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RembrandtHarmenszoon vanRijn 1606 - 1669


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RembrandtHarmenszoon vanRijn 1606 1669 Give a brief history of the Dutch unitedProvinces (8).

1. First used in 1579 when Protestantstates of Northern Netherlandsdeclared independence from Spanishrule.

2. There was constant warfare until thetruce of 1609

3. Spain did not recognise the newState until the treaty of Munster wassigned 39 years later in 1648.

4. Holland was the richest state in theunited Provinces and its name hascome to be used for the whole countrythough the official name is the

Netherlands


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1. First appeared in Europe around mid-16th C2. Imported from Turkey by the Austrian Ambassador3. Trading began in 1634 speculating on future bulbs resulted in the crash of 1637

(Wall street-1929 a modern example)

4. During the peak a single tulip could attract unimaginable amounts5. Example: the Gesneriana

The History ofTulips.


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Rembrandt Bathsheba Rubens - Bathsheba


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Compare Rembrandt to Rubens

1. Rubens and Rembrandtare contemporaries

2. Rubens based in

Antwerp in Flandersand3. Rembrandt in

Amsterdam Holland4. Rubens is an older

style of art more

classical andinternational5. Rembrandts work is

more characteristicallyDutch.

6. His vision seems to

come from withinhimself and notclassical antiquity.

7. Rembrandts portraiture,especially of himself,helps us to relate to

him better today.


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1. The human face fascinatedhim from the beginning

2. This brought him manycommissions

3. It is not the externalappearance that thatintrigued Rembrandt

4. The inner workings of themind and the nature of the

person in the picture he isfascinated with

5. The passing moods as wellas the deep seated attitudes.

Rembrandts portraits


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Map of Dutch Republic byJoannes Janssonius

Dutch society

1. The middle class was growing into a new type of art patron2. Rembrandt was a millers son from a middle class background3. Along with the struggle for independence, Dutch society was also changing

4. The growing wealth of the middle class created a strong demand for paintingssuch as institutional portraits and images of working life.


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The Blinding of Samson

Samsons enemies enlist the aid of

Delilah to seduce Samson

She has to learn the secrete of hisenormous strength and tell them

She learns that his secrete lies inhis hair and whilst he is sleepingshe cuts it short

The Philistines can then capturehim and they imprison him afterfirst blinding him

He manages to get revenge bypulling down the two main pillarssupporting a roof that he is beenshown to ridicule in a Philistinefeast.


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Rembrandts earliest works He had a love for melodrama A keen interest in the humanity of

the people in the pictures

Self-Portrait1627


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Early years inAmsterdam(16321636)1. Rembrandt

began topaintdramaticbiblical andmythologicalscenes inhigh contrastand of large

formatseeking toemulate thebaroque styleof Rubens

2. The Blinding

of Samson,

1636,3. Belshazzar's

Feast, c. 16354. Dana , 1636


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Belshazzar's Feast, 1635.


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Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), Samson and Delilah, ca. 1610


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self portrait

Self portrait age of 21 shows Rembrandt in early adulthood in artisticallydramatic pose

A late work ten years before his death shows him looking out at us shows aface stripped of all pretensions looking earnestly at himself

He examines himself with detached objectivity and an honest portrayal ofpersonal failure.


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1629

S ki 1612 1642


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Saskia 1612- 1642

1. Saskia became an orphanat age twelve.

2. It is supposed Saskia met

Rembrandt at the home ofher uncle, Hendrick vanUylenburgh, a painter andan art dealer

3. She married Rembrandt in1634

4. In 1635 they moved to aprosperous suburb inAmsterdam

5. Three of their children diedshortly after birth

6. The only survivor was Titus7. 1642 Dies aged 298. Geertjie Dircx was his next

relationship9. Was the wet nurse

Rembrandt hired for Titus


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The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp of 1632


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success

Rembrandt began to work as a professional

portraitist about 1631.

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp of1632 shows how quickly he surpassed thesmooth technique of the fashionableAmsterdam portraitists.

All potential clients must have beenimpressed by the new vitality and pictorialrichness he gave to the portraits.

The picture still impresses us today by the

dramatic concentration of the figures onTulp's demonstration of the dissection of aforearm.


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The corpse is the focus of the composition, by its intense brightness.

From here, the eye of the spectator is led to the illuminated heads of the listeners,whose expressions and attitudes reflect different degrees of attention, and to the

face and hands of Tulp, who is a most convincing representation of a scholarabsorbed in his subject.


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With forceps in his right hand Tulp holds the muscles and tendons of the armthat control the movement of the hand, while the bent fingers of his left handdemonstrate an aspect of their wondrous action.

The illusionism is enhanced by the vivid characterization of the individuals aswell as by the artist's great power in dramatizing the moment within a coherentgroup.

Without the strong chiaroscuro and the fine atmospheric quality that iscombined with it, the picture would lose its intensity, the sculptural quality of

the forms, and all the excitement of the moment.

Here, psychological and pictorial tension combine to create the feeling of anextraordinary event.


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Geertje Dircx

1. Would later charge Rembrandt with breach of promise and was awardedalimony of 200 guilders a year. The legal struggle that followed was to cost

Rembrandt dearly not least of which was the loss of an entire year of painting2. She seems to have been quite insane and tried to accuse him of a number ofaffairs. Making his life a living hell

3. He tried to have her committed into awomans prison to get her off his back.

4. Eventually she was condemned to twelve

years' imprisonment, but became ill andwas released after five years. A year latershe died.

5. In the late 1640s Rembrandt began arelationship with the much youngerHendrickje Stoffels, who had initially

been his maid.6. In 1654, when she was pregnant with

Rembrandt's daughter, Hendrickje had toappear before the church council for"living in sin" with Rembrandt, who was awidower and 20 years her senior.

7. Sarah waiting for Tobias - 1647? could be Dircx orHendrickje Stoffels is unclear


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Hendrikje

1. Even with the inheritance ofSaskia, Rembrandt was still infinancial difficulties

2. He was banned from trading atthe Guild of St Luke because ofdebt

3. Hendrikje, with the aid of Titus,Rembrandts son set up an art

dealership in which they

managed to find a way to tradewith Rembrandts work

4. It seems a happy and fulfillingpartnership came to a tragicend when Hendrickje died in1663 after the plague revisitedAmsterdam

5. Woman bathing in a river, HendrikjeStoffels, 1654

6. Hendrikje may also have been the modelfor the Bathsheba painting.


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Bathsheba at herbath 1654


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1. This painting eliminates the usualdepiction of David as seen in hisearlier version which shows a towerin which we assume david is

watching from2. The only anecdotal references to the

Bible story are the letter from David(not actually mentioned in Samuel)and the presence of an attendantdrying her foot

3. Rembrandt's presentation ofBathsheba is both intimate andmonumental.

4. As a result, the moralistic theme ofprevious treatments of the subject isreplaced by a direct eroticism inwhich the viewer supplants David asvoyeur.

5. This makes sense as it is Rembrandtas David and Hendrikje as Bathsheba


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1640


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Spendthrift

1. Rembrandt lived beyond hismeans, buying art and rarities,which probably caused a court

arrangement to avoid hisbankruptcy in 1656, by sellingmost of his paintings and largecollection of antiquities.

2. which included . . . Old Master paintings and

drawings busts of the Roman Emperors

suits of Japanese armouramong many objects from Asia

collections of natural historyand minerals

6. 1658 Rembrandt was forced tosell his house and his printing-press and move to more modest

accommodation in 1660.7. Self Portrait, 1658


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Self Portrait 1659

1661 his reputation dwindling Rembrandt was contracted to complete work for


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1661 his reputation dwindling, Rembrandt was contracted to complete work forthe newly built city hall, but only after Govert Flinck, the artist previouslycommissioned, died without beginning to paint.

The resulting work, The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis, was rejected andreturned to the painter; the surviving fragment is only a fraction of the whole

work. 1662 he was still fulfilling major commissions for portraits and other works. When Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany came to Amsterdam in

1667, he visited Rembrandt at his house.


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Unlike his fellow painters, Rembrandt decided to depict Civilis with one blind eye, as someof the sources had described his appearance. This was almost certainly the main reason forthe Amsterdam magistrates to reject the painting.

Th B t i b lli Th t i T it


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The Batavian rebellion - The account in Tacitus Took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior

(S. Netherlands) between 69 and 70 AD. led by the one-eyed chieftain Claudius Civilis Managed to destroy two legions and inflict humiliating

defeats on the Roman army. After their initial successes, a massive Roman army

led by Quintus Petillius Cerialis eventually defeatedthem.

The Painting depicts the scene of the Oath in whichClaudius called his fellow conspirators.

. . . In which he "collected at one of the sacred groves,ostensibly for a banquet, the chiefs of the nation andthe boldest spirits of the lower class", convinced themto join his rebellion, and then "bound the wholeassembly with barbarous rites and strange forms ofoath.

The painting was commissioned for the gallery of thenew city hall on the Dam, finished in 1655 (now theRoyal Palace).

History paintings were regarded as the highest in thehierarchy of genres in the 17th century (a viewRembrandt shared), and the Batavian revolt wasregarded, and romanticised, as a precursor of the

recently ended war against the Spanish.


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1659


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1669


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1669 as St Paul


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The painter has portrayed himselfas visibly aged in this work, whichcame at the end of a long series ofsome 70 self-portraits.

And like no other, Rembrandt usedthem as a means of psychologicalresearch into his self.

Thus his gaze, which is currentlydirected to the viewer, wasprimarily directed to his reflection.

His raised eyebrows and open,perhaps laughing, mouth tell of theway he flouted every convention,with a buoyancy that only

advanced age allows. And so Rembrandt documented

his own physiognomy with aruthless directness, and with somuch paint we almost literally feelthe furrows on his brow and

cheeks and the heavy bags underhis eyes.

Last laugh 1669

How does he paint the face of


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pLady with an Ostrich feather?1660 Haunting picture of tranquil

sadness bravery and wisdom She has certainly experienced a

History of sorrow and joy We can be sure of a history of

sorrow triumphs and failures She is painted with light

lingering on the once beautifulface

Rembrandt in 1660

The story of Joseph


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The story of Josephand Potiphars wife

1655 Joseph a Hebrew

slave in Egypt

works for Potiphar His wife lusts after

him and tries toseduce him

He resists her andflees leaving his

jacket She accuses him of

raping her and hashim thrown into jail.


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the protagonists.1. The wife

She is central in the painting, shifty of eye

and false of gesture knows she notbelieved.

She is dressed in finery only concernedonly with herself and pointing to the cloakof Joseph as evidence.

Her hand presses painfully to her breastshowing her falsity but also the rejectionshe feels from Joseph

She is also committed to a course that sheis aware of in her falsity


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2. Potiphar

The aging husband is aware of the

embarrassment of his wifes behaviourand his own inadequacy He listens in shadow knowing full well the

truth He has no choice but to accept his wifes

accusations and in so doing protect his

own reputation The interplay of falsehood is depicted no-

one able to tell the real story in therestrictions of the culture

.


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3. Joseph

waits in the background for theinevitable disgrace he will

undeservedly carry He is un-assertive un-aggressive and

un-self pitying knowing Potipharsdilemma.

Rembrandt lets us seen how Josephcommits his cause to God without

demonstrable sign Only light and colour carry the deeper

implications of the intense drama

What kind of judgements does Rembrandt make?


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He makes no distinction between virtuous and non virtuous His depiction is compassionate


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Officers of the Company of the Amsterdam Crossbow Civic Guard under Captain Reynier Reael and LieutenantCornelis Michielsz Blaeuw. 1633 37.


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The portrait of the Officers of the St George Civic Guard is the firstmajor group portrait by Frans Hals, and the first monumental civic

guard painting in the new era of Dutch painting.

Together with the leaders of public, charitable and professional

associations, the civic guard societies were the main patrons tocommission group portraits

These civic guard


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These civic guardportraits were anexpression of theBaroque will torepresentation, whose

tradition is rooted in themedieval era.

There had been civicguards in the Netherlandssince the 13th century.

They had played animportant role in theemancipation of the citiesand towns from feudalrule and had gained

considerable political andmilitary significance in theNetherlands' struggle forindependence.


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HALS, Frans Banquet of the Officers of the St George Civic Guard Companyc. 1627


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Cornelis van Haarlem had already painted the officers of the St George Civic Guard in1599. Hals, however, revolutionizes this type of painting.

Instead of merely painting a row of individual portraits, he places them within a


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specific context by creating a banquet scene.

This is not simply a moment captured at a table, but an extremely witty andcalculated composition in which a scenic context is created between all the figuresinvolved, and, on the other hand, each of the figures poses and acts independentlyand individually.

Hals has found a new and persuasive solution to the problem of portraying a largegroup without difference of rank.

Frans Hals Banquet of the Officers of the Civic Guard of St Andrew c 1627 33


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This patronage took on considerable proportions in the course of the century. These groupportraits are also of value as historical documents, for which lists were drawn up giving the

names of the figures portrayed. The paintings themselves were displayed prominently onthe premises of the respective association.

Frans Hals. Banquet of the Officers of the Civic Guard of St. Andrew.c. 1627-33.


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Hals revolutionized this branch of painting; these are already not the scenes ofofficial banquet, but merry friendly carousal with free and easy characters.

But Hals never presented the scene in a theatrical fashion, as Rembrandt did withhis Night Watch, and each of his sitters is given individual and equal attention.

The painter was a contemporary of the heroic generation, which shaped theindependent Holland and those energetic, brave, straightforward and purposefulpeople were close to him.

Probably Rembrandt's most famous and most controversial painting was given itstitl th Ni ht W t h i th l 19th t


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erroneous title the Night Watch in the early 19th century.The title referred to the subdued lighting and led art critics to seek all manner ofhidden mysteries in the painting.

The Title


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The Title

The original title, recorded in the stillextant family chronicle of CaptainBanning Cocq, together with a sketch of

the painting:

"Sketch of the painting from the GreatHall of Cleveniers Doelen, in which theyoung Heer van Purmerlandt [BanningCocq], as captain, orders his lieutenant,the Heer van Vlaerderdingen [Willem vanRuytenburch], to march the companyout.

Rembrandt in1642

It is, therefore, a "Doelen" piece or group portrait in which the captain can beseen in the foreground wearing black and the lieutenant wearing yellow


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seen in the foreground wearing black and the lieutenant wearing yellow.

What sets Rembrandt's group portrait apart from other comparable paintings ishis use of chiaroscuro as a dramatic device.

Interpretations seeking a plausible action fail to take into account that thescenery is made up more or less of individual "types". The painting includesthe entire repertoire of portrait poses and gestures from Rembrandt's store offigures.

There is inevitably a sense of celebration in the portrayal of individuals in aDutch group painting


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Dutch group painting.

Yet whereas Frans Hals, for example, draws together his individual participantsaround a banquet scene, Rembrandt breaks up the group, so that individualcharacters and participants become absorbed in their own actions, eachstanding alone.


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Rembrandtvan Rijn The Jewish Bride(The Loving Couple) 1666.

Authentic expressions


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1. Despite the opulence andbeauty of the costumes thetrue impact of the painting isin the authentic emotional

expressions2. He is careworn hair thinning

and lined around his eyes andface.

3. He enfolds his wife with atender embrace.

4. One hand on her shoulder theother on a gold chain aroundher neck

5. He makes no grand displayonly a quiet certainty.

6. Her hand rests on her wombthe responsibility ofmotherhood and mature love

7. Her thoughts surrounded byreceiving and giving in thebounds of love

8. It is likely it is a portrait of anunknown couple

Caring embrace


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Ca g e b ace

His hand lies across her bosom caringand tender also familiar

Her hand rests on his gentle pressure

both acknowledging and returning The full significance of their union lies

deep within

Shimmering sleeve

The paint is built up in layers of thickimpasto and glazes

The brushwork imitates the effect ofpleats and folds

The jewellery is picked out with flecksand dots of thick paint highlighted withwhite

The new medium The new medium of etching is Rembrandts medium


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The new medium of etching is Rembrandts medium He brought it to a new level a medium more versatile than metal engraving Rembrandt experimented with the medium with different textured papers and inks Often reworked the etchings several times


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The Hundred Guilder Print, c.1647-1649, etching
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Rembrandt_The_Three_Crosses_1653.jpg


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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Rembrandt_The_Three_Crosses_1653.jpg


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Describe the components of the Dutch still-life tradition, give an example. (5)


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By 1640 the Dutch still life tradition had already been establishedUsually a table against a blank background with the objects placed in a

general up and diagonal directionWould commonly have objects glasses , silver plates and the remains of a

sumptuous meal conveying the idea of opulence and plentyAlso the idea of transience and VanityWilliam Heda, still life 1637


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Pieter ClaeszStill-life with Turkey-PieOil on woodRijksmuseum, Amsterdam

.


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Works of this kind, in which he was rivalled only by Kalf, gave him ever greateropportunity than his fish pieces to demonstrate his ability to show the play of light

on varied surfaces and organize forms and colors into an opulently blendedcomposition. He worked in various towns before settling in Overschie in 1678.

How does this compare with thestill lives of Jan De Heem?


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still lives of Jan De Heem?

1. The still life of Heda can bebroken down into small areas

each with an intensity of theirown2. The highly detailed nut and

the refracting light glass areexamples of this.

3. De Heem paints another

traditional theme of flowerswhich is more extrovert thanHeda

4. Heda is more inward andreflective de Heem is moreopen but both glory in close

Vermeers woman


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holding a balance

Also known as womanweighing gold

It is a solemnallegorical work

She stands before thesymbols of materialwealth weighing themfor their value

Whilst behind her inthe painting the figureof Christ is seenweighing souls.

She is clearly pregnant The strongest accents

of orange/gold do notemanate from herjewels but from thewindow


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The Balance She holds the balance with a delicate


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gracefulness It is finely painted and just glimmers

where the light catches the emptyscales

There is also an issue of integrity herin that the scales are even

This is a reference to our lives thatmust be lived with integrity becauseall with be revealed in the lastjudgement

Family Valuables A rich blue cloth has been pushed

back and scattered over it are hercollection of pearls and goldjewellery

The play of light on these is almostthe only indication of their presence The touches of light indicate their

transience and how quickly thesethings can pass away the referenceis to where your trust is, in your

treasure or in your faith.

How does Vermeer paint il i W


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silence in Woman

holding a balance?

The shutters are almostclosed with light

stealing in at the edges This diffused light

catches the fur on herjacket, the pearlsgleaming on theshadowed table

It glances off carefullypoised elements in thepainting

Silence is Vermeer way

of expressing purity

What other themes are


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What other themes areevident in thispainting? (4)Also she is testing

her emptybalance andbehind her is apicture showingthe last

judgment when

all souls shall beweighed inanother balance,

The painting isbalancedbetween light

and dark and thelast judgementshows in thebackground.

Darkness and lightare held in a

delicate balance


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VERMEER VAN DELFT, JanGirl with a Pearl Earring(detail)

c. 1665

What device did the artist use to assisthim in his painting?


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The camera obscura (Latin: darkchamber)

How did it work? By using a pin hole on the one side of a

box This could create an accurate

reproduction on a screen This would allow light to enter in and

the rays would cross and fan outcreating an upside down and reducedimage on a screen or wall

The artist could use this to plot thecomposition of his painting


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Give an example, - describe what Vermeer does in his representation

It is likely the artist used this to paint his interiors as well as the view of Delft. The view is unassuming descriptive topographical setting He is not inventing but describing But he is able to take bare facts and elevate them into a different level. There is no artifice but it appears as Delft but also the Heavenly Jerusalem This is seen in the plain task of a maid pouring milk but a sense of

timelessness and Holiness

View of Delft - 1658


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View of Delft 1658


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Describe the technique theFrans Hals used in hisportrait panting. (4)Alla PrimaPreviously artists used an

under-painting to achievea consistent surface

Hals pioneered a technique inwhich the paint wasapplied directly to theground without underpainting

The broad brushstrokes andspontaneous textural

qualities are evidence ofthis approachThis pioneered the more

spontaneous techniquesof the 19th C


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Give an example of this.(2)

Portrait of WilliamCoymansWe see the detailedfinery of his clothingpainted in with roughstrokes and

spontaneous marksrather that delicatemodelling.


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Describe the kind of work thatHals made his reputation

on.(5)Hals made his reputation bypainting a series of portraitsfrom 1620-25All these show his brilliantskill in spontaneous

observationThese portraits vary fromNobility to low life drunkardsHis work has an immediateappeal in its virtuoso qualityIt is in his later

impoverished years he roseto a level of depth in hiswork that pushes him to therealm of greatness


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Describe a later work by Hals (4)

The woman regents of the Harlem Almshouse was painted shortly before his owndeath.The previous witty bravado of his earlier portraits is forgotten in this wholly seriousdepictionHe shows us not only the outward look of these tire old ladies

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