Stories of Art: Module Three

Programme

Week 1 (23 April): Caravaggio, the Counter-Reformation and the Baroque
In this session you will be introduced to the key artists of the period and some of the changes brought about by the rise of Protestantism. We will see how, as a consequence of these changes, new genres of landscape, still life and the depiction of everyday life emerged. We will focus on the impact of the Baroque, and the work of Caravaggio as the key painter of the Catholic Reformation.

This session will be led by Lucrezia Walker.

Lucrezia Walker is Lay Canon at St Paul’s cathedral with portfolio to the visual arts at St Paul's. She trained as an art historian, and in addition to her work for the Education Department at the National Gallery, she lectures for the Tate's Development Department and to visiting US colleges on their study abroad art history programmes. Formerly Galleries Correspondent for the Catholic weekly, 'The Tablet', her specialist area of research is art in sacred spaces.

Week 2 (30 April): Rubens and Van Dyck
In some ways Rubens was the most successful painter in the history of art. With a workshop of over 50 assistants, he was able to supply portraits, landscapes, mythological and allegorical subjects, and some of the finest Counter-Reformation altarpieces to the greatest rulers in Europe. This session will examine the work and influence of Rubens and his pupil Sir Anthony van Dyck, who became the leading court painter in England. We will look at the impact Van Dyck’s relaxed elegance had on English portrait painting for the next 150 years.

This session will include a contribution from artist Ulyana Gumeniuk, Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge, who will join the session to discuss her response to Rubens.

Week 3 (7 May): Spain
The art of Golden Age Spain has a gravity and power that still resonates with artists today. The work of Zurbarán, Velázquez and Murillo are powerful responses to faith that speak to both believer and non-believer. What is it about the work of Velázquez that has inspired Manet, Picasso, Salvador Dali, Francis Bacon and Richard Hamilton to recreate his most famous works?

Larry Keith, Head of Conservation at the National Gallery, will join us to discuss the Conservation Department's recent work on Velázquez’s Kitchen Scene with Christ in the House of Martha and Mary.

Week 4 (14 May): Landscape
Claude and Poussin were pioneers of the new genre of landscape painting. They sketched in the Roman Campagna together, infusing the paintings that followed with an idealism and classicism suiting the taste of their patrons. What kind of impression of Italy was being projected to those who had never been there by these idealised views of the Roman Campagna?

Susanna Avery-Quash, Research Curator in the History of Collecting at the National Gallery, will join the session to talk about the critical reception of Claude Lorrain in England, especially during the 18th century, and the lasting impact he had upon the English landscape garden.

Week 5 (21 May): Rembrandt and Dutch artists
In this session we will look at how the development of the Reformed Church in the Low Countries affected patronage and paintings. The church was no longer the powerful patron it had earlier been, so who were the new patrons in the Golden Age of Dutch Art? Holland was the richest country per capita in 17th-century Europe; this session will focus on the development of the modern art market – artists painting on speculation – and selling in shops to a wealthy mercantile society.

Betsy Wieseman, Curator of Dutch and Flemish Paintings at the National Gallery, will join this session to talk about her recent exhibition 'Vermeer's Women: Secrets and Silence' in Cambridge and our forthcoming exhibition Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure.
       
Week 6 (28 May): Stories
According to one 17th-century visitor, there were more painters than butchers in Amsterdam. Ordinary people – butchers, bakers and blacksmiths – were buying paintings. As the client base diversified, so too did the subject matter. Out of this widening range of subject matter was born the still life: the lavish still life and the 'Vanitas' still life. Our last session takes a look at iconography and the language of symbolism. How can a seemingly simple image of a vase of flowers or arrangement of objects be viewed as a meditation on mortality?

To conclude, we will draw together all the strands from the preceding five weeks, allowing time for questions and discussion.

Suggested reading

• Germain Bazin, 'Baroque and Rococo', Thames & Hudson, 1998
• Simon Schama, 'The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in The Golden Age', Fontana Press, 1998
• Margaretha Lagerlöf, Ideal Landscape: Annibale Caracci, Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain', Yale University Press, 1990 (this book is out of print – you might be able to obtain a copy from an art reference library)
• John Rupert Martin, 'Baroque', Penguin, 1989

Online resources

• Dr Beth Harris and Dr Steven Zucker,
  1600–1700 The Baroque [External link]
• Dr Beth Harris and Dr Steven Zucker,
  Velázquez's Las Meninas [External link]
• Dr Beth Harris and Dr Steven Zucker,
  Vermeer's The Glass of Wine [External link]

Course overview

Image above: Detail from Rembrandt, Self Portrait at the Age of 34, 1640