Dutch Golden Age Painting Simplified
During the Dutch Eighty Years’ War for independence in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, a style of painting known as Dutch Golden Age painting flourished. For many years after its founding in 1548, The Netherlands had been the most wealthy country in Europe, dominating commerce, science, and the arts.
Summary of Dutch Golden Age Painting
The Golden Age of the Netherlands is a shining illustration of how national freedom breeds national pride. With unprecedented independence from Spanish Catholic authority, the Netherlands rose to economic and cultural importance throughout the 17th century. Increased trade led to an increase in the middle and merchant classes in the market for the proliferation of art that arose as a result of the growing celebration of Dutch life and identity. A rising number of genre works, all indicative of a flourishing creative era, grew as painters concentrated on commonplace scenes of everyday life, causing painting to flourish.
The Golden Age was influenced by the Dutch Reformed Church and a growing feeling of Dutch identity. Even the arts moved in new directions, stressing secular themes rather than Catholic grandeur, and depicting them with more realistic treatment. As a consequence, Dutch Realism is a term used to paintings from the Dutch Golden Age.
During the Dutch Golden Age, the popularity of landscape painting soared, as painters sought to capture the distinct qualities of Dutch landscape features, villages, and rural life, all while elevating Dutch ideals in the process. It’s no surprise therefore that so many of these landscapes were modelled on naturally occurring “heroic” features like trees, windmills, and clear skies.
As a result, genre painting underwent an incredible transformation, with many creative sub-genres giving rise to a unique look at the modern Dutch lifestyle, trends, and hobbies. A variety of subjects, such as opulent breakfast tables, group portraits, and merrymaking, contributed to the creation of an aesthetic record of the time.
The stilleven, sometimes known as the still life, became more popular as a way to creatively convey both beautiful items and the intellectual atmosphere of the period via well constructed arrangements and groupings. In the course of Dutch art history, the flower still life, portrayed with scientific precision, became the most popular subtype of the prominent element.
Why is it Called Dutch Golden Age Painting
The Dutch Republic had a period of tremendous prosperity throughout the 17th century known as the Dutch Golden Age. The Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) accelerated commerce, luring newcomers and fueling the expansion of major towns and ports across the Netherlands.
There was a time in Dutch history known as the Dutch Golden Age when the country’s commerce, science, military, and art were all highly regarded throughout the globe. The Netherlands also won their freedom in 1648, allowing the Golden Age to continue until the end of the century.
Everything About Dutch Golden Age Painting
The Beginnings
While Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s landscapes and village scenes are well known, the anonymous “Master of The Small Landscapes,” and Northern European Renaissance artists (like Jan van Eyck, Albrecht Dürer, and Hieronymus Bosch) had a significant influence on Dutch Golden Age painting during this time period. A much of the Dutch Golden Age’s cultural, economic, and scientific dominance may be traced back to this period.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s depictions of daily village life in the context of a vast landscape had a major impact on Dutch Golden Age art, helping to boost the appeal of genre works, landscapes, and the Dutch tendency to portray everyday life as realistically as possible. Breugel’s art often used the concept of the “world landscape,” which blended magnificent aspects of European landscape from a high vantage point, as shown in his Parable of the Sower (1557). Art historian Simon Schama describes it as a “idealised composite of the world taken in at a single Olympian glance,” which is often used in a Biblical or historical setting.
Known as “the Master of the Small Landscapes” the unidentified artist had a significant impact on Dutch Golden Age painters with his close-up depictions of well-known Dutch places when his two volumes of The Small Landscapes were published in Antwerp in 1559 and 1561. The focus on the distinctiveness of Dutch landscape features, communities, and rural life coincided with a growing pride in Dutch identity and values. While Dutch Golden Age painters were expected to utilise both panoramic and close-up perspectives, even those who opted for the panoramic method did so to accurately represent real-world places.
Albrecht Dürer’s prints had a significant influence on the development of printing in the Netherlands throughout the Golden Age. Rembrandt van Rijn relied on Dürer’s methods and themes in his Simeon with the Christ Child in the Temple (1503-1505) and even reworked it (c. 1639). Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck’s use of daily situations and still life in their paintings impacted the evolution of genre art as well as still life painting. An example of this is Campin’s Annunciation Triptych (c. 1425), in which the only subject is the lily in a vase, which was painted by one of the Dutch masters.
Caravaggio’s use of the tenebrism method to create the appearance of lighting, as well as his subject matter, inspired a number of Utrecht-based Dutch painters, including Hendrick ter Brugghen, Dirck van Baburen, Matthias Stomer, and Gerrit van Horthorst. In Dirck van Baburne’s The Lute Player (1622), which inspired artists like Frans Hals and Judith Leyster, they recreated Caravaggio’s genre scenes of musicians, gipsies, and card players.
Frans Hals was a pioneer of the Dutch Golden Age in portraiture and genre painting throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. The Banquet of the Officers of the St. George Militia Company (1616) made him renowned, and his realistic personalised treatments made him a sought-after portraitist for decades after that. While painting this portrait, the artist focused on conveying energy via the use of a visible brushstroke and capturing a character-defining moment. His genre work, such as Yonker Ramp and His Love (1623), which shows a cavalier and his sweetheart having a good time, was similarly groundbreaking. His work had an impact on a number of other Golden Age artists such as Adriaen van Ostade, Adriaen Brouwer, and Judith Leyster.
Stilleven, or still life, was invented in the Dutch Golden Age. The flower still life was the most common subtype of this Dutch art dominating feature. Floral still life paintings by Pieter Bruegel’s son Jan the Elder like Flowers in a Wooden Vessel were early pioneers (1606-1607). Rather of depicting a complex arrangement, he portrayed a simple bouquet of flowers, mixing uncommon and common varieties, and showing the blooms one on top of the other so that each one could be seen clearly and scientifically. Because of his passion for painting exotic flowers while travelling, he became known as the “Flower Bruegel.” ‘Tulip frenzy’ was a lavish time of bidding and speculating on rare tulip bulbs that sold for excessive amounts. The Dutch’s passion for collecting worldwide botanical specimens was mirrored in the commercial markets.
When the Protestant Seven Provinces (modern-day Netherlands) rose out against the Catholic Hapsburg authority in 1568, it kicked off the Eighty Years’ War, a campaign that would eventually lead to Dutch independence. Dutch independence from Spain was officially proclaimed only after the conclusion of the war in 1648 by the Spanish government. The Dutch Reformed religion and a growing feeling of Dutch nationalism inspired the Golden Age, which played a major part in the war. Even the arts moved in new directions, stressing secular themes and portraying them realistically rather than with Catholic grandeur.
Antwerp, a significant commercial centre in modern-day Belgium, had joined the revolt against Spain like other towns in the country, but it was captured by Spanish troops in 1585. Any Protestants in the city had to depart within two years of the city being surrendered. Thus, a large number of talented artisans and rich merchants headed north to Amsterdam, where they set up shop and hired new workers. In addition to the Protestant Huguenots from France, the Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal, and the Pilgrims from Great Britain, the Dutch Republic became home to many more exiles, and a vibrant and tolerant cultural life emerged as a result. A large emphasis was placed on education by the Dutch Reformed Church as a component of one’s Bible study, and the University of Leiden became a centre for philosophical and scientific research. In several areas, Dutch intellectuals and scientists were leaders, such as philosopher Baruch Spinoza, physicist Christiaan Huygens, and engineer Jan Adriaanszoon Leeghwate. Other well-known intellectuals who’d run afoul of religious dogma back home, like the French philosopher René Descartes and the English philosopher John Locke, found shelter in the Republic’s intellectual openness.
The Dutch East India Company, the first international company with shares that founded the first stock market in 1602, was a major force behind the country’s development. The Dutch enjoyed a trading monopoly in Europe and Asia, where they purchased grain stocks and sold them. Rich people’s diets included exotic ingredients such as spices, china from China, Japanese pottery, and rare plant species. There were more sad origins of their riches, which came from the slave trade and European colonialism in the Americas.
“As for the art of Painting and the affection of the people to Pictures, I think none other go beyond them.” British writer Peter Munday wrote in 1640 about how the middle-class and merchant class became painting’s main customers. In order to adorn houses, most of the works were on a modest size. According to some estimates, millions of pieces of art were produced during this time period as art became a vehicle for social commentary. For many, the spacious living rooms at the entrance to their homes were the most important places to display their prized possessions, such as paintings and sculptures. While Biblical themes were popular in the early 1600s, by the mid-1600s the market had shifted to portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and genre pieces.
Concepts in Dutch Golden Age Painting
Dutch still life painting has many notable subcategories, such as vanitas, floral still life, ontbijtjes (“breakfast pieces”), and Pronkstilleven, all of which evolved independently (an ostentatious display of food and expensive tableware).
A moral message about the fleeting nature of earthly existence was conveyed via Vanitas paintings, which blended beautifully made objects with Christian iconography. Vanitas, which translates as “vanity,” was a Protestant genre that took inspiration from Ecclesiastes’ observation that “all is vanity,” As shown in Harmen Steenwyck’s Still Life: An Allegory of Human Life’s Vainness, the Dutch city of Leiden, renowned for its university, became an early centre for vanitas painting (c. 1640). The design was popular across the Netherlands, although certain items were favoured by different cities, such as flowers in Amsterdam and food, especially fish, in The Hague, which is renowned as a marketplace.
Images of opulent tables were very popular among Dutch buyers, and many subgenres arose that included dinner plates, late breakfast plates, and market scenes. Artistically, breakfast works are among of the most notable because of their focus on composition and lighting. As seen in his Still life with oysters, a rummer, a lemon, and a silver bowl by Willem Claesz Heda, a well-known artist of the genre (1634). Pieter Claesz was a well-known exponent of the style, despite the fact that his work often included a vanitas motif.
Antwerp was the birthplace of pronkstilleven, or showy still life, which soon spread to the Netherlands. Among a wide range of items such as costly dishware, rare and common fruits and flowers, culinary delicacies and game, all representing a luxurious way of life, uncommon or desirable things acquired via commerce were often included. A Table of Desserts by Jan Davidsz de Heem demonstrates how this artist was a pioneer in Amsterdam’s art scene (1640). Although his work emphasises tiny groups of rare items, Willem Kalf’s Pronk Still Life with Holbein Bowl, Nautilus Cup, Glass Goblet, and Fruit Dish contributed to the development of the genre (1678).
The female painters Maria van Oosterwijck, Rachel Ruysch, and Maria Sibylla Meria were well-known for their flower still life. There are many floral still life artists, but Rachel Ruysch was well-known for using asymmetrical compositions and the play of light to convey a feeling of dynamic movement in her work. She was also a very successful artist, with paintings fetching greater prices than those of Rembrandt van Rijn. In her Vanitas-Still Life (1668), Maria van Oosterwijck’s flower compositions frequently invoked allegorical and theological significance. When Maria Sibylla Meria painted botanical and zoological specimens, she made sure to treat them with a scientific perspective, and she is today regarded as one of the early pioneers of entomology, having been the first to document the butterfly’s life cycle in detail.
Esaias van de Velde’s “the tonal style,” dominated landscape painting in the early 1600s. View of Zierikzee (1618) shows the style, which emphasises the sky and depicts the landscape with blurred edges, everything drenched in an unified hue and mood. This is a typical example. In particular, his pupil Jan van Goyen, who later created works like Dune Landscape in the style, popularised the look (1629).
At this point in time, Dutch landscape painting was influenced by Jacob van Ruisdael’s classical style, which was popular in the mid-1600s. When it came to composition, his works stressed the “heroic” windmill, tree, or tower and dramatic contrasts of dark and light as shown in Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede. At the same time, he was making use of scientific methods. Van Ruisdael painted not just Dutch landscapes and seascapes but also Nordic woodland settings and mountains. His output was prolific and diverse. As a result of his teachings, Meindert Hobbema went on to become a well-known landscape artist.
So many landscapes were made that many subgenres developed, such as general subgenres like the moonlight scene, village scene and woodland scenery. There were also site-specific genres such as Haerlempjes, landscapes that included a view of the city of Haarlem, which was previously spelled Haerlem. Haerlem is a Dutch city in the Netherlands. Haarlem with the Bleaching Fields (1670-1675) by Jacob von Ruisdael is a well-known example of the style.
Cityscapes, landscapes with animals in the forefront, and Italianate landscapes were the most influential subtypes on subsequent art movements and artists. This courtyard in Delft, painted by Dutch artist Pieter de Hooch, shows how city life was highlighted in Dutch cityscapes (1658). The View of Delft (c.1660-61) is one of Jan Vermeer’s rare cityscapes, while The Little Street (c.1661) depicts a city street (c. 1658).
He studied in Rome with Claude Lorrain, who inspired Jan Both’s work in Italianate landscapes. There are many classical ruins in their paintings, and the light is golden because of this. It was a favourite of aristocratic patrons like Both’s Italian Landscape with a View of a Harbor (1640-1652) and engravings depicting Italianate landscapes were common at the time.
Some painters specialised in depicting landscapes with domestic animals prominently shown in the foreground, such as cows and horses. Cows in a River, by Aelbert Cuyp, is a classic example of the genre’s mastery (c. 1650). Creating landscapes that appealed to Dutch clients meant including aspects that represented the country’s national pride as well as other Dutch ideals. The cow, for example, was seen as a symbol of Dutch rural wealth and morality. Reminds me of Rembrandt’s dramatic treatment of his depiction of a windmill in The Mill (1645-1648).
Hercules Segers, Jacob van Ruisdael, and Rembrandt were prominent Dutch printmakers who drew on the Northern European printing heritage. Rembrandt, however, stood head and shoulders above the rest of the Golden Age’s printmakers. Rembrandt was both creative and prolific, known for his etchings as well as his brilliant paintings. He handled the plate as if it were a canvas, allowing the ink to sit on it while he etched the image many times. His inventive plate-reworking techniques included scraping away etched portions and redrawing with drypoint on the newly-found blank spaces. In addition to Biblical themes, landscapes and portraits like Jan Lutma (1656), genre scenes like Goldsmith (1655) and nudes like his Reclining Female Nude, his topics included a broad range of other things as well (1658).
Hercules Segers was “one of the most fertile artistic minds of his era.” according to modern art historian Nadine Orenstein, because of his imaginative landscapes and pioneering printing methods. To produce “printed paintings.” he invented a three-tone etching technique and an early form of intaglio colour printing. By painting the paper first and printing it, then painting the print with watercolour, he produced dazzling landscapes that reflected the time of day’s mood and light. Many of Seger’s prints were acquired by Rembrandt, as shown by his use of Seger’s print Tobias and the Angel (c. 1633) in his own painting, The Flight into Egypt (1653).
The landscape etchings of Jan van Ruisdael were likewise well regarded and had a lasting impact on subsequent landscape painting. As shown in Forest Marsh with Travelers on a Bank (1640s-1650s), his carefully depicted settings and their brilliant impact had a notable influence on subsequent painters like John Constable and those of the Barbizon School.
Even though the academy regarded historical painting as the pinnacle of the art form, the tastes and sensibilities of the Dutch Golden Age favoured paintings that portrayed everyday life, including biblical, mythical, and allegorical themes. The period did produce some great historical paintings, most notably those by Rembrandt. Prior to turning to portraiture, he made a name for himself painting historical subjects, such as Aristotle Contemplating Homer’s Bust (1653) and Lucretia (1652). (1664). His paintings, including Bathsheba Holding King David’s Letter (1654), are among the rare period nudist classics since the category permitted for painting of the naked.
The genre painting movement had its start during the Dutch Golden Age. As an example, there were paintings portraying musicians and bar scenes and housewives in peaceful homes, as well as images of romance and celebration. These “little trifles” were inspired by Pieter Bruegel’s depictions of rural life that frequently pointed out human stupidity. Frans Hals was a pioneer in genre painting, as shown by Merrymakers at Shrovetide, one of his most well-known works (c. 1616-17). Judith Leyster was a well-known genre painter who specialised in paintings of musicians, children at play, and merrymaking couples in the 17th century. She was one of only two women admitted to the painters’ guild at the time. When it came to moralising, genre paintings often took on a humorous tone, as in Jan Steen’s The Dissolute Household (c. 1663-1664), or a serious one, as in Pieter de Hooch’s Interior with a Young Couple (c. 1690). (c. 1662-1665).
The End of Dutch Golden Age Painting
During the Franco-Dutch War, which broke out when the French invaded the Netherlands in 1672, the Dutch Golden Age started to wane. The Dutch destroyed the dykes to drive out the invaders, which resulted in widespread flooding. The Dutch still refer to 1672 as “The Disaster Year.” to this day. Artists such as Vermeer went bankrupt when the economy and the art market collapsed at the same time. As a result of the war’s outcome, the Dutch economy never recovered.
French artists such as Jean Siméon Chardin, Jean Baptiste Greuze and Jean Honoré Fragonard were inspired by Dutch genre paintings, but in early 1700s France led by the Rococo style, which became prominent However, in general the works of several Dutch artists, including Rembrandt, Hals, and Vermeer went out of popularity in the late 17th through 18th century. As classical refinement gained popularity, critics slammed Hals’ brushwork as sloppy and disparaged Rembrandt’s raw humanity.
Rembrandt was rediscovered during the Romantic movement in the early 1800s, as the critic William Hazlitt described him as “a man of genius” who “took any object, he cared not what, how mean soever in form, colour and expression, and from the light and shade which he threw upon it, it came out gorgeous from his hands.” Eugene Delacroix and J.M.W. Turner were so influenced by Rembrandt’s “veil of matchless colour.” as Turner put it. Artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Auguste Rodin, and the American Thomas Eakins were influenced by him throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, as were many others such as Pablo Picasso, Frank Auerbach, and Francis Bacon.
John Constable, who possessed four of Jacob van Ruisdael’s etchings and reproduced many of the artist’s works, rediscovered the artist in the late 1700s and began working with him again. Subsequently, Van Ruisdael’s landscapes had a major impact upon the Barbizon School and the Hudson River School.
Vermeer and other Dutch Golden Age painters like Hals and Carel Fabritius were rediscovered in 1842 by art critic Théophile Thoré-Bürger, who nicknamed him “the Sphinx of Delft,” As a consequence a number of painters like Gustave Courbet, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, and Claude Monet were inspired by the artist’s realistic portrayal of everyday life, and his painting of the effects of light. Later Realist painters like Gustave Courbet and Édouard Manet drew inspiration from Hals’ harsh technique, as did Impressionists like Claude Monet and Mary Cassatt.
While Dutch still lifes were influential in the Netherlands, they continued to be popular throughout Western art history, as shown by Vincent van Gogh’s Variation on a Still Life by de Heem as well as Paul Cezanne’s Still Life with a Flower by Emil Nolde and Giorgio Morandi (1915). The Barbizon School, the Hudson River School, Tonalism, and Luminism all owe their existence to Dutch landscape painting.
Key Art in Dutch Golden Age Painting
The Lute Player
By Frans Hals
1623
A lute musician plays his instrument as his torso is turned away from the spectator and his left eye is peeled open. Because of its long neck, which extends beyond the cropped frame, this lute’s sound hole occupies much of the bottom half of the canvas. At one point, the musician seems to be in the middle of strumming the strings with his right hand while playing a chord on the neck with his left finger. With its red and black pattern and conspicuous yellow buttons, his jester’s outfit contributes to the joyful and amusing atmosphere, while the clear light creates an impression of immediacy.
Self-Portrait
By Judith Leyster
1630
As she paints, the artist in this self-portrait turns to face the spectator while holding her brush. If you look closely, you’ll see that her lace collar and sleeve dance with light to imply movement. Her facial expression is also animated by the opening of her mouth as if about to grin, giving the impression of immediacy. To the right of the easel, a blue-clad musician plays the violin and sings along as he plays. Leyster’s self-presentation as a great genre painter is further emphasised by the painting inside a painting. Her use of echoed diagonals from the musician’s bow and the painter’s brush, as well as cropping, create a unique comparison between the arts of music and painting.
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp
1632
As he demonstrates anatomy with forceps in his right hand, a guy who had just been executed for armed robbery is seen in this famous picture by artist Edward Hopper. Tulp makes an anatomical motion with his left hand as he glances at the seven guys gathered around the body. Several of the wealthy guys, dressed in white collars and tuxedos, cast wide eyes. The three people closest to the middle hunch forward, as if studying Tulp’s hands, while the two people in the rear turn to face the spectator. In profile, the two men on the far left are gazing at Tulp, but they seem to be looking past him, beyond the frame of the photograph. As no one returns Tulp’s stare or looks straight at the pale body, there is a feeling of dynamic movement and psychological depth. The shadow of death, known as umbra mortis, occupies the whole middle of the painting. Even though the man’s corpse is covered by a sheet of white linen, it recalls the symbolism of Christ’s death, while his sliced arm eerily communicates the reality of death’s grip.
Bathsheba at Her Bath
1654
This artwork, Bathsheba with King David’s Letter, shows Bathsheba naked in her bath as she ponders the letter in her right hand, pensively contemplating it. The glowing gold of Bathsheba’s jewellery contrasts well with the copper and gold drapes in the backdrop, highlighting her bare body’s iridescent shine. To add an extra layer of sensuality, I used chiaroscuro to create a white linen contrasted against the black backdrop, as well as to highlight her skin and gently shade her folds. Because the body is so close to the spectator, it immediately grabs their attention. The artwork is based on the Biblical storey of King David ordering Bathsheba, who was married to one of his generals, Uriah, to come to his palace after seeing her bathing. David had her husband murdered so that he could marry her after she complied and got pregnant as a consequence. Later, their kid died, and after recognising his transgressions, David made amends by spending a year in filth at the city’s gate. It’s likely that for religious people watching at the time, the Biblical narrative would have given the scene a feeling of foreboding destiny, as if Bathsheba was contemplating not only her moral and personal problem but also what would happen next. Kneeling to wash her foot, the maidservant on the left has her eyes down in the darkness, as though she understands what the letter implies.
The Goldfinch
By Carel Fabritius
1654
This tiny painting shows a European goldfinch sitting on its feedbox, which is connected by a delicate gold chain looped on the brass ring holding the box in place, painted to scale at approximately four inches long. The bird, presented in profile, has an alert, expressive look as it turns toward the spectator.
Self-Portrait
1659
With a beret and beautiful coat with an upturned collar, the artist is shown in this self-portrait in a three-quarter profile perspective, looking at the spectator with a complicated gaze. In contrast to the sunshine, which bathes his face in rich flesh tones and pink glints from his deep-set eyes, the furrowed brows of the man in the picture suggest determination, strength and resoluteness. He’s painted in an impressionist style, with his hands folded in front of him, emphasising his pyramidal shape. The light shining from behind him emphasises his left shoulder. Because of its richness and variety, the brown backdrop serves to balance off his coat’s deeper tones. An aura of gravity surrounds him, emphasising his lighted face but also lending him a sense of respect.
View of Delft
1660-1661
The buildings of the artist’s homeland of Delft, the Netherlands, with their roofs and steeples, are shown in a realistic environment under a blue sky filled with accumulating clouds. The Schie Canal’s waters are glistening with rippling currents and creating reflections. There are many individuals shown in minute detail gathered on the beach in the lower left, each one representing a different aspect of Delft life. There’s a lot of space taken up by the sky in this painting, and the contrasting tones it uses to create brilliant regions of lighting and dawn’s shadows are what important. Aside from “Vermeer was truly capturing what he saw in front of him,” as art historian Adriaan Waiboer said, “wanted to create a special illusion…he wanted to paint light.” The colour scheme is restrained, using just white, ultramarine blue, yellow ochre, and madder lake, a deep red. However, subtle tonalities are used throughout to give a sense of harmony.
Girl with a Pearl Earring
1665
Portrait of a young lady in three-quarter perspective, looking at the spectator with an intimate yet enigmatic stare, is a world-renowned classic image. In contrast to her light skin and bright red lips, her costume’s restricted colour palette of yellow, blue, and white creates a gentle contrast with the warm tones of her face and eyes. A pearl earring gleams against the gentle shadows of her neck as she glances toward the spectator, as if pulled there by some kind of address. Artist discreetly highlighted pearls’ Christian meaning as virginity symbols by prominently using them. The orientalism of her turban and robe, on the other hand, adds a touch of exotic erotica to the composition. Due to the rarity of such a large natural pearl, it is either a glass bead coated in nacre, or a creation of the artist’s imagination
Information Citations
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