European Artists of the Enlightenment
Jan Brueghel, the Elder, was a Flemish painter who, in conjunction with Peter Paul Rubens, painted The Allegory of Sight and Smell in 1620 as part of a set that…
Jan Bruegel (1568-1625)
Jan Brueghel, the Elder, was a Flemish painter who, in conjunction with Peter Paul Rubens, painted The Allegory of Sight and Smell in 1620 as part of a set that attempted to explore the five senses as represented by women.[1] An allegory is when the depicted figures represent a more abstract but profound meaning, usually a moral like love, sin, or justice.[2] Here, smell is represented by the women smelling flowers, while sight is shown pondering her own reflection accompanied by an angel.[3]
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
Also a Flemish artist, Rubens was known for his dramatic baroque paintings. Around 1630, he painted Peace and War, reflecting his goal as envoy for Philip IV attempting to negotiate peace with England.[4] In the painting, the Roman goddess of wisdom Minerva pushes back Mars, the war god, and Alecto, the personification of the fury of war.[5] This allows a Cupid, the god of love, and Hymen, the god of marriage, to lead the children to a cornucopia of food and peace everlasting.[6] Cupid is depicted here as an angel with wings while Hymen is depicted handing out food from the cornucopia.
Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665)
A French painter who moved to Rome, Poussin was drawn by the classical baroque style and was called the Raphael of his time for his masterful use of color and perspective.[7] Completed in 1627, The Death of Germanicus is one of the triumphs of his career. It depicts a young Roman general, Germanicus, who has just been poisoned by his adoptive father; on his deathbed, he begs his friend to avenge him.[8] The painting is famous because it presents the ideal of stoic heroism, and it would set a precedent for deathbed scenes for the next two hundred years.[9]
Artemisia Gentileschi (1594-1665)
Artemisia Gentileschi was a devout follower of Caravaggio. She strove to imitate him in the early Italian baroque style. In 1616, she was the first woman to be accepted into the Florentine Academy of Fine Arts. Eventually, she and her husband separated, allowing her freedom and independence rarely associated with women of the time.[10]
Completed in 1620, one of her most influential paintings, Judith Slaying Holofernes, follows the classic Jewish story of Judith and Holofernes, the general of King Nebuchadnezzar. In order to save her people, Judith murders Holofernes in his sleep. While other painters—including her inspiration, Caravaggio—depicted Judith as detached, Gentileschi focused on Judith’s bravery and determination, with Holofernes looking more surprised than afraid.
Gentileschi shows the viewer all the gruesome detail to produce a scene that is nothing short of terrifying. Holofernes screams as he desperately fights for his life; Judith frowns in concentration, her entire body radiating steely determination as blood drenches the bed.[11] The painting is significant because it depicts a woman out of the traditional role, full of power and capacity, rather than the docile role typically assigned to her by society.
This video gives additional background and technical commentary on the painting
Diego Velasquez (1599-1660)
A Spanish painter who was at the forefront of portraits and still lifes, Velasquez specialized in capturing important people and important events. His work served as inspiration for later realist and impressionist painters because his naturalistic and individual style helped to break portraiture out of its stiff confines. He was more interested in depicting realism and authenticity rather than the idealized forms of the Romantic era.[12] [13]
His most celebrated work is Las Meninas, painted in Spain in 1656; the work shows the Princess of Spain being attended by her maids of honor and advisors on the back wall. At the same time, Velasquez is painting a self-portrait thus painting himself into the portrait. The work is so extraordinary because it manages to make a formal royal painting seem spontaneous and informal, lending humanity and normalcy to the back rooms of power.[14]
This video breaks down why this painting is so important.
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669)
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn had an unparalleled and profoundly moving ability to capture the humanity of his subjects (and nature) in his oil paintings. The viewer feels a connection to the subject that is exceedingly rare in historical art, which for the most part is more abstract with any subjects painted in the distance.[15]
While some of his portraits like Portrait of an 83-year-old woman, and Nicolaes Ruts, are awe-inspiring and profoundly humanizing, his most famous work is The Night Watch.
Completed in 1642, the painting is very specific to the northern Netherlands and the city of Amsterdam. Local militias were in charge of maintaining order, policing the streets, putting out fires, and enforcing laws. Each militia had their own guild and command structure. At the height of his power and fame, Rembrandt was commissioned by the Kloveniersdoelen Guild Hall under the command of Captain Frans Banning Cocq. Rather than painting a standard line-up of notable members with officers in front and enlisted men in back, Rembrandt painted the militia out on patrol, breathing life into the scene and giving it a human depth and perspective.[16]
This video is an expert deconstruction by the Yale University Art gallery.
A breakdown of some of the techniques and symbolism that Rembrandt uses to bring this painting to life.
Gerard Ter Borch (1617-1681)
Born in Zwolle in the Netherlands, Gerard ter Borch the Younger quickly became an accomplished painter. His skill lay in his ability to inject psychological sensitivity into his work and to focus on and celebrate the finer points of upright Dutch society.[18] The Parental Admonition depicts three people in a bedchamber. One girl (possibly a daughter) in a beautiful satin dress is being addressed by the sitting man while in the presence of another. Experts disagree as to what the sitting man is saying—it could be an innocent proposal or a sharp rebuke—but the woman’s face is hidden, and her reaction remains unknown.[19] This demonstrates a psychological ambiguity, whereas the characters of most paintings of this age are unambiguous.
Giovanni Antonio Canale (1697-1768)
Born in Venice, Canale was a master of landscapes. His gift was to capture grand places and moments in extraordinary detail in his memory, then be able to reproduce them as paintings months or years after first seeing them.[20] Completed in 1627, one of his greatest works is The Reception of the French Ambassador, a monumental portrait of the French Ambassador arriving in Venice.[21]
William Hogarth (1697-1764)
Born in London, Hogarth shunned contemporary art, and instead printed and painted satire of modern English customs. He is widely considered the father of political satire and comedy.[22] One of his most influential works was the election series, a set of etchings inspired by the political corruption of the 1754 election between the liberal Whig Party and the conservative Tory Party to win Oxfordshire’s parliamentary seats. The Election Entertainment depicts a Whig banquet full of waste and excess. The mayor is seen being bled after too many oysters. The two candidates on the left are comically out of sorts, and an election agent has taken a brick to the head from the rival Tory mob outside.[23]
Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792)
Born in Britten in 1723, Reynolds became the most significant English portraitist of his day, and he elevated the profession to a new level of dignity.[24] His paintings attempted to move British art towards the styles and forms of the continent. An example of this is George Clive and his Family with an Indian Maid, which depicts Robert Clive, the cousin of Lord George Clive, who was the founder of the British Empire in India, his wife, and an Indian maid helping his daughter. He founded the Royal Academy in 1768, which quickly became the premiere art institution in England.[25]
Jean Honore Fragonard (1732-1801)
In many ways, French painter Jean Honore Fragonard embodies the French Enlightenment. His paintings capture all the hedonism, decadence, and eroticism; in the immortal words of Simon Schama, “Rosy bums, romping on frothy pillows.”[26] This is most exemplified in the 1768 painting The Swing, a gaudy, colorful painting that depicts a mischievous woman with her lover hidden in the bushes while another man, pushes the swing from behind.[27] The absence of hard lines and sharp edges gives the entire painting a dream-like quality, and the inclusion of the cupids and shushing statue gives the painting its overtly sexual overtones.[28]
The Wallace Collection presents a lecture of The Swing.
Jan Vermeer (1632-1675)
Born in the Netherlands in 1632, Vermeer is regarded as one of the greatest Dutch painters for his ability to capture life as he saw it, and to form a connection between the viewer and the subject.[29] One of his most celebrated works is Girl with the Pearl Earring. His used of perspective makes it difficult to determine if she is turning towards or away from the viewer.
It’s been called the Mona Lisa of the North for its ability to enrapture and captivate the viewer. While his other works display his mastery of perspective, space, light, proportion, and distance, Girl with the Pearl Earring has an entirely black background, forcing the viewer's attention entirely onto the subject.
Freed from Spanish oppression and made wealthy by the Dutch East India Company, the Dutch merchant-class patrons preferred middle-class subjects like themselves. Her portrait represents this break from traditional royal subjects and conventions, and the beginning of a new era of art.[30]
This video deconstructs why this painting is a masterpiece.
Works cited
Footnotes
[1] “Five Senses Pendants | Brueghel Family: Jan Brueghel the Elder.”
[2] Tate, “Allegory – Art Term.”
[3] “Sight and Smell - The Collection.”
[4] “Peter Paul Rubens | Minerva Protects Pax from Mars ('Peace and War’) | NG46 | National Gallery, London.”
[5] “Peter Paul Rubens | Minerva Protects Pax from Mars ('Peace and War’) | NG46 | National Gallery, London.”
[6] “Peter Paul Rubens | Minerva Protects Pax from Mars ('Peace and War’) | NG46 | National Gallery, London.”
[7] “Nicolas Poussin | French Painter.”
[8] “The Death of Germanicus, Nicolas Poussin | Mia.”
[9]“The Death of Germanicus, Nicolas Poussin | Mia.”
[10] “Brooklyn Museum: Artemisia Gentileschi.”
[11]“Violence and Virtue.”
[12] “Velazquez - The Complete Works - Diegovelazquez.Org.”
[13] “Diego Velazquez Paintings, Bio, Ideas.”
[14]Velázquez, Las Meninas.
[15] “Rembrandt van Rijn | Biography, Paintings, & Facts.”
[16] “Rembrandt, The Night Watch.”
[17] Yale University Art Gallery, Lecture 4.
[18] “Gerard Ter Borch the Younger.”
[19] “Gallant Conversation, Known as ‘The Paternal Admonition’, Gerard Ter Borch (II), c. 1654.”
[20] “(Giovanni Antonio Canal) Canaletto - The Complete Works - Canalettogallery.Org.”
[21] “Art Works.”
[22] “William Hogarth (1697 - 1764) | National Gallery, London.”
[23] “William Hogarth’s Election Series - BKM TECH.”
[24] “Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) | Art UK.”
[25] “INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH PAINTING.”
[26] “(7) The Power of Art: David 藝術的力量: 大衛 - YouTube.”
[27] “(7) Fragonard, The Swing - YouTube.”
[28] “(7) Fragonard, The Swing - YouTube.”
[29] Liedtke, “Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art.”
[30] “(7) Why Is Vermeer’s ‘Girl with the Pearl Earring’ Considered a Masterpiece? - James Earle - YouTube.”
Citations
“(7) Fragonard, The Swing - YouTube.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVI5Sjm0xKI.
“(7) The Power of Art: David 藝術的力量: 大衛 - YouTube.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QwQ2kUQDnY&index=4&list=PLhVnATSukg2H47jGXi0FjsrBRY_Z13TyP.
“(7) Why Is Vermeer’s ‘Girl with the Pearl Earring’ Considered a Masterpiece? - James Earle - YouTube.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM_IzEAv5d4.
“Art Works.” WEB. Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/digital-collection/01.+Paintings/32231/?lng=.
“Brooklyn Museum: Artemisia Gentileschi.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/artemisia_gentileschi.
The Art Story. “Diego Velazquez Paintings, Bio, Ideas.” Accessed June 18, 2020. https://www.theartstory.org/artist/velazquez-diego/.
“Five Senses Pendants | Brueghel Family: Jan Brueghel the Elder.” Accessed May 17, 2018. http://www.janbrueghel.net/series/five-senses-pendants.
Rijksmuseum. “Gallant Conversation, Known as ‘The Paternal Admonition’, Gerard Ter Borch (II), c. 1654.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-A-404.
“Gerard Ter Borch the Younger.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.983.html.
“(Giovanni Antonio Canal) Canaletto - The Complete Works - Canalettogallery.Org.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.canalettogallery.org/.
“INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH PAINTING.” Accessed May 17, 2018. http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/lili/personen/fleischmann/401_ept_preparations.htm.
“Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) | Art UK.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://artuk.org/discover/artists/reynolds-joshua-17231792.
Liedtke, Author: Walter. “Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) | Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art.” The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/verm/hd_verm.htm.
Encyclopedia Britannica. “Nicolas Poussin | French Painter.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicolas-Poussin.
“Peter Paul Rubens | Minerva Protects Pax from Mars ('Peace and War’) | NG46 | National Gallery, London.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/peter-paul-rubens-minerva-protects-pax-from-mars-peace-and-war.
Khan Academy. “Rembrandt, The Night Watch.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/monarchy-enlightenment/baroque-art1/holland/a/rembrandt-the-night-watch.
Encyclopedia Britannica. “Rembrandt van Rijn | Biography, Paintings, & Facts.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rembrandt-van-Rijn.
Museo Nacional del Prado. “Sight and Smell - The Collection.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/sight-and-smell/7d17d2b5-67f0-4072-ad61-c3741bb3b055.
Tate. “Allegory – Art Term.” Tate. Accessed May 17, 2018. http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/allegory.
“The Death of Germanicus, Nicolas Poussin | Mia.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://collections.artsmia.org/art/1348/the-death-of-germanicus-nicolas-poussin.
“Velazquez - The Complete Works - Diegovelazquez.Org.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.diegovelazquez.org/.
Velázquez, Las Meninas. Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/early-europe-and-colonial-americas/reformation-counter-reformation/v/vel-zquez-las-meninas-c-1656.
The Art Institute of Chicago. “Violence and Virtue: Artemisia Gentileschi’s ‘Judith Slaying Holofernes.’” Accessed May 17, 2018. /exhibition/violence-and-virtue-artemisia-gentileschi-s-judith-slaying-holofernes.
“William Hogarth (1697 - 1764) | National Gallery, London.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/william-hogarth.
“William Hogarth’s Election Series - BKM TECH.” Accessed May 17, 2018. https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/community/blogosphere/2012/11/07/william-hogarths-election-series/.
Yale University Art Gallery. Lecture 4: The Night Watch: Rembrandt, Group Portraiture, and Dutch History. Accessed February 2, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rxO-Xd-5jY.
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