south wing study guide - Detroit Institute of Arts

Transcription

SOUTH WING STUDY GUIDE
1.
This study guide uses the same format throughout. There is an entry
for each object from Spring Training 2007. In the future when new objects
are added, new entries will be written and distributed.
Note: Description of the entries
• Object Data, Object Label Text, Group Label Text and Gallery
Group Label Text: texts that will be placed in the galleries. The
Study Guide has not edited these texts.
• Additional information: these texts do not appear in the gallery.
Information from your training and other sources appear here.
• Pronunciation: if needed.
2.
Gallery text may refer to two or more objects where only one is
included in your object list. REMEMBER TO ONLY SPEAK ABOUT
THE OBJECT USED IN TRAINING.
Spring 2007
SG SOUTH wing
1
OBJECTS BY DEPARTMENT
EUROPEAN
Western Antiquities:
Storage Jar, 63.16
Storage Jar, 63.14
Mixing Vessel, Leningrad Painter, 24.120
Oil Jar depicting Zeus Pursuing a Woman, possibly Aegina, 81.827
Bronze Statuette of a Rider, 46.260
Head of a Man, 27.211
Head of a Man, 27.212
Dutch Gallery Suite:
“Dutch Worlds”
Landscape with the Ruins of Rijnsburg Abbey, Aelbert Cuyp, 33.7
Interior of the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, Emanuel de Witte, 37.1
Portrait of a Lady, Nicolas Eliasz. Pickenoy, 21.214
“Rembrandt”
The Visitation, Rembrandt, 27.200
Man Wearing a plumed Beret and a Gorget, Rembrandt and Studio, 72.201
Christ, Rembrandt, 30.370
“Belief and Behavior”
Mother Nursing her Child, Pieter de Hooch, 89.39
Gamblers Quarreling, Jan Steen, 89.46
Lady at her Toilette, Gerard Terborch, 65.10
“Ruisdael”
Farm and Hayrick on a River, Ruisdael, 37.21
The Jewish Cemetery, Ruisdael, 26.3
Wooded Landscape with a Steam, Ruisdael, 68.298
“Wealth and Humility”
The Sinfonia, Michiel van Musscher, 64.263
Still-Life: A Letter Rack, Edvard Collyer, 2002.159
Flowers in a Glass Vase, Rachel Ruysch, 1995.67
“Riches at Home and Abroad”
Coastal Scene with a Man-of-War and other Vessels, Ludolf Backhuysen, 2002.134
View of the Jesuit Church at Olinda, Brazil, Frans Post, 34.188
Writing Desk, Anton Luchtenstein, 79.32
“Artists’ Market”
The Artist in his Studio, Cornelis Bisschop, 38.29
Still-life with Fruit, Vegetables and Dead Game, Frans Snyders, 78.44
The Holy Family and Saint John the Baptist, Willem van Mieris, 2004.13
“God is in the Details”
Peasants fleeing a burning Barn, Egbert van der Poel, 1993.36
Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, Hendrick van Steenwyck, 1889.64
Perspective Box of a Dutch Interior, Samuel van Hoogstraten, 35. 101
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British gallery suite
“British Portraiture”
Portrait of a Lady, William Hogarth, 27.11
Lady Anne Hamilton, Thomas Gainsborough, 71.170
The Hartley Children, George Romney, 73.102
The Wilkinson Family, Francis Wheatley, 46.133
The Cottagers, Joshua Reynolds, 55.278
Bust of Isaac Ware, Louis-Francois Roubilliac, 1987.75
Decorative Arts Court
Saint Wenceslas of Bohemia, Germany, 58.111
Crane, Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, 66.17
Jewel Casket, Thelot and Gevers, 2005.22
Grand Tour-Lure of Italy and the Legacy of the Antique
The Piazza San Marco, Canaletto, 43.38
The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, Sebastiano Ricci, 76.146
The Women of Darius involing the Clemency of Alexander, Giandomenico Tiepolo,
25.207
Armchair, Venetian, 1991.132
“Florence”
Bacchus and a Young Satyr, Gianfrancesco Susini, 82.27
Return of the Prodigal Son, Antonio Montaudi, 73.254
Apollo in his Chariot, Doccia Porcelain, 1990.249.a-b
Head of Tiberius, Doccia, 1990.250.a-b
“Naples”
Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Corrado Giaquinto, 77.73
Tarantella at Mergellina and Concert in a Garden, Filippo Falciatore, 80.3 and 80.4
“Rome”
Interior of St. Peter’s, Rome, Giovanni Paolo Panini, 56.43
Samson and Delilah, Pompeo Batoni, 2003.31
Pair of Console Tables, Matthias Locke, 58.103, 58.105
Roman Tables, 47.182-3
“Human Body as the Ideal”
Torso of Aphrodite, Roman, 24.4
Venus Receiving the Arms from Vulcan for Aeneas, Gaetano Gandolfi, 74.2
Zephyr Dancing with Flora, Giovanni Maria Benzoni, 16.8
“Rubens”
Hygieia: Goddess of Health, Rubens, 44.266
The Meeting of David and Abigail, Rubens, 89.63
Briseias Given Back to Achilles, Rubens, 53.356
17th century-French Collection Segment
Selene and Endymion, Nicolas Poussin, 36.11
Last Supper, Jean Baptiste de Champagne, 26. 103
The Abduction of Helen, Pierre Puget, 79.21
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Scenes from the Life of Jacob: Birth of Dan and Scenes from the Life of Jacob: Stolen
Blessing, Suzanne de Court, 1995.15-16
Cabinet-on-Stand, 55.458
British Spine
Bust of a Gentleman, possibly Joseph Addison, David LeMarchand, 2003.1
Comedy and Tragedy: Sic Vita, Alfred Gilbert, 79.23
“Saint Bacchus” Sideboard, William Burges, F82.50
Fashionable Living
“Splendor by the Hour”
Pedestal Clock, André-Charles Boulle, 1984.87
Comtesse de Brac as Aurora, Nattier, 68.304
French Toiletry Set, 53.177-192
Mechanical Writing Table, Roger Vandercruse, 71.198
Tureen with Lid, Liner and Stand from the Penthièvre-Orléans Service, Thomas Germain,
59.18
Monteith, Sèvres Porcelain, 71.229
Pair of Ice Cream Coolers, Sèvres, 71.231-232
“Shopping in Paris”
Hercules Fighting Two Centaurs, Stouf, 71.396.a-e
Bacchante and Satyr with a Young Satyr, Claude Michel (Clodion), 71.173
Maternity, Marin, 71.294
Pair of Jardinières in the form of Athéniennes, 71.201-202
Commode, Jean-Henri Riesener, 71.194
Pair of Torcheres, Duplessis fils, 71. 394-395
Armchair Upholstered with Beauvais tapestry cover, Georges Jacob, 71.184
Pair of Flower Vases, Sèvres, 71.244-245
“Influences from Afar”
Sultan Riding an Elephant, Meissen Porcelain, 2004.11
Pair of Cabinets with Japanese lacquer panels, Etienne Levasseur, 71.203-204
Vases with French ormolu mounts, Chinese, 28.83-85
France 1780-1820
Robert Fulton, Jean-Antoine Houdon, 49.23
Pair of Wine Bottle Coolers, Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot, 71.296-297
Empire Pier Table, Adam Weisweiler, etc, T2007.12
Romanticism
Tiger Devouring a Gavial, Barye, 1983.11
The Nightmare and Portrait of a Lady, Henry Fuseli, 55.5A, B
Soldiers in a Mountain Gorge, with a Storm, Joseph Vernet, 2001.7
Nationalism
Murat defeating the Turkish Army at Aboukir, Baron Gros, 49.337
Departure of the Volunteers of 1792, François Rude, 2001.67
Spring 2007
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Description of Egypt, T2005.62-67, .71-.72
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NATIVE AMERICAN
Cosmos
Four Directions: Vision, Kay WalkingStick, 2005.25.a-b
Square Drum, 1997.109
Bowl in the Form of a Beaver, 51.9
Design and Identity
Parfleche, 1988.51
Coat, 2006.23
Shoulder Bag, 2006.15
Change and Continuity
Jar, Julian and Maria Martinez, T1999.208
Jar, Nathan Youngblood, 2004.109
Rug, Navajo, 34.36
Grouse Mask, Willie Seaweed, 63.148
Bird, Toonoo Sharky, XX2007.96
Northwest Coast
House Ornament, Dick Price, 47.397.a
Pair of Leggings, 72.495
Bowl, 1988.12
Ancient Cultures of the Americas
“Ancient Costa Rica”
Eagle Ornament, 77.45
Jar in the form of a Jaguar, 56.235
Metate, T73.510
“Ancient Midwest”
Gorget, 1984.39
Effigy Jar, 1991.115
Bottle, 1991.117
“Ancient Peru”
Cup (Kero), F1985.13
Bottle Modeled as a Llama Giving Birth, 73.190
“Ancient Mexico”
Male and Female Figures, 1999.4 and .5
Embracing Couple, 77.49
Tripod Jar, 1984.12.a-b
Native American Promenade
New England Landscape, George Morrison, 2006.108
Urn Representing a Seated Deity. 77.99
Spring 2007
SG SOUTH wing ANCIENT
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Gallery Text: Glimpses of an Ancient World
Men and women of Greece, Rome, and Etruria used the objects in this gallery thousands
of years ago. Here, we exhibit them as works of art, valuing their fine shapes, fascinating
symbolism, and outstanding craftsmanship.
Greek artists sculpted and painted idealized human figures that reflected their standards
of physical beauty.
Etruscan artists took advantage of the rich ore deposits in their region and became
particularly skilled metalworkers.
Roman artists were inspired by the Greeks and Etruscans, as well as the many other
cultures that came under Roman control. Because of the empire’s duration and the
influences of so many cultures, Roman art is especially diverse.
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Group Theme Text: Art and Empire-Building
Alexander the Great and the many emperors of Rome extended their power and wealth by
conquering large parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia. In a time before mass media, ancient
rulers flooded their empires with their portraits to provide constant reminders of their
authority. The sculpture and coins on view in this area carried such potent messages to
millions.
War and conquest were considered glorious activities, so images of battles and
soldiers abound in ancient art of all media. Even armor and weapons might be works of
art, exquisitely crafted to impress—even intimidate—in both public ceremonies and
hand-to-hand combat.
Alongside the violence of imperial expansion and colonization, widely separate
artistic traditions came in contact with one other. Artists from within the Mediterranean
region as well as those in the farthest reaches of the empire adapted forms, imagery, and
techniques from one another to create new styles.
Group Theme Text: Advertising the Emperor
In their daily lives, Roman citizens everywhere in the vast empire encountered constant
reminders of their rulers.
The head of the emperor appeared on all coins, reinforcing his responsibility for
the empire’s wealth, strength, and economic success. Emperors ordered artists to sculpt
images of them as mighty warriors, wise and noble individuals, or even gods. Such
portraits conveyed messages about power and alluded to the divinity of these earthly
rulers.
In addition to what you see here, triumphal arches, altars, and columns carved with
images of the emperor’s great deeds were prominently placed in cities across Europe,
western Asia, and northern Africa. Images of the ruler were so potent that when a hated
emperor fell from power, his enemies would topple and break his sculptures and erase his
name from public inscriptions.
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Group Theme Text: Pleasing the Gods
Images of gods and goddesses were everywhere in the ancient world. Believed to have
power that could help or harm, they inspired respect and piety from their believers and
were very much a part of everyday life. The objects in this gallery were used for several
purposes:
• Decoration and storytelling—Illustrations of mythological stories are found in all
media.
• Public and private worship—Public festivals included processions, animal
sacrifices, feasts, and sporting events. People worshiped privately at household
altars and dedicated sculptures on temple grounds.
• Remembering the dead—Family members honored their dead and the gods with
funerary vessels and monuments. They also made ritual offerings meant to ease
the passage of a person into the realm of the dead.
The Romans adapted and renamed many of the Greek gods and goddesses. If the work is
Greek, we use the Greek name; if Roman, you’ll see the Latin name.
Group Theme Text: Games for the Gods
Sporting events were a notable part of large and small festivals held in honor of the gods.
The Olympic games honored Zeus, the king of gods. Other games, celebrated in Athens,
honored the goddess Athena. The games occurred alongside religious ceremonies, such
as sacrifices, processions, and prayers.
Many of the events from the ancient games are familiar: foot racing, wrestling,
boxing, horse racing. There were no team sports; each athlete competed individually as
his offering to the gods.
Victors at the Olympics received no greater reward than an honorary wreath, but the
festival at Athens offered valuable prizes to attract famous athletes. Winners at the great
festivals brought glory to the gods, themselves, and their city. Statues and coins
sometimes advertised the accomplishments of a city’s athletes.
Group Theme Text: Worship
How did the Greeks and Romans worship the gods?
Most aspects of ancient Greek and Roman religion were public, and numerous festivals
and feast days throughout the year honored different gods. Events were held in temples
and sanctuaries, which were complexes sacred to a particular god. Festivals included
processions, animal sacrifices, sporting events, and feasts.
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People visited sanctuaries in the cities and countryside to pray for divine help and
honor the gods with the best gifts they could afford. Some sanctuaries became
particularly famous. People went to them to be healed, ask for help, or celebrate whatever
deeds the god had performed there.
Altars in private homes provided a place for daily offerings to ancestors and household
gods. For example, a worshiper might leave bread or grains to nourish the spirits and
deities whose role it was to watch over the family.
Group Theme Text: Preparing to Meet the Gods
Objects in this area were meant to honor the dead in funerary rituals. They also provide
clues to ancient beliefs and attitudes about death.
• Early Greeks believed in a shadowy underworld ruled by Hades, the god of the
dead. Over time, these beliefs grew brighter as people began to dream of spending
eternity in the paradise of heroes, the Elysian Fields.
• Most of what we know about Etruscan religion comes from tombs and other
funerary objects, which portray a dreary, mournful afterlife. Varth was the allseeing goddess and herald of death, believed to assist people on their deathbeds.
The Romans adopted many Etruscan and Greek ideas about the afterlife. With the
expansion of the Roman Empire, individual Romans incorporated Egyptian, Syrian, and
early Christian beliefs and practices, so that no single religion dominated.
Spring 2007
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Group Theme Text: Dining
What were elegant feasts like for the privileged in ancient Greece and Italy?
Guests reclined on couches, leaning on their left elbows to eat and drink with their right
hands. Slaves placed food on low tables near diners, serving from elegant dishes;
handsome serving pieces of silver, gold, glass, and ceramics impressed guests with the
host’s wealth.
In Rome and Etruria, men and women dined together. The most sumptuous
Roman banquets featured exotic foods like flamingo and ostrich. Between courses, slaves
washed the hands of each guest.
Greek banquets were exclusively for men; women attended only to entertain. The
host directed slaves to mix the wine with water, because drinking undiluted wine was
considered barbaric.
Throughout the night, guests—Greek, Roman, and Etruscan alike—enjoyed
performances of music, dance, and acrobatics; recitations of poetry; and even gambling
and drinking contests.
Group Theme Text: Mixing Wine: Every Shape Has Its Purpose
Everyone drank wine in the ancient world: men, women, and children, free and slave
alike. Potters shaped clay into full-bodied vessels used specifically to store, mix, or serve
this essential beverage. Painters added scenes that often hint at the pot’s purpose.
• Wide-mouthed bowls were used to mix wine with water. The example on view depicts a
banquet scene.
• Two-handled storage jars held wine. Their narrow necks minimized spills and were
easy to seal.
• Large containers stored water. Two of the handles were for lifting, and one in back was
for pouring. The jar here shows women drawing water from a public fountain.
Group Theme Text: Serving Wine at a Banquet
Wine was the common alcoholic drink in ancient Greece and Italy, and it flowed
freely at elegant banquets. Strong and less refined than it is today, wine was usually
diluted with water before serving.
•
Slaves used pitchers to draw wine from wide-mouthed bowls and pour into each
guest’s cup.
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•
•
Drinkers had their own shallow, two-handled cup for sipping wine while reclining
on couches.
As guests drank, the evening’s entertainers glowed in the smoky, flickering light
of oil lamps.
Spring 2007
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Object data:
Storage Jar (black figure), 520/500 BC
Clay
Painter S
Greek
16 ¾ x 10 5/8 in
DIA no: 63.16
Object Label Text: This object has no text in the gallery
Additional Information:
The Vase Image:
o There are two handles from the neck to the shoulder. A double palmette-lotus
chain is on both sides of the neck and there are tongues on both sides of the
shoulder.
o Palmettes and buds are beneath each handle.
o A band of upright buds is beneath the figure zone and there are rays above the
foot.
o On Side A are two opposed mounted warriors on rearing horses and a crouching
warrior beneath. On Side B a foot soldier and an archer move to the left and a
woman is on the right.
o Painted on this vase is a foot soldier crouching between two rearing horses ridden
by two helmeted armored figures wearing plumed helmets charging each other.
o The figures form an ovoid shape that fits the curving surface of the vase.
o This is an attempt by the Greek painters to capture a sense of volume and
movement.
o Many subjects of black figure vases are domestic, but most of them deal with acts
of heroism and this example deals with warfare.
Technique:
o This storage jar is an example of ancient Greek black-figure vase painting with
characters silhouetted in black against a red backdrop.
o Greek potters would coat the exterior surface of the vase with a red slip
reinforcing the natural color of the clay.
o The figural scenes are painted over the red surface in black.
o Areas are painted in mauve with isolated white highlights.
o Any kind of detailing involves incising lines through the black painted surfaces to
reveal the color of the clay underneath.
o Usually a potter created the vase and a second person painted the figures.
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Object data:
Storage Jar alt: Amphora 520/510 BC
Clay
Anonymous
Greek
14 9/16 x 9 ¾ in.
DIA no: 63.14
Object Label Text
This object has no text in the gallery
It has two vertical handles from the neck to the shoulder. The neck is decorated on
both sides with a double palmette-lotus bud chain.
There are tongues on both sides of the shoulder.
Beneath each handle are palmettes and buds.
Beneath the main scenes, continuing around the vessel is a meander band with a chain
of upright buds below.
There are rays above the foot.
On Side A is a warrior in a chariot moving to the left, attacking a warrior kneeling at
the extreme left. On Side B is a woman between two warriors.
This storage jar is an example of ancient Greek black-figure vase painting with
characters silhouetted in black against a red backdrop.
This vase shows the interesting grouping of a fallen foot soldier with a shield before a
charioteer riding a chariot drawn by four horses.
It is a dramatic representation of figures that are moving through space.
Spring 2007
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Object data:
Mixing Vessel (red fig) 5th Century BC
Clay
Leningrad Painter
Greek
15 5/8 x 15 3/8 x 13 in.
DIA no: 24.120
Object Label Text
The artist who painted this vessel chose an uncommon subject—Helios, a Greek god of
the sun. He wears a crown of sun rays and rides his chariot drawn by winged horses
through the sky. Dolphins frolic in waves of the sea below him.
•
What you see:
o Red-figured krater with handles has a body which tapers to a foot in two
stages.
o A short, wide neck and an overhanging mouth with an extension on either side
is supported by two columnar handles.
o The main scenes are in red figure.
o The upper side of the mouth is decorated with a lotus-bud chain.
o There is a palmette on each extension.
o The side of the rim on front and back is decorated with a stylized band of ivy.
o The main scene on Side A represents Helios (identified by a sun disc on his
head) riding in a chariot drawn by winged horses to the right.
o A dolphin beneath the horses dives into waves indicated in added red.
o The scenes on both sides are framed to the left and right by vertical bands of
ivy.
•
Technique:
o Usually a potter created the vase and a second person painted the figures.
o In red figure painting, the red clay is covered by black slip carefully outlining
the figures and the details.
o The black slip also outlines the ornamentation and the strip upon which the
figures stand. This "strip" is important because it functions as a stage and the
link between this kind of painting and of ancient Greek theatre.
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o The figures are defined by interior modeling through black lines, the primary
linear color. Secondary lines are brown, paler and less emphatic.
o The vessel is called a column krater because the handles are two columns
attached to the lip that extends over the shaft of the vase itself.
o It is the central section that contains the figures.
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Object data:
Oil Jar depicting Zeus Pursuing a
Woman, possibly Aegina 470 BC
Clay
Circle of Berlin Painter
Greek
17 5/8 x 6 in.
DIA no: 81.827
Object Label Text
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Red-figure jar
Tall cylindrical jar with small disc foot and narrow neck with bell-shaped mouth.
Vertical handles reaching from mouth to shoulder.
Decorated with scene of possibly Zeus, wearing short chiton (garment) with cloak
draped over arm
Holding staff, pursuing possibly Aegina her hands raised in surprise.
On jar shoulder, palmette and vine scroll pattern bordered above by ovulo (eggshaped) band.
Main scene bordered above and below by band of meanders and crossed
squares.
Flowing drapery and its different linear patterns.
Detailing of the acanthus leaf pattern and scrolls is done with black paint
outlining the shapes.
Other decoration includes a key pattern and another at the base forms the stage for
the figures themselves.
Black defines the figure's cap and the woman's hair.
Linear patterns define the drapery.
Lighter brown paint defines the bulging veins that show underneath the surface of
the skin.
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Object data:
Bronze Statuette of a Rider late 5th
Century BC
Bronze
Anonymous
Etruscan
10 7/8 x 4 1/8 x 4 5/8 in.
DIA no: 46.260
Object Label Text
The Etruscans were famed throughout the Mediterranean for the quality of their
metalwork, and you have just discovered one of the most outstanding surviving
examples. The remarkable preservation of this 2,400-year-old statuette allows us to
admire the natural and lively details, especially in the rider’s hands and face.
• Image:
o Figure of a bearded male in position to be on horseback.
o He is wearing a short riding cloak draped over his left shoulder and around his
waist.
o The facial features are symmetrical, the eyes large and almond-shaped with
each iris and pupil shown as one large, ridged hole.
o This is a fine example in statuette format that emulates the naturalism of the
Greeks shown in the subtle modeling of the body, the legs, kneecaps and
hands that would have held the reins.
o Smooth sensuous surfaces of the body contrast with deeply grooved fabric
surfaces.
o It introduces a garment that was not familiar to the Greeks, a toga, a garment
that was intrinsically Etruscan and later adopted by the Romans.
o The head of this figure has wide staring eyes, and a lot of cold chisel work.
Once the bronze is cast, chisels, sharp instruments, and incises patterns like
the hair, and the deeper grooving of the robe itself to create a sense of crisp,
linear clarity.
•
Technique:
o The ancient Etruscans, the original populous of most of central Italy, adopted
the Greek bronze casting practices and also brought bronze casting to a high
degree of refinement.
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•
History:
o This Etruscan Horseman is the single most famous object in our Ancient
Western Civilization collection.
o In the Mediterranean world, going back to ancient Egypt, bronze casting
reached high degree of sophistication in ancient Greece, especially in the 5th
and 6th century B.C.
Spring 2007
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Object data:
Head of a Man early 1st Century AD
Marble
Anonymous
Roman
15 ¾ x 8 ¼ x 8 ¼ in.
DIA no: 27.211
Object Label Text
•
What we see:
o Portrait bust of an elderly man.
o The head is tilted slightly to the left.
o The subject is bald with large ears and a prominent nose.
o The eyes are deeply set and deep lines are carved in the forehead and cheeks.
o The neck is shrunken and the throat hollowed.
o The facial expression is sober.
o A marble life-size bust, showing the head and neck and a little bit of torso.
o The Roman art of portraiture is notable for its realism.
o An aged man with a deeply furrowed brow and deep-set eyes with veins
visible under the skin of his bald head.
o The face is not idealized.
o His left eye is lower than his right.
o His mouth shifts and drops to the left, as if he had a slight lisp.
•
Why:
o The sculptor observed him very closely and represents him as an actual
person.
o Romans believed in ancestor worship.
o An exact likeness would be extremely important in terms of this familial cult.
o Romans merged the realism of Etruscan art noted for its ancestor worship with
the naturalism of the ancient Greeks.
o This was a funerary portrait.
Spring 2007
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Object data:
Head of a Man 3rd Century AD
Marble
Anonymous
Roman
13 x 6 x 8 in.
DIA no: 27.212
Object Label Text
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Male portrait head with short cropped hair and beard.
The head is tilted to the right.
The eyes are large and widely opened, the gaze is to the right and upward.
The pupils are drilled.
The nose is large, the lips thin.
The ears are flat and close to the head.
The face is deeply lined, the brow is furled.
This very realistic head is very fleshy, and almost puffy.
The man's hair is short, defined by a series of sharp, broken chisel patterns into
the marble.
He looks incredibly tired.
Spring 2007
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Dutch Gallery Suite
Gallery Gallery Text: Dutch Golden Age 1600 to 1700
The DIA’s collection of Dutch paintings is one of the finest outside of the Netherlands,
boasting works from almost every master of the period, including Rembrandt and
Ruisdael.
Discover images of spirituality, material wealth, and intense patriotism—all
expressed with stunning realism.
Gallery Theme Text: Windows into Dutch Worlds
•
•
•
Portraits in this gallery reveal how the Dutch wished to be remembered
Land and seascapes show love of the environment
Images of churches represent spirituality and history
During the 1600s, the Dutch experienced—and caused—extraordinary change. The
Dutch Republic, now called the Netherlands, won its independence from foreign rulers.
Dutch ships sped across the world bringing home unprecedented riches. New colonies
left the Dutch footprint in distant lands. The Calvinist church set rigorous standards for
modesty, tempering the newfound wealth.
Dutch artists responded to their times, turning their eyes onto their world—the land
that surrounded them, the way people lived, and the religious stories that guided them.
Artists were prolific; some scholars estimate that up to 300,000 paintings were made
during the century. These paintings, filled with minute and realistic detail, are like
windows, providing us with views into the Dutch world of the 1600s.
9/18/2012
SG SOUTH wing/EUROPE
22
Object data:
Landscape with the Ruins of Rijnsburg
Abbey c. 1645
Oil on canvas
Aelbert Cuyp
Dutch, 1620-1691
40 ¼ x 55 ½ in.
DIA no: 33.7
Object Label Text
•
Image:
o Landscape with ruins.
o In left foreground, two cows, one standing, one lying down and two men, one
standing, one sitting.
o At right, sheep in front of ruins.
o Architectural form in background.
o Sky is dark and cloudy.
o Sunlight floods in from left.
o This painting shows a young man as an artist sketching the scene, and a figure, a
shepherd, behind him, standing and looking over the artist's shoulder at the ruins.
•
Abbey:
o It represents a royal abbey outside the city of Leiden called Rijnsburg Abbey
founded as early as 1133 by Petronella, Countess of Holland.
o It was a Benedictine convent for women of nobility and a royal burial spot.
o It was destroyed during the Spanish siege of the city of Leiden in 1573-1574.
o Once Leiden was liberated and declared independent from Spain, monuments like
this were immortalized.
o The artist here is immortalizing the scene because it is a sense of Dutch historical
memory in terms of its struggle for independence.
Pronounciation:
Albert Cuyp (
Rijnsburg (
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Object data:
Interior of the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam
1686
Oil on canvas
Emanuel de Witte
Dutch, c.1617-1691/1692
47 x 39 5/8
DIA no: 37.1
Object Label Text
•
•
Image:
o Interior of a church with several figures attending a service.
o In the foreground, several people are spread out in front of two archways.
o A dog and a man appear at the left.
o A man, wearing a cape stands with his back to viewer in the center.
o At the right, a woman reading a book, sits before a pew and faces viewer.
o In the middleground, beyond the archways, is a loft containing an organ.
o A clere-story window appears above, and a stained glass window appears behind
the loft. At the right, a chandelier hangs above a row of pews, which lead to a
figure standing in the pulpit.
o Two more windows appear behind the pulpit.
o A banner hangs from top of pillar in the center.
Background:
o The Oude Kerk church interior still exists, but the church itself is largely
imaginary.
o This is not a portrait of a church, but a portrait of the idea of a Protestant church
that has been adapted from a medieval Roman Catholic Church. In the Roman
Catholic Church the liturgy would have taken place in the apse or the choir.
o There is a pulpit and a preacher standing in the pulpit preaching with the
congregation around him.
o When de Witte painted this picture, the church interior had been stripped of its
religious imagery, the result of Protestant 1500s iconoclasm that swept through
much of the Netherlands.
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o The original stained glass was gone.
o Much of the walls had been white washed so that all large frescos that existed in
an earlier epoch had been destroyed.
o The religious orientation shifted from the choir to the nave with a pulpit to one
side in conformity to Calvinist ideas.
o There is a huge organ loft. Dutch churches are known for their spectacular organs.
o In the 1600s, the Calvinists believed that music was a frightful temptation and
forbade it.
o The magistrates, the ruling class of the Dutch cities, recognized music had a
positive influence on the spiritual well-being of the populous of the city.
o Organs were maintained despite the Calvinist Church, not by the church, but by
city magistrates who also paid organists' salaries.
o For them, music was understood as morally edifying and music permeates the
subject of this painting.
Pronunciation:
de Witte (
Oud Kerk (
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Object data:
Portrait of a Lady c. 1630
Oil on oak panel
Nicolaes Eliasz Pickenoy
Dutch, c.1588 - 1650/1656
48 5/8 x 36 in.
DIA no: 21.214
Object Label Text
Only a very wealthy woman could afford such an exquisitely embroidered pair of gloves
and “stomacher,” the panel of fabric covering her midsection. And only a master painter
could portray the meticulous details of her lace cuffs and the transparency of her cap.
•
The image:
o The companion portrait of the husband had disappeared.
o The 3/4-length life size portrait would have been expensive.
o The woman is at the height of fashion at the time wearing black that was the color
of fashion introduced by the Spanish court of the mid 16th century and continued
to reign supreme throughout the 17th century.
o The woman has a flawless complexion.
o Unusual because of the consequences of chicken pox.
o It was a source of great pride.
o Clothing
o Gloves
Gloves were an expensive luxury item during the 1600s.
The most expensive would have been fine leather gloves.
In this picture the gloves are made of fine fabric with embroidery.
Such gloves were often made for a bride and would be a suitable
attribute of a marriage portrait.
o Stomacher
The elaborate stomacher worn by this young woman would also
have only been worn by a member of the wealthiest classes.
The stomacher is the very elaborately embroidered panel of fabric
that runs from the sitter’s bosom to just above her waist.
It was the most visually pronounced feature of her dress.
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o Cap

•
Minute detail of the lace cuffs and cap.
The gauze-like cap is transparent so that the shape of the woman’s
head is visible
Painter:
o The artist, Nicholas Eliasz. Pickenoy was the leading portrait painter in
Amsterdam prior to Rembrandt’s arrival in the city in the 1630s.
o He was the favorite portraitist of the patrician class
o He produced several pairs of marriage portraits in which he represents the
husband and wife formally posed in fine attire facing each other.
o Our picture must have had a pendant.
Pronounciation:
Pickenoy (
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Gallery Label Text: Rembrandt’s Genius
•
•
•
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Penetrating portrayals of human feelings
Subtle expressions of light
Expressive, compelling storytelling
Careful observations of the everyday
While most artists are notable for one or two of the above skills, Rembrandt van Rijn was
the rare, exceptional talent who mastered them all.
By age twenty-six, Rembrandt had become Amsterdam’s best portrait painter. Realizing
that his works were highly prized commodities, Rembrandt grew ambitious. He
established a studio filled with rigorously trained apprentices. Rembrandt explored a wide
range of themes, from biblical scenes to landscapes, at a time when most Dutch artists
specialized in just one. He produced not only paintings, but also drawings and prints.
Rembrandt ensured that his impact would be great.
This gallery is filled with works by Rembrandt, by his teacher, and by artists who
emulated the master. The Visitation, on the adjacent wall, is recognized as one of the
most compelling Rembrandts in the United States.
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Object data:
The Visitation 1640
Oil on cedar panel
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn
Dutch, 1606-1669
22¼ x 18 7/8 in.
DIA no: 27.200
Object Label Text
As he often does, Rembrandt uses light to lend symbolic significance to a scene. Here,
Mary and Elizabeth embrace. Each is pregnant with a future spiritual figure—Jesus and
John the Baptist, respectively. Rembrandt emphasizes the women’s otherworldly
holiness, bathing them in light that seems to have no source in the still night.
•
Image:
o Two women greet each other in center of middleground.
o Elizabeth, the older woman at left, wraps her arms around Mary's shoulders.
o A black servant girl stands to the right of Mary and holds her cloak.
o At left a young boy helps Zacharias, the bearded old man, down the steps.
o At right a man leads a mule.
o In the left foreground a peacock, perched before a vine covered wall, watches
over her young.
o Peacocks are traditionally the sacred bird of Juno, the pagan protectress of
married women, specifically women in childbirth.
o Peacocks also symbolize immortality in Christ's resurrrection, a double symbolic
purpose in the painting.
o A view of Jerusalem is in right background.
o When the painting was re-framed in the dark ebony frame, the light at the top
right indicates a supernatural, spiritual presence shining down, singling out the
two women by the divine.
o Rembrandt’s signature is on the steps at the very center signed it Rembrandt
Fachia 1640.
o This painting has been interpreted as having a very personal meaning for
Rembrandt who saw three of his children die in infancy during this period.
o The entire backdrop is murky and enveloped in shade.
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o Light is subdued, even in the foreground.
•
Subject:
o The Visitation is the meeting between Mary and her aged cousin, Elizabeth.
o Elizabeth, the old woman in the left center of the group was married to Zacharius
and she would bear John the Baptist.
o Mary will give birth to Jesus Christ.
o At the meeting, Elizabeth recognizes Mary as the mother of Jesus.
Pronounciation:
Van Rijn: VAN ryne
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Object data:
Man Wearing a Plumed Beret and
Gorget mid 1630's
Oil on oak panel
Workshop of Rembrandt Harmensz van
Rijn
Dutch, 1606-1669
27 1/8 x 20 3/8 in.
DIA no: 72.201
Object Label Text
Rembrandt’s Student
This painting is a character study by one of Rembrandt’s apprentices. The assignment
was to capture mood and expression. By showing the mouth slightly open as if in midsentence, the apprentice captures the momentary.
If the man looks familiar, it’s because Rembrandt was the model.
• Image:
o Three-quarter length bust portrait of a man facing right.
o His curly brown hair comes to the bottom of his ears and is covered by a softly
crumpled tam with a tall feather which curves to the right.
o He has an earring in his right ear.
o Over a brown garment he wears a flat metal collar with a button on his right
shoulder.
o A chain with an ornament is draped from his left side to his right underarm
o His left hand grasps the hilt of a sword.
o This painting is not a portrait, but a character study.
o The costume is theatrical and imaginary consisting of a plumed hat, gorget (a
metal plate that protects the neck and throat) as well as a so-called “chain of
honor.”
o He uses the “chain of honor” to indicate someone has been recognized for valor.
o The man has a slightly open mouth and light is effectively concentrated upon the
face and gorget and plays across the eyes.
o A shadow is cast to the right by the figure.
o The painting displays an undefined ambience suggesting a wall rising up behind
the figure.
o The figure is transformed into the world of the imagination.
o The backdrop isolates the figure in this realm that makes it more and more
mysterious.
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Object data:
Christ c. 1648/1650
Oil on oak panel
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn
Dutch, 1606-1669
11 x 9 1/8 in.
DIA no: 30.370
Object Label Text
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Half length, three quarter view of Christ.
He has shoulder length brown hair and a beard and a moustache.
He wears a brown coat.
His arms are folded across His chest.
His head is tilted to the left and His eyes gaze straight ahead and upward.
This painting is attributed to Rembrandt, and is a character likeness.
Rembrandt was the first artist to represent images of Christ on the basis of his contact
with the Jewish community of Amsterdam
He lived in the Jewish quarter of the city.
He was immersed in the Sephardic Jewish community of Amsterdam.
He used young models of men from this community to develop his own image of
Christ. Is this work actually by Rembrandt?
We do know that Rembrandt went bankrupt in 1655 and the result was his entire
contents of the house sold.
The inventory of the contents from 1656 still survives and there are two instances in
which such paintings were described “Painting of Christ.”
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Gallery Theme Text: Pictures of Behavior, Portrayals of Belief
Dutch Calvinists believed they were held in God’s special favor. They saw their personal
prosperity, their country’s cultural stability, and its economic success around the world as
evidence of divine providence. This created social pressure to observe highly respectable
behavior, making moralizing paintings extremely popular. Hung in the home, the pictures
reminded their owners of the dangers of sinful or questionable behavior.
As you explore this gallery, you will see that, for all their differences, every one of these
paintings does exactly that. Some explicitly recommend decency; they depict biblical
parables or people engaged in respectable activities, such as walking quietly in a public
square or caring for children.
Most of these paintings, however, portray bad behavior. While images of gambling,
drinking, brawling, and thieving provided viewers with examples of how not to behave,
they also offered them the vicarious pleasure of witnessing sinful behavior.
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Object data:
Mother Nursing Her Child c.1674/1676
Oil on canvas
Pieter de Hooch
Dutch, 1629-1684
31 3/8 x 23 ½ in.
DIA no: 89.39
Object Label Text
•
•
•
•
•
•
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•
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•
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Genre scene with mother nursing child.
Mother sits in center of foreground nursing child.
Her feet rest on a footwarmer.
A wicker cradle is at her left.
A dog sits at her right.
Open doorway in left midground leads out to room with steps, chair, picture on
left wall and windows in far wall.
Window with drapes in right midground.
This painting is the paradigm of matronly virtue.
Her clothing and pose indicate a real sense of humility.
The little spaniel gazing out towards the room beyond is a symbol of loyalty—the
woman’s loyalty to her husband and to her family.
This painting displays a very rigorous organization of space.
All the rooms are parallel to the picture plane, including the room beyond.
It shows the affects of indirect, filtered glowing light.
Light itself can symbolize purity.
Pronunciation:
Pieter de Hooch
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Object data:
Gamblers Quarreling c.1665
Oil on canvas
Jan Havicksz Steen
Dutch, 1625-1679
27 ¾ x 35 in.
DIA no: 89.46
Object Label Text
A disagreement over cards, stoked by excessive drinking, has led to a brawl. One man
reaches for his sword. Onlookers sit by the fireplace, enjoying the show.
The artist explicitly cautions against drunken excess by inscribing in Dutch the biblical
proverb “Wine is a mocker” on the chandelier.
•
•
Image:
o Interior of tavern with view of several figures brawling.
o Five figures grouped together in center of foreground.
o Woman grabs at sprawling man holding a pitcher in his right hand.
o Second woman restrains man attempting to pull out his sword.
o A man, partially obscured, tries to move between the four figures.
o Behind and to the right of the central group three figures observe the action.
o One smokes a pipe, second raises his glass in a toast and third stands laughing.
o Behind and to the left of the central group, a man holds head of second man with
one arm and pummels him with his free hand.
o A boy rushes towards the figures from the right and a man, playing a fiddle,
stands behind them.
o A pipe, pitcher, playing cards, backgammon board, chips, broom and hat are
scattered on floor in the foreground.
o A chandelier hangs from the ceiling in the middleground.
Moral:
o This painting is an example of unrestrained irrational violence and raucous
behavior.
o there is a moralizing message
o In the chandelier, the quote from Proverbs, Chapter 20, and Verse 1 appears:
“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived is not wise.”
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o Pandemonium reinforces the message.
o A great deal of still life elements are found in the painting referring to gambling,
smoking and drinking—all in excess.
o A backgammon board is smashed, playing cards, a jar for beer and clay pipes
representing smoking are thrown on the floor.
o Smoking was considered by the Dutch to be heinous and equal to a form of
drinking.
Pronunciation:
Jan Steen: yan STEEN
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Object data:
Lady at Her Toilette c. 1660
Oil on canvas
Gerard Ter Borch
Dutch, 1617-1681
30 x 23½ in.
DIA no: 65.10
• Image:
o Interior with woman attended by a maid and a page.
o This painting is an example of the refined world of an affluent Dutch woman.
o She stands next to a tapestry-covered table with a mirror and a candlestick.
o A profile of her face is reflected in the mirror.
o The page, wearing a black striped jacket over a white shirt, short black pants with
a fringe at top and bottom and white silk stockings supported by red garters with
puff balls, stands at the left holding a small vial.
o The woman wears a blue and white silk off-the-shoulder dress with gold trim.
o The maid, standing behind her, ties her dress.
o A dog rests his front paws on the seat of a chair behind the maid.
o Marble fireplace behind the table at the left and maroon velvet drapery against
rear wall.
o A woman is shown in a patrician interior before a marble mantelpiece, a fine
turned table covered by a “Turkey Carpet” made in the Middle East, and a silver
framed mirror—highly desirable objects imported into Europe and placed on the
table.
o The woman wears a magnificent satin dress.
o A dashing young attendant holds a rosewater container.
o The woman has been interrupted unexpectedly.
o She gazes out with a certain degree of discomfort which adds to the psychological
intent of the artist.
o The spaniel symbolizes loyalty, but the attribute is being questioned.
o The mirror reflects the woman’s perfect complexion and can also symbolize
vanity.
o The woman may be obsessed with earthly attributes which at the time of
judgment will have no validity.
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Pronunciation:
Gerard ter Borch
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Gallery Label Text: Jacob van Ruisdael: Master Painter of the Land
You may have heard of Rembrandt and Vermeer, two great Dutch artists of the 1600s.
Another important name is Jacob van Ruisdael.
What makes Ruisdael special?
Ruisdael (pronounced RISE-dale) created majestic scenes of the trees, skies, and
waterways of the Netherlands. He was unique in his ability to capture the drama of his
country’s ever-changing weather, from the turbulent and exhilarating to the serene.
Why did he focus on landscapes?
To Ruisdael, the continually cycling seasons of nature revealed God’s infinite presence in
the world. The artist’s pictures of the Dutch landscape depict a single moment but imply
constant change, as in the movement of rivers and clouds. His paintings often convey the
impermanence of life and suggest the work of a higher spiritual power.
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Object data:
Farm and Hayrick on a River late 1640's
Oil on oak panel
Jacob Isaaksz van Ruisdael
Dutch, 1628-1682
15 1/2 x 20 3/8 in.
DIA no: 37.21
Object Label Text
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
This is an early work.
He painted this in the city of Harlem, 15 miles west of Amsterdam.
The painting is of an important subject in terms of Dutch economy, a prosperous
farm.
Prosperity is measured by the enormous hayrick that dominates the profile of the
farmstead, laden with hay.
A man is seen punting this boat in a shallow river.
Light is shown in the shrubs before the farmstead.
Sparkling in the light is the rim of the roof of the farmhouse and the play of light on
the ripples of the water.
The painting demonstrates deftness and skill, subtle and refined, perceptionally and
technically.
The interplay between light and shadow, clouds and sky and shimmering water, leads
to a subtle and understated painting.
Pronunciation:
Ruisdael (RISE-dale)
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Object data:
The Jewish Cemetery c. 1654/1655
Oil on canvas
Dutch, 1628-1682
56 x 74 ½ in.
DIA no: 26.3
Object Label Text
Amsterdam had a large Jewish community with its own cemetery in a nearby village.
Here, Ruisdael depicts crumbling tombs from the cemetery but places them in an
imaginary, storm-swept setting.
Why?
He seems to suggest that no matter what humans accomplish, everything passes away—
except nature itself.
•
What you see:
o Grave monuments in a prominent Jewish cemetery south of Amsterdam.
o They are placed among architectural ruins in an imaginary setting.
o A storm has passed, generating a swollen stream that washes away soil and
threatens to disturb the tombs.
o The evidence of passing time is apparent in the ruins, the graves, and on certain
dead and fallen trees, indicating the transience of all things.
o By the clearing weather Ruisdael indicates that nature also has the capacity for
renewal. He combines this concept with a rainbow, implying hope.
o While the tombs are based on actual surviving examples in the Jewish cemetery at
Oude Kerk near Amsterdam, the haunting setting is entirely imaginary.
o Ruisdael used a number of symbolic details which give the landscape an unusual
allegorical content suggesting both life and death.
o The dead beech trees, the tombs, and the ruined church are all connected with
decay and death and thus allude to the transience of life and the ultimate futility of
human endeavor. Yet the burst of sunlight, the rainbow, the birds in the sky, the
blossoming shrubs, and the stream of water are symbols of hope and renewal.
o This new transformation of a landscape into an allegory is unique in Dutch
painting, which had tended to be more descriptive than symbolic.
•
Background:
o The painting is unique in that nature is represented by the artist as an allegory, an
allegory of the consequences of the passing of time.
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o The tombs in the foreground still exist and can be fully identified.
o They are located in a small village on the Amstel River 5 miles south of
Amsterdam on flat open meadowland.
o The setting here is not represented in actuality, and the tombs are placed by the
artist in an imaginary setting.
o The ruin structures evoke secular medieval fortifications and the choir of a
Christian church, an interesting combination of Judaism, Christianity and secular
authority all effected by the passing of time.
o Nature governed by primordial forces—violent wind and rainy torrents—are
shown as destroyers of human institutions.
o Nature is shown as a source of hope measured by clearing weather and double
rainbow at the left displaying the cycle of life.
Pronunciation:
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Object data:
Wooded Landscape with a Stream
1665/1668
Oil on canvas
Dutch, 1628-1682
21 1/8 x 24 ½ in.
DIA no: 68.298
Object Label Text
•
Image:
o This painting is one of Ruisdael’s most serene paintings, a feeling he was not
noted for.
o It is a mature work, with heroic nature replaced by serenity.
o The mood is calm and contemplative with a balance of light and shadow, land and
cloudy sky above with much of the sky azure blue.
o Subtle pictorial effects are shown in the painting as light filtering across the
leaves of the trees, and the still water in the pool beyond reflecting the trees across
the distance.
o A still water pond flows down a slight drop with white water to the stream in the
foreground.
o Ruisdael is successful in representing the moving water.
o The measure of greatness of a landscape painter is meeting the challenge of
representing moving water.
Pronunciation:
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Gallery Label Text: The Good Life
The works of art surrounding you represent life’s pleasures—elegant clothes,
musical instruments, abundant foodstuffs, and outdoor enjoyments.
The Dutch were among the richest people in the world during the 1600s. Unlike
other European countries, wealth was spread broadly through society. As a result, most
citizens of the Dutch Republic were well fed and comfortable. Proud of their successes,
the Dutch loved to see evidence of their good living in pictures.
Among images of material wealth, however, painters sometimes included
symbols of mortality, such as a cut rose or a skull. These pictures, called vanitas
(pronounced VAH-nee-TAHS) paintings, convey a Calvinist teaching: of material
wealth are temporary; only virtuous living guarantees a place in heaven. These cautionary
pictures were extremely popular among the Dutch, who were as religious as they were
prosperous. Such works reminded them to remain humble and not to attach great
importance to worldly pleasures.
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Object data:
The Sinfonia (Family Portrait) 1671
Oil on canvas
Michiel van Musscher
Dutch, 1645-1705
55 ¼ x 52 in.
DIA no: 64.263
Object Label Text
Everything in this scene conveys the opulence and harmony in which the Dutch couple
lived: the self-assured expressions, the elegant clothes, the grand interior, even the
oranges, which were expensive imports from the Mediterranean. By depicting the
husband playing an instrument, the artist makes the sense of harmony explicit.
•
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•
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•
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“Sinfonia” is a type of musical score such as the one seen on the table. In this case, it
is a solo to be played on a viola da gamba or bass viol.
Although the man holds his instrument as if playing it, the figures are actually
carefully posed.
While we do not know the exact identity of the sitters, it is apparent that they are
members of the upper class.
The musical associations underscore the family's high social standing.
This is a portrait of a couple, the embodiment of prosperity.
The couple is seated at a table in a very sumptuous interior with costly boldly
patterned marble flooring.
There is a view to the portico of a grand dwelling in the background suggesting a
country residence.
A country residence was not common in Holland, so to have one is very special.
The people wear costly attire; the woman dressed in a splendid satin dress.
A spaniel attempts to jump on her lap suggesting matronly loyalty to the family and
her husband.
Behind the two figures is a young woman, a woman servant, offering a dish of
oranges.
Oranges and orange blossoms were symbols of chastity since antiquity; they are also
a symbol of great affluence.
Getting oranges in Holland in the 17th century was no easy task.
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•
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•
•
•
Oranges had to be shipped from the Mediterranean, Spain or elsewhere.
So if one could serve a bowl of oranges, it was a sign of affluence and privilege.
The symbolism of music making in the painting denotes marital harmony.
The items on the table, including the wine, suggest consumption in moderation.
A quote from a Jesuit treatise in 1678 states, “What is marriage but lovely music in
which each sings his part and harmonizes well with the other.”
Pronunciation:
Michiel van Musscher:
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Object data:
Still Life: A Letter Rack 1692
Oil on canvas
Edwart Collyer
Dutch, c.1640 - after 1708
26 ½ x 31 x 1 7/16 in.
DIA no: 2002.159
Object Label Text
This lifelike, almost three-dimensional picture celebrates the education and possessions
of a well-heeled Dutch gentleman. The quill pen and wax seal represent literacy and letter
writing, the English newspaper indicates knowledge of a foreign language, the flute
conveys musical interest, the comb suggests attention to grooming.
•
Painting:
o It is a painting of a wall with red leather strips (thongs) nailed into place like a
bulletin board, tightly, so that objects can be slipped between the nails and held
into place.
o This painting is an illusion, a trompe-l’oeil, which in French means, "to deceive
the eye." This kind of trompe-l’oeil was popular in the 17th century.
o Collyer was active in London at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th
century and adopted this trompe-l’oeil technique.
o In the late 19th century, this kind of rack painting was revived in the United States
during the Gilded Age by popular painters such as Harnett, Haberle and Pito.
o The attributes shown are not random, but have logic if you read between the lines.
•
Attributes:
o The attributes allude to an educated man of taste are not unimportant:
He is literate; he can read (catch-penny newspaper from London)
He can write and has mastered calligraphy (inscription on painting, actually
the artist’s signature, and letters with wax seals)
because paper was expensive, envelopes were not used—a letter was folded
and sealed with wax; the seal broken by the recipient
He is a man of commerce (a bill—financial obligation)
He is a man who is concerned about grooming and took care of his personal
appearance (two combs, scissors and a pearl necklace shown)
He is a man of English political knowledge (medallion of William III of
William and Mary)
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He can play music (recorder on the bottom left of rack)
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Object data:
Flowers in a Glass Vase 1704
Oil on canvas
Rachel Ruysch
Dutch, 1664-1750
33 x 26 3/8 in.
DIA no: 1995.67
Object Label Text
Can you catch the scent of roses?
It almost seems possible, with lilies, poppies, tulips, and roses painted in such
precise detail. But this painting by master artist Rachel Ruysch doesn’t simply represent
highly realistic flowers; it reminds viewers that life, like flowers besieged by insects, is
fleeting.
•
Image:
o Flowers symbolize the transitory nature of beauty.
o The perfect blooms last but a moment.
o In this painting the flowers are attacked by insects even as they unfold.
o At the time Rachel Ruysch painted this bouquet, such an arrangement would have
been impossible to assemble, because the various flowers bloom at different times
of the year.
o She invented this arrangement, doubtlessly based on drawings of individual
flowers that she later grouped together in her imagination.
o Flowers are age-old symbols of beauty and for Ruysch they also manifest God's
creativity in the world of nature.
o As they are also fragile and quickly perish, flowers also symbolize mortality,
decay, and death.
o Even in their beauty, Ruysch’s flowers contain insects that initiate this inevitable
course of destruction.
o This bouquet is made up of identifiable flowers—some hybridized.
o The lighting highlights these blooms.
o The entire bouquet is enveloped—surrounded—by shadow.
o The painting technique which involved many, many fine brushes, some of which
contained only a few brush hairs.
o The pink cabbage roses shown could be the one and the same flower; the bloom
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o
o
o
o
o
o
•
being seen from the front, back and side.
Dew drops are seen on certain flowers.
The whole bouquet symbolizes perfection.
Nature’s beauty of this sort in all its variety is a superb display of God’s
handiwork.
The bouquet is also a battlefield because many insects are attacking the flowers.
The moralizing message of the painting is that beauty and perfection, and life
itself, are ephemeral.
Fate can change things in short order.
Artist:
o Ruysch was famous in her own lifetime.
o She painted still-lifes such as this one for wealthy and discriminating collectors,
who used this kind of painting as a focal point in their private picture galleries.
o Rachel Ruysch was a major woman painter of the age, and daughter of the
celebrated scientist Frederick Ruysch who was professor of anatomy at the
University of Amsterdam and also director of the botanical garden of the same
university.
o She became the court painter to the elected Palatine, Johan Wilhelm with his
Court in Düsseldorf on the Rhine.
o The period of the DIA painting, 1703-1710 was the high mark in her career with
every painting from this period was a masterpiece with our painting the greatest
of them.
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Gallery Label Text: Riches at Home and Abroad
The World’s Riches in Dutch Art
During the 1600s, the Dutch Republic dominated world trade. The seafaring country
prospered thanks in large part to its enormously lucrative East India Company, which
traded in spices and other foreign goods. Money poured into the country, creating a new
merchant middle class.
Newly wealthy citizens enjoyed the luxury imports from distant lands. They also bought
paintings representing Dutch experiences around the world—from sea travel and
observation of different plants and animals, to colonization and slavery. This gallery
displays furniture made with African ivory and hardwoods. You will see paintings of
Persian carpets, Spanish lemons, and Chinese porcelain. You will also see pictures that,
to our twenty-first-century eyes, suggest the human cost of Dutch activities on other
continents.
The objects here bear witness to a rich and complex time in Dutch history. If you look
closely, you will discover art as rich and complex as the period itself.
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Object data:
Coastal Scene with a Man-of-War and
other Vessels 1692
Oil on canvas
Ludolf Backhuysen
Dutch, 1630 - 1708
33 5/8 x 43 ½ in.
DIA no: 2002.134
Object Label Text
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
It symbolizes/represents marine art documenting Dutch naval prowess and significant
naval trade and nautical engineering.
Trade generated enormous wealth for the Dutch and a transformation on the Dutch
economy.
To protect the Dutch trade networks, the first from the Baltic to the Mediterranean,
through the English Channel, to the Bay of Biscayne and around the Iberian
Peninsula. The second was more complicated, the continent of Africa, across the
Indian Ocean, touching upon the Indian subcontinent, with the end destination of the
Indonesian Archipelago and the Spice Islands of the Archipelago dominated by
pepper and nutmeg. To protect trade, navies were established—in this case,
Admiralties which oversaw the navies.
This large man-of-war in the left center distance dominates the subject symbolizing
the important Dutch navy and protecting its maritime trade.
Water extends across a long reach to distant land from the foreground beach.
On the left is an aristocratic couple with a whippet dog next to fisher folk that sell
their catch laid out on the sand.
A horse-drawn cart pulls up to a small sail boat that is loading or unloading.
Backhuysen is a theatrical artist often painting bombastic, huge waves. In this case,
he shows skill at representing the cloud bank in a clearing sky with gently breaking
waves that lap the sand.
Pronunciation:
Ludolf Backhuysen
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Object data:
View of the Jesuit Church at Olinda,
Brazil
1665
Oil on canvas
Frans Jansz Post
Dutch, c. 1612-1680
22 1/8 x 32 7/8 in.
DIA no: 34.188
Object Label Text
•
Image:
o This landscape emphasizes a wide variety of Brazilian flora and fauna.
o Here an armadillo and other exotic creatures occupy the immediate foreground,
and the baroque church on the left is associated with an actual site, the city of
Olinda.
o Most Brazilian views were done after the artist returned which were based on his
drawings.
o The DIA painting includes transplanted slaves from Africa who worked the great
sugar plantations.
o There is an armadillo in the foreground and a boa constrictor and much tropical
flora as well.
•
Artist:
o Frans Post was a unique landscape painter in the Dutch school because he
concentrated exclusively on Brazilian subjects.
o Following the Dutch conquest of Brazil, Post traveled there in 1636
o It was Post's task to draw and paint topographic views documenting the new
territory. After his return to the Dutch Republic, he continued to paint
topographically accurate Brazilian landscapes with local inhabitants and animals.
o These works became popular with Dutch patrons because of their exotic appeal.
o With various wars, the Dutch were able to wrest Brazil from the Portuguese for a
period of eight years.
o The Dutch government assigned a governor; he went there with a retinue of
scientists and artists to record this exotic new world from 1636 to 1644.
o Upon his return from Brazil as part of the retinue, artist Frans Post settled in
Harlem and continued to do representations of Brazil for the rest of his career.
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o Only a small number of paintings by Post were actually painted in Brazil and
most were given to the French King Louis X1V and are now in the Louvre.
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Object data:
Writing Desk 1690/1700
Ivory, ebony, silver, mother-of-pearl,
and tortoise shell on oak and pine
carcass, with brass fittings
Anton Luchtenstein
German, active 1690 - 1716
31 x 38 x 25½ in.
DIA no: 79.32
Object Label Text
The elaborately inlaid materials that give this desk its rich colors and patterns were
available to Dutch craftsman though international trade.
Where did the materials come from?
Dark ebony—trees in Madagascar or India
White ivory—tusks of African elephants
Iridescent mother-of-pearl—shells of Asian mollusks
Translucent tortoiseshell—backs of Caribbean sea turtles
•
Desk:
o Ebony: during the 17th century, the main sources of ebony were Madagascar and
its surrounding islands, southern India, and the east coast of Africa. On this
object, the ebony is the black material used for the geometric marquetry pattern
on the rectangular base.
o Ivory: from Africa. Inlaid ivory alternates with ebony to form the geometric
marquetry pattern on the rectangular base. The inside of the top of the desk is
inlaid in ivory and a variety of woods. Ivory also appears on the front panel of the
desk, and ivory bands adorn the desk’s pedestal and feet.
o Mother-of-pearl (the hard iridescent lining of certain marine mollusk shells, such
as the oyster, abalone, and mussel): Among the chief sources are the pearl oyster,
found in warm and tropical seas, chiefly in Asia. The top of the desk is inlaid with
engraved mother-of-pearl within reserves of silver.
o Tortoiseshell: Common name given to the thin, translucent plates obtained from
the carapace of the sea turtle. Several sea turtle species were hunted for this
purpose, as well as for their meat, and all could be found in the warm seas around
Africa, Asia, and America, particularly around the Caribbean Islands,
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Madagascar, Indonesia, and the Seychelles. Tortoiseshell veneer covers the top of
the writing desk.
o Fine exotic woods, the most famous being some type of ebony, sandalwood and
other woods, were highly desirable from a decorative point of view—color,
graining, intensity and novelty.
•
Trade:
o Trade routes between Europe and other areas of the world had expanded
considerably by the early seventeenth century.
o With this increase in international trade, materials from distant areas of the world
became more widely available to European craftsmen.
o Because of their superior range of colors and their versatility, the new woods and
other materials came to be preferred to local materials.
o The new materials were not simply superior, but were endowed with an attractive
exoticism and sense of novelty.
o Their cost, though, was correspondingly greater, and so they would have been
used only for commissions from affluent patrons.
Pronunciation:
Anton Luchenstein
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Gallery Label Text: An Artists’ Market
During the 1600s, the Dutch Republic was literally an artists’ market. Prosperity
generated by trade was so widespread that even middle-class citizens purchased artwork.
The best selling paintings were landscapes, still lifes, and scenes of everyday life. Prints
and drawings were the most affordable way to beautify the home.
Some artists received commissions from wealthy patrons to create works of art.
Other artists made paintings on speculation, often attracting the eye of a prosperous
citizen browsing at one the frequent open-air art fairs.
Not just Dutch artists benefited. Thanks to the large pool of buyers in the Dutch
Republic, other European artists, such as German furniture makers and Polish
silversmiths, also profited.
With so much talent converging on the Dutch Republic’s art fairs, competition
was fierce, but it also prompted artists to achieve new heights. This gallery displays some
of the finest examples of what the Dutch art market offered.
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Object data:
The Artist in His Studio c. 1665/1670
Oil on canvas
Cornelis Bisschop
Dutch, 1630 - 1674
35 ¾ x 30 ¼ in.
DIA no: 38.29
Object Label Text
Here sits a young Dutch painter surrounded by symbols of his profession: brushes,
palette, and drawings and prints for study. The skull and extinguished candle suggest that
life is brief—even for famous artists who seek to achieve immortality through their work.
•
Image:
o Young man stands between a table covered by an oriental carpet and his easel
which has a partially finished painting on it.
o Certain objects on the table make reference to the artist’s training and studio
practice. A print on the table between his hands makes reference to human
anatomy.
o A drawing, a sheath of prints and a well used book also denote the practical
background training of the artist balancing theory (the contents of the book) and
practical emulation (the prints and drawing).
o Other objects on the table including the skull and candlestick with its extinguished
candle would denote the consequences of the passing of time.
o An artist’s life may be brief but his art may attain fame and immortality.
o The celestial globe would denote the vastness of the world at large.
o On the ledge in the right foreground is a sculpted figure of an infant holding a
mahl stick. The statuette could have served as a studio prop to be copied in
developing a sense of accurate anatomy.
o Conversely the infant holding an attribute of the artist could also imply that the
human mind is an open book constantly experiencing renewal.
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•
Artist studio:
o The artist in his studio was a popular subject for Dutch painters.
o A typical young painter—not a portrait but an archetype.
o He holds his brushes and palette and works with needed aids such as prints,
drawings and scientific publications/diagrams as well as studio props such as
plaster casts.
o His studio is austere possibly suggesting that one’s livelihood as an artist is not
necessarily an easy one.
o The young artist is making a rhetorical gesture out to you with his right hand and
holding a palette in his left hand.
o There is the beginning of a painting on an easel.
o He is a learned man having a celestial globe here and an album of prints—a
dictionary of visual ideas, compositions, essays and drawings.
o Broken panes of glass are in the studio, like a garret.
o A Turkey carpet on the table and a sculpture of a young putto like infant,
representing innocence, holding a maul-stick.
o The painting is about creativity based on knowledge (celestial globe and book of
prints), an original drawing and leather-bound tome.
o Fame can be diminished by death (note skull and extinguished candle) and the
passing of time.
o The practical skills displayed by the painter are shown by the work in progress on
the easel and he holds brushes and a palette.
o A maul-stick is a means to steady the hand that’s holding the brush.
o By using a maul-stick, brushwork can be controlled with greater accuracy.
•
Marketplace:
o Artists supplied what the Dutch demanded; the excellent economy in Holland
spurred high demand for art.
o The huge demand spawned a huge number of artists who worked for and took
advantage of the market.
o The artists’ market in the Dutch Republic existed on many levels.
o An artist of great repute like Rembrandt would have received distinguished
commissions either from private clients, professional associations or from civic
authorities.
o Each major Dutch city would have had some form of artists’ guilds.
o Guild rules were strict about apprentices and how works of art were sold if not
commissioned.
o Public art markets were held in each city periodically and only local painters were
allowed to exhibit their works for sale.
o Prices for standard categories of paintings—landscapes, still-lifes, scenes from
everyday life, marines, etc. would have become fairly standardized and not
necessarily terribly high.
Pronunciation:
Cornelis Bisschop
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Object data:
Still Life with Fruit, Vegetables and
Dead Game c. 1635-1637
Oil on canvas
Frans Snyders
Flemish, 1579-1657
65 3/8 x 78 ¾ in.
DIA no: 78.44
Object Label Text
•
•
•
•
•
Snyders was a great still-life painter and painter of animals and often collaborated
with Rubens adding these details to Ruben’s paintings.
This still-life parades the bounty of the earth and great focus on produce of the land:
fruits, vegetables and wild game.
Snyders introduces exotic elements like the parrot on the left and Chinese blue and
white porcelain made for export during the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, 1580s to
1620s that was madly popular in Europe.
Shown are the results of hunting, deer and a great boar’s head cut on a slab.
Hunting was the prerogative of the landed nobility and not open to everybody.
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Object data:
The Holy Family and Saint John the
Baptist 1708
Oil on oak panel
Willem van Mieris
Dutch, 1662-1747
24 x 19 ¼ in.
DIA no: 2004.13
Object Label Text
A tremendously wealthy Dutch cloth merchant commissioned Willem van Mieris to
make this picture. The avid art collector acquired pictures by earlier Dutch masters and
ordered works by living artists, including thirteen from van Mieris. This painting of John
the Baptist with Mary, Joseph, and Jesus remained the merchant’s favorite.
•
Patron:
o This picture was commissioned by the wealthy Leiden cloth merchant, Pieter da
la Court van der Voort.
o Van der Voort was one of the most distinguished collectors of his age and not
only acquired old master paintings but commissioned major works by
contemporary artists.
o At the time of his death Pieter de la Court’s collection comprised 215 works of
which 85 were commissions.
o Of these he commissioned no fewer than 13 from Willem van Mieris.
•
Image:
o An example of Leiden Fine Painting notable for microscopic recreation of minute
detail like the straw, white cloth and Joseph’s right sleeve.
o The straw is so freshly cut that much of it is still green
o Plain sheet of white cloth with folds that captures pockets of shadow and the
wonderful foreshortening of Joseph’s arm and sleeve, and hand.
o This was an expensive painting.
o It cost the original owner 538 florins which was a lot of money in those days (A
trained laborer would have earned between 70 and 90 florins a year.)
Pronunciation:
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Willem van Mieris (WILL-em van MEER-is)
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Gallery Theme Text: “God is in the Details”
verisimilitude (vérisimílitōōd, -tyōōd) n. 1. the appearance of being real 2. a statement,
image, etc., that seems true
How did Dutch artists achieve verisimilitude in their paintings?
Light
Because many Dutch people related light to God’s presence, artists paid particular
attention to the light in paintings. They used it to convey effects and moods, from the
hushed serenity of a church interior to the drama of a burning barn.
Perspective
Artists created convincing illusions of depth and distance. They strategically used
systems of diagonal lines that converged at a single point in a painting. These lines
helped artists adjust the scale of objects, making them larger or smaller to suggest their
distance from the viewer.
Detail
The Dutch were fascinated with all aspects of their world: they created highly detailed
maps and sea charts; a Dutchman invented the microscope. Artists sometimes used
magnifying glasses and single-bristle brushes to represent even the smallest detail with
astonishing accuracy.
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Object data:
Peasants Fleeing a Burning Barn c.
1655
Oil on oak panel
Egbert Lievensz van der Poel
Dutch, 1621-1664
14 ½ x 19 ¼ in.
DIA no: 1993.36
Object Label Text
This scene of people moving their livestock out of a fire’s reach seems frighteningly real.
The artist displays his talent for creating dramatic light effects. The shooting flames
create an unnatural orange glow that illuminates the night sky and, simultaneously,
captures the unsettling urgency of the situation.
•
Image:
o This is a very dramatic scene set at night.
o A cottage on fire is causing mayhem with figures leading domesticated animals
away from the center of danger and destruction.
o Shooting flames illuminate the night sky creating a pervasive and curious orange
glow across the scene.
o It describes a frightening potentiality that people during this time had to reckon
with.
o Fire fighting was a primitive affair and was largely ineffectual.
o Several Dutch artists were interested in representing nocturnal landscapes. In
certain instances they would enliven the subject by depicting buildings or even
cities in flames.
o Capturing such dramatic light effects would become a means of demonstrating
artistic virtuosity while providing subject-matter that would provide collectors of
such works with a vicarious sense of danger while being safely removed from it.
o Nocturnes are rare in European painting until the 17th century.
o In Holland, the structure was often one and the same (house and barn.)
o Only by the end of the century did the city of Amsterdam adopt more modern
firefighting equipment.
o Also, building codes were established requiring structures to be built of brick with
tile roofs.
Pronunciation:
Egbert Lievensz van der Poel:
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Object data:
Christ in the House of Martha and
Mary1620
Oil on copper
Hendrik van Steenwyck the Younger
Flemish, 1580-1649
13 1/8 x 19 5/8 in.
DIA no: 89.64
Object Label Text
Light
The artist bathes Jesus in sunlight pouring through the windows. Light glints off glass
jars on the shelves.
Perspective
Architectural lines—floor tiles, ceiling beams, wall moldings—draw the eye from the
main scene far into the background, where a servant tends a kettle.
Detail
The artist defines the folds of Jesus’s gauzy robes. The window’s circular patterns cast
shadows on the stone arch. What other details catch your eye?
•
Scene:
o The scene depicts an event in the life and ministry of Christ drawn from the
Gospel of Luke 10:38-42.
o While visiting the house of Mary and Martha, two converts to Christianity, the
two sisters assume different roles.
o Mary Magdalene kneels at Christ’s feet listening to him whereas the industrious
Martha does not interrupt her work.
o She does admonish her sister for not assisting her.
o Christ responds by indicating that Mary, although not physically active, is paying
attention to what is more important, her concern for spiritual well-being.
o In another context we see the contrast between the active versus the contemplative
life.
o Steenwyck has chosen to represent the scene in a formal Renaissance interior with
its magnificent window casements and windows made up of mullioned glass.
o Steenwyck is not simply representing an historical event but one that projects
itself into the here-and-now of modern, contemporaneous life so that the spiritual
meaning and message continues to be relevant.
o The window beyond is casting not just a single shadow but a double shadow as
well, and then become diffused.
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o You can even see that the figure of Martha casts a long shadow; this is based on
the gospel of St. Luke, the subject represents Christ in the house of Mary and
Martha.
o Martha is a very industrious woman and the sister of Mary Magdalene in this
story.
o Mary Magdalene is pre-occupied with Christ as a spiritual leader and, in the eyes
of her sister, is daydreaming as she is caught up with spiritual meditation.
o Martha admonishes her sister, “Mary, why don’t you just get up and do some
work like me?”
o Christ indicates Mary’s concern for spiritual well-being is more important than
industriousness for the sake of industry itself.
o There is a strong moralizing message here.
•
Technique:
o Steenwyck represents strong light filtered and magnified through the leaded,
mullioned glass panels at the left.
o As this light filters across the room, raking in from the left, the painter captures
the way it is reflected off the far wall, is captured in the beamed ceiling and
illuminates the floor.
o It becomes more muted and diffuse at the right where shadow becomes
progressively more pronounced.
o Steenwyck employed a carefully drawn out system of one point perspective.
o There is a single vanishing point just to the left of the distant fireplace in the far
room. All the architectural features of the room before us lead to this single
vanishing point. This applies to the floor tiling, the window casements, the
entablature and even the ceiling beaming.
o Look at the tiling of the floor and see angled rows of tiles, not to mention the
wooden platform, ceiling beams, and the entablature on both sides are represented
in an almost scientific way because they were all done with a ruler. Notice the
vanishing point over the figure of Martha embedded just to the left of the
fireplace. We know this because we can find the compass point or the line the
artist established which was the vanishing point.
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Object data:
Perspective Box of a Dutch Interior
1663
Oil paint, glass mirror and walnut
Samuel van Hoogstraten
Dutch, 1627-1678
16½ x 11 7/8 x 11 1/8 in.
DIA no: 35.101
Object Label Text
This rare perspective box—one of only six in the world—is an artistic and scientific
achievement.
With the front panel removed, everything in the scene of a couple in a richly appointed
room seems off: the dog is enormous, the knife looks broken, the columns are bent.
But seen with one eye through the front panel’s peephole, these oddities disappear.
Samuel van Hoogstraten carefully calculated how the eye and mind adjust illusions to
construct a seemingly accurate image.
The DIA has recreated this box to the right for you to try out. Look through the peephole
and discover how your eye makes Hoogstraten’s illusionism work.
•
Box:
o This is a five-sided box.
o The front is detachable and contains two elements critical to its use.
o There is a single circular peephole.
o Above it is a rectangular panel that swivels.
o Its interior side consists of a mirror panel.
o By swiveling this panel—opening the mirror, in principle, would defract light into
the interior of the box.
o Its remaining interior faces are all painted to evoke figures in a formal interior.
o Notice the complex adjustments that the painter makes to the geometric marble
tiling of the floor and the way the columns tilt at the top to allow for visual
adjustment as seen by the naked eye fixed at the peephole.
o This also applies to the banquet still-life depicted at the right.
Optics:
o One Dutchman, van Leeuwenhoek, invented the microscope.
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o The Dutch were also deeply involved in cartography, and their many cartographic
publications ranging from atlases to wall maps and sea charts indicate the degree
to which they concerned themselves with projection and perspective.
o It is thought that certain painters also used an instrument generally known as a
camera obscura which enabled them to place figures and objects relative to each
other in correct proportional relationships.
o When you look through the peep hole on the front of the box, the curiously
configured painted surfaces aligned themselves to create the illusion of a single
spatially harmonious image depicting a formal interior with an elegant couple
promenading and courting beyond the foreground, and the space between, a laden
table with a dog and a cat facing off.
o Here you have the couple—a cat, and a spaniel eyeing the cat.
o The image has a moralizing message—above the door in the distance is a caption,
memento mori, a reminder of the inevitability of death.
o The box involves two lateral views into other rooms, the first on the left shows a
room with a scholar working diligently at a table, and at the right is a view into a
chapel.
o Learning on one hand, and spiritual concerns on the other in contrast to the
vanitas trappings shown in the center.
o These two lateral views involve knowledge and spiritual well-being in contrast to
wine and oysters in the foreground table, you have other aspects of human
edification.
o You can see a tray of open oysters which are an aphrodisiac associated with lust
and worldliness.
•
Artist:
o The artist most closely associated with these was Samuel van Hoogstraten,
inventor of the rack painting in Holland.
Pronunciation:
Van Hoogstraten:
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British Portraiture
Gallery Label Text: A Portrait Is Forever
Having portraits made allowed wealthy and distinguished members of British
society to commemorate themselves and their families. Many hoped to leave a permanent
record of their position and lineage.
Patrons, who paid large fees for their portraits, wished to be shown in pleasing,
self-affirming ways. This desire for image building made portrait painting a lucrative
pursuit for many artists of the 1700s and 1800s. The work of some of the best British
artists of the period is showcased in this gallery, including paintings by two of the most
celebrated—Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds.
Artists knew portraits advertised their talents and were as invested in how the
likenesses looked as the sitters. Clients displayed portraits in elegant rooms of town
houses or country estates for their friends and relatives to admire. The left half of this
Gallery Theme Text: Picturing Men, Women, and Children
While the portraits in this gallery convey wealth and status, they also reinforce the social
roles of men and women of the upper classes.
• Men oversaw the land that supplied their income. Artists depict confident men in
front of landscapes, emphasizing the image of the affluent landowner.
• Women managed the servants and maintained household harmony. In portraits
they may be shown caring for their children. Women are often depicted with
gentle smiles, tilting their heads and bodies to suggest modesty.
• Children are portrayed in the role played by the parent of the same sex. Girls sit
serenely or care for others. Boys display self-assurance or engage in outdoor
activities, suggesting their readiness to shoulder masculine duties.
As you explore the three paintings along this wall, notice where the women, men, and
girls are looking. Who meets your gaze? Who looks away?
Gallery Theme Text: The Cost of the Challenge
England’s top portrait painters were in constant demand. To simplify negotiations, they
set base prices for three standard-sized formats, like those along this wall. Full-length
portraits cost the most, busts the least, with three-quarter lengths in between. The price
increased with additional sitters.
Each format presented its own complexities that earned artists the costly fees:
• Bust Length
With focus on the face, the artist had to discover and convey the sitter’s personality only
through facial expressions.
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• Three-quarter Length
This format typically includes the sitter’s hands, often the most difficult of body parts to
represent. Artists may hint at an interior or landscape in the background.
• Full Length
The largest and most time-consuming format required artists to master the proportions of
the body and find a flattering pose. The background—often a landscape—was almost a
separate painting in itself.
All of the portraits in this gallery conform to these three sizes and formats
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Object data:
Portrait of a Lady c. 1740
Oil on canvas
William Hogarth
English, 1697-1764
30 1/8 x 25 3/8 in.
DIA no: 27.11
Object Label Text
William Hogarth created vivid, straightforward portraits. Vibrant blues and yellows
complement the woman’s gracious expression and rosy complexion. Hogarth plays up
her perfect posture and rich, voluminous dress to convey her confidence.
Two Famous Artists, Two Very Different Portraits
You have a nice sum of money and want your portrait painted by one of England’s finest
artists.
Whom do you choose?
William Hogarth, who made the painting on the left, created vivid,
straightforward portraits. Vibrant blues and yellows complement the woman’s gracious
expression and rosy complexion. Hogarth plays up her perfect posture and rich,
voluminous dress to convey her confidence.
On the right, Thomas Gainsborough’s subdued style lent itself well to the
woman’s fashionable make-up, elaborately powdered hairstyle, and gauzy dress. He
used quick, short brushstrokes and muted colors that give the picture a hazy
softness. This technique accentuates the woman’s femininity.
o
Artist:
o Hogarth was fascinated by the social ferment of London and its teeming public
life.
o He is best known for his satirical subjects which he first painted in suites which
were subsequently engraved.
o Hogarth did not easily intermingle with high society but preferred mixing with
self-made professionals.
o As a result his subjects were not members of the highest echelon of society but
solid, self-respecting citizens largely self-made, like Hogarth himself.
o Hogarth paints in a broad manner with paint evenly and smoothly applied.
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o He defines areas in light and in shadow in broad, relatively unmodulated
alternating patches.
o His brushwork is rarely agitated.
•
Image:
o The woman in the painting at the DIA wears formal attire that is not ostentatious.
o Nonetheless it contains some embellishments such as the lacy ruff trim of her
bodice, the bold ribbon and her pearl choker and pearl armband.
o The sitter’s coiffure is straightforward without the addition of supplementary hair
to enrich her (the style.)
o Hogarth paints quite broadly with wide patches of unmodulated color juxtaposed
with patches in a different hue suggesting broad areas of shadow.
o The sitter remains unidentified.
o Portraits were codified during this period—standardized in terms of size and
format.
o The format here represents a bust portrait seen in an oval picture frame.
o The painting itself is rectangular—it was a very elegant, desirable format of
framing the bust.
o This typifies the more modestly priced format. Unfortunately, the sitter remains
unknown.
o The woman is dressed very well, but not ostentatiously. She is a member of the
middle class and not aristocracy.
o Hogarth was nurtured by the urban scene of London and was most noted as a
satirist often mocking social pretensions and the folly of the aristocracy and those
who aspired to join and emulate it.
o He identified with members of the professional middle classes whose values he
shared. Those values described are: sobriety, simplicity, sincerity and
unpretentiousness.
o All of that is conveyed by this woman’s demeanor.
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Object data:
Lady Anne Hamilton c. 1777/1780
Oil on canvas
Thomas Gainsborough
English, 1727-1788
93 ¼ x 60 7/8 in.
DIA no: 71.170
Object Label Text
Thomas Gainsborough, one of the generation’s leading portraitists, shows Lady Anne
Hamilton drenched in silk, leaning against a pedestal covered by a fur-trimmed cape.
Gainsborough used rapid, vigorous brushstrokes to capture the shimmering quality of the
fabric and the movement of the leaves in the background. This technique infuses the
otherwise still picture with energy.
• This portrait combines a physical likeness with affectations popular among aristocrats
in the eighteenth century.
• Lady Hamilton is portrayed seated near an urn decorated with motifs from ancient
Greek and Roman sources, which was meant to associate her with the glories of
antiquity.
• Her pose, with her hand supporting her cheek and chin, was a convention that denoted
melancholy or contemplation but did not necessarily reflect the sitter's true nature.
• The format here is full length life-size portrait, the most expensive single composition
at the time.
• The sitter was a member of the aristocracy. This is one of five paintings by
Gainsborough commissioned by the sitter’s husband, the Earl of Doneghall.
• The painting represents the height of fashion around 1775 on the eve of the American
Revolution in its struggle for independence from England.
• The height of fashion is measured by the high coiffure—the hair is combed up and
supported on some kind of construct to give it the sense of tremendous height.
• She is wearing a magnificent painted dress with its ermine and red cope to one side.
• She is seated on the edge of a country house great park next to a plinth.
• This is important as it denotes a sense of oneness with the land even during this
period following the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution centered in the midlands,
cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and others.
• The primary source of wealth for aristocracy was the land.
• So there is an important symbolic relationship between the sitter and the domains
involving huge acreage which provided the family with its principal source of wealth.
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Object data:
The Hartley Children 1781/1783
Oil on canvas
George Romney
English, 1734-1802
62 x 46 7/8 in.
DIA no: 73.102
Object Label Text
Three children pose in fine clothes with their dog nearby. End of story.
Or is it?
X-rays reveal the now-hidden image of a woman seated beside the children. Who was
she? Why was she painted over? Scholars speculate that she was the children’s mother,
but she died before the painting was finished.
• Portraits of high society convey a family's status or wealth and therefore serve as a
record for posterity.
• Props and the sitter's position are tools the artist employs to communicate this
message. The young boy in this painting stands prominently in front of his sisters and
confronts the viewer, while his two sisters look coyly down at their handiwork.
• These subtle devices afford the viewer a glimpse into the pre-established roles for
young boys and girls in this time period.
• In a recent cleaning of this portrait, an image of the children's mother emerged from
behind the present paint layer and her form is barely visible on the right side of the
canvas.
• Evidence suggests that the mother was painted out within ten years of the original
commission.
• She may have re-married or passed away, hence her removal from the canvas.
• The mother must have died while Romney was painting the picture.
• He adjusted the composition and the huge flow of the white paint in the dress.
• Look at the center child looking out—the artist had quite a task to redo the
composition.
o Added a settee and a dog on a piece of fabric
o Added a column in the background
o Changed the position of the center child’s face now looking at the other sister
• The son is the primogenitor of the property and inheritor of the painting.
• This is an example of a full-length, life-size group portrait.
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The Hartley Children—a very expensive proposition.
This was commissioned by Samuel Hartley, father of the three children.
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Object data:
The Wilkinson Family 1776/1778
Oil on canvas
Francis Wheatley
English, 1747-1801
40 ½ x 50 ½ in.
DIA no: 46.133
Object Label Text
Notice the body language of the Wilkinsons. The artist represents each Wilkinson in a
pose that adheres to the era’s expectations for behavior among well-heeled men, women,
and girls. The gentleman demonstrates masculine authority over his land and all he sees;
the matronly wife and youthful daughters exhibit female modesty and restraint.
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The subject takes place at the entrance to the house of a country estate.
Its formal grounds are set off by large trees and a vista across water.
The proud owner stands at the right looking out towards the viewer as if assessing his
property.
His wife is seated immediately to his right and their two children stand further to the
left accompanied by a whippet.
The husband/father stands and assumes a commanding pose indicating that he is
actively assuming the role as pater familias.
By contrast his wife sits assuming a demure and matronly pose.
She does not assume the active pose of her husband but remains in repose.
The older of the two children assumes responsibility for her younger sibling by
reaching out and holding her right arm as if about to initiate a course of action.
The elder of the two children wears a formal dress and wears her high coifed hair in
current fashion.
This is a different portrait format of the John Wilkinson family.
The figures were nowhere near life-size. This kind of gathering on this scale is called
a “conversation piece,” a term used at the time of an informal family portrait, almost
like a family gathering.
Their relationship to the land is extremely important. Here nature is manicured and
the harmonic relationship between man and nature reflects enlightenment ideals—
ideals in which beauty and nature can nurture body and soul.
Outdoor activity is understood as good for the physical health of a child and the
ultimate focus of the painting is on family happiness and harmony.
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At the same time, the painting parades the family’s affluence and its sense of social
standing.
Portraiture is an act of conspiracy between the sitter and the artist.
The sitters had a pretty clear idea of how they wanted to project themselves and the
artist needed to accommodate that concern.
The father, the gentleman, the source of financial stability, the mother who came from
French Huguenot family with two daughters on the left.
A whippet dog, and very manicured lawns leading up to a portico of a country house.
During this period, although people lived on the land, they oftentimes made their
money elsewhere.
A family like this lived in London, and would escape to the country during certain
seasons—seasons driven by fashion more than anything else, just to get out of a hot,
busy, grubby metropolis.
A city like Bath in England became a famous watering place for the rich, and a place
where Gainsborough spent a lot of time painting these formal portraits.
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Object data:
The Cottagers 1788
Oil on canvas
Joshua Reynolds
English, 1723-1792
112 x 87 ½ x 7 ¼ in.
DIA no: 55.278
Object Label Text
A girl and two women, all members of the upper class, dress in peasant clothes they
never would have worn and perform chores they never would have undertaken.
Sir Joshua Reynolds’s depiction of wealthy patrons engaged in unlikely activities was
highly unusual. But this approach contributed to his influence and status.
What do a publisher, a poet, and the three ages of women have to do with this painting?
Explore the book at the seat behind you to find out.
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Subject:
o The figures are artfully grouped before the entrance to a cottage.
o Each figure assumes a role all of which measure the industriousness of the three
women representing youth, young adulthood and mature matronliness.
o the subject is pure contrivance as these subjects never would have indulged in
such rural domestic activities in actuality.
o This is referred to as a “Subject Piece”—a novel kind of guise for portraiture that
Reynolds popularized.
o Its scale is ambitious representing the figures life sized.
o To paint full-lengths on such a grand scale would have denoted the importance of
the piece which would have been a highly expensive commission.
o This is a picture of bucolic, rustic life in which the painter could infuse “such
grace or such an elegance as more commonly found in cottages than in courts.”
o This reflects enlightenment attitudes that were predicated on a fiction of the 18th
century that virtue and beauty belong to the country folk close to nature and not in
the towns or cities, symptomatic of the consequences of the Industrial Revolution.
o The DIA painting was commissioned by a London print seller by the name of Mr.
Macklin.
o It represented his wife spinning on the right, his daughter feeding chickens and a
family friend, a certain Ms. Potts, holding a basket of sheaves of wheat, standing
at the apex of this group of three figures.
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o These women play-act by assuming the roles of simple country people.
o As recorded in Reynolds day book, they all posed for Reynolds repeated times
including the dog which posed on two separate occasions.
o The three women represent three ages of women, youth or innocence (the young
daughter feeding the chickens,) young adulthood and fruitfulness (symbolized by
Ms. Potts holding the wheat, harvest from the land,) and maturity or domestic
economy (here indicated by Mrs. Macklin at the spinning wheel.)
o The subject is based on the poem—one of a quartet—the poem is Autumn of the
Four Seasons by James Thompson.
o This is all artifice—all make-believe.
o It’s a wonderful contrivance in which they can project significantly held values of
the age: feminine virtue, felicity, a sense of moral probity; all done within the
artifice of this “fancy picture” context.
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Artist:
o Sir Joshua Reynolds was the most celebrated British painter of his generation.
o He was ambitious in the range of his subject-matter with an interest in history
subjects, allegorical portraits and a wide range of portrait types.
o Reynolds became the first president of the Royal Academy in 1768 and used his
position to promote his theories about art and aesthetics through his Discourses
which were widely circulated.
o Reynolds immersed himself in the intellectual life of London, particularly
attracted to its famous writers and dramatists.
o Reynolds developed a grand style of portraiture in which he captured finesse,
noble elegance and refinement of aristocratic images.
o Reynolds also admired the portraits of Rubens and Rembrandt.
o His portraits were widely reproduced through mezzotint engravings and were very
influential as prototypes for colonial American artists who only would have
known them through the reproductive prints.
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Object data:
Bust of Isaac Ware c. 1741
Marble
Louis Francois Roubiliac
English, 1702-1762
25 ¾ x 18 x 9 5/8 in.
DIA no: 1987.75
Object Label Text
Sculptor Louis Roubiliac was famed for his ability to capture subtleties of costume and
expression in stone. Here he conveys the intelligence of his friend, architect Isaac Ware,
through the gentle smile and attentive eyes. The button, fringed tassels, soft folds, and
pleats of fabric demonstrate Roubiliac’s extraordinary attention to detail.
• Artist:
1. Isaac Ware (ca. 1704-1766) was an English architect who was patronized by
members of the British nobility.
2. He revered classical architecture and in 1737 produced the best English
translation of Palladio’s “I quattro libri dell’architteura (The Four Books
of
Architecture)” which subsequently helped to inspire neoclassical
architecture in eighteenth-century Britain.
3. Ware was friends with Roubiliac, who often portrayed his artist friends,
who—like Ware—lived in or near St. Martin’s Lane in London.
4. Other notable contemporaries and friends sculpted by Roubiliac include the artist
William Hogarth, the poet Alexander Pope, the composer G. F. Handel,
and the
scientist Sir Isaac Newton.
5. Ware’s cap is of the type worn by many artists and virtuosi (artistic geniuses) of
the 1730s and 1740s, and casual open shirt collar.
6. The treatment of Ware’s facial expression, eyes, and the handling of the button
and tassles on Ware’s outer garment.
7. Roubiliac’s gave detailed attention to his sitter’s personality and costume.
8. Realistic portrait busts such as this were Roubiliac’s forte.
9. An artist portraying another artist, an architect and a good friend.
10. The bust was originally housed in a castle—Ripley Castle in Yorkshire—where it
was commissioned by Sir Thomas Engleby or one of his ancestors.
11. The DIA acquired it in the 1880’s from the Engleby family.
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Decorative Arts Court
Gallery Text: Fine Art; Practical Purpose
Decorative arts usually have some kind of function: a vase displays flowers; a tureen
holds soup; a candlestick helps sheds light. Although the objects are useful, some are
highly ornamented and finely crafted.
This gallery includes decorative arts from Western Europe, especially France,
Germany, and Italy. The objects span more than four hundred years, beginning in the
1400s. Ranging from a chessboard to a coffee service to stained glass windows, the items
surrounding you played a role in people’s lives, whether for ceremonial or everyday
purposes.
The DIA presents these functional objects as works of art. Why? They embody
outstanding techniques and creative designs, and many are one-of-a-kind works by
renowned craftspeople.
Group Theme Text: Luxury Decorative Arts in France
The silver and porcelain objects in this display exemplify the tastes of the French elite in
the 1700s. Fine porcelain became a luxury almost on par with silver because of the high
quality goods produced at French manufactories such as Chantilly, Mennecy, and Sèvres
(pronounced sehv).
The Royal Manufactory
Sèvres, just outside of Paris, was supported by the French king and made some of the
most desirable porcelain in Europe. The pieces were known for milky white backgrounds
and hand painted scenes and floral decorations. Sèvres’s famed craftsmen also developed
rich base colors—dark green, turquoise and blue—and added lavish details in gold.
Gallery Text: Meissen: Europe’s first true porcelain
The European search to unlock the secrets of hard-paste, or true, porcelain, which the
Chinese had been making for nearly 1000 years, ended in Meissen, Germany. In 1708,
the city’s manufactory discovered the secret ingredient—kaolin, a fine-grained pure
white clay.
Meissen (pronounced MY-sen) created porcelain luxury goods, serving an elite
clientele that included the factory’s founder Augustus the Strong and other European
royalty. The manufactory produced a wide variety of items including fine dinner sets
such as the one displayed behind you.
At the same time, Meissen pushed porcelain technology to new heights. Notice
the crane to the right and the vase and two busts in the display to your left. No European
manufactory had made porcelain objects this large before. The sculptures had to dry
slowly, over months, before firing or they would crack. They could also shrink or
collapse during firing if the temperature was not precise. The scale of these sculptures
demonstrates another of Meissen’s many technical innovations in the field of porcelain.
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Object data:
Saint Wenceslas of Bohemia c.
1510/1525
Stained glass: pot metal; white glass
with silver stain
Anonymous
German, (Rhineland?)/English
74 x 23½ x 2 ¾ in
DIA no: 58.111
Object Label Text
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Image:
o Saints are the subject of the five panels.
o St. Wenceslas, as in the Christmas carol, was a real figure who was known for
generosity to the poor and ailing.
o The small figure of a beggar in the left bottom corner is an attribute of St.
Wenceslas, helping you to identify this saint.
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Technique:
o The term “stained glass” is a misnomer, or at least not a complete term for colored
glass windows.
o The colorful parts here—the reds and blues—are “pot metal glass” not stained
glass, made when molten clear glass is put in a pot with a metallic oxide which
gives it that color, the color completely permeates the glass front to back.
o The other technique is the “silver stain technique” in the areas of yellow that trim
his face, garments and hair. In this instance, the painter starts with clear, colorless
glass—also called “white glass” and applies a thin coat of silver oxide to it. When
it’s fired, depending on how much silver is in the mixture, it fires anywhere from
bright yellow to burnt orange. After the firing, the artist can get shading by
scraping some of the yellow or orange pigment away.
o The artist also borrows techniques from the painter and uses enamels to paint
small crosses and cross hatches that help to form his facial features and give him
shading.
o The folds of his fabric are in the stippling technique—concentrations of small
dots—that allows a gradual effect of shading.
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•
History:
o St. Wenceslas is one of five panels we have in the collection from the same manor
home, Stokepoges, located in Buckinghamshire, England.
o Three of the five panels are displayed.
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Object data:
Crane 1731
Hard-paste porcelain
Meissen Porcelain Manufactory
German
32 3/4 x 19 ½ x 7 in.
DIA no: 66.17
Object Label Text
After model by: Johann Joachim Kaendler, German, 1706-1775
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This porcelain bird represents the great triumph and technological innovation of the
whole history of European decorative arts: how to make hard paste or Chinese
porcelain in Europe.
This figure dates to 1735, with the Meissen Manufactory coming into being in 1709,
the early 18th century. Meissen is a small town outside of Dresden.
A leader in Germany, Augustus the Strong, the Archduke of Saxony had assembled
quite a large collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain for himself.
He was fascinated with the material and bragged about it as many other rulers did.
He was very curious about how it was made—translucent yet hard, very delicate and
brittle with yet a lovely ceramic body.
Scientists of the Saxon court discovered the way to make hard paste porcelain. It was
all about the ingredients: a very fine white clay called kaolin and feldspar.
The kaolin gives porcelain its whiteness and hardness and feldspar gives it the
translucent quality.
The Crane represents and important commission. Augustus the Strong wanted to
show it (porcelain) off to the rest of the world.
He started to renovate a in Dresden called the Japanese Palace.
His idea was to make this palace a true porcelain palace—the ground floor would
house his collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain and the second floor would
show his great display of Meissen porcelain.
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Part of the display included a vast menagerie of life-size or nearly life-size animals,
beasts of the wild kingdom; as if to equate himself with the lion, king of beasts, with
the entire animal world reporting to him, the leader of Saxony.
This crane is one of the objects for that commission—it represents the great rise of
sculpture within the Meissen Manufactory.
A young man named Johan Joachim Kaendler joined the factory in 1731. Augustus
enlists him with another sculptor to start making animals for the Japanese Palace.
Finally an inventory of the palace held 296 animals and 4 busts of human jesters, two
of which will be on view in the galleries, and 297 large-size birds.
This was a huge commission.
No one ever made porcelain objects this large before—life-size.
They had to form the object using molds, then they let the porcelain dry for a period
of three months in a humid room.
Clay shrinks as the moisture evaporates and shrinkage needed to be controlled so
firing cracks wouldn’t get too pronounced with the possible result that the entire
object would collapse in on itself in the kiln.
The crane is standing in a clump of reeds which helps to enhance the naturalistic
quality of the sculpture, but serves a pragmatic goal as well—if the two thin legs had
to support the bird body, it would likely smash the legs
The reeds are a support mechanism to help hold the bird up.
Kaendler makes it look perfectly natural—one claw visible to infer that the bird is
standing on one foot.
This is not just a crane, but is read as an allegorical figure of vigilance as it holds a
stone in one of its claws.
The legend goes back to Aristotle in Medieval Bestiaries, stating that if a crane held a
stone in its claw and fell asleep, it would wake itself up and stay vigilant.
Vigilance is an admirable quality to have in a leader like Augustus.
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Object data:
Jewel Casket c. 1700/1710
Silver, silver gilt, tortoiseshell, and
green-tinted ivory on wood carcass
Johann Andreas Thelot
German, 1655 - 1734
12 ¼ x 18 1/2 x 15 in.
DIA no: 2005.22
Object Label Text
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It was made in Auchsberg, Germany circa 1700 by two goldsmiths, Johan Gevers and
Johan Andreas Thelot.
This chest represents the craft of using precious metalwork.
This Jewel Casket has a little drawer in the front that pulls open, and the lid opens up
to reveal one compartment that lifts up again to reveal other compartments.
It may have been used to keep precious jewels, metals, paperwork and so on.
We don’t know who it was commissioned for—there are no coats of arms—but it
would have been owned by someone in the higher echelons of society.
This type of object was given as ambassadorial gifts to visiting dignitaries when they
came to a city like Auchsberg.
Gevers was responsible for the overall design of the piece characterized by the
wonderful geometric progression, stepped design followed through on all levels.
He was also responsible for the gilt mounts, scrolls and small figures.
Thelot was known for his relief work, and the casket is covered with reliefs referring
to mythological figures, subjects and allegories of the continents (on the corners.)
On the front is the Greek goddess series, the goddess of harvest and earth together
with an eagle, the symbol of Jupiter.
In addition to the two silversmiths, at least one other craftsman, the cabinetmaker,
(his name is unknown) would have been involved.
The Jewel Casket is built on an oak carcass with tortoiseshell (dark red) and green
tinted ivory. The cabinetmaker would have built the entire structure and done the
marquetry work.
The two silversmiths would do the gilt and silver reliefs and all other ornamentation
on it.
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Gallery Label Text: Grand Tour (Lure of Italy and the Legacy of the Antique)
The Grand Tour of Italy
Wealthy young men in the 1700s, many from Northern Europe, headed south to Italy.
There, a tourist could see ruins of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as centuries of art
and architecture inspired by those cultures. A tourist often carried letters of
introduction—tickets to see private, princely art collections. He traveled with artists,
intellectuals, and servants, plus a tutor if he were young. He visited ancient Roman ruins
and sent home paintings and small sculptures as souvenirs. This trip, which lasted about a
year, became known as the Grand Tour.
See what the Grand Tourists saw
In the next four rooms, take your own Grand Tour of Italy, visiting Venice, Florence,
Naples, and Rome. Find the views and the art that drew 18th-century tourists, and study
the souvenirs they brought home.
Your first stop is Venice, through the arch to your left.
Gallery Label Text: Venice
Few Grand Tourists could resist Venice
Venice was a city of drama and self-indulgence. As a Grand Tourist in the 18th century,
perhaps you’d dress up at a masquerade ball during Carnival or join the yearly
celebration of the city’s marriage with the sea. You could gamble or attend an opera.
Prized Venetian books and luxury silks from the East awaited your purchase.
The play of sunlight on lagoons and canals lit the city with dramatic color. The tightly
packed buildings, palaces, and open squares made the city feel like a stage. Painters
responded to the revelry and wealth around them, and were inspired by the glow of colors
in this city by the sea.
How is the art in this room Venetian?
It reflects the color and luxury of the city. From elaborate furniture to paintings drenched
with sunlight, objects in this room give you a glimpse of what 18th-century tourists
enjoyed.
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Object data:
The Piazza San Marco c. 1738/1740
Oil on canvas
Canaletto
Italian, 1697-1768
29 7/8 x 46 15/16 in.
DIA no: 43.38
Object Label Text
Travelers on the Grand Tour visited the Piazza San Marco
This public square sits at the heart of Venice. Canaletto’s painting shows a tall bell tower
on the left, a clock tower to the right, and clothes vendors at their stalls. Tourists in the
1700s, many of them members of the English elite like the Swinburne brothers (portraits
to your right and left), stopped here.
Like many tourists today, Grand Tourists took pictures
This picture, called a veduta (pronounced veh-DO-tuh) painting from the Italian word for
"view," went home to England with one satisfied tourist. Watch for other views of Italian
sites as you walk through the DIA’s version of the Grand Tour.
• Image:
o View of Piazza San Marco in Venice.
o The large open piazza is depicted with great depth in one point perspective.
o In the foreground, small groups of people.
o Across the middleground, three flagpoles which border the open edge of the
piazza.
o At the right and left, three-tiered buildings recede to the far side of the enclosed
square with the church of S. Geminiano at center.
o The Piazza San Marco is the most impressive public space in the city of Venice,
one of the most glamorous cities in the world and would have been experienced
by all “Grand Tourists.”
o The viewpoint is from the balcony of the entrance portals of the great Basilica of
St. Mark’s standing amid the famous Roman bronze horses.
o At the left is the freestanding campanile of St. Mark’s with the logetta at its base
designed by 16th century architect Jacopo San Savino.
o The church in the center far distance—the Church of St. Geminiano designed by
San Savino.
o This church was torn down by order of Napoleon in 1807.
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o At right is another monument that is still standing, the famous clock tower on the
Piazza.
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Technique:
o This is an architectonic setting—it’s an exterior setting—the piazza is set at right
angles to the picture space—parallel to the picture plane.
o Canaletto is using a rigorous mathematical understanding of perspective.
o Everything is parallel or perpendicular to the picture plane and everything leads to
a single vanishing point.
o The space is enhanced by the clear light and rigorous study of cast shadow.
o Shadow represented in the painting is very accurate, very clever, and creates a
rhythm that leads your eye from foreground with in the shadow of the church
itself to the long cast shadow of the campanile, and other ancillary shadows cast
by figures across the square.
o The function of this painting—or a painting of this type—was made on
commission by the Grand Tourists themselves.
o A painting as this would serve as a memento and was equivalent to a very
expensive postcard.
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Object data:
The Miraculous Draught of Fishes c.
1695/1697
Oil on canvas
Sebastiano Ricci
Italian, 1659-1734
59 ½ x 74 15/16 x 2 ¾ in.
DIA no: 76.146
Object Label Text
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Christ appears after his crucifixion.
The story is from the Gospel of St. John and it’s the third time Jesus appeared to his
Apostles following his resurrection.
The Apostles had gone fishing and had caught nothing—unrecognized, Jesus stands
on the shore and indicates to them where they should actually drop their nets.
The nets become so overrun with fish it practically overwhelms them.
At this point, John recognizes Christ and Peter also did, throwing himself into the
water to try to reach Christ on the shore.
As Peter approaches Christ, the apparition vanishes.
Christ appears here as an apparition in a highly dramatized scene.
The scene is enhanced by the very turbulent sky with inky clouds scudding across the
skies to the left, the windswept trees, and very agitated seas right up to the foreground
shore.
The drama is enhanced by the bold shift in scale with strong coloristic accents and
very powerful rhetorical gestures including the gesture of Christ with an outstretched
right hand.
The whole sense of instability underscores the effectiveness of this composition.
Pronunciation:
Ricci (REECH-ee)
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Object data:
The Women of Darius Invoking the
Clemency of Alexander 1750/1753
Oil on canvas
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
Italian, 1727-1804
58 ¾ x 50¼ x 5¼ in.
DIA no: 25.207
Object Label Text
Sunlight saturates the reds, golds, and blues in this painting. Tiepolo favored a bright,
glowing palette, with sparkling highlights on lips and eyes.
Look at the drapery folds to see marks Tiepolo left with his wet-into-wet brushstrokes.
He scooped a color onto his brush then dragged it through other wet colors already on the
canvas.
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Subject:
o The subject is a scene from ancient history: the establishment of Alexander the
Great’s empire.
o Here are women of the family of Darius, the defeated Persian king invoking the
clemency of Alexander the Great following the Battle of Isis in 333 B.C.E.
o The retinue includes the wife of Darius, Darius’s mother and his two daughters.
Alexander treated them with leniency indicating his magnamanity toward the
conquered.
o The actual man in armor who appears in the scene is not Alexander himself but
his Companion at Arms, Haifestion who directs the women’s attention beyond
himself.
o He recognizes that he should not be accepting credit for all this.
o This is a compact composition with ¾ length figures boldly truncated within the
composition.
o The women are idealized and the actions are heroic and the coloration is
magnificent and very sensuous seen in the wonderful representation of the
flawless complexion of the women.
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Venice:
o The Women of Darius is a work of sumptuous colorism.
o Venice is famous for rich colors because the city itself is surrounded by water.
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o Venice is comprised of several islands and several others associated with Venice
in the lagoon “protected” from the Adriatic by the Lido.
o The constant change in atmosphere and rich atmospheric effects of the humidity
generated from water creates a soft, resonant light characteristic of the city and it
spills over into the paintings as well.
Pronunciation:
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo: (Geo-VAN-ni Do-men-EE-ko Tea-EP-olo)
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Object data:
Armchair 1730/1740
Walnut, carved, gessoed and gilded;
with modern Genoese velvet upholstery
Manner of Antonio Corradini
Italian, 1700-1752
55 3/8 x 33 7/8 x 34 5/8 in.
DIA no: 1991.132
Object Label Text
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The armchair stands on four curved legs and has a high, arched back.
The frame is carved in a series of mouldings and C-scrolls with ornament including
shells, flowers and foliage, strapwork and arabesques.
The carving in areas is in high relief, and is pierced along the crest of the back.
The upholstery of the seat and back is mounted on removable frames.
The armchair is gilded.
British men and women on the Grand Tour coming to Venice, Rome, Naples and
Florence, saw high end Venetian furniture from the 17th and 18th century
Italian furniture intended for public reception rooms and aristocratic residences, very
much like the Baroque predecessors of the 17th century, were large in scale, ornately
carved, usually gilded and for seat furniture, often upholstered in rich Italian velvet.
On this chair the velvet is not original because velvet is silk and deteriorates; it is
Genoese, double cut velvet made for the chair when we acquired it.
Furniture for state departments in Italy was intended to impress one’s visitors rather
than simply to offer comfort.
They had large matching armchairs like ours arranged along walls of an elegant
reception room.
Our armchair comes from a rather large suite that was made for a grand Venetian
palazzo.
The maker of the chair is not documented but attributed to the workshop of one of the
best sculptors and carvers in Venice, Antonio Corodini.
On occasion, these chairs were acquired by members of other countries on the Grand
Tour, like the DIA chair, which we know ended up in an English country house.
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Gallery Label Text: Florence
Art filled Florence in the 1700s
Artists—especially sculptors—created art for the ruling family. The Medici grand dukes
ruled Florence for hundreds of years and considered themselves modern Caesars. When
the last Medici ruler, Anna Maria Luisa de’Medici, died in 1743, she left her vast art
collection to the city of Florence.
Guides and maps led Grand Tourists to art in every corner of the city: palaces, villas,
gardens, and hundreds of churches. Travelers especially liked the bronzes, which were
practical to ship home as luxurious reminders of a Grand Tour. Starting in about 1740,
the Doccia (pronounced DOE-chah) factory near Florence began making fine porcelain
art that rapidly became popular.
What tells you the art in this room is from Florence?
As you look around, you’ll see a trend. Artists created high-quality sculpture with themes
from ancient Greece and Rome, choosing serious subjects from mythology and history.
Florentine artists saw themselves as the true heirs of the classical world.
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Object data:
Bacchus and a Young Satyr c. 1640
Bronze
Giovanni Franceso Susini
Italian, 17th Century
19 ¾ x 9 x 8 in.
DIA no: 82.27
Object Label Text
Notice the careful detail on this tipsy Bacchus
The god of wine has finely detailed fingers, toes, and hair intertwined with grapes and
vine leaves.
People prized Florentine bronzes for their high-quality casting and distinctive surface
finish. The finish on a Florentine bronze shows a deep, golden-brown patina, enhanced
by reddish black lacquer.
• The ruling family of Florence, the grand ducal Medici court, began in the 1530s.
• When the last Medici ruler died in 1743, Anna Maria Louisa de Medici left the vast
art collection of the entire Medici family to the city of Florence.
• People would come from throughout Europe—guides and maps led the Grand
Tourists to art at every corner of the city to see palaces, villas, gardens and hundreds
of churches—the travelers especially liked the bronzes, like the Bacchus—
sometimes they were able to acquire them and take them back to their home.
• Florence was an open air, free sculpture museum.
• Sculptors from Florence produced marble statues and large bronzes derived from
Greek and Roman myths and serious subjects from history.
• Sculptors from Florence saw themselves as the true heirs of the classical world.
• This bronze is Bacchus as the god of wine and youth, shown slightly tipsy, holding a
cup of wine.
• A playful satyr is at this side.
• It has a rich, golden brown patina, and reddish black lacquer.
• A finely chased surface and individual details of fingers, toes and head of the
youthful Bacchus, wearing a wreath of grapes and vine leaves in his hair and holding
a cup of wine in his left hand.
• Beside him a young satyr squeezing a bunch of grapes into a small wine cup as he
gazes upward to Bacchus.
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It was made in Florence and acquired by the landscape architect of Louis XIV who
did all the gardens at Versailles.
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Object data:
The Return of the Prodigal Son1724
Bronze
Antonio Montauti
Italian, active 1708
24 7/8 x 19½ x 14 in.
DIA no: 73.254
Object Label Text
Unusually complex
Most bronzes of this time had just one or two figures. This one has many, turning and
twisting in dramatic poses as the prodigal son kneels before his father’s open arms. The
bronze’s size and elaborate design made it a challenge to cast.
This was once one of Grand Duchess Anna Maria Luisa de’Medici’s most prized works
of art.
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Story:
o This large bronze depicts the biblical parable of the prodigal son.
o It is the story of the young man who demands his share of the inheritance from his
father while his father is still living.
o He goes off to a distant country, wastes his money with riotous living, eventually
comes to his senses and hopes to return home and see his father.
o He throws himself down at his father’s mercy—seen here.
o His father is so happy to receive him that he opens his arms and greets him and
hardly gives the wayward son a chance to express his repentance.
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History:
o This group is considered to be the masterpiece of sculptor Antonio Montauti.
o It forms a part of a series of 12 bronzes that were made for Anna Maria Louisa de
Medici by a group of eight Florentine sculptors between.
o From December 2006 through April 2007, these 12 bronzes were reunited for the
first time in 200 years and shown in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence. The DIA piece
was included.
o The Detroit bronze is the largest of the group.
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o And the most elaborately composed of the group, with the signature of the artist,
tree and spiraling figures on the back.
o The Medici grand dukes ruled politically and culturally for over 200 years and as
a final gesture, Anna Maria Louisa de Medici gave all of the collection, including
the DIA bronze, to the city of Florence.
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Object data:
Vase Apollo in his Chariot 1748/1750
Doccia Porcelain Factory
Italian
23 5/8 x 13½ x 8¼ in.
DIA no: 1990.245.A-.C
Object Label Text
Firing porcelain is a risky process. In a kiln, objects shrink and larger objects may crack
or collapse. This large, complex vase called for unprecedented skill.
Notice how the artist blended three-dimensional sculpture with figures that rise slightly
from the surface. The heads of both Apollo and his stallion rise further, emerging from
the scene into our world.
Image:
o White vase modeled with Apollo in his chariot on one side, and Venus on a
dolphin on the other; the sides molded with drapery and putti playing with
military trophies.
Doccia:
o The DIA has the largest collection of Florentine Doccia porcelain outside of Italy
acquiring 23 masterpieces as this one in 1990.
o Animated figures of putti at the top.
o In the center is the figure of Apollo on his chariot—Apollo’s head and the head of
the horse are in the round, but other parts are in relief sculpture.
o Apollo is the sun god, the god of light, music, healing, prophecy and poetry.
o A figure of Venus riding the dolphin (will not be visible inside the vitrine) and
playful putti are on the back.
o This vase is made in three parts: the base, the body and the stopper.
o The Doccia factory made tableware, vases and other functional objects, but its
most notable and important work is this experimental, very fine and large
porcelain sculpture.
o During the firing, porcelain shrinks 1/7th of its size in the intense heat of the kiln
that could cause a piece to alter shape, or get firing cracks.
o The vase had to be carefully supported in the kiln to safeguard it from difficulties.
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o This vase was once owned by the King of Italy, the exiled Prince Umberto II of
Savoy who lived in Portugal and auctioned this in Switzerland in the 1960s. It has
an important provenance and was an important gift from the Genori to the Royal
Family of Italy.
Pronunciation:
Doccia (DOUGH-cha)
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Object data:
Head of Titus Vespasianus c. 1754/1755
Italian
20½ x 10 3/8 x 10½ in.
DIA no: 1990.249.A-.B
Object Label Text: This object has no text in the gallery.
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White porcelain bust of Roman Emperor Titus Vespasianus, supported on a square
flared base molded with rococo scrolling foliage.
These busts actually exist in the Capitoline Museum in Rome in marble, 1st century
AD originals.
In 1754, they were copied in plaster (just the heads.)
This is probably from a set of 12 heads of which 7 survive. The DIA collection
included two of them.
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Object data:
Head of Tiberius c. 1754/1755
Italian
20 3/4 x 10 3/8 x 10¼ in.
DIA no: 1990.250.A-.B
Object Label Text
Additional Information
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White porcelain bust of Roman Emperor Tiberius, supported on a square flared base
molded with rococo scrolling foliage.
These busts actually exist in the Capitoline Museum in Rome in marble, 1st century
AD originals.
In 1754, they were copied in plaster (just the heads.)
This is probably from a set of 12 heads of which 7 survive. The DIA collection
included two of them.
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Gallery Label Text: Naples
Naples offered sunny, lush landscapes and ancient ruins
In the 1700s, Grand Tourists often made their way south to Naples, a major
trading port. Its history under a series of foreign rulers gave it an international feel.
Naples was a city of contrasts: while many of its residents went ragged and hungry,
Grand Tourists tended to focus on the royal court, the theater, rich country villas, and
spectacular ancient Roman ruins.
Naples offered more than art and churches. Visitors joined the Carnival
celebration or dressed up for other masquerades. Many tourists visited the tomb of the
ancient Roman poet Virgil. Some climbed Mount Vesuvius. In the 1740s, tourists walked
the newly discovered ruins of the ancient cities Herculaneum and Pompeii.
What makes the art in this room Neapolitan?
Look for the delight in color. People loved Naples for its natural beauty, warmth, and
clean air. Some of this art echoes the lush surroundings with an almost sensuous appeal.
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Object data:
Rest on the Flight into Egypt 1764/1765
Oil on canvas
Corrado Giaquinto
Italian, 1703-1766
113 x 71 1/8 in.
DIA no: 77.73
Object Label Text
This painting was one of four that celebrated the life of Mary, mother of Jesus Christ, in
the church of San Luigi di Palazzo in Naples. Mary presents the Child to the viewer as
the angels and her husband, Joseph, adore them.
The painting has the soft, pastel colors and sentimental facial expressions often found in
Neapolitan painting.
• History:
o This painting was done by the leading painter in Naples, Giaquinto.
o It represented the Rest on the Flight into Egypt.
o This was one of a series of paintings which originally decorated the sacristy of the
Church of San Luigi de Palazzo in Naples across the street from the Royal Palace.
o The church was torn down in 1817.
o All that survives of the sacristy decoration are the four large companion paintings
by Giaquinto, including the Detroit painting.
o The cycle celebrates the theme of the Immaculate Conception and Mary in
theology.
o Mary is the major focus in Giaquinto’s interpretation here.
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Image:
o She assumes a very important role here because she is partly kneeling and partly
standing, holding Christ rather precariously by his ankles.
o The Christ Child stands before a pure white fabric held by small angels in the sky.
o There is a slab suggesting a reference to an altar or a sarcophagus.
o This is a celebratory painting, as if the subject is pretext for something very
different.
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o Other figures, especially St. Joseph are kneeling below and before Christ in
adoration.
o Angels are also kneeling in adoration.
o Beyond the figure of Christ, standing behind Him is a plinth-like structure
resembling an altar or a sarcophagus, making reference to a future sacrifice.
o In terms of the Holy Sacrament, it would take place on the high altar of a Church,
so an altar and the like structure are not coincidental.
o Also a lush, living palm tree and a silhouette of a dead tree rise at the left.
o These have a symbolic function because the living and dead trees allude to old
and new covenants.
o The dead tree connotes original sin and the living tree represents salvation
through belief in Christ.
o Warm and balanced colors help underscore the composition.
o These colors have symbolic function: Joseph’s coat is painted in a pale blue,
purple color with contrasting yellow garb. The Virgin is dressed in white,
symbolic of purity, and her blue robe denotes her as the Queen of Heaven.
Pronunciation:
Corrado Giaquinto (cor-ADO ja-QUIN-to)
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Object data:
Tarantella at Mergellina c. 1750
Oil on canvas
Filippo Falciatore
Italian, active 1718 - 1768
39 5/8 x 49 ¾ in.
DIA no: 80.3
Object Label Text
Wealthy travelers might have seen the Naples to your left
A young woman and small man with a hunched back dance a joyful tarantella by the
harbor. They are surrounded by working folk, including a fishmonger who shows his
catch to his customer. The slope behind them leads to rich patrician villas and a world
beyond their means.
But tourists were comfortable in the Naples at right
Gentlemen and ladies attend a peaceful garden concert in a villa. We see no fish here—
fruit and flowers surround them. The two paintings show different classes, settings, and
foods, all typical of Naples.
Additional Information (see also 80.4):
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Painting depicts an improvised tarantella (dance) on a beach.
In the center a woman and male dwarf dance to the musical accompaniment of a
woman beating a drum and a man playing a stringed instrument.
A swordfish vendor and a man from the East are under a tree to the left.
On the right, grouped around an ornamented gateway, are a seated female vendor,
two standing vendors and a seated woman nursing a child.
In the background to the left are boats and fishermen.
To the right, a wooded hill dotted with buildings and gardens.
The paintings show different classes, food types and settings in Naples.
Tarantella at Mergellina shows the Riviera di Chiaia just to the west of the city’s
center. The green slope rises in the distance towards Vomero, a favored site for
patrician villas since antiquity
Fishing vessels are moored below.
A young woman with castanets performs a spirited tarantella with a small hunchback
to the accompaniment of a mandolin and tambourine.
The emphasis is here on the joy of the dance and the pleasures of this seaside spot.
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The scene describes the lower classes and their everyday occupations: a
washerwoman bends over her trough in the left background, while a woman nurses
her child in the center.
These paintings show the contrast between the lower classes and the aristocracy. In
the painting Tarantella at Mergellin, peasants including fisher folk from the coast are
shown before a fashionable community just outside the city of Naples where people
had very smart villas.
The tarantalla is an uninhibited dance.
The tambourine player and man strumming a guitar-like instrument create a sense of
rhythm, motion and liveliness, and a sense of lack of inhibition.
So we see two types of musical entertainment, two types of food, and two different
classes in two different settings.
Pronunciation:
Falciatore (fal-cha-TORE-ay)
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Object data:
Concert in a Garden c. 1750
Oil on canvas
Filippo Falciatore
Italian, active 1718 - 1768
39 5/8 x 50 ¼ in.
DIA no: 80.4
Object Label Text
Wealthy travelers might have seen the Naples to your left
A young woman and small man with a hunched back dance a joyful tarantella by the
harbor. They are surrounded by working folk, including a fishmonger who shows his
catch to his customer. The slope behind them leads to rich patrician villas and a world
beyond their means.
But tourists were comfortable in the Naples at right
Gentlemen and ladies attend a peaceful garden concert in a villa. We see no fish here—
fruit and flowers surround them. The two paintings show different classes, settings, and
foods, all typical of Naples.
Additional Information (see also 80.3):
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Elaborate outdoor scene depicting several characters in well-dressed attire and wigs
in the garden of a patrician villa.
The distant retaining wall of this garden is pierced by a series of large oval openings.
At center, a woman and man stand beside a harpsichordist.
A violinist performs behind the harpsichord, while man sits leaning against the right
end of the harpsichord.
In the lower right of the composition, a seated woman with a voluminous skirt and
holding a fan greets a standing man with a walking stick.
Beneath this woman, a small dog frolics towards center.
A woman and child peer through the large arched opening of the building at left
towards the center of the composition.
A large tree dominates the left side of the garden; to its left, two man-servants carry
on a conversation while transporting a tray of refreshments to the aristocratic
company.
The constrained, aristocratic world depicting music makers and courting figures
dressed in their finery in an enclosed garden setting.
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None of them are intermingling with the poor folk in some kind of riotous,
uninhabited way.
They are definitely separate.
A servant is bringing out delicious iced beverages for people, but this man is pretty
unhappy. He’s being ignored as everyone else is indulging in their courtship in a
refined way.
The pendant to this is Concert in a Garden.
A genteel, sedate concert in an enclosed garden filled with fruit and flowers, typical
of the patrician villas that dotted Vomero or the towns at the foot of Vesuvius.
It is a fashionable afternoon party with wellborn ladies and gentlemen, surrounded by
some servants.
The sweet fruits contrast with the pungent fish of the pendant.
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Gallery Theme Text: Rome
All roads lead to Rome
In the 18th century, no tourist would skip Rome. Wealthy young men on the Grand Tour
of Italy rounded out their education here, walking in the Colosseum and other sites they
knew from their studies. Artists studied the art of ancient Rome and the Renaissance, as
well as work of their own time, to find fuel for their creations. Painters often depicted
views of the city and architecture in the bright Roman light. The renowned art collection
of the Vatican attracted the serious artist and the curious nobleman.
Rome was the crown jewel of the Grand Tour
Like a wealthy tourist from northern Europe in the 18th century, you can sample the
artistic legacy of the city in this room. Marbles, furniture, paintings, and prints show you
what the Grand Tourists saw, and—in some cases—what they brought home.
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Object data:
Interior of St. Peter's, Rome 1750
Oil on canvas
Giovanni Paolo Panini
Italian, 1691-1765
64 x 68 ¼ in.
DIA no: 56.43
Object Label Text
The vast interior of Saint Peter’s basilica awed tourists, then and now. Costly marbles
cover the floor and walls; sculpted cherubs adorn the arches. Banners showing saints
hang from the ceiling.
In this painting, Panini increased the scale of the interior to more effectively convey the
grandeur of the interior—newly completed in the 1700s.
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Rome was the ultimate destination for the Grand Tourist who would reside there for
many months armed with a considerable entourage that knew how to take care of all
their needs.
It is very fitting to arrive in Rome and see its most celebrated monument, the seat of
the Roman Catholic Church, and the most modern monument that people would come
to see. This shows the interior of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome by the great vedute
(view) painter, Panini.
The exterior of St. Peter’s had been finished by the early years of the 17th century,
and the great colonnade designed by Bernini was completed in the middle of the 17th
century, but the interior was completed somewhat later.
The sheathing decorating the nave dates from shortly before the time Panini.
This painting would have been an expensive postcard for the Grand Tourist.
Panini painted more than 20 versions of this subject.
The new basilica replacing the Constantinian Early Christian church began shortly
after 1500.
Much later, Michelangelo designed the great crossing, the apse, transepts and the
most famous dome in the world.
The interior scene was essentially new, especially the foreground area.
The artist captures the vastness of space with Bernini’s baldacchino (canopy) at the
crossing and the Throne of St. Peter beyond in the tribune or apse.
The subject teems with figures, some in prayer intermingling with tourists as part of
the Grand Tour.
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Object data:
Samson and Delilah 1766
Oil on canvas
Pompeo Girolamo Batoni
Italian, 1708 - 1787
93 ½ x 68 ¼ in.
DIA no: 2003.31
Object Label Text
The biblical hero Samson vowed never to drink wine or cut his hair—the key to his
strength. But Delilah, his mistress, made him drowsy with drink and took scissors to his
hair. Here, she calls soldiers to take him prisoner.
This Roman artist added drama with colors that change between lit areas and shadow.
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He was most famous as a portrait painter representing leading dignitaries in Rome.
Batoni also received many commissions from Grand Tourists.
Batoni embraced the ideals of classicism but was active sufficiently early in the 18th
century to anticipate the neoclassicism that was dominant in European art late in the
century.
Batoni painted twelve Old Testament subjects.
This example represents the Old Testament story of Samson and Delilah.
The Israelite hero, Samson, whose amazing strength resided in his hair—it ended up
by him assuming a relationship with a beautiful young woman named Delilah who
was a Philistine and became his mistress.
She learned of his secret and betrayed him by lulling him with strong drink and
shearing his hair.
Once his hair was shorn, he lost all of his strength.
At that moment the Philistine soldiers, who you see appearing at the right
background, are able to take Samson prisoner.
They subjected him to horrible torture including blinding him.
The scene here is the moment before the extreme violence takes place.
The figures are very refined in their poses and costume as he wants to evoke costume
worn during the time of Ancient Rome.
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Botoni particularly loved changing colors—the shift from gray to shades of purple
and mauve in Samson’s garment and the same found in Delilah’s green dress and the
yellow outer garment she is wearing. This coloration is unusual, shifting iridescent
hues.
It adds a sensual appeal to the subject of the painting.
The space is very rational—all structures are parallel to the picture plane with a vista
into the far chamber with the soldiers pouring in to seize their quarry.
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Object data:
Pair of Console Tables 1700/1725
Gilded pine, marble
Anonymous
English
32 1/4 x 73 x 37 3/8 in.
33 7/8 x 73 1/2 x 35 1/4 in.
DIA no: 58.103 and 58.105
Object Label Text
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These tables are English inspired by Roman motifs. Decorations inspired by antiquity
include a vetruvian scroll—an ornamental frieze with a convex shell with scrolls
edged with foliage centered by a pendant of berries issuing from the leaves.
The four legs are finely carved with grotesque satyrs’ masks with scalloped shell
headdresses and flowing locks. Acanthus leaves issure from their mouths.
These tables have been in the DIA storeroom for over fifty years and have never been
on view.
The Lockes were three generations of carvers.
The tables were acquired by William Randolph Hearst from whom we received them.
Hearst acquired four tables and four mirrors at some point. We have the Hearst
Collection of various pieces of armor, stained glass, furniture, and period rooms.
Nearly all of the gilding is original.
The marble tops are being carefully restored by a specialist in New York.
See also DIA no. 58.105
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Object data:
Console Table, 1700/1750
Wood with painted and gilded gesso
Vincentius Saraceno
Italian
33½ x 48¼ x 28 in.
DIA no: 47.182-3
Object Label Text
Imagine this pair of tables in a gentleman’s library
The solar system symbols on top and the coat-of-arms suggest its owner was an educated
noble.
Italian furniture of this time often had ornately carved wooden legs like these. For the
tabletop, artists tinted crushed selenite (a mineral) or plaster to mimic the marble mosaics
of ancient Rome
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Its tops are adorned with globes and other pictorial references to the solar system.
The signature of the artist Vincenzio Serachano, a Roman cabinetmaker, is also
shown.
This table is painted in vibrant colors, and the top is made of a mixture of plaster and
pulverized stone diluted with glue and then colored with mineral pigments in
imitation of more labor intensive and expensive semi-precious stone mosaics.
These are ultimately derived from ancient Roman mosaics that the Grand Tourists
would have seen in explorations of Rome and popular in Florence and Rome going
back to the late Renaissance.
These tables are interesting techniques that were inspired by the mosaics of ancient
Rome.
There is a large half sun mask that dominates the apron of each table and
complements the solar system iconography of the tops.
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The exaggerated cabriole legs terminate in large scrolls help give the tables a strong
visual presence and dynamism that’s typical—strength and robust dynamic qualities
typical of Roman furniture from the mid 18th century.
This table and its pendant made in Rome in 1750 will be displayed flanking Samson
and Delilah by Batoni.
This table would have been displayed in an elegant 18th century Italian residence
where it would have been symmetrically placed against a wall with its pendant.
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Gallery Label Text: Human Body as the Ideal
Ancient Greeks and Romans sculpted idealized bodies
With careful study of human anatomy, artists carved life-sized marbles, polished to
resemble real flesh but without flaws. After Rome fell, much of this art was buried or
built over, or destroyed by the early Church.
Centuries later, artists reembraced this ideal
Through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, artists saw perfection in the rediscovered
nudes of ancient Greece and Rome. Not knowing that the old statues had been painted,
they left their own nudes marble white. They polished white surfaces ever finer, seeking
to emulate and even surpass the ancients.
Ancient nudes like the three along the wall to your left inspired the other art in this room.
The challenge of painting and sculpting human figures fascinated later European artists.
They chose to depict scenes from the Bible, classical myth, and ancient history to keep
the focus on human stories and the body.
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Object data:
Torso of Aphrodite 1st Century BC
Marble
Anonymous
Greek
26 ¾ x 16 x 10 ½ in.
DIA no: 24.4
Object Label Text
Three statues from ancient times
Sculptors in ancient Greece and Rome carved these idealized bodies in elegant but
lifelike poses. Despite the now-missing elements, you can see these bodies stand
naturally, with one leg bearing most of the weight.
Ancient sculpture inspired the art in the rest of this room
In the Renaissance and later, European sculptors and painters admired the combination of
idealized grace and realism, the large scale, and the understanding of anatomy you see in
ancient sculptures like these. Thinking the ancients left statues white, later artists did the
same. They didn’t know that classical artists often painted statues with colors that wore
off long ago.
•
•
•
•
•
•
This Roman marble torso of Aphrodite adapts a celebrated bronze original by
Praxiteles from the 4th century B.C.E.
Most of the greatest examples of Greek sculpture are bronze originals.
This is known as Venus Pudica—Venus of Modesty pose: her left hand over her
breast and her right hand placed over her pubic area.
In bronze, with the arms positioned this way it would have had the tensile strength so
that you could maintain the arms like this, but in marble, the sheer weight of the
marble would result in breakage.
The arms are lost.
This is a marble copy after a lost bronze original that was celebrated throughout the
ancient world.
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•
•
•
•
In the sculpture there would have been arm gestures as previously mentioned, which
would have displayed Venus’s sense of her own modesty.
The subject represents an idealized young woman that was immensely influential
throughout the ancient Mediterranean world.
There were innumerable copies of this figure found principally in Italy and elsewhere
wherever Roman civilization went.
This kind of statuary was the standard, the canon, the yardstick of taste for much of
European cultural traditions, even from later Middle Ages right into the 19th century.
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Object data:
Venus Receiving the Arms from Vulcan
for Aeneas c. 1770/1775
Oil on canvas
Gaetano Gandolfi
Italian, 1734-1802
82 7/8 x 63 3/8 x 3 3/8 in.
DIA no: 74.2
• Its subject taken from Virgil’s Aenead, which is the story of Aeneas, a Trojan prince
who miraculously escaped the Greek sack of Troy and was eventually to found the
ancient city of Rome.
• Venus here secures arms for her favored Aeneas from her husband, Vulcan.
• Vulcan was a cripple, he hobbled around despite the fact that he is a powerful figure,
very virile, and the person who oversaw this great forge where arms and armaments
were made.
• He was assisted by three Cyclops who also appear in the painting.
• Vulcan is seen from the back displaying a particularly elaborate shield crafted on his
forge with the assistance of his three Cyclops.
• He presents it to Venus who appears seated on a cloud as a voluptuous nude
accompanied by a blindfolded Cupid with his bow.
• Vulcan was powerfully built and had a limp as indicated by the band above his left
ankle.
• He and Venus, largely because of her own infidelity, had a fairly stormy relationship
much of the time.
• Their relationship seems more harmonious and although cupid was blindfolded, his
arrow shot home.
• Vulcan here is being the good husband delivering the goods; in this case, armor made
for Aeneas.
• The artist typifies a tradition in the 18th century when figures were very strongly
idealized.
Pronunciation:
Gaetano Gandolfi (gay-TAHNO gan-DOL-fo)
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Object data:
Zephyr Dancing with Flora 1870
Marble
Giovanni Maria Benzoni
Italian, 1809-1873
103 ¾ x 35 x 35 in.
DIA no: 16.8
Object Label Text
Sheer fabric clings to Flora’s body as the goddess of flowers dances with the god of wind
in spring. Benzoni studied ancient marbles—like the three in this room—and other
sculpture inspired by classical art. Though Benzoni’s figures may be more sentimental
than ancient ones, all convey a sense of soft, flawless human flesh.
•
Artist:
o Benzoni was an Italian sculptor born in Bergamo in northern Italy in 1809, was
trained as a wood carver, and died in 1873. In 1928, he moved to Rome and began
to study.
o Benzoni ran a large studio and employed many assistants and completed sacred,
secular and funerary commissions for prominent patrons in Italy and
internationally.
o Benzoni had the ability to carve marble into thin diaphanous drapery and soft,
breathing flesh much like the drapery of Hellenistic sculpture.
•
Object:
o The large fluted column or drum on which the group sits is reputed to be “a
section of one of the columns of the baths of Caracella,” the ancient Roman
monument.
o The statue was set to the “column” in 1916 when it was acquired by the DIA.
o Benzoni’s interpretation of the subject of this piece is not located in any special
story or mythological story but is closer to a genre scene.
o Two dancing figures shown.
o Flora (with flowers in her hair) is the goddess of flowers and spring.
o Zephyr is the god of wind who visits Flora, especially in the spring.
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o The story is that Zephyr, upon seeing the earthly Chloris, the female figure before
she becomes a god, falls in love and abducts her, turning her into the goddess
Flora after she is granted domain over all flowers.
•
The DIA has two wonderful sculptures by Benzoni, the other called The Veiled Lady
that will be on display in the 19th century collection segment. This sculpture was last
out about 25 years ago and stands over 10 feet tall.
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Gallery Theme Text: Rubens
How can you identify a painting by Peter Paul Rubens?
Rubens, 17th-century Europe’s most famous painter, developed a distinct and highly
influential style. Look here for two things:
• Sturdy women, with perfect complexions and the glow of health
• Stories enhanced by dramatically arranged figures with telling gestures and expressions
He took steps to stay in demand
The European elite—royalty, church leaders, nobles, and rich merchants—all wanted
paintings by Rubens. To meet this demand, Rubens established a large studio with
apprentices. He also had engravers copy his more important works to spread his
reputation even further.
Rubens’s genius went beyond the canvas
Rubens involved himself in architecture and designed tapestries. For some clients he
created suites of paintings, notable portraits, and altarpieces. Rulers sought his advice for
their art collections and sometimes used him for political negotiations.
Explore the art in this room to discover the versatility and sensuous style of this master
artist.
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Object data:
Hygeia, Goddess of Health c. 1615
Oil on canvas
Peter Paul Rubens
Flemish, 1577-1640
55 3/8 x 43 ¾ in.
DIA no: 44.266
Object Label Text
Hygeia and her snake symbolize health
In Greek myth, Hygeia (pronounced hi-GEE-uh) is the daughter of the god of healing.
Like her father, she’s identified with a snake. Here she pours restoring liquid into her
snake’s mouth.
Rubens paints Hygeia as an ideal, robust woman. The stormy background is a reminder
never to take good health for granted.
•
Image:
o In Greek mythology Hygieia is the pagan goddess of health.
o She generally is considered to be the daughter of Asclepius, the god of healing.
o The serpent, tightly coiled around her arm, is a symbol of rejuvenation.
o With her flawless complexion and buxom physique, Hygieia radiates good health.
o Her bared breast may be a reference to nourishment.
o Rubens places the brightly illuminated figure before a dark and somewhat
threatening landscape thereby contrasting a foreboding world with the prospect of
physical well-being.
o The DIA has one of the largest collections of paintings by Rubens.
o The subject is Hygieia, the goddess of health. In Greek mythology, Hygieia was
the personification (and goddess) of health very closely connected with the
worship of Asclepius, the god of healing and is often considered to be his
daughter.
o She is holding a small paten, pouring some kind of liquid into the mouth of a
serpent—a serpent wrapping itself with great vigor around her left arm.
o The serpent is a symbol of rejuvenation and was sacred to Asclepius. Here it
drinks from a shallow dish or paten that Hygieia is holding in her right hand.
o Hygieia, with buxom, radiant flesh is the picture of blooming health.
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o One way Rubens can attain this is by building up layer upon layer of
transparent/semi-transparent paint to develop, with slightly shifting colors,
various flesh tones creating a living, pulsating being.
o Rubens was subtle in this respect.
o Hygieia is standing before a brooding landscape with turbulent, inky sky,
particularly in the right background—a clever visual foil indicating that good
health should never be taken for granted; reinforcing the idea that turbulent
weather could come and totally disrupt the notion of perpetual good health.
•
Artist:
o Rubens arrived in Italy in the mid 1590s and became a member of the Court of the
Dukes of Mantua.
o He was sent by the Dukes to various places including Madrid and Rome. Rubens
was totally enamored by his experience in Italy.
o The period of ten years he spent in Italy left an indelible imprint on him.
Pronunciation:
Asclepius: AS clay-pea-us
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Object data:
The Meeting of David and Abigail
1625/1628
Oil on canvas
Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish, 1577-1640
70¼ x 98 in.
DIA no: 89.63
Object Label Text
Abigail offers an apology to David’s army
Knowing that her husband had insulted David, Abigail rushed to offer bread, wine,
meats, and more to him and his army. David helps her rise, his face showing the first
flush of love.
Notice how Rubens arranged each gesture, facial expression, and bit of color to
dramatize this moment from the biblical story.
• The Story:
o The story comes from the Old Testament, Story of Samuel I, Chapter 25, Verses
18-35. The story concerns the husband of Abigail who insolently refused to pay
for the protection provided for by David and his Israelite forces.
o Abigail, fearing the wrath of David, assembled an ample provision of food which
she and her defenseless retinue brought to David in supplication.
o David was extremely angry because of the insolence of the man who refused to
offer him any kind of sustenance or assistance.
o As he met Abigail, his anger dissipated and turned to love.
o The husband upon hearing of his wife’s intercession became so enraged by her
action that he suffered a fatal stroke and died.
o As a result, David was subsequently in a position to marry Abigail, which he did.
o This painting is typical of Rubens, very theatrical: you have two opposing forces,
the army of David with the strong diagonals leading down and the horses with
frothy mouths indicating that they had been rushing to meet their quarry.
o Abigail is seen kneeling at the apex of the composition accompanied by her
retinue, defenseless with her maid servants here dressed in their finery, and young
men bearing food.
o Two unequal elements meet at the very center of the composition.
o Above a certain line is a piece of canvas that had been lost at some point.
o This painting marks the founding of the DIA collection. It is a large painting
bought by James Scripps who was one of the founding trustees, presented it to the
museum with almost 100 other European paintings in 1889. He acquired this at a
famous sale in Paris, where he was bidding against the French government.
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Object data:
Briseis Given Back to Achilles
1630/1631
Oil on oak panel
Peter Paul Rubens
Flemish, 1577-1640
17 7/8 x 26 5/8 in.
DIA no: 53.356
Object Label Text
This oil sketch was the first step in making a tapestry
How do we know? Rubens made everyone in it left-handed. Weaving reverses the design,
so figures in the final, larger tapestry would be right-handed.
At right, Achilles accepts the Trojan princess Briseis (pronounced Bree-see-us), taken
from him by his fellow Greeks. He ends his sulk and returns to battle—the turning point
of the Trojan War.
•
Image
o Briseias is accompanied by the old man, Nestor on one side and Ulysses on the
other side.
o These two men represent wisdom on one hand, and wiliness on the other. You can
see much of the booty is being carried away by the figures in the foreground.
o Briseias is at the center. She assumes a Venus Pudica pose although fully robed.
o On the left side, the subject is framed by a herm of Mercury holding his caduceus
and has a winged helmet. Because he is a herm, you can’t see the wings on his
sandals because his legs are not represented.
o On the other side is an allegorical image of peace, Concord, symbolized by a
wreath which contains two clasped hands.
o Mercury is also the god of trade, industry and prosperity.
o This painting presents an interesting link between peace on one hand and peace
generating prosperity in the form of booty on the other. This is underscored at the
base of the painting by the great cornucopia which are filled and burgeoning with
luscious fruit, again denoting abundance.
•
Subject
o This subject comes from Homer's epic poem, The Iliad. During the Trojan War,
Briseis, daughter of the Trojan king, was presented as a slave to the Greek,
Achilles. Agamemnon, the commander of the Greek army, took her for himself.
Enraged by this action, Achilles refused to participate in battle.
o As preordained by the gods, the Greeks could only capture Troy with Achilles's
involvement.
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o Upon the death of his dear friend, Patroclus, and the return of Briseis by
Agamemnon, Achilles rejoined the battle, thus assuring the Greek's victory.
o In Rubens's painting Achilles turns from his sorrow at Patroclus's deathbed to
happily receive Briseis and his share of the spoils of war.
o This story is one of eight scenes illustrating The Iliad which served as a
preliminary oil sketch intended as a design for a tapestry.
o When the Trojan town was captured by the Greeks, Briseias, native of this city
whose husband had been killed in battle, became Achilles slave.
o However, jealousy often reigns supreme and Agamemnon, the commander of the
Greeks took Briseias away from Achilles who went into a rage and a sulk as well
and refused to participate further in the military campaign of the Greeks. This was
known as the Wrath of Achilles, the center of the whole point of The Iliad.
o Only when his best friend Patroclus was killed by the Trojan Hector, the leading
Trojan prince, Breseias was returned to Achilles with the rest of his booty; only
then did Achilles resume fighting thus turning the tide fatally against the city of
Troy.
•
Rubens
o This boldly executed oil sketch is Rubens's preliminary design for a tapestry from
a series illustrating the story of Achilles.
o On the basis of this design, Rubens's workshop produced a larger canvas which
fully indicated the colors of the tapestry.
o The workshop also produced huge drawings on the same scale as the tapestries for
the weavers.
o Because tapestry weaving reverses the image, all the figures in Rubens's oil
sketch gesture with their left hands.
o We don’t know for whom the tapestries were intended.
o Guild regulations were very strict to the production of tapestries.
o Artists, even of the stature of Rubens, were required by guild regulations to
initially produce an oil sketch of this type and then based on the sketch, the artist
in his studio would produce what is called a modulo, a much larger, fully colored
version.
o The figures are all left handed in the sketch because once the patron approved the
modulo, a large cartoon or large charcoal sketch to the scale of the tapestry itself
would be made.
o Weavers would work from the cartoon and in doing so would reverse the image.
So all the figures in the tapestry would have appeared as right handed.
o Rubens was one of the most brilliant painters of the European tradition.
o It’s almost as if you are following the mind of the artist as he is drawing in paint.
It has energy, spontaneity and creativity of the artist who is actually creating
something for the first time.
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Gallery Theme Text: 17th century
French art challenged Italy’s dominance
The works in this room show French efforts in the 1600s to create art to rival that of the
rest of Europe, especially Italy. Kings Louis XIII and XIV wanted France to become a
cultural and political powerhouse. In pursuit of this ambition, they supported artists
lavishly.
Look for art with three different themes
• Portraits—in particular the portrait medals of Guillaume Dupré. He was the first
French medalist to fully develop the form, and one of the best.
• Art representing biblical stories and ancient Greek and Roman mythology—you’ll see
this in some of the medals, the ebony cabinet, enamel plates, and tapestry.
• Peasant scenes—the Le Nain brothers opted to paint people in moments of everyday
life as less than perfect, even showing poverty, with a serious, quiet dignity.
Gallery Theme Text: Poussin
Nicolas Poussin revealed the legacy of ancient Rome
Though he was French, Nicolas Poussin (pronounced poo-SAHN) lived and worked in
Rome for most of his life. He was widely respected as an expert in classical antiquity. He
always wove it into his work—notice the classical Roman stone columns, furniture, and
the style of clothing.
Poussin’s influence
The art in this room shows how Poussin’s way of telling stories caught on, especially in
France. Three aspects of his painting style influenced the next two centuries of art:
• Figures evoke the idealized human forms of ancient sculpture.
• Expressive faces and gestures convey a story’s gravity.
• Deliberate arrangements of people and objects create symmetry and visual
clarity.
To plan his compositions, Poussin worked with small models of his subjects in a fivesided box. There he could study how light fell on different arrangements before he
touched brush to canvas.
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