Renaissance means 'rebirth', more
specifically the rebirth of the classical cultures of Greece and Rome.
This was a period of high ideals and rapid development in science and
architecture as well as in art. During the period between the late 13th
century and the early 17th century painting and sculpture were
transformed from skilled crafts of the middle ages to high art forms
whose practitioners associated with nobles and royalty. Our 'Italian
Renaissance and French' section encompasses both the high-renaissance
and a later periods such as Baroque, Rococo and Romanticism in Italy,
France and Spain.
Northern European art. The influence of the renaissance in Italy
soon stretched across Europe, through Germany and on to the low
countries. Artists like Holbein and Van Eyck were hugely influential,
with the latter being credited for the invention of oil painting. A
great tradition of genre painting also developed in Flanders (modern
Belgium) with Jan Brueghel (1568-1625) being a prominent early figure.
The tradition continued with Jan Vermeer (1632-1675) lending a more
personal mood to the depiction of everyday subjects. Rembrandt Van Rijn
though(1606-1669), was arguably the greatest painter of this epoch. His
subjects varied from portraits to religious scenes and those of everyday
life, his style was Baroque; a dramatic combination of strong contrasts
of light and dynamic compositions.
Our Northen European section also covers artists from Britain, such as
the landscape painters of the Romantic movement, Constable and Turner,
and the classical and Pre-Raphaelite works of Waterhouse and Rossetti
from the 19th Century. American works of the 18th and 19th century are
also featured.
|
