ARTS 1304: Art History II Esteban Hinojosa, Visiting Faculty Fall 2013 Exam II: Study Guide

Exam Format: approximately 85% multiple-choice questions; approximately 15% identification and explanation of One of 3-4 images. Study the following periods, terms, concepts, themes, events, and historical figures. Chapter 22: M annerism Background: With monumental projects like the ceiling and altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, as well as the Tomb of the Medici, artists in Italy began to more emphatically imitate the work of Michelangelo, meaning they chose to ignore making work after nature, and instead made work after other art. The result has been called mannered, or affected, resulting in an emphasis on artifice. I. M annerist Painting A. Michelangelos final major painting commission will be the Last Judgment , 153641, for the altar wall of the Sistine chapel. The image contains hundreds of strikingly monumental nude figures including a colossal Christ. The image will be much maligned by detractors who insist the nude bodies smack of paganism. For Michelangelo it is not only a work of contrition for a life of perceived sin, but also a work that completes the cycle of creation, sin, and spiritual longing from the ceiling. This is the final moment of redemption. D. Correggio painted the Assumption of the Virgin, 1526-30 for the Parma Cathedral, in an illusionistic style that references the quadratura of Michelangelo, the di soto in su perspective of Mantegna, and the dramatic light of Titian. The dome of the Church becomes the vault of heaven, anticipating the many Baroque Roman ceiling in the century to come. E. Parmigianinos M adonna with the Long Neck , 15341540, is seemingly an homage to Michelangelos sculpturethe accentuated length of the neck referencing the Tomb of the Medici, and the splayed child seeming more like the dead Christ of the Piet than the typical playful infantyet the rationalization for the oddities lies in the Mannerist penchant for obscure themes, and the diminutive Saint Jerome reveals the allusion to a medieval hymn comparing the virgins neck to a column of Ivory, which is also present in the picture. F. Sofonisba Anguissola is among the very few famous female painters of sixteenth-century Italy. She, like other lady painters, would have been prevented from membership in guilds, and shunned from academies where mastery of the nude figure was compulsory. Ladies are therefore relegated to painting still life, landscape and portraits like Sofonisbas Portrait of the Artists Sisters and Brother , 1555. G. In Venice, Titians so called Venus of Urbino , 1538, is in fact a very candid image of a fully sexualized nude figure demonstrating the conduct of a noblewoman,

most likely as a didactic device for a young bride. His Rape of Europa exemplifies his mature phase defined by loose and expressive brushstrokes. In his later years, his eyes fail and his hand shakes, resulting in pictures like the Pieta , 1576, whose forms seem almost improvised, and his work is ironically heralded as proto-impressionist. H. Tintoretto creates dramatic compositions like his Last Supper , 1594, that utilize chiaroschuro, and tenebrism as well as a strong diagonal, all of which anticipate the Baroque of the following century. Veronese, instead focuses on the Mannerist predilection for crowds of figures, opulent costumes and fanciful architecture. His banquet scenes are so profane the Inquisition forces him to rename one of his Last Supper images Christ in the House of Levi , 1573. The Inquisition actually wanted the painting altered but Veronese found it more expedient to change the name than remove the offending figures and vignettes. II. M annerist Sculpture A. M ichelangelos work in the New Sacristy of San Lorenzo in Florence is iconic. The sacristy is in fact a mortuary chapel for the Medici chiefs Lorenzo the Magnificent, his brother Giuliano, and two more family members. Working from 1519 to 1534, Michelangelo completed the facing tomb sculptures of the principle figures, with each Medici representing the active and contemplative life. They sit in heroic proportions, with long necks to make their facial expressions visible from the floor. Clad in the skintight costumes celebrated by Pontormo, they surmount recumbent nude personifications of Day and Night and Dawn and Dusk that will be endlessly copied by Michelangelos students and admirers. B. Giambattista Bolognas Abduction of the Sabines , 1579-83, is a dramatic work that in an almost Hellenistic fashion, demands to be circumnavigated. The artist is careful to create intriguing moments of positive and negative space from every direction in an almost cork screw-like composition. III. M annerist Architecture A. Michelangelo remains an active architect, and his new sacristy and vestibule of the Laurentian Library are virtual manifestos of his reinvention of classical elements, rearranged to fit the whims of a master. Pilasters are inverted columns are doubled, sunken into the wall and even quartered to mark corners, pediments are broken, volutes are added at liberty. The staircase itself unfolds like a giant tongue. 1. Michelangelo reorients the urban landscape of Rome with his interventions on the Campidoglio, the hill overlooking the ancient Roman Forum. His design for the piazza not only reconciles and preserves the irregular space, but, with the addition of the Marcus Aurellius statue, focuses attention on the Christian present, that is the New Saint Peters (as opposed to the pagan past in the forum). 2. Decades after work on the new St.Peters began, Michelangelo rethinks Bramantes design emphasizing the immensity of the dome. He incorporates the colossal order of columns which he again doubles, creating a compact base for the now Florentine (as opposed to Pantheon) inspired dome.

B. Giulio Romano is a highly educated architect and painter who executed Raphaels unfinished commissions after the Masters death. He displays his erudition in the Interior Courtyard of the Palazzo del T , 1525-35, for the Duke of Mantua. Giulio intentionally breaks architraves, places vaults over square niches, and threatens to drop trigyphs. These details are meant to be humorous and whimsical to the trained eye. C. In Rome, Giacomo della Porta, who completed the Dome of St. Peters after Michelangelos death, himself creates the faade of Il Ges , 1575-84, incorporating motifs developed by Michelangelo, such as the giant order pilasters and the broken architraves. Inside, Giacomo da Vignola designs an expansive plan, which eliminates the side aisles in favor of a more unified space, in keeping with the ideals of the Counter-Reformation. D. Paladio is Venices chief architect. The church of San Giorgio Maggiore is strongly centralized with the transept as long as the nave. The faade features two flattened out temple fronts, intersecting and uniting the nave and aisles. His Villa Rotunda is heavily indebted to the ancient Pantheon in Rome, but the Paladio adds porches to all four sides of his building in order to give his patron a panoramic view of his land. Chapter 18: Later Northern Renaissance 1500-1600 Background: As Northern Europe begins to fracture into Catholic and Protestant states, so to does its art. In Catholic countries, art remains concentrated on the ideals of church, that is Good Works, most easily identified with physical suffering, especially martyrdom. Protestant patronage shifts subjects from the saints and biblical histories to landscape and allegories, in keeping with the a growing belief in Iconoclasmthe idea that sacred spaces should be devoid of art, so that the faithful could concentrate on the text of the scripture, now being published in vernacular language. I. French and Spanish Art A. France and Spain continues to be Catholic strongholds. In France, Pierre Lescot begins rebuilding the urban palace of the Louvre, 1546, updating the medieval space with staunchly Italianate embellishments including strong horizontal elements such as the arcade and projecting cornices, emphasizing a continued connection with Rome and the Church. These horizontals are mediated by the distinctly French vertical pitch of the roof. In Spain, Juan de Herrera and Juan Bautista de Toledo create the Escorial, 1563-84, a severely classical complex that includes a church, tombs, libraries and picture galleries. The palace is organized on a grid, visually referencing the griddle on which San Lorenzo (Saint Laurence, the Early Christian martyr) was roasted alive. B. El Greco is the preeminent Spanish painter of the sixteenth century, with a revolutionary style, that is more expressive than traditional works based on naturalism. The Burial of Count Orgaz , 1586, is mounted above the Counts actual tomb, representing the present reality. In the lower zone of the picture the historical figures are dressed in the mundane, naturalistic fashion of the day. The scene is dominated by an ethereal upper portion, where Christ holds court in the typical Deesis scene, accompanied by the infinite heavenly host. In this upper zone, the figures seem to float, and undulate, unbound by the gravity of earth.

II. Art in Germany A. Possibly the most celebrated German religious picture of the sixteenth century, the Isenheim Altarpiece , 1510-15, by M atthias Grnewald, focuses on the physical agony of the crucifixion, with gruesome details like the contorted hands and feet as well as a corpus covered head to toe in cuts and bruises. In the predella, the dead Christ awaits entombment. When the altar is opened the doors seemingly amputate the arm of the crucified Christ, and the legs of the dead Christ. This is an intentional reference to the viewers of the altar, sick and suffering persons confined to hospital. The wings feature Saints Sebastian and Anthony, both of whom also suffer greatly, but are subject to divine healing. The interior doors, seen on Sundays and holidays feature more celebratory images of the Incarnation and Resurrection. B. Albrecht Drer is the undisputed master of German printmaking, but he is also a successful painter and naturalist, keeping careful journals and making thousands of drawings, in the vein of Leonardo, though far more organized. 1. Hare , and Great Piece of Turf , 1502 and 03, are simple watercolors, but emphasize a new emphasis on nature, particularly as gods creation, while exemplifying Drers keen observational skills. 2. T he Fall of M an (Adam and Eve), 1504, is one of the artists myriad engravings, through which he not only earned a tidy income, but also disseminated his work beyond the confines of a picture installed in a single chapel or patrons home. Like his earlier woodcut Four horsemen of the Apocalypse , 1498, Drer uses a variety of carved marks and careful observation of nature to bring a sense of truth to fantastic situations, such as collections of exotic animals monsters and demons. 3. Four Apostles , 1526, seems to assert the artists growing dissatisfaction with the Church as he places Saint Peter (the first pope) in the shadows and forced to hunch over the text that Protestants hold dear above any picture or sculpture. C. Lucas Cranach the Elder produced an important woodcut titled Allegory of Law and Grace , ca. 1530, in which the Catholic Church is compared to the Jews of the Old Dispensation, and are accordingly kept from the Grace of God. On the right side of the Tree of Wisdom, the Protestant faith is shown to be directly in line with Grace, from the Annunciation to the Crucifixion to the Resurrection, not because of rigid rules, rituals or even good works, but through faith alone. Interestingly the woodcut borrows several motifs from prominent Catholic paintings from the previous century. He also proves a savvy panel painter, producing elegant figures set in imaginative landscapes. His Judgment of Paris , 1528, is decidedly designed for the male gaze, as it features three nude female figures exposing there beauty in competion for the Trojan prince, dressed as a contemporary German knight. D. Albrect Altdorfers Battle of Issos , similarly updates an historical narrative. Though the conflict is depicted on an epic scale, with literally thousands of combatants set against a Mediterranean coast and tumultuous sky, the figures are clad in the

contemporary armor of Germans and Turks, allowing the historical conflict of Greeks and Persians to amplify the stakes of the present day European anxiety about invasion. E. Hans Holbein builds his career abroad, in the Court of King Henry VIII of England. His double portrait of T he French Ambassadors , 1533 asserts an immediacy marked by costume and posture. The character of the ambassadors is enhanced by their regal full figure appearance as well as numerous attributed that point to religious turmoil in the English court. Conspicuously Holbein included an anamorphic skull that can only be viewed correctly from an extreme angle. Such is the need to display advanced visual skills. His Portrait of Henry VIII , 1540, presents a lion of a man, his larger that life status enhanced by his massive coat and intricate brocading.

III. Netherlandish Art A. Jan Gossaert makes his career painting in the Protestant Northern Netherlands. Neptune and Amphitite , 1516, is a mythological scene, making it religion-neutral, and immune to criticism for its heroically nude figures, themselves modeled on the forms of Drer. B. Pieter Aertsens Butchers Stall , 1551, is a subtle presentation of what seems like a simple genre scene of meat and sundries, but carefully nestled within are references to Lent, a tiny Flight into Egypt, as well as a more epicurean option, complete with oysters and a prostitute. The viewer is thus tasked with choosing his or her path. C. Joachim Patinir, continues the theme of the diminished religious scene with his Landscapes with Saint Jerome , ca. 1518-24. The relatively diminutive vignettes of Jerome and the lion (and other religious figures) is subverted by the massive landscape, part of the Protestant trend to eliminate overt references to saints in favor of concentrating on Creation, that is, the world of God. D. Pieter Brueghel the Elder eliminates all sense of the Catholic past with his Hunters in the Snow , 1565. The image is purely imagined, complete with rolling hills and trees that recede in perspective. Aside from the snow-covered steeple in the distance, this is an entirely secular image of daily life. Contrarily, Netherlandish Proverbs , 1559, is at times an out and out indictment of the Church. The panoramic view encompasses some 100-plus vignettes that illustrate Netherlandish wisdom and musings on the human condition. The figures are all lively but corrupt. Only on the horizon can the viewer find the ship that will sail through the mayhem, hopefully a little wiser for having experienced the unflinching and even scatological humor.

Chapter 19: The Baroque in Italy and Spain Background: The Baroque period corresponds to the end of the sixteenth century through end of the seventeenth. In Italy it is characterized by a distinct departure from the stylistic tangent that was Mannerism, and back to a more strict sense of Renaissance draftsmanship and proportion in painting, sculpture and architecture. However, in each medium the subject has a new immediacy, liveliness, and dramatic tension. I. Painting: There are two majors schools of Baroque painting, the more traditional championed by Annibale Carracci, who venerates the color and draftsmanship of Raphael. The other is led by the infamous Caravaggio, whose canvases are marked by tenebrism and reject any sense of formality and artificiality in favor of a harsh reality. A. The Contarelli Chapel: Caravaggio painted a cycle of Matthew images that seemingly inaugurate the Baroque style in painting. The Calling of Saint M atthew , ca. 15971601, features figures in a dark room with a single light source, ushered by the figure of Christ who holds his hand out in the fashion of Adam in the Sistine chapel. Across the room sit a group of dandies wearing contemporary Roman dress. More than simply updating the fashion of the biblical figures as in the Renaissance, Caravaggio refuses to idealize these figures, giving the an unparalleled immediacy. The other images in the chapel include the violent martyrdom of Saint Matthew, as well as Matthew as the evangelist. The initial version of the latter is rejected for its frank sexuality and crude depiction of the saint. But these are hallmarks of Caravaggios style, the physical meant to represent the divine, whether through brutal martyrdom, or sensual intimacy. 1. Caravaggios Conversion of Saint Paul , ca. 1601, is another of the earliest public commissions for this brash artist. The painter eliminates the crowds that characterized the Mannerist compositions and instead placed his protagonist so close to the picture plane, he appears to be falling out. In addition to depopulating his picture, Caravaggio extinguishes all sense of place by using deep shadows, to create emphasis on the primary narrative, in this case the transformative power of the light of god. Within the same chapel, Caravaggio painted the Crucifixion of Saint Peter . Peter, Paul, Matthew and even the Magdalene became extremely popular as flawed saints who given the chance to repent became important pillars of faith, and were thus allegories for the Church as it emerged from the corruption crisis that spawned the Protestant Reformation. 2. The Entombment , ca. 1603, is a visceral contemplation of the Corpus Christi, with Nicodemus and Saint John proffering the dead Christ, as to place him in the tomb, whose slab cover seems to jut into the viewers space, indeed, it is as though the figures will place Christ outside the picture plane and on the real altar that would have stood below in the pictures original sacred context. It is thus another strong message supporting the truth of the Transubstantiation that is refuted by Protestants. B. Carraccis Flight into Egypt , 1603-04, is at first another Renaissance landscape, but there is a new immediacy to both the figures and the seemingly untamed and unevenly lit terrain. In fact Carracci uses carefully arranged swaths of light, and a highly organized composition to both frame and shelter the protagonists.

Annibales love of Raphael is obvious in his Loves of the Gods , 15971601, ceiling frescoes in the gallery of Palazzo Farnese, Rome, Italy. As with Raphaels Galatea, mythology becomes the vehicle for sensuality with hundreds of figures appear nude or semi-nude. The pictures are arranged in quadri riportati, or literally, transported canvases, pictures that appear to be framed and placed in the vault, but are actually painted to appear as such. The ignudi and various other ornamental effects evoke the Sistine ceiling, though this is an entirely pagan program, executed for a private audience. C. Artemsia Gentileschi is one of the Caravaggisti, or followers of Caravaggios style. Her Judith Slaying Holofernes , ca. 161420, strongly evokes Caravaggios picture of the same subject, though she injects herself in to the narrative. Judith was a Jewish princess who used pretended to seduce the Holofernes, the Assyrian general who laid siege to her city. Just when Holofernes expected to consummate the evening, Judith decapitates him. Artemsesia paints herself as Judith, with the role of Holofernes going to another artist who raped her. She has her revenge on the canvas. D. Guido Reni emerges from the school in Bologna founded by the Carracci, and at the beginning of his career seeks to emulate the smooth contours and bright colors. His Aurora , 16131614, is full of light and with its classical subject strongly evokes the Loves of the Gods. By the end of his career he will have adopted the fierce tenebrism of Caravaggio, as he does in his Susanna at the Bath, a picture popluar among men for its voyeuristic theme, but sheathed in legitimacy as a biblical narrative. E. Pietro da Cortona continues the powerful trend of di sotto in su ceiling paintings. His Triumph of the Barberini, 163339, for the Palazzo Barberini is a complicated series of allegories trumpeting the secular achievements of Pope Urban VIIIs family. Conspicuous are the Barberini bees, golden and ringed by a wreath held aloft by Faith, Hope, and Charity, three of the many personifications Pietro placed amidst the quadratura architecture. F. Giovanni Battista Gaulli quickly brings the concept to the sacred context, in this case the Triumph of the Name of Jesus , 167679, for the ceiling of Il Gesu, the mother church of the Jesuits. Gauli paints the ceiling as being open to the heavens as Correggio before him only, in this judgment scent not only are the faithful elevated, but the damned are strewn down, beyond the confines of the architecture, with canvas extending beyond the stucco frame. II. Architecture: Patronage in Italy remains dominated by the Church, which, feeling the impact of the Protestant Reformation in the North, sought to entice the faithful back to Mass in part by creating dynamic and engaging buildings. A. Carlo M aderno utilizes the standard vocabulary of Renaissance architecture for the faade of Saint Peters , 1606-12, and yet the sense of rationalism and compartmentalization breaks down, as well as the flatness and uniformity. Instead, the faade has many tiers and the surface is itself broken by niches and sunken columns, creating a rhythmic play of light. Critics however tend to concentrate on the fact that the architects extension of the nave of Saint Peters combined with the massive faade ends up screening Michelangelos Dome from view in the piazza.

B. Gianlorenzo Bernini is the Architect/Sculptor par excellence of the Baroque. Most prominent of his many commissions for the church is the Piazza San Pietro. Replacing the Early Christian atrium is an enormous irregularly shaped squareBernini had to contend with the unusual topography of the Vatican hill as well as preexisting monuments like the Egyptian Obelisk and a fountain by Maderno. His solution is a pair of enormous colonnades that emerge from the faade, and form an enormous ellipse. In keeping with the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic response to the Protestant reformation, the piazza evokes a mother welcoming her children home with open arms. C. Francesco Borromini continues Berninis dynamic style by creating an undulating faade for San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, 16651676. The architrave and columns form a fluid curve that rejects the rigid, perpendiculars of the Renaissance. The church actually sports dual faades as the church unfurls around the corner and embraces one of the four fountains for which it was named. Inside the predilection for curves continues as the elliptical nave melts into a series of interlocking curves in the dome. Borromini makes his rivalry with Bernini (and the legacy of Maderno) public with his design for SantAgnese, 165363. Agneses faade carries the two campaniles Bernini failed to execute for Saint Peters, and is designed as a centrally planned church (alla Bramante), with the Dome rising just above the faade full visible from the Piazza Navona. II. Sculpture A. The chief sculptor of the Baroque is Bernini, who created dramatic works to compliment his architectural spaces. 1. The Baldacchino of Saint Peters , 162433, is at essence a canopy that marks the High Altar, which in turn is located above the crypt that hold the remains of Saint Peter. The guilded bronze canopy is held aloft by Solomonic columnstwisted after the fashion of King Solomons Temple. The Baldacchino terminates in ogee arches that point toward the dome, thus helping bridge the space from the floor to the ceiling far above. The columns also act as a framing device to highlight the cathedra of Saint Peter, another Bernini sculpture celebrating the authority of the first pope and consequently, the papacy. 2. David , 1623, sets itself apart from the lineage of David sculptures (Donatello, Verrocchio, Michelangelo) by incorporating intense action. This is neither the moment before the battle nor the triumph after but the very moment that David will let his sling fly. Berninis figure is full of negative spaces, and is poised at an extreme diagonal, thus allowing for interesting views from 360 degrees; it is truly sculpture in the round. The tension is even carried to the figures face; David possesses neither quiet concentration nor gleeful satisfaction, it is marked by alert, fuming determination. 3. E cstasy of Saint Teresa , 1645-52, is total theatre. At its core, the Cornaro chapel houses the sculptor group of the mystic saint and the angel of God, who, according to Teresas writings, repeatedly pierced her heart with a flaming arrow, sending her into religious ecstasy. Here that rapture is visualized as physical, with the figure swooning, mouth agape. The men of the Cornaro family look on from illusionistic relief sculptures flanking the chapel

like theatre boxes. The entire scene is lit from an unseen window above, and is enhanced by golden rays representing divine light. High above painted figures enhance the notion of the sacred. III. Painting in Spain: Spanish tastes favored the tenebrism of Caravaggio, with several artists having made the pilgrimage to Rome where the style was in full swing. A. Diego Velzquez is an ardent follower of Caravaggio, referencing his use of street people in his W ater Carrier of Seville , ca. 1619, and the extreme tenebrism in his Christ on the Cross , ca. 1631-32. Ultimately Velzquez choose more aristocratic subjects, like the Surrender of Breda , 16341635, and the Portrait of pope Innocent X , 1644, in an attempt to elevate his personal status and that of his profession. His crowning achievement will be Las M eninas , 1656. It is on the one hand a portrait of the infanta and her maids of honor, attendandts, favorite dwarf and even a pet, but it is also a narrative explaining the artist;s proximity to royalty and even includes an appearance by the king and queen to the workshop. B. Bartolom Estban M urillo paints numerous images of the Immaculate Conception , 1661-70, in support of the doctrine that the virgin was without sin at birth and thus was the perfect vessel for the Incarnation. The iconography of the woman clothed in the sun and riding on the moon, trampling the serpent is taken from the revelation. The same iconography is present in the Virgin of Guadalupe, the famous relic from New Spain.

Chapter 20: Netherlandish Baroque The influence of Caravaggio is everywhere, disseminated by artists who journey to Rome for both papal commissions as well as for their own artistic education. The dramatic light and dynamic compositions are in keeping with the Counter-Reformation tactics of the Church. Alternatively, the classically inspired style of the Carracci is adopted and adapted into a calm and calculated counter-style. Protestant patrons in the north steer subjects toward still-life and landscape, as well as Hebrew Bible narratives (for personal, not liturgical use). I. Painting: A. Peter Paul Rubens is an international superstar, using his erudite training to broker art for powerful patrons, which leads to his status as a courtier of the crowns of Spain and England and ultimately knighthood. Rubens discovers Caravaggio in Rome and purchases his Death of the Virgin. 1.For his own Elevation of the Cross , 1610, processes the dynamic, physically present compositions of Caravaggio with the sinuous bodies of Michelangelo, as well as the drama of the Hellenistic statuary in Rome, such as the Laocoon. The result is an invigorated, explosive moment of tension, without sacrificing the iconic image of the body of Christ. The event of the crucifixion is not static, but is instead perpetually unfolding.

2. Arrival of M arie de M edici at M arseilles , 16221625, is one of a series of works commissioned by the Florentine Regent of France after the death of her Husband Henry IV. Rubens calls on his classical iconography to produce an image that demonstrates divine intervention (in the form of vigorous Triton and sensuous nude sea nymphs) delivered Marie across the tempestuous sea. Fame trumpets her arrival, and the personification of France welcomes her with open arms as she disembarks her Medici vessel. Yes, this is propaganda. Know why. 3. Allegory of Sight , 1615, is a collaboration with Jan Brueghel, and represents the voracious appetite of European collectors as well as Rubens own prolific output. B. Anthony Van Dyck is one of Rubens most successful students. Working in the English court, he helps redefines the ruler portrait with his Charles I Dismounted , ca. 1635, by placing the subject in the context of his realm, rather than in the studio or palace. The perspective is low, allowing the rather short king to appear monumental. In the traditional pose (give me some space), he surveys his domain, dressed in toughguy attire. C. Jacob Jordaens The King Drinks ,1638, exhibits the continued sway Caravaggio has on the North, with the ironic elevation of low culture (this is a man playing at being king) The image at once titillates and admonishes, presenting decadent behavior as a model of what to avoid. Similarly, Terbruggens Calling of Saint Matthew in a scene of lewd company. His images of musicans, such as Singing Lute Player, 1624 are equally evocative of Carravaggio. D. Frans Hals debuts a new kind of group portrait with works like Banquet of the Officers of the St. George Civic Guard , 1616. In this picture the members of the confraternity are posed informally, each seemingly only just aware (or even surprised) that they are being painted. M arried Couple in a Garden: Portrait of Isaac M assa and Beatrix van der Laen . ca. 1622, recalls the candor and intimacy of Rubens treatment of similar subjects and is in stark contrast to the formality of Van Eycks Early Northern Renaissance double portrait. E. Judith Leysters Self-Portrait , ca. 1630, at once conforms to the standard trope of posing at the easel, capitalizing on the novelty of a female artist, yet her canvas goes a step further, demonstrating her ability to create illusion. She is conspicuously dressed in ruffles and satin, finery that would appear inappropriate for workshe is in fact asserting her desired position in society, elevated from the rank of a mere artisan. Her Proposition, 1631, offers a female perspective on a popular theme: the jolly prostitute. Leysters version features a solicitous man and a modestly dressed lady who would prefer to tend needlework than consider his coin. F. Rembrandt van Rijn is the undisputed master of Dutch Baroque painting. Highlights from his huge ouvre include, The Blinding of Samson , 1636, in which he embraces Caravaggesque shadows and explicit violence, enhanced by archaeological accuracy in terms of props and costumes. The Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq ( Night W atch ), 1642, is among his most famous pictures. Rembrandt expands on Hals concept of the lively group portrait by seting the portraits in the midst of action, with the most prominent patrons in full figure and, in a nod to ancient hierarchy of scale, diminishes their prominence as their own importance to the

militia decreases. Rembrandt is equally well known for his numerous self-portraits. SelfPortrait , ca. 16591660, utilizes a diverse spectrum of values to approximate the many shades of grey in the artists character. Finally this subtlety of light and unflinching realism reaches a quiet crescendo in the Bathsheba with King Davids Letter, 1645, an introspective meditation on vulnerability. G. Jacob Van Ruisdael is a prominent Protestant painter. Consequently his View of Haarlem from the Dunes at Overveen , ca. 1670, is devoid of overt references to divinity. Instead the emphasis is on the land (reclaimed from the sea, evoking the earth after the biblical flood) and community, and, because the low horizon line the seemingly endless heavens. For protestant painters, faith is incorporeal, not grounded by saints, sacraments or church hierarchies, but instead defined by faith alone. H. In Delft, Jan Vermeer explores domestic life with pictures such as The Letter , 1666, Allegory of the Art of Painting, and Girl with the Pearl Earring. Each image reveals an uncanny study of light and its effects on vision, as well as celebrating the value of the here and now, rather than the Counter-Reformation predilection for martyrdom and suffering or the overtly Protestant landscapes. I. Still life gains wide popularity in the North and paintings like Rachel Ruyschs Flower Still Life , after 1700, fetch three times the price of the average Rembrandt picture. While images like W illem Kalfs Still Life with Oysters, a Roemer, a Lemon, and a Silver Bowl, 1634 , seem to promote materialism, the cut fruit, overturned classes and fleeting aphrodesiacs reveal these pictures to be Vanitas images, and ultimately memento mori works.