The Renaissance provided the tools of realist painting, but remained largely bound to religious and mythical motifs. Seventy years later, many new genres had appeared.
Golden Age
In 1579, 7 of the more northerly provinces in the Low Countries formed the Dutch Republic. That soon prospered from its international trade, and saw the creation of millions of paintings that changed European art.
Dramatic paintings of towns and cities on fire, usually at night, were popular during the Dutch Golden Age, and known as brandjes. Examples to well into the 19th century.
Examples of interiors by Gerard ter Borch, who liked open-ended narrative, Gabriël Metsu, Pieter de Hooch, and Jan Vermeer.
Ariadne, Mary Magdalene, a woman with a snake wound around her wrist, Medea after she had been abandoned by Jason, and the unusual story of Cydippe.
Some of his finest landscapes painted during the late 1650s. Then in 1658, he married, and within two years stopped painting completely.
His landscapes gained a rich Claudean light, as he painted ferries on the nearby River Maas, and cattle enjoying the cool water.
First of three articles to celebrate the 400th anniversary of this master of the Dutch Golden Age, who painted almost anything with aplomb.
From being a sub-genre of landscape painting in the Dutch Golden Age, to recording the catastrophic fire which destroyed most of Moscow when Napoleon occupied the city.
His later portraits and domestic genre paintings grew lighter, and gave insight into home life at the time. His portrayal of fabrics is outstanding.
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