Flemish art of the 15th - 17th century has always fascinated art lovers all around the world, marking a change in the history of painting. It was a time when names such as Bruegel, Rubens, Van Dyck became famous all around Europe, a time of development and evollution of the art language, techniques and themes. The Royal Collection in Dinburgh, Scotland, is hosting starting on September 28 2007 an exhibition dedicated to this age in the history of painting, titled "Bruegel to Rubens: Masters of Flemish Painting". The curators will bring together 51 masterpieces, presenting the Flemish art in the 15th - 17th century, signed by important artists such as Hans Memling, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Jan Brueghel, Van Dyck or Rubens. The show is much more than a simple presentation, as it brings to life one of the most important and prolific times in the history of the Netherlands.
The 15th century marked a great period in the history of the Netherlands, managing to achieve a level of wealth hard to be matched by other European countries. Yet the Eighty Years War against Spain, in 1568 - 1648 destroyed much of the region's wealth and industries. Yet, a new powerfull and artistic force appeared and developped in the Southern part of the region, ruled by the Spanish, despite the time of war and clashes. These artists worked and learned in times of war and continued to improve and produce new masterpieces especially when the struggle was over.
The artistic center of that time was without a doubt Antwerp, with a strong middle class - who supported and encouraged artists -, a great number of highly skilled luxury manufacturers and most important a great number of artists. In a place where the accent was placed upon humanist learning, artists found a great medium to learn from eachother, to trade techniques and ideas and share studios. Other than the historical scenes, the painters of the 16th century were drawn especially to portraits, many of them being commisions from the rich and powerful of the day. Some new techniques were introduced and spread throughout the artistic community and painters enjoyed liberty and success.
One of the new, popular and recurring themes in Flemish art at that time was taking a story from Ancient history or mythology and retelling it in contemporary surroundings and costumes. Hans Vredeman de Vries for example did such a composition, narating the story of Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, this time in a beautifully detailed interior of a rich house in Antwerp. Pieter Bruegel the Elder finished the now famous Massacre of the Innocents, which this time took place in a Flemish village, covered with show.
But the best genre and the most popular was the landscape painting, and the artists of the Netherlands were considered the best in the whole Europe. The same Pieter Brueghel was the first to use the ideal panoramic landscape, used aas background for various scenes, from Biblical stories to legends.
The main influence at that time on Flemish artists came from Rome, as many of them travelled there, where they lived and worked under the precious patronage of the Catholic Church. The curators of the exhibition have included several religious compositions, influenced by the Italian Renaissance and especially by the study of classical art, such as the Assumption of the Virgin by Dionys Calvaert and Rubens or the Marten van Heemskerck composition The Four Last Things.
The core of the exibition is the selection of paintings created at the time of the reign of Archduke Albert and his wife, the Infanta Isabella, regents of the Spanish crown from 1598 until 1633. Van Dyck, Rubens, David Teniers were among the master painters who produced several portraits, landscapes, peasant scenes and mythologycal compositions, with great success and talent.
2007-07-27
