DEATH, WAR, or VIOLENCE:SPANISH, FLEMISH, and DUTCH BAROQUE

(Works by Ribera, Zurburán, Velazquez, Rubens, and Rembrandt)

SPANISH and DUTCH BAROQUE

Online Links:

Martyrdom of St. Philip – Smarthistory

Jusepe de Ribera - Wikipedia

Diego Velazquez – Wikipedia

Surrender at Breda by Velazquez – Smarthistory

Music from the time of Velazquez

Peter Paul Rubens – Wikipedia

SPANISH and DUTCH BAROQUE

Online Links:

Elevation of the Cross by Rubens – Smarthistory

Rubens, Consequences of War – Smarthistory

Consequences of War - Peter Paul Rubens

Massacre of the Innocents by Rubens – YouTube

World's Most Expensive Paintings - YouTube (start at 7:05 for Rubens)

Rembrandt - Wikipedia

Rembrandt's Blinding of Samson - YouTube

Jose (Jusepe) de Ribera. Martyrdom of Saint Philip, c. 1639, oil on canvas

Jusepe de Ribera (January 12, 1591 – September 2, 1652) was a Spanish Tenebrist painter and printmaker, also known as José de Ribera in Spanish and as Giuseppe Ribera in Italian. He was also called by his contemporaries and early writers Lo Spagnoletto, or "the Little Spaniard". Ribera was a leading painter of the Spanish school, although his mature work was all done in Italy.

Ribera was born near Valencia, Spain at Xàtiva. He was baptized on February 17, 1591. His father was a shoemaker, perhaps on a large scale. His parents intended him for a literary or learned career, but he neglected these studies and is said to have apprenticed with the Spanish painter Francisco Ribalta in Valencia, although no proof of this connection exists. Longing to study art in Italy, he made his way to Rome via Parma, where he is recorded in 1611. According to one source, a cardinal noticed him drawing from the frescoes on a Roman palace facade, and housed him.

His early biographers generally rank him among the followers of Caravaggio. Very little documentation survives from his early years, with scholars speculating as to the precise time and route by which he came to Italy.

Born in Spain, Ribera is usually considered a “Spanish” painter, a national identity solidified in the early nineteenth century, when his scenes of martyrdom were considered a manifestation of Spanish religious devotion. Yet the entirety of his documented career was spent in Rome and Naples (the latter under Spanish control throughout the seventeenth century). There he enjoyed the patronage of a succession of Spanish viceroys, who on returning to Spain often took with them works by Ribera. His stature as a painter eventually made him attractive to Spain’s foremost seventeenth-century collector, Philip IV.

Later stories about Saint Philip's life can be found in the anonymous Acts of Philip , probably written by a contemporary of Eusebius. This non-canonical book recounts that following the resurrection of Jesus, Philip was sent with his sister Mariamne and Bartholomew to preach in Greece, Phyrgia, and Syria. According to this account, through a miraculous healing and his preaching Philip converted the wife of the proconsul of the city. This enraged the proconsul, and he had Philip, Bartholomew, and Mariamne all tortured. Philip and Bartholomew were then crucified upside-down, and Philip preached from his cross. As a result of Philip's preaching the crowd released Bartholomew from his cross, but Philip insisted that they not release him, and Philip died on the cross.

Jose (Jusepe) de Ribera. Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew,

c. 1644, oil on canvas

Like Caravaggio in his Crucifixion of St. Peter, Ribera

contradicts the canonical concept of the heroic martyr

who bears his torture with quiet patience and the serene assurance of salvation.

Bartholomew, apostle and preacher, who was flayed and murdered by King Astyages in

the Armenian town of Albanapolis, is portrayed by

Ribera as a weak elderly man, whose fear of death and

desperation are clearly written in his face. The louts dragging

him up by a beam before the eyes of the curious onlookers

are concentrating fully on their task. The question of their guilt

and innocence remains unanswered for the incident is still very much in the present.

Jose (Jusepe) de Ribera. Apollo and Marsyas, 1637, oil on canvas

Jusepe de Ribera. Prometheus, c. 1630, oil on canvas

Ribera's work sank into obscurity after his death because of his reputation for cruelty. He painted the horrors and reality of human cruelty and showed he valued truth over idealism. The rehabilitation of his reputation began with exhibits in London at the Royal Academy in 1982 and in New York at the Metropolitan in 1992. Since then his oeuvre has gained more attention from critics and scholars. Unfortunately, due to the ebb of interest in his work for so long, a complete catalog of his work is still lacking. Many works attributed to him have been altered, discarded, damaged, and neglected during his period of obscurity.

Francisco Zurbarán. St. Francis in Meditation, c. 1639, oil on canvas

Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664) is closely associated with the monastic orders for whom he executed his major commissions. Little is known of his early years before 1625, but he was greatly influenced by the Caravaggesque taste prevalent in Seville. Zurbarán’s St. Francis in Meditation likewise presents a contrived fiction of the ‘real.’ The saint is depicted in his later years, when he had left his apostolic activity to meditate on the passion of Christ. His removal from worldly things is implicit in his isolation, and light directs us to the elements essential to his state. Although his face is cast in shadow, light reveals a mouth open in oration or awe, as well as the patched, coarse woolen robe that recalls his vow of poverty.

Francisco de Zurbarán. Saint Serapion, 1628, oil on canvas

The work was commissioned by the Mercedarian Order to hang in the De Profundis (funerary chapel) hall of their monastery in Seville. The Order of Merced was an early 13th century popular movement of personal piety organized at first by the Catalan Peter Nolasco. It was concerned with ransoming the ordinary men who had not the means to negotiate their own ransom, the "poor of Christ." One of the distinguishing marks of the order is that, since its foundation, its members are required to take a “Fourth Vow” to die for another who is in danger of losing their Faith.

Saint Serapion of Algiers (1179 – November 14, 1240) was a Mercedarian friar who is venerated as a martyr by the Catholic Church.

He then participated in the Reconquista, serving in the army of Alfonso VIII. He met St. Peter Nolasco and became a Mercedarian in 1222.

The Mercedarians’ goal was to free Christian captives held by Muslim states, and Serapion offered himself as a hostage at Algiers in exchange for some Christian captives. When the ransom money did not arrive in time (or because he refused to stop preaching Christianity), Seraphion was killed. According to Christian tradition, he was nailed on an X-shaped cross and was dismembered.

Diego Velázquez. Surrender at Breda, 1634-1635, oil on canvas

As official court painter, Diego Velázquez created many works for the Spanish king Philip IV. This painting is part of an extensive painted

decoration for the Hall of Realms in the Palace of Buen Retiro in Madrid, which the count-duke of Olivares built for Philip IV. It

commemorates the Spanish victory over the Dutch. In 1625 Philip IV sent General Ambrogio di Spinola to Breda to reclaim the town for

Spain.

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez. Allegorical Portrait of

Philip IV, 1645, oil on canvas

Velazquez was a Spanish painter who was the leading

artist in the court of King Philip IV and one of the most

important painters of the Spanish Golden Age. Velázquez

was in constant and close attendance on Philip,

accompanying him in his journeys to Aragon in 1642 and

1644, and was doubtless present with him when he

entered Lerida as a conqueror. It was then that he painted a great equestrian portrait in

which the king is represented as a great commander leading his

troops—a role which Philip never played except in

pageantry.

Velázquez depicted the victorious Spanish troops, organized and well armed, on the right side of the painting. In sharp contrast, the defeated Dutch on the left appear bedraggled and disorganized. In

the center foreground, the mayor of Breda, Justinus of Nassau, hands the city’s keys to the Spanish general. Velázquez portrayed the general standing and magnanimously stopping Justinus from

kneeling, rather than astride his horse, lording over the vanquished Dutch.

Peter Paul Rubens. Raising of the Cross, 1610, oil on panel

Peter Paul Rubens was not only a virtuosic painter but also a passionate and crafty diplomat. Rubens, although closely allied to Isabella and the Spanish Netherlands, often had occasion to travel and visit foreign monarchs in his position as a court painter. Rubens associated with the dukes of Mantua, King Phillip IV, Charles I, and Marie de' Medici. He served as a negotiator for the Spanish Netherlands (and for the cause of peace more generally), and for France and England. Indeed, Rubens lobbied for an end to the Thirty Years' War with considerable passion and cleverness.

Rubens’ Raising of the Cross for Antwerp Cathedral is the artist’s ultimate Baroque statement. No painting of this dimension and style had been seen before in Antwerp. A powerful figure of Christ is tied to the cross, which equally robust workers haul into its upright position. A stray dog, with no obvious function, barks at this fearful scene of grunting and sweating laborers carrying out the order of the Roman governor in Jerusalem. The violent contrasts between light and dark have the effect of repeated bolts of lightning. What makes this painting Baroque is its dependence upon spectacle. The struggling workers, dramatic lighting effects, emphatic modeling of the figures, and powerful diagonals create drama and sensation.

In true Counter Reformation spirit, Rubens emphasizes the victorious aspect of the Cross, not because Christ has not yet experienced its full horror, but because he will overcome it. At the same time, the image is meant to remind the faithful of Christ’s divine nature. While an emphasis on the humanity of Christ which had developed towards the end of the Middle Ages continued to play an important role in Protestant art, Catholic art of the Counter Reformation needed a more heroic, god-like image for the suffering Savior.

In his paintings, Rubens reconciled seemingly incompatible forces. His enormous intellect and vitality enabled him to unite the natural and supernatural, reality and fantasy, learning and spirituality. Thus his epic canvases defined the scope and the style of High Baroque painting.

Peter Paul Rubens. The Massacre of the Innocents, c. 1610-12, oil on canvas

This work is widely regarded as a demonstration of Rubens’ time spent in Italy between 1600 and 1608, where he observed first-hand the works of Italian

Baroque painters like Caravaggio. In 2001, the painting was seen an expert in Flemish and Dutch paintings at Sotheby's in London. He was persuaded that it was indeed a Rubens by its similar characteristics and style to the Samson and Delilah painted around the same time. The work was sold at auction at Sotheby's, London

on July 10, 2002 for £49.5 million to Canadian businessman and art collector Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet.

Peter Paul Rubens. The Consequences of War, 1638-9, oil on canvas

This painting by the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens is a commentary on the one of the most wretched periods of European history, the 30 Years War, which

was waged from 1618 through 1648. It resulted in widespread destruction across just about every major European nation. The conflict’s origins are

complex and diverse but animosity between Protestants and Catholics played a significant role. The Roman god of war, Mars, takes center stage. He stands astride with sword in hand, held low, but which is pointing toward a chaotic

scene of battle.

Mars, the god of war, marches from the Temple of Janus encouraged by the Fury of War, Alecto, while Venus attempts to restrain him. A woman on the left personifies unhappy Europe; on the right, Alecto is accompanied by two

monsters who symbolise the Plague and Famine; beneath are personifications of Harmony, Fecundity, Maternity and Charity, all who thrive under peace.

Underneath Mars’s feet lie a book and a drawing. These represent the manner in which the arts and letters are forgotten and destroyed in the chaos and

violence of war.

An architect and his instruments have similarly fallen to the ground, showing how in times of war destruction and not creation is the norm. To the far left of the painting, the Temple of Janus appears with its door ajar. In Ancient Rome, the Temple of Janus would be closed to indicate times of peace while an open door denoted war. (This phenomenon is referenced in Fasti by Ovid.) Rubens depicts Harmony as a woman holding a lute. However the chaos has pushed her to the ground and broken her lute. The damage to the lute represents the

discord of war.

Arrows lie on the ground near Venus and the Amors. When bound together they represent Concord but in their present state show its absence. Next to them lie the olive branch and caduceus, the symbols of peace. They too are depicted cast upon the ground to signify their absence in Europe. The figure to Venus’s left represents Europe and its suffering. Her cross-topped globe represents the Christian world and

is carried by the small angel to her immediate left. Nearly all European states fought at some point in the conflict’s long time span. In particular, the war

represented a continuation and extension of Habsburg and Bourbon rivalry as well as French and Habsburg animosity.

Peter Paul Rubens. Peace and War. 1629-1630, oil on canvas.

This painting was presented to Charles I in 1630 during Rubens’s stay in London, in the course of his diplomatic mission on behalf of the Archduchess Isabella, Regent of the Spanish Netherlands, to secure peace between Spain and England. Surely Rubens meant our eye to be caught first by the lustrous glance of the little girl peering shyly yet intently out of the canvas. She is dressed in contemporary

clothes. Indeed she, her older sister and the torch-holding boy are portraits of the children of Rubens’s host in London, the painter and royal agent Balthasar Gerbier.

Rubens has divided the large canvas diagonally in two from the upper left corner to the lower right. Light shines on the left-hand triangle. This is the realm of Peace,

where living children mingle happily with robust personifications of abstract notions, drawn from the once common coin of Greco-Roman myth and poetry. It has recently been suggested that Rubens intended to illustrate the Greek poet

Hesiod’s invocation of Peace as “Protector of Children.” Peace is the radiant mother squirting milk from her breast to feed the infant Plutus, god of wealth. Around her

the followers of Bacchus, god of wine and fertility, celebrate her blessings.

A winged child holds a crown of olive and Mercury’s snake-wreathed staff, both emblems of peace, above Peace’s head. At her feet, the sun-bronzed satyr proffers a horn of plenty filled with the earth’s bounty, and a winged Cupid beckons the girls to receive and eat the sweet fruit. Bacchus’ leopard plays like a kitten with tendrils of vine. An adolescent boy tenderly urges both girls forward, while torch-carrying Hymen, Roman god of marriage, and the boy’s seeming double, poses a wreath on

the older girl’s head. But only the vigorous action of helmeted Minerva, armed goddess of wisdom, wards off the dark threat of Mars, god of war, and his attendant

Fury.

The presence of the god Hymen is a further indication that Rubens had in mind a peace specifically associated with marriage and children. The artist

frequently represented children to illustrate felicity. Conversely, when Rubens represented the horrors of war he showed mothers dragged from their children.

Peace as the protector of maternity, fecundity, and children is essentially an ancient Greek idea, expressed in Homer, Hesiod and in Aristophanes’ anti-war

plays.

Rembrandt van Rijn. The Blinding of Samson, 1636, oil on canvas

In this painting, the Blinding of Samson, Delilah is a portrait of Rembrandt’s wife Saskia. Here, Delilah is shown towering over Samson’s supine body. The dark blade of the soldier in the foreground obscures the intersection of the diagonals which structure the composition, the precise location of Samson’s invisible genitalia. More importantly, however, the Book of Judges says that Delilah called for a man, causing him to shave off the seven locks that were the source of the sleeping man’s strength. Rembrandt, however, has her do the deed herself, showing her with the

scissors and hair still in her hand.

Like Samson’s people, the Netherlanders were fighting a national liberation struggle against a powerful enemy. The country had fallen to Spain by inheritance, and

Philip II had sent the Duke of Alba from Madrid to bind the Netherlandish provinces more closely to his empire. Alba’s rule was draconian and vicious, provoking open resistance to his authority. It was not until 1648, however, that the Dutch northern provinces were granted independence, so that Rembrandt’s Blinding, executed in

1636, was painted against a background of war.

The Dutch were mostly Calvinist Protestants. John Calvin’s view of the world was very similar to that expressed in the Old Testament: God, the ruler, made his will known through the Bible, determining all morality and politics. Whoever did not obey was, like Samson, cruelly punished. Unlike Luther, the French Reformer did not conceive of God as a God of love and mercy, but as a hard-hearted overlord. Calvin propagated intolerance towards those who broke his strict moral code, or

disobeyed church rules. Offenders were condemned to death or forced into exile. The consequences suffered by Samson in this painting could easily be interpreted

as God’s harsh punishment for his lustful desires.

Rembrandt van Rijn. The Archangel leaving the Family of Tobias, 1637, oil on wood

There can be little doubt that as an artist, Rembrandt feared the loss of his eyesight. A sketch of Rembrandt made of his father suggests the latter went blind toward the end of his life. Even if he had not seen members of his own family blind, he would have seen blind people wherever he went, for eye disease was common and medical treatment ineffective.

The blind appear in many of Rembrandt’s paintings: an aged Homer, Jacob blessing his grandson, blind violinists, blind beggars, the blind hoping to be healed by Jesus. His most frequent use of the motif centers on the theme of Tobias and his blind father. There are some 50 sketches, etchings and paintings of Tobias, most of which, though not all, include Tobias’ father.

Delilah’s gaping eyes see Samson’s dead eyes, while the blinding brightness of the sky outside – nowhere else has Rembrandt painted a blue so bright! – is swallowed by the almost impenetrable darkness of the interior. The first to paint such stark contrasts of light and darkness had been Michelangelo da Caravaggio, a manner imported to more northerly latitudes by Netherlandish artists. The technique heightened dramatic tension, and accentuated important details. In Rembrandt’s work it appears also to have symbolized the act of looking itself, the power and impotence of the human eye.

DEATH, WAR, or VIOLENCE:SPANISH, FLEMISH, and DUTCH BAROQUE

(Works by Ribera, Zurburán, Velazquez, Rubens, and Rembrandt)ACTIVITIES and REVIEW

Both of these paintings depict the Biblical figures of Samson and Delilah. One is by Rubens and the other is by Rembrandt. Compare and

contrast the two works in terms of how the Biblical narrative is depicted. What could possibly account for the two different

interpretations?

Attribute this work to an artist you have studied. Justify your attribution by discussing specific visual characteristics associated with the work of that artist.