fiill-lengtli co Ilremporary portrait in. the North, as well asthe record of a marriage inthe Middle Age,. Although Van Ejek proba hly recreated. the scene in.

order to paint it, the work has a documentary ftel to it (we can.

see the artist and another possible wlrne.ss to the cerernonyin the COnvex mirror reflection). The 'action' takes place in. an. interior as richly defined as m:any interiors in 17tb-tentltlty Dutch

pai.nti.ng. Van Eyck depicts the couple, the interior of tllI,e room. and the various symbols Vi.ri.min. it with. unique lucidIty. Details, such as the light hanging from. the ceiling in perfolClly judged, receding spare, the aerial view ofthe discarded shoes in sharp shadow and the fnJJit on the window sill combine In indicate paintinEls nnw seeminglj limitless potential to s.how th.e wnrlda!l it really is.

~ THE ARNOLF1NI MARR11l:GE, .14.14 ]JAN VAN EYCK

A douhle por.trait of Gi OWl, 11 j di Nicolao .lirn.(}lfini andhh wift in ..til upstairs room; most jil!;e,ty {J,t theil'" home in the Flem~h rityif BrIlgf!!;, Th.t ~f)wJthJ ample ar,tuaify married .I"<'1LIfnyears b,t;for;e thl: tainti rig" w it doe: IlrJtprovitli:« r;ewra 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

T H . .E N .. EW NATUAALI.SM OF .THE Netherlands, best shown In the

intricate VI'Ofk oOan van Eyek, began toattractattention and, by the mid-1450s, it> influence was widespread. Other Flemish artists, such as Rogier "an clef Weyden. (d4{}0-14(i4), Hugo vall der Goes (1440-1432) and the German artisr Matthias Griinewald (d470-151S), wQ&.edalmost ex.<.;h1!lively with. religious themes, lls.ing 11 naturalistic approach which ga:velhdr p ainrings a sharper se use ofpLlrpose and dmity than ever before. While there was a certain ,artificiality ill Van Eyck'$ work - as if reality was trapped under glass - rhe pal.nti.ngg of

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

Va n derWeytl.en was one of the most influential artists of the 15th. century,

He was the olticial conrrpainter to the Duke of Bmgun.dy, Philip the Good, and his painti.flgs were despatched to Spain and Italy, em)lUJ'lng that his ~put"dtion spread Wider. His work wa~ celebrated

for its closeattennon lD detail and the e-xp.ressi:vc pathos thar he managed fO <1th.ieveth:roiLIIgh his moving depicrions of important religi.ous scenes, In large-scale composirinns, like Ekpositir;"/J or Pieta,. Van. dtrWeyd~n argan.i:zc;s his group of ligures in shallowpictarial '''P are so that attention is fOC[Lc!ilid on. the grief etched on theirfaces,

This emotional intensity is also fotmd Ill. the work of Hugo van der Goes, who made large-scale paintings of

religious scenes, including the Portinari Altar-piet:t, with its monumental Hgurell gath.ered around the infa:nt Chri:st. Other lesser- kn.ovm northern :;1 rtisrs made reli.g:imJJ$ paintings, hut few were as csu(_"C~ssf-cl at combining the realistic derail found i 11 the work 0 fVan Eyck with the expressive p01li.rec orVan der Werden. or Van der Goes,

The painter whose work articulated the darkest rdigious vision was Matthias Grunewald, a. Germanartist who. focucsod on themes of'homan Sl\Ifferillg. His nhl,,,rerpiece, the aha;rpjene forrhe hOcspimi church at he:nheim in Alsace, shows

in brutal detail the~gonr that Christ ,~!J.jfered. on the cross, his 1I.m bs co ntortod, his twisted body covered .. in laceratious.

.~ DEl>QSlTION, c14J5 RomER YAN DER\¥EIDEN

Depositlo.nforu.l'<'S out attention. On. gnif Th« ,ffltotion.t11 ,rhtn-geoj' tht pain. ti 11g is fo r:ther heighmud by the dramat!.r;'p(}!JM, espmally .that' rjiHury;. wJw.1: >wr;orJi12g formltchrNJS tht! .&rW<t'1l hr;.dyrf her son.

IN GAil' HE R N 11'1 IE 1111 All SSAIN OlE

.... THE ADORATION 01' THE SHEPHERDS (PrJrlillmi AltarpieCi' - central panel), 1476 HUGO VAN DER GOES

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,ci fomi/:;',for the ~hutTh iflh~ Hopitai ofSta lMaria NU9'iJa in Florence. fall der GrJes S8r7W5 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

THE I..EA.DlNG ARTIS,T of the

nort .. h.em Renaissance, AJhroc. ht DUrer (1471-1528), was born in Nercmberg. His father 111',\5:1. goldsmith who ta:ught him how to draw in silver point. As the line could not ea~ilr be erased, thismethod forced the artist to develop a ~perb linear technique, This sparked a dedication In close observanon lind exact renderIng which was reinforced by other early influences, These included an apprenticeship in 1484 to Michael Wo1gerntlt, the leading Nuremberg painter and iDustrato[ of the day.

D(.irer learned the techniques of woodcur engraving fmm. him ..

Du.re:r enjoyed. greaf StlCcCeSS early on in hies career and was ,~wifr1y acknowledged

~ YOUNG flARE, 1502 ALBR~CH!T DORER

III this in.i'clise '(J)attrroir;ur ~tu4y" Albrecht Dur:eT p,aint~ ,a young bars from lift.

Y!Yoog Hare is an ,eXfJUiritl' =mpJI'rj' hv.th Diira ~ extraonli nrtry pO'l.am if Obte1"Viltic)1J and hi~ ability it; g" b,ryrmd a mer" ,dpic.ti(}li of nature to mrl'!!''J a sense of wonder and euen asae,

as Germarry:~ leading artist for his draughtsmanship. H is omp tit was pmdigioli.l$; he completed more than 200 woodcuts daring his lifetime. From. 1496 onwards, he made sL"V'e["M trips to Italy where he: was pmfmmdly affected by

the revolutionary changes takl:ng place. Unlike m:an:y artists of the northern Renaissance, he studied artists such. as Leonardo and Relli:ni, whoseuse of colour he particularly admired.and produced several oil. p·ain.ti.ng,~ showing the Italia nate in:f1ue nce.1i/V1:1'lt is most distinctive abo'ut all ofDurer's work is its obsessiveness, re'!"ea.lin.g a relentless desire to expose the inner truth of the subject,

Durer produced several ~'leIf-portrailS, which in itself W<lS something quite Il(;W; The self-portrait of 1498 shows the artist

as a dig.nibocl., confidenrtraveller edngletred, dressed in fine, noble garments and striking a pose before a landscape in which the ice-capped distant mountains recall his travels to the Alps. D&er dearly SHW himself as a Renaissance man; he was deeply curious abol!It the wholeintellectual background to the Renaissance m.ove.rtl.ent and w.rote treatises onthe subject. SignHlcantly, he was chielly responsible for introducing the Renaissance ideas and a cbievemenrs he discovered in the SOUJ!th to the North, 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: the world around him with sd.enti.l:'Lc a,c'CIiliOlcy, as well as sensitivity and grace.

~ SELF-PORTRAll, 1498 ALBRECHT DURER

Thi> sdJ-portmitof the artist at 26 is (}'IJ:t: 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 ,a.tti ,e .that giVill him srJ11rt:.thi ngof the air of an Italian g,entlenum. Prior if) ih~ /aintm had neva Imm deputrdwith 'fud) prJi:re and wphi:rti(Llti{m.

NORTHERN A~NAISSANCE

EARLY

LA'NDSCAPES

P UNTIL THIS. POINT IN THE

for inspiration. Both artists were part of the Danube School, a loose grouping

of artists committed to txploringtbe Ge.rm;arl landscape.

L1J'CllS Cmnach the Elder Wl\CS just one year older than D(ir.er, but his work does not show the "arne. degree of 1,IIlsv!'crv:ing concentrarion as Ihe YOllluge:r artist, although he tOO produced. work with. an. amazing degroe of naruralisnc detail. While he did not produce pure landscapes, Cranaeh made the dark foreses he. grew I!1p with '<til important fcatme of his work Some of erana,ch's

15th century there had been no such thing a$lands~pe painting. Prior to the Renaissance. the views 011 disph;ywcre. often hea'l'uy

sty lized with trees that looked like lollipops a rid steep lysrepped h HIs dt<lt wovc!.:mcoO'vi.nd.ngiy i nro tl~,e distance. For rhe .Iirst rime, norrhern painrers, in parricularrwo German artists Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-15'53) and Albrechr AllOOrk.r (c1480-1538), started to look to the pine forests and rockj terrain of their immediate Sllti<:Ylilndings

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

A$ court painNr to fhl: eleaor ofSux(my, Crtl11r:uh ~j)flS dut}-brnm,d to pr()'!Jid~ fhl: tourr with pOl'lraiH .of the ruler and hie; fomilYGts wdi tier /luord. of important oaasions. Thier hiJnti ng pirture r;frrlC<U how sm:grw6TS 'chf1jJu! intv lhcwa.fer to ,(!,Ilubll: .thB court party t(}fi1Ji:rh .tht:m .r;ff mrJrt:easily.

nudes look contrived andawkward, although occasionally he managed to integrate Hgtlres more sll(ccessfi11lly into his n .. rral settings.

Alb rechr Altdorfer was not a traveller, unlike D1l.l:rer whose topograph.ical watercolours of the Alps he mnch admired, H01li.rever, he made: frequent trips along the River Danube to make painti.ngs in which the landscape is the only lOcus of attention,

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 distant view of bluemountains, The overall effect is romantic and yet there.\

a ~~!11htJe,alrnost imperceptible sense of foreboding, Here A1tdo.rfer becomes

the first real artist In 1(1 Me rstnnd the overwhelming. emotional impact of landscape. Other works show tinyfig:lil!I'e$ dwarfed 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 1W a lmuiswp.e devoid rf p.eople or blJiMinger tmd~mpha:rizingtht: romantic qualities oJlight and pace, .J11td(}1'fir was Oflto/ the first artists to U1idmNmdthe hllgt emotional poW6T .rlfpure landscape. Altdorfer beianie £I riti.t.&Iif Rtgt'1i.wurg in 1505, am/latu a !fllrveyor if tbl;

,~itJ} building!f,

38

I'NVENTIVE

FANTASIES

IERONYMUS BOSCH

(c1450-1S16) tonk his name Itom his native Dutch ()W'n 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 .for the spiritualimprovement of his to\l\rfi. He abo designedstained-glass win.dows. If hisreligious beliefs were quite orthodox, however, the major.ity of his work certainly wasnot, If you. look at Vim Ejck and Van der Weyden,therwo most influenti;a1 painters i(1 the Northern Renaissance, there ls almost no similarity to Bosch .. Tht only ;~lyli..stic infl!)l!ence that can be 11.11.1::00 to Bosch are the

miniature stories found 1i\~thi.n medieval illuminated man uscripts,

Bosch's paintings present

transcriptions of'biblical scenes which

he embellishes heavily with his '0'WI1 iconography of signs, sym.bol~ and allasions to Cl(.pose the manyte mprarions that are pcut belOre man and the fearml consequences that may result for the sinner, His work i'$ borh a remarkably pmfu!lnd comment on. the human eondirion as well as an expressi.on of ih{: mwicv"llIVlfl)rldview; this, with its pessimism. and terror of hell, held SW.1J! until the Protestant Re.form.ation took hold in the 16th cenru 1)'.

Unli:ke many of his oonte.mpomrks, Bosch didlit lilse underpainting, but painted directly .0 n 10 the gtmmd, relying on. his skills w.ilh the brush. Tb~ Carden of Earthly Deligbts is one of his most important works, consisting of a series of i!)'l!l:f painti ngs on folding panels. The

cenrral panel depicts a setthing mass of pale, slender, heman bodies seeking gf'J.tilication WlO"ciJgh sensual pleas[.l(e. These are not fully realized human beings bl!J:t gothic types, whose prupose

is to drive home the moral message. Hosch's extraordinary \>',1011 incorporates ma.nr elements ofbizame fantasy as halfhu man, half-animal crea filres parade ina fin.t~l$lical setting of imagin.ary bLlildings, parks and rivers.

Ho,~h's work was admired dllrrin.g his own 1Ifetlmt and Philip IT of Spain VlrJ;.S 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. He was then.largelyforgotren until the 19th century, and rediscovered again. in the 20th centcury by the Sl!JJneaiist$.

~ THE GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS, HEll. (daail- right pand), 15()O HIERDNYMUUS Boscn

Botch's largt triptych gives a d$i/eilacCf}imt .[Jfth~ creation. .oftht world b,eflu and ,after man ba. m~cu mhetl to the $tfvtll dffldly >11'1$,. In Hdl:,. rormEI1.t1; tmd horror. await ait thrJ1;,i3 wbo hasse lranI!!'tI>S6£i and BrJKh d&i!y depicts figurn diJtrJrtedby {t'Wrir:e' and gl&itl(}1'}.y" as well us a giant birdfwii11g .oN Jmman/h&

40

PORTRAITS

AND

MINIATURES

T H~ p' .. on:."' .... RE,aRMX"'O" - inspired byrne teachings of

Martin L:"theI' - provoked ,... crisis i.n the arts as Catholic imagerywas denounced as 'idolatrous', Protestants did not condemn all art - it was Catholic religious art theywere mainly again"tbut it meant that there were suddenly 'Very .few; if any, commissions for

painters .. Some arrisrs became redundant and rna.ny chose to puesueallied or, in some cases, unrelated occupations,

Hans Holbein '!'be Yo l!!fige r (1497-1543) worked initially in his fat11e.r"s workshop in A:ugsbu:rg, but left early in. his career to live ill Basel Ey 1516, Holbein had started to paint portraits that I'.<ere exquisirely rendered in the realist manner. Between 1517 and 1519, his style became noticeably sofier,

.. THE ERMINE POIITRAIT, 1575 NICliOlAS HILLIARD

Ermine .. vas tho: 'YmDo! of r~lty and dose i'l1sF,r;tir:m tro6als that.the arJimai is 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 if state l'est'I .oil II;" tabk b.~ide: her and stands forj!lstice,

shovlling how the innovations of the Italian Renaissance were now filfering thr(ii;);gh to the North. By 1525, there

was a g:reat deal of unease and strife in Basel as the Reformanon began to

spread WrO'UJ!gilo'lJ!t Europe. Holbe.in decided to go to Englend and set sail with "letter of introduction to the Kinffs Treasurer, Sir Thomas More, from. one of his sitters, the D1l1l'Ch scholar Erasmus.

Although King Henry VlII wall committed to Protestant reform, there were openi.n:gs in. England - :a country that had no hi,tory of artistic greatness - for ~a talented artist like Holbei.n. He painted a portrait of the More family; this was an important landmark as it was the first time anyone had painted a grO'up po rtrait of a fami.ly at home.

Ona second visit to England in

15'32, he was introduced. to Henry VIII and produced a series of ou.lt'Standing court portraits, including one of the king with his thi.rdw'ife, Jane Sejmonr,

A shrewd yet respectful ceye meantthat he steered \l, fine line between beall!t11)-ing bis si:JJbjocts and e:xpo"ing them w'.uts

and all; his dispassionate, nonji!l.dgem.ental style enSl!1red that he retained his position. asthe leading artist in. the Tudor COUiJrt.

In. later years Holbein turned 10 miniature painting (or limning), fashiorung tiny portraits of his sitter's head and shoulders ',lndpidci.n:g out details with a fine brush, His only successor of ~1 nl' real note was the English miniaturist Nicolas Hilliard, who was appointed as limner and goldsmith In 'QlLleen Elizabeth 1 in 15'62.

~ Pmtrlt'\lT OF EDWARD VI,. PRINCE OF WAu:S,.1538 HANS HOUIE[N

Edward l/Lbecam« Ki'llg at the ag.! of nino: and bii en tirit' ru Ie' seas umductm ly uge:'llti as ht never re:ac&d mtUurity, dying at

.fbI' age ·rif15. He soas a gift&! pupil and /JOiMtl.i partrmt rf.th~ yr}/mg lroy 'With

its serious .e.xpre>flon emphlMiU5this intr.rJ'Ipet:tiv.(!, awdemi.c ride.

IN GAil' HE R N 11'1 IE 1111 All SSAIN OlE

P }..~VV~L 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 Hvrvs !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

'ViN-£Ii'D~ ¥1~lSn- :Q._V(D:::f R.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

THE

LAND

lEUR IhWEGEL (e1525-15'69) was the last, and one <0 f the. greatest, .of the 16th century artists from . northern Europe. Many details of his life are uncertain, hut he was born ll.nd 11"'00 10 Antwerp. (He spelt his name 'Emeghel' 'until 15$9 when. he lost the '"h:, but for some reason, long since forgotten., his sons d1J.ng on. to rhe or.igin.aJ version.]

His ear ly works clearly show

the. influence of Bosch, the inventive distortions of the 'Ibsoer if Babel i1;re 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 knowledge .of myth and legend. He went Oil a two-year trip to France and kaly in 1$52, but was largely 'unalf6cted brine

quest for ideal classical thrm that he undoubtedly came across in Italy. He did, however, make detailed studies of the Alps on his journey home, and these rorm the basis for many of his later landscapes, On hisreturn, he turned to the peasants and the cmLlltrysidt around his native Antwerp fo.r inspiration, often ~dopting a disguise to mingle wIth the ord.iwary v.'OCking people in. their raucous celebrations. He became knownas '1'e,l$allt'Bmegel on account of'his

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

oti!t~t:J.nding example, as it truly makes LlS fed what it Yl.""S like In inhabit the physical world he.portmrs. Em15gelwas fascinated by those who worked on the land and WJ,$ kee n In convey the differingrelationships man 11\1d with the landsl.:ape, shown at time's as ov;e.rpowering and also capable of

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

Dllrin.g the last six years !)f his life 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 and there were many who tried to imitate him. Bruegel had two sons who became 21ti:st~;J\<1n Brueghel (1568-1625), the second son, was the more sLI.c{:cssfilll, becoming renowned for his delicateHower 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;roJ folk merT)'makillg, pasting, .m..d worki'lg in .flu trmn.trJ~ide, TJ;1t5il: ~I:rlre ,am,i:S ace r,uorie; '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 All SSAIN CIE

..... Hl1NTER5IN THE SNOW (DECEMUERi1ANUARY), 1565 PIETER BRUEGEL '(ll-IEEJ.DER) From Bruegd $ol'igi nal group ~f paintin,;,TS d~pictifW kmdscapes and Inil'lum .(lcti viti~ thro!lghthi' seasons, {miyfive baue surviv/Jd {md, ojthe-J,e:, Hanters in the Snow is

the ,fr.est lUiowi2.. In th~ time/en seen <', the countryside is in the' grip o/wirJter and the'

thre.e hu nter; Urn rn with orliy a meagr;;: rabbit i 11 return. for thd r 1forl$.,

THE BAROQUE

cI6oo-1700

It was in Venioeat the tail-end of the Renaissance that Titian first started to cteat:e anentirely m~w direction fOj[ painting with his lQose,.expr.ess.ive brushwork and brilliant colour sense, This in turn was picked up by another V:en,etian painter, Tintoretto, whose grand compositions in churches with their ·0xaggfrl'at:edsens.:e of space start to shoWbh.,e influence of Mannerism. Coy,ering the period in art between IDe High Renaissance and the Baroque, Mannerism was primadly a linear styl.e that-distorted the human form in :ex.aggemted and sometimes: otherwoddIysettings.

<

Tmto.retto and El Gr'Bco were artists whose work:

featluredsome ofthechief characteristics of Mannerism, including discrepancies in scale and harsh colour. Bllt rhesryle is best exemplified in Parmlgianino, whose (lq.mPQsiti.Qns were experiments in the distortion of space and the elongation of£.gu:res,

Then, airhe srartof'the 17ith .century, at a time when most of Ell.rope Wa'S facing gl!eat political, IDeligiQus and social uph~aval,anew type 'of an .eme{g.ed. The Baroque style began in Rome and fUourished particularly in Italy, Spain! Germany !lna Ausuia. Thee Dame Baroque was

1604 Or=&!i finishd tAe fim modern n rmd, DQnQ~ix9w

1605

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

',E·.I··R····A

- - - ~"

applied retrospectively tothis particlIlar style and has come ~ be associated with paintings with vigorqus movement and emotional intensity. Baroque artists pu.shed. £')j[yvard the naturalistic achiev>Nnents of the Renaissance.in creating an ever more convincing illusion of realitj, but went further in wanting to involve the spectator in the drama, These P ainting,$ were a bout 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 drama, Typically; works rea rured stron g contrasts of li g!k t and shadow which enhanced the dramatic effect"ri}ch colourand expre.ssiv.e gestll.res. The interplay of 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, scientific; advances such as those in as;tt{)Oomy, philosophy and physics, as well as the developm,ent of printing) were taking place against a backdrop of relig:inu:s tensions between Catholics and Protestants. In res.-pon sets the Pro tie stant

16I4

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1614

The ClmThJul"ced GaJiJIJ,(J i.rrr.xmlt after he $uggeJied the earlh re'lJ{)/Vel round tbe .~!l.n

16l!9

The fim !lav:e~ arrioed in 8ritM NrH'th Amel-ica aboard il Dutch '/1elid

&efmmatilon ,of the early 16th century, the Catholic Church embarked in th.e 1550s ana pr,ugramme of rene-val known as the Counter- Refcrmarion. The Baroque movement took root in countries where Catholicism was revitalized by the CounterReformation, FOM.O'wing an agreement in 1609, the Nethe:rI:an:d9 v .. as divided in tVIfO; the Protestant Nerherlands (or Holland) and the ~uth,ern Catholic 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 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 and life were more ordered and caused less .c,ontrQ1ffl[S'y.

1,6;0;0

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

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WiifW,m Pell7lDegall Prmmylwmio ill a 'H()ly &p,~I'i'mellJ,! M$€d on "Qu\lhr prilJciples

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 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 'tip what cameto be known astihe GoMen Age, of Dutc:h painting. Rembrandt, who li.ved andworked in Amsterdam, was the most celebrated 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 s-umptuollSi stilllifes 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 styi,e of Rococo.

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169Q

Willio;m ·rif Orange WOIl 1m Boille oj the Brry,1/c, .trJuchilJ;g off th~1' rensurie: :0/ I'digi!}l1~ lilwdJhed

FREE

EXPRESSIVE

BRUSHWORK

T InAN (c1488-15'76) VLf;lS the m~t important Venetian p~jJnte:r of the 16th century and o ne of the f,'featest and most vers arile artists ofthe Italian Renaissance.

Born in the Dolomites, Titian went to. 61f(: in Venice as a. 1»y where he was first apprenticed to a maker of mosaics, befo[crecei.v.ing training in Giovan.n.i Bellini's studio. Hethenenrered Giorgione's studio, thus ensuring the best schooling he could have ha-d. in VCllic-eat me time.

Titians fast major commissinn was tn complete three frescoes in Padilla. Then, in 151-6, after both his early mentors, Giorgion.e and Eellini, had dioo, he VI"'"" appoi.ntcd officialpainter of the Venetian republic. At this point,

~ A IvlAN \VITH A Q_U1UED SLEE'lTE, ctsto TITIAN

A n ,<,arry worA .by Tlsiasr that = bdi~'tE£1 if} bE a Fwtmit of thE Ita!iDlI !-f}tt A riosto, 1mt till! 5itter na!J neoer been firmly idtntiflM. Rembrand: usd tht: portrait as a modd_for fiii own Self-Portrait at the Age of 34,. Nr;k th!!txttu;ordinar), realism if the !Ile:ro(',

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 and mythological scenes, Although often reluctant to travel, Titian wasinnndated with. offers from the rulers ofFer ..... ira, Urbino and Mannra. His paintings rell

us much ·abour Iraly's mosr pm,'1'erflJI families of the time; he painted the

YO:lIng grandson. of Pope P..lullV for example, 'J,S well us the infant dalllghter of thearistocra tic Stro--l':;;i family. He first met Emperor Charles V in 1529 and was appointed court painter in 1533, He

also worked. for his snccessor, Philip It Titia.n's stature W~IS as great as that of Michelangelo, whom he finally met in

Rome at the age of60 when Titian was invited In stay as a guest of the Vanea n, He is believed to ha v;e lived until he was 90, when he finally sLlc(:!!lmbed to

a plague epidemic.

Titian W\1,~ -a painter whorevelledin bischosenmedium. He applied oil pai.llIt fredy, lil$.i:ngfin.ge.rs 'as well fLS brushes, -an~tidpati:ng themodern emphasis 00. e.m.ploy.ing materials in a direct, expressive manner, He developed his own technique, applying glazes and bright eolours over an underpainting,

111 a sense, light and land$crrpe became his s'l!bj(ltt matter, his work exuding confidence and a great sense ofwellbeing. His warm, rich palette has influenced painters and painting ever since,

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

Cf}rnminirm.ed_for the ,(.eiJing ·if.a dmr.h in Wnifo:; Titian.} Davie{ ami Cr;fiath is ,dl!rig~t:d ttl k !J&il'l/rom beknu. Tht dramatic nature if the tv,tnt is con veyed through.the theatri~anightin.g and ,w7J.t.ortulpo!Jf1, with the fig"'!"!! ofGrdiath 'fiJemiflg!y .alm"t to tOfP!'; down ,rm us,

if H·E IBA I'IOQru EEIR A

48

HEIGHTENED DRAMA AND TENSION

THERE WERE TWO other great Ve~tl.anartists In the latter_ half of the 16th century bo(';Slcles Titian, Their work tells us muchaboor the cIty in which they Ii~a nd worked, as wen as making for an interesting

co ntrasr in styles _ Jaw po Ti nroretro (c1518-1594) was one !)fTItiM~5 pupils and it is said that themasrer wail jealous of his talented pupa, who dedaredrhar his aim was to S!lrpa;S.,~ the rual.\Fin.g of Michelaegelc and the colour of'Titian,

Tintoretto came trom a relatiV'd:y hll1mble backg:rotrnd; his father dyed doth, and he Lived an his \ll!Drki.ng life in Venice wherehe paintedmainly reiigi.o-u;, ~Llbjects and portraits. He worked hard for success and usedall available means to s{)cl1tr·e commissions, incleding undercutting his rivals' rates.

Tinmretro often used a =qudk, a small scale model, to help him. plan his paintings. He positioned wax figurcs under artificial light to SCe how

they affected the c.ompo sltion. H1s crov.,ded pictures, f~alDrillg writhing, fOreshortened fig!JJres, are fuU of movement and drama in the Mannerist sryleIn rhe marure works, his passionate vision produces a sense of suppressed excitement; it i~ as if something incredible is about to happen, His talent fin storytelling emerges 1.1l his paintings for the SCIlIOh di Sail Roc'Co, which depict the life of Christ in. a dark and otherworldly light. El Greco's work clearly ,~howg b.i:~ influe nee.

Paolo Veronese (c15'28-1588) was born in Verona, 0.11 the mainland territory of Venice. He wasprimarily a.

.... CRUCIJ'IXION, 1565 TrNToRETTO

Ti nioretto ~ Cmdtixion. in tht Sc.uoia di _Scm Rocco is a wti dramatic scent" i 1:2 'Which the numerous tp~rt#t(Jl's revolve around the' ,'f'ntmijigur;e: .of Christ on the I:TC'tS. Writing abou:

Crucifixion, He:ray jamrcr mid: 'Suury nO ri7iglfJpirmct in the: world contains :<I.WIlt! if buma» Jifi,~ there is .everythirlg in' it; i7Jdudin.g tbe mottt::x:Y!Jmtf; heal/i].'

decorati .. -e painter whose flattering style played up to the vanIty of the aristocratic Venetian families in the 16th cenmry, Healso specialized in religious scents, set incongruously against opulent Venetian backgro'un,ds.

Ve.ron.ese wasinreresred in dramatic narrative, con:v~yed. with sumptuous c01o:111:[ and tone. His aCli.ltt: eye fpr the uppearan.ce of thi n.gs and the \'i(l1Y In which he managed to capture the: luxurious surfaces ofjewellerj, silks and satins ensured his popularity.

Verornese's seemj.ngly uncomplicated but powerfill vi. ion contr asred '!llrIth the controeersial approach of Tintoretro. However, in. later years, Verone$c faced an Inquisition tribunal to explain. a Dumber of "irreverent and o ffellsi.ve elements" in his List Su.p~r:

~ TI'ffiE WWDING AT CANA {detail}, 1563 PA:OIJO VrnoNESE

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 halding

a contrabas« and VtimmrJ;e' is i 11 a white:

tunic with a 'Viol

50

OF

FORM

ANNlElUSM DES'CR'II>!ES I1n

affected, self-conscious and contrived ,~tyle that fu:,~t appeared in painti.ng,archifocru:re and sculpture towards the end of the Renaissance period. A reaction against classical harmnny; Mannerism relies on

a m,big!!:!ity and ~il searchfor new farms to produce compositions that feature distortion, ambiguous '>pare and unnatural colour, The archetjpal Mlln.n,cri;st is the painter Francesco Parmigianino (15(]3-1.540).

Bom in. Parma, Parmigianino went

'to Rome in. 1523 where he started eXp'crirne,n.ti:ng to create his own, idea of'feminine beatlty. The resulti,ng distortio ns and do n,g.ttion$ were not to everyone's taste and rome denounced his work as fOCI ar tificim. His later works in.elude the muru'"'f_'tlehmled Modonna of tbe Lang Nak with the Virgi.n'S ·1.llIfeasibly long, yet gmc{';fully tapering pale neck.

a nd shoudders,

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

In the Resurrectiontant!,. part of a .tnreelevel altm-pilKl' for thl' d)1.n:h if the Gof"g_ia de Dosia lVIarfa doff Aragon in Madi'iJ, extremve: distortion and in.iense drama are combined. 111 .thi1:, one .rifE} Gra.oJ- mast uleiwltedworRJ, Christ bursts forth from hi1 tomh and tu.RJ the ~ouitingftg ure: upwards t{J~lJt[rd, the neav,ffl£,

El Greco (1541-1J614, n.l Domenikos Theotokopoulos) was born in Crete.

A whCllly (lriginm a nd vi.sinnaI}' painter, he was the greatest exponent of the Mannerist ,~tyle. E1 Greco initially painted icons in the BFanti.ne tradition, bur after m.oving to Venice in. IS 60,

hie, work, with its harsh contours and dramatic lIght andshade, clearly tt01.'ealed the pm:fi)U!n.d lnfhlf;nJ(:e of'Tlnmrerro. Michelangelo also had a $ignificant impact 011 his development.

Ey 1577, E1 Green was in Toledo, Spain where he remained uruil his death. Here his mature style evolwed; characteristically his paintings were composed of dynamic, elongated ngme.s flickering cerily almost like Ilarn,cs. A.lJ themovement $we,eps!lpwards towards the top ·0£ the painting; the light,t',lpid brushstrokes and acidic colmur add

intens itJ roan :alreadyft:r'l'i.d vision. It i s believed he may have used mirrors and other optical aids to achieve some of these distortions.

The legacy ofthe CoumerReformation meant that Catholic Spain was the natural spiritual horne fill someone with such intense religious beliefs, Toledo W:i;S a key Catholic city and El Groen was able to find wealthy patrons there as well as in Madrid, althOlllgh he had little success in s0('Llring :royalpatrormge. His st.range. unique and forceml vision Wl\S much admired to the 20th tent!):l.l'}' by the Expressionisrs,

.. MADONNA OF TliiE LONG NE!CK, 1534 FRANCESCOP ARMlG1ANINO

Thu strtmgdy iJriiJU;kmudwmp~iti(}tJ, 'with its diJ.t{Jrtio1JS if the li1adimn(l'$ ned. .aid sI){}!dderr nmst bao« amjiJ!mded .~r:m.temportl'J idmsrf "'amiy and h.cmnrmJ. In The Story of Art, EH Gom:brirn m,gge:ttj' thitt the i~l.tmli(m WitS to show how a wlutionthat was based not Oil .&.rmrmy .but dffi;.ord.r;.rmld ttrhirot5 atJefjuafly interesting and in~agi~!ativl:' ,tjPr,t.

lSi

52

DRAMATIC

AND

SHADE

Y THE HART or TH E 17th centtllty, Rome had become the main ar lis tic QCntre in Italy, with Florence and Ve.nice declining in impor tance, The COll11 ter- Reformanon had revit"a1i'~ Catholicism in Italy and nowhere W,tS this more evident rhan in Rome, the ci.ty to which the painter M.i.chcla.ngclo Merisl da Carav'.l:ggio (1571-1610) moved in 1592. At this point Caravaggio was srilla relatively unknown artist with :f~' commissions. However, an this changed in 15'96 when he was engaged to paint frescoes for the Contarell .. chapel His SdHat!k'i,iJ series Ca'ilS00. asensarion '0,.00. was condemned as 'vulgar and sacrilegious' by the de~gy;

Caravaggio was a. furediil. and volatile character, capable of acts of

violence, However, if is lOr h.is controversial working methods rather than his temperament that he should be rcmembered.Fn :rejocti.ngth.e Renaissance search for ideals, Oa:rav"il.ggio declared

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 and led to another vir:Jl in:nov,tlion, his use of rhittl"()§I;Uro, or extremes of'ljght

and. shade, His remarkabletechnique, with its concentration on dramatic gestures and doviln-ln-e;:itrth realism, showed j'ucs t how posru.ring the previolls Mil. nnerist style had been,

Cara'!1aggi.o had in.flill.ential patron" who protected him, but his naturalistic technique both olfended and appealed to the Catholic clergy, because they feared

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

Cttravaggir;~ jir:t.t rnajr;r d)!u.h ,wmm~Jirm, lh~ pain.ting depicu.the mrmun.i in thl: GrJpd rif Matthew ~iJh"rJjmH §<l'E:I" Matthew at hi!> §&.ti ill tbt! custom hrJu§f! 61ndmy> to him" ·FrJl!a~iJ me'. Pid uredaround tbl! table in theg irJrmrj! i nl(ti or arc a gmup rif impasriv,e hysJanden,

that the dramatic impact ofhis work might help lure s trait-laced Protests ms back into m!!irches.

Then, at the height of his success, he was obliged to flee Rome, having killed a companion in. a brawl, He: died, lIgod. 37, from. malaria.

Caravaggio's inflm::nee lived on partl.cllJilarly in thework o.fArtemisia Genrileschi (1593-1651) who met Caravaggio through. her painter father, She had a t\ttl'mkn.t start to her career, having been raped at lSI by her tUlor. 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 fi1.'e ve rsions of the bm tal bib lie al sro rr Of}ldi.th $layi.ng Holofernes, and rt is hardnor to interpret this as symbolic of 11. woman painrer'll determination to 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 biblical st(}ry,judith t.ool; ba reV,tin.ge on Nebudwdrlezez.arl gellera~ H(}liferms, for takirlg her hostage by de.capitatfng him ~Qbell he ~u.as drunk .. Gmti!,mhi pail1t«llh~ imago! of Judith SI!V.t:rai times. hJthi, oersion; tbe violt:llt act is prHtra}ul in a ,dipam.rmate' and un romanticized numn.eT.

54

NUDES

Y THE 17TH CENTURY, Flanders was the main stronghold of Catholicism. .in an othervI .. ise Protestant northern Eerope.Jn 1609,

a nagreemenr separated Edgium

and Flanders from the rest of

the Netherlands in tht North; the sourhernmosr regIon remained I!:mde.r Spanish rule. Following the CO:I!:mrerReformation and the reasserrion of the Catholic church in both Flanders and Spain, thetwo countries became a breeding grollnd for religiol)s ideahsm.

It was agailLort this backgr«l!1nJ

that Peter PaulRabens (1577-1640) launched hh career in Antwerp, themosr pmspero!Js dty Ln. Flanders. In.1J600, Rub-ens went to Italy In study and travelled widely overthe nexr decade. He visited Spain where he became friends with the Spani4 master, Veli:sqtuez;. A

cosmopolitan. and magnanimous man, Rill bens 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 by the term Baroque. HL~[el'giml$ pai:nt.i:n.gs contain outpourlngs of gen.!!li:nc emotion .. There's a fueling far ligh.tou1d colour, as well as a clarity of pl1rpose that S~ggt:;5ts a deep sincerity and. optimism,

Rubens spoke many la:nguages and was fegarded as a diplomat due to the ffiM)!' connections he mitn.'J:ged to secure both at home and abroad. From 1,609 to 1621, he was court pairuer to Alberr and Isabella, rulers of the Netherlands, and after Albert's death in 1621, RJ!lb~ns became an adviser and diplomat for Isabella. He also acted as a sptci,u

~. RAPE OP TliE DAI,lGli'tERS OF I.EUCIPPUS, 1616-17

PETER PAUL RUBENS

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

Castor Im.d Polyde:uc~. With hi> "<VarN! tone«, dramatt.lighting atldmJirfing rompositir;n, R!lbeNs ronuI!llidzt"s th~' brutality implicit i'l the narrative and distWi.u$ the 'lJtewJJeT from its implimtirJn~,

adviser to Marie de' Medici, the widowed 'Qt.loen Mother ofFrance, and pmdu0ed paintings for the LU!XemboUiJrg Palace onthe left bank o:f the Seine.

In 1629, he visited the court of C~mr les J in. Enghmd where his vigorGU$ style was much celebrated.

His c~i"l.eable $t!!ld.iQ producod countless porrrairs, landsea pes, re GgiO:!!lo, andmythological scenes as well as altarpieces. Towards the end of his career, his brushstrokes beeamefieerand he prod\!IlJedwork inwhich the sruEmes were incredibly well rendered. These include pai:ntings featwing his well-known, volopruous, Heshylll.lde~ -a Flemish artistic convention equared with pm.pedlY - which. Rubens painred after srudying classical seuiptures. Rub,em was a great influence on many painters, including

Van Dyck, Wattea'u Md, later, Renoir.

~ TICillE Ton.sr or VENUS, c1613 PETER PAUL RUUENS

Seen us the dphtio'fl. ,if ideal flmale b.tauty i 11. W,dtan art, VelJu:r tlx goddess of lQve:, ,(3ntra'fl.<$t1 by b~'I' own re:Jl-~tio1l., saas ,tiC ,[ommrmpla,[t" mi:ie,ct irJ .Me .Re:nai$Un1Cif f~'lU1 B'ar!Xfue: ,eras, Rubens' Vet! !IS, h!J~iJe'IMr, gazeli nat at herself in th!J mirror; bllt at theiflht that h(1· bermty b,ClS IIP·()t!. t!g v~e l:

FREN'CH

NEO,-CLASSICISM

RILE MANY OF' THE GREAT

landscape painters (If the 17th cen~ry were Dutch, two of rhe most important landscape artists ofthe timewere French. :Both Nicolas Po'UlSslll (15'94-1665') and Claude 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 the stronginfluence of the; classical

tradition in. Italy.

Nicholas Poussin lefl: France for Rome in 1614 where he quickly secured

important patrons. PollMSln v."a.~n:t entirely impressed by the work that he saw there, rejecting the affectatlo.n,~ o.f the Mannerists, hutfin.di.n.g me naturalistic mas tereS painting in the 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 of the arch-classicist Domenichino.

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

.... RlNALDO AND ARMIDA, 1630 NIeHoUls POUSSIN

PO!Jssi1J was i nterested in s.t.rJrytdling and tht slJbje;ct is .from .the Italian pod Tasso} .baroque poem, Jem'll'alem Delirered' (1580). 7'h.e Sarace» sorceress Armida is a/:Jr;!<.t to kifltht! Christia1J waniul'Rina/elf}, but Iovt! HOP' ber ftrm~ mmmitti1:lg tbl: dtl&l .. J7Jst~aJ,. w.~ taktiJ him awaylo a nwgim! ii/an.d whert! he kt:mna infab.iatlid 'ilJith htir.

supervise the decoration of the Louvre; 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 should appeal m the mind as well as the :eye. 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 emotional side o.f Baroque while bringing to it all austere, restrained classicism.

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 of soft, golden light which he often observed flf'sr. hand by painting outdoors. He used mjrhological and biblical stories as the basis fin- his compositions, but adapted these, draw.ing upon the c.011JJ1tryside of Campagn.a around Rome for inspiration .. Typically, his compositions feanire 11 '\I1Sfa over 10'wlyin~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 this genre in the 17th centl!Jl"Y and h~ad mar~y imitators, notably the Neo-Classical school in late-Hlth-century Feance .

... APA:5TORAL LAND5CAJ'E, 1'677 CLAUDE LoRRAIN

A 1f1Je painting by Claude for the Roman aristocrat; Prince Lorenxo Colonna; who commission ed at least ~ight othr:r work; from lh~ artist. Like man] of his 'li)OrB, thr: tranqu if mood if a group ,a/peopl.e with mUffed in:rtrunumts admly e:njrJying thi' laml5,mpe I'!u.r}kes the pastoral am!lsfflimtsr( ancient Rome:

58

CHARACTER AND RO'YAL

STUDIES PORTRAITS

UR.ING THE :iBAR.OQ,UE PERIOD portraiture became iil('_reasingly important.

With the decline ofreligious allJm.o.rity, particularly in Protestant countries

such as England and the Netherlands, powerfirl secalarrulers wanted tDsramp their authority by havinglhtir likenesses displayed. for all to see. Flemsh artists Rubens and AIHhony van Dyck (1599-1641) painted images ofthese wealthy and powerful individuals dressed in their lavish robes. These wert: carefuDy des igned to flatter, b1Ut o ften revealed much of the character within \1$ well.

Van Dyek.realized that portrait pa.iilti.n.g cni!t!ld be a passport to successin an increasingly secelar age. After becorniog chief'assistanr to' R'Jjbtn~,

Van Dycktravelled extensively in haly, paiilting portraits ill Ve.nice and Rome.

.. CHARLES I, c16J5 ANTliiONY VAN D¥CK

Van Dyrk ~va.r court pailltE"r to Charltt; J and.soas knighted try him in 16JJ.

He pai I'Ittil sti'll.erai different prH~trait'rf

thl! King, i mludi1i.g this rme in ImntirJg gtrar in which jg workd hard to ft.atter the: mOrJtm;h thmugh tlg diglliji.ed >iam:e and degant silir:attire.

He rerumed to Antwerp, then Hnany settled in England In 16-31 as court 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 of tilt courr and its eleganr Cavalier style. Van. Djck received a knigbrhood in. England and his influence on . English portraimre has been profoundand enduring.

Group portraits were produced in. greater numbers dmi:ng the Earoql)le period, particularly in the Netherlands. And one of the first painters to excel as a group portraitist was the Dutch painter Frans Hals (dS'S2-1666),

a contemporary O'fRJjhtn,~ and Rembrandt, Hals was also one of

the first artis ts to use 0 its witho ut

under painting , applying paint directly to

the ground. This gave his work a !extUJiral quality, the lively brnshstrokes capturing the most Hotting of fadal expression,s. Hills' sponraneous, almost impressionistic srjle introduced a more inlOrmrJ note into portraiture in the 17th (-entlllry; He palnred people v.rithoi.U ideil.lzing them as Van Djck had done,

The female artist Sofunisba An.grussola (d532-1625) was ,115Qa.

sign iJic.ant painter of p.or traits and selfportraits, Rom and. trainedin Lombardy, Italy, she was appointed court painter

to Philip II of Spain in 1559 ~"nd WIl.$ visited by "'an Djck in Genoatowards 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 several paintings ofhersclf.

~ SELF-PORTRAIT AT TfiIE EASEL

PAIN liNG A DEVQ'tIONAL PANEL, 1'556 SOFONISllA ANGUISSOLA

SofimisbttA'lgui1wlas g.1!'l1:c/er and uxial dun ma:mt W.e W.<l" restrictedto muhin!; porlrait>if hmdf and membeu·if her fomily:B:e,f(l!/$e if this, m.e W4$ abieto .develop a mOI".( irltirnate,. io/urm.aistyferf porMlitun::, i~l 'i-Qhich h~ iargdyfimah: ,ubject5 w.et:e ,i:Jownfofh)w!1lg a rfmge if i nserior fur'$u it» such as ,ci:Jm or painting.

60

A

FEELING

HUMANITY

THE SPANISH HAPSBURG dynasty wall marked by rdigiol[l~ 'R':~uand King PhiJip IV, like his predecessors Philip II and Philip III, ensured that devotion to Catholicism was maintained hy means of the Spanish Inquisirion. This meant that 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, at the age of 24, Diego V:e!isqiJe'l. (15'99-1660) became co urf p ainrerm Philip IV. Vtla,sql,leZs early work showed the stronginfluence of Ca:mllaggio with its dramatic light and shadeand a strong streak of grimre-alism that was much admired in. Spain. Even in his early religious paintings, Vehtsquez was developing a new naruralistic style in

which the :figU1rec5 were b,lSOO onreal people rather than idealized. types. From the time ofh.i$ appointitH:nt as COLlrt painter to the end of his career, his paintings of Spanish royalty and life at the court are remarkable for the insight th,1' gl.'Ii'e inm the human condirion,

Born rn Scv'ille, Vd,L~quIT trained un.de:r Pacheco. Early in. his career, 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 lire picture based on ~a, scene from a kitchen, A cdcbmred example of this style is the dig.nHled port:mit of An

Old Woman Co{}king Eggs. At court, Vcl1sqiLlez primarily worked. on portraits, h-ut also continued to painrhisrorical, religious and mythological paintings.

In 1628, followillg a visit to SP'a:i1l by

Rubens, Vd1sqaC'Z decided to visit Italy where his brushwork became more relaxed under the i n:iluence (If grc,lt Venetl,tn masterssuch as Titian.

The 163U~ and 1640" were a. higbly producriee period. He produced many royal and courr pa.in.t.ings in which

he lent dignity to even rhe lowliest of the court imbjects, inclnding the jesters and fook,

In. his final years in Madrid, Ve1.Iisq:ll1tz W'aS made Knight of the Order of S{!ntiago and painted some sparkling portraits of the r«yat romily incmdifig the great group composition, Las M~ninas. This complex essay in. portraiture combines naturalism, atmosphere and insight into character and demonstrates Vel.t~q:Ij.ez\; ability to delse below the surface in search (If real truths,

~ 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 if his ability to paint ,<'veryday {}bj:atJ dirff.tlyp-{}m; lift. The'Gontrasting material: ttndte.xf:!ir,eJ mid the phy rf Jight and sbadouion thE su ~facd give the ~vork an extraordina1"Y realism.

62

I'NNER

TRUTH

LAID

BARE

RILE RUBENS, WAS, based in Flanderathe greatest of all D'1)t,;:b pai:nrersRemhrandt (Harmcnss van Rij", 1606-16(9)w,,5 based in Amsterdam in. the Protestant North. Here, churches had been stripped o f all Catholic pam pb ernalia and, I:Il. painting, there 'Was renewed emphasis on naturalism and an inrerese in ordinary, everyday things. Rembrandrwas born in. Leiden; he bad a couple of early tutors, the most influential being Pieter Lasrman, a C'iltholi<,; whose taste for drama tic ~e.stru:es and vivid lighting had an early impact on Rembrandt's

deeelop lllg style,

Rembrandt quickly decided. to pt.!:r!roe a commercial career in. Amsterdam where he soon attracted numerous commissions, His first, formal portrait in 163,1 (of Ni(::"laes Rl1t~) established him

.. WOMAN BKflilNG IN A STRE.1\M, 1654 REMBRANDT

Th~ m[ldd for .thi, dramati. portrait \ilm.!" !''(JeaNy fix .ar.tist s common-las» wi_fo, Haidrit.ly;e Strffd~J with'Whrmt Ral.Wrandt Jiv,ed from aiXmi .1649 iJrJ.ti! her death ill

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:

as the leading portrait painter in the city. This was followed hy The; .Ariatrmry

Lesson .ifDt NiaJJa~ Tulp in 1632 which, with jts gmup of fully realizedindividuals gathered around a dissection. completely revitalized the grmlp portrait. Hi~ surcess contimred and, by Ui,19, he had earned enoLlgh to bur a large house.

From the 1640$ onwards, .lOllowIng the death of his wife and mother; Rembrandt became more introspective and started to concentrate on religious painlillg. He eventl1!J.lly married his servant, Hendriclqe Stoftds, and sbl.ytd with her for the rest of his life, painting manyportraits of her. But after he tilln.od his back onfashionable portraits, he got into financial difficulties fmm which he never quire recovered,

Human understanding and compassion are the hallmarks of his

introspective and. penetrating portraits, One of the flrst artists to specialize in. the se1f-pormit, R,emhrandtprodill!cM over 100 paintings and etchings of himself His last, great self-pcrtrait . s have an almost shocking ahility to strip away all artifice '1'0 reveal a di.gn.ified., oldman whose suffering i$ rnanifesr in. nearly e1i'e.ry ~LsreCt ofhi.s face, hut whose ~o:ff featl4res betrayno obVIOUS signs of bitterness or regret,

The emotional depth of his work is eqLU\\lleil by his virtuouso technique, His paintings are bi;llilt with layers of glazes

a ndpassages of impasto, lea ding one mnremporary to remark that they looked as if theyh a d been 'daubed with a bricklajer's trowel'.

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

.. THE ANATOMY LEsSON OF DR NICOLA!!.'> TuLP, 1632 REMURANDT

Dr Tulf, of tbe A nI£tntkmt Guild rfSurgpJlJ$, ,explain, to fIg MSwtblalgrrmp if m~dia;tht muscle :rirur;mrtin ibt arm, having laidrp.t:rt a wrpse~ arm flrthtpurp,o>e, Tb~ au-efl/lly pianrJl:d arul 'weJl:-thrmght-,rmt Hlmj>o,iti{}1'1 was Ranbralldt'ifint artmpl in a series of grou/portraits he prodllralfor t/ie'brJardroam,o/lbe Cuildif Surgean",

64

S TIL L

LIFE

PAINTING

Y 1640, ANEW GENRE had been. established in. Holland, namely the still life. With. religion

wa ni:n.g ininfluence, the detailed. realism ofthe still life appealed to the emerging Dutch middle classes who were now

the principal patroll'~ of art in. !he Netherlands, The convention was to

have a table setagainsr a bkLn.k and ofren dark backgrotlnd,with sp\ukllng gkl~'leS, gleaming metal plates end the remains of ::1 srumpmotl'!l meal as the OtlJtv;,c-:ud symbols of w'e-Mt:h and conspicnous consumption. Paintings that contained

symbolic reminders - such as ,1 slmJl, a pocket watch or rotting Emit - of the transitorv nature of lift: were knO'v\"(J as vaiJihuand. their popularity spread, along 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 born in. Antwerp at a time when. the term \>tilllife'had nor yet been coined. She prodaced what W1[$ termed a 'breakfast piece' on account of its depiction of'plares of bread and. fruit.

WilIe.Ol Claesz Heda (1594-1600)

.... A HERRING WITH CAPERS AND A SUCED .oRANGE ON PBlilTER PLATES, C1620 CLARA PEETERS

Pester: is tht Flemish ~f)omtrri p,aillter r;rt;di/:e;J with intnjdur1 rig the Dutch lyp,eo/ 'brealifilsl piece" still lifo tOAIJF<IJ&rp. Her 'lJUtir;uio!Jsry ttlulert.dmmll'-!Kult still rift> tendto awitl .r;verlappirlg f}ijf:id~. and typiudiy for; IU ,rm una71gmu'/ltJ ofplatl:>, gohlds, iUms if r;ulLery, .fruit andbuked rl)lls, mrJ~t1yset agail1.# a darkba.cll.gr:rmnd,

and ]!an Davidss de Hcem (16iJ6-c},6S3) practised in the Dutch still life tradition with works that quietly responded to the beauty of the everyday. De Hcem.who was hom in. AntVi,rerp, concentrated mainly on elaborate floral ammgerne:ntll, with themany different fexll!ureS of individual flo'Wersre:alb:.od in exquisite detail Rachel Ray"SCh (1664-17 50) was another Dutch. flow'er painter, whose

me ticmO!1S flower and buuerfly arrangements imply the & agile beauty of living Wings.

In Spai.n too there were some fine examples of still life painting. Juan 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, bUilt the 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 .

.... SnLL LI:I'E WITH QYINCE, CABllAGE, MELON AND ClJCUMUER, C1602 JUAN SANCHEZ OrrAN

Rollowing a simp},e recipe, Srill,chez Cotdti. sertlts up a cut md(ln, a kn:obMy mcumlm:,. ttydlo'ifl ,quince a1i.d a ktfJ t:£tbhage 'iflith lr7lJirJg detail. Tbt mbhttgs tmd tbt 'quirJce wet) suspended an string>, a common 'it/ay '"'/trmrvingfood inthl! 17th cent» ry~ Tht:r.knity rfme u,-nange?l:lEnl and the un !isr,r .. l light srmn"pmvide tlK painting with an almost "culpturui q!!la!ity.

L,ANDSCAPES

Y 16o,0, LANDSCAPE had become established as an anmnomous ge[l.re~ Landsea pc pa i nling :Hourished, in 17th-cen,lUry Holland, p~llt1y heCITUlSe it wus an expression of the pride the Dl!J!tch felt intheir c,ol!l!ntry ,Ifter <lchi,evl.ng ,indI1Jenden,ce from Spain_ },l:co.b vanRUlisdacl (c1628-16S2) is regarded ,'IS the greate~f .of all Dutch landscape painters, but he hadmany distingoished CD ntempo rariesinc ludifig JflO van Goyen (15'96-165'6), Meinderr Hobbema (1633-1709) and Aelbert CmW (1,620-1,(,91).

Dutch landscapes were essentially naturalistic yet nor necessarily topographically exact, with certain details, suchas the :tIov ... of a river, changed to suit a composition, Dutch artists were interested in the constanrly changing quality of light, as well as

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,

Jan '!'an Gojenalong with Salomon van Ruysdacl (Jamb's uncle, ('1600-1670) helped to eseabllsh the landscape school in Holland. Van. Goren visited France and travelled wideJy in Holland, usi.n.g his skerchesas the basis for cairo, luminous and atmospheric compositions ieat:ruing river views and low horizons. Ae1bert CIlYP was i_nlfuenced by the D!ltch artist Jan Eoth, who had boeli In Italy and from whom C!l1l1) picked up an Italianate understanding of lighr. C uyp"s views ofrhe watery landscape around 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

panoramic Vi(;\\'8 of the low-lying terrain around Haarlem, his birthplace, now reg.irded as the home of'Dmch landscape painting, Rllisdad painted e"ery typt of'landseape - from beaches to winter landscapes - and qrnclcly moved aW'IT"yfio.m a ,'!Oft, sltlhdetoilal style toone lhatfuwU!Cod stro.ng, v.igomus brushstrokes and dramatic contrasts of light and shade, There is ,1 great emotional srreogth In Rllllsdad's mature work, with dark skies, twisted, filled branches and rlll'5hing streams conveying !he =whclm.ing and

m:yster ious forces of nature.

Meindert Hobbema was a friend

and contemporary of Ruisdael. His best-known work, thenar and ordered Th« AvtllUB til: J\1jdddl;urtlc!J;,. continues In define the Dutch landscape tradition in the popular imagin.ation.

,~ TICillE AVENUE AT MIDDEUIARNlS, 1 MI:~ MEINDERT Ho I1B EM A

This ts a viITJJ ofthti Dulw landuu,pl:, flaluring a ttraight dirt road Ii ned with poplar .tr,,,~ lUidirJg so toe 11i1!agtrf J'liidddhartJi, in fbI: dis.ta'/Jte. This ordered land'f£ape' has bi'll"n rreatl'd and maintained by man1ind - dep JitdJ~ carry water to tl;g $l/ rrou ndi ng ormards, while a 1!1.<m prunes the tree: 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 tnhan.a:dby the ftut thauwo-thirdJ ofth.e'paintin.g are laktli up 'lvl<0 the dmk;ming sry,

68

THE DUTCH PRODUCED a SttC;Ce,S$i~1l 0 f~ainte:($ w~o ,aU had th,t_u parb:':mar spec,illity, but there was no artist better at Pal,utl,ng interior domestic scenes than Jan Vermeer (1632-1675}

Vermeer li'li'eJ d~ring the Golden Ag>e of Dutch p'ainting and is now reg~lrd{)d fl" one of'tbe greatest painrers innorrhern Europe, second r.)nJyro Rembrandt, U.nbelie\"Jlbly, he was almost entirely overlooked until the 1360s when be was rediscovered by a French art critic who partieularlyadmi.red his tmpretentious, direct realism.

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

the 'middle classes', There is a

tre rnendous intimacy a bm.lt these works, most show women caught up in various domestic Of recreational tasks, either totally self-absorbed or self-consciously eiltcbing our eye.

In. these compositions, Vermeer shows a masterly 1!JIst of silvery light

and colour - ohjeets, drape.ry, frun.ishings andfloors 'are ill. rendered with great clarity and with. minnre attention to surfaces and rexteres,

Above all, there is an air of'seremry land cnntentment about Ve:rmOE:r:~ best work that borders onabstraction; the viewer is drawn into ~l timeless world

of simple, medirarive calm ..

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

.~ YOUNG WOMAN lNlTH A WATER JUG , dli62 .jJAN VERMEER

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 artiviiy. Thi> interirJr il- remflrii.abie for its trail quillity a'nd the. rubt!~ gradation" of daylight folling thr:o!lgh tiJi" window on if} the fJ.bjerl:r on tk table andth.!'w!Jn.um her>dJ inpa~:tir!llar h~ h&uldr;=,

Employing this simple darkened. box with a lens 0 uthe s ide meant that he could make an. i.rn:age of his subject appear upside down. on a blank canvas attached to the wl111. The pmjecred image could then he sketched in oils. X -ra-y evidence for this has been discovered underneath the layers of his finished. compositions,

Pieter de Hooch (1629-1684) also worked in the School of'Delftand produced a. number of'Durch interior or cOU!rtya,rd scenes.With his work, there is a. real sense oflanguid calm about the scrupulous ill"r:angerncnt of h:g-ures,for example, framed ag·ain.st a doorway;

his pil.i.I,.Hl'IgS di:fi:er from. those ofhis younger contemporary Vermeer since hill vision tends to be Jess powerful and perhaps more parochial.

~ TI'ffiE COURTYARD .oF A HOUSE [N DELFT,1658 PIETER DE Ho DC I-:!

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 bringing tvelJoday domfiti, lifo in Delft

into marp foru~ it. is th~ ulV:!i.ttr:.m.rd daaiii - the ,riuifullyftumed Gourty.ard, 11;.(' tbr,r;ugh 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 A

THE AGE OF ELEGANCE

eI

8 7

I

'1' " [1 pamti.ng terms, a nine can betraced £r,om the

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

adventuroushess of the Baroqll.e era, to the start of something aitqgeth1er nighter and frothier at the stan of the 18th ,century.

This new style, favouring asymmetrical 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 derived from the F rench word '["prailll!, used to describe the shells that decorated grottoes in French gardens in the late 17th and early 18th .c:entu:ry.

The 18th ,century was a time of gpeat ch-ange in Europe, 'A'h:il,e die Church still play,ed an important role in ~ociety, there were many, parti,c:uh.dy.in Enghnd and 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 to the middle classes leading to a growing .emphasis on the: ide a of the indiyidna1 as, well as the

1700

Triggt::,l'ed /;y a huge

,earthquake in -

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

!.buckJapan

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

o

power of reason, Li,ving standards in Eu.mpe were 011 the rise, thanks to foreign trade and the colonization ofdistarrt lands. Tile general trend wasoowards fr·ee:dom 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 him from succnm bing to gangte,ne in 1715 and 'soon 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 w-elR established, firsrinthe royal palace and then thrQug!llc)'i.llt the upper echelons of French 'Slode:ry.

In rhiacontext, the artist Antoine vVa.t1te;'!.,u, wh'\t meved to Paris in 1702 to work with jl 'tt:;!lejllTk:d costumier, was perfectly placed to ,capture the lighthearted, shimmering opulence of the new ari~tvc.n~cy. When Watt.eau died at the age of 37~ heVl"9.s immediatelyreplaaedas it chronicler IOf the fashionable set by Boueherand his pupil Fragonard,

1740i

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

1;411

1m B= Str:er:t. Rur:men;, un ('l1'riy prJiu fon:e" gi up in London py tl')'lJ(!IW Hel1ry FiddirJg

1755

The,O"t'iilt 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 painter who worked alongside Boucher and. Frago.nard,! but his work revealed a. very d.ifterent sensibility. Chardin's style was more modest; he was interested in painting the most humble objects and 'ordinary people', investing both with it simple dignity.

In England, Rococo was hrg,elydl;ought of as 'French taste' .. William Hogariih embarked OIl acareeras a satirist, pl()dlidng paintings -and prints shQi;'Vmg: the. hypo!trisyand immorality mat he discerned in all walks of'life, In painting, R{)ooco wasalso 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

]757

G(memlCli'Ull difrz-ati2d .the Nawab of Be~gp.l11J; tm British l!itablirhed a ]owhld in India

1769

Sir Rid;rmd Arkwrigbt piitelJted a Jpin~i~g muWi~.e tI~ 'the lliibntrilil Ri'Wiuii{l1J '''Need rm

1773

The BW(ln Tea P"rry -prolr!!ttlJn dumped l'bsrur{titlJ in B1}rio/i H(l~bu; iN defom~ iftl;e uaAil

Reyoolds with his fOGUS on the humanity of hissitters,

The ROJ<;oc:i:j style 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. ofrhe Venetian canalscenes produced 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 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!1 and 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"

I776

The Dedal'at1,cm. ,if Indepmdenc,e_· die Jj£Jille oj Gewge HI ~[JitJ .trN'.1I tW~rm ill New Thr} City

.1778

Jamej Ci1rm trdded Htl'l1Jai'ij Nund£ to hiJ dimi'Wm~. They wej"" christ,e~~d fhl' Satuiwich lrlmuh

17S,0

A great h!<vl'ica~l.(l ktJi(d24,()()() F1'k i'n1he CilriMelln and nearly dIJ.yr;i1j'£d tIM Brrmhjkct

72

FREN'CH

EAN-AMJ1QINE WATTEAU

in. French paintingknown as Rococo.

Watte:1.!l1 arrived in Paris in 1702

ar -a ti I1'H~ when the d~~sic:al a rt or Nichola, Poussin had passed its zenith, Until abocr 1708, Wfltteauworked with a theatrical designer Claude Gillot,

who inrrodaced him. to the commedia ddl'm:t,e"a 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

(1684-1721) was born in

V Menc: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 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

... AN EMHARRA:SSING PROI~OSAL, c1716 JEAN-ANTOINE \VATTEAU

Wattam iMCD/1U fomr;us as a pajnt~rrf w-ca!Jed €e; ees g,al.anf¢.'! in whir h members ,0/ the' fMhirmaOle!id me shown. amu!Ji11g thf;fliJd'f£> in the' r;ourltrpido:. In: An. Embarrassing Proposal, a part,. of ftvt; are !J:utbeud tmder some trees: it u a casuai j1irmtio!H ssene in whidl pleamre .. ;em be' dcriv,ed fr{}mth~' g ra[~fui gntuus and iaviW .rrntli ?ne!>.

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 Wiltteall. wasnoted tor his ability to place manyngl!lrcs in a composition, his groups of figl;lJ'es are

no r as energetic and ro bust as Rill bens ', Watrell'!;L'~$ style is , a ltogether mort: 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. term firstused by the French Academy in

171 7, roeanin.g feasts of cour ts.h:ip. Thisnew ,stJ,le applies ro scenes in. which a sociable grOil.IJp of fashionable poo pIe - elegantlY' attired musicians, acrorsand oouples - .U'e shown picnicking, laughi.ng and openly i.ndLUJging in courtship and flirtation.

What d:lstingl11i.shell Wa,ttca'VJJ from 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.lfFered from mberculosis for most ofhis life. His paintings certainly CDnVlCy a gm'l'ity and sadness mat separates his work from the more decorarive painters oftheRococo, sum as Boucher and Fragona:rd.

Watfell.ii1. W.L~ a great colourls s r and used to apply' colour directly on to hill canvas, a method which inspired De Lacroix and later the N 00- Impressio.n.lsts, in.dilldjng Seurar.

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 :Nul figllre.

74

FRILLS

AND

FANCIES

I' ANTOINE WATrEAU heralded the new spirit in French Rowen, then equally the work of both Francois Boucher (1703-17701 and Jean-Honore Fragonard (17.32-1006) best embodied the decorative elegance ,\ nd frivolous charm most commonly associated with. the new style.

Both of these arrisrs made work rhar retlecrsrhe arlifid.ality and ,'l!!l perfk.hillty ofrhe French court in the middle of the 18th century; delighring 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 surroundings, Each artist is easy ro dismiss as cmhodyi.ngall that was frirolmM about the age, bur this would be to. deny their superiortechnique as well as to. ignorelhe fact that they

.. YOUNG GIRL READING, 0776 JEAN - HONQRE F RAGONARD

This study is OIU of ~ev,traf that FmgfJl'wrd made of young girls,. shrRQi I2g them dup

in introspection. These works have tin unft'l'limed qualitylo than, having fum painted very quickly with rapid, ooldar:ml if bright colour; FragfJnard U5'.e;d the wrJaarn en.d o/th,e: brush to scratch and dif!ll e tbi" gid5 mjfodrofiar:.

managed to capture the carefree spirit oJ the epochfor posterity.

The son ora Parisian painter and bee designer, Francois Boucher began his career making engravings from the pictures of Antoine WJ.ttcaCl!. In 1721 Boucher went In Iraly fo:rfi:)'t,lr years and returned ro enjoy a h.ighl}' :$l1cces$f~~ career at the French court, becoming the fG:n.g's court painter in. 1765. He was

the fitV()!!trlle artist ofthe .King's mistress, Madame de Pompado.ur, and painted her portrait seeeral times. Boucheralso worked as ." decorative artist, .devising elaborate schemes tOr the palace at VerS'"aille'; and he completed opera designs as well as de'ligning tapesrries.

Li.keWattea1!JJ, Boucher painted Sr;iin.e5 ga!u,tJkJ, burt injected his mythological and pastoral scenes witha muchbolder

spirit, declanngthar he preferred to paint from lunnan life as nature was 'roo g~enl'lnd badly lie. His roM}' portraits oftlt$h-fMde women in prosocatise poses became hi~ stock-in-trade 'until the public started to tire of them, f'5eling they lacked the necesssry moral depth.

Jean- Honore Fr~!)J!Iard was ell pupil ofChardin and also of Boucher, From 1756 "0 1761, he lived in kaly where he 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 r:.t~hion.able itt thetime: portraits, history 11 nd pasroral scenes set in. me landscape. However, he achievednotoriery by specializing in painting love -aifuirs conducted furtively in garden settings.

~ MAoAME DE POMPADOUR, 1756 FR.A.NQOIS B. OUC HER

A ji<!i-Jel2g th por:trait ,0/ lHadamt: .de P:ompttdrmr; the degal2tl:y attired 1'IIistr:m of Louis XK IcfiCiinil2g ,on it couch: here, Bom-herfowse's onib« sum.ptuou~ foori~ of tbt: rose-covered dr;till"whiJe pointing so

tbt: iniefJatulli intere'Jts of this pomeifid WGfflt.m tl:mmgh th.e- indu5ir]1J ifthfJ earli; and the: writing desk,

THE

VENETIAN

ApPROACH

V:NICE HAD !NOT S,EEN a great "ai.nte:r. Si.ntt. Ve:ronese. in. the

<6 th centlill'y. In the 18th century, painting in Veru,ce was revi.ved by Giovanni :Btltllst"il Tiepolo (Hi%-1f70), who came to be regarded as the most .i.rn.pre;~$ive expon.e Dr of d'iLe Rococo school in. Italy. Tiepolo studied in Ve.n.lc-e whert he benefited from the city's rich artistic llistory, but $00.11 moved on from painti ng in oils to designing enormous :frescots to decorate the ceilings and 'walls of buddings

and palaces in It-aly and clsevvhtre. Commissioned by patricians and

men: hant princes, these highly decorative compositions featt:tred. allegorical or

historical sltlbjoct matter and. were full of sparkling light and colour. ]n Germany and Austria in particular,thefe was great demand for these grand oma mental scenes and, in 1750, Tiepolo 'Was inwirod to produce \\ monamenral scheme of ttescoe" for the huge palace of the Archbishop ofWu[""bu:rg_

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 particuihrl)pe of well-ordered Venelian landscape painling evenrually led to a renewed interest in classicism ..

... THE PIER SEEN FRDM HIE BA:.."TN 'OF SAN MARCO ~dd-ai!), (:1730-35 CANALElTO Cbarar.taj,tir, 'ifCanu1.etw~viruJ' if Venin; ih~,p{linti rlgfl'am r~ lh~ Dogr;':; Palace,

Me Pia:t;t_,tt San M,m;,G {llld" il1 the ,badi.gnmnd, the drHIU! rf the' dmnh rf Scm lhla-rc[;l ThegGndrlJm in the for.egroundbril1g thE soene to lift and help to cr_tepiclvrid dpth.

Canalerro became knowuas a vedu,tu.ti'l, a painter of view;s,IDrnsi.ng on the canals and archit-oLture of his home town. He was a master of perspective and his topographical compositionsare packed with rich derail, Venioe was 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,

Canalerros's brilliant naturalistic technique portnryed the pomp awl ceremony of many state occasions, as well as scenes of eve.ryday life in which he captured the texture of old buildings reflected in. the warm Venetian 6gb.

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 and tbl! ,earth as a ~arJrldrG!lJ rornzicvm(Jll

in ~iJhir.h an ~!Jffld)iag/ if Jlrmtittg mJthoJogir;al and all~gr;rir;al figum foll and rise.

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 appealed to the ex.pan.di.ng middle classes who, freed from the control ofthe Chruch and aristocracj; liked to think of themselves as being abose the social abuses and immoralities that Hogarth e-xposed in hlsmelod .... amaric tableaux.

However, Hogarth wasnoe only concerned with highligbring immorality he was also vehemenrly opposed to the

(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 most internationally renowned painter in. Erit.ti.n. of the time. In comm.enJing on the manners andmores of 18th cenrury life, Hogarth. tapped into a British taste that wall perhaps more documentary than. aesthetic, since the British tended

.... THE RAKE'S POOGRESS, 'ThlE ARREST', 17J5 \¥ILLIAM HOGARTIi

This mon:ochrcwutngravll1g is pltltef(Jur in {I serle: of dgbtftMJ. Hogar:th! origimu pu,jrJlitJgi sOlI'i.ving the de.rJi'll5 U1i.dfojj of pEndthrift Ibm: RaJ:S'i.udl . .lifor f(pm7J.d~ritJg his 11WI2"Y, RaKe.wAl is drags&! fr·um; a >&.km [hair outside S.t James" PamrBj London and takmftTft fa Fle.et Prison mldthm on to B.ediam,.th5 !unati.r asylum.

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 French and Italian counterparts. He was 11 staunch nationalist and saw himseff as upholdingsensible British values \lga.in.'lt 11 wave of fo.reign aff6:tation and va.ni.ty"

Hogarth trained as an. e.ngrave.r and became familiar with European painli.ngs by looking at r:::ng:r'ilvi.ngcs. Apprenticed to English. painter, Sir James Thornhill, Hognrrh married his daughter in 1729, tl'entuillly [Ilheriting an academy that becamethe forenmner ofrhe Royal Academy; His t1rst works consisted of small grm.!ps and coneersarion pieces, In 1731, he produced T& Harlot's Progms,. the first of his storytelling series of paintings &om which he produced sets of extraordinary enf,'i"ilv:ings, including Tlu RaMs Progrm and Marriage a fa JWode. These wert hugely popular a:nd were endlesslyreprodaced, which meanr that they could be Cflljlfyed hy a wider public and that Hogarth could be independent of'rich 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 provided uncompromlsing illsights into the h uman condition. Corn bined 'W:ith li.vdy, SPClnrilnOOIJ.tS brushwork, his observaticns prove his considerable

tale nts as 11 p()tttaitp'ilin.ter~

THE AGE O~ ELEGANCE

... FRANCLS MATTHEW SCHUlZ IN' lilS BED, 1755-60 WILLIAM HOGARTH

This lUll/Sua! imager{ Francis Sdmtz (distantly uiawilrJ th,e myaJJamily) sboum '(J!}miting illt!) a pot 'ilia> ilJkl1..d"d as if 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

AND

STILLNESS

EAN- ]?;APT! S,TE-SIMEoN CHARDIN

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 place at the French AC.l:demy.

Char din expanded his largely domestic.jntimare vision to. include portraits of 11 single figure, quire ofren ~d

(1699-1779) was born into the Roco,c-o age, hut his own work Vi,F:L~ ",ery diffe rent from the ostentatious <1 nd exu ber ant sty le of his pleasure-seeking contemporaries. The son of <1 court crafisman, Chardin had impeccable Rococo, credentials, having restored decorations at Fontainebleau and br.i.e:flr t!!'lto red Fragonflrd .. Largely self-ra 1;lght, Chardln livedandworked in Paris all hi5~fi::. Here, be qlJiietly pursueda naturalistic style distinct from the lavish

.. THE SKATE, c1728 JEAN-BAI>TISTE-S1MEoN CtIARDIN

Tbe reilliJm of/hi! unu~ ua! c.omp.f}sition of a $kill l1i"d $lt:ati",. a gie ami 1:ig b/ack.pi tcJ;,e r and a tet!.$,~,ftighttned kilttm lrtludi7Jg r»i.r>')',:tenr tuivrlishttl Chardin'> ,a'm.l~mporarits .an.d.rturn&f him a p!au ut thl: Fnmm A aukmy. Proust likEned thl: deJirak !itTu~ftNce'rfthB j'i5h so 'th.6 flam rf a p{}/ymrmnafi,[ ro;thedral:

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 .. Ienrswere recognized within. hi, own lifetime, His genre paintings were made popular by engravers, in 1740,he was presented to Louis XV who bought some of this workiand he became the: oH1.ci.al hanger of' work at the Paris Salon in 1 UiL

Chardin had arare anility to record 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(lP te: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, .1738 JEAN-BAPTISTE-SIMEON C.·nARDIN

111 Chardins IjtJiet;. thoughtful study; a scullery maid cleans a pan i 11 a w(i~t-high barrel Tbera is no rU'1lningwatl:r and dJ./' "<QiF~ it with straw fi~, as saaier; /ikt bread, !li!aS a very vaiualrie'c{?mmodity in thr! .l8th cenn« ry, Th.e e m;pt)' ,[~pper astern is th.cv!3nd in '<.ohirlJ th~, water has been haul~ yam thl: river.

82

CAPTURING

ANIMALS

ANEW MO!rEMENT known as N~o-Classicism began. in the IfiId-18th ctnlJJry, before the Rococo style had tirl,aDy disappeared. The Neo-Classical spirit was an attempt to return to the simple, dignified 'art of classical Greece wh:ile conveyi.ng serious moral ideas such as honouc and patriotism. British artisrs in. the mid- 18th century working predominantly with landscape started to favour more formal, conrrolled compositions as a way of convejing the elegant e-ase of the English aristocracy. George Stubbs (1724-180,6) used his fashionable parkland v1~f;as primarily as a backdrop 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

meant he stood apart from. most 18th.-oent!iU'Y landscape artists, At the tunc, stock b reeding W~lS becoming increasingly populara rid this helped tn roster-a taste IOranirnal painting. Stubbs" paintings of horse-s revealed his deep kn.owredge of the equine form, which. he ccnveyed with amazingaccuracy and lyrki~m .. There'sasubtle ene.rgy and ease ahm.lt his composirions, which sometimes feanrre groups of people, but more ofren depict noble beasts in precise anatomical detail, either individually or togeth.er in the landscape.

Stubbs had wealthy patrons and painted tnp racehorses for their owners. He also produced portraits of a host of other wild creatures that he observed. in private menageries, including lions, giraffe~ a nd monkeys.

.... THE Honse FAIR, 1855 RoSA BONHEUR

This tntrgetic and powerful painting ofbors4 being pamdedby their halJdim i~ a smaller version rf Brmhl:Ut~ mIlCh jatgerorigirta~ Horse. Fair, whi,h war.16 fUllrm;§ Brmbtur bdieve.d irl dir;ert ohitlT'Ul!.ti On. .r'.l ml.rn re .blli, to tdftnd .fbI: ai/-male horse marke: i n Paris, sh.e wdfinl to disguise heTHJif in nrens dathing.

The precocious talent of Si:r Edv;'in Landseer (1802-1873) red him to

fi:rst exhibit at the age of 12 at the Royal Academy in 1814. Younger than Srubhs but eql;l:ally conversant with amltomy, Lundseer applied a less sophisticated rrc,urne nr to his an imal 51.] bjet.:l$, typically lending them human characteristics in order to rella story, or convey amoral. The fa:voi11rir.e artist of 'Q~een. Victoria, 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 genre that had hitherto been completely dominated by maleartists, :Bonhc"l!ll~ highly s11l·ccess.ftlil. career was partly supported by the anatomical drawings that she made on the dissecting table,

or otrt in. the fidds. Dtspi~ her conservative views, Bonheur red a radical 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 AGE O~ ELEGANCE

.. A BAY HUNTER, A SPRINGER SPANIEL AND A SUSSEX SPANIEL, 1782 GBO~GE Srunas

Gwrg.e Stubk "/"diul anatomy, and this pu,intin.g ·of it, ho~.~ andtwo :pani.d~ rroetdt the ,ddaikd rerjcli!>~.~ that be l'IUl11;r.gplto master in. hi> pair!.litlg>c o/aIJimJm" The barkgr:()!md, an 18th-~~nturypastoralland$(;up.e, addJ a ~mterf'y~-i,llim tv the scene.

84

THE ART OF CAREFUL CALCULATION

ORTRAIT [>AINTING in Britain in

the middle of the 18th century displayed an eqUM mixture of Rococo and. Neo-Classical tendencies, The Neo-Classical 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 In a second-rate portrait painter, Thomas Hudson, in London. He visited Europe betwflt n 1749 and 1752, sti;!Jying the Old Masters and spending two years in Rome perfecting hisrechniqce, By 1760, he was the most f,t~hi.!lI:la Me portrait

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 particular. Reynolds 1.'\':\$ the first president ofthe Royal Academy when it was f01!JJnded in 1768,ancl in his career he did much to mise the standing of flne arts in Britain. It is thought he painted around 3,000 pOT traits in his lifetime"

Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1738) 1.'\".1-" also a founding member of the Royal ACl\d.emy, but he displajed a lyrical approach in sharp contrast In

the academic das~icism of Reyilolds. Gainsborough closely studied. the portrait$ of Van Djck and, after he discovered that he could 'easily captLlre a 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

.. MASTER BUNBURY, .1780-81 JOSIiIUA REYNOLDS

A yO!lng h~y sit's under a tre.! in a ~aooded lallJs,~pE looking intently ahead afhim. Charles John Ilunou ry Will" the Wl2rf Rf'y:>l oJds'ftimds - Cathf'ri ne Hr}lcl2,~di arid ~tlri~a.mri~l H.tnry Bu nuury - a;ndbl: =.r n illc 'Whf'12 th~ ,iffer;tirm.att p.rH-trait =pai12t,ed. Bunb« ry became an arnry ojfir;rr and died at th.~ "Iff rif" 26.

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 brushsrrokes, show a gen.jji.ne. feeli.n.g for nature, which led painter john Constable to remark: 'I fancy I see Gainsborough in <t:l'ery hedge and hollow tree.'

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 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 A PARK, c174fl THOMAS GAINSHORDUGI·I

ThiJ ,t.(Jrry'iJJrJrk by CainsiJrJrrJugh is a ,wl2vtrmtionpie.r;t - a; gtftlri?·if irtformal /rJrtraiture that fugal2 in the 1720~ :rh.rJwi1Jsfig!>r;es i 11 a more "prmiatJerml" man 12~ tban h~d "WIth,!! case up IOtltil then. Her«; a; ]t:l!mg aristocrat is shou»: ,courting his jbn.ak compamon who., with Imface turned (J!iVO)!, afPea~'j" to ,be U1t~ro;potlll'Uf3lf} his att&i.tW'f}s.

Tbe rrH!U11Jti;;: tkm~ il" enhanced ly lUl"h wrJrJ.deti ,backgrmmd

REVOLUTIONS

cI

I

The European movement known as Ne(:IClassicism started in the, 17BO£: as. a reaction . a~.a.inst whatr~~ained of th~ Baroqeeaud Rococo styles, and stood as evidence of the desire to return to the perceived purity of the-arts of ancient Greece and Rome. Thediscovery of rui ns at Pompeii in: 1746 had fed a growing interest in antiqllit~ Gelman archaeologist Johann Winckelmann's book;. Rejlertiom 011 the Painting and Sculptttt;e. oftbe Greeks" published in 1755, which stressed the noble. simplicity of Greek art, 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 and moralistic.

In contrast M Rococo, NM-Classi(::alpaintings eschew pastelhues and sofmess; instead, they opt fot sharp colours and ehiaroscnro; In France Jllcql1.e~- Louis David's Neo-Glassieal paintings often make use of Greek elements to extol the French Revolution's austere virtues, David was, followed by Jean-Al~glisteDominique Ingres,whose meticulous portraits and paintings of "!10m en bathers are supreme exa mples of the Noo- Classicalstyle,

178Q

P(!f'lnjyl'fMll'li~ Demmet!x fi:l'$i us state io nlic/irh ili'll.el'Y (fw :o1~Whrlmlrmfy)

I;'S3

I/eahrJ'lltm'! fin';/; printed WclrkJ; pcwii.dJd; fhl! Meriinsky (Kir(Ju) Balk! ~~! flllrl.fkd

From the middle of the 18th century; momentous events wen! ,taking pi ace .i n Europ e and the .re st of the. world. In 1789, the French Revolution tore its vvay through Franoe. [n America, the W'M of Independence took pboe1a colonial sttt'llgg~e aga:inst Britain, with 13 colonies declaring independence in :l! 776. Revolutionary fervnur was on the rise, which inevitably meant that ratienalism tonk a hacksear, By the: end of the eenrury, there was: a reaction again~t rhe sterile, academic 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 "ery depths ontis or her soul; 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 CQexisted 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,

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 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, In contrast to Nee-Classicism, Romanticism favoured wildness and expression, individualityand unbridled cm.ativi.t~ It 'was .fil.lI. of raw emotions, ranging from longing and awe: to fear and horror, and an upr.i.s.ingagaim.1'ntiDnalism.

In the r'e'volurionary ag:e, for the first time 10 the history of western art,art.i.$ts became truly individual and idiosyncratic figures, loolci.ng wherever they wanted forinspinrtion - suddenly any topic or subject was considered worthy of painting, This inquiring, 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'bject matter, 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 Isndscape, V\'iltam

18 oj'

Lrml NekJ!ll1 difrziltild the Frend) and Spanirh fled Ilt Trafalgar Intt ~[lm fatully wo~N.d~d

ISo6

GIN!the pwliJhed tIJe jir.Jt ftogmilni ,ifFau.1

l!k':S

The font mil'Way, from St!)cktrJt1 to Dar/ingtlm, 'U1<l:f ,ripened ii, G&ll'I"ge Slqihen=

Blakean:d Samuel Palmer took Romanticism in a. s.lightly different 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 f:orrt!emporafy in Germany .. was a[guably the gre ate sf Romantic ofthem ill.

In Britain and France, Romanticism created a elimare whichlooked to rural H£e inthe be1iefthat those who wlorked tilt: land posses-sed an hOIl!t:~sty and di$nity uncorrupted by the towns and cities. Painting directly from the loeal landscape, Constable rapped intethis -1\5 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 to the work of the Impressionists, At the end of the 18th ,~enfiu:y, reflecting this new mood of t:ame"tn~ss:, the Pre- Raphaelire Brotherhoodaimed to makework that evinced some (If the truth and gravi.ty they perceived in early Reuaissance art"

I&::6

So;mudM"ry ptltmted thl! interna! ul1nlmrtirJlJ erigi;<l,f,

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 Manifesto

88

THE

HORRO'RS

OF

WAR

Il:ANCISCO Jost GQYA Y LuCIENTiES (1746-1828) was the most importantaud

o riginal a rtist of histime, bill this talent developed slowly and it was not IlntiJ he was in his thirties that the thll'(2{tent of his gen.i!,Ji,~ became apl,'are.rn.lniti.a11y i.ntluenced by the Oe rrnan NonClassiciSt Anton Men:g,~,Goyl,~ early work shows $!)medi.i.n.g ofMeng's majestic $tyllf:, buras Goy"ol':S paintings developed, there WJ.$<! gte<lir::r :afl:i:n.ity with the emotional and expressive appeal oPlcli:squez anJRtmbran.dt. Goya studied their work -along with. that of Gil.i.n'shoro-'!lgh and Reynolds - to

produce his own portraits which reveal an acete ability tn penetrate inside the mind of hi, sitter. This Lnsightf\l1ness, coupled .... ,.,1:11 a realfedi.ng for beauty, brought him m the attention of the:

Spanish court.

Cora became courr plti.ruer to

Ki.n.g Ch:arle$lV in 1779; he rapi.dly discovered. that C01!J:rt life was 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 trying not to cause roo much offence, since he was mindfal of retaining his position. In 1792, an illness leit Goya

... DrSA.5TERS OF \iVAR,. No 19: THERE IS NO TIME NOW, 181()-1814 GOYA

l1J this sent$ of dching, r:epresmting lilt Qr1r1'(}rS of the Napok.on.ic in.v,(;$ir:mofSpain, Goya sam!]> that actsrf brutality wert:' wmmitudby lJo.tb sidf.5., French wldim brutaLly tOI'".tul'",M Me Spall iw, ~f)hrJ jourul their Oiilm crue] ways 0/ resprmili rig, leadirJg G(}ya to r;ifhd on .tbe futility at =7:

deaf, and this brought about a firrther, very dramatic change in style as he devoted himself tna series ofsmillJ, 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 ofthemoment when the French shot Spanish. h(lest<lge., on. J. MllY 1808. He sobseqaently produced other P ainrings and. cObora vings that were critical ofthe horror and stupidity of war. This was an entirclyn.ewand revolu nonary subject for p aintin.g.

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 not fall into any known gefi~e but rep rest nt his personal ViSLOns ofwirches and disturbi.ng apparitions,

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 Paintings, :rulJ of dark invention and niglu.,n.a rish images,

11'1 EVOILU i lOIN S

... 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 sbot by the invading Napoleonic. troops The drama unfolds at night; the lamp pid:s ,r",.t tig mnoant central figure dressai ill a ,vlite' shirt wk." stares 1tmight down the band!I of T!l.tlt!.y pointed g!4ins

90

T .HE PRIN.ICI!>A. ~ INT~R .. EST.oF jacques-Louis David

(1748-1825) as a child was drawin.g and. there is a strong linear quality that runs throlJgh all of his 'Work. Da vid trained in the Romeo traditio n - he was distantly related to Fr'anlflis Eoud\er - but it wall in Romerhar his mature sl:'J,le first 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

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,

There Vi.".1.$ an. emphasis on dr-awin.g, which meant that form wassharply dcline:ltOO and subject to strang contrasts of light and shade, His work gaven,ew expression tothe themes of heroism, honesty and devotion to dUll}! that encapsulated the prcV';W.ing national mood. O'VCrall, the style favoured an a'lusferity andrestraint that, in. turn, recalledthe puri.ty th ar Vli:a~'l felr ro belong to the art and antiquities of the ancient classical ~f(Jtld.

David 'was elected to the Academy where his sense of colour and line and his academic consposirions .... rere much admired. By the time of the French Revo.lu tin!'! in. 1789, Da rid, who as

a friend of Robespierre wasactively involred and sympathetic to its aims, was

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; his ex-wife evenruslly interceded on. his behalf and secured his release, In 1798, once Napoleonhad corn.!!: to power, David became his propagandist and painreda series of portraits that glorified the Emperor "and his exploits,

It is, however, for his early portraits, including those of'famous society people, that David is largely remembered. These haw: all the coo] gr:andeur of cl-.)Ss.icism; his bodies ~are like marble statues from the ancient 'World, with. the contours ofeach one picked our in sharp relief Gerard, Gros and lngres were among

his many pupils,

~ THEDEATI-lorMARA't, 1793 JAcQUES-Loms DAVID

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 golde'1J light ideaJioz,e Marat, in real lifo he soas bdi(!'IJ.ed to have: 'I skin disea'i~ which me,mt he sought (JmifrJl:t in regl/1m- b4th,.

11'1 EVOILU i lOIN S

92

'VISIONARY

ROMANTI'CISM

T HE ENCR,~~~R' PAINTERAND POET W,IJlI,am Blake

(1757 -1827) was one of the most extraordinary jiglj]feso.fthe Romantic period, As a child he claimed to hare seen a tree fdled with angels, 'hespangling every br.rugh. like shIrl. Blake went on. to develop an. i,n.tt:n,~ely personal art which drew upon, a ra,nge of literary, mythical and biblical S01:LiC¢$ 1'0 expound a, uniqueand mysterious vision.

Born in. Lunden, Elake wa~ first apprenticed to 'iJ;I1 engraver and made studies of London ihlli'ch.es, before s!1udyi:ng briefly at the Royal Academy

Schools, Here, however, he was nor interested ln painting in oils, nehher was he LO nrerned ",<jib the academic work 0 f Sir Jocsh.UJJ;J. Reynolds or what the Academy stood for. A supporter of the French and the American revolutions, lBlakel;hl:rned his back on organized [eiigi,on" believing that only artists were in touch with divine insplratiorrIn every way, Elake was the ,,u:chet)pal Romantic - individualistic, solitarj; and m..lt of

step with the rational thinking that

had become SD intluential in the second part of the 18th ce ntnry, lrnagin.atio n and the creative proce!>s Were what

.... NEViITON, 1795 \'VILUAM BLAKE

Blake]; vision if Ne'11Jt{;1J $uggpf's. that he had tllli ne] 'lJi:ri~1i and ,could Ol1ry ,explain thing, by UJ:i12g Ha:il~ maibemaiira] formulus Thier is {me if a series of large colou« priliH in which Blakep.airltalthB ,ddigllrm so a flat J:mjiu;t: tmdta.t:11. ,r:r;I!u.tm th.1! prirlibJP~ing a :rned'if paper ,{m to lhewdpain.t H.e' thenfi flimed tbe ,dmg:n in ink and =terwlour.

interested him; his art Vi.' as a mea ns to expr,tss the veryinrensenartne of his revelatory experiences.

Blake mainly painted in watcfcolour.

From the 1780.s, he printed his own illustrated poern,~, both text andimage, and then, wirh his wife, hand-coloured each print. HE: went on to make relief prin.ts,usi.ng coloured inks, and sometimes rerouching in paint. His

dra mariecompositions areimmedi arely recognizable - the mnscularnude fig;ures show the inspiration he .derived :rrom stud)irtg IvIimdangdo. At the same time, his H.g!,lres are ethereal and unearthly, often surroanded by balls

of lighr, Blake enjoyed very little

success in his lifetime, although the Pre-Raphaelires championed him after his death.

S.wiss-bom artist and writer He:nry Fuseli (1741-1825) painted some ke:y 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), the landscape painter, printmaker and etcher, was one ofBlake's disciples and, like Blake, experienced visions as 11 child

that led him to make highly wrought, visionary paintings, charged with fecli.ng and asense of ether-worldliness.

11'1 EVOILU i lOIN S

.. THE NIGI-ITMARE, .1781 HENRY FU.5ELI

Fuuli painted two versi(")n~ ifth~ notorious picture, the first.ol which soas ~xhibite;d at the RrJyal.lirddemy in 1781. Thewiid-,ryal stallion thruHing its btadthrough a ,lit tn .tbB '"!JI'"Mi 1'1, th~ H,pinejigll re rf th~ }rJ!Jl1g seaman ,md lb.1! grwmf!- filtti ft gure seatedon herpdvi, combine to giv( the painti '1& a disJinctiyerati r ouerione:

94

LI GHT

AND

SPACE

05EPH NlALLORD WILLIAM TURNER

(1775-1351) was, with John COl1srable, one of 1:\1\'0 01l11:$landil1g painters of the .British School inthe 19th century. Both of them specialized in landscape and both belonged tn the English Romantic tradition rhat had 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 bstraction.

nU:Ile.r was bo rn in. London :and

his precocious talent for d[a'Wing secured him a placear the Royal Academy Schook From 1792, he b,egan. to undertake sketching tours, deeeloping topographical drawings and waterccloura of'views and the landscape, Turner was a hugely pmductive:rrtist, his slretihbooks,

drawings and. watercolours forming the basis for later oil palerings. Turner 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 paj nlers - to the later, semi-absrracr works in Vi' hich luminosity 'and at.mnspher:e predominate,

Between 1802 and 1 S3(l, Turner made repeated trips abroad tn study the landsca pc, The mountains and I akes of Switze:r1anda.nd the canals ofVenke, for example, were the inspiration for many oil compositions, Airer 18j.(J, Turner's brushwork became freer and more

expressive. He used a palette kn.ife and raW' in addition to brushes and. his coloru becameincreasingly radiant, characteristically featuring a palette of bright ye11«w;s, blilits and pinks. Ti,lmer

prepared the sl.Irfuce ofhis canvases by smoothingthem with a white oil ground andthen ~lpp1-ying thin pale wn..shes which he built up in. s!l:!bseqlJ!ent layers. A~ a sense of place became secondary, light became his real $llJ!bject matter; Johll C()rl;,~tilble remarked rhar late Turners were 'p ainted with tinted steam' .

Turner, li.ke 'wya. and Blake.was something of an isolated ge.ni1;JJ$ who wag not fully appreciated in. his lifetime; many f(Jllnd his later paintings too abstract for their taste. However, he 'W"dS cha.mpioned by John Ruskin,lhc in:ll:lLlcntial critic whose treatise, Mod~'ll Painsers, did much to enhance Tittmer's 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

.~ ULB5.ES DERIDING POlYl'liEMU5., t 829 JOSEJ>Ji MALLORD TURNER

A depiction if high drama ,(,n t/g 'Pen sen fr=the 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;!Jlirr sunrise with the :u;r.m:hirJg light rejleded in me" swirli1~g sky andsea;

11'1 EVOILU i lOIN S

--

... CAtAfS SANDS, . Low \iVATER,POfSSARDS COLLECTING BAIT, 1830 JOSI;:P.hl MALLORD TURNER

&t agaimt a .brilliant sunsa; agmup o/'i/J{}?Jwn hund;} truer thi" sand wllerling tbi" bait. Tbe vitality is i.tlrgdy ml1veycd through luminous t:dour al1dimld, expansive /JrmhstmklJ:I.

In. this S(,!t1IJ, 'Ii1r11apays /;=ge to his ~rJn1en.p(}rtJry Rir:hard B{}l1inglon, who aim prt;I.dl(;c.ai larg~' lan.dKape s .if Wi" F'r<enr:h coast:

NATURE

I' TURNiE.R~S, ROMA.NTlCISMreveals itselfin a poetic intensity; the paintings of John Constable (1776-1337) are equally lyrical, hut take 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 the Suffolk countryside where he was born and lived. ror most of his life. There isan immediacy to his work which broke new gffi'U nd in 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'las mill owner, Co nsrable WC(lf to Ih.e Royal Academy School in his earlytwenties, btu did not

find Sll.e;:cecSS until his forties. COI1b~ta ble developed his own style over time, after initially looking to Gainsbo:rough 1lnd other 18th-century landscape artists. who. he laterfelt, were too concerned with prettifyi:ng nature mld alrering their oomposinons to ,,'uit the conventions (if the dar- Valuing energy,md tmt:J:afw.ne$$, Constable wanted. to let nature speak for 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 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

records of weather, colour and light conditions, generally withnotes scribbled on the: back. These enabled him to replicate theatmospheric (8)ocfS in the 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 of tile .fact that they were six. feef wideand 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 painter of the particular rather than tnt ge.n.etal In tlis words, 'notwo days were alike,nor even two hOllfs,neithcr were there eYer rnlO leaves ofatree alike:

.~ SKETCI-I FORHAoLEIGH CASTLE, 1828 JOHN CONSTABLE

ThiJ ,expr.crsivf: $ix-foal skei:ch war an essential part of CrmstahfdwrJrk:'ng me:thad ,CI$ 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 S

... TI-n;: R\Y\¥A1N, 182'1 JOHN CONSTAI1LE

Thi, Suffolk scene near Flatfordon the river St,(}ur jiu!Jse>rJl'l a borse-draean IYlT! iimown as a hty ~aai1J." with a gr:oup ofhaymakm beyond in the distance. Crmstabii'" first ma.d~ sh:tchs if the scen« in the ,OPi'"11 ab; but ,the firJilI pmnting w.a;r cr:eated in the {tr,tist'$ ~t!Jdif} in London.

98

LANDSCAPES

M[>AR Dnvm FrmmRlcH

(1 '7'74-1340) wasthe most important visual artist of

the Romantic movement in. Germanj, although hisl'l'ork was virtually forgotten at the time of his death and only rediscoeered fully inthe 20th century. Romanticism came to fruiti.on. in Germ.any, France and Britain in. the early 19th century, with manyartists looking to the landscape as a way of conjuring up mood and atmosphere, Landscape for

F riedrieh was a "Ira y of.!,'onveyi_ng pooilerm! emotional feelings; he saw a reJ:igi.ous and symbolic importance in nature that he wanted to cornmnnic ate. Friedrich himsclfrealist:dm:a his work was not, as it was in. Constables case, about 'tl1.eEl ithfui representation of air, water, rocks and trees ... bl!J!t the

reflection of the soul and emotion in these objects".

Friedrich trained at the Copenhagen Academy in Dresden between 1794 and 1798 and then serried permanently in Dresden, Romanticism in Germ-any flo!1l:rblhoolfi Drccsden and there Friedrich met other artists, .i.ncl.u&ng the poet Goethe. Initl.aUy he worked .. In. sepia wash and pencil, but>'l'l'ltch.ed to oils in 1807. Although he turned his hand. to other subject matter, Friedrich always returnedto landscape, in whim be

often included ruins and solitary figlllIeS, !;howing these lone individ!lflls as insignificant before namre,

Friedrich's p-ainllngs have an. almost dismrbing darit;v, as :;1. result of the

F,lct that they are painted with. such meticulousness. His f'Oregrmmd forms,

such as a 'sharp ,crag, or a rock, or a tree, are sta rtlingly accura te and sh arply delineated, wh,ere-a;s the backgrollnd stretchof mountains or sea is often. swathed in mist This helps to reinforce an overall sense of contemplation - the mood is generaUy calm and optimistic. Light, too, is highly significant in his paintings \'II1.1h the particular tlm.e of day - dawn, sunset orreiligh t - I rob tied wIth significance. There is a. concern also with the aspect of'Romanticism known as

'su blime', a new aesthetic c-oncept that developed in. We 18th ce.nti1l'y, focusing on the gm.n.d passions stirred in man when confronted with the wildness and

vastness 0 f nanrre, Fdedric b:'s intr 'giill.l'lg, derailedand atmospheric paintings foreshadow the work of the PreRaphaelites in the late 1840 ...

~ CHALK CLIFFS IN lhiGEN, .1818 CA:S:PAR DAVID FRIEDRICH

Friedrich mad" secera! pain.ti ~gs based on his ,k;"tri;l-f'J and studies of scenic plam, Jm.! the dijj~ on Rugtn, G,m1UmJ~ fm'gest islim.d,. and !hI! areas rf.outstandillg natsaa] iltauij around Dresden. Thi!J ,)mb.aiir; w(}r/t"with i.i'.r halan,r;ea wmpontirm, ts a 11.udita.tion on thB asoeinfPiringljualiticr rf nature.

11'1 E V 0 II.. U i lOIN S 1199

100

POETIC

RILE ROMANTICISM WAS,

coming to prominence in ELlI'ope at the begi_nnlng of'rhe 1'9th century, a poetic movement known as w:iyo-e was the dominant art form in Japan. Ukiyo-" means ''p icrures

of the floati.llg world', a term which describesa geme ofJ<Lpan.ese woodblock prinrs and painrings produced between rhe 1 I'thand the 20th cenrurj; Theart of ukryo-~ reflects the transient p1easm~s

of cw:ryd:a.y life and. makes U;<;C of' irn:8.ge.ry drawn from. pop ular idols 0 f the time such as actors and rmirtesans,

Karsushika HoblSai (1760-1&49) was the le ailin.g exponent nf the japanese

art 0 f uki)'G-t'. Born in Edo (now Tok-yo), Hoknsal was the son of a. mirror-maker who Itarncd woodcngraving before training under a painter named Sln:lIlsho. H()kllSai had various disputes with his master regarding work methods and left in. 178!;'. He then went on to de\'elop a method of woodblock prinling that foCillcscd nil. a range ofeveryday subject matter, lncluding birds ,VlIO men an d aspects of the landscape. Ukiy{}-~ was an important and. dominant ad movement in. Japan because it was easy to masspmdu(:t: and thus affordable, while "howing people going about their lives without idealization,

.. MOUNT FUJI FROM ()1,vARI ,c18J.1 KATSUS,HIKA HOKUMI

FJ~j<lmd ,r,reatedThe Thirty-SIx Views of Mount Fuji wben be war in hit seventia .. The series plierenu v'''''"Y dijfor,m:t viruJ, althe' diJ;tinr;tive ame~wa;petl mrmtJifl.in' tli",difj-""~rl.t times .r;})ear. In j~ k expmma"ltJ'-'1ith rolh eastem tmd wff.~n'lUd)IJiquff, and ti?1plifie. tht: formol .deme'rl.tJ #"r;rmpontirm, .wlour and line.

After studying European art and how perspecrise could beused in a picture, HnkuSal concentrated primarily on landscape. Altogether hemade over 30,000 dra wings, mostly book illustrations made by the block printing melhod. His moJttFitrnO"l!ls block print i$ The Wa'!.lf!,. ·a.hhough in. his sixtiesand seventies he abo created and published the cqu,t11y inill.lenr.iru woodblock prints, Tht! Thirty-Six Vie<i.Of ifMMnt F'uj~ between 1826 and 18-33.

Ukiyo-e had a huge impact on the wcsterll world. In the middle of the 19 tit cenru:ry, ma.n}' foreign merchants 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 and Klirnr, Hokusai diedar the age of 89 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 and graceful 'IiI'ork 'was also a po'wcrful inflaence on the

I mpressionists .