Van Eyck, Bruegel, Vermeer, Ruysch The Dutch Masters Van Eyck, Bruegel, Vermeer, Ruysch

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age is a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science, military, and art were among the most acclaimed in the world.  Dutch Golden Age painting followed many of the tendencies that dominated Baroque art in other parts of Europe, such as Caravaggesque and naturalism, but was the leader in developing the subjects of still life, landscape, and genre painting.

The Arnolfini Portrait. Jan van Eyck. c. 1434 C.E. Oil on wood.

As you view the video, list the possible theories of what the painting represents. What do the following items symbolize? Hands Shoes Single candle Visitors in mirror Signature Dog Fruit on window sill

Hunters in the Snow. Pieter Bruegel the Elder. 1565 C.E. Oil on wood. A number of Bruegel's paintings focus on the lives of Flemish commoners, which earned him the nickname "peasant Bruegel.” Working in the aftermath of the Reformation, Bruegel was able to separate his landscapes from the iconographic tradition, and achieve a contemporary and tangible vision of the natural world. The work is now commonly regarded as the first winter landscape.

The Hunters in the Snow was originally part of a series of twelve landscapes covering all the months of the year. In the foreground, three hunters are depicted returning from a hunting expedition with only a fox as their kill. They and their dogs appear exhausted as they pass a small group of peasants removing bristles from a pig. The middle ground of the picture is a valley with frozen ponds and fields are dotted with skaters. Bare trees litter the landscape. The valley stretches as far as the horizon, populated by small villages laid out in the frozen flatlands and ending with a cluster of jagged peaks.

Woman Holding a Balance. Johannes Vermeer. c. 1664 C.E. Oil on canvas. Light flows from a window, accentuating a hand, a sleeve, a face. It washes across the wall, revealing a painting of the Last Judgment. It shimmers across gold and pearl jewelry. In the center hangs a balance, empty but for the light itself. Read poet Howard Nemerov’s description in “Vermeer.”

Vermeer may have made use of a camera obscura ("dark chamber") to help him consider and plan, although not paint, the composition. This optical device, a forerunner of the modern camera, was a box with a small hole through which rays of light passed to form an inverted image on a surface opposite the hole. Images created with a camera obscura sometimes show discrepancies in scale similar to those found in this painting. Some areas are also in clearer focus than others. Vermeer conveyed this optical effect by varying his painting technique.

The woman holding the scales is located in front of a painting of the Last Judgment, which provides a theological context for her activity. As she prepares to weigh pearls and gold, objects arranged on the table before her, she is aware that her judgments are of the earth, whereas Christ's are eternal. The Last Judgment thus imbues Woman Holding a Balance with allegorical significance, conveying the message that one should conduct one's life with temperance and balanced judgment.

Fruit and Insects. Rachel Ruysch. 1711 C.E. Oil on wood.

In Holland, still lifes and genre painting of the Dutch Realist School proved highly popular with the rising professional, merchant and middle classes. Still-life paintings depict inanimate subjects, typically common objects such as food, flowers, books, and vases. Prior to the 18th century, still lifes often contained religious and allegorical symbolism. Rachel Ruysch is considered to be one of only three significant women artists in the Dutch Golden Age of painting. She created more than one hundred still life paintings in her lifetime. In 1701 Ruysch was inducted into the painters' guild in The Hague, and was invited later to work for the court in Düsseldorf and serve as court painter to Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine. She remained working for him and his wife from 1708 until the prince's death in 1716. Ruysch lived to the age of eighty-five.