Painting #123 - Baroque in France

Pierre Puget (1620–1694, French sculptor)

Caryatids / 女像柱
- Pierre Puget in 1656
- City Hall entrance  (Toulon) 

Milo de Croton
- Pierre Puget
- Louvre  (Paris)

Assumption of the Virgin 
- Pierre Puget
- Musee des Beaux-Arts  (Marseille)  

Nicolas Poussin  (1594–1665, French) 

The Holy Family on the Steps
- Nicolas Poussin
- oil on canvas  (69 x 98 cm)  1648
- National Gallery of Art  (Washington) 

R-L: Joseph (father), Jesus (son) and Mary (mother), John (cousin of Jesus, the future John the Baptist) and Elizabeth (John's mother).

Self-portrait
- Nicolas Poussin
- oil on canvas  (94 x 78 cm)  1650
- Louvre  (Paris) 

The Burial of Phocion
- Nicolas Poussin
- oil on canvas  (114 x 175 cm)  1648
- Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum  (Wales)  

Whilst the Athenian senate passed the motion to war with Macedonia, their general Phocion insisted on peace. He was condemned and executed, and his unburied corpse banished, and taken to the outskirts where it was burnt.

Claude Lorrain  (1600-1682, French) 

“His [idyllic] landscapes are usually turned into the more prestigious genre of history paintings by the addition of a few small figures, typically representing a scene from the Bible or classical mythology.”

The Judgment of Paris
- Claude Lorrain
- oil on canvas  (51 x 36 cm)  1645/46
- National Gallery of Art  (Washington) 

The Judgment of Paris is a Greek mythology, in which shepherd Paris (Prince of Troy actually) was to judge which of the three beauties was the most beautiful. Aided by Venus, he won the heart of Helen (Queen of Spectacus), who then eloped with him to Troy. The humiliated King of Spartacus waged the Trojan War.

Landscape with the Marriage of Isaac and Rebekah
- Claude Lorrain
- oil on canvas  (149 x 197 cm)  1648
- National Gallery  (London) 

Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebecca. Twenty years elapsed before they had children; throughout that time, both Isaac and Rebecca prayed fervently to God for offspring. God eventually answered Isaac's prayers and Rebecca conceived.

Ascanius Shooting the Stag of Sylvia
- Claude Lorrain
- oil on canvas  (120 x 150 cm)  1682
- Ashmolean Museum  (Oxford U) 

Louis Le Nain 

(1593-1648, French) 

Landscape with Peasants
- Louis Le Nain
- oil on canvas  (47 x 57 cm)  1640
- National Gallery of Art  (Washington)  

Peasant Family in an Interior
- Louis Le Nain
- oil on canvas (113 x 159 cm) 1642
- Louvre (Paris) 

Georges de La Tour  (1593–1652, French)

Georges de La Tour painted mostly religious chiaroscuro (light-dark) scenes lit by candlelight.

Magdalen with the Smoking Flame
- Georges de La Tour
- oil on canvas  (128 × 94 cm)  1640
- Louvre  (Paris)

The Repentant Magdalen
- Georges de La Tour
- oil on canvas  (64 × 48 cm)  1635
- National Gallery of Art  (Washington) 

During the 17th century, great devotion was shown to Mary Magdalen (the perfect woman of Christ) in all Catholic countries.

Joseph the Carpenter
- Georges de La Tour
- oil on canvas  (130 × 100 cm)  c.1645
- Louvre  (Paris) 

The painting depicts a young Jesus with his earthly father Saint Joseph.

Louis XIV furniture 

Cabinet on a stand
- André-Charles Boulle in 1675–80 
- J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles) 

Source: Wikipedia

Painting #122 - Baroque in Holland

Dutch Golden Age

Rembrandt  (1606–1669, Dutch) 

The Blinding of Samson
- Rembrandt
 - oil on canvas  (236 x 302 cm)  1636
- Städel Museum  (Frankfurt) 

Samson was betrayed by his lover Delilah, who ordered a servant to cut his hair while he was sleeping and turned him over to his Philistine enemies, who gouged out his eyes. 

The Jewish Bride
- Rembrandt
- oil on canvas  (121 × 166 cm)  1665-69
- Rijksmuseum  (Amsterdam)

A 1993 analysis, using X-ray, microscope, and infra-red spectrometry, revealed that the bride is sitting on the man's lap, and deduced that they were a married couple.

Joseph Accused by Potiphar's Wife 
- Rembrandt Workshop
- oil on canvas (106 x 98 cm) 1655
- National Gallery of Art (Washington) 

Potiphar's wife, who was known for her infidelities, took a liking to Joseph (a slave), and attempted to seduce him. When Joseph refused her advances, and ran off, she retaliated by falsely accusing him of trying to rape her, and Potiphar had Joseph imprisoned..... What happened to Potiphar after that is unclear.

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife
- Rembrandt
- etching  (9.1 × 11.4 cm)  1634 

Dutch Still Life Tradition

Still-Life 
-  Willem Claesz Heda  (1594-1680, Dutch) 
- oil on panel  (44 x 68 cm)  c.1634
- Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza  (Madrid) 

Heda is known for his innovation of the breakfast genre of still life painting, representing both a literal presentation of delicacies that the upper class might enjoy and a religious reminder to avoid gluttony.

Vase of Flowers 

- Jan Davidsz. de Heem (1606–1684, Dutch & Flemish)

- oil on canvas  (69 x 57 cm)  1660

- National Gallery of Art  (Washington) 

Tulip Mania  

Johannes Vermeer  (1632–1675, Dutch)

A Woman Holding a Balance
- Johannes Vermeer
- oil on canvas  (42 × 38 cm)  1662-63
- National Gallery of Art  (Washington) 

The Milkmaid
- Johannes Vermeer
- oil on canvas  (45.5 x 41 cm)  c.1660
- Rijksmuseum  (Amsterdam) 

View of Delft
- Johannes Vermeer
- oil on canvas  (96 × 116 cm)  1660-61
- Mauritshuis  (The Hague) 

Delftware or Delft pottery, aka Delft Blue,

is a general term now used for Dutch tin-glazed earthenware. Most of it is blue and white pottery, and the city of Delft in the Netherlands was the major centre of production, but the term covers wares with other colours, and made elsewhere.

Window display of Delftware in the market place, Delft  

Frans Hals the Elder (c.1582–1666, Dutch)

“繪畫技巧：在當時如果油畫中筆觸明顯被認為是一種瑕疵，但Hals卻是使用這種技巧的大師。這種生動活潑的表現手法時常使畫面看起來粗枝大葉，致使人們以為Hals的作品皆是草率地幾筆描成 (德語：aus einem Guss)，不過研究表明這種印象並不是事實。大部分Hals的作品確實沒有事先的草稿或底色（'alla prima'），但仍存有顏料層次，符合當時的慣例。”

Willem Coymans
- Frans Hals
- oil on canvas  (77 x 64 cm)  1645
- National Gallery of Art  (Washington) 

Regentesses of the Old Men's Almshouse
- Frans Hals
- oil on canvas  (173 × 256 cm)  1664
- Frans Hals Museum  (Haarlem, Netherlands) 

Genre painting (scenes of everyday life)  & landscape

A Dutch Courtyard
- Pieter de Hooch  (1629-84, Dutch)
- oil on canvas  (69 x 60 cm)  c 1658-60
- National Gallery of Art  (Washington) 

Skittle Players outside an Inn
- Jan Steen  (1625/1626–1679, Dutch) 
- oil on oak  (33 x 27 cm)  1660-63
- National Gallery  (London) 

A Herdsman with Five Cows by the River
- Aelbert Cuyp  (1620–1691, Dutch)
- oil on oak  (45 x 74 cm)  c.1650
- National Gallery  (London) 

Forest Scene
- Jacob van Ruisdael  (1628/1629–1682, Dutch)
- oil on canvas  (105 x 123 cm)  c.1665
- National Gallery of Art  (Washington) 

Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede
- Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/1629–1682, Dutch)
- oil on canvas (83 × 101 cm) c.1670
- Museum on loan to Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam)  

The Avenue at Middelharnis
- Meindert Hobbema (1638–1709, Dutch)
- oil on canvas (104 × 141 cm) 1689
- National Gallery (London) 

Interior of the Church of St Bavo in Haarlem
- Pieter Jansz. Saenredam  (1597–1665, Dutch)
- oil on panel  (94 x 55 cm)  1636
- Rijksmuseum  (Amsterdam) 

The Hermit
- Gerrit Dou  (1613–1675, Dutch)
- oil on oak  (46 x 34.5 cm)  1670
- National Gallery of Art  (Washington) 

Prince William of Orange became William III of England

“William III (1650–1702), aka William of Orange, was
▪ sovereign Prince of Orange from birth,
▪ a Stadtholder in the Dutch Republic from the 1670s and
▪ King of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1689 until his death.
Popular histories usually refer to his joint reign with his wife, Queen Mary II, as that of William and Mary.”

Engraving of William III and Mary II, 1703

William and Mary were first cousins, as they were grandchildren of Charles I of England.

The Grand Tour  

..... was the 17th- and 18th-century custom of a traditional trip of Europe undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a chaperone, such as a family member) when they had come of age (about 21 years old).

Source: Wikipedia

Painting #121 - Baroque in Spain

Baroque in Spain

Jusepe de Ribera  (1591–1652, Spanish)

Apollo and Marsyas
- Jusepe de Ribera
- oil on canvas  (202 x 255 cm)  1637
- Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium  (Brussels) 

Diego Velázquez  (1599–1660, Spanish)

Las Meninas / The Maids of Honour
- Diego Velazquez
- oil on canvas  (318 × 276 cm)  1656-57
- Museo del Prado  (Madrid) 

The painting shows a large room in the Royal Alcazar of Madrid during the reign of King Philip IV (1605-1621-1665) of Spain. The young Infanta Margaret Theresa is surrounded by her entourage. The background mirror reflects the upper bodies of the king and queen. Velázquez also put himself inside the painting above, as the painter!

Christ Crucified
- Diego Velázquez
- oil on canvas  (248 x 169 cm)  c.1632
- Museo del Prado  (Madrid) 

Apollo in the Forge of Vulcan
- Diego Velázquez
- oil on canvas  (223 × 290 cm)  1630
- Museo del Prado  (Madrid) 

The painting depicts the moment when the god Apollo, identifiable by the crown of laurel on his head, visits Vulcan, who is found making weapons for war. The god Apollo tells Vulcan that his wife, Venus, is having an affair with Mars, the god of war. For this reason, the other figures in the room are looking in surprise at the god who has just appeared before them.

Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664, Spanish)

Known primarily for his religious paintings, and for his still-lifes, Zurbarán excelled in the forceful, realistic use of chiaroscuro (It: light dark).

Still-life with Lemons, Oranges and Rose
- Francisco de Zurbarán
- oil on canvas  (60 x 107 cm)  1633
- Norton Simon Museum  (Pasadena, CA) 

The Lying-in-State of St. Bonaventura
- Francisco Zurbarán
- oil on canvas  (250 x 225 cm)  1629-30
- Louvre  (Paris) 

The Body of St. Bonaventure in the Presence of Pope Gregory X and James I of Aragon.

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo 

(1617-1682, Spanish) 

The Holy Family with Dog
- Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
- oil on canvas  (144 x 188 cm)  c.1650
- Museo del Prado  (Madrid) 

The Immaculate Conception
- Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
- oil on canvas (206 × 144 cm) c.1660-65
- Museo del Prado (Royal Palace of Madrid) 

Two Women at a Window
- Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
- oil on canvas  (125 x 105 cm)  c.1670
- National Gallery of Art  (Washington)

Spanish Inquisition

The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition, commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition, was established in 1478 by Catholic monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile.

The burning of a 16th-century Dutch Anabaptist,
Anneken Hendriks, who was charged with heresy
- Jan Luyken  (1649–1712, Dutch)  1685

Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile also sponsored the first voyage of Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), in 1492.

The arrival of Christopher Columbus to America, 1492
Exploration of North America 

Source: Wikipedia

Painting #120 - Baroque in Flanders

Baroque in the Flanders 

Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640, Flemish Baroque)

The Descent from the Cross 

- Rubens 

- oil on panel  (420 × 320 cm)  1612-14

- Cathedral of Our Lady  (Antwerp)

The central panel of a triptych painting.

The Gerbier Family
- Rubens
- oil on wood  (166 x 178 cm)  c.1629/40
- National Gallery of Art  (Washington) 

The Apotheosis of Henri IV
and the Proclamation of the Regency of Marie de Médicis
- Rubens
- oil on canvas  (394 x 727 cm)  c.1622-25
- Louvre Museum  (Paris) 

[L] On the left, Jupiter and Saturn are shown welcoming the assassinated King of France, as he ascends as a personified Roman sovereign, victoriously to Olympus.

[R] The right side of the panel shows the succession of the new Queen, dressed in solemn clothing suited to a widow. She is framed by a triumphal arch and surrounded by people at the court. The Queen accepts an orb, a symbol of government, from the personification of France while the people kneel before her and this scene is a great example of the exaggeration of facts in the cycle. 

The above painting is among the following cycle:

The Marie de' Medici Cycle
 - Rubens
- Louvre  (Paris) 

The Marie de' Medici Cycle is a series of 24 paintings by Peter Paul Rubens commissioned by Marie de' Medici, widow of Henry IV of France, for the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. The paintings now hang in the Louvre in Paris.

The Judgement of Paris
- Rubens
- oil on panel  (145 x 194 cm)  c.1636
- National Gallery  (London) 

Greek mythology: aided by Venus, shepherd Paris (Prince of Troy actually) won the heart of Helen (Queen of Spectacus), who then deserted her family for Troy. The King of Spartacus waged the Trojan War.

Portrait of Marchesa Brigida Spinola-Doria
  - Rubens
- oil  (153 x 99 cm)  1606
- National Gallery of Art  (Washington) 

Jacob Jordaens  (1593–1678, Flemish)

The Four Evangelists
- Jacob Jordaens
- oil on canvas  (133 x 118 cm)  c.1625
- Louvre  (Paris) 

The Four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (the authors of the Gospels), are represented together engaged in study and discussion.

Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641, Flemish) 

Marchesa Elena Grimaldi Cattaneo
- Anthony van Dyck
- oil on canvas  (243 x 139 cm)  1623
- National Gallery of Art  (Washington)

Charles I at the Hunt
- van Dyck
- oil on canvas  (105 x 76 cm)  1635
- Louvre  (Paris) 

Charles I (1600–1625–1649), believing in the divine right of kings, was monarch of England, before he was beheaded. 

His son Charles II (1630-[1649-1651]-[1660-1685]) since refused to entitle the army 'Royal': today they have the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Forces. He ceded Dunkirk to France in 1662, as his restoration needed Louis XIV's support.

Source: Wikipefia