From the Habsburgs of Spain to Charles I of England, the art patronage of absolute monarchs furnished opulent palaces in the 17th century. Yet, this period also saw the formation of the modern art market, with artists catering for middle-class collectors.
The Baroque was the leading style of the period, its theatricality appealing to emotions and expressing Counter-Reformation ideals. At the same time, Dutch scenes of everyday life and objects flourished on the art market.
Key artists included Bernini, Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi, Rubens, Poussin, Velázquez and Vermeer.
The course highlights the new directions taken in 17th-century painting, exploring the most important artists, works, and concepts, in the context of the cultural, political and social history of the period.
1: The power and the glory
What was the relationship between art and power in the 17th century?
Bernini's art exemplifies the hallmarks of the Baroque. We begin by looking at his architecture and sculpture as statements of power.
After the break, we focus on the art collections of Charles I and Charles II of England and consider what a collection says about its collector.
Image: Detail from Anthony van Dyck, 'Equestrian Portrait of Charles I', about 1637-8
How did Caravaggio's and Artemisia Gentileschi's paintings help revive Catholic art after the Reformation?
In this session, we explore the art of Caravaggio, a key painter of the Counter-Reformation, and his influence on his contemporary, Orazio Gentileschi, over the following decades.
After the break, we will focus on the art of Artemisia Gentileschi, Elisabetta Sirani and Lavinia Fontana and consider the role of women artists in this period.
3: The embarrassment of riches
According to one 17th-century visitor, there were more painters than butchers in 17th-century Amsterdam.
This session on Dutch painting focuses on the development of the modern art market in Holland, at a time when ordinary people – bakers and blacksmiths– were buying still-life paintings and scenes of everyday life, and the Church was no longer such a powerful patron.
After the break, we look at both the lavish still life and the vanitas still life, in which flowers or objects invite meditation upon mortality.
What is it about the work of Velázquez that inspired Manet, Picasso, Dalí, Bacon and Hamilton to recreate his most famous works?
The art of Spain in the 17th-century has a gravity and power that still resonates with artists today. This session explores Zurbarán, Velázquez and Murillo's powerful responses to faith.
After the break, art historian Siân Walters will talk about the art and life of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo in the context of 17th-century Seville.
5: Rubens and Van Dyck
Explore the work and influence of Rubens and his pupil Van Dyck.
With a workshop of over fifty assistants, Rubens supplied portraits, landscapes, mythological and allegorical subjects as well as some of the finest Counter-Reformation altarpieces to the greatest rulers in Europe.
Van Dyck, in turn, became the leading court painter in England, his relaxed elegance impacting on English portrait painting for the next 150 years.
After the break we will be joined by connoisseur Dr Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe, who will give insight into Rubens's and Van Dyck's studio practices and reveal how you can distinguish their brushstrokes.
6: Dreaming in Rome
Discover the role of Rome, past and present, in the work of two major French artists.
Claude and Poussin were pioneers of the new genre of landscape painting. They sketched in the Roman Campagna together, infusing the paintings that followed with an idealism and classicism that suited the taste of their patrons.
After the break, we will draw together all the strands from the preceding five weeks, allowing time for questions and discussion.
We will look at the paintings Vermeer created during an age of huge expansion in the 17th-century Dutch maritime republic. Against this background of capitalist growth and much turbulence, we will consider Vermeer’s search for stillness in his depiction of people in their surroundings. We will also explore his creation of luminous effects which made him famous.
Vermeer spent his entire life in Delft. This city and its people are his subjects. Although he enjoyed moderate success as a provincial genre painter, he produced very few paintings and, after his death, left his wife and family in debt.
He remained in almost total obscurity until his rediscovery in the 19th century and has now become one of the most loved painters of all time. Proust said, ‘Ever since I saw the View of Delft in the museum in The Hague, I have known that I had seen the most beautiful painting in the world’.
Join us to enjoy tranquil moments with ‘The Sphinx of Delft’.
