Supper at Emmaus
- Caravaggio
- oil on canvas (140 × 196 cm) 1601
- National Gallery (London)
Having been told the disappearance of Jesus's corpse from his grave, his disciples were overjoyed to see Jesus again in person. (Caravaggio included himself as the figure on the top left.)
Death of the Virgin
- Caravaggio
- oil on canvas (369 × 245 cm) 1601–1606
- Louvre (Paris)
The nuns of the sponsoring convent returned this painting because the event was not depicted as holy and graceful as always expected.
Crucifixion of St. Peter
- Caravaggio
- oil on canvas (230 x 51 cm) 1600
- Santa Maria del Popolo (Rome)
Saint Peter (c.1-64/68), one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, is traditionally counted as the first bishop of Rome (or pope). He was crucified in Rome under Emperor Nero.
Domine quo vadis?
- Annibale Carracci
- oil on canvas (77 x 56 cm) 1602
- National Gallery (London)
'Christ appearing to Saint Peter on the Appian Way:
Peter is depicted fleeing from Rome to avoid crucifixion and has a vision of meeting Christ bearing his Cross. Peter asks Jesus "Domine quo vadis? / God, where are you going?" to which he replies, "Romam vado iterum crucifigi / I'm going to Rome to be crucified". Peter returns to Rome after this vision.'
Susanna and the Elders
- Guido Reni
- oil on canvas (117 x 150 cm) 1600-42
- National Gallery (London)
A fair Hebrew wife named Susanna is falsely accused by lecherous voyeurs. As she bathes in her garden, having sent her attendants away, two lustful elders peep. When she makes her way back to her house, they proposition her, threatening to claim that she was meeting a young man in the garden otherwise. She refuses to be blackmailed and is arrested and about to be put to death for promiscuity .....
The Abduction of Deianira by Centaur Nessus - Guido Reni - oil on canvas (239 x 193 cm) 1617-19 - Louvre (Paris)
After carrying Deianeira, the wife of Heracles, across the river, Nessus attempted to force himself upon her. Heracles saw this from across the river and shot a Hydra-poisoned arrow into Nessus's breast.....
Jesus straightened up and said to them, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.....
Carlo Moderno (1566-1623), the most successful architect then, designed in 1603 the façade of St. Peter's Basilica:
Model of Early Baroque Architecture
Francesco Borromini (1599-1667, Italian architect) built a number of chapels, including The church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane:
San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
(Saint Charles at the Four Fountains)
aka San Carlino
(20 x 12 m)
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680, Italian sculptor, painter, architect) created the piazza leading to St Peter's. The creation extended the symbolic greatness of the Vatican area.
The two massive semi-circular colonnades（柱廊）formed a spectacular oval-shaped arena within which gathering visitors could witness the appearance of the pope.
Bernini is also credited with creating the Baroque style of sculpture.
St. Peter's baldachin / 教堂祭壇上的織錦華蓋
- Bernini
- bronze sculpture (20 m) 1623-34
- St. Peter's Basilica (Vatican City)
Ecstasy of Saint Teresa
- Bernini
- marble (life-size, 350 cm) 1647-52
- Santa Maria della Vittoria (Rome)
Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers)
- Bernini (designer) 1651
- Piazza Navona (Rome)
Pure landscape subjects in painting and printmaking were first produced by Albrecht Altdorfer and others of the German Danube School in the early 16th century.
Landscape of Danube near Regensburg * - Albrecht Altdorfer (1480–1538, German) - color on vellum/beech wood (31 x 22 cm) c.1528/30 - Alte Pinakothek (Maxvorstadt, Germany)
Christ says farewell to his mother Mary, often blessing her, before leaving for his final journey to Jerusalem, which he knows will lead to his Passion and death.
At the same time Joachim Patinir in the Netherlands developed the "world landscape", a style of panoramic landscape with small figures and using a high aerial viewpoint, that remained influential for a century.
"Charon transports the souls of the dead down the river Styx, one of the underworld rivers. The passenger in the boat is a human soul deciding between Heaven, to his right, or Hell, to his left. One of the gates to hell is guarded by a three-headed dog. The soul in the boat ultimately chooses his destiny by looking toward Hell and ignoring the angel on the river-bank in Paradise that beckons him to the more difficult path."
- full name "Miserere mei, Deus" / "Have mercy on me, O God"
- a setting of Psalm 51 (50)
- written for two choirs: SSATB and SATB
- an example of Renaissance polyphony surviving to the present day: one choir sings a simple version of the original Miserere chant; the other, spatially separated, sings an ornamented "commentary" on the former.
Portrait of a Merchant - Jan Gossaert (c.1478–1532, Netherlandish) - oil on panel (64 x 48 cm) c.1530 - National Gallery of Art (Washington)
Danae
- Jan Gossaert
- oil tempera on oak panel (114 x 95 cm) 1527
- Alte Pinakothek (Maxvorstadt, Germany)
St Luke Painting the Madonna
- Jan Gossaert
- oil on oak wood (110 × 82 cm) 1520
- Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna)
French Renaissance
François I, King of France - Jean Clouet (1480–1541, French) - oil on panel (96 x 74 cm) c.1530 - Louvre (Paris)
François I (1494-1515-1547) started the arts collections at Louvre. A prodigal patron of the arts, he initiated the French Renaissance by attracting many Italian artists to work on the Château de Chambord, including Leonardo da Vinci, who brought the Mona Lisa with him, which Francis had acquired.
The Ecole de Fontainebleau refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late Renaissance centered around the royal Château de Fontainebleau, that were crucial in forming the French version of Northern Mannerism.
The Abduction of Helen
- Francesco Primaticcio (1504–1570, Italian) at Fontainebleau
- oil on canvas (155 x 188 cm) 1530/39
- Bowes Museum (Barnard Castle, UK)
“In western painting, the journey of Helen (King Sparta's queen) to Troy is usually depicted as a forced abduction by Paris (a prince of Troy). The Rape of Helen by Francesco Primaticcio is representative of this tradition.
“In Guido Reni's homonymous painting (1631, Louvre, Paris), however, (handsome) Paris holds (pretty) Helen by her wrist, and leave together for Troia.”
The Love of Helen and Paris
- Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825, French)
- oil on canvas (181 x 146 cm) 1788
- Louvre (Paris)
Netherlands Mannerism
The Judgement of Paris
(with the wedding feast of the gods in the background)
- Joachim Wtewael (1566–1638, Dutch)
- oil on oak (60 x 79 cm) 1615
- National Gallery (London)
The Judgement of Paris is a story from Greek mythology, in which Paris had to judge which of the three beautiful women in front of him was the most beautiful.
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.
Vulcanus and Maia
- Bartholomeus Spranger (1546-1611, Flemish)
- oil (23 x 18 cm) c.1590
- Kunsthistorisches Museum (Weep)
Allegory of the Seven Liberal Arts
- Maerten de Vos (1532–1603, Flemish)
- oil on oak panel (147 x 200 cm) 1590
- Private collection
During the Middle Ages, the liberal arts were central to university education. The seven liberal arts were taught in two groups: the trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) and then the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music).
Reformation
Jean Calvin at fifty-three years old
- René Boyvin (1525?-1598?) 1562
- Bibliothèque de Genève
John Calvin (1509–1564, French) was a theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism.
Portrait of Catherine de' Medici
- François Clouet
- watercolor on vellum/cardboard (miniature) c.1555
- Victoria and Albert Museum (London)
▪ [1547-1559]: queen consort of King Henry II (1519-1547-1559) France, by marriage, and
▪ [1559-1589]: Queen mother of kings Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III.
The years during which her sons reigned have been called "the age of Catherine de' Medici" as she had extensive, if at times varying, influence in the political life of France.
She came to be blamed for the excessive persecutions carried out under her sons' rule, in particular for the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572, in which thousands of Huguenotswere killed in Paris and throughout France.
“In this woodcut, we see Protestant propaganda contrasting the sermon – verbal communication – with the material practice of Catholic devotion..... While Protestants prayed with books and pamphlets, Catholic would rely on the rosary, saints, and images.” Media & Religion
Evangelical and Catholic Sermon, 1529 - George Pencz (c.1500-1550, German painter and engraver) - Hans Sachs (1494-1576, German supporter of Protestant Reformation)
Eventually, both sides reach an agreement: a state will follow the faith of its monarch.
“The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps.
“Before 1497, Italian Renaissance humanism had little influence outside Italy. From the late 15th century, its ideas spread around Europe. This influenced the German, French, English, Low Countries, Polish; Renaissance and other national and localized movements, each with different characteristics and strengths.”
The Nymph of the Spring
- Lucas Cranach the Elder
- oil on lime (48 × 73 cm) after 1537
- National Gallery of Art (Washington)
A Princess of Saxony
- Lucas Cranach the Elder
- oil on panel (43 x 34 cm) c.1517
- National Gallery of Art (Washington)
Portrait of a Saxon Princess (possibly George of Saxony's daughter-in-law Elizabeth of Hesse)
The Crucifixion with the Converted Centurion
- Lucas Cranach the Elder
- oil on panel (51 x 35 cm) 1536
- National Gallery of Art (Washington)
Martin Luther (1483–1546)
- Lucas Cranach the Elder
- oil on wood (33.3 x 23.2 cm) c.1532
- Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC)
Frederick III, the Wise, Elector of Saxony
- Lucas Cranach the Elder
- oil on panel (80 x 49 cm) c.1523
- Palais Liechtenstein (Vienna)
“Frederick III (1463–1525) is notable as being one of the most powerful early defenders of Martin Luther. He successfully protected Luther from the Holy Roman Emperor, the Pope and other hostile figures. He was not led by religious conviction, but rather by his personal belief in a fair trial for any of his subjects (a privilege guaranteed by the imperial statutory law) and the rule of law.
“The elector had little personal contact with Luther himself. Frederick's treasurer Degenhart Pfaffinger (Pfaffinger being a German dynasty) spoke on his behalf to Luther. Pfaffinger had supported Frederick since their pilgrimage to the holy land together.
“Frederick is considered to have remained a Roman Catholic all his life, yet gradually inclining toward doctrines of the Reformation and supposedly converting on his deathbed.
“.....He succeeded his father as elector in 1486; in 1502, he founded the University of Wittenberg, where Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon taught.”
Christina of Denmark, Duchess of Milan
(in mourning clothes)
- Hans Holbein the Younger
- oil on oak (79 x 83 cm) 1538, Brussels
- National Gallery (London)
Portrait of Astronomer Nicholas Kratzer
- Hans Holbein the Younger
- oil on panel (82 x 65 cm) 1528
- National Portrait Gallery (London)
Nicholas Kratzer (1487? – 1550) was a German mathematician, astronomer, and horologist. Much of Kratzer's professional life was spent in England, where he was appointed as astronomer and clock maker to King Henry VIII.
The Artist's Family
- Hans Holbein the Younger
- oil & tempera on paper mounted on wood (77 x 64 cm) c.1528/29
- Museums in Basel (Switzerland)
Portrait of Sir Brian Tuke
- Hans Holbein the Younger
- oil on oak (49 × 39 cm) c.1527
- National Gallery of Art (Washington)
“Sir Brian Tuke (c. 1475–1547) was Henry VIII's Master of the Posts from 1517 and Treasurer of the Chamber from 1528. He was also a scholar, who edited an edition of Chaucer with a title-page after Holbein, and a collector of paintings.”
Portrait Miniature of Margaret Roper (1505–1544)
- Hans Holbein the Younger,
- gouache on vellum/cardboard (dia. 4.5 cm) c.1535–36
- Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC)
A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolor, or enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, and were popular among 16th-century elites, mainly in England and France, and spread out.
English goldsmith and limner best known for his portrait miniatures of members of the courts of Elizabeth I and James I of England. He mostly painted small oval miniatures, but also some larger cabinet miniatures, up to about ten inches tall, and at least two famous half-length panel portraits of Elizabeth.
He enjoyed continuing success as an artist, for forty-five years. His paintings still exemplify the visual image of Elizabethan England, very different from that of most of Europe in the late sixteenth century.
Portrait of Elizabeth I, Queen of England
- Nicholas Hilliard
- watercolor on parchment/cardboard (4.5 x 3.8 cm) 1587
- National Portrait Gallery (London)
Elizabeth I (1533-1558-1603) was Queen of England and Ireland. She was the last of the five monarchs of the House of Tudor. She survived smallpox, and for the rest of her life she put on heavy makeup and wig.
Portrait of James I, King of England
- Nicholas Hilliard
- watercolor on parchment/cardboard (5.4 x 4.1 cm) 1603-09
- Victoria and Albert Museum (London)
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 1566–1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns from 1603 until his death in 1625.
The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciaries, and laws, though both were ruled by James in personal union.
