The New Dutch Republic
The Netherlands became a Spanish possession from 1556 when its crown passed to the foreign king Felipe II of Spain.
William the Silent (April 24, 1533 – July 10, 1584) was the father of the Dutch Republic.
He was the main leader of the Dutch revolt that saw the Netherlands emerge as a state during the Eighty Years’ War (1568-1648), declaring its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1581.
The new Dutch Republic was proclaimed in 1588.
The Dutch Republic achieved world power in the 17th century and became a leading power in European commerce, science and art.
The Dutch East India Company (United East India Company) was a mega-corporation that prospered for most of the 17th century as part of the powerful Dutch trading empire in the East Indies (present-day Indonesia).
It was dissolved in 1799.
Capitalism was the economic and political system that caused the expansion of trade, attracted immigrants, and stimulated the growth of major cities and ports.
History of Dutch painting
The Dutch Golden Age from about 1620 to 1680 developed a very different style of painting depicting the natural world that favored landscapes such as the dunes along the western sea coast and rivers with surrounding meadows where cattle grazed, often with a vision of a city in the distance.
They represented everyday life with Dutch sayings and sayings that conveyed a moralistic message.
Between 1605 and 1635, more than 100,000 paintings by painters such as Frans Hals and Jacob van Ruisdael, Lieven de Key, and Jan Steen were produced in Haarlem, the provincial capital of North Holland, with paintings depicting the glorious history and products of the town.
Many portraits were also commissioned by wealthy people during the 17th century.
Dutch words “stilleven” and “landschap” which were adopted in English as “still life” and “landscape” on which art in Europe depended for the next two centuries.
The Golden Age never really recovered from the Franco-Dutch War (1672-78), which caused the republic to collapse in 1795 and its colonial empire was overshadowed by England.
Important Masters of the Golden Age
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669)
Rembrandt is considered one of the greatest artists in the history of Baroque painting.
He was a prolific teacher in three mediums: draftsman, painter, and printmaker who also taught many important Dutch painters.
His subject was broad, from portraits and self-portraits to landscapes, genre scenes, allegorical and historical scenes, and biblical and mythological subjects, as well as animal studies.
Famous paintings by Rembrandt
* The Night Watch (1642)
The Night Watch is famous for three things: its colossal size (363 cm × 437 cm (11.91 ft × 14.34 ft)), the dramatic use of light and shadow (gloomy), and the perception of movement in what traditionally would have been a static. portrait of military group.
* The Jewish Bride (1665)
The Jewish bride, depicted as Isaac and Rebecca, the attendees were emphasizing their faithfulness and piety and that their marriage was happy and virtuous.
* The storm on the Sea of Galilee (1633)
An oil painting on canvas depicting the biblical story of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee.
It is the only Rembrandt seascape.
* Head of Christ (1648)
The Head of Christ is a painting from 1648 that is now in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.
* Bathsheba in her bath (1654)
The painting hangs in the Louvre depicting King David watching Bathsheba bathing from the Old Testament.
Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675)
Dutch Golden Age artist Johannes Vermeer was a Baroque painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes from middle-class life and his masterful use of light in his work.
“Almost all of his paintings,” wrote Hans Koningsberger, “are apparently set in two small rooms in his house in Delft; they show the same furniture and decorations in various arrangements and often depict the same people, mostly women.”
Approximately 36 of his paintings exist and are among the most revered treasures to be found now, in the best museums in the world.
Famous paintings include:
* View of Delft (1661)
* Girl with a pearl earring (1665)
* The Milk Maid (1658)
* The little street (1658)
Frans Hals (1582-1666)
Frans Hals the Elder was a Baroque painter who is best known for his portraits of wealthy citizens and portraits of large groups representing local civic guards.
His paintings depict banquets, officers’ meetings, guild members, local councilors, traveling players and singers, knights, fisherwomen, and tavern heroes.
Their wedding portraits show the traditional husband on the left and the wife on the right.
The painting of the Laughing Knight (1624) is one of the most famous works of Hals and the Banquet of the Officers (1616) of the Company of the Militia of San Adrián in 1627 captures each character in a variety of poses and facial expressions .
Some of his many paintings include:
* Officers’ Banquet (1616)
* Laughing Cavalier (1624)
* Laughing boy (1525)
* Officers and sergeants (1639)
Jan Steen (1626-1679)
Jan Havickszoon Steen (1626 – February 3, 1679) was a 17th century Dutch painter whose works included portraits, historical and biblical subjects, genre painting, and paintings that reference ancient Dutch proverbs or literature.
Steen used to use members of his family as models.
Famous paintings include:
* Harpsichord lesson (1660)
* The Dancing Couple (1663)
* Feast of Saint Nicholas (1665)
* The happy family (1668)
Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750)
Rachel Ruysch was a Dutch still life painter from the north of the Netherlands who specialized in flowers.
Her pictorial career spanned more than six decades and she is the best-documented painter of the Dutch Golden Age.
He began painting from the age of fifteen to eighty-three and died at the age of eighty-six.
Rachel Ruysch’s famous paintings include:
* Roses, convolvulus, poppies and other flowers in an urn on a stone ledge (1688)
* Flowers in a vase (1699)
* Flowers in a glass vase (1704)
* Still life of flowers (1726)
Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525-1569)
Pieter Bruegel was a Flemish (Flanders region) artist and engraver of Dutch Renaissance painting known for his landscapes and peasant scenes.
He often dressed up as a peasant to attend local festivities such as county fairs and weddings to develop his theme.
Often referred to as “Peasant Bruegel”, to distinguish him from later painters in his family, which included his son Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564-1638).
His paintings depict peasants usually against a landscape background, religious works such as the Conversion of Paul and The Sermon of Saint John the Baptist, and typical religious sayings of the Northern Renaissance.
Famous paintings include:
* The Harvesters (1565)
* The hay harvest (1565)
* The Peasant Wedding (1567)
* The Sermon of Saint John (1564)
Hendrick Terbrugghen (1588-1629)
Hendrick Jansz ter Brugghen (or Terbrugghen) was a Dutch painter who was one of the followers of Caravaggio (Italian painter of the late 16th and early 17th centuries), the so-called Utrecht Caravaggisti.
His genre scenes included half-length figures of drinkers or musicians, religious images, and group portraits.
Famous paintings include:
* Piper (1624)
* The singing lute player (1624)
* Crucifixion with the Virgin and Saint John (1625)
* The denial of Saint Peter (1628)
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
Rubens is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition in Europe during the 17th century and was also the favorite painter of his great Spanish patron, Felipe IV.
During his lifetime he produced ancient masterpieces of classical and Christian history, mythology, altarpieces, portraits, and landscapes.
He was also a prolific cartoon designer for Flemish tapestry workshops.
His patrons included royalty and churches.
* The elevation of the cross (1610)
* Samson and Delilah (1610)
* The Descent from the Cross (1614)
* Self-portrait (1639)