Before the month-long holocaust was over, vast treasures of medieval art had been destroyed. The result was not only a vivid portrait of a nation and a time but a brilliant chapter in art history as well. He was heir to the rich possessions of the family of Nassau in Germany. Freedberg David and Jan de The highest rewards carne tram the trade in spices, the most coveted product of the East Indies. These countries were amazed and annoyed by Holland's success and consoled themselves by thinking it could not last long. On the evening of June 5, 1648, fireworks and bonfires in all the towns of the United Provinces celebrated victory for the Dutch in the war of independence. and Shipwreck in Dutch and Flemish The mantelpiece might be decorated, and the walls of the best room might have wainscoting, but the rest of the rooms were whitewashed. Though final peace would not be achieved for almost 40 years, a temporary truce was signed in 1609, and Holland was never again threatened by the Spanish armies. A generation older than Rembrandt (although he lived nearly as long as him), many of the greats works would not have been possible without the work of Frans Hals. By 1700 Delft Blue pottery makers had become so proficient that they were exporting pieces of mixed Oriental and Dutch design back to Japan. He writes: [The Netherlands] was not a dietary democracy, much less a culinary utopia. Although working in still life, considered the lowliest form of painting according to the traditional hierarchy, in our more democratic age many have called him the Vermeer of still life due to his expertise in depicting light. This economic and educational background was fundamental for the explosive cultural growth which was to follow. Find out more about what data we collect and use at, Quick search helps finding an artist, picture, user or article and prompts your previous searches, Login to use Arthive functionality to the maximum, Register to use Arthive functionality to the maximum, This action is only available to registered users, The list ofartists ofthe Dutch Golden Age isnot limited tojust this ten. The northern region, which came to be known as Holland after its biggest most prosperous province, flourished. 1980. Often they were more pirates than guerrillas, harassing peaceful shipping for their own benefit, and even occasionally raiding English coastal towns. The workhouse, the poorhouse, slum living and child labor were all evident. More towns were captured and recaptured; soldiers killed and were killed; peasants saw their houses and harvests burned time and again. All this was strictly a business operation. These depict the ravages of time on the artists face without any sense of vanity, and are heartbreaking if seen in succession. By no means all the goods brought in from abroad were sent on to foreign markets. The fact that they were easy to handle and were less bulky made it easier to place them on the market. Manage My Data Every art history student knows the names Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer. Actually, though the men of the time could not perceive it, the war had already been decided at the time of William's death. They were the Counts of Egmont and Hoorn, who had sought some relief for their country from the oppressive rule of the King of Spain. and Artisans in Delft: A Socio- A wave of religious rebellion swept the country. But while Flemish masters such as Rubens and Van Dyke continued brilliantly into the seventeenth Century in the traditional vein of European art, the Dutch school moved on its own way toward an ever-more-searching realism, and established itself as a separate stream. (The Dutch national anthem stems from those days, and still contains a line in which William says, "I have always honored the King of Spain.") Even the interiors of churches are humanized. were on social media and instant messengers. The men who profited most from this knowledge, and who became the key figures in all aspects of Dutch society, were the merchants of the nation's great cities-Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Delft and Haarlem. The interest in porcelain led to the creation of the famous Delft Blue pottery industry, which still thrives. Holland emerged from these upheavals as an aggressive, Protestant republic with a capitalistic economy and a bourgeois society. Peter Mundy, who was in Amsterdam in 1640 commented on the love of paintings he observed. In the last analysis, that also explains the dissemination on an international scale of seventeenthcentury Dutch works andunlike, for example, fourteenth and fifteenthcentury Italian workstheir presence in almost every museum collection in the world. As Karen Rosenberg wrote for the New York Times in 2009, The Dutch artist had her own workshop, her own students and her own style, one that combined the spontaneity of [Frans] Halss brushwork with a Caravaggist chiaroscuro.. and Artisans in Delft: A Socio- The States General met in 1581 to draw up a document in justification of their moral right to act: As it is apparent to all that a prince is constituted by God to be ruler of the people, and whereas God did not create the people slaves to their prince, to obey his commands, whether right or wrong; but rather the prince for the sake of the subjects [then] when he does not behave thus, but, on the contrary, oppresses them they may not only disallow his authority, but legally proceed to the choice of another prince for their defense. One Frenchman wrote: "Dutch women pride themselves on the cleanliness of their house and furniture to an unbelievable degree. From then until almost 100 years later, with the death of Johan Blaeu, son of the cartographer and map publisher Willem Blaeu, Dutch map making was the finest in Europe. Later, the resistance to Spain became a democraticor rather, a bourgeois-revolution; at first, however, it was led by princes and counts. Mostly working in prestigious epic painting, he brought softness and vibrancy to an often hard and dull tradition. Another vital factor in Holland's remarkable growth was its position on the very edge of the continent, where it served as a natural gateway to Europe. The southern provinces that did not join the union comprising modern Belgiumwere neither able nor particularly anxious to break their bonds with Catholic Spain. Virtually ignored in his own time, Vermeer is now truly considered an Old Master. The wave of iconoclasm it set in motion was so powerful that it cut off the most classic destination of the most significant artistic production. and Shipwreck in Dutch and Flemish Furthermore, even when there was no fighting going on, the seventeenth century was a time of rapidly changing fortunes and turbulent political crises-and yet little of this turmoil appears in the art. Most of the old liberal men of noble birth had died during the war, the new leaders were merchants and Protestants. Gods, He quickly, became the center of resistance in the fight, its voice, its general. The northern provinces had been part of the duchy of Burgundy in the past, which was still alive in the seventeenth century. The lure of spices became as strong as the lure of gold; in the greedy struggle far East Indian resources in such places as Batavia and Ceylon, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese and eventually English traders killed one another and any of the local population who stood in their way. A laborer worked 14 hours or more a day far a few pennies; an able seaman, who ran a 50-50 chance of not coming back from an Indies voyage, made two or three guilders a week, the equivalent of a weekly salary of about $10 today. Washington, 1989. Lesser eventsincluding a child's beginning school or apprenticeship, the purchase of a new house, or a loved one's departure on a long journey or his return homewere also acknowledged with feasts. But in their dogged defense against the troops of the Duke of Alva, the people of Leiden had opened the dikes and flooded their land to hinder the foe, the Sea Beggars actually sailed in over the fields when they went to Leiden's rescue. Art: Convention, Rhetoric, and Since they were to be hung in the rooms of ordinary Dutch houses, most of them were small. In 1597 the first three Dutch ships to make the round-trip voyage returned to Amsterdam, of the crew of 249 men only 89 had survived. By showcasing such a diverse group of women, says curator Virginia Treanor, the museum hopes to reveal differences in experience associated more with [the artists] economic and social status than their gender.. Morose, dictatorial, fanatically Catholic, the new King hated the north, and cared for nothing but Spain and his religion. Soldiers there are in plenty, but they are shown enjoying themselves, and it is as if Hollanders had seen all the fighting and violence they could stand, and wanted no more of it in their art. Alva executed his mission with a zeal that made him, and by extension all Spaniards, hateful to every Dutchman. Toward the end of the age, the English wrested control of the seas from the Dutch Navy and in 1672 French troops overran most of the northern provinces. By using our website you accept our conditions of use of cookies to track data and create content (including advertising) based on your interest. Although we can only verify a painting career that lasted less than a decade, this was a crucial decade for the development of Dutch painting, with Caravaggio as a direct ancestor. Another visitor added, "They would prefer to die of hunger surrounded by their shining cauldrons and sparkling crockery rather than prepare any dish that might possibly disarrange this perfect symmetry"- an observation that seems not quite so far-fetched after a study of the spotless kitchens portrayed in so many seventeenth-century canvases. The social system in the south was still feudal, dominated by an aristocracy that was largely French-speaking and not nationally oriented. In 1605 the Dutch drove the Portuguese from the Moluccas; in 1618 they established a settlement called Batavia on Java; in 1624 they founded New Amsterdam in America; by 1630 they controlled trading on the northeast coast of Brazil and by 1660 had taken over from the Portuguese on Ceylon. Later in the seventeenth century, tea became a popular item in the tropical trade. 2939. Madlyn Millner Kahr, Dutch He was only the fourth captain in history to sail around the world (after one Portuguese and two Englishmen). Painting from the Heinz Family Collection, Fashion Seventeenth-Century Dutch Landscape On top of this, he was a master of copperplate engraving, consider as important an engraver to Holland as Drer was to Germany. On the other hand, Holland was the Mecca of trade and consequently paintings could also become merchandise. The high level of literacy led to a flourishing printing trade in Dutch- language books. and London: Penn State Universtiy Press, 1989. Spices such as black pepper, cloves and cinnamon helped preserve and make palatable the dreary food of an age whose only other means of food preservation were pickling and salting. The aggressiveness, the national pride and hatred of Spain that had been stirred up by the war were now employed in developing the strong, mercantile economy that such a small nation needed to survive among its large neighbors. Those years also ushered in the Golden Age of art, with the first paintings from the easels of Frans Hals, Hercules Seghers and Hendrick Avercamp. Cookie Policy Arthive is a community of artists, collectors and art dealers. Thematic Evolution, Art in History/History Although the gender confined her to what was seen as the lowest form of painting, her success in the format is a testament to her greatness. William's role is comparable to that played by George Washington 200 years later in the American Colonies: he was by every measure the father of the new republic. Send me an email at: jonathanjanson@essentialvermeer.com. Eddy de Jongh et al. In all countries the middle classes were strong believers in simple virtues, in the family and the home, but there was an important difference in Holland: there the middle class set the tone for the whole country. This lead to a great demand for paintings, but almost exclusively paintings at low prices. Many elements contributed to Holland's sudden upsurge. Interpretation, Dutch Why Did Europeans Evolve Into Becoming Lactose Tolerant? Since the Middle Ages, the town councils had been made up of the "most wise and rich" citizens: now, with trade the lifeblood of the country, the "most wise and rich" simply meant the most successful merchants. As a matter of fact, it did not. We and our partners use cookies to better understand your needs, improve performance and provide you with personalised content and advertisements. Philadelphia, 1984. NMWA is committed to presenting exhibitions that challenge traditional views, expand our thinking about art history and rectify omissions of the past.. Prices were generally low, and painters did not grow rich. The Prodigal Son in the Tavern (Self Portrait with Saskia on her Lap), Self-portrait in the image of laughing Zeuxis, Rembrandt the collector: a rich man, a beggar, a weirdo, Allegory of Painting or Painter in His Studio, the artist's workshop, Young man and woman in the hotel (Junker Ramp and his sweetheart), The Banquet of the Officers of the St George Militia Company, Group portrait of Regents shelter for the elderly in Harlem, Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill, , , , Vanitas. It was always trade, rather than colonizing, that provided the prime motivation far Dutch expansion, yet a colonial empire emerged in the process. This can best be seen on his most famous work Girl With a Pearl Earring, in which the interplay of light upon the various fabrics and the wonderful reflection shining on that pearl earring make it one of the masterpieces of western art. One is again reminded of the course of events leading to the American Revolution. Seventeenth-Century Dutch Landscape Normally it is several miles from the sea. It was almost as if the war had brought together all the ingredients necessary for the spontaneous generation of an artistic flame. A contemporary of Bosch, van Leyden was equally radical in his own way. The competition was so sharp that few could prosper. exh. of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age, Typically, Hals work featured looser, freer brushwork than any who had come before him, introducing a lively sense of movement and a lived-in quality to many of studies, with his most famous example of this being The Laughing Cavalier. Marine art or seascape is a kind of landscape that depicts the sea. We make it easy to collect and publish everything about art, manage collections, and buy, sell and promote artworks. Along with this characteristic another outstanding aspect of Dutch art is the domestic scene in an interior setting. The elevated, mystical or supernatural aspects were largely ignored. At last, in 1600, the trend of battle became clear when the Dutch won a decisive victory at the Battle of Nieuwpoort. Specific paintings or engravings of a sea theme are also called marines. Landscape, portraiture and still life, which had existed for centuries, were re-examined in a fresh light and brought to hitherto unprecedented levels of naturalness. The famous diarist John Evelyn was at the Rotterdam fair in the following year, and he wrote that even farmers' houses were full of paintings. All in general striving to adorn their houses, especially the outer or street roome, with costly peeces, Butchers and bakers not much inferior in their shoppes, which are, Fairely sett Forth, yea many tymes blacksmithes, Cobblers, etswill have some picture or another by their Forge and in their stalle. The most distinguishing characteristic of Dutch art is probably the close scrutiny of the natural world. Grand Rapids, 1999. Town after town in the Lowlands was besieged, taken and ravaged. Art in History/History The mariners built strong points on distant shores to protect their ships and stores tram natives or marauding European ships; the strong points became forts, the forts led to further conquests. The painters also ignored what had been the most important influence on their young nation: the war. The same Doctor Tulp whom Rembrandt had immortalized in his Anatomy of Dr. Nicolaas Tulp started a great fad for tea by prescribing it for all ills; he is said to have made his patients drink 50 cups of tea a day. Museum of Art, Yamaguchi, 1994. Just as surely as they guided Holland's politics and economics, these prosperous merchants were also instrumental in the development of Dutch art. 2006. Critics and scholars disagree over how many he undertook, but whatever the actual number, it is a staggering collection including approximately 45 paintings, 30 etchings and seven drawings. Perhaps the greatest and most famous portrait painter of all time, Rembrandt van Rijn was a master of observation, chiaroscuro and, perhaps most importantly, brutal honesty, as seen in his most famous works, the self-portraits. In 1600, the first Dutch ship reached Japan, and presently the Dutch were the only Europeans allowed to trade there. That was the age that belonged to the men who had fought for and won their freedom: hard men, sober but given to sudden gambles; religious, proud and vain-the men who look at us from the portraits for which they posed with such obvious pride. It was still going on when Vermeer was born (as it had been when his father and probably his grandfather were born); more important, it shaped the character of the whole Dutch nation, and had a direct effect on the development of seventeenth Century Dutch art. Crowds attacked Catholic churches with Reformation zeal, threw down statues, and burned and smashed everything connected with the hated priesthood. Marit Westermann, Art and Later, as Holland prospered, some domestic luxuries began to appear as evidence of accumulated wealth-a change recorded in the paintings of the last half of the century. For the Dutch revolution was, of course, not the brainchild of one man or his family. Rembrandt's Paintings, Amsterdam: Amsterdan University Press, The truth was that these nations, land wealthy but economically backward, were still bound by the fetters of feudalism and ancient financial practices. The Dutch people have always been particularly attached to the household. (At this time there was no hint of the fame Delft would earn as an art center 50 years later.) of Rembrandt, exh. Most are familiar with towering figures like Rembrandt or Vermeer, but there is more to an art movement than two figures. As a firm Protestant, the average burgher had no interest in traditional ornate religious art. Even though the Netherlands' standard of living compared favorably with that of any neighboring country, recent research shows that the Golden Age was far from golden far perhaps half the population.