The Dutch Republic In the Dutch Republic, the dominant form of visual art featured ordinary subjects, like portraits, landscapes, still life and genre works (Fig. 8.2). Large numbers of small oil paintings depicting everyday scenes were produced to decorate homes. Even relatively modest Dutch households would purchase them because they were a way of making a statement. The paintings were generally displayed in the large front rooms where business was conducted and visitors were entertained.
Southern Netherlands In the Southern Netherlands, refurbishing the altars of Antwerp’s churches was the main priority. Sacred art in the Netherlands had suffered badly from the Protestant iconoclasm, and producing large colourful oil paintings on canvas of religious subjects kept the artist Peter Paul Rubens’s workshop busy for many years (Fig. 8.3).
Artists’ Materials There was healthy trade and a high level of expertise in art materials – especially paint – both
Figure 8.2 Woman with a Child in a Pantry, 1656–60, by Pieter de Hooch, oil on canvas, 65 × 61 cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Space is represented by two ‘through views’: one leads into the cellar, and the other to the entrance hall. The two windows behind the figures are sources of light, but there is another coming from the viewer’s space.
Figure 8.3 The interior nave of Antwerp Cathedral, which houses four altarpieces by Rubens.
CHAPTER 8 BAROQUE ART IN FLANDERS AND THE DUTCH REPUBLIC
