The brisk church building of the 17th century in Flanders led to massive orders for altars, tabernacles, tombstones, statues of saints, pulpits, confessionals and other decorative sculpture of the temple, which are excellent examples of art, sculpture and craft at the same time. In the first half of the 17th century, echoes of the Gothic and Renaissance traditions of the Dutch 16th century still continued to exist, and under the influence of the work of Rubens, baroque trends began to appear here. Many sculptures traveled to Italy and lived there for a long time, but they assimilated Baroque principles as if through the prism of the national tradition of stone and wood carving.
The largest Flemish sculptor of the 17th century was François Duquesnoy, who for many years Under the nickname “Flemish” he lived in Italy, creating his strongest works here.
In Rome, Duquesnoy acted as one of Bernini's rivals, and also collaborated with him in the Cathedral of St. Petra. However, the nature of his work differs somewhat from the spectacular works of the Italian. They have more sincerity and sincerity of feeling; he never fell into the extremes of the Baroque style. What saved him from this was his deep desire for truth and his thoroughly assimilated heritage of the ancient masters. Francois Duquesnoy returned to his homeland at the age of twenty-two, taking away the strongest impressions from his acquaintance with Rubens and his art.
Adonis Duquesnoy
In Flanders, Duquesnoy created a large number of works, but his role for Flemish sculpture was very great not only for this. He discovered the ancient plastic arts and sculpture of Bernini for Flemish sculptors. From his workshop came the most important and gifted sculptors of mid-century Flanders - Art Quellin, Duquesnoy and others.
St. Susanna
St. Andrew in the Cathedral of St. Petra
Duquesnoy's student Art Quellin the Younger was an unusually prolific and versatile master. After his trip to Italy in 1650, Quellin, who by that time had become the most famous sculptor in Flanders, received a grandiose commission. He was asked to perform for the facades and hall of the newly built Amsterdam City Hall huge amount statues and reliefs on allegorical subjects. Particularly famous are his caryatids and the relief “Judgment of Solomon” in the tribunal hall. In addition, Quellin created portraits, which, especially in his later work, are distinguished by their depth and psychologism of characterization, as well as tombstones and other decorative church sculpture.
Mercury Arthus Quellin Jr.
Samson and Delilah Quellin Jr.
Katharina Hooft
Picturesque tendencies were embodied in the work of Lucas Feidherbe, an architect and sculptor, a student of Peter Rubens. According to his design, a church was built in Louvain, for which he also created decorative reliefs. Thanks to the complex dynamic compositions of multi-figure full movement with the illusion of spatial depth, Faidherbe's reliefs can be called real paintings in stone.
The craft developed greatly in the 17th century. The products of the Flemish masters were then famous throughout Europe. Furniture inlaid with ivory and various types of wood, lace and especially tapestries, created in Flanders, could be seen in every corner of Europe in the 17th century.
Yu.D. Kolpinsky (introduction and section on Rubens); T.P. Kaptereva
Division of the Netherlands into Flanders ( From the 17th century Flanders meant not only Flanders proper, the richest region of the southern Netherlands, but also the entire southern Netherlands as a whole.) and Holland was due to the development of the Dutch bourgeois revolution. The feudal nobility of Flanders, together with the local big bourgeoisie, frightened by the scale of the popular revolutionary movement, compromised with the Spanish Habsburgs and betrayed the revolution. The Union of Arras of 1579 was an expression of this compromise; she secured the protectorate of the Spanish monarchy over the southern provinces. The nobility and Catholic clergy of Flanders were grouped around the Spanish governors. At the cost of betraying national interests, the nobility managed to preserve a number of its class privileges, and the Flemish big bourgeoisie, buying up lands and acquiring noble titles, itself turned into a kind of landed aristocracy. Catholicism retained its dominant position in the country.
The development of bourgeois relations, if not completely suspended, nevertheless slowed down significantly. A number of important industries suffered significant damage. The largest city in Flanders, Antwerp, after its defeat in 1576 by Spanish troops, lost its former significance as a center of world trade and money market. Nevertheless, during the first half of the 17th century. The country, which had recovered from war devastation, experienced some economic recovery.
In conditions of the victory of the absolutist-noble forces, the bourgeoisie was forced to invest in the land part of the capital that did not find application in the field of industry. Along with agriculture, some new industries (silk weaving, lace, glass) also developed well. Despite the fact that this rise was limited and temporary and occurred in an environment of decline in the political activity of the nation, it still could not help but have an impact on the evolution of culture. But even more important for the latter was the fact that the Dutch revolution, even having been defeated in Flanders, awakened inexhaustible forces among the people, the impact of which is clearly felt in Flemish artistic culture.
In the 17th century progressive social trends in Flanders were embodied mainly in the field of art, where they were expressed without entering into open contradiction with the dominant system and the dominant ideology.
The heyday of Flemish art covers the first half of the 17th century. It was at this time that the remarkable Flemish art school took shape, which occupied an outstanding place in the history of European culture and produced such masters as Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordanes, Snyders, Brouwer.
Orders for palaces, temples and various corporations, especially in the first half of the century, contributed to the widespread dissemination of monumental and decorative trends in painting. It was in painting that the progressive features of Flemish culture were most fully expressed: realism, nationalism, bright cheerfulness, solemn festivity of images.
In Flanders, the officially dominant art was Baroque. Moreover, it was Flanders, along with Italy, that appeared in the first half of the 17th century. one of the main centers of formation of the Baroque movement in art. However, the Flemish Baroque differed significantly from the Italian in many ways. The art of Rubens, Jordanes, Snyders and other masters in elevated and solemn forms reflected the spirit of life-affirming optimism generated by the vital forces of Flemish society. It was precisely this feature of the development of the Baroque in Flanders, expressed in the art of Rubens, that made it possible to develop realistic features within the framework of the Baroque system itself, and, moreover, to a much greater extent than was possible in Italy.
The period of relative growth in Flanders ends around the middle of the 17th century. Under the yoke of Spanish absolutism, the Flemish economy declines. The social and cultural life of Flanders is becoming increasingly stagnant and conservative.
The establishment of the Spanish protectorate and the preservation of Catholicism as the dominant religion caused Flemish religious architecture in the 17th century. the spread of forms of Roman Baroque, promoted by the Jesuits. The prototype of some early Flemish church buildings was the Gesu Church in Rome (the Jesuit church of 1606-1616 in Brussels by J. Francard, which has not survived to this day, the Church of St. Charles Borromean in Antwerp by P. Heysens, 1614-1621). However, soon the architects of Flanders were able to create an original version of Baroque based on local traditions. It is distinguished not so much by the sophistication and originality of planning and volumetric-spatial solutions, but by the general spirit of solemn and festive decorativeness, which found its most complete expression in the facades of buildings. Among the best works of architecture of the second half of the century one can name the Church of St. Michael in Louvain (1650-1666) by G. Hesius and the Brussels Church of John the Baptist of the Order of the Beguines (1657-1676). Its author, Lucas Feidherbe from Malin (1617-1697), one of the most famous Flemish architects and sculptors of the 17th century, used here an original facade solution in the form of three pediments, of which the central one dominates the side ones. Triple and double pilasters, columns, volutes, broken pediments and various decorative motifs. Faidherbe managed to knit together the individual elements of this elegant building, characterized by a complex and whimsical silhouette.
The greatest interest is in the architecture of 17th century Flanders. represents, however, not cultic, but secular construction, in which local traditions that had developed over centuries could be more fully and clearly manifested. They were so strong and vital that even the authority of Rubens, whose influence in many areas of the artistic life of Flanders was decisive, was powerless in front of them. While in Italy, Rubens visited Genoa, where he became fascinated by the magnificent works of architecture of the 16th century. Upon his return to his homeland, the architectural sketches he completed were engraved by Nicholas Rijkemans and formed the two-volume book “Palaces of Genoa” published in 1622 in Antwerp. The study of Genoese architecture had for Rubens not only cognitive interest. A man of enormous creative activity, he dreamed of a radical transformation of Flemish architecture. The Genoese palazzo, in his opinion, was to become a model for the new secular architecture of Flanders.
However, the type of monumental palace did not develop on Flemish soil. In the Italian spirit it was created in 1611-1618. only a single work is Rubens's own house in Antwerp. The small ensemble, which included a number of buildings with painted facades, entrance gates and a garden with a pavilion, subsequently passed from owner to owner, and underwent significant reconstruction. In 1937, major work began on its restoration, completed in 1947.
Even now, despite the fact that in its present form Rubens’ house is largely the result of reconstruction, one can feel the exciting appeal of the great artist’s home, in which the homely comfort of Dutch interiors is combined with the solemnity of the volumetric-spatial composition of an Italian palazzo. The architectural ideals that inspired Rubens were uniquely reflected in the design of the best preserved parts - the main entrance gate in the form of a three-span triumphal arch, richly decorated with rustication, sculptural decoration and topped with an elegant balustrade, as well as in a small elegant garden pavilion.
Rubens's house represents something of an exception in the general picture of the development of Flemish secular architecture of the 17th century. As in previous centuries, the type of multi-storey (up to five floors) house with a narrow façade of three or four axes and a high pediment, which arose in the Netherlands back in the Middle Ages, was dominant in Flanders. Contacting the side blank walls, the buildings faced the street with facades that formed a continuous street building.
The evolution of residential architecture of the 17th century. in Flanders it followed mainly the path of creating new forms of architectural and decorative design for facades in tune with the era. The strict lines of triangular or stepped pediments gave way to more complex and bizarre baroque outlines, the surface of the facades was richly decorated with pilasters, columns, caryatids, statues, bas-reliefs and ornaments.
Unfortunately, not all beautiful monuments of Flemish architecture of the 17th century are. have reached our days. Frequent fires and a particularly fierce shelling of Brussels by French troops in 1695 destroyed many of them. After the shelling, in 1696-1720. Under the leadership of the architect Guillaume de Bruyne (1649-1719), the Brussels Grand Place was restored - one of the remarkable squares in Europe, which allows one to judge the character of the urban ensemble that has developed in Flanders.
The center of the old city - the Grand Place - is a rectangular square with sides 110 X 68 m. The continuous perimeter development, interrupted only by the exits of narrow and inconspicuous streets leading to the square, gives the ensemble the impression of strict isolation. Located on the southern side of the square, the famous town hall of the 15th century, standing out for its scale and the beauty of its forms, largely subjugates the entire variety of architectural forms of the other buildings that form an artistic unity with it, despite the fact that the architectural complex of the square is sometimes made up of quite heterogeneous buildings Thus, its entire eastern side was occupied by the palace of the Duke of Brabant - a building erected in 1698 by Guillaume de Bruyne, which united six old guild houses with its extensive façade. But this structure, almost classical in its forms, does not seem alien here. The feeling of the ensemble suggested to the craftsmen who created the Grand Place the need to contrast the town hall on the northern side of the square with the elegant building of the grain market with an openwork arcade, skillfully stylized in consonant forms, better known as the House of the King. But nothing enlivens the area more than the tall houses of workshops and corporations, the best of which are built on the western side. With amazing ingenuity, these multi-storey narrow facades are crowned with lush pediments in which volutes are intertwined with garlands of flowers (Fox House) or an unusual motif of the stern of a ship is used, as in the Boatmen's Corporation House. The impression of the jewelery of the elegant attire is enhanced by the use of gilding, covering the decorative details of all the buildings of the square and flickering dimly on the facades darkened by time.
Flemish sculpture 17th century. developed in the general mainstream of baroque art with architecture. It not only abundantly decorated the facades of buildings, but was also represented in many ways in their interiors. The Gothic and Baroque churches of Flanders contain excellent examples of this plastic art: sarcophagi of tombstones with statues of the deceased, marble altars, carved benches for worshipers covered with ornaments, wooden preaching pulpits rich in sculptural decoration, confessionals similar to architectural structures and decorated with caryatids, bas-reliefs and medallions. In general, with the exception of funerary statues in which portrait images were created, Flemish sculpture had a pronounced decorative character. In the composition of the features of her artistic language, two powerful sources seemed to merge. On the one hand, it was Italian sculpture led by Bernini, the influence of which was enhanced by the fact that most of the Flemish masters visited Italy and some of them worked there for a long time. On the other hand, the influence of the local artistic tradition, and primarily the art of Rubens, was more powerful. Developing in Baroque forms, sculpture also absorbed centuries-old experience of folk crafts and ancient traditions of stone and wood carving.
In the field of sculpture Flanders 17th century. did not give a single great master. Nevertheless, the general artistic level of the works created here was very high. We can talk about a whole galaxy of gifted sculptors who successfully worked at this time, most often represented by family dynasties of masters, natives of Brussels, Antwerp, Malin and other cities.
The activities of the Duquesnoy family of sculptors date back to the first half of the 17th century. Its leader, Jerome Duquesnoy (before 1570-1641), was the author of an extremely popular statue for a fountain built near the Brussels Grandplace, which depicts a mischievous child letting out a trickle of water, known as Mannequin-pis. Manneken (in Flemish - little man) has long been a real favorite of the city residents, who call him “the oldest citizen of Brussels.” Jerome's eldest son, François Duquesnoy (1594 - 1643), sent in 1618 by Archduke Albert to Rome, worked mainly in Italy, collaborating with Bernini in the decoration of the Cathedral of St. Petra. The influence of the artistic environment of Rome largely determined his creative appearance, due to which his art belongs more to Italy than to Flanders. In the work of his other son, Jerome Duquesnoy the Younger (1602-1654), features of national identity were more clearly manifested.
Originally commissioned by François, but essentially created by Jerome, the tombstone of Archbishop Trist in the Cathedral of St. Bavona in Ghent (1643-1654) is one of his most significant works. Made of white and black marble, the tombstone is a structure decorated with columns and pilasters, where the sarcophagus with the reclining figure of the archbishop is flanked on the sides by statues of the Mother of God and Christ located in niches.
An entire school was born from the art of the family of Antwerp masters, the Quellins, whose founder was Art Quellin the Elder (1609-1668), a student of François Duquesnoy. Working in Amsterdam since 1650, he was the creator of the magnificent external and internal decoration of the city hall. His wall decoration in one of the halls with massive figures of caryatids and freely executed multi-figure bas-reliefs is especially famous. Upon returning to Antwerp in 1654, the master made many sculptures for the churches of the city.
In the second half of the century, the work of the already mentioned Lucas Feidherbe, who initially worked in the field of sculpture, developed. A representative of the family of Malinsky sculptors, Lukas Feidherbe was trained in the workshop
Rubens, who loved him more than all his students. Faidherbe's main works were created by him in Malin and are located in the Cathedral of St. Romuald. This is a huge, imposing altar (1665-1666) made of black and white marble with gilded column capitals, decorated with bas-reliefs and crowned with a colossal (3.75 m) statue of St. Romuald. The tombstone of Archbishop Krusen (1669) was also executed with great skill. The traditions of Flemish plastic art are expressed here much more strongly than in the outwardly more spectacular, but clearly imitating Italian examples, tombstone of Bishop d'Allomont (after 1673; Ghent, St. Bavo's Cathedral) by the Liege master Jean Delcourt, a student of Bernini. The work of this sculptor, marked by features of bravura and emphasized dynamism of forms, had a more traditionally baroque character. At the same time, Delcourt’s works reflected the growing tendency in Flemish plastic art towards increasing pomp and complexity of the artistic image.
At the beginning of the 17th century. In the painting of Flanders, the Caravaggist direction was developing, which, however, did not have the same importance here as in other European countries. If the Flemish Caravaggists Theodor Rombouts (1597-1637) and Gerard Seghers (1591-1651) followed the established template in their works, then the work of Abraham Janssens (1575-1632) is marked by features of greater originality and freshness. In the fullness of his folk-type images and the pronounced decorativeness of allegorical and mythological compositions, a direct connection with the traditions of national painting is felt. Since the 1630s the masters of Flemish Caravaggism came under the influence of the art of Rubens.
The greatest artist of Flanders and one of the great masters European painting 17th century Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was born in the city of Siegen in Germany, where Rubens' father, a lawyer who played some role in the public life of Flanders, emigrated during the civil war in the Netherlands. Soon after the death of his father, the mother and her son returned to Antwerp, where the future artist received an excellent education for that time.
All-round gifted, striving to master all the wealth human knowledge, Rubens very early found his main calling in life in painting. Already in 1591, he studied first with minor artists Tobias Verhacht and Adam van Noort. Then he moved on to Otto van Veen (Venius), a prominent representative of late Dutch Romanism. But the very spirit of painting by the novelists remained alien to Rubens’ talent.
Of great importance for the formation of Rubens's painting skills was the direct study of the art of the Italian Renaissance and Italian art contemporary to Rubens. From 1600 to 1608, Rubens lived in Italy, serving as court painter to the Duke of Mantua, Vincenzo Gonzaga. Numerous copies of the works of the great masters of the Renaissance, close acquaintance with the artistic life of Italy expanded Rubens' artistic horizons. Studying the work of the great masters of the High Renaissance, he at the same time had the opportunity to take into account the experience of the struggle to overcome mannerism, which Caravaggio led at that time in Italy. Free arrangement by Rubens Caravaggio paintings“Entombment” clearly demonstrates Rubens’ interest in the work of this master. Among the masters of the High Renaissance, Rubens especially appreciated the work of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Titian. But in terms of its pictorial features and sense of life, Rubens’ art, with all its connections with the Italian Renaissance, from the very beginning had a pronounced Flemish character. It is noteworthy that Rubens’s creativity truly unfolded precisely upon his return to Flanders and in the process of solving those artistic problems that the conditions of public life in his native country posed to him.
Inundated with orders, Rubens created a huge workshop that brought together a whole group of talented Flemish artists. A colossal number of large canvases were created here, decorating the palaces and temples of many European capitals. The sketch was usually created by Rubens himself, while the painting in most cases was completed by his assistants and students. When the painting was ready, Rubens went over it with his brush, reviving it and eliminating any existing shortcomings. But best paintings Rubens were written from beginning to end by the master himself. The creative achievements of Rubens and his authority as one of the most educated people of his time, and finally, the very charm of his personality determined the high position that he occupied in the public life of Flanders. He often took on important diplomatic assignments from the rulers of Flanders and traveled widely around the countries Western Europe. His correspondence with statesmen of that time and especially with leading representatives of culture amazes with the breadth of his horizons and the richness of his thoughts. His letters contain a number of interesting judgments about art that clearly characterize Rubens' progressive artistic positions.
In general, Rubens's work can be divided into the following three stages: early - up to 1620, mature - from 1620 to 1630 and late, covering the last decade of his life. A feature of Rubens' creative development was that the transition from one stage to another occurred gradually, without sudden leaps. His art evolved towards an ever-increasing deepening of realism, towards a wider coverage of life and overcoming the externally theatrical baroque affectation, the features of which were more characteristic of Rubens in the early period of his work.
At the beginning early period(approximately until 1611-1613) in the work of Rubens the influence of Caravaggio is still felt, especially in altar and mythological compositions, and in portraits - the last echoes of mannerism. True, these influences are felt more in the technique, in some features of the form, than in the understanding of the image. Thus, the self-portrait with his first wife, Isabella Brant (1609-1610; Munich), was made in a somewhat harsh manner. Rubens writes out all the details of luxurious costumes and flaunts masterly and precise drawings. Rubens himself and his wife sitting at his feet are depicted in poses full of outward social grace. And yet, in the truthful rendering of the movement of their intertwined hands, the conventions of a ceremonial portrait are overcome. The artist allowed the viewer to feel both the trusting tenderness of his wife towards her beloved husband and the calm cheerfulness of the character of the young Rubens. “Portrait of a Young Lady” in the Museum of Fine Arts is close to this work in terms of execution time. A. S. Pushkin in Moscow.
In “The Exaltation of the Cross” (c. 1610-1611; Antwerp, cathedral) it is clearly visible how Rubens rethinks the experience he acquired while studying the heritage of Caravaggio and the Venetians. Caravaggio helped Rubens to see nature in all its objective materiality and vital character. At the same time, Rubens' expressive figures are imbued with such a pathetic tension of forces, such dynamics that were alien to the art of Caravaggio. A tree bent by a gust of wind, the intense efforts of people raising the cross with the crucified Christ, sharp angles of figures, restless glare of light and shadow sliding over muscles trembling with tension - everything is full of rapid movement. Rubens grasps the whole in all its diverse unity. Each individual reveals his true character only through interaction with other characters.
In general, Rubens's paintings of this period are distinguished by their monumental decorativeness, sharp and effective contrasts. This decision was partly determined by the purpose of Rubens' works. They are altar compositions that occupy a certain place in the church interior. Snatched from their natural setting and transferred to the walls of museums, Rubens' altar compositions now sometimes produce a somewhat artificial impression. Gestures seem exaggerated, the juxtaposition of characters is too harsh and simplistic, the color chord, although complete, is overly strong.
At the same time, Rubens in his best compositions was by no means limited only to external effects. This is evidenced by his Antwerp “Descent from the Cross” (1611-1614). The heavy and strong body of Christ sags heavily; with enormous effort, his loved ones try to keep his body suspended; the kneeling Magdalene excitedly stretches out her hands to Christ; in mournful ecstasy, Mary tries to hug the body of her son. The gestures are violent and impetuous, but within the general exaggerated expressiveness of the whole, gradations of feelings and experiences are embodied with great truthfulness. Mary's face breathes deep sorrow, Magdalene's despair is genuine.
The oratorical pathos of this painting by Rubens is convincing because it is based on the sincere experience of the depicted event - the grief of friends and relatives for the deceased hero. Actually, Rubens is not interested in the religious-mystical side of the plot. In the gospel myth, he is attracted to passions and experiences - vital, human at their core. Rubens easily overcomes the conventionality of the religious plot, although formally it does not conflict with the official cult purpose of the painting. Therefore, although Baroque painting in a number of European countries relied on the legacy of Rubens, the content of his art, the main realistic orientation of his work were not accepted by the official Baroque, which was imbued with tendencies of decorative theatricality and a deliberate opposition of the base and the sublime. In the fundamentally truthful compositions of Rubens, created in the 1610s, the feeling of the mighty power of existence, its eternal movement is always clearly expressed. Such are the joyful solemnity of the allegory “The Union of Earth and Water” (between 1612 and 1615; Leningrad, Hermitage), the dramatic power of “The Descent from the Cross”, the fierce struggle in “Lion Hunt” or “Boar Hunt” (Dresden), pathos world cataclysm in “The Last Judgment” (Munich), the fury of fighters entwined in a fierce battle for life and death in “Battle of the Amazons” (Munich).
“The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus” (1619-1620; Munich) is an example of Rubens’ appeal to a mythological theme. The movements of the horsemen abducting young women are full of courageous determination and energy. The curvaceous bodies of women, vainly crying out for mercy, stand out effectively against the background of bright fluttering fabrics, rearing black and golden-red horses, and the dark bodies of the kidnappers. The resounding chord of colors, the turbulence of gestures, the torn, restless silhouette of the entire group clearly convey the force of the impulse of life's passions. Numerous “Bacchanalia” date back to approximately the same time, including “Bacchanalia” (1615-1620; Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts).
“The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus” and “Bacchanalia”, in a pictorial sense, form the transition to a mature period in the work of Rubens (1620-1630). The cycle “The Life of Marie de Medici” (1622-1625; Louvre), which occupies an important place among other monumental and decorative compositions by Rubens, dates back to the beginning of this period. This cycle is very characteristic of his understanding of the historical genre. Rubens in his work refers not only to ancient historical heroes and their deeds, but also to contemporary history. IN in this case Rubens sees the task of historical painting in praising the personality and deeds of monarchs or generals. Its magnificent and solemn historical paintings became a role model for a number of court artists of the 17th century. The cycle “The Life of Marie de Medici” consists of twenty large compositions intended to decorate one of the halls of the Luxembourg Palace. These paintings reproduced the main Episodes of the life of the wife of Henry IV, who became the ruler of France after his death. All the paintings in the cycle were made in the spirit of the frank. praises of Marie de Medici and are equipped with allegorical and mythological characters. This unique pictorial ode of praise was executed with great brilliance and in its scope represented an exceptional phenomenon even for the baroque art of the 17th century, which was partial to large monumental and decorative compositions. A typical work for the entire series is “The Arrival of Marie de Medici in Marseille.” Along the velvet-covered gangway, the magnificently dressed Marie de Medici descends from the side of a luxurious galley onto the soil of France. Flags flutter, gilding and brocade shine. In the heavens the trumpeting winged Glory announces a great event. The sea deities, overcome by general excitement, greet Mary. The naiads accompanying the ship tie the ropes thrown from the ship to the pilings of the pier. The film contains a lot of festive noise and outright court flattery. But for all the theatricality of the whole, the figures in the composition are arranged naturally and freely.
Since the paintings of this cycle were made mainly by Rubens' students, the greatest artistic interest is in the sketches written by Rubens himself, according to which the compositions themselves were realized in his workshop. The sketch for “The Coronation of Marie de Medici,” kept in the Hermitage, is an underpainting, lightly touched by a few strokes of glaze. It amazes with its combination of exceptional brevity and extreme expressiveness of the image. Sharp feeling the whole, highlighting the main thing in the depicted event, the amazing mastery of the mise-en-scène, a deep understanding of the coloristic unity of the picture, the relationship and gradation of tone and density of the stroke allow Rubens, with the most meager means, to give a bright, full of life-like spontaneity picture of the event. The stroke becomes not only precise, but also emotionally expressive. The figure of the young courtier in the center of the picture is sketched with several swift, rich strokes, conveying the slenderness of the muscular figure, the intensely restrained young energy of his nature, and the swiftness of his movement, causing the fervor of his pose. Its fluttering cloak is magnificent, conveyed in several strokes of scarlet-pink and dark brown, black in the shadows. The relaxed freedom and sharp expressiveness of Rubens's pictorial style have nothing in common with subjective arbitrariness or deliberate negligence.
In his historical compositions, Rubens does not always limit himself to composing a magnificent laudatory ode to rulers, often unworthy of it. In some compositions dedicated to historical events antiquity, he asserted his idea of a historical hero - a courageous fighter for his ideals. Unlike the classicists of the 17th century. At the same time, Rubens did not so much glorify the victory of duty and reason over feeling and passion, but rather revealed the beauty of the immediate unity of feeling and thought of the hero, seized by a passionate impulse to fight, to action. An example of this kind of historical compositions by Rubens is located in the Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin Sketch for the lost Munich painting “Mucius Scaevola”.
Admiration for man and the wealth of his vivid feelings and experiences was expressed in “The Adoration of the Magi” (1624; Antwerp, Museum) and in “Perseus and Andromeda” (1620-1621; Hermitage). In The Adoration of the Magi, Rubens frees himself from the moments of heightened theatricality characteristic of his earlier altar compositions. This canvas is distinguished by a combination of festivity, natural vitality of images and expressiveness of characters. The features of this period were revealed most fully in Perseus and Andromeda. Rubens depicted the moment when Perseus, having slain the sea monster, descended from Pegasus and approached Andromeda, chained to a rock, intended, according to ancient myth, to be sacrificed to the monster. Like festive banners, the folds of the scarlet cloak of Perseus and the blue robe of Victory, crowning the hero, flutter. However, the content of the picture is not limited to the apotheosis of the victorious hero. Dressed in heavy armor, Perseus approaches the naked, joyfully embarrassed Andromeda and touches her hand with imperious tenderness. Andromeda is surrounded by a light golden glow, opposing the more materially dense color scheme of the rest of the picture. The golden-honey glow that envelops Andromeda’s lush nudity seems to materialize in the golden brocade veil framing her body. No one before Rubens had sung with such depth the beauty and great joy of love, which conquered all the obstacles standing in its way. At the same time, this painting especially fully reveals Rubens’ skill in depicting the human body. It seems that it is saturated with the thrill of life - the moisture of the gaze, the light play of blush, the velvety matteness of delicate skin are so captivatingly and convincingly conveyed.
Rubens was a wonderful master of drawing. His preparatory drawings for paintings amaze with his ability to capture, in a few dynamic strokes and spots, the character of a form taken in its movement, to convey the general emotional state of the image. Rubens's drawings are characterized by breadth and freedom of execution: either increasing or weakening the pressure of the pencil on the paper, he captures the characteristic silhouette of the figure, conveys the tense play of the muscles (study for “The Elevation of the Cross”). In one of the preparatory drawings for “The Boar Hunt,” Rubens confidently sculpts the form with a rich juxtaposition of light and shadow, conveying the contrasts of knotty, tensely bending tree trunks and the slight trembling of foliage permeated with flickering light. Pictorial expressiveness, heightened emotionality, an excellent sense of dynamics, and artistic flexibility of technique are characteristic features of Rubens' drawing mastery.
The charm of Rubens's pictorial language is also revealed in his portraits of his mature period. The portrait in the work of Rubens did not have the same importance as in the work of Hals, Rembrandt or Velazquez. And yet Rubens' portraits occupy a unique and important place in the art of the 17th century. Rubens' portrait to a certain extent continues, in new historical conditions, the humanistic traditions of the High Renaissance portrait. Unlike the masters of the Italian Renaissance, Rubens restrainedly but expressively conveys his direct personal attitude towards the subject being portrayed. His portraits are full of feelings of sympathy, polite respect, or joyful admiration for the model. With all this, Rubens’ personal attitude towards his models has one important common feature. This is benevolence, a general positive assessment of the hero of the image. On the one hand, this understanding of the image of a person corresponded to the goals of the official Baroque portrait, dedicated to the depiction of “worthy”, “significant” persons; on the other hand, in this attitude towards man the life-affirming optimism and humanism of Rubens himself found expression. Therefore, Rubens, in general correctly and convincingly conveying the features of similarity with the model, unlike Rembrandt and Velazquez, does not go too deep into conveying all the individual peculiarities of its physical and psychological appearance. Complex internal contradictions in the moral life of an individual remain outside his field of vision. In each portrait, Rubens, without breaking with the characteristics of individual traits, emphasizes the general features characteristic of the model’s social position. True, in portraits of rulers, for example in the portrait of Maria de Medici (1622-1625; Prado), the truthfulness and vitality of the characterization only barely breaks through the conventions of a ceremonial baroque portrait; Therefore, portraits of people either close to the artist or not at the top of the social hierarchy have much greater artistic value for us. In the portraits of Doctor Tulden (c. 1615 - 1618; Munich), chambermaid (c. 1625; Hermitage)? Susanna Fourman (1620s; London) and in some self-portraits this realistic basis of Rubens's portrait appears most consistently.
In the portrait of the chambermaid, Rubens conveyed the charm of a cheerful young woman. Her face, surrounded by the pearly white foam of her collar, stands out against the warm background; fluffy strands of golden hair frame her temples and forehead. Light golden reflexes, hot transparent shadows, juxtaposed with freely placed cold highlights, convey the thrill of life. The chambermaid turned her head slightly, and light and shadows slide across her face, sparks of light sparkle in her eyes, strands of hair flutter and a pearl earring flickers dimly in the shadows.
Among the portraits of Rubens of the late period, his self-portrait, stored in the Vienna Museum (c. 1638), deserves mention. Although the features of a ceremonial portrait make themselves felt in the composition, there is still a lot of freedom and ease in Rubens’ calm pose. The artist’s face, looking attentively and benevolently at the viewer, is full of life. In this portrait, Rubens affirms his ideal of a man in a prominent position, richly gifted, intelligent, and confident in his abilities.
Among the master’s later portraits, the portraits of the artist’s second wife, young Elena Fourman, are especially attractive. The best among them is the Louvre portrait of Helen Fourment with her children (after 1636). In this portrait, the influence of the principles of baroque ceremonial portraiture is almost not felt; luxurious accessories and lush clothes are discarded. The whole picture is imbued with a feeling of calm and serene happiness. The image of the mother and children is full of natural ease and at the same time special charm. Young mother holding on her lap youngest son and with thoughtful tenderness bowed her face to him. A gentle golden glow envelops all forms in a light haze, softens the bright sound of red spots, and creates an atmosphere of calm and solemn joy. A hymn to a woman - mother and lover - is superbly embodied in this earthly Madonna.
A full-length portrait of a nude Helen Fourment with a fur coat trimmed with thick fur draped over her shoulders (“Fur Coat,” 1638-1639; Vienna) goes beyond the portrait genre. By conveying the sensual charm of his young wife, Rubens embodies his ideal of female beauty. With amazing skill, Rubens uses the contrasts between dark fluffy fur and a naked body, between the delicate tints of pink skin and the radiance of curls framing the face.
Rubens portrays Elena Fourment not only in portraits. We recognize her features in “Andromeda” (1638-1640; Berlin) and “Bathsheba” (c. 1635; Dresden). For Rubens, a painting is a feast for the eye, satisfying his greedy love for the festive richness of existence. In the Dresden canvas, the sound of the red color of the blanket thrown over the seat and juxtaposed with the thick black-brown color of the thrown-back fur coat, the greenish-blue clothes of the Negro boy, the olive-black darkness of his body are intended to create a sonorous chord, against which all the richness of shades of the naked body stands out Bathsheba. At the same time, Rubens conveys the most subtle nuances of form and color. This is the comparison between the shine of the whites of the black boy’s eyes and the white spot of the letter that he hands to Bathsheba.
The theme of the sensual richness of life, its eternal movement finds its most direct expression in Rubens’ “Bacchanalia”. Fauns, satyrs, and satiresses intoxicated with wine invade the picture in a riotous crowd. Sometimes (in The Triumph of Silenus, late 1620s; London) the crowd gives the impression of being part of an endless procession, cut off by the picture frame.
One of the most remarkable works of this type is the Hermitage “Bacchus” (between 1635 and 1640). Rubens' Bacchus is very far from Titian's harmoniously beautiful Bacchus (Bacchus and Ariadne). The fat figure of a cheerful glutton sitting on a wine barrel is somewhat close in spirit to the image of Lamme Goodzak, the belly of Flanders, created by de Custer. The entire composition of “Bacchus” is perceived as a frank hymn to the physiological joy of being.
Occupying such an important place in the work of Rubens in the 1610s. Baroque in general nature, altar compositions fade into the background in the later period and are usually completed by the workshop almost without the participation of the artist himself. When the master himself turns to works of this kind, he creates works full of realistic expressiveness. His altar composition “The Vision of St. Ildefonsa" (1630-1632; Brussels, sketch in the Hermitage) is very indicative in this regard. It is noteworthy that the sketch is distinguished by much greater realism of the composition than the altar painting itself. There is no conventional division into three doors, no hovering angels are depicted, etc. The poses of the characters are more natural and simpler. The unity of lighting and the transmission of air soften the sharpness of color contrasts. While improving the clarity of compositional structure, Rubens simultaneously abandoned the excessive decorativeness of early altar compositions and their often excessive overload with numerous characters. The increasing maturity and consistency of the artist’s realistic aspirations should have encouraged him to go beyond the limits of biblical and ancient themes. This was partly due to the flourishing of portraits and landscapes in his work in the 1620s and 1630s.
Rubens's landscape develops Dutch traditions, giving them a new ideological meaning and artistic value. He solves mainly the problem of a generalized image of nature as a whole; the majestic picture of the existence of the world, the clear harmony of man and nature receives from him its sublimely poetic and at the same time sensually full embodiment. The world is a whole, and a person calmly and joyfully feels his unity with it. Rubens's earlier landscapes, for example "Carriers of Stones" (c. 1620; Hermitage), are distinguished by a somewhat more dramatic composition. The rocks in the foreground seem to rise with tension from the bowels of the earth, tearing its covers with a roar. With enormous effort, horses and people move a heavy loaded cart over the crest of a mountain road. Rubens's later landscapes are calmer and more solemn. His ability to create a generalized and at the same time vitally convincing image of nature is revealed especially fully in “The Farm at Laeken” (1633; London, Buckingham Palace). The backwater of the river, the majestic clarity of the flat expanses, the trees stretching their branches to the sky, the running of clouds form a clear consonance of rhythms that convey the mighty breath of the world. Fat herds, a village woman slowly walking along the path with a jug, a peasant bringing his horse to water, complete the overall picture of the majestic harmony of life. In “The Watering Place,” the rich colors, the silvery-bluish light that envelops the picture, and the combination of wide decorative effects with a subtle transmission of the trembling of foliage and the shimmer of moisture.
In recent decades, Rubens has turned to depicting folk life. She interests him mainly from the festive side. In “Kermess” (c. 1635 -1636; Louvre) and especially in “Peasant Dance” (between 1636 and 1640; Prado), Rubens, starting from the traditions of the Dutch realists of the 16th century, rises to a generalized image of the strength and greatness of the people. The popular basis of Rubens' heroic optimism receives its most direct expression here. In a rapid dance, the movement of the round dance expands and then collapses. Young peasants and peasant women are beautiful with their health and their overflowing cheerfulness. The calmly majestic landscape recreates the image of a fertile and powerful land. A powerful branchy oak tree overshadows the dancers with its foliage. The figure of a flutist perched among the branches seems to grow from the depths of the oak tree. land. The music of his flute is the joyful and free song of nature itself. Rubens's images of peasants lack everyday authenticity, but the healthy simplicity of their appearance and admiration for their cheerfulness turn them into a symbol of the inexhaustible strength and greatness of Flanders and its people.
Rubens's workshop was not only the center of formation of many of the largest Flemish painters; a new Antwerp school of masters of reproduction engraving was also formed here, who reproduced mainly the original paintings of Rubens, as well as artists of his circle. As a rule, engravings were made not from originals, but from specially prepared - most often by Rubens' students - grisaille drawings. Thus, the coloristic image painting translated into a tonal-graphic image; the large-scale reduction in turn made the engraver's task easier. Partly this preparatory work determined that special degree of artistic generalization that distinguishes Flemish engraving of the 17th century. among other Western European schools. Rubens actively monitored the engraver's work at all stages and often intervened in it himself, making changes to the test prints. Among the galaxy of talented engraving masters, Lucas Worsterman (1595-1675) should be mentioned first. Although his creative collaboration with Rubens lasted only a short time, it was extremely fruitful both in the number of engravings created and in the artistic results. Following Rubens' creative plan, Vorsterman was able to convey only the means of black and white the feeling of the intensity of the colorful harmonies of Rubens' compositions, to saturate the sheets with spectacular transitions from bright light to rich, velvety shadows, to enrich and diversify the expressiveness with strokes, sometimes gentle and subtle, sometimes strong and energetic. Almost avoiding the technique of monotonous and dry cross-hatching in the shadows, which was so common in the past, and abandoning the sharp outlining shape of the contour line and minute drawing of details, the master based his engravings on large masses, rich black and white contrasts, perfectly capturing the dynamic and solemn spirit of Rubens’ art. The foundations of this new style laid by Worsterman were continued and developed by his students and followers, who still could not achieve the breadth and freedom of Worsterman, although among them there were such gifted masters as Paul Pontius (1603-1658), especially known as a first-class portrait painter, Bolsvert brothers - Boethius (c. 1580-c. 1634) and Schelte Adame (1581 - 1659), whose best works are engravings from landscapes by Rubens.
Chisel engraving was the dominant type of engraving in Flanders, relegating etching to the background. The new style of the Antwerp school also manifested itself in the work of Christopher Jaeger (1596-ca. 1652), the only woodblock print master in Rubens’ circle.
The largest painter in Flanders after Rubens was his most talented student and younger contemporary, Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641). Both in the personal fate of Van Dyck, who came from the wealthy strata of the bourgeoisie, who spent his entire life striving to enter the select circle of the nobility, and in the evolution of his work, which marked a departure from the democratic traditions of national painting, the general process of aristocratization of contemporary Flemish society was clearly reflected. But in the best works of Van Dyck, a healthy realistic principle is preserved, deep, meaningful images of the people of his time are created.
Initial art education Van Dyck received it in Antwerp from the painter van Balen. As a nineteen-year-old boy, he came to Rubens' workshop. A year later, the young artist was elected a member of the Antwerp Corporation of Painters. Rubens highly praised his student, and soon Van Dyck became his assistant in carrying out various orders. During this period, the master created paintings with dynamic composition on religious subjects. Many of them show a strong influence of Rubens (St. Jerome, Drunken Strong; Dresden). However, in comparison with Rubens, Van Dyck’s images lose their spontaneous fullness of feelings, seem more sluggish, less significant. The master often strives for their increased and usually outwardly understood expressiveness, which gives some of his canvases a touch of contrivedness, such as, for example, the Munich “Martyrdom of St. Sebastian" (1618-1621). Van Dyck is much more interesting where he finds figurative solutions close to his work (“St. Martin and the Beggar.” But not subject paintings were Van Dyck’s true calling. All the originality of his talent was revealed in the field of portraiture.
Van Dyck can be called a born portrait painter. He created his own style of portrait art, which gained wide popularity in the highest circles of many European countries. Customers were attracted not only by Van Dyck’s brilliant mastery of the very type of ceremonial aristocratic portrait. The attractive force of Van Dyck's art was the underlying ideal human personality which he followed in his works.
Van Dyck's man seems to be elevated above everyday life; internally ennobled, he is devoid of the imprint of mediocrity. The artist first of all strives to show his spiritual sophistication. In his best portraits, Van Dyck, without falling into superficial idealization, created vital and typical images that at the same time have a unique poetic appeal.
Van Dyck's early Antwerp portraits depict noble citizens of his native city, their families, artists with their wives and children. These works are closely related to the traditions of Flemish painting (Family Portrait, between 1618 and 1620, Hermitage; portrait of Cornelis van der Geest).
In 1620 Van Dyck travels to England and then to Italy. In Rome, he created a portrait of the scientist and diplomat Cardinal Guido Bentivoglio (Florence, Pitti). Already here the principles of Van Dyck’s art are clearly expressed. The image of the cardinal seated in a chair against the backdrop of a red curtain has a distinctly ceremonial character. But external representativeness is combined with the revelation of a person’s rich inner life. The light falls on Bentivoglio’s thoughtful, spiritual face, expressing the intense work of thought. It is significant that in his intellectual characterization Van Dyck emphasizes the exclusivity of this person and introduces a touch of elation into the image.
Van Dyck settles in Genoa, an aristocratic republic closely connected with Flanders through trade relations. He becomes a popular portrait painter of the city's largest aristocratic families. Acquaintance with Venetian painting enriches the master’s compositional techniques and his palette. He creates majestic, often full-length portraits of representatives of the Italian nobility. Haughty elders, noble gentlemen, slender women in heavy, jeweled dresses with long trains are presented against the backdrop of purple draperies and massive columns of the luxurious palaces of Genoa. These are brilliant environmental portraits-paintings.
Not all works of the Genoese period are of equal value - in some of them a certain secular impersonality prevails. But in the best portraits of this time, as in the portrait of Bentivoglio, the impression of a peculiar elation of the images is created. The Marquise Catarina Durazzo appears as an extraordinary person in the portrait of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. The spirituality of the image is consonant with the very type of this more intimate and somewhat romanticized portrait. But even within the confines of a more traditional ceremonial image, Van Dyck imbues the images with a thrill of life. In the portrait of the young Marquise Balbiani (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art) everything seems unusual, marked by a special refined beauty: elongated proportions, the pallor of the face and delicate idle hands, the splendor of dark clothes decorated with the finest pattern of shimmering gold lace. But perhaps what is most captivating is the feeling of spiritual uplift, inner revival that permeates the image.
Upon Van Dyck's return to his homeland, the second Antwerp period of his work begins (1627-1632). At this time, Rubens left on a long diplomatic trip, and Van Dyck became, in fact, the first artist of Flanders. From 1630 he was a court artist at the Archduke's court. Van Dyck painted at this time many altar images for various Flemish churches, as well as paintings on mythological subjects. But, as before, his main vocation remains portraiture. Along with images of dignitaries and nobles, military leaders and prelates, rich Flemish merchants, painted in the tradition of ceremonial portraits, he creates portraits of lawyers, doctors, and his fellow Flemish artists. It was during this period of creativity that Van Dyck’s lively temperament and his connection with the realistic traditions of Flemish art were especially clearly manifested. The portraits of artists are distinguished by the accuracy and meaningfulness of their characteristics: the tired, strict Snyders (Vienna, Museum), the dashing Sneyers (Munich, Alte Pinakothek), the good-natured Krayer (Vienna, Liechtenstein Gallery), the doctor Lazarus Macharkeizus (1622-1630; Hermitage), philologist and publisher Jan van den Wouwer (Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts). One of the most significant works of these years is a portrait of the young beauty Maria Louise de Tassis (Vienna, Liechtenstein Gallery). This portrait retains the degree of representativeness that distinguished Van Dyck’s Genoese works, and at the same time it is an image full of vitality and calm naturalness.
The sharpness of the characterization is also inherent in Van Dyck’s etching works, which made up the “Iconography” published in 1627, a collection of etchings-portraits of famous contemporaries (out of one hundred images, sixteen were made by the master with his own hand, for the rest he provided preliminary sketches).
In 1632, he left for England and became the court artist of Charles I. In England, the ambitious Van Dyck received the title of nobility and the golden chain of a knight. Thanks to his marriage to Mary Rasven, who came from a very ancient but impoverished family, the artist entered the ranks of the prim English aristocracy. He paints many portraits of the king, queen and their children; The entire high English society seeks the honor of posing for him.
In some, especially early works of this period, Van Dyck still retains the strength of his talent. The pronounced aristocracy of the images is combined with emotional and psychological sophistication: portraits of Philip Wharton (1632; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art), Mary Rasven (c. 1640; Munich, Alte Pinakothek), Thomas Wharton (late 1630s). ; Hermitage). Among Van Dyck's outstanding works of the English period is the portrait of King Charles I (c. 1635; Louvre). Among the numerous portraits of Charles I, painted by the master in traditional techniques, this canvas stands out for its particularly original design. The principles of the ceremonial image are revealed here not forcefully, as in many other Vandyck portraits, but rather softened, in a more intimate interpretation, which, however, thanks to the brilliant skill of the artist, does not at all come to the detriment of the representativeness of the model. The king is depicted against the backdrop of a landscape in an elegantly casual pose; behind him a servant holds a thoroughbred horse. The color of the portrait, rich in transparent silver-gray and dull golden shades, is distinguished by its exquisite beauty. The image of Charles I - the very embodiment of elegance and aristocracy - is poeticized by Van Dyck, and at the same time, the inner essence of this man, arrogant and weak, frivolous and self-confident, a charming gentleman and a short-sighted monarch, is very subtly conveyed here.
But never before have the contradictions in Van Dyck's work been so obvious as during the English period. Along with the aforementioned works, which testify to his high skill, Van Dyck, obediently following the wishes of his noble customers, creates many empty, idealized portraits. The picturesque quality of his works is also declining. The very method of his work at this time is indicative. Inundated with orders, he, like Rubens, surrounds himself with student assistants. Van Dyck worked on several portraits in one day. The sketch from the model took no more than an hour, the rest, especially the clothes and hands, was completed in the workshop by students from special models. Already at the second session, Van Dyck completed the portrait just as quickly. This method led to the predominance of a certain stamp.
Van Dyck's artistic role was extremely significant and manifested itself mainly outside his homeland. English portrait painters relied on the traditions of his art. On the other hand, the type of idealized ceremonial portrait of the late Van Dyck became a model for many Western European painters of the 17th and 18th centuries.
The third largest representative of Flemish painting was Jacob Jordan (1593-1678). The son of a wealthy Antwerp merchant, he spent his entire life in his hometown. Studying (from 1607) with Adam van Noort did not have much influence on Jordanes' artistic development. More closely than others, he was connected with the realistic tradition of the old Dutch painting. Of the modern Italian masters, he most appreciated the art of Caravaggio. Recognition soon came to the young artist. Already in 1615 he received the title of member of the guild of Antwerp painters, and in 1621 he was elected its dean.
Perhaps none of the masters expressed the soil principle of Flemish art with such force, sometimes taking on a hint of rough sensuality, as Jordanes did. This was also facilitated by the fact that he did not visit Italy and, in addition, did not strive to adapt to Italian models. Jordanes' works, even on religious and mythological subjects, are interpreted in a genre sense; the characters, most often given in everyday life and always written from life, sometimes seem too ponderous. At the same time, his work is devoid of the features of everyday prosaism - it has a special festive spectacle and inexhaustible reserves of cheerfulness. This completeness of the optimistic perception of the world brings Jordanes closer to Rubens. But, unlike the latter, Jordan does not have such a power of artistic generalization, such a gigantic creative scope and such an inexhaustible imagination. His art is to a certain extent more one-dimensional.
Jordanes' artistic individuality is already evident in his early works. In “The Adoration of the Shepherds” (1618; Stockholm, Museum), peasants full of touching simplicity surrounded a young, ugly Flemish woman with a child in her arms. Large figures densely fill the space; the artist sculpts them with strong, contrasting chiaroscuro, emphasizing the tactile materiality of figures and objects. The simplicity of the compact composition, the sonority of color built on large pictorial spots, the vitality of the images give significance to this simple scene. The same features distinguish Jordan’s paintings on mythological subjects (“The Education of Jupiter,” Louvre; “Meleager and Atalanta,” Antwerp). And in them we find the same full-blooded, strong, folk types snatched from life. Less successful are the master’s works in which he strives to create abstract allegorical images. Thus, the Brussels painting “Allegory of Fertility” (c. 1625-1628; Brussels), which has a number of beautiful details, generally seems contrived, overloaded with massive figures. Apparently, before 1630, the painting “Moses Carving Water from a Rock” (Karlsruhe, Museum) was executed, bold and original in compositional design.
The uniqueness of Jordanes’s work is most clearly manifested in those canvases in which genre motifs predominate. He willingly drew stories from folk proverbs, fables, sayings, well-aimed and full of sly enthusiasm. There were several favorite themes in the master’s work, to which he repeatedly returned. Thus, in the museums of Munich, Kassel, Budapest, and Moscow there are several versions of the painting “A Satyr Visiting a Peasant,” based on the plot of Aesop’s fable. They depict a peasant family having a meal, which is visited by a goat-footed satyr. The most successful painting is from the Moscow Museum of Fine Arts. According to the fable, the satyr is surprised by the duplicity of people - the behavior of the peasant who blows on the porridge to cool it, while earlier he blew on his hands to warm them. In Jordanes, both satyrs and peasants are children of the same nature, physically strong, simple-minded, full of rough vitality. Absorbed in food and conversation with their unusual guest, whose appearance in their circle seems completely natural, the peasants huddled tightly around the table. Their heavy bodies, red-cheeked faces, rough feet, and a clay jug in the foreground are conveyed with plastic tactility. Wide, dense brush strokes, large colorful spots of sonorous blue, red, yellow, golden-brown tones, rich in shades, distinguish the painting of the Moscow painting.
Jordan especially loved to depict burgher families, either carefreely feasting at a festive table, or gathered together for a family concert. The depiction of these scenes reflected the cheerful spirit of traditional folk festivals. If in the works of Rubens themes and images of a similar nature are distinguished by the features of a higher artistic generalization, then in the paintings of Jordanes genre elements are more clearly expressed. Among the subjects to which he repeatedly returned was the image of the “Bean King” holiday. The holiday was celebrated on the day when, according to legend, the kings came to worship the infant Christ. The one present at the feast who had a piece of pie with a bean baked into it became the king of the holiday.
The Hermitage painting “The Bean King” (c. 1648) depicts the noisy family of a Flemish burgher. The venerable old man - the father of the family - the “king” himself, crowned with a paper crown, drinks wine from a glass, and the whole company greets him with enthusiastic drunken shouts. The space is filled with heavy figures surrounding a table overflowing with food. The strong movement that permeates this entire restless group conveys the impression of unbridled fun. Each character is vividly and eloquently depicted. The master's painting style reaches a special breadth. Jordan already avoids sharp black and white contrasts here. The painting is designed in a hot color scheme with many shades from golden pink to golden brown. The master imparts features of monumental significance to an everyday scene full of crude humor. Jordan was also the author of a number of portraits. He did not set out to create deep psychological images. Some of the portraits are close to his paintings (Family Portrait, c. 1615; Hermitage). More formal is the portrait of the Jordan family (Madrid, Prado).
Since the 1630s Jordanes performed a number of decorative works in Antwerp together with Rubens. Already at this time, and especially after the death of Rubens, when Jordanes became, as it were, the head Flemish school and the author of many decorative allegorical and mythological compositions that suited the tastes of aristocratic customers, a period of decline began in his work. The heaviness of the composition and figures, which was previously characteristic of the artist, becomes excessive. The artist's later works, while sometimes retaining their colorfulness and skill in depicting individual details, are generally filled with false baroque pathos.
One of the most distinctive areas of Flemish painting of the 17th century. There was still life, which acquired independent significance at this time. Still lifes, often reaching colossal proportions, served as decoration for the walls of the spacious palaces of the Flemish nobility. In contrast to the intimate Dutch still life, the Flemish still life borders on subject composition. Scenes close to the everyday genre are depicted in shops and kitchens; Among the endless abundance of objects, human figures are lost. The cheerful character of Flemish art manifested itself in still life with particular force; Flemish artists showed their brilliant skill in conveying the diverse forms of the objective world.
The largest still life painter in Flanders in the 17th century. was Rubens's comrade-in-arms, Frans Snyders (1579-1657). On Snyders’s huge canvases, carcasses of meat, killed fallow deer, lobsters, a boar’s head, a variety of juicy, ripe vegetables and fruits, piles of dead poultry, sea and river fish are intricately piled on the tables, and it seems that only the picture frames limit this endless abundance of nature’s gifts. From the general olive tone, sonorous spots of white, blue, especially red (lobsters, meat, berries, clothes of a shopkeeper or shopkeeper) stand out. Some randomness in the construction of Snyders's still life is subordinated to a single color composition, creating the impression of a complete decorative whole.
During his mature period of creativity, in the famous series of still lifes (1618-1621), intended for the palace of the philanthropist Archbishop Trist, now decorating the halls of the Hermitage, Snyders created the “Fish”, “Fruit” and “Vegetable” shops.
The artist paints each subject with great care, but first of all he sees the still life as a whole, striving for a comprehensive image of the richness of nature. Snyders's bright, elegant still lifes are full of jubilant festivity and can least of all be called " dead in nature" - they are so full of vibrant life. This dynamism is enhanced by the fact that the artist introduces living creatures into his still lifes (a small monkey steals fruit, a dog rushes at a cat, a horse comes up and eats vegetables, etc.).
Snyders was a great master in depicting animals, while human figures are the least expressive in his paintings; they were most often painted by other artists. It is not for nothing that many of Snyders’s still lifes are close to his subject compositions - fast-paced hunting scenes or noisy poultry houses. The peculiar genre of hunting scenes, in which the painter Paul de Voe (1596-1678), who was close to Snyders, also worked, became widespread in Flemish art, because the depiction of the breathtaking spectacle of a fierce fight between wild animals being hunted by dogs opened up especially favorable opportunities for the effects favored by Flemish masters.
More restrained and refined is the work of Jan Veith (1611-1661), another outstanding master Flemish still life. Veith does not, unlike Snyders, strive to create works of powerful monumental and decorative scope. His still lifes are closed easel paintings, more intimate, more strict in the choice of objects, with a clear and compact composition and a rare beauty of color. In subtly harmonized transitions of gray, blue, indigo, red, lilac-gray, yellow-pink tones, he created inexhaustible colorful variations. With particular virtuosity, Faith conveys the texture of the depicted objects: delicate iridescent pearl-gray feathers of birds, fluffy soft fur of a hare, wet grapes shining like jewels (“Dead Game,” Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts; “Fruits and parrot", 1645, Hermitage; "Fruits and Flowers", Brussels, Museum of Fine Arts).
Next to the works of Rubens, Jordanes, Snyders and other Flemish painters of the first half of the 17th century, the works of their contemporary Adrian Brouwer (1605/06-1638) seem unusual. However, the art of this original master was not some kind of historical accident. Brouwer's work, developing those existing in painting and literature of the 16th century. traditions of grotesque humorous depiction of a person, reflected the shadow sides of the life of the lower classes of Flemish society. He wrote small genre compositions that captured scenes in squalid, smoky taverns where peasants, the poor and vagabonds gathered. His paintings often depict drinking parties that turn into violent fights, card games, smokers, and cruel home-grown healing. The daring spirit of bohemian mischief permeates Brouwer's works, which constitute a sharp contrast to the artistic trends that dominated Flemish art at that time.
Adrian Brouwer was born into a family of artisans in the city of Oudenaarde. As a youth he went to Holland, where he may have studied in Haarlem with Frans Hals; worked in Haarlem and Amsterdam. The Dutch school of painting gave a lot to the young artist, but he developed into an independent master in his homeland, where he returned in 1631. IN early paintings Brouwer (for example, the Berlin “School”, written in Holland) features of outright caricature predominate. A kind of dump of gnome-like freaks with stupid faces distorted with grimaces is presented. But in the rendering of their sharp movements and gestures one can guess the path along which the work of Brouwer, a master of dynamic compositions, instantaneous changeable poses, and emphasized expressiveness of the characters, further develops. These qualities are manifested in the depiction of drunken fights full of senseless rage (paintings in the museums of Dresden, Moscow, Leningrad) or gambling card games(“Peasants playing cards”, 1630s; Munich, Alte Pinakothek). Brouwer's heroes, rude people oppressed by poverty and drunkenness, are often imbued with a spirit of embitterment and emptiness. But over the years, his art, while retaining some elements of the grotesque, becomes deeper and more meaningful. The scenes in the taverns become less stormy, and the base passions that worried the tramps and gamblers seem to subside. Brouwer's works take on a more contemplative character, tinged with gentle humor. He depicts a group of smokers peacefully talking among themselves, or creates a picture such as “Peasant Quartet” (Munich). This later painting depicts four selflessly singing peasants and a fat Flemish woman with a child at a burning hearth. As always, Brouwer's images are deliberately unvarnished; he depicts singing peasants with their mouths wide open, which gives a funny expression to their ugly faces. And at the same time, the picture contains human warmth and a sense of truth of life. He willingly paints single figures of people, sometimes immersed in their gloomy thoughts, sometimes playing the guitar, sometimes talking affectionately with animals (“Man with a Dog”, Oosterbeck, Heldring collection; “The Innkeeper”, Munich). These images are warmed by Brouwer’s sympathy for the common man and bear the imprint of the artist’s own personality. And indeed, in the alleged self-portrait (The Hague, Mayritshuis), written in the last years of his life, he creates an image that is amazing for its time. Before us is a typical representative of a bohemian: sloppy, indifferent to all external decency, and at the same time, a complex inner life is reflected in an intelligent, thoughtful face.
In his artistic skill, Brouwer stands at the level of outstanding achievements of his time. In the characterization of both the main and secondary characters, he achieves particular poignancy. The figures are always depicted in motion, their gestures are noted with amazing accuracy; facial expressions are emphasized, but never lose a sense of reality (“Bitter Medicine”; Frankfurt am Main, Städel Institute).
In the composition of his paintings, two plans are usually distinguished: in the foreground there is the main and very compact group of characters, in the depths there is a semi-dark space. a tavern or tavern, in which the figures of visitors are faintly visible and everyday life seems to be going on. With the help of transitions of light and shadow, a feeling of depth of space and unity is achieved.
air environment. Brouwer is an excellent colorist, a master of exquisite colorful combinations. His canvases are usually designed in brownish-olive tones; the background is painted in airy gray and yellowish tones, and in the foreground, finely harmonized colorful spots of faded bluish, cream, pink, yellowish shades are highlighted in the clothes of the depicted people. Brouwer's painting technique is distinguished by freedom and artistry.
The last years of his life included Brouwer's landscape works. They most purely and directly express the lyricism of his work, which manifests itself in a hidden form in his genre paintings. His landscapes have a touch of personal experience. Some of them are imbued with a feeling of special intimacy - for example, in the Berlin “Landscape with a Shepherd” the artist depicts a soft sunny day; a shepherd sitting by the road plays the pipe, poor peasant huts hide in the deep shade of spreading trees; nature is full of peace and tranquility. Brouwer's other landscapes are imbued with dramatic emotion. Most often, he depicts night landscapes, illuminated by the uneven light of the moon, sliding over rushing torn clouds and trees rustling in the wind (“Dune Landscape with the Rising Moon”; Berlin). The staffage is in keeping with the mood of the landscape (scenes of robberies, attacks, lonely sinister figures of vagabonds). The brushwork in these paintings takes on a rapid, restless rhythm. In terms of the nature of his deeply personal perception of nature, Brouwer stands alone in Flemish art, and his landscapes in this regard are more in common with the landscapes of Rembrandt.
Brouwer's art, deeply original in its composition, was at the same time associated with similar phenomena in the art of other national schools, in particular with the Dutch genre. However, the works of the Flemish master differ significantly from the works of Dutch genre painters. Brouwer surpasses them with the boldness of his figurative concept and the lively temperament of the artist. His canvases are devoid of the spirit of bourgeois limitation, petty everyday life, and superficial entertainment inherent in many of the Dutch masters. He sees clearly and clearly; the very range of his creativity, which includes both grotesque and lyrical coloring of images, is immeasurably wider.
Brouwer's works, which disdained ostentatious integrity and hypocritical morality, shocked the tastes of “good society.” Brouwer's art was appreciated by the leading artists of the time, including Rembrandt and Rubens. But Brouwer’s work had no worthy successors. In the second half of the 17th century, during the period of decline of the country, art developed under different conditions. A typical master of Flemish painting of the second half of the 17th century was David Teniers (1610-1690). Working in the 1630s together with Brouwer, he partly imitated him in creating genre paintings. But his elegant paintings, painted in soft silvery tones and populated by small figures, are entertaining in nature. Numerous “Kermesses” depict feasts and entertainments of dressed-up, albeit somewhat vulgar, villagers who are extremely similar to each other. Sometimes they are observed condescendingly by members of the upper classes. Teniers's paintings enjoyed enormous success in the aristocratic circles of Flemish society. The artist followed fashion and customer requirements. In the 1640s. his “democratizing” genre was replaced by fantastic images - devils, witches, freaks appear in his paintings (The Temptation of St. Anthony) - or images of funny trifles - scenes in which monkeys are represented performing various jobs in the kitchen or hairdresser (“Monkeys in the Kitchen”; Hermitage). Such paintings, finely painted, pleasant in color, are also full of anecdotal entertainment. Later, when Teniers became curator of the art gallery of the Stadtholder Archduke Leopold, he moved on to depicting the interiors of the cabinets of curiosities and art galleries. These boring, dry works are interesting only as historical and artistic documents, since they present with pedantic precision the many wonderful works that were in the gallery. At the end of his life, turning again to the peasant genre, Teniers completely departed from the realistic traditions of Flemish art, creating scenes in the spirit of pastorals and gallant festivities of the 18th century.
In the second half of the 17th century. in Flemish art the time was coming for creative lethargy, shredding of images, uncritical imitation of foreign models, especially the art schools of France and Holland. Among the late Flemish masters, only Jan Seebergs (1627-ca. 1703) deserves attention. His works are very monotonous. These are images of ugly, rustic Flemish peasant women guarding herds on lush lawns or casually resting by the side of the road (“Landscape with Sleeping Peasant Women”; Munich). Often the artist paints shady fords of bright forest rivers, through which women pass with their hems tucked, peasants drive their herds or move on a cart. Siberechts's rather large-sized canvases are painted in a cold, silvery, somewhat harsh pictorial manner. The master repeatedly varies the same theme, the same corner of nature. Everything is simple, sober, businesslike in his paintings. But, unlike the Flemish painters of his time, who, like Jacques d'Artois (1613-1686), created fictitious, purely decorative landscapes or gravitated toward an idealized classic landscape, Siberechts's paintings are closer to the real image of the nature of his native country.
They were distinguished by high perfection in the 17th century. works of applied art of Flanders: exquisite lace, luxurious furniture inlaid with precious woods and ivory, and especially tapestries. Tapestry making has been the country's leading art industry since the 14th century. Its main center was Brussels. Tapestries were widely used in the decoration of temples, as well as the state apartments of the Flemish nobility and wealthy merchants. Their production was closely connected with the flourishing of painting, whose leading masters (including Rubens and Jordanes) created cardboard for tapestries. Flemish wall hangings from the 17th century. reach large sizes, their compositions become more complex, and the colorful structure acquires special intensity. The impression of splendor is enhanced by the introduction of wide and varied borders consisting of ornamental and floral motifs. The tapestries, most often executed in entire series, depicted complex multi-figure scenes based on biblical subjects, ancient history, as well as images of allegorical content. The first half of the 17th century was the time of the highest rise in trellis production in Flanders. Towards the end of the century, when French manufactories took first place in Europe, the influence of French tastes was noticeable, especially increasing during the 18th century. The decorative scale of the figurative structure of the Flemish tapestries is lost, the image of gallant festivities and pastoral scenes, faded colors are used. It is significant that at this time the idyllic rural compositions of Teniers gained particular popularity, based on which numerous tapestries were created not only in Flanders, but also in other countries of Western Europe. Often tapestries are made from cardboards made not by Flemish, but by French masters.
General characteristics:
The predominant role of the church in the culture of the era under consideration led to the development of religious themes both in the literature of Flanders and in its fine arts. The church was the largest customer and required a lot of paintings for restored and newly built churches. All the prerequisites for Baroque painting were evident. Large altar paintings, with their emotional richness and drama, were supposed to captivate the mass audience and at the same time serve as conductors of the ideas of triumphant Catholicism. They were supposed to simultaneously contribute to the splendor of the decoration of the temples and evoke the impression of solemnity. As for ceiling painting, in Flanders, unlike Italy, it was little developed. The demands of the noble-court circles or the big bourgeoisie were in many ways similar. Both of them spared no expense in decorating the walls of their family castles or their rich city dwellings. Mythological subjects and other themes of a secular nature were appropriate here, of which images of hunting and dead nature received particular development.
This purpose determined the large size of the paintings, the monumental interpretation of forms and broad decorativeism. The latter quality was achieved mainly by coloristic effects. Bright colors combined with a wide masterful technique were one of the most characteristic properties of Flemish painting during its heyday.
· Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). “The Raising of the Cross” (1610-1611), “Lion Hunt” of the Munich Collection (c. 1615), “Perseus and Andromeda” (1620-1621), “Bacchanalia” (c. 1620, Moscow, Pushkin Museum) , “Portrait of the Archduchess Isabella’s Chambermaid”, “Peasant Dance” (1637-1638, Prado), “The Kidnapping of the Daughters of Leucippus”
· Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641). "Portrait young man", Dresden Gallery, "Portrait of the Marquise Spinola Doria", Berlin, "Iconography of Van Dyck" (edition of portraits of his outstanding contemporaries, engraved from his drawings from life), "Portrait of Charles I", Louvre,
· Jacob Jordanes (1593-1678). “The King Drinks”, or “The Bean King”, “A Satyr Visiting a Peasant” (Moscow, Pushkin Museum), typical images of representatives of the rising bourgeoisie (“Portrait of an Old Man”, Hermitage, portrait of the van Surpel couple, London, private collection),
· Frans Snyders (1579-1657). Hunting scenes, still lifes (series of shops, 1620s, Hermitage).
· Adrian Brouwer (1606-1638). Some of the master’s most characteristic works include “Fight of Peasants While Playing Cards” (1630s, Dresden Gallery) or “Scene in a Tavern” (c. 1632, Hermitage).
· David Teniers (1610-1690). Teniers especially likes to represent celebrations, joyful meals with open-air dancing: “Village Festival” (1646, Hermitage), “Peasant Wedding” (1650, Hermitage).
Works of P. P. Rubens
The head of the Flemish school of painting, one of the greatest masters of the brush of the past, was Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). His work clearly expresses both powerful realism and a unique national version of the Baroque style.
Rubens is the creator of huge baroque pathetic compositions, sometimes capturing the apotheosis of the hero, sometimes filled with tragedy. The power of plastic imagination, the dynamism of forms and rhythms, the triumph of the decorative principle form the basis of his work.
The early (Antwerp period) works of Rubens (before 1611 - 1613) bear the imprint of the influence of the Venetians and Caravaggio. At the same time, his characteristic sense of dynamics and variability of life manifested itself. He paid special attention to the creation of altar compositions for Catholic churches. In them, scenes of suffering and martyrdom, along with the moral victory of the dying hero, were played out before the audience, as if reminiscent of the recently past dramatic events of the Dutch revolution. This is how the composition “Elevation of the Cross” was solved (circa 1610-1611, Antwerp, Cathedral). Rubens' monumental altar compositions were organically included in the baroque splendor of the church interior, captivating with their spectacle, intensity of style, and intense rhythms (The Descent from the Cross, 1611-1614, Antwerp, Cathedral).
Rubens's paintings of the early period are distinguished by a colorful palette, in which one can feel deep heat and sonority, they are imbued with the pathos of feelings, until then unknown to Dutch art, which gravitated towards intimacy, towards the poetry of the everyday.
Rubens was a great master of paintings on mythological and allegorical themes. Like the ancient masters, Rubens saw in man a perfect creation of nature. Hence the artist’s special interest in depicting living human warmth. He valued in him not ideal beauty, but full-blooded beauty, with an abundance of vitality.
From the second decade of the 17th century, the dramatic dynamics of Rubens' compositions intensified. The movement of plastic masses and the pathos of gestures are emphasized by the expression of fluttering fabrics and the turbulent life of nature. Complex compositions are built asymmetrically along a diagonal, ellipse, spiral, on the opposition of dark and light tones, contrasts of color spots, with the help of many intertwining wavy lines and arabesques that unite and permeate the groups.
Rubens often turned to themes of man’s struggle with nature, to hunting scenes: “Boar Hunt” (Dresden, Art Gallery), “Lion Hunt” (circa 1615, Munich, Alte Pinakothek; sketch - St. Petersburg, Hermitage).
Rubens's talent for painting reached its peak in the 1620s. Color has become the main expresser of emotions, organizing the beginning of compositions. Rubens abandoned local color, moved to tonal multi-layer painting on white or red ground, and combined careful modeling with light sketchiness. Blue, yellow, pink, red tones are given in relation to each other in subtle and rich shades; they are subordinate to the main silver-pearl or warm olive (“Perseus and Andromeda”, 1620-1621, Hermitage). By this time, twenty large compositions on the theme “The Life of Marie de’ Medici” (1622-1625, Paris, Louvre) were created, intended to decorate the Luxembourg Palace.
In the 1630s, the late period of Rubens' artistic activity began. His perception of the world became deeper and calmer. The compositions acquired a restrained and balanced character. The artist focused on their pictorial perfection: the coloring lost its multicoloredness and became generalized. One of the central themes of this period is rural nature, sometimes full of epic grandeur, powerful beauty and abundance, sometimes captivating with simplicity and lyricism. The artist builds the landscape with large colorful masses, sequentially alternating plans: “Peasants returning from the fields” (after 1635, Florence, Pitti Gallery). The folk basis of Rubens's work is clearly manifested in “The Peasant Dance” (between 1636 and 1640, Madrid, Prado).
Works of A. Van Dyck
Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641) - the largest painter of Flanders, a student of Rubens and his younger contemporary. His work, which outlines a departure from the democratic traditions of national painting, clearly reflected the general process of aristocratization of contemporary Flemish society. But in the best works of Van Dyck, a healthy realistic principle is preserved, deep, meaningful images of the people of his time are created. Van Dyck received his initial artistic education in Antwerp from the painter van Balen. As a nineteen-year-old boy, he came to Rubens' workshop. Rubens highly praised his student, and soon Van Dyck became his assistant in carrying out various orders.
Van Dyck can be called a born portrait painter. He created his own style of portrait art, which gained wide popularity in the highest circles of many European countries. Customers were attracted not only by Van Dyck’s brilliant mastery of the very type of ceremonial aristocratic portrait. The attractive force of Van Dyck's art was the underlying ideal of the human personality, which he followed in his works.
Van Dyck's man seems to be elevated above everyday life; internally ennobled, he is devoid of the imprint of mediocrity. The artist first of all strives to show his spiritual sophistication. In his best portraits, Van Dyck, without falling into superficial idealization, created vital and typical images that at the same time have a unique poetic appeal.
Van Dyck's early Antwerp portraits depict noble citizens of his native city, their families, artists with their wives and children. These works are closely related to the traditions of Flemish painting (Family Portrait, between 1618 and 1620, Hermitage; portrait of Cornelis van der Geest).
In Rome, he created a portrait of the scientist and diplomat Cardinal Guido Bentivoglio (Florence, Pitti). The image of the cardinal seated in a chair against the backdrop of a red curtain has a distinctly ceremonial character. But external representativeness is combined with the revelation of a person’s rich inner life. Van Dyck emphasizes the exclusivity of this person, adding a touch of elation to the image.
In Genoa, he became a popular portrait painter of the city's largest aristocratic families. Acquaintance with Venetian painting enriches the master’s compositional techniques and his palette. He creates majestic, often full-length portraits of representatives of the Italian nobility. Haughty elders, noble gentlemen, slender women in heavy, jeweled dresses with long trains are presented against the backdrop of purple draperies and massive columns of the luxurious palaces of Genoa. These are brilliant environmental portraits-paintings. Not all works of the Genoese period are of equal value - in some of them a certain secular impersonality prevails. But in the best portraits of this time, as in the portrait of Bentivoglio, the impression of a peculiar elation of the images is created.
Upon Van Dyck's return to his homeland, the second Antwerp period of his work begins (1627-1632). At this time, Rubens left on a long diplomatic trip, and Van Dyck became, in fact, the first artist of Flanders. From 1630 he was a court artist at the Archduke's court. Van Dyck painted at this time many altar images for various Flemish churches, as well as paintings on mythological subjects. But, as before, his main vocation remains portraiture. Along with images of dignitaries and nobles, military leaders and prelates, rich Flemish merchants, painted in the tradition of ceremonial portraits, he creates portraits of lawyers, doctors, and his fellow Flemish artists. It was during this period of creativity that Van Dyck’s lively temperament and his connection with the realistic traditions of Flemish art were especially clearly manifested. The portraits of artists are distinguished by the accuracy and meaningfulness of their characteristics: the tired, strict Snyders, the dashing Sneyers, the good-natured Cryer, the doctor Lazarus Maharkaizus, the philologist and publisher Jan van den Wouwer. One of the most significant works of these years is a portrait of the young beauty Maria Louise de Tassis. This portrait retains the degree of representativeness that distinguished Van Dyck’s Genoese works, and at the same time it is an image full of vitality and calm naturalness.
Later, Van Dyck becomes the court artist of Charles I. In England, the ambitious Van Dyck receives a title of nobility. He paints many portraits of the king, queen and their children; The entire high English society seeks the honor of posing for him. In some, especially early works of this period, Van Dyck still retains the strength of his talent. The pronounced aristocracy of the images is combined with emotional and psychological sophistication: portraits of Philip Wharton, Mary Rasven, Thomas Wharton. Among Van Dyck's outstanding works of the English period is the portrait of King Charles I. Among the numerous portraits of Charles I, painted by the master in traditional techniques, this canvas stands out for its particularly original design. The principles of the ceremonial image are revealed here not forcefully, as in many other Vandyck portraits, but rather softened, in a more intimate interpretation, which, however, thanks to the brilliant skill of the artist, does not at all come to the detriment of the representativeness of the model. The king is depicted against the backdrop of a landscape in an elegantly casual pose; behind him a servant holds a thoroughbred horse. The color of the portrait, rich in transparent silver-gray and dull golden shades, is distinguished by its exquisite beauty. The image of Charles I - the very embodiment of elegance and aristocracy - is poeticized by Van Dyck, and at the same time, the inner essence of this man, arrogant and weak, frivolous and self-confident, a charming gentleman and a short-sighted monarch, is very subtly conveyed here.
But never before have the contradictions in Van Dyck's work been so obvious as during the English period. Along with the aforementioned works, which testify to his high skill, Van Dyck, obediently following the wishes of his noble customers, creates many empty, idealized portraits. The picturesque quality of his works is also declining. The very method of his work at this time is indicative. Inundated with orders, he, like Rubens, surrounds himself with student assistants. Van Dyck worked on several portraits in one day. The sketch from the model took no more than an hour, the rest, especially the clothes and hands, was completed in the workshop by students from special models. Already at the second session, Van Dyck completed the portrait just as quickly. This method led to the predominance of a certain stamp.
Van Dyck's artistic role was extremely significant and manifested itself mainly outside his homeland. English portrait painters relied on the traditions of his art. On the other hand, the type of idealized ceremonial portrait of the late Van Dyck became a model for many Western European painters of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Main works:
Flemish still life 17th century.
One of the most distinctive areas of Flemish painting of the 17th century. There was still life, which acquired independent significance at this time. Still lifes, often reaching colossal proportions, served as decoration for the walls of the spacious palaces of the Flemish nobility. In contrast to the intimate Dutch still life, the Flemish still life borders on subject composition. Scenes close to the everyday genre are depicted in shops and kitchens; Among the endless abundance of objects, human figures are lost. The cheerful character of Flemish art manifested itself in still life with particular force; Flemish artists showed their brilliant skill in conveying the diverse forms of the objective world.
The largest still life painter in Flanders in the 17th century. was Rubens's comrade-in-arms, Frans Snyders (1579-1657). On Snyders’s huge canvases, carcasses of meat, killed fallow deer, lobsters, a boar’s head, a variety of juicy, ripe vegetables and fruits, piles of dead poultry, sea and river fish are intricately piled on the tables, and it seems that only the picture frames limit this endless abundance of nature’s gifts. From the general olive tone, sonorous spots of white, blue, especially red (lobsters, meat, berries, clothes of a shopkeeper or shopkeeper) stand out. Some randomness in the construction of Snyders's still life is subordinated to a single color composition, creating the impression of a complete decorative whole. During his mature period of creativity, in the famous series of still lifes (1618-1621), intended for the palace of the philanthropist Archbishop Trist, now decorating the halls of the Hermitage, Snyders created the “Fish”, “Fruit” and “Vegetable” shops. The artist paints each subject with great care, but first of all he sees the still life as a whole, striving for a comprehensive image of the richness of nature. Snyders's bright, elegant still lifes are full of jubilant festivity and can least of all be called “dead nature” - they are so full of vibrant life. This dynamism is enhanced by the fact that the artist introduces living creatures into his still lifes (a small monkey steals fruit, a dog rushes at a cat, a horse comes up and eats vegetables, etc.). Snyders was a great master in depicting animals, while human figures are the least expressive in his paintings; they were most often painted by other artists. It is not for nothing that many of Snyders’s still lifes are close to his subject compositions - fast-paced hunting scenes or noisy poultry houses. The peculiar genre of hunting scenes, in which the painter Paul de Voe (1596-1678), who was close to Snyders, also worked, became widespread in Flemish art, because the depiction of the breathtaking spectacle of a fierce fight between wild animals being hunted by dogs opened up especially favorable opportunities for the effects favored by Flemish masters.
More restrained and refined is the work of Jan Veit (1611-1661), another outstanding master of Flemish still life. Veith does not, unlike Snyders, strive to create works of powerful monumental and decorative scope. His still lifes are closed easel paintings, more intimate, more strict in the choice of objects, with a clear and compact composition and a rare beauty of color. In subtly harmonized transitions of gray, blue, indigo, red, lilac-gray, yellow-pink tones, he created inexhaustible colorful variations. With particular virtuosity, Faith conveys the texture of the depicted objects: delicate iridescent pearl-gray feathers of birds, fluffy soft fur of a hare, wet grapes shining like jewels (“Dead Game,” Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts; “Fruits and parrot", 1645, Hermitage; "Fruits and Flowers", Brussels, Museum of Fine Arts). Next to the works of Rubens, Jordanes, Snyders and other Flemish painters of the first half of the 17th century, the works of their contemporary Adrian Brouwer (1605/06-1638) seem unusual. However, the art of this original master was not some kind of historical accident. Brouwer's work, developing those existing in painting and literature of the 16th century. traditions of grotesque humorous depiction of a person, reflected the shadow sides of the life of the lower classes of Flemish society. He wrote small genre compositions that captured scenes in squalid, smoky taverns where peasants, the poor and vagabonds gathered. His paintings often depict drinking parties that turn into violent fights, card games, smokers, and cruel home-grown healing. The daring spirit of bohemian mischief permeates Brouwer's works, which constitute a sharp contrast to the artistic trends that dominated Flemish art at that time.
Chapter "The Art of Flanders". Section "Art of the 17th century". General history of art. Volume IV. Art of the 17th and 18th centuries. Authors: Yu.D. Kolpinsky (introduction and section on Rubens) and T.P. Kaptereva; under the general editorship of Yu.D. Kolpinsky and E.I. Rotenberg (Moscow, State Publishing House "Art", 1963)
The division of the Netherlands into Flanders (From the 17th century, Flanders meant not only Flanders proper, the richest region of the southern Netherlands, but the entire southern Netherlands as a whole.) and Holland was due to the development of the Dutch bourgeois revolution. The feudal nobility of Flanders, together with the local big bourgeoisie, frightened by the scale of the popular revolutionary movement, compromised with the Spanish Habsburgs and betrayed the revolution. The Union of Arras of 1579 was an expression of this compromise; she secured the protectorate of the Spanish monarchy over the southern provinces. The nobility and Catholic clergy of Flanders were grouped around the Spanish governors. At the cost of betraying national interests, the nobility managed to preserve a number of its class privileges, and the Flemish big bourgeoisie, buying up lands and acquiring noble titles, itself turned into a kind of landed aristocracy. Catholicism retained its dominant position in the country.
The development of bourgeois relations, if not completely suspended, nevertheless slowed down significantly. A number of important industries suffered significant damage. The largest city in Flanders, Antwerp, after its defeat in 1576 by Spanish troops, lost its former significance as a center of world trade and money market. Nevertheless, during the first half of the 17th century. The country, which had recovered from war devastation, experienced some economic recovery.
In conditions of the victory of the absolutist-noble forces, the bourgeoisie was forced to invest in the land part of the capital that did not find application in the field of industry. Along with agriculture, some new industries (silk weaving, lace, glass) also developed well. Despite the fact that this rise was limited and temporary and occurred in an environment of decline in the political activity of the nation, it still could not help but have an impact on the evolution of culture. But even more important for the latter was the fact that the Dutch revolution, even having been defeated in Flanders, awakened inexhaustible forces among the people, the impact of which is clearly felt in Flemish artistic culture.
In the 17th century progressive social trends in Flanders were embodied mainly in the field of art, where they were expressed without entering into open contradiction with the dominant system and the dominant ideology.
The heyday of Flemish art covers the first half of the 17th century. It was at this time that the remarkable Flemish art school took shape, which occupied an outstanding place in the history of European culture and produced such masters as Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordanes, Snyders, Brouwer.
Orders for palaces, temples and various corporations, especially in the first half of the century, contributed to the widespread dissemination of monumental and decorative trends in painting. It was in painting that the progressive features of Flemish culture were most fully expressed: realism, nationalism, bright cheerfulness, solemn festivity of images.
In Flanders, the officially dominant art was Baroque. Moreover, it was Flanders, along with Italy, that appeared in the first half of the 17th century. one of the main centers of formation of the Baroque movement in art. However, the Flemish Baroque differed significantly from the Italian in many ways. The art of Rubens, Jordanes, Snyders and other masters in elevated and solemn forms reflected the spirit of life-affirming optimism generated by the vital forces of Flemish society. It was precisely this feature of the development of the Baroque in Flanders, expressed in the art of Rubens, that made it possible to develop realistic features within the framework of the Baroque system itself, and, moreover, to a much greater extent than was possible in Italy.
The period of relative growth in Flanders ends around the middle of the 17th century. Under the yoke of Spanish absolutism, the Flemish economy declines. The social and cultural life of Flanders is becoming increasingly stagnant and conservative.
The establishment of the Spanish protectorate and the preservation of Catholicism as the dominant religion caused Flemish religious architecture in the 17th century. the spread of forms of Roman Baroque, promoted by the Jesuits. The prototype of some early Flemish church buildings was the Gesu Church in Rome (the Jesuit church of 1606-1616 in Brussels by J. Francard, which has not survived to this day, the Church of St. Charles Borromean in Antwerp by P. Heysens, 1614-1621). However, soon the architects of Flanders were able to create an original version of Baroque based on local traditions. It is distinguished not so much by the sophistication and originality of planning and volumetric-spatial solutions, but by the general spirit of solemn and festive decorativeness, which found its most complete expression in the facades of buildings. Among the best works of architecture of the second half of the century one can name the Church of St. Michael in Louvain (1650-1666) by G. Hesius and the Brussels Church of John the Baptist of the Order of the Beguines (1657-1676). Its author, Lucas Feidherbe from Malin (1617-1697), one of the most famous Flemish architects and sculptors of the 17th century, used here an original facade solution in the form of three pediments, of which the central one dominates the side ones. Triple and double pilasters, columns, volutes, broken pediments and various decorative motifs are widely used. Faidherbe managed to knit together the individual elements of this elegant building, characterized by a complex and whimsical silhouette.
The greatest interest is in the architecture of 17th century Flanders. represents, however, not cultic, but secular construction, in which local traditions that had developed over centuries could be more fully and clearly manifested. They were so strong and vital that even the authority of Rubens, whose influence in many areas of the artistic life of Flanders was decisive, was powerless in front of them. While in Italy, Rubens visited Genoa, where he became fascinated by the magnificent works of architecture of the 16th century. Upon his return to his homeland, the architectural sketches he completed were engraved by Nicholas Rijkemans and formed the two-volume book “Palaces of Genoa” published in 1622 in Antwerp. The study of Genoese architecture was not only of educational interest for Rubens. A man of enormous creative activity, he dreamed of a radical transformation of Flemish architecture. The Genoese palazzo, in his opinion, was to become a model for the new secular architecture of Flanders.
However, the type of monumental palace did not develop on Flemish soil. In the Italian spirit it was created in 1611-1618. only a single work is Rubens's own house in Antwerp. The small ensemble, which included a number of buildings with painted facades, entrance gates and a garden with a pavilion, subsequently passed from owner to owner, and underwent significant reconstruction. In 1937, major work began on its restoration, completed in 1947.
Even now, despite the fact that in its present form Rubens’ house is largely the result of reconstruction, one can feel the exciting appeal of the great artist’s home, in which the homely comfort of Dutch interiors is combined with the solemnity of the volumetric-spatial composition of an Italian palazzo. The architectural ideals that inspired Rubens were uniquely reflected in the design of the best preserved parts - the main entrance gate in the form of a three-span triumphal arch, richly decorated with rustication, sculptural decoration and topped with an elegant balustrade, as well as in a small elegant garden pavilion.
Rubens's house represents something of an exception in the general picture of the development of Flemish secular architecture of the 17th century. As in previous centuries, the type of multi-storey (up to five floors) house with a narrow façade of three or four axes and a high pediment, which arose in the Netherlands back in the Middle Ages, was dominant in Flanders. Contacting the side blank walls, the buildings faced the street with facades that formed a continuous street building.
The evolution of residential architecture of the 17th century. in Flanders it followed mainly the path of creating new forms of architectural and decorative design for facades in tune with the era. The strict lines of triangular or stepped pediments gave way to more complex and bizarre baroque outlines, the surface of the facades was richly decorated with pilasters, columns, caryatids, statues, bas-reliefs and ornaments.
Unfortunately, not all beautiful monuments of Flemish architecture of the 17th century are. have reached our days. Frequent fires and a particularly fierce shelling of Brussels by French troops in 1695 destroyed many of them. After the shelling, in 1696-1720. Under the leadership of the architect Guillaume de Bruyne (1649-1719), the Brussels Grand Place was restored - one of the remarkable squares in Europe, which allows one to judge the character of the urban ensemble that has developed in Flanders.
The center of the old city - the Grand Place - is a rectangular square with sides 110 X 68 m. The continuous perimeter development, interrupted only by the exits of narrow and inconspicuous streets leading to the square, gives the ensemble the impression of strict isolation. Located on the southern side of the square, the famous town hall of the 15th century, standing out for its scale and the beauty of its forms, largely subjugates the entire variety of architectural forms of the other buildings that form an artistic unity with it, despite the fact that the architectural complex of the square is sometimes made up of quite heterogeneous buildings Thus, its entire eastern side was occupied by the palace of the Duke of Brabant - a building erected in 1698 by Guillaume de Bruyne, which united six old guild houses with its extensive façade. But this structure, almost classical in its forms, does not seem alien here. The feeling of the ensemble suggested to the craftsmen who created the Grand Place the need to contrast the town hall on the northern side of the square with the elegant building of the grain market with an openwork arcade, skillfully stylized in consonant forms, better known as the House of the King. But nothing enlivens the area more than the tall houses of workshops and corporations, the best of which are built on the western side. With amazing ingenuity, these multi-storey narrow facades are crowned with lush pediments in which volutes are intertwined with garlands of flowers (Fox House) or an unusual motif of the stern of a ship is used, as in the Boatmen's Corporation House. The impression of the jewelery of the elegant attire is enhanced by the use of gilding, covering the decorative details of all the buildings of the square and flickering dimly on the facades darkened by time.
Flemish sculpture 17th century. developed in common with architecture in the mainstream of Baroque art. It not only abundantly decorated the facades of buildings, but was also represented in many ways in their interiors. The Gothic and Baroque churches of Flanders contain excellent examples of this plastic art: sarcophagi of tombstones with statues of the deceased, marble altars, carved benches for worshipers covered with ornaments, wooden preaching pulpits rich in sculptural decoration, confessionals similar to architectural structures and decorated with caryatids, bas-reliefs and medallions. In general, with the exception of funerary statues in which portrait images were created, Flemish sculpture had a pronounced decorative character. In the composition of the features of her artistic language, two powerful sources seemed to merge. On the one hand, it was Italian sculpture led by Bernini, the influence of which was enhanced by the fact that most of the Flemish masters visited Italy and some of them worked there for a long time. On the other hand, the influence of the local artistic tradition, and primarily the art of Rubens, was more powerful. Developing in Baroque forms, sculpture also absorbed centuries-old experience of folk crafts and ancient traditions of stone and wood carving.
In the field of sculpture Flanders 17th century. did not give a single great master. Nevertheless, the general artistic level of the works created here was very high. We can talk about a whole galaxy of gifted sculptors who successfully worked at this time, most often represented by family dynasties of masters, natives of Brussels, Antwerp, Malin and other cities.
The activities of the Duquesnoy family of sculptors date back to the first half of the 17th century. Its leader, Jerome Duquesnoy (before 1570-1641), was the author of an extremely popular statue for a fountain built near the Brussels Grand Place, which depicts a mischievous child letting out a trickle of water, known as the Mannequin Piece. Manneken (in Flemish - little man) has long been a real favorite of the city residents, who call him “the oldest citizen of Brussels.” Jerome's eldest son, François Duquesnoy (1594 - 1643), sent in 1618 by Archduke Albert to Rome, worked mainly in Italy, collaborating with Bernini in the decoration of the Cathedral of St. Petra. The influence of the artistic environment of Rome largely determined his creative appearance, due to which his art belongs more to Italy than to Flanders. In the work of his other son, Jerome Duquesnoy the Younger (1602-1654), features of national identity were more clearly manifested.
Originally commissioned by François, but essentially created by Jerome, the tombstone of Archbishop Trist in the Cathedral of St. Bavona in Ghent (1643-1654) is one of his most significant works. Made of white and black marble, the tombstone is a structure decorated with columns and pilasters, where the sarcophagus with the reclining figure of the archbishop is flanked on the sides by statues of the Mother of God and Christ located in niches.
An entire school was born from the art of the family of Antwerp masters, the Quellins, whose founder was Art Quellin the Elder (1609-1668), a student of François Duquesnoy. Working in Amsterdam since 1650, he was the creator of the magnificent external and internal decoration of the city hall. His wall decoration in one of the halls with massive figures of caryatids and freely executed multi-figure bas-reliefs is especially famous. Upon returning to Antwerp in 1654, the master made many sculptures for the churches of the city.
In the second half of the century, the work of the already mentioned Lucas Feidherbe, who initially worked in the field of sculpture, developed. A representative of the family of Malinsky sculptors, Lukas Feidherbe was trained in the workshop
Rubens, who loved him more than all his students. Faidherbe's main works were created by him in Malin and are located in the Cathedral of St. Romuald. This is a huge, imposing altar (1665-1666) made of black and white marble with gilded column capitals, decorated with bas-reliefs and crowned with a colossal (3.75 m) statue of St. Romuald. The tombstone of Archbishop Krusen (1669) was also executed with great skill. The traditions of Flemish plastic art are expressed here much more strongly than in the outwardly more spectacular, but clearly imitating Italian examples, tombstone of Bishop d'Allomont (after 1673; Ghent, St. Bavo's Cathedral) by the Liege master Jean Delcourt, a student of Bernini. The work of this sculptor, marked by features of bravura and emphasized dynamism of forms, had a more traditionally baroque character. At the same time, Delcourt’s works reflected the growing tendency in Flemish plastic art towards increasing pomp and complexity of the artistic image.
At the beginning of the 17th century. In the painting of Flanders, the Caravaggist direction was developing, which, however, did not have the same importance here as in other European countries. If the Flemish Caravaggists Theodor Rombouts (1597-1637) and Gerard Seghers (1591-1651) followed the established template in their works, then the work of Abraham Janssens (1575-1632) is marked by features of greater originality and freshness. In the fullness of his folk-type images and the pronounced decorativeness of allegorical and mythological compositions, a direct connection with the traditions of national painting is felt. Since the 1630s the masters of Flemish Caravaggism came under the influence of the art of Rubens.
The greatest artist of Flanders and one of the remarkable masters of European painting of the 17th century. Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) was born in the city of Siegen in Germany, where Rubens' father, a lawyer who played some role in the public life of Flanders, emigrated during the civil war in the Netherlands. Soon after the death of his father, the mother and her son returned to Antwerp, where the future artist received an excellent education for that time.
Comprehensively gifted, striving to master the entire wealth of human knowledge, Rubens very early found his main calling in life in painting. Already in 1591, he studied first with minor artists Tobias Verhacht and Adam van Noort. Then he moved on to Otto van Veen (Venius), a prominent representative of late Dutch Romanism. But the very spirit of painting by the novelists remained alien to Rubens’ talent.
Of great importance for the formation of Rubens's painting skills was the direct study of the art of the Italian Renaissance and Italian art contemporary to Rubens. From 1600 to 1608, Rubens lived in Italy, serving as court painter to the Duke of Mantua, Vincenzo Gonzaga. Numerous copies of the works of the great masters of the Renaissance, close acquaintance with the artistic life of Italy expanded Rubens' artistic horizons. Studying the work of the great masters of the High Renaissance, he at the same time had the opportunity to take into account the experience of the struggle to overcome mannerism, which Caravaggio led at that time in Italy. Rubens' free adaptation of Caravaggio's painting "Entombment" clearly demonstrates Rubens' interest in the work of this master. Among the masters of the High Renaissance, Rubens especially appreciated the work of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Titian. But in terms of its pictorial features and sense of life, Rubens’ art, with all its connections with the Italian Renaissance, from the very beginning had a pronounced Flemish character. It is noteworthy that Rubens’s creativity truly unfolded precisely upon his return to Flanders and in the process of solving those artistic problems that the conditions of public life in his native country posed to him.
Inundated with orders, Rubens created a huge workshop that brought together a whole group of talented Flemish artists. A colossal number of large canvases were created here, decorating the palaces and temples of many European capitals. The sketch was usually created by Rubens himself, while the painting in most cases was completed by his assistants and students. When the painting was ready, Rubens went over it with his brush, reviving it and eliminating any existing shortcomings. But the best paintings by Rubens were painted from beginning to end by the master himself. The creative achievements of Rubens and his authority as one of the most educated people of his time, and finally, the very charm of his personality determined the high position that he occupied in the public life of Flanders. He often took on important diplomatic assignments from the rulers of Flanders and traveled extensively throughout Western Europe. His correspondence with statesmen of that time and especially with leading representatives of culture amazes with the breadth of his horizons and the richness of his thoughts. His letters contain a number of interesting judgments about art that clearly characterize Rubens' progressive artistic positions.
In general, Rubens's work can be divided into the following three stages: early - up to 1620, mature - from 1620 to 1630 and late, covering the last decade of his life. A feature of Rubens' creative development was that the transition from one stage to another occurred gradually, without sudden leaps. His art evolved towards an ever-increasing deepening of realism, towards a wider coverage of life and overcoming the externally theatrical baroque affectation, the features of which were more characteristic of Rubens in the early period of his work.
At the beginning of the early period (up to approximately 1611-1613), the influence of Caravaggio can still be felt in Rubens's work, especially in altar and mythological compositions, and in portraits - the last echoes of mannerism. True, these influences are felt more in the technique, in some features of the form, than in the understanding of the image. Thus, the self-portrait with his first wife, Isabella Brant (1609-1610; Munich), was made in a somewhat harsh manner. Rubens writes out all the details of luxurious costumes and flaunts masterly and precise drawings. Rubens himself and his wife sitting at his feet are depicted in poses full of outward social grace. And yet, in the truthful rendering of the movement of their intertwined hands, the conventions of a ceremonial portrait are overcome. The artist allowed the viewer to feel both the trusting tenderness of his wife towards her beloved husband and the calm cheerfulness of the character of the young Rubens. “Portrait of a Young Lady” in the Museum of Fine Arts is close to this work in terms of execution time. A. S. Pushkin in Moscow.
In “The Exaltation of the Cross” (c. 1610-1611; Antwerp, cathedral) it is clearly visible how Rubens rethinks the experience he acquired while studying the heritage of Caravaggio and the Venetians. Caravaggio helped Rubens to see nature in all its objective materiality and vital character. At the same time, Rubens' expressive figures are imbued with such a pathetic tension of forces, such dynamics that were alien to the art of Caravaggio. A tree bent by a gust of wind, the intense efforts of people raising the cross with the crucified Christ, sharp angles of figures, restless glare of light and shadow sliding over muscles trembling with tension - everything is full of rapid movement. Rubens grasps the whole in all its diverse unity. Each individual reveals his true character only through interaction with other characters.
In general, Rubens's paintings of this period are distinguished by their monumental decorativeness, sharp and effective contrasts. This decision was partly determined by the purpose of Rubens' works. They are altar compositions that occupy a certain place in the church interior. Snatched from their natural setting and transferred to the walls of museums, Rubens' altar compositions now sometimes produce a somewhat artificial impression. Gestures seem exaggerated, the juxtaposition of characters is too harsh and simplistic, the color chord, although complete, is overly strong.
At the same time, Rubens in his best compositions did not limit himself only to external effects. This is evidenced by his Antwerp “Descent from the Cross” (1611-1614). The heavy and strong body of Christ sags heavily; with enormous effort, his loved ones try to keep his body suspended; the kneeling Magdalene excitedly stretches out her hands to Christ; in mournful ecstasy, Mary tries to hug the body of her son. The gestures are violent and impetuous, but within the general exaggerated expressiveness of the whole, gradations of feelings and experiences are embodied with great truthfulness. Mary's face breathes deep sorrow, Magdalene's despair is genuine.
The oratorical pathos of this painting by Rubens is convincing because it is based on the sincere experience of the depicted event - the grief of friends and relatives for the deceased hero. Actually, Rubens is not interested in the religious-mystical side of the plot. In the gospel myth, he is attracted to passions and experiences - vital, human at their core. Rubens easily overcomes the conventionality of the religious plot, although formally it does not conflict with the official cult purpose of the painting. Therefore, although Baroque painting in a number of European countries relied on the legacy of Rubens, the content of his art, the main realistic orientation of his work were not accepted by the official Baroque, which was imbued with tendencies of decorative theatricality and a deliberate opposition of the base and the sublime. In the fundamentally truthful compositions of Rubens, created in the 1610s, the feeling of the mighty power of existence, its eternal movement is always clearly expressed. Such are the joyful solemnity of the allegory “The Union of Earth and Water” (between 1612 and 1615; Leningrad, Hermitage), the dramatic power of “The Descent from the Cross”, the fierce struggle in “Lion Hunt” or “Boar Hunt” (Dresden), pathos world cataclysm in “The Last Judgment” (Munich), the fury of fighters entwined in a fierce battle for life and death in “Battle of the Amazons” (Munich).
“The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus” (1619-1620; Munich) is an example of Rubens’ appeal to a mythological theme. The movements of the horsemen abducting young women are full of courageous determination and energy. The curvaceous bodies of women, vainly crying out for mercy, stand out effectively against the background of bright fluttering fabrics, rearing black and golden-red horses, and the dark bodies of the kidnappers. The resounding chord of colors, the turbulence of gestures, the torn, restless silhouette of the entire group clearly convey the force of the impulse of life's passions. Numerous “Bacchanalia” date back to approximately the same time, including “Bacchanalia” (1615-1620; Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts).
“The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus” and “Bacchanalia”, in a pictorial sense, form the transition to a mature period in the work of Rubens (1620-1630). The cycle “The Life of Marie de Medici” (1622-1625; Louvre), which occupies an important place among other monumental and decorative compositions by Rubens, dates back to the beginning of this period. This cycle is very characteristic of his understanding of the historical genre. Rubens in his work refers not only to ancient historical heroes and their deeds, but also to contemporary history. In this case, Rubens sees the task of a historical painting as praising the personality and deeds of monarchs or generals. His lush and solemn historical paintings became an example to be followed by a number of court artists of the 17th century. The cycle “The Life of Marie de Medici” consists of twenty large compositions intended to decorate one of the halls of the Luxembourg Palace. These paintings reproduced the main Episodes of the life of the wife of Henry IV, who became the ruler of France after his death. All the paintings in the cycle were made in the spirit of the frank. praises of Marie de Medici and are equipped with allegorical and mythological characters. This unique pictorial ode of praise was executed with great brilliance and in its scope represented an exceptional phenomenon even for the baroque art of the 17th century, which was partial to large monumental and decorative compositions. A typical work for the entire series is “The Arrival of Marie de Medici in Marseille.” Along the velvet-covered gangway, the magnificently dressed Marie de Medici descends from the side of a luxurious galley onto the soil of France. Flags flutter, gilding and brocade shine. In the heavens the trumpeting winged Glory announces a great event. The sea deities, overcome by general excitement, greet Mary. The naiads accompanying the ship tie the ropes thrown from the ship to the pilings of the pier. The film contains a lot of festive noise and outright court flattery. But for all the theatricality of the whole, the figures in the composition are arranged naturally and freely.
Since the paintings of this cycle were made mainly by Rubens' students, the greatest artistic interest is in the sketches written by Rubens himself, according to which the compositions themselves were realized in his workshop. The sketch for “The Coronation of Marie de Medici,” kept in the Hermitage, is an underpainting, lightly touched by a few strokes of glaze. It amazes with its combination of exceptional brevity and extreme expressiveness of the image. A keen sense of the whole, highlighting the main thing in the depicted event, amazing mastery of the mise-en-scène, a deep understanding of the coloristic unity of the picture, the relationship and gradation of tone and density of the stroke allow Rubens, with the most meager means, to give a bright, full of life-like spontaneity picture of the event. The stroke becomes not only precise, but also emotionally expressive. The figure of the young courtier in the center of the picture is sketched with several swift, rich strokes, conveying the slenderness of the muscular figure, the intensely restrained young energy of his nature, and the swiftness of his movement, causing the fervor of his pose. Its fluttering cloak is magnificent, conveyed in several strokes of scarlet-pink and dark brown, black in the shadows. The relaxed freedom and sharp expressiveness of Rubens's pictorial style have nothing in common with subjective arbitrariness or deliberate negligence.
In his historical compositions, Rubens does not always limit himself to composing a magnificent laudatory ode to rulers, often unworthy of it. In some compositions dedicated to historical events of antiquity, he asserted his idea of a historical hero - a courageous fighter for his ideals. Unlike the classicists of the 17th century. At the same time, Rubens did not so much glorify the victory of duty and reason over feeling and passion, but rather revealed the beauty of the immediate unity of feeling and thought of the hero, seized by a passionate impulse to fight, to action. An example of this kind of historical compositions by Rubens is located in the Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin Sketch for the lost Munich painting “Mucius Scaevola”.
Admiration for man and the wealth of his vivid feelings and experiences was expressed in “The Adoration of the Magi” (1624; Antwerp, Museum) and in “Perseus and Andromeda” (1620-1621; Hermitage). In The Adoration of the Magi, Rubens frees himself from the moments of heightened theatricality characteristic of his earlier altar compositions. This canvas is distinguished by a combination of festivity, natural vitality of images and expressiveness of characters. The features of this period were revealed most fully in Perseus and Andromeda. Rubens depicted the moment when Perseus, having slain the sea monster, descended from Pegasus and approached Andromeda, chained to a rock, intended, according to ancient myth, to be sacrificed to the monster. Like festive banners, the folds of the scarlet cloak of Perseus and the blue robe of Victory, crowning the hero, flutter. However, the content of the picture is not limited to the apotheosis of the victorious hero. Dressed in heavy armor, Perseus approaches the naked, joyfully embarrassed Andromeda and touches her hand with imperious tenderness. Andromeda is surrounded by a light golden glow, opposing the more materially dense color scheme of the rest of the picture. The golden-honey glow that envelops Andromeda’s lush nudity seems to materialize in the golden brocade veil framing her body. No one before Rubens had sung with such depth the beauty and great joy of love, which conquered all the obstacles standing in its way. At the same time, this painting especially fully reveals Rubens’ skill in depicting the human body. It seems that it is saturated with the thrill of life - the moisture of the gaze, the light play of blush, the velvety matteness of delicate skin are so captivatingly and convincingly conveyed.
Rubens was a wonderful master of drawing. His preparatory drawings for paintings amaze with his ability to capture, in a few dynamic strokes and spots, the character of a form taken in its movement, to convey the general emotional state of the image. Rubens's drawings are characterized by breadth and freedom of execution: either increasing or weakening the pressure of the pencil on the paper, he captures the characteristic silhouette of the figure, conveys the tense play of the muscles (study for “The Elevation of the Cross”). In one of the preparatory drawings for “The Boar Hunt,” Rubens confidently sculpts the form with a rich juxtaposition of light and shadow, conveying the contrasts of knotty, tensely bending tree trunks and the slight trembling of foliage permeated with flickering light. Pictorial expressiveness, heightened emotionality, an excellent sense of dynamics, and artistic flexibility of technique are characteristic features of Rubens' drawing mastery.
The charm of Rubens's pictorial language is also revealed in his portraits of his mature period. The portrait in the work of Rubens did not have the same importance as in the work of Hals, Rembrandt or Velazquez. And yet Rubens' portraits occupy a unique and important place in the art of the 17th century. Rubens' portrait to a certain extent continues, in new historical conditions, the humanistic traditions of the High Renaissance portrait. Unlike the masters of the Italian Renaissance, Rubens restrainedly but expressively conveys his direct personal attitude towards the subject being portrayed. His portraits are full of feelings of sympathy, polite respect, or joyful admiration for the model. With all this, Rubens’ personal attitude towards his models has one important common feature. This is benevolence, a general positive assessment of the hero of the image. On the one hand, this understanding of the image of a person corresponded to the goals of the official Baroque portrait, dedicated to the depiction of “worthy”, “significant” persons; on the other hand, in this attitude towards man the life-affirming optimism and humanism of Rubens himself found expression. Therefore, Rubens, in general correctly and convincingly conveying the features of similarity with the model, unlike Rembrandt and Velazquez, does not go too deep into conveying all the individual peculiarities of its physical and psychological appearance. Complex internal contradictions in the moral life of an individual remain outside his field of vision. In each portrait, Rubens, without breaking with the characteristics of individual traits, emphasizes the general features characteristic of the model’s social position. True, in portraits of rulers, for example in the portrait of Maria de Medici (1622-1625; Prado), the truthfulness and vitality of the characterization only barely breaks through the conventions of a ceremonial baroque portrait; Therefore, portraits of people either close to the artist or not at the top of the social hierarchy have much greater artistic value for us. In the portraits of Doctor Tulden (c. 1615 - 1618; Munich), chambermaid (c. 1625; Hermitage)? Susanna Fourman (1620s; London) and in some self-portraits this realistic basis of Rubens's portrait appears most consistently.
In the portrait of the chambermaid, Rubens conveyed the charm of a cheerful young woman. Her face, surrounded by the pearly white foam of her collar, stands out against the warm background; fluffy strands of golden hair frame her temples and forehead. Light golden reflexes, hot transparent shadows, juxtaposed with freely placed cold highlights, convey the thrill of life. The chambermaid turned her head slightly, and light and shadows slide across her face, sparks of light sparkle in her eyes, strands of hair flutter and a pearl earring flickers dimly in the shadows.
Among the portraits of Rubens of the late period, his self-portrait, stored in the Vienna Museum (c. 1638), deserves mention. Although the features of a ceremonial portrait make themselves felt in the composition, there is still a lot of freedom and ease in Rubens’ calm pose. The artist’s face, looking attentively and benevolently at the viewer, is full of life. In this portrait, Rubens affirms his ideal of a man in a prominent position, richly gifted, intelligent, and confident in his abilities.
Among the master’s later portraits, the portraits of the artist’s second wife, young Elena Fourman, are especially attractive. The best among them is the Louvre portrait of Helen Fourment with her children (after 1636). In this portrait, the influence of the principles of baroque ceremonial portraiture is almost not felt; luxurious accessories and lush clothes are discarded. The whole picture is imbued with a feeling of calm and serene happiness. The image of the mother and children is full of natural ease and at the same time special charm. The young mother holds her youngest son on her lap and tilts her face towards him with thoughtful tenderness. A gentle golden glow envelops all forms in a light haze, softens the bright sound of red spots, and creates an atmosphere of calm and solemn joy. A hymn to a woman - mother and lover - is superbly embodied in this earthly Madonna.
A full-length portrait of a nude Helen Fourment with a fur coat trimmed with thick fur draped over her shoulders (“Fur Coat,” 1638-1639; Vienna) goes beyond the portrait genre. By conveying the sensual charm of his young wife, Rubens embodies his ideal of female beauty. With amazing skill, Rubens uses the contrasts between dark fluffy fur and a naked body, between the delicate tints of pink skin and the radiance of curls framing the face.
Rubens portrays Elena Fourment not only in portraits. We recognize her features in “Andromeda” (1638-1640; Berlin) and “Bathsheba” (c. 1635; Dresden). For Rubens, a painting is a feast for the eye, satisfying his greedy love for the festive richness of existence. In the Dresden canvas, the sound of the red color of the blanket thrown over the seat and juxtaposed with the thick black-brown color of the thrown-back fur coat, the greenish-blue clothes of the Negro boy, the olive-black darkness of his body are intended to create a sonorous chord, against which all the richness of shades of the naked body stands out Bathsheba. At the same time, Rubens conveys the most subtle nuances of form and color. This is the comparison between the shine of the whites of the black boy’s eyes and the white spot of the letter that he hands to Bathsheba.
The theme of the sensual richness of life, its eternal movement finds its most direct expression in Rubens’ “Bacchanalia”. Fauns, satyrs, and satiresses intoxicated with wine invade the picture in a riotous crowd. Sometimes (in The Triumph of Silenus, late 1620s; London) the crowd gives the impression of being part of an endless procession, cut off by the picture frame.
One of the most remarkable works of this type is the Hermitage “Bacchus” (between 1635 and 1640). Rubens' Bacchus is very far from Titian's harmoniously beautiful Bacchus (Bacchus and Ariadne). The fat figure of a cheerful glutton sitting on a wine barrel is somewhat close in spirit to the image of Lamme Goodzak, the belly of Flanders, created by de Custer. The entire composition of “Bacchus” is perceived as a frank hymn to the physiological joy of being.
Occupying such an important place in the work of Rubens in the 1610s. Baroque in general nature, altar compositions fade into the background in the later period and are usually completed by the workshop almost without the participation of the artist himself. When the master himself turns to works of this kind, he creates works full of realistic expressiveness. His altar composition “The Vision of St. Ildefonsa" (1630-1632; Brussels, sketch in the Hermitage) is very indicative in this regard. It is noteworthy that the sketch is distinguished by much greater realism of the composition than the altar painting itself. There is no conventional division into three doors, no hovering angels are depicted, etc. The poses of the characters are more natural and simpler. The unity of lighting and the transmission of air soften the sharpness of color contrasts. While improving the clarity of compositional structure, Rubens simultaneously abandoned the excessive decorativeness of early altar compositions and their often excessive overload with numerous characters. The increasing maturity and consistency of the artist’s realistic aspirations should have encouraged him to go beyond the limits of biblical and ancient themes. This was partly due to the flourishing of portraits and landscapes in his work in the 1620s and 1630s.
Rubens's landscape develops Dutch traditions, giving them new ideological meaning and artistic significance. He solves mainly the problem of a generalized image of nature as a whole; the majestic picture of the existence of the world, the clear harmony of man and nature receives from him its sublimely poetic and at the same time sensually full embodiment. The world is a whole, and a person calmly and joyfully feels his unity with it. Rubens's earlier landscapes, for example "Carriers of Stones" (c. 1620; Hermitage), are distinguished by a somewhat more dramatic composition. The rocks in the foreground seem to rise with tension from the bowels of the earth, tearing its covers with a roar. With enormous effort, horses and people move a heavy loaded cart over the crest of a mountain road. Rubens's later landscapes are calmer and more solemn. His ability to create a generalized and at the same time vitally convincing image of nature is revealed especially fully in “The Farm at Laeken” (1633; London, Buckingham Palace). The backwater of the river, the majestic clarity of the flat expanses, the trees stretching their branches to the sky, the running of clouds form a clear consonance of rhythms that convey the mighty breath of the world. Fat herds, a village woman slowly walking along the path with a jug, a peasant bringing his horse to water, complete the overall picture of the majestic harmony of life. In “The Watering Place,” the eye is pleased with the lush color, the silvery-bluish light that envelops the picture, and the combination of broad decorative effects with a subtle rendering of the trembling of foliage and the shimmer of moisture.
In recent decades, Rubens has turned to depicting folk life. She interests him mainly from the festive side. In “Kermess” (c. 1635 -1636; Louvre) and especially in “Peasant Dance” (between 1636 and 1640; Prado), Rubens, starting from the traditions of the Dutch realists of the 16th century, rises to a generalized image of the strength and greatness of the people. The popular basis of Rubens' heroic optimism receives its most direct expression here. In a rapid dance, the movement of the round dance expands and then collapses. Young peasants and peasant women are beautiful with their health and their overflowing cheerfulness. The calmly majestic landscape recreates the image of a fertile and powerful land. A powerful branchy oak tree overshadows the dancers with its foliage. The figure of a flutist perched among the branches seems to grow from the depths of the oak tree. land. The music of his flute is the joyful and free song of nature itself. Rubens's images of peasants lack everyday authenticity, but the healthy simplicity of their appearance and admiration for their cheerfulness turn them into a symbol of the inexhaustible strength and greatness of Flanders and its people.
Rubens's workshop was not only the center of formation of many of the largest Flemish painters - a new Antwerp school of masters of reproduction engraving was also formed here, reproducing mainly the original paintings of Rubens, as well as artists of his circle. As a rule, engravings were made not from originals, but from specially prepared - most often by Rubens' students - grisaille drawings. Thus, the coloristic image of the painting was translated into a tonal-graphic image; the large-scale reduction in turn made the engraver's task easier. In part, this preparatory work determined the special degree of artistic generalization that distinguishes Flemish engraving of the 17th century. among other Western European schools. Rubens actively monitored the engraver's work at all stages and often intervened in it himself, making changes to the test prints. Among the galaxy of talented engraving masters, Lucas Worsterman (1595-1675) should be mentioned first. Although his creative collaboration with Rubens lasted only a short time, it was extremely fruitful both in the number of engravings created and in the artistic results. Following Rubens' creative plan, Vorstermann was able to convey only the use of black and white the feeling of the intensity of the colorful harmonies of Rubens' compositions, to saturate the sheets with spectacular transitions from bright light to rich velvety shadows, to enrich and diversify the expressiveness with strokes, sometimes gentle and subtle, sometimes strong and energetic. Almost avoiding the technique of monotonous and dry cross-hatching in the shadows, which was so common in the past, and abandoning the sharp outlining shape of the contour line and minute drawing of details, the master based his engravings on large masses, rich black and white contrasts, perfectly capturing the dynamic and solemn spirit of Rubens’ art. The foundations of this new style laid by Worsterman were continued and developed by his students and followers, who still could not achieve the breadth and freedom of Worsterman, although among them there were such gifted masters as Paul Pontius (1603-1658), especially known as a first-class portrait painter, Bolsvert brothers - Boethius (c. 1580-c. 1634) and Schelte Adame (1581 - 1659), whose best works are engravings from landscapes by Rubens.
Chisel engraving was the dominant type of engraving in Flanders, relegating etching to the background. The new style of the Antwerp school also manifested itself in the work of Christopher Jaeger (1596 - ca. 1652), the only woodblock print master in Rubens' circle.
The largest painter in Flanders after Rubens was his most talented student and younger contemporary, Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641). Both in the personal fate of Van Dyck, who came from the wealthy strata of the bourgeoisie, who spent his entire life striving to enter the select circle of the nobility, and in the evolution of his work, which marked a departure from the democratic traditions of national painting, the general process of aristocratization of contemporary Flemish society was clearly reflected. But in the best works of Van Dyck, a healthy realistic principle is preserved, deep, meaningful images of the people of his time are created.
Van Dyck received his initial artistic education in Antwerp from the painter van Balen. As a nineteen-year-old boy, he came to Rubens' workshop. A year later, the young artist was elected a member of the Antwerp Corporation of Painters. Rubens highly praised his student, and soon Van Dyck became his assistant in carrying out various orders. During this period, the master created paintings with dynamic composition on religious subjects. Many of them show a strong influence of Rubens (St. Jerome, Drunken Strong; Dresden). However, in comparison with Rubens, Van Dyck’s images lose their spontaneous fullness of feelings, seem more sluggish, less significant. The master often strives for their increased and usually outwardly understood expressiveness, which gives some of his canvases a touch of contrivedness, such as, for example, the Munich “Martyrdom of St. Sebastian" (1618-1621). Van Dyck is much more interesting where he finds figurative solutions close to his work (“St. Martin and the Beggar.” But not subject paintings were Van Dyck’s true calling. All the originality of his talent was revealed in the field of portraiture.
Van Dyck can be called a born portrait painter. He created his own style of portrait art, which gained wide popularity in the highest circles of many European countries. Customers were attracted not only by Van Dyck’s brilliant mastery of the very type of ceremonial aristocratic portrait. The attractive force of Van Dyck's art was the underlying ideal of the human personality, which he followed in his works.
Van Dyck's man seems to be elevated above everyday life; internally ennobled, he is devoid of the imprint of mediocrity. The artist first of all strives to show his spiritual sophistication. In his best portraits, Van Dyck, without falling into superficial idealization, created vital and typical images that at the same time have a unique poetic appeal.
Van Dyck's early Antwerp portraits depict noble citizens of his native city, their families, artists with their wives and children. These works are closely related to the traditions of Flemish painting (Family Portrait, between 1618 and 1620, Hermitage; portrait of Cornelis van der Geest).
In 1620 Van Dyck travels to England and then to Italy. In Rome, he created a portrait of the scientist and diplomat Cardinal Guido Bentivoglio (Florence, Pitti). Already here the principles of Van Dyck’s art are clearly expressed. The image of the cardinal seated in a chair against the backdrop of a red curtain has a distinctly ceremonial character. But external representativeness is combined with the revelation of a person’s rich inner life. The light falls on Bentivoglio’s thoughtful, spiritual face, expressing the intense work of thought. It is significant that in his intellectual characterization Van Dyck emphasizes the exclusivity of this person and introduces a touch of elation into the image.
Van Dyck settles in Genoa, an aristocratic republic closely connected with Flanders through trade relations. He becomes a popular portrait painter of the city's largest aristocratic families. Acquaintance with Venetian painting enriches the master’s compositional techniques and his palette. He creates majestic, often full-length portraits of representatives of the Italian nobility. Haughty elders, noble gentlemen, slender women in heavy, jeweled dresses with long trains are presented against the backdrop of purple draperies and massive columns of the luxurious palaces of Genoa. These are brilliant environmental portraits-paintings.
Not all works of the Genoese period are of equal value - in some of them a certain secular impersonality prevails. But in the best portraits of this time, as in the portrait of Bentivoglio, the impression of a peculiar elation of the images is created. The Marquise Catarina Durazzo appears as an extraordinary person in the portrait of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. The spirituality of the image is consonant with the very type of this more intimate and somewhat romanticized portrait. But even within the confines of a more traditional ceremonial image, Van Dyck imbues the images with a thrill of life. In the portrait of the young Marquise Balbiani (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art) everything seems unusual, marked by a special refined beauty: elongated proportions, the pallor of the face and delicate idle hands, the splendor of dark clothes decorated with the finest pattern of shimmering gold lace. But perhaps what is most captivating is the feeling of spiritual uplift, inner revival that permeates the image.
Upon Van Dyck's return to his homeland, the second Antwerp period of his work begins (1627-1632). At this time, Rubens left on a long diplomatic trip, and Van Dyck became, in fact, the first artist of Flanders. From 1630 he was a court artist at the Archduke's court. Van Dyck painted at this time many altar images for various Flemish churches, as well as paintings on mythological subjects. But, as before, his main vocation remains portraiture. Along with images of dignitaries and nobles, military leaders and prelates, rich Flemish merchants, painted in the tradition of ceremonial portraits, he creates portraits of lawyers, doctors, and his fellow Flemish artists. It was during this period of creativity that Van Dyck’s lively temperament and his connection with the realistic traditions of Flemish art were especially clearly manifested. The portraits of artists are distinguished by the accuracy and meaningfulness of their characteristics: the tired, strict Snyders (Vienna, Museum), the dashing Sneyers (Munich, Alte Pinakothek), the good-natured Krayer (Vienna, Liechtenstein Gallery), the doctor Lazarus Macharkeizus (1622-1630; Hermitage), philologist and publisher Jan van den Wouwer (Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts). One of the most significant works of these years is a portrait of the young beauty Maria Louise de Tassis (Vienna, Liechtenstein Gallery). This portrait retains the degree of representativeness that distinguished Van Dyck’s Genoese works, and at the same time it is an image full of vitality and calm naturalness.
The sharpness of the characterization is also inherent in Van Dyck’s etching works, which made up the “Iconography” published in 1627 - a collection of etchings-portraits of famous contemporaries (out of one hundred images, sixteen were made by the master with his own hand; for the rest he provided preliminary sketches).
In 1632, he left for England and became the court artist of Charles I. In England, the ambitious Van Dyck received the title of nobility and the golden chain of a knight. Thanks to his marriage to Mary Rasven, who came from a very ancient but impoverished family, the artist entered the ranks of the prim English aristocracy. He paints many portraits of the king, queen and their children; The entire high English society seeks the honor of posing for him.
In some, especially early works of this period, Van Dyck still retains the strength of his talent. The pronounced aristocracy of the images is combined with emotional and psychological sophistication: portraits of Philip Wharton (1632; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art), Mary Rasven (c. 1640; Munich, Alte Pinakothek), Thomas Wharton (late 1630s). ; Hermitage). Among Van Dyck's outstanding works of the English period is the portrait of King Charles I (c. 1635; Louvre). Among the numerous portraits of Charles I, painted by the master in traditional techniques, this canvas stands out for its particularly original design. The principles of the ceremonial image are revealed here not forcefully, as in many other Vandyck portraits, but rather softened, in a more intimate interpretation, which, however, thanks to the brilliant skill of the artist, does not at all come to the detriment of the representativeness of the model. The king is depicted against the backdrop of a landscape in an elegantly casual pose; behind him a servant holds a thoroughbred horse. The color of the portrait, rich in transparent silver-gray and dull golden shades, is distinguished by its exquisite beauty. The image of Charles I - the very embodiment of elegance and aristocracy - is poeticized by Van Dyck, and at the same time, the inner essence of this man, arrogant and weak, frivolous and self-confident, a charming gentleman and a short-sighted monarch, is very subtly conveyed here.
But never before have the contradictions in Van Dyck's work been so obvious as during the English period. Along with the aforementioned works, which testify to his high skill, Van Dyck, obediently following the wishes of his noble customers, creates many empty, idealized portraits. The picturesque quality of his works is also declining. The very method of his work at this time is indicative. Inundated with orders, he, like Rubens, surrounds himself with student assistants. Van Dyck worked on several portraits in one day. The sketch from the model took no more than an hour, the rest, especially the clothes and hands, was completed in the workshop by students from special models. Already at the second session, Van Dyck completed the portrait just as quickly. This method led to the predominance of a certain stamp.
Van Dyck's artistic role was extremely significant and manifested itself mainly outside his homeland. English portrait painters relied on the traditions of his art. On the other hand, the type of idealized ceremonial portrait of the late Van Dyck became a model for many Western European painters of the 17th and 18th centuries.
The third largest representative of Flemish painting was Jacob Jordan (1593-1678). The son of a wealthy Antwerp merchant, he spent his entire life in his hometown. Studying (from 1607) with Adam van Noort did not have much influence on Jordanes' artistic development. More closely than others, he was connected with the realistic tradition of Old Netherlandish painting. Of the modern Italian masters, he most appreciated the art of Caravaggio. Recognition soon came to the young artist. Already in 1615 he received the title of member of the guild of Antwerp painters, and in 1621 he was elected its dean.
Perhaps none of the masters expressed the soil principle of Flemish art with such force, sometimes taking on a hint of rough sensuality, as Jordanes did. This was also facilitated by the fact that he did not visit Italy and, in addition, did not strive to adapt to Italian models. Jordanes' works, even on religious and mythological subjects, are interpreted in a genre sense; the characters, most often given in everyday life and always written from life, sometimes seem too ponderous. At the same time, his work is devoid of the features of everyday prosaism - it has a special festive spectacle and inexhaustible reserves of cheerfulness. This completeness of the optimistic perception of the world brings Jordanes closer to Rubens. But, unlike the latter, Jordan does not have such a power of artistic generalization, such a gigantic creative scope and such an inexhaustible imagination. His art is to a certain extent more one-dimensional.
Jordanes' artistic individuality is already evident in his early works. In “The Adoration of the Shepherds” (1618; Stockholm, Museum), peasants full of touching simplicity surrounded a young, ugly Flemish woman with a child in her arms. Large figures densely fill the space; the artist sculpts them with strong, contrasting chiaroscuro, emphasizing the tactile materiality of figures and objects. The simplicity of the compact composition, the sonority of color built on large pictorial spots, the vitality of the images give significance to this simple scene. The same features distinguish Jordan’s paintings on mythological subjects (“The Education of Jupiter,” Louvre; “Meleager and Atalanta,” Antwerp). And in them we find the same full-blooded, strong, folk types snatched from life. Less successful are the master’s works in which he strives to create abstract allegorical images. Thus, the Brussels painting “Allegory of Fertility” (c. 1625-1628; Brussels), which has a number of beautiful details, generally seems contrived, overloaded with massive figures. Apparently, before 1630, the painting “Moses Carving Water from a Rock” (Karlsruhe, Museum) was executed, bold and original in compositional design.
The uniqueness of Jordanes’s work is most clearly manifested in those canvases in which genre motifs predominate. He willingly drew stories from folk proverbs, fables, sayings, well-aimed and full of sly enthusiasm. There were several favorite themes in the master’s work, to which he repeatedly returned. Thus, in the museums of Munich, Kassel, Budapest, and Moscow there are several versions of the painting “A Satyr Visiting a Peasant,” based on the plot of Aesop’s fable. They depict a peasant family having a meal, which is visited by a goat-footed satyr. The most successful painting is from the Moscow Museum of Fine Arts. According to the fable, the satyr is surprised by the duplicity of people - the behavior of the peasant who blows on the porridge to cool it, while earlier he blew on his hands to warm them. In Jordanes, both satyrs and peasants are children of the same nature, physically strong, simple-minded, full of rough vitality. Absorbed in food and conversation with their unusual guest, whose appearance in their circle seems completely natural, the peasants huddled tightly around the table. Their heavy bodies, red-cheeked faces, rough feet, and a clay jug in the foreground are conveyed with plastic tactility. Wide, dense brush strokes, large colorful spots of sonorous blue, red, yellow, golden-brown tones, rich in shades, distinguish the painting of the Moscow painting.
Jordan especially loved to depict burgher families, either carefreely feasting at a festive table, or gathered together for a family concert. The depiction of these scenes reflected the cheerful spirit of traditional folk festivals. If in the works of Rubens themes and images of a similar nature are distinguished by the features of a higher artistic generalization, then in the paintings of Jordanes genre elements are more clearly expressed. Among the subjects to which he repeatedly returned was the image of the “Bean King” holiday. The holiday was celebrated on the day when, according to legend, the kings came to worship the infant Christ. The one present at the feast who had a piece of pie with a bean baked into it became the king of the holiday.
The Hermitage painting “The Bean King” (c. 1648) depicts the noisy family of a Flemish burgher. The venerable old man - the father of the family - the “king” himself, crowned with a paper crown, drinks wine from a glass, and the whole company greets him with enthusiastic drunken shouts. The space is filled with heavy figures surrounding a table overflowing with food. The strong movement that permeates this entire restless group conveys the impression of unbridled fun. Each character is vividly and eloquently depicted. The master's painting style reaches a special breadth. Jordan already avoids sharp black and white contrasts here. The painting is designed in a hot color scheme with many shades from golden pink to golden brown. The master imparts features of monumental significance to an everyday scene full of crude humor. Jordan was also the author of a number of portraits. He did not set out to create deep psychological images. Some of the portraits are close to his paintings (Family Portrait, c. 1615; Hermitage). More formal is the portrait of the Jordan family (Madrid, Prado).
Since the 1630s Jordane performed a number of decorative works in Antwerp together with Rubens. Already at this time, and especially after the death of Rubens, when Jordan became, as it were, the head of the Flemish school and the author of many decorative allegorical and mythological compositions that met the tastes of aristocratic customers, a period of decline began in his work. The heaviness of the composition and figures, which was previously characteristic of the artist, becomes excessive. The artist's later works, while sometimes retaining their colorfulness and skill in depicting individual details, are generally filled with false baroque pathos.
One of the most distinctive areas of Flemish painting of the 17th century. There was still life, which acquired independent significance at this time. Still lifes, often reaching colossal proportions, served as decoration for the walls of the spacious palaces of the Flemish nobility. In contrast to the intimate Dutch still life, the Flemish still life borders on subject composition. Scenes close to the everyday genre are depicted in shops and kitchens; Among the endless abundance of objects, human figures are lost. The cheerful character of Flemish art manifested itself in still life with particular force; Flemish artists showed their brilliant skill in conveying the diverse forms of the objective world.
The largest still life painter in Flanders in the 17th century. was Rubens's comrade-in-arms, Frans Snyders (1579-1657). On Snyders’s huge canvases, carcasses of meat, killed fallow deer, lobsters, a boar’s head, a variety of juicy, ripe vegetables and fruits, piles of dead poultry, sea and river fish are intricately piled on the tables, and it seems that only the picture frames limit this endless abundance of nature’s gifts. From the general olive tone, sonorous spots of white, blue, especially red (lobsters, meat, berries, clothes of a shopkeeper or shopkeeper) stand out. Some randomness in the construction of Snyders's still life is subordinated to a single color composition, creating the impression of a complete decorative whole.
During his mature period of creativity, in the famous series of still lifes (1618-1621), intended for the palace of the philanthropist Archbishop Trist, now decorating the halls of the Hermitage, Snyders created the “Fish”, “Fruit” and “Vegetable” shops.
The artist paints each subject with great care, but first of all he sees the still life as a whole, striving for a comprehensive image of the richness of nature. Snyders's bright, elegant still lifes are full of jubilant festivity and can least of all be called “dead nature” - they are so full of vibrant life. This dynamism is enhanced by the fact that the artist introduces living creatures into his still lifes (a small monkey steals fruit, a dog rushes at a cat, a horse comes up and eats vegetables, etc.).
Snyders was a great master in depicting animals, while human figures are the least expressive in his paintings; they were most often painted by other artists. It is not for nothing that many of Snyders’s still lifes are close to his subject compositions - fast-paced hunting scenes or noisy poultry houses. The peculiar genre of hunting scenes, in which the painter Paul de Voe (1596-1678), who was close to Snyders, also worked, became widespread in Flemish art, because the depiction of the breathtaking spectacle of a fierce fight between wild animals being hunted by dogs opened up especially favorable opportunities for the effects favored by Flemish masters.
More restrained and refined is the work of Jan Veit (1611-1661), another outstanding master of Flemish still life. Veith does not, unlike Snyders, strive to create works of powerful monumental and decorative scope. His still lifes are closed easel paintings, more intimate, more strict in the choice of objects, with a clear and compact composition and a rare beauty of color. In subtly harmonized transitions of gray, blue, indigo, red, lilac-gray, yellow-pink tones, he created inexhaustible colorful variations. With particular virtuosity, Faith conveys the texture of the depicted objects: delicate iridescent pearl-gray feathers of birds, fluffy soft fur of a hare, wet grapes shining like jewels (“Dead Game,” Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts; “Fruits and parrot", 1645, Hermitage; "Fruits and Flowers", Brussels, Museum of Fine Arts).
Next to the works of Rubens, Jordanes, Snyders and other Flemish painters of the first half of the 17th century, the works of their contemporary Adrian Brouwer (1605/06-1638) seem unusual. However, the art of this original master was not some kind of historical accident. Brouwer's work, developing those existing in painting and literature of the 16th century. traditions of grotesque humorous depiction of a person, reflected the shadow sides of the life of the lower classes of Flemish society. He wrote small genre compositions that captured scenes in squalid, smoky taverns where peasants, the poor and vagabonds gathered. His paintings often depict drinking parties that turn into violent fights, card games, smokers, and cruel home-grown healing. The daring spirit of bohemian mischief permeates Brouwer's works, which constitute a sharp contrast to the artistic trends that dominated Flemish art at that time.
Adrian Brouwer was born into a family of artisans in the city of Oudenaarde. As a youth he went to Holland, where he may have studied in Haarlem with Frans Hals; worked in Haarlem and Amsterdam. The Dutch school of painting gave a lot to the young artist, but he developed into an independent master in his homeland, where he returned in 1631. In Brouwer’s early paintings (for example, the Berlin “School”, written in Holland), features of outright caricature predominate. A kind of dump of gnome-like freaks with stupid faces distorted with grimaces is presented. But in the rendering of their sharp movements and gestures one can guess the path along which the work of Brouwer, a master of dynamic compositions, instantaneous changeable poses, and emphasized expressiveness of the characters, further develops. These qualities are manifested in the depiction of drunken fights full of senseless rage (paintings in the museums of Dresden, Moscow, Leningrad) or gambling card games (“Peasants playing cards”, 1630s; Munich, Alte Pinakothek). Brouwer's heroes, rude people oppressed by poverty and drunkenness, are often imbued with a spirit of embitterment and emptiness. But over the years, his art, while retaining some elements of the grotesque, becomes deeper and more meaningful. The scenes in the taverns become less stormy, and the base passions that worried the tramps and gamblers seem to subside. Brouwer's works take on a more contemplative character, tinged with gentle humor. He depicts a group of smokers peacefully talking among themselves, or creates a picture such as “Peasant Quartet” (Munich). This later painting depicts four selflessly singing peasants and a fat Flemish woman with a child at a burning hearth. As always, Brouwer's images are deliberately unvarnished; he depicts singing peasants with their mouths wide open, which gives a funny expression to their ugly faces. And at the same time, the picture contains human warmth and a sense of truth of life. He willingly paints single figures of people, sometimes immersed in their gloomy thoughts, sometimes playing the guitar, sometimes talking affectionately with animals (“Man with a Dog”, Oosterbeck, Heldring collection; “The Innkeeper”, Munich). These images are warmed by Brouwer’s sympathy for the common man and bear the imprint of the artist’s own personality. And indeed, in the alleged self-portrait (The Hague, Mayritshuis), written in the last years of his life, he creates an image that is amazing for its time. Before us is a typical representative of a bohemian: sloppy, indifferent to all external decency, and at the same time, a complex inner life is reflected in an intelligent, thoughtful face.
In his artistic skill, Brouwer stands at the level of outstanding achievements of his time. In the characterization of both the main and secondary characters, he achieves particular poignancy. The figures are always depicted in motion, their gestures are noted with amazing accuracy; facial expressions are emphasized, but never lose a sense of reality (“Bitter Medicine”; Frankfurt am Main, Städel Institute).
In the composition of his paintings, two plans are usually distinguished: in the foreground there is the main and very compact group of characters, in the depths there is a semi-dark space. a tavern or tavern, in which the figures of visitors are faintly visible and everyday life seems to be going on. With the help of transitions of light and shadow, a feeling of depth of space and unity is achieved.
air environment. Brouwer is an excellent colorist, a master of exquisite colorful combinations. His canvases are usually designed in brownish-olive tones; the background is painted in airy gray and yellowish tones, and in the foreground, finely harmonized colorful spots of faded bluish, cream, pink, yellowish shades are highlighted in the clothes of the depicted people. Brouwer's painting technique is distinguished by freedom and artistry.
The last years of his life included Brouwer's landscape works. They most purely and directly express the lyricism of his work, which manifests itself in a hidden form in his genre paintings. His landscapes have a touch of personal experience. Some of them are imbued with a feeling of special intimacy - for example, in the Berlin “Landscape with a Shepherd” the artist depicts a soft sunny day; a shepherd sitting by the road plays the pipe, poor peasant huts hide in the deep shade of spreading trees; nature is full of peace and tranquility. Brouwer's other landscapes are imbued with dramatic emotion. Most often, he depicts night landscapes, illuminated by the uneven light of the moon, sliding over rushing torn clouds and trees rustling in the wind (“Dune Landscape with the Rising Moon”; Berlin). The staffage is in keeping with the mood of the landscape (scenes of robberies, attacks, lonely sinister figures of vagabonds). The brushwork in these paintings takes on a rapid, restless rhythm. In terms of the nature of his deeply personal perception of nature, Brouwer stands alone in Flemish art, and his landscapes in this regard are more in common with the landscapes of Rembrandt.
Brouwer's art, deeply original in its composition, was at the same time associated with similar phenomena in the art of other national schools, in particular with the Dutch genre. However, the works of the Flemish master differ significantly from the works of Dutch genre painters. Brouwer surpasses them with the boldness of his figurative concept and the lively temperament of the artist. His canvases are devoid of the spirit of bourgeois limitation, petty everyday life, and superficial entertainment inherent in many of the Dutch masters. He sees clearly and clearly; the very range of his creativity, which includes both grotesque and lyrical coloring of images, is immeasurably wider.
Brouwer's works, which disdained ostentatious integrity and hypocritical morality, shocked the tastes of “good society.” Brouwer's art was appreciated by the leading artists of the time, including Rembrandt and Rubens. But Brouwer’s work had no worthy successors. In the second half of the 17th century, during the period of decline of the country, art developed under different conditions. A typical master of Flemish painting of the second half of the 17th century was David Teniers (1610-1690). Working in the 1630s together with Brouwer, he partly imitated him in creating genre paintings. But his elegant paintings, painted in soft silvery tones and populated by small figures, are entertaining in nature. Numerous “Kermesses” depict feasts and entertainments of dressed-up, albeit somewhat vulgar, villagers who are extremely similar to each other. Sometimes they are observed condescendingly by members of the upper classes. Teniers's paintings enjoyed enormous success in the aristocratic circles of Flemish society. The artist followed fashion and customer requirements. In the 1640s. his “democratizing” genre was replaced by fantastic images - devils, witches, freaks appear in his paintings (“The Temptation of St. Anthony”) - or images of amusing trifles - scenes in which monkeys are represented doing various jobs in the kitchen or hairdresser (“Monkeys in the Kitchen "; Hermitage). Such paintings, finely painted, pleasant in color, are also full of anecdotal entertainment. Later, when Teniers became curator of the art gallery of the Stadtholder Archduke Leopold, he moved on to depicting the interiors of cabinets of curiosities and art galleries. These boring, dry works are interesting only as historical and artistic documents, since they present with pedantic precision the many wonderful works in the gallery. At the end of his life, turning again to the peasant genre, Teniers completely departed from the realistic traditions of Flemish art, creating scenes in the spirit of pastorals and gallant festivities of the 18th century.
In the second half of the 17th century. in Flemish art the time was coming for creative lethargy, shredding of images, uncritical imitation of foreign models, especially the art schools of France and Holland. Among the late Flemish masters, only Jan Seebergs (1627 - ca. 1703) deserves attention. His works are very monotonous. These are images of ugly, rustic Flemish peasant women guarding herds on lush lawns or casually resting by the side of the road (“Landscape with Sleeping Peasant Women”; Munich). Often the artist paints shady fords of bright forest rivers, through which women pass with their hems tucked, peasants drive their herds or move on a cart. Siberechts's rather large-sized canvases are painted in a cold, silvery, somewhat harsh pictorial manner. The master repeatedly varies the same theme, the same corner of nature. Everything is simple, sober, businesslike in his paintings. But, unlike the Flemish painters of his time, who, like Jacques d'Artois (1613-1686), created fictitious, purely decorative landscapes or gravitated toward an idealized classic landscape, Siberechts's paintings are closer to the real image of the nature of his native country.
They were distinguished by high perfection in the 17th century. works of applied art of Flanders: exquisite lace, luxurious furniture inlaid with precious woods and ivory, and especially tapestries. Tapestry making has been the country's leading art industry since the 14th century. Its main center was Brussels. Tapestries were widely used in the decoration of temples, as well as the state apartments of the Flemish nobility and wealthy merchants. Their production was closely connected with the flourishing of painting, whose leading masters (including Rubens and Jordanes) created cardboard for tapestries. Flemish wall hangings from the 17th century. reach large sizes, their compositions become more complex, and the colorful structure acquires special intensity. The impression of splendor is enhanced by the introduction of wide and varied borders consisting of ornamental and floral motifs. The tapestries, most often executed in entire series, depicted complex multi-figure scenes based on subjects from the Bible, ancient history, as well as images with allegorical content. The first half of the 17th century was the time of the highest rise in trellis production in Flanders. Towards the end of the century, when French manufactories took first place in Europe, the influence of French tastes was noticeable, especially increasing during the 18th century. The decorative scale of the figurative structure of the Flemish tapestries is lost, the depiction of gallant festivities and pastoral scenes becomes fashionable, and faded colors are used. It is significant that at this time the idyllic rural compositions of Teniers gained particular popularity, based on which numerous tapestries were created not only in Flanders, but also in other countries of Western Europe. Often tapestries are made from cardboards made not by Flemish, but by French masters.
In the first years of the 17th century, Flemish painting did not arise out of nowhere. Uniquely original and new in its external appearance and internal content, it had very definite sources, the influence of which, although it largely fertilized it, had for it, as for truly great art, primarily a stimulating value. Formally connected with a number of artistic phenomena immediately preceding or contemporary to it (both national and foreign), it was included in the great tradition of Western European classical art, which reflected the pace of human creative thought, which had gone through a grandiose path of development from the Middle Ages through the great spiritual conquests of the Renaissance - by the 17th century. The Flemish masters were able to express in the artistic images they generated much of what advanced humanity in Western Europe lived in the post-Renaissance era. This determined the most important, fundamental value of Flemish art of the 17th century. It is from this position that one should first of all proceed when assessing its historical role.
Flemish painting of the 17th century was the second brightest product of the Baroque style after Italian art. A significant part of the artistic production of Flanders, including the best, most creatively valuable works of Flemish art of this time, were more or less subject to the laws of this style. The connection of Flemish art with the high, fundamental spiritual movements of the era was concretely realized in the fact that it clearly expressed the revolution in the aesthetic ideas of Western European people and a radical revaluation of values that marked the edge of the 16th and 17th centuries. In this sense, the painters of Flanders kept pace with their era. A new sense of space, time, dynamic life rhythm, which had established itself by the time they entered the arena of artistic life in Europe, which resulted in a radical restructuring of human self-awareness in his relationship to the world, received a bright and nationally original refraction in Flemish art. In his best monuments, these cardinal problems were solved deeply and on a large scale.
There were two main sources of Flemish painting of the 17th century: one of them was the various movements of Dutch painting of the 16th century; others were served by Italian art of the post-Renaissance period. Both the first and second sources played a dual role in the formation of the style of Flemish art. On the one hand, they enriched it with valuable elements, on the other, they introduced into it a certain amount of artistic “slag” that clogged the creative activity of the Flemish masters. Speaking about the influence of the national tradition of Dutch art on Flemish painting, it should be noted that this influence primarily came to Flemish painters not from the masters who worked at the end of the 16th century, that is, immediately before the heyday of the Flemish school of painting, but from those artists whose creativity dates back to the beginning and middle of the 16th century.
The art of the 16th century in the Netherlands did not represent any kind of holistic stylistic phenomenon that had clearly defined artistic characteristics. It split into a number of movements, sometimes sharply different from each other in their formal features and figurative structure. In general, it did not rise to the level of the high spiritual and aesthetic magnitude that it so significantly possessed dutch art 15th century. Thus, during the 16th century, the prerequisites were determined in Dutch artistic culture, on the basis of which two great national schools of the 17th century emerged - Dutch and Flemish. The most important thing here was that already in the works Dutch masters At the beginning of this century, the emancipation of art was first outlined, and then clearly established, its separation into a special sphere of activity, developing according to specific laws characteristic of artistic creativity. This meant the final elimination of the medieval tradition, which by that time had lost any positive meaning. While religious subjects were preserved, artistic creativity became fundamentally secular. At the same time, there was a process of formation of individual artistic genres, the same ones that reached their highest, brilliant development in the work of the Dutch and Flemish masters of the 17th century. Portrait, landscape, still life, everyday image, religious image mythological story attracted the attention of artists. Gradually, specialists emerged who worked primarily or entirely in the field of certain genres.
At the end of the 16th century, the artistic life of Flanders was overwhelmed by a wave of a cosmopolitan artistic movement that spread widely and gained great popularity in the highest circles of society, which went down in history under the name of Dutch Romanism. For Flemish painters of the 17th century, the successive connection with Dutch Romanism, with which they came into most direct and immediate contact, brought the greatest harm, as it stimulated the strengthening in their work of lightweight and cliché elements, devoid of signs of national identity. As for the relationship between the Flemish school of painting and the art of Italy, it can be considered in two main aspects.
In a certain sense, the contact of Flemish art with Italian artistic culture had the most important, fundamental significance for him, outweighing everything that was brought into it by the local, national tradition. Italian art served as the main intermediary for Flemish artists of the 17th century, through which their continuity with the great pan-European classical artistic tradition was carried out. The perception of monuments created by the genius of Italian masters and contact with the values of the spiritual culture of Italy alone were capable of filling the consciousness of Flemish painters with a sense of high aesthetic pathos, connecting their thoughts with the course of development of great human thought of the era, and conveying to them the lofty ideals of humanism. In this regard, the importance of Italy for the masters of Flanders was of incomparable value.
But there were other connections, narrower and more local, determined by the influence on Flemish painting of individual artistic phenomena of contemporary or earlier Italian art. Thus, one can note the penetration into Flanders of echoes of Caravaggio’s artistic discoveries, which, having given rise to the boring, dependent-provincial phenomenon of Flemish Caravaggism, at the same time enriched the work of some outstanding Flemish painters with a number of new, vibrant means of artistic expression.
The influence of the artistic standards put forward at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries by the famous Bologna Academy was very strongly felt on the Flemish school of painting of the 17th century. Having assumed the character of unshakable laws, which gained wide popularity in many countries of Western Europe, penetrating into the art of Flanders, these standards introduced into it elements of cold academicism, impersonal conventionality of images, and stereotyped plot solutions. But although the influence of Bolognese academicism apparently supported and strengthened the influence of Dutch Romanism, unlike the latter, it brought not only a negative beginning to the Flemish masters. Due to the fact that this movement of Italian art had the signs of a strict professional school, very high in its level, growing on the traditions of the Renaissance artistic achievements, it sometimes stimulated among Flemish painters a beneficial tendency to achieve orderly harmony of compositional and rhythmic structures and precision of linear drawing.
Thus, thanks to such powerful sources, the art of Flanders of the 17th century revealed itself with the full strength and emotionality of a new art, bringing a life-giving current to the old figurative system, and gaining such famous artists as Rubens and Van Dyck.