Monday, July 31, 2017

Faces and Figures 1620s

Dirck van Baburen
Young Man Singing
1622
oil on canvas
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt

Dirck van Baburen
Youth with Jew's Harp
1621
oil on canvas
Centraal Museum, Utrecht

Dirck van Baburen
Lute Player
1622
oil on canvas
Centraal Museum, Utrecht

My lute, be as thou wast when thou didst grow
With thy green mother in some shady grove,
When immelodious winds but made thee move,
And birds on thee their ramage did bestow.
Sith that dear voice which did thy sounds approve,
Which used in such harmonious strains to flow,
Is reft from Earth to tune those spheres above,
What art thou but a harbinger of woe?
Thy pleasing notes be pleasing notes no more,
But orphan wailings to the fainting ear.
Each stop a sigh, each sound draws forth a tear:
Be therefore silent as in woods before;
     Or if that any hand to touch thee deign,
     Like widowed turtle, still her loss complain.

– sonnet by William Drummond of Hawthornden (ca. 1614)

Abraham Bloemaert
Flute Player
1621
oil on canvas
Centraal Museum, Utrecht

Frans Hals
Singing Boy with Flute
ca. 1623
oil on canvas
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin

Hendrick ter Brugghen
Bagpipe Player
1624
oil on canvas
National Gallery, London

Frans Hals
St John the Evangelist
ca. 1625-28
oil on canvas
Getty Museum, Los Angeles

This life which seems so fair
Is like a bubble blown up in the air
By sporting children's breath,
Who chase it everywhere,
And strive who can most motion it bequeath:
And though it sometime seem of its own might,
Like to an eye of gold, to be fixed there,
And firm to hover in that empty height,
That only is because it is so light.
But in that pomp it doth not long appear;
     For even when most admired, it in a thought,
     As swelled from nothing, doth dissolve in nought.

– madrigal by William Drummond of Hawthornden (ca. 1614)

Gerrit van Honthorst
The Procuress
1625
oil on canvas
Centraal Museum, Utrecht

Thomas de Keyser
Syndics of the Amsterdam Goldsmiths' Guild
1627
oil on canvas
Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio

Hendrick ter Brugghen
Rich Man and Poor Lazarus
1625
oil on canvas
Centraal Museum, Utrecht

Hendrick ter Brugghen
Calling of St Matthew
1620
oil on canvas
Musée d'art moderne André Malraux, Le Havre

Hendrick ter Brugghen
Calling of St Matthew
1621
oil on canvas
Centraal Museum, Utrecht

Valentin de Boulogne
Christ and the woman taken in adultery
1620s
oil on canvas
Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Pieter Lastman
Jonah and the Whale
1621
oil on panel
Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf

Of Many Worlds in This World

Just like unto a nest of boxes round,
Degrees of sizes within each box are found,
So in this world may many worlds more be,
Thinner, and less, and less still by degree;
Although they are not subject to our sense,
A world may be no bigger than twopence.
Nature is curious, and such work may make
That our dull sense can never find, but scape.
For creatures small as atoms may be there,
If every atom a creature's figure bear.
If four atoms a world can make, then see
What several worlds might in an ear-ring be.
For millions of these atoms may be in
The head of one small, little, single pin.
And if thus small, then ladies well may wear
A world of worlds as pendents in each ear.

– Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle (1653)

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Portraits 1620s

Paul van Somer
Portrait of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
before 1621
oil on panel
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Michiel van Miereveld
Portrait of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
1625-26
oil on panel
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

Peter Paul Rubens
Equestrian portrait of the Duke of Buckingham
1625
oil on panel (modello)
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

Three portraits above of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1592-1628). Two portraits below of James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606-1649). Both owed their eminence and power to the charm they exerted as personal favorites of King James I of England (1566-1625). In 1622 at age 16 Hamilton had married Buckingham's niece, cementing an already strong position at court. After the death of the old king in 1625, Charles I continued and even increased his father's extreme favor toward both courtiers. But then only three years later Buckingham was assassinated. That left Hamilton as dominating favorite for the rest of the reign, in spite of his obvious military and political incompetence. Like the king, he was beheaded by Cromwell's people in 1649.

Daniel Mytens
Portrait of James Hamilton at age 17, later 1st Duke of Hamilton
1623
oil on canvas
Tate Britain

Daniel Mytens
Portrait of James Hamilton, later 1st Duke of Hamilton
1629
oil on canvas
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh

Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen
Portrait of a lady thought to be Catherine Fenn
1623
oil on panel
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

Cornelis de Vos
Portrait of Mother and Child
1624
oil on panel
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Joachim Wtewael
Portrait of Eva Wtewael
1628
oil on panel
Centraal Museum, Utrecht

Frans Pourbus the Younger
Portrait of a Man
before 1622
oil on canvas
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

Anthony van Dyck
Portrait of Emmanuel-Philibert of Savoy, Prince of Oneglia
1624
oil on canvas
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London

attributed to Anthony van Dyck after Peter Paul Rubens
Posthumous Equestrian Portrait of Emperor Charles V
ca. 1620
oil on canvas
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Anthony van Dyck
Portrait of Married Couple
ca. 1620
oil on canvas
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

Peter Paul Rubens
Portrait of Matthaeus Yrsselius, Abbot of Sint Michiel's Abbey in Antwerp
ca. 1624
oil on panel
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

Peter Paul Rubens
Entry of Henri IV into Paris
ca. 1627-30
oil on canvas (modello)
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Saturday, July 29, 2017

European Drawings 1610-1620

Abraham Bloemaert
Four Evangelists writing Gospels around a table
ca. 1612-15
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

The Wax Image of the Archangel

The invisible Archangel, though without a body
has been given a shape by wax of great daring.
How wonderful, for a mortal gazing at this image
raises his soul to a higher plane.

The mortal's awe and reverence no longer waver.
He carves into himself the Archangel's image,
trembling as if in the angelic presence.
Man's eyes inspire the depths of his mind, and art
through its colors embodies the prayer of the soul.

– Agathia Scholasticus (ca. AD 532-580), translated by Peter Constantine and published in The Greek Poets (New York: Norton, 2010)

Federico Barocci
Landscape with bank and trees
before 1612
drawing, watercolor
British Museum

Federico Barocci
Adoration of the Magi
before 1612
drawing
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Peter Paul Rubens
Saddled Horse
ca. 1615-18
drawing
Albertina, Vienna

Cesare Nebbia
"Suffer the little children to come unto me"
before 1614
drawing
British Museum

Isaac Oliver
Two Classical Figures
before 1617
drawing
Morgan Library, New York

Anonymous artist working in Rome
Model, half-length, hand behind back
ca. 1600-1615
drawing on blue paper
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

This story is not true,
you did not sail in full-decked ships
nor reach the towers of Troy.

– Stesichorus (ca. 600-550 BC), translated by Diane Rayor and published in The Greek Poets (New York: Norton, 2010)

Cherubino Alberti
Studies of three nudes
before 1615
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Anonymous artist working in Bologna
Landscape with Well
ca. 1616-20
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Anonymous artist working in Bologna
Landscape with Tree and House
ca. 1616-20
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Antonio Tempesta
Battle of Horsemen
ca. 1610-15
wash drawing
British Museum

In a golden urn they put the bones
shrouding the urn with veiling of soft purple.
Then in a grave dug deep they placed it
and heaped it with great stones. The men were quick
to raise the death-mound, while in every quarter
lookouts were posted to ensure against
an Akhaian surprise attack. When they had finished
raising the barrow, they returned to Ilion,
where all sat down to banquet in his honor
in the hall of Priam king. So they performed
the funeral rites of Hektor, tamer of horses. 

– Homer (second half of eighth century BC), from the Iliad, Book 24, translated by Robert Fitzgerald

Domenichino
Head of young woman
ca. 1612-15
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

Domenichino
Head of bearded old man
ca. 1613-15
drawing
Teylers Museum, Haarlem

follower of Annibale Carracci
Monk receiving Habit
ca. 1610
drawing
British Museum

Sisto Badalocchio
Study of Kneeling Woman for an Entombment
ca. 1618
drawing
British Museum

Friday, July 28, 2017

European Paintings 1610-1620

Orazio Gentileschi
Virgin with sleeping Christ Child
ca. 1610
oil on canvas
Harvard Art Museums

Pieter Lastman
The Resurrection
1612
oil on panel
Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Pieter Lastman
Orestes and Pylades disputing at the altar
1614
oil on panel
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Pieter Lastman
The Angel and Tobias with the Fish
ca. 1610-20
oil on panel
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

"Then the child went out, and the angel with him, and the dog went out with him and walked with them.  And they both walked, and the first night came upon them, and they camped by the Tigris river.  Then the child went down to wash his feet in the Tigris River.  And a large fish, leaping up from the water, wanted to swallow the foot of the young man, and he cried out.  Then the angel said to the young man, "Take hold of the fish, and hang on!"  So the child seized the fish and carried it up onto the land.  Then the angel said to him, "Rip open the fish, and take out its gall and heart and liver, and put them aside for you, but the entrails throw away.  For its gall and heart and liver are useful in medicine."  So cutting open the fish, the young man gathered together the gall and heart and liver; then he roasted and ate some of the fish and kept some of it salted.

"And the two walked together until they drew near to Media.  And then the young man asked the angel and said to him, "Brother Azarias, what is the medicine in the fish's heart and liver and in the gall?"  And he said to him, "As for the fish's heart and liver, burn them to smoke in the presence of a man or woman afflicted by a demon or evil spirit, and every affliction will flee away from him, and will not remain with him any longer.  And as for the gall, anoint a person's eyes on which white films have come up; blow upon them, upon the white films, and they will be healed."

– from the Book of Tobit, in A New English Translation of the Septuagint (Oxford University Press, 2007)

Robert Peake the Elder
Portrait of Lady Elizabeth Pope
ca. 1615
oil on panel
Tate Britain

Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger
Portrait of a lady
ca. 1615-18
oil on panel
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London

Paul van Somer
Portrait of a young girl
ca. 1615
oil on panel
Yale Center for British Art

Peter Paul Rubens
Judgement of Solomon
1616-17
oil on panel
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

"Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.  And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house; and it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.  And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.  And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.  And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.  And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son.  And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son.  Thus they spake before the king.  Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.  And the king said, Bring me a sword.  And they brought a sword before the king.  And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.  Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it.  But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.  Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.  And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment."

– from I Kings, chapter 3, Authorized Version (1611)

Peter Paul Rubens
Miracles of St Francis Xavier
1616-17
oil on panel (modello for altarpiece)
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Peter Paul Rubens
St Sebastian
ca. 1618
oil on canvas
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin

Peter Paul Rubens
Assumption of the Virgin
ca. 1616-18
oil on panel
Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf

Pedro Orrente
Sacrifice of Isaac
ca. 1616
oil on canvas
Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao

Jacob Jordaens
The Tribute Money
(Peter finding the silver coin in the mouth of the fish)

ca. 1616
oil on canvas
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

Abraham Bloemaert
Four Evangelists writing Gospels around a table
ca. 1612-15
oil on canvas
Princeton University Art Museum