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PRAEGER WORLD OF ART SERIES

BAROQUE AND ROCOCO

BAROQUE AND ROCOCO

Germain Bazin

New

FREDERICK

A.

York

PRAEGER,

Publishers

ma

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY JONATHAN GRIFFIN

BOOKS THAT MATTER

PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IN I964
BY FREDERICK A. PRAEGER, INC., PUBLISHERS
III FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 3, N.Y.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

THAMES AND HUDSON 1964

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER 64-22488

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY JARROLD AND SONS LTD, NORWICH

Contents
Introduction
Part One:

The Seventeenth Century

Italy

ii

Spain
The Southern Netherlands
The United Provinces
The Germanic Countries
Poland and Russia
France
England
Part

Two: The

49
63
81

105

109
113
153

Eighteenth Century

Italy

167

France
Spain and Portugal
Central Europe and the Germanic Countries
Poland and Russia
The Low Countries
Scandinavia

185

254

Great Britain

257

211
225
245
251

Bibliography

273

List of Illustrations

276

Index

284

; :

Introduction

The

belief in the absolute value

prejudice established

of the

Classical conception

by the Renaissance and revived

eighteenth century in the

movement known

at the

of art,

end of the

as the 'Neo-Classical',

caused every departure from that kind of art to be considered

inferior.

One

Western

civilization bear

result has

been that some of the great

names

Gothic, Baroque, Rococo.

one

'baroque', the
artists

and

that at first

styles created

Among the various meanings

that seems to

by

were terms of contempt

of the word

have been chiefly current among

of art goes back to the term used by jewellers in

theorists

the Iberian Peninsula to denote an irregular pearl - so that 'baroque'

meant

'imperfect'.

As

for the

word

'rococo',

it

was

common

in the

workshops of the French cabinet-makers in the second half of the

eighteenth century, as a term for the sinuous and fretted forms of

Louis

XV furniture.

The word
art,

'rococo' has remained attached to eighteenth-century

but 'baroque' has acquired a

theorists

much wider

of art have been inclined to discern

in

acceptance.

Baroque

value resulting from a vital attitude, whose character

Modern

art a
is

formal

to

some

extent complementary to the Classical, so that the whole history of

summed up as an alternation of Baroque and ClassiThe German theorist Wolfflin has described the formal charac-

forms might be
cal.

of each of these two tendencies. Classical art does not turn

back on nature - it is an art of observation, but its aim is to go

teristics
its

beyond the disorder of appearances and to~seek

which

is

the underlying order of

are simple

and

they have a

Baroque

clear,

each constituent part retaining

static quality

artist,

that deeper truth

the world. Classical compositions

its

independence

and are enclosed within boundaries. The

in contrast, longs to enter into the multiplicity

of

phenomena, into the

of things

flux

in their perpetual

becoming -

his

compositions are dynamic and open and tend to expand outside their

make them

boundaries the forms that go to

;

are associated in a single

The Baroque

organic action and cannot be isolated from each other.

artist's instinct

for escape drives

to those that are static

him

and dense

depict sufferings and feelings,

to prefer 'forms that take flight'

his liking for

and death

life

violence, while the Classical artist aspires to

in the full possession

pathos leads

at their

show

the

him

to

extremes of

human

figure

of its powers.

book is not to discuss the value of these theories

it is to study the art of the West in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries. This art is known by the generic name of 'Baroque art',
although it includes expressions of Classicism side by side with those
of Baroquism. 'Baroq ue style a pplies more partic ularly to the art of
the seventeenth century, and the term' R ococo' to that of th e^

The

object of this

eighteenth.

Baroque began towar ds the end of the sixteenth century, and had
impulse from

its first

and

Italy in

it

finally

1760 or thereabouts.

suffered a counter-attack

succumbed

None the less,

more remote

creative centres, in the

civilization

Rococo

Italy.

Neo-Classicism, to which

from

in England, France,

at a distance

regions of

from the

which Western

took possession, especially in Latin America, Baroque

continued for some years after 1800. The absence of co-ordination

in time

between the various

phenomenon of
styles exist

seventeenth- and eighteenth-century

a given

Sometimes architecture

was

Europe is

remarkable

art.

Various

simultaneously in neighbouring regions, sometimes in the

same country. At

minor

styles practised in

arts are

owards

Baroque.

moment

is

different arts

moving towards

And

may not

be in

step.

Classicism, while the

yet the^general tendency of the period

a unity inc luding all the arts in a single e xpressive

purpose, convergent towards a single aim. This tendency was realized

to th e full in theVersailles

Rococo, which

may be

^f Louis XIV

considered

as,

in a

- and again in German

way, the apotheosis of the

Baroque. But

at this

very

moment

Italy, France,

and England were

tending to detach themselves from the Baroque and to develop

towards

new form of the

Neo-Classicism and took

now known more

cities

Classical idea

inspiration

of

which was

art,

from the

art

called

of antiquity,

and closely through the discovery of the

of the Campagna and Sicily - and soon of Greece and the

Middle East
cal idea

also.

directly

Neo-Classicism was the culmination of that Classi-

of art by which some

during the
the

its

full

artists

had always been inspired even

effervescence of the Baroque, and

dominant idea of French

aesthetics aspired. This

aesthetics

which was indeed

and the one

to

which English

never prevented France and England from

continuing with forms of expression that were frankly Baroque,

though without being

a

Baroque idea of

art

really conscious

opposed

of

seventeenth century the leading Baroque

for consciousness

this,

came

to Classicism
artists

they were highly respectful towards antiquity.

later

were convinced

To

of

- in the
that

try to reduce this

phenomenon of bipolarity, Classical versus Baroque,

would be vain there are works of art that cannot easily be fitted

period to a

into

one or the other of these concepts, witness the realism practised

by most of the Dutch painters.

The so-called Baroque period
civilization that

is

is

richest in expressive variety

it is

which each of the peoples of Europe invented the

fitted to its
traffic

own

genius.

The

variety

active internat ional

which

marked

moment

by

at

forms best

was increased by an

exchange in the

Thislpternationalismkvas not checked

belief- in
in

the

artistic

and interchange of forms; never had Western

known s uch

of Western

in fact the period

intense

civilization

intellectual field.

the differences in religious

contrast with the nationalism of the next century,

creative artists

were

to live confined within the

narrow

of the culture of their own country (Delacroix was to be a

French - more exactly, a Parisian - painter, as against Rubens, who
circle

worked
painter).

in Italy, France, Spain,

and England, and was

European

The political antagonisms that result in wars

war itself was limited in the eighteenth century)
nations

no opposition on

(indeed the effect of

created between the

the plane of civilization and culture. This

effervescence of artistic exchange began in the early part of the

seventeenth century.

whole of Europe,

Rome was

then the point of attraction for the

School of Paris was to be during the

as the

German

half of the twentieth century. Flemish, Dutch, and

came

to

Rome

to study the masterpieces

of the modern

first

artists

of the Renaissance - and

was not long before

this

stay in Italy, considered essential to a complete artistic education,

was

soon

also those

encouraged by

official

institutions.

Louis XIV, although the

down, France

in turn

interest. In the

and

By

it

the end of the reign of

movement towards

was beginning

Italy

had not slowed

to be the object

of considerable

eighteenth century Italy and France supplied the rest

of Europe with
countries that

artists

a large quantity

of

who

'specialists'

brought to the

welcomed them the forms of 'modern'

exchange of influences was equalled only by the

art.

This

power of

recipients'

The French or Italian origins of German or Russian art

were soon made unrecognizable by the transformation which the
assimilation.

artists

imposed on them. These original forms soon lost their national

characteristics

and were absorbed into the new environment.

Travelling, at this time,

and

its

slowness was

the countries visited than

By

was not prevented by

more favourable
is

to a

inconvenience,

the extreme speed of transport nowadays.

the end of the seventeenth century

every cultivated

its

thorough knowledge of

man must

it

was generally agreed

complete his education by

that

a tour

of

Europe, which would give him first-hand knowledge of the diverse

forms of its

civilization. Princes

to the road, visited the cities,

and members of the

and were received

bourgeoisie

at the various

took

Courts

while the intellectuals exchanged an active correspondence which,

in the scientific field, prepared the

way

for the scientific periodicals.

They often responded willingly enough when invited

a prince,

to the

Court of

even in a foreign country. Catherine II had her philosophers,

Diderot and Grimm, and Frederick

had

II

his,

Voltaire - as in the

preceding century Christina of Sweden had entertained Descartes.

The seventeenth and

eighteenth centuries saw the climax of the

system of government based on the absolute power of a monarch

belonging to

family that claimed power by Divine Right. In the

Catholic countries

ing religious

this

faith.

conception mingled naturally with the prevail-

The country

in

which

this alliance

between the

Divine and the Monarch was most completely realized was Austria
- there, though no longer more than a symbol, the idea of a Germanic

'Holy

Roman

Empire' was

still

men's minds. In France, on

alive in

the other hand, the conception of monarchy

And

was much more

secular.

indeed the idea of the Divine Right of Kings was not dominant

throughout Europe -

it

received a rude shock in England, where

Low

Parliamentary monarchy came into being; and the

wresting their autonomy from Spain, had

though authoritarian, was

set

also democratic. It

is

up

Countries,

regime which,

certain that the idea

of Divine Right, both religious and monarchical, encouraged the

sumptuous display of which there was

marked

so

a lack in bourgeois

Holland. But the intense need for creative art had a deeper cause;
this

was

longing for escape, a kind of flight into the imaginary, in

contrast with the progress

eenth centuries
in the

moral

by

made during

the seventeenth and eight-

Positivism in the exact sciences - and soon also

sciences.

No

other period so clearly contradicts the

theory of Taine, according to which art

environment for no
;

artistic civilization

dictions, in paradoxes.

expansiveness of

its

These

reflect its

creative impulse,

strictly

determined by

has been so fertile in contra-

prodigious variety and the

which

any other moment in the history of art.

10

is

are without parallel at

PART ONE

Seventeenth-Century
was

It

Italy that created the

art later
circles

known

as

system of formal values proper to the

Baroque. This was worked out in the

of Rome and Bologna

in the years

during the pontificates of Sixtus

1621).

Italy

The Church, though

it

round about 1600

(1585-1590) and Paul

had

lost

of Europe to the Reformation, drew

from the

fact that

a sense

its

losses the

universality, strengthened
till

were fighting a

then

is,

(1605-

of triumph

had managed to preserve from heresy the

it

Catholic dogma, which had been clearly defined

into regions

that

an important part of the

territories

of Trent. In spite of

artistic

Church had

by

the Council

a lively feeling

of its

by its expansion over all parts of the world,

unknown

spiritual battle to

to the West,

where

its

missionaries

convert the natives to the Christian

religion.

Having renounced the dreams of temporal hegemony

haunted some of the Renaissance

pontiffs, the

new

that

had

popes transferred

power to a spiritual empire, whose grandeur must now

be reflected by Rome, its capital. They felt that they were, in a way,
the will to

the heirs of the

Roman

emperors, and they wished to revive, in the

Eternal City, the grandiose style of ancient

all

Rome. This

revival

was

the easier to accomplish since the artists looked for their examples

to the

works of art of ancient

Rome

(those

of Greece being almost

unknown to them) These examples, found in Hellenistic or more often

.

in later works,

encouraged them to elaborate that

which was natural

allotted

by

to the

'oratorical' style

programme of apologetics or propaganda

the Council of Trent to religious

art. Its

task

was

to state
II

the grandeur

of the Catholic Church by producing impressive

monuments - but

by

the

means

that lay in the

figurative arts, to attest the truth

of the

Faith.

also,

all

power of the

The transformation of Rome into a Papal city had been begun by

the Renaissance popes. The first major step had been the rebuilding
of St Peter's

as the central

due to Pope Julius

II.

church of the Catholic

Then,

at the

faith

conception

time of the Counter-Reformation,

by the genius of such architects

Domenico Fontana, had planned huge straight streets which would

certain popes, notably Sixtus V, aided

as

lead the eye to churches - or to obelisks taken

ancient
the

Rome

- and would doubtless

movement of the crowds

pontificates

from

the ruins of

same time make

at the

caused by the pilgrimages.

easier

Under

the

of Urban VIII (1623-1644) and Alexander VII (1655

1667) the master,

more

City was Bernini, and

were

realized.

were

built - together

or

less,

at this

of the town planning of the Eternal

time the grandiose plans of Sixtus

number of

great

palaces, churches,

and colleges

with monasteries and convents for the

new

Orders brought into being by the Counter-Reformation, the most

active of

which was the Society of Jesus.

New

squares and streets

were made. But the chief work of the popes was

surroundings. For the church
so dear to Julius

II,

itself,

St Peter's

and

Bramante, and Michelangelo, was rejected;

significance as symbolizing the universality

able to the Church, but

was

now

its

the central ground-plan, once

its

of God had been accept-

considered

as

of pagan

inspiration.

The feeling of a return to the great period of early Christianity, when

the Church was triumphing over paganism, gave a new value to the
old basilical ground-plan, which was also better fitted to the practical

needs of worship. Inj6c>5, therefore, a colossal nave with side

and an imposing narthex were added

Carlo Maderno. Bernini
a

later

to St Peter's

worked on

this

sumptuousness worthy of the old Christian

covered the walls with

the architect

framework,

basilicas

to give

to this

polychrome decoration of marbles,

bronze, and gold, peopled

12

by

it

with huge

statues

aisles

by himself and

it

end he
stucco,
others,

and devised

of bronze on

liturgical furniture

with the monumental building

(III.

11).

At

the Cathedra Petri (Throne of St Peter), borne

of the Church

had been preceded by the

of St Peter

its

commensurate

up by the four Doctors

before a golden Glory (1647-1653). This

2) rises

(///.

a scale

the far end of the church

baldacchino (1624-163 3)

form was taken from

that

above the

of the ciborium of the

early Christians, but enlarged to gigantic dimensions

five feet

Tomb

it is

eighty-

high - and having a n ew feature, the use o f twis ted

cohnnnsJknown

as

'solomonicVBernini took their shape from some

fourth-century marble columns surviving from the Basilica of

Constantine - and indeed used these columns themselves in the.

decoration added by
chino

him

to the piers

which stand about the

baldac-

and support the cathedral dome. Another early Christian

element, the parvis or atrium, was the inspiration for the gigantic

piazza built by Bernini in front of St Peter's (1657-1666), into which

the crowds could

come

to receive the benediction urbi et orbi; but

here, as elsewhere, the artist

made an innovation by

an oval shape and surrounding

ranks of Doric columns
Italy

it

giving

its

piazza

[III. 1).

was then the cynosure of Europe. During the

seventeenth century

this

with colonnades that have four

first

half of the

princely Courts set the tone of civilization,

and for the Northern countries just emerging from the horrors and
brutality

of the wars of religion

ments of

civilized

life.

it

held up the example of the refine-

Adorned with

the prestige of the excavated

masterpieces of the ancient world and the masterpieces of Michel-

Rome attracted

from all countries. They

by the new work that was being carried out
there. Some of them - such as Rubens and Van Dyck from Flanders,
Van Baburen and Terbrugghen from Holland, Elsheimer from
Germany, and Simon Vouet from France - stayed in Rome for long

angelo and Raphael,

were drawn,

artists

too,

periods and took back to their countries the principles that

help

men

them to move on from Mannerism. Others - such as

would

the French-

Poussin, Claude Lorraine, and Moise Valentin - established

13

si

Js^^'^iJL

il

I
X
;t
I

St Peter's

from

showing the Piazza and Basilica. As transformed by Maderno

Michelangelo's central plan on orders from Pope Paul V), St Peter's

the air

(who added a nave to

resumes the theme of the old Basilica of Constantine. The great space before the cathedral
is the work of Bernini, a Baroque re-interpretation" of the Greek or Roman atrium. The
Church was anxious to return to early ideas, as this shows.
themselves in the Eternal City and became part of the

which, with the distancing

to

what the School of

of history,

effect

Paris

was

now

Roman School,

seems comparable

to be at the beginning

of the

twentieth century.

ARCHITECTURE
The Italian architects of the
volume of orders to carry

seventeenth century were faced

out.

The

churches. These were constructed

the

14

commonest being

that

with

on

by

a vast

buildings most required were

a great variety

of ground-plans,

a single nave, lateral chapels,

and

m\

7*-

''T

*.

Detail of the Cathedra Petri or Throne of St Peter, from St Peter's, which was begun in
1656 by Bernini in bronze, marble and stucco on the orders of Alexander VII. The humble
relic of a wooden stool was given the most sumptuous of Baroque settings in which the
unity and universality of the Catholic Church were reaffirmed.
2

15

dome

simple apse - but a large

arches. This

was the plan which,

adopted for the Gesu in

Rome

over a crossing with low transverse

in the preceding century, the Jesuits

Porta from 1568 to 1577), because

faithful in the single nave, so

the pulpit and associating

Mass

the

two

(///.

storeys

plan.

Both

3).

The two

by Vignola and Giacomo

(built

had the merit of collecting the

it

bringing them within easier reach of

them more

closely with the

gave

architects

this

of columns, corresponding well

the plan and the facade of the

popular throughout the Christian world

they were not adopted exclusively.
to the nave,

though

less

(chiefly for

more complex ground-plans Greek cross - in an

The

to the

compact ground-

Gesu were
;

ceremony of

church a facade with

to

become very

yet even with the Jesuits

basilical

type with side

common, was not abandoned, and

took pleasure in devising

della

aisles

architects

churches of relatively small

oval, circular, or in the

effort after fresh

size)

form of

combinations of surprising

effects (III 4).

Rome

had inherited from Florence the palace closed

fortress, a quadrilateral built

example
3

in the preceding century

The Gesu, Rome, was begun

synthesis
basilical

chapels).

round

a cortile,

in like a

of which the

finest

had been the Palazzo Farnese by

in 1568,

on designs by Vignola.

Its

plan

is

of the central plan (established by the grand scale of the dome) and the
plan (reduced, however, to a single nave, the aisles being replaced by

4 Plan of S. Ivo della Sapienza, Rome. Francesco Borromini had a passion for
springing curves and counter-curves and for varying his space endlessly he thus
achieved a great wealth of architectural expressiveness, even in buildings of modest
dimensions.
:

Antonio da Sangallo the Younger. This type remained the most

frequent,
tation.

now covered with Baroque ornamenof the Palazzo Barberini at Rome (///. 5),

though with facades

The

articulated plan

no doubt by Bernini,

which the block of the building

in

is

divided

to form an H, remains an exception.

The country-house,
had reached
century,

when

Mannerist

whose
tion

its

successor to the villas of the ancient

height in
it

spirit.

figurative

many

fine

Romans,

examples during the sixteenth

had been one of the principal productions of the

In these the house, or casino, faced a terraced garden

and

allegorical

programme symbolized

the associa-

of the prince with the forces of nature. This architectural theme

was continued

in the seventeenth century,

with

tendency to give

more monumental style, and on occasion to allow

statues to mask nature. The finest of these
nearRome-Mjrx^^ati^ place already much used by
Romans as a refuge from the city.

the casino itself a

an

artificial

palaces are

the ancient

world of

17

Among

the

many

kinds of buildings constructed in Italy in the

seventeenth century, the greatest originality

theatres. Palladio, at the

the

way by

reviving the

is

to be

found in the

end of the previous century, had shown

Roman

ocJeon in his

Teatro Olympico

at

Vicenza, which was designed for performances of the plays of

antiquity.

This form was developed and adapted to opera of a

spectacular kind,

dating the

now

audience - and

them

which required

also to give the spectators greater

in semicircular tiers

developed

large stages capable

a stage that

were introduced

of accommo-

fashionable changes of scenery in full

of boxes.

Rome

could house the

view of the

comfort by placing

at the

time of Bernini

new machinery;

the boxes

in Venice.

Facade of the Palazzo Barberini, Rome, whose elevation was derived from Sangallo's
courtyard of the Palazzo Farnese. Here, however, the Classical device of placing the orders
in tiers has been given a Baroque twist by means of richer ornamentation and a trick of
5

perspective.

The facade of the church of S. Susanna, Rome, is derived from that of the Gesu, which
Carlo Maderno had enriched with more sumptuous decoration but it retains the correctness
of Classical elevations.
6

S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome, Borromini breaks with the

by the play of curves and counter-curves which he introduces.

In his facade for

Classical elevations

Seventeenth-century Italy was a country of builders, and provided

opportunities for a large

number of

Many

talented architects.

of

came from the region of the Lombard lakes, which had

supplied Europe with constructional specialists ever since the Middle
Ages. They were now attracted to Rome by the fever of building
these

that prevailed there. In the Eternal City the century

Carlo Maderno
St Peter's
(t

(Ills.

598-1680)

11

(i

556-1629), a Lombard,

and

6)

made his style

built the

nave of

and for more than half a century Bernini

the

dominant one,

of grandeur, which were attained by the

ful

who

opened with

a style

aiming

clear distribution

at effects

of power-

masses and by the rich polychrome ornamentation of the interiors.

19

The

P ietro da Cortona

painter

(i

596-1669) also devoted himself

to architecture, especially in the latter part

raised the

most elegant cupola

in

Rome,

of his

that

life. It

was he

of San Carlo

Carlo Rainaldi (1611-1691) continued the Bernini

spirit.

al

who

Corso.

This had

been opposed, even in Bernini's lifetime, by the architect Francesco

Borromini (1599-1667),

Church of San Carlo

della Sapienza
in repose in

(///.

4)

alle

who was

responsible for the enchanting

Quattro Fontane

(///.

7)

and for San Ivo

Borromini abandoned Bernini's effects of power

favour of a dramatic

style,

aiming

at

an architectural

expression of movement - he introduced a multiplicity of curves and

counter-curves and a great complexity in the distribution of spaces,

and he did not

hesitate to transgress the rules

of the ancient orders

(which Bernini had applied respectfully) in order to create

new

by Baldassare Longhena, shows how the Roman style

of orders was introduced into Venice. It was enriched with carved
decoration in the Venetian manner.
8

The

elevation of Palazzo Pesaro,

of palace with

tiers

b^MMM

proportions and

new

ornamental motifs. However, in his interiors

he abandoned polychrome ornamentation

thus relying

on sculpture

that

was

in favour

of white stucco,

integral to the architecture.

Following the examples given by Rome, Baroque architecture

spread throughout

tending to exaggerate the element of plastic

Italy,

and ornamental exuberance

at the

expense of that expressive power

of masses and of the whole, to which Bernini attached particular

importance. In Venice Baldassare Longhena
the Salute

Baroque

Church and

(i

598-1682),

the Palazzo Pesaro

to the 'decorative' style

which had

the preceding century. Florence, with

its

on

wealth of monuments from

Cosimo Fanzago

(1

in the cloister but

Naples and

in the seven-

At the Certosa

di

Baroque

San Martino,

591-1678) retained certain Renaissance elements

went

Sicily the

resolutely

Baroque

in the

church

itself.

marble decoration of the churches

meticulous than anywhere

else in Italy,

compositions carried out in marquetry.

which dominated southern

architects to

little

the other hand, filled itself with

churches, palaces, and monasteries.

built

arisen in that city during

the Renaissance and the Mannerist period, built

teenth century. Naples,

8),

(///.

who

adapted the

amounting

The

Italy politically,

develop a monumental

style

to

is

In

more

ornamental

influence of Spain,

encouraged the

Sicilian

overcharged with mould-

ings and ornamental statues. This style reached

its

greatest magnifi-

cence in the extreme South, in the city of Lecce, where Giuseppe

Zimbalo created
It

several buildings alive

was continued

in

Sicily,

with ornamentation

(///.

in the cities rebuilt after the

9).

1693

earthquake.

Generally speaking, while in

Rome

itself architecture crystallized

into a Berninesque formalism, the spirit of invention

way

in the marginal regions

came
priest

to

of

Italy, especially at

went

Turin.

its

own

When

he

Turin in 1666, Guarino Guarini (1624-1683), a Theatine

from Modena, had already designed

several churches for

Messina, Lisbon, Prague, and Paris. In Turin he built the Royal

Chapel and Santa Sindone Chapel, the Church of San Lorenzo, and
21

9 The Church of S.
Croce, Lecce, built by

new

Riccardo, was given a

by Zimbalo. The
city of Lecce in Apulia was
the earliest example of a
whole town treated as a
stage-set on a vast scale - a
Baroque practice later refacade

peated in the
in Sicily

after

cities

built

the

1693

earthquake.

the Palazzo Carignano. Guarini continued Borromini's conception

of dramatic architecture. His preference went to central groundplans

a

and

circular forms,

and even when he used

lengthened nave he enlivened

it

geometry and mathematics, he introduced

secting planes,
his vaults

was
a

Moslem

essentially

symbolic

22

full

For the

is

of

inter-

10).

To

Santa

remind one of

Guarini, architecture

Sindone he attained

of Rococo;

which the

venerated - by a distribution of light

of mystery. The

is

principles

(III.

suitable to this funerary chapel in

winding-sheet of Christ

the

a multiplicity

interlaced groins that

architecture

expressive.

effect

that

ground-plan with

of leaping curves and counter-curves, and separated

by combinations of

Gothic and

with oval bays. Fascinated by

style

of Padre Guarini contains

exemplified

in

many

buildings,

all
it

io

By means

planes
spaces,

of intersectin
well-modulated
Padre Guarino Guarini

and

contrived to treat the interior

of a church

piece of music.

as a

In San Lorenzo, Turin, his

dome

with

interlaced

its

arches proclaims his admira-

tion for the

ture he

Moslem

architec-

had studied in

was

to

Sicily.

have a great influence in Central Europe during the next

century.

,y

SCULPTURE
The figurative

arts

governed by an

aesthetic that considered art as a

of the Baroque period, especially in

the passions of the soul. Psychology

made

Italy, are

<j

means of expressing

considerable progress in

the seventeenth century, and the problems o the passions pre-

occupied a number of philosophers. Biologists laid

principles
treatises

of physiognomy, and several

on

expression, one of the

artists

or

down

critics

the

first

formulated

most famous of these being by the

French painter Charles Le Brun. These

treatises indicate

how

the

technique of art should render the various passions - love, suffering,

23

anger, tenderness, joy, fury, warlike ardour, irony, fear, contempt,

panic, admiration, tranquillity, longing, despair, boldness, etc. All
these feelings

had

to be depicted at their

extreme form - a tendency

culminating in the passionate outbursts of the plays of Racine. These

movements of the

soul

and the face - that

a state

saint

of

were exteriorized by movements of the body

by) action

is,

of the Baroque period

strates the Faith

.)

The outward

became'those of

saintliness

is

manifestations of

of passion. The

a transport

a confessor

of the Faith - he demon-

by word, by martyrdom, and by

apologetic or propaganda mission appointed

by

the

ecstasy.

The

Church

for

religious art helped to turn sculpture, like painting, into rhetoric.

The

acting parts allotted

by

the artists to the figures they depicted

were those of which they were constantly seeing examples

where the various forms of
converge. Indeed, opera

may

- musical,

art

perhaps be considered

of that time, the one from which

ing even architecture for
;

all

the others

many monumental

in opera,

and dramatic -

plastic,

as the

major

art

were derived, includeffects

were

first tried

out in the theatre before being realized in stone.

The

artists

of

principles

- especially the sculptors - sought also to justify the

this rhetoric

by

reference to examples

from the deca-

dence of the ancient world, brought to light in excavations and

unceasingly studied and measured in the effort to rediscover their
secrets. It

should not be forgotten that almost

period, including Bernini,

restoration at that time
art,

and

so

became

were

aimed

at

the sculptors of this

of ancient

largely a reinterpretation.
sculptors

to light again in a

The
work of

statues.

putting together the whole

which was the work of Rhodian

had been brought

restorers

all

The 'Laocoon' group,

of the

Rome

first

century and

vineyard in 1506,

continued to exert an almost magical attraction for the sculptors.

They thought

it

the

most perfect example ever produced of the

expression of grief, and therefore the most sublime form of expression. It

even became the inspiration for the attitudes of martyrs and

the face of the dying Christ.

1 1
The whole perspective of the nave of St Peter's, built by Maderno and richly
decorated by Bernini, converges on the baldacchino and, beyond this, on the golden
glory radiating from the Apostle's throne.

24

anger, tenderness,

oy, fury, war

panic, admiration, tranquillity

these feelings

had

to be depicted

culminating in the passionate out

movements of the

soul

and the face - that

a state

of

saintliness

were exte

by [actio

is,

became~tho

of the Baroque period

saint

strates the Faith

is

<

by word, by

apologetic or propaganda missi

12 Ever since Salomon de Brosses

wrote his account of his Italian
journey in the eighteenth century,

religious art helped to turn scul

The

acting parts allotted

by

the

Bernini's

were those of which they were

where the various forms of

converge. Indeed, opera

may

St

of

Vittoria,

Teresa,

S.

Rome, has been

interpreted as a profane expression

art

of voluptuousness. In

per

has contrived to

artist

of that time, the one from which

ing even architecture for

Ecstasy

Maria della

the

body of the

denly

many

Holy

at

lifeless

Saint

reality

the

show how

becomes sud-

the inrush of the

Spirit.

him to produce a considerable

even while he continued to work as an archi-

Bernini's prodigious facility enabled

quantity of sculpture,
tect

and to write operas. He tried

life,

in competition

the passions -

from the

ecstasy ('The Ecstasy

Vittoria,

brutality

nymph

his portrait busts

XIV

quivering quality of

of the warrior
(///.

(in his

12), at

gamut of

'David') to

Santa Maria della

capable, in his 'Apollo and

moment when,

breathing out her soul

experiences her metamorphosis into a laurel.

he gave the mobility of life

Cardinal Scipione Borghese

of Louis

marble

expressed the whole

Rome), and showed himself

in a last cry, the

his bust

He

of St Teresa'

Daphne', of catching the very

To

to give

with painting.

(III.

13),

(Versailles)

(as

in the bust

of

GalleriaBorghese, Rome), and in

he created what

elegant image of regal sovereignty. In the

is

surely the

Tombs of Urban

most
VIII

and Alexander VII in St Peter's he treated the theme of death with

a

new

26

dramatic power.

Bernini's sculptured portrait of

13

Cardinal Scipione Borghese, his

patron,

Rome,

in
is

first

the Galleria Borghese,

striking

in

its

vitality.

Bernini produced a profound trans-

formation in the portrait bust. Durthis had tended

to represent the sitter in a kind of
petrified immortality. Berninishows
the sitter in the full liveliness of
ing the Renaissance,

action.

The output of Francesco Mochi

extremely original

by

a certain

(III.

14). It

(i

580-1654), though small, was

was distinguished from

refinement retained from Mannerism

trian portraits

that

of Bernini

(as in

the eques-

of Alessandro and Ranuccio Farnese

Alessandro Algardi

(1

at Piacenza).

595-1654) allowed less freedom to his tempera-

ment than did his contemporary Bernini his manner is more directly^
inspired by antiquity. The Flemish sculptor! Francesco Duquesnoy
;

/)

(1

594-1643) introduced into the Baroque turmoil a note of modera-

tion that brought

him

end of the century the

practised

by

close to the Classical

style

of Bernini

clever artists devoid

mood

(///.

crystallized into a

15).

At

the

formalism

of genius.

PAINTING
In the last years of the sixteenth century and the

century that followed, there appeared in

first

Rome two

years of the

great

works of
27

Francesco Mochi's St Veronica, St Peter's,

14

attitude to art,
15

It

of

its

Rome,

striving to represent feelings

with the

contrasts strikingly

classical

is a good example of the Baroque

and passions by movement and action.

calm of St Susanna,

S.

Maria di Loreto, by

Francesco Duquesnoy.

art

which may without exaggeration be

which seventeenth-century painting

frescoes

in

called the [ t

Europe

wo

pole s/ on

the ceiling

rests:

of the Galleria Farnese in the Palazzo Farnese, painted by

Annibale Carracci from 1597 to 1604; and the great canvases on the
life
*

and martyrdom of St Matthew painted by Caravaggio between

^Q7 and ^6pi for the Contarelli Chapel in the Church of San Luigi

dei Francesi.

At one time

historians

of

art,

blinded by the Classical prejudice,

used to contrast Caravaggio with the three Carracci, representing

him

as a rebel, a destroyer

already said.

The

Carracci, and
his

28

work

we

truth

is

of the

that

art

of painting -

Caravaggio

is

as

Poussin had

as constructive as the

should guard against allowing the judgement of

to be coloured

by our knowledge of his

life,

which was

that

of a criminal hunted by the

rehabilitated

him

police.

peintres maudits, rejected

by

Our own period, which has

him as one of those

tends to treat

as a painter,

society, in

see the greatest genius. In reality,

whom we

are too ready to

though some of his more Academic

contemporaries were alarmed by certain pictures of his, which they

rejected as too

admired by the

much of
artists

and

When his pictures were

came forward
Caravaggio

to

break with the

art lovers

refusec

(1573-1610)

past,

time

Caravaggio was

as a great

innovator.

by churches, some Maecenas

was

at

painter of temperament;

which he repainted

Martyrdom of St Matthew, in the

The

his

once

buy them.

desperate energy with

16

of

effort to

the Calling

(III.

master his dramatic

16)

the

and

style,

is

Calling of St Matthew, in the Contarelli Chapel, S. Luigi dei Francesi,

Rome

was painted by Caravaggio before the Martyrdom. It represents a scene of low life
on a monumental scale, and in it Caravaggio seems to be taking leave of his early, 'worldly'
(detail)

r
xV. #

evidence of an empirical and impulsive method. But

untrue that

it is

he was trying to break with what had gone before, that he was trying
to destroy the Renaissance idea

the art of antiquity,

of

art.

many borrowings from

His

from Savoldo, from Michelangelo, and even

from Raphael, prove the contrary. Caravagg^oVwork was not negative; his aim was to restore full corporeal/densitylto the unstab]
figures
ures

of

Ma nneri sm. He

was doing7the same tfimg

as<^Giotto

emergmg from Byzantinism anc^Masacci^/rom Gothicism he was

make the jiuman bod y the^only subject of painting, in
;

trying to

accordance with the true Italian and Mediterranean tradition.

No

one in the whole of Italian painting ever pushed this anthropomorphism further - in his case, it went so far as to eliminate
everything in a picture that was not the

human

The
human

presence.

Renaissance painters had sought to achieve definition of the

body by means of an overall lighting that brought out all the aspects.
They proceeded by means of light, and for them shade was
merely the means of accentuating

light. Inheriting this tradition, the

Mannerists had ended by reducing their figures to pale phantoms.

Caravaggio started from shade; he made

his athletic

and plebeian

shadow by strokes of light. His system of

made muscles and volumes stand out in a
has no reality except through human presence

bodies emerge from the

violent lateral lighting

depthless space that

(///.

18).

presence,

was

In his effort to recover the full force of this corporeal

which had vanished

led to seek

it

where

it

has

in the deliquescence
its

indeed, the Carracci were also doing

* perate way.

When

of Mannerism, he

elementary power - in the people;

this,

though

in a

more tem-

he had to paint sacred scenes, the parts in these

were played by poor people. He returned,

in a

way, to the

spirit

of

the Gospels, and this sanctifying Populism, this implication that the

humble

are nearer in^piri^to the truth,

was

to give life to a consider-

able part^ the more profound part - of seventeenth-century religious

The people in Caravaggio's paintings are bound together

by dramatic relationships which raise all the problems of life, grief,

painting.

30

Mercury Giving the Golden Apple of

Garden of the Hesperides to Paris by
Annibale Carracci, one of the frescoes
of the Galleria Farnese. The decoration
of this gallery in the Palazzo Farnese,
17

the

Rome, between 1597 and

source of

all

1605,

was the

mythological painting in

the seventeenth century.

and death. From

of

hum an

his painting there

destiny,

and

opened the way to

attracted

it

was not

emerges

that anxious exploration

many of the

Chapel, Annibale Carracci

ceiling

(1

his canvases in the Contarelli

560-1609), aided by his brother Agos-

was painting

in light

and cheerful colours on the

of the Galleria Farnese of the Palazzo Farnese the

gods and goddesses from Ovid's Metamorphoses

was

of the soul^vhich

painters in the seventeenth century:

While Caravaggio was attacking

tino (15 57-1602),

impression

a pessimistic

surprising that Caravaggio's art

at grips

with the

essential

drama of human

[III.

ly).

stories

of

Caravaggio

destiny; the Carracci

were giving joyful expression to the Olympian dreams

in

which the
3i

18
In the two pictures which he painted for the Cerasi Chapel, S. Maria del Popolo, Rome
the Conversion of St Paul (above) and the Crucifixion of St Peter, Caravaggio was in full poslonger
session of his genius. The scene is reduced to its essentials, and is played by men, no

by

actors

an intense feeling of reality

results.

humanist princes of the time, with

such pleasure.

It

may

safely

Farnese was the source of

their inimitable

be said that

all

way of life, took

this gallery in the

Palazzo

the decorative painting that

was

to

spread over the walls of theHRjolna^rpalaces - and soon over those of

Europe - and

to turn the princely dwelling into

an unreal place, an

enchanted environment.

The

style

of the Galleria Farnese was borrowed from

sources', those

of the Renaissance - that

and Raphael,

whom

whose

was

secret

is

to say

'the best

from Michelangelo

the Carracci brought together in a synthesis

own.

their

It

was, in

fact,

by

the study of the

masters - both those of antiquity and those of the recent past - that
the Carracci succeeded in dominating Mannerism, in recovering

both the feeling for ordered compositions and ease and truthfulness

But they enlivened this imitative method

by the study of nature - even, like Caravaggio, having

in the play

of

theirs

of the

figures.

from the people. To remedy the decadence

recourse to models taken

into

which painting had

Lodovico

(i

fallen,

Annibale, Agostino, and their cousin

555-1619) founded at Bologna in 1585 the Accademia

degli Incamminati, in

which the teaching was based on the study of

the masters, of anatomy, and of the living model.

of the Carracci was Annibale. His vigorous

sometimes drove him to
those of Caravaggio.

treat

He

laid

popular subjects not

down,

also,

The most

far

what were

gifted

temperament

realistic

removed from
to

become

the

laws of the Classical landscape. Lodovico was distinguished by a

more

tender and mystical sensibility

(III.

lg).

While

at the Galleria

Farnese in the Palazzo Farnese they were creating a paragon of

mythological painting, the Carracci were also establishing the type

of

altar painting

Ingres -

a picture

which (revived from Raphael) was

divided into

earthly world, carrying

on

two

parts, the celestial

a dialogue

by

all

to last until

world and the

the resources of a holy

rhetoric.

In the

were

first

closely

half of the seventeenth century Bologna and

bound

together; the principal painters

Rome

working

at

33

For Madonna of

19

the Bargellini,

Pinacoteca, Bologna, Lodovico Carracci derived his Baroque type of

composition from certain pictures
by Titian, adding to these a celestial
plane, by which the upper part of
the picture is filled with great beauty.

The

Renaissance

conversa-

'sacra

which all the people were

motionless, has become a living conversation, in which men and saints
are admitted on familiar terms into
zione', in

the presence of the sacred figures.

Rome came from the capital of Emilia,

to

and

the

fro

between the two

Bologna School

is

cities.

Guido Reni

and painters constantly went

The most
(i

tempered Baroquism, has been described

(///.

20).

representative artist

575-1642) whose
as

art,

with

of
its

'Baroque Classicism'

Domenichino (1581-1641) leant definitely towards Classishowed the way to Poussin (III. 21). It has, in fact, been

cism, and so

noticed recently that

Roman

painting did not entirely surrender to

Baroquism, and Classicism (which always tends to produce

was not represented only by the French

Lorraine,

who

chose to live in

Rome

artists,

theorists)

Poussin and Claude

in order to be in close contact

with antiquity. The transformation imposed on antiquity by the

34

Italian artists

of this period must not make us forget that

to return to

whether they were

Classical or

was

antiquity

their constant object,

Baroque.

Rome

at this

time was

their collections.

Above

full

of

the

all,

'antiquaries',

museum of antiquities

Cassiano del Pozzo was the meeting-place of

Poussin and Pietro da Cortona.

tions

of Albano

(i

way,

a deserter

The

(1

artist

studied

belonging to

artists as different as

graceful mythological evoca-

578-1660) belong also to

Meanwhile Guercino
in a

and the

591-1666), another

this Classical stream.

artist

from Emilia and,

from the Academicism of Bologna, came under

the influence of Caravaggio.

Caravaggio's style was

legion of

artists

at

once imitated, in

who came from

Rome itself, by a whole

various parts of Italy (excepting

Bologna) and even from Northern Europe. These acquired the name

of i

tenebrosi.

The output of Caravaggio, though

produced within about twenty

years),

so small

opened out

(it

was

all

possibilities that

were very divergent, indeed contradictory. Bartolommeo Manfredi

(c.

1580-1620) took up certain subjects treated by the master and

created genre painting, depicting scenes in taverns with life-size

The two artists who, in due course, produced the best

examples of this manner were Moise Valentin, the Frenchman who
came to Rome and lived there till his death, and Terbrugghen, a

figures.

20

by Guido Reni, Casino of the Palazzo Pallavicini, Rome, though a ceiling

composed in the form of a frieze as if painted on a wall. Here the artist was
against the spatial researches which at that time were exciting such passionate

Aurora,

decoration,
rebelling

is

interest in Lanfranco,

Giovanni Battista Gaulli and Pietro da Cortona.

Dutchman who took the style back to Utrecht and started a whole
School there. Under the influence of the Dutchman Pieter van Laer,
the painter

known

1660) developed

it

as

hamboccianti (Michangelo Cerquozzi, 1602-

to include open-air scenes with small figures.

Other artists extended the human range implied in Caravaggio's

work- among them Orazio Gentileschi (c. 1565-c. 1638) (III. 22), Carlo
Saraceni

(c. 1

the painter

580-1620), and Giovanni Serodine (1600-163 1) - while

who,

specializing in religious pictures,

came

nearest to

Caravaggio's monumental grandeur was the Neapolitan Giovanni

Caracciolo

(c.

1570-163 7),

known

as

During the seventeenth century

II

Battistello

(///.

great stream

23).

of sacred and

profane forms, allegories and narrative paintings flowed over the

walls, vaults,

and

in other Italian
largest share
21

is

cities.

Of

of the palaces and churches

in

Rome

and

the decorative painters the one with the

of genius was Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669).

It is safe

by Domenichino, Galleria Borghese, Rome, the calm of the commodesty with which the nudes are painted shows the feeling of restraint
the sign of a mind that has turned towards Classicism.

In Diana Hunting,

position and the

which

ceilings

The Martyrs St Cecilia,

22

St Valerian and St Tiburzio

by Orazio

with an Angel,

Gentileschi, Brera, Milan,

is

good example of

the

refinement of feeling of

which Caravaggism was

capable. The spiral movement of the composition,
which so well expresses
aspiration towards heaven,
is

Baroque

element

foreign to the art of Cara-

vaggio himself.

to say that

it

was he who most

fully

embodied the joie

dc vivre

of the

of the Great Chamber in the Palazzo

Barberini (163 3-1639) and better still - in his frescoes at the Palazzo

Baroque period,

Pitti in

in his ceiling

Florence (1641-1646)

(///.

24).

An

imitator of the clear and

generous colour of the Venetian painters, Pietro da Cortona

some

is,

to

extent, the Italian Rubens.

37

Ay

23

The

Liberation of St Peter, Chiesa del

Caracciolo
art. It

art,

was

(II

Battistello), the painter

this artist

adding to

it

from Naples

a personal

Monte

who

della Misericordia, Naples,

best understood the

who most fully assimilated

note of contained emotion.

is

by Giavanni

human range of Caravaggio's

the gravity

and asceticism of that

All through this century there

was

a steady

development

in that

type of ceiling painting which gives the spectator a feeling of being

overhung by

whole world of flying

figures, that

hover and soar

in

an imaginary palace, or through the open sky. This painting of figures

in space

was

especially

Baroque

mainly in the churches, since

in spirit

its full

flights take place

their size lent itself better to effects

of

rooms

in

perspective than did the inadequate dimensions of the

palaces.

Domenichino, Lanfranco, Pietro da Cortona, and Giovanni

exemplify the principal stages of

Battista Gaulli

reached

its

Jesuit priest,

it

apogee with Padre Andrea Pozzo (1642-1709). This

who

also

wrote several

treatises

on the

the Glory of St Ignatius (1691-1694)

St Ignatius in
(III.

before

this art,

Rome,

on

perspective, painted

ceiling

of the Church of

creating the masterpiece of this illusionist style

25 ).

The

cities

of the

Italian provinces,

though declined from the

pilot

function they had fulfilled in earlier times, maintained an attitude of

considerable independence towards

informed about

it.

Some artists,

and Carlo Dolci (1616-1686)

Roman

art,

while keeping well

such as Cristofano Allori

in Florence,

(1

577-1621)

and in Bologna Sassoferrato

(1609-168 5), took refuge in an archaism that appeared to disregard

the

march of

painted
still

At Bergamo,

time.

still lifes

Evaristo Baschenis

with musical instruments

(III 26),

(1 607-1 677)

and these were

fundamentally Mannerist. Venice was the meeting-place of

artists

from various

parts

of Italy, from abroad

also,

who

continued

happily the sensuousness and delight in colour that had been the

mark of
(III.

the

that city.

27), the

The Genovese Bernardo

Roman Domenico

German Johann

Liss

Fetti

(who died

(c.

Strozzi

15 89-1 623)

in 1629/30)

(15 81-1644)
(///.

28),

and

were there between

1621 and 1644; but the best colourist was a painter from Vicenza,

Francesco Maffei ( 1600- 1660), while Sebastiano Mazzoni (1611-1678)

introduced into

brough them
Schools had

his

paintings

close to the

become

an element of caricature

Romanticism

in

which the other

which
Italian

interested.

39

24
in

Pietro Berettini,

Rome. His

works

25

as

known as Pietro

light colouring

The Golden Age,

for S.

Pitti,

Florence.

Rome, by Padre Andrea Pozzo. Designed to be viewed

of the nave, which is marked by a white stone, Padre Pozzo's ceiling
Ignazio produces the illusion of a palace opening on to the sky.

The Glory of Saint

from

da Cortona, was the Baroque artist par excellence

and the joy of life make one think of Rubens in such

Ignatius, S. Ignazio,

a point in the centre

26 The Breschia painter Evaristo Baschenis has arranged the musical instruments
of his Still Life, Palazzo Moroni, Bergamo - already a favourite motif with the
Venetian painters of the Renaissance - so that they become independent still-life
compositions.

27 The realism of Bernardo Strozzi, as shown in this kitchen scene, The Cook,
Palazzo Rosso, Genoa, may have been stimulated by the example of the Flemish
painters.

"

Domenico

28

Fetti's

Melancholy,

Louvre, Paris, is the seventeenthof Durer's

equivalent
century
famous engraving in the sixteenth.
Durer's

engraving

human mind

as it

the

glorified

confronts

in-

its

knowledge of the
more humble and

ability to attain a
real:

Fetti's,

more Christian figure, is meditating

on death and on the salvation of the
soul.

may

This Romanticism

be considered

Baroque vitalism which the

It

took the form of

artists

as a reaction against the

of Bologna and Rome had created.

a preference for trivial subjects,

dramatic or

bloody, and

a taste for darkness. This provincial tenebrism,

more or

derived from Caravaggio,

for

his,

less
its

(1607-1665),

(c.

(1

II

598-1630)

(///.

a thick darkness.

known

as

II

(III.

29),

Cairo

Giovanni Battista

Cerano, and Daniele Crespi

30) enveloped the whole of their compositions in

At Genoa, where Van Dyck and Rubens had

resided, the contact

The dominant

(1 573-1626)

from

whereas

their density. In Milan, Francesco del

Morazzone

575/6-1632),

though

essentially different

effect is to dissolve the figures in obscurity,

Caravaggio accentuated

Crespi

is

with Flemish painting led to some confusion.

talent

was

that

of Bernardo

Strozzii///. 27).

43

29

The 'tenebrism' of the Lombard

painter

from

Morazzone

that

is very different
of Caravaggio, who made

use of strong contrasts of light and

shade to bring out the diversity of
his forms. Morazzone's people are
phantoms, and the artist is striving
with darkness for their possession.

In

St

Francis

in

Ecstasy,

Castello

Sforzesco, Milan, he has painted St

Francis like a suffering Christ, in

conformity with the mysticism

of the period.

full

30

Several of the seventeenth-century schools of mysticism practised a strict asceti-

on exercises in pious meditation. The Meal oj St Charles Borromeo,

Chiesa della Passione, Milan, by Daniele Crespi, shows St Charles Borromeo continuing to read during his frugal meal of bread and water.
cism, grounded

Salvator Rosa introduced

3 1

drama

into the vision of nature.

He

invented a formula of

'romantic' landscape in such paintings as Harbour Scene, Pitti Palace, Florence,

destined to have a great influence, especially

The most
directly

lively

on the

and

art

Ribera

(i

591-1652),

Caravaggism

School was that of Naples.

of Caravaggio,

several paintings that

into

prolific

which was

on Gaspard Dughet.

who had

lived there

It

drew

and

left

were much admired. The Spaniard Jusepe de

who

took up residence there in 1616, brought

a bitterness,

indeed a cruelty, which he trans-

mitted to Mattia Preti (161 3-1699). This School produced innumerable painters of historical scenes,

genre scenes.

still lifes,

battles, landscapes,

A need for escape led two painters from Lorraine,

and

whose

works have been jumbled together under the name of Monsu

Desiderio, to paint visions of fantastic architecture in an apocalyptic

atmosphere

(17/.

32). Salvator

Rosa (161 5-1673), who was by turns

and a writer of plays,

a revolutionary, a bandit, a strolling player,

harmonized

his life

with the Romanticism of

his art (III 31).

His
45

Monsu Desiderio, painter of fantastic landThe Destruction of Sodom, Bagnoli Sanfelice Collection, Naples,
into two people, both of them from Lorraine and working in the same studio Didier Barra
and Francesco de Nome.
32

Criticism has recently split the mysterious

scapes in Naples, such as

innovation was to paint wild landscapes, which

later influenced

Gaspard Dughet in Rome. In the eighteenth century the Neapolitan

School ended in what

may

Giordano (163 2-1 705), an

faker,

whose

be called the 'Confusionism' of Luca

eclectic painter,

virtuosity earned

him

the

indeed on occasion a

nickname

'Fa Presto'

(///.

33).

MINOR ARTS
Italian furniture at this

time lagged nearly half a century behind the

general development of styles. Until about 1660 the cabinet-makers

remained wedded to the monumental forms of the Renaissance,

as

regards both the design and the ornamentation of their furniture.

The
46

types of pieces were

still

rather few; as in the Mannerist period,

cabinets

were covered with

gilt

bronze

fittings,

miniature columns,

and incrustations of precious marble.

The

interiors

of the

Roman palaces were

These decorations were

stucco.

decorated in marble and

later imitated at Versailles,

more

less at the moment when the Italians began - especially in Piedmont - to imitate the French style of decoration in gilded woodwork.

or

At about the same time, Baroque Vegetation' began

structures that

still

remained

architectural.

and the beginning of the next one,

it

was

a console,

By the

a piece

to be grafted

on

end of the century

of furniture, especially

became completely absorbed

if

in these great eddies

of volutes. In the furniture of the first third of the eighteenth century

33

The Neapolitan

painter

Luca Giordano

Changers, Chiesa dei Gerolamini, Naples, was

who

painted Christ Expelling

nicknamed

painter with a great gift for imitating the styles of other

compositions

full

'Fa Presto'.

artists,

of figures with an extraordinary rapidity.

He was

the

Money

a virtuoso

and he produced tumultuous

Baroque overloading was unashamed.

Fantonis of

It

is

represented

by

the

Bergamo (Andrea, 1659-173 4) and Andrea Brustolon

in whose hands a piece of furniture became

of Venice (1662-1732),

merely a mass of carving

(///.

34).

In several Italian towns, including

factories
It

were

was not

Gobelins

till

set

up, deriving their style

later, in

spirit

Rome

the

first

and Florence, tapestry

from the Flemish tapestries.

half of the eighteenth century, that the

penetrated to Naples and Turin.

Genoa and Venice produced woven

the stamped velvets of

Genoa were

in

stuffs

of the

finest quality

and

demand throughout Europe.

34 It is hard to separate Italian Baroque furniture from sculpture. The most

extravagant pieces were those by the Venetian Andrea Brustolon. Like this chair

of his from the Palazzo Rezzonico, Venice, they are covered with carved figures.

Seventeenth-Century Spain
The period

that runs

from the

last

years of the sixteenth century

through the seventeenth century has been called Spain's 'golden

though he died

century'. El

Greco

and belongs

to the Mannerist style. In the seventeenth century, Spain

had only three

last

is

usually included in

sovereigns, Philip

three Spanish Habsburgs),

hegemony over Europe

and with the

Spain, as in France, the

Philip IV,

in 1614

and Charles

tried in vain to

II (the

keep up the

by Philip II. Yet this political

most brilliant period of Spanish

exercised

decadence coexisted with the

literature

III,

who

it,

rise

of the Spanish School of Painting. In

monarchy was

cause a centralization of the arts

absolutist,

but

this

did not

the provincial centres remained

very lively and entirely independent. In Madrid Velazquez, the

favourite painter of Philip IV, set the tone for art at Court, but his
influence did not extend beyond.

ARCHITECTURE
Secular architecture in the seventeenth century experienced a certain
set-back,

Church

by comparison with

that

dominated the

art

century, Philip

forced to

Frenchmen and

call in

on

the preceding century;

it

was the

of building. (When, in the eighteenth

wished to revive

Court

Italians.)

architecture,

he was

After the austerity imposed

by Herrera at the start of the seventeenth century,

Spanish architecture went Baroque slowly, with a tendency to work

as a

cure

it

back to Mannerist forms. The Jesuits contributed to

this

movement.

Fray Francisco Bautista (who died in 1679) built the Imperial College

49

Pedro de la Torre's Chapel of

San Isidro, Church of San Andres,
Madrid, is one of the earliest Spanish
buildings in which the development
of the Classical forms in the direction
of the Baroque becomes apparent.
35

of Madrid (San
style

Isidro)

and the College

at

Toledo

in a

semi-Baroque

both these buildings were in course of construction round

about 1630. Spain developed

church' with
decisive turn

Pedro de

la

all its

form of

its

own, the 'box-shaped

parts contained in a rectangular enclosure.

from Mannerism

to

Baroque came

in

about 1640, with

Torre's Chapel of San Isidro, belonging to the

of San Andres in Madrid

(III.

35),

The

but the Andalusian

Church

artists in

stucco

had already begun decorating church vaults with Baroque ornamentation.

The

and 1670,

baroquization of the facades took place between 1640

in the

form of an imitation

woodwork of the church

interiors. It

in stone

was the

that tended to be the pilot art at this time.

Andalusia,

of the decorative

altar-pieces, in fact,

At Compostella and

round about 1660, the Baroque

altar-piece

with

in
its

solomonic columns and whirls of acanthus was perfected. Alonso

Cano

(1601-1667), painter, sculptor and architect, designed

was the

first

Cathedral of Granada
50

what

masterpiece of Spanish Baroque, the facade of the

(III.

36), in the year

of

his death. Spanish

36 The facade of Granada

Cathedral by Alonso Cano.
Wealth of decoration and
strongly contrasted forms al-

most

obliterate the

memory

of the Classical schemes.

Baroque architecture flourished

in full

freedom from about 1680 to

-^^ ^

the end of the century and continued to spread during the eighteenth

century,

when
*

Spain remained untouched by the Rococo.

SCULPTURE
In seventeenth-century

Spain native

artists

confined themselves

almost entirely to religious sculpture. (This had already been the case
in the preceding century,

Philip

II

had had

to call in

and for the sculptures

Esconal

in the

Leone and Pompeo Leoni from Milan.

When it was desired to cast an equestrian statue of Philip IV, recourse

was had

to a Florentine, Pietro Tacca.)

But the workshops producing polychrome sculpture

were very

active, in response to a

demand

in

for carvings to

wood
fill

the

innumerable altar-pieces that were being placed in the Spanish

churches, as well as for images of saints. These carvings
in a 'nat ural' style, wit h

century

when

less

a great deal

were painted

sumptuousness than in the preceding

of gold had been

used.

The workshops
5i

37 With figures such as St Ignatius,

University Chapel, Seville, Martinez

Montanes changed the direction of the

Seville School of sculpture, which at the
end of the sixteenth century was still
Mannerist.

He

gave

it

a Classical ten-

dency. Together with Zurbaran, he was

the Spanish artist
the state of

who

mind of

best expressed

wholly

the Saint,

concentrated on the inner

life.

were concentrated about two main centres, each with its own tradition - Valladolid in Old Castile, and Seville in Andalusia. The

polychrome sculpture produced

full

at

Valladolid had been through the

turmoil of Mannerism in the shape of the highly strung art of

Alonso Berruguete and the Expressionism of Juan de Juni. The

of Gregorio Fernandez
Castilian

Mannerism of

Mannerism
and

into

(c.

the previous century, but transforms this

Baroque through

a larger conception

more

realistic feeling for

pathos

of rhythm. Fernandez goes further than

Berruguete and Juni in isolating the statue from the supporting

52

art

576-1636) derives directly from the

altar-

{/

piece, this being particularly

which

himself,
figures.

marked

in the altar-pieces

are there to support relief carvings

he designed

and groups of

Gregorio Fernand ez s pecialized in expressing the suffering of

of Chrjfft ir a p?g<-" gyU tilflf is truly Baroq ue

the Virgin and

(III.

38)

place

it

At

its

search for naturalism, and the eloquence of the gestures.

firmly in that category.

Seville,

on the other hand. Juan Martinez Montanes (1568-

1649) was a Classical

artist;

the attitudes of his figures are calm, the

gestures restrained, the expression directed entirely towards medita-

tion

and the inner

life (III. 37).

Even when he

is

representing Christ

contrast with the Seville School, the Castilian School of sculpture

was dramatic in
At Valladolid, where Alonso Berruguete and Juan de Juni had founded the
tradition of a passionate art, Gregorio Fernandez took this tendency straight into the Baroque
in his famous Picta, Valladolid Museum.
.

inspiration.

39 The High Altar of La Caridad, Seville, shows that after

sculpture moved towards a somewhat declamatory realism.

Montanes the

Above

Seville

School of

Descent from the Cross,

on designs supplied in 1670 by Bernardo Simon de Pereda, Pedro Roldan constructed a

huge altar-piece in gilded wood, which was the first to have a baldacchino and which exerted
considerable influence in both Spain and Portugal.

on the Cross, he tempers the rendering of suffering by the

for beauty.

His works have a painterly quality foreign to those

of Gregorio Fernandez
sian painters

striving

this is

due

over those of Castile

altar-pieces in the

same

to the superiority
at this time.

of the Andalu-

Montanes designed

Classical spirit.

After Montanes the

Seville

School of polychrome sculpture

degenerated rather quickly. Pedro Roldan (1624 '-1700) introduced

Baroque rhythm into the

Seville style

(1628-1688) of Granada was no

(III.

more than

39).

Pedro de Mena

manufacturer of pious

images, of an exaggerated realism often accentuated by theatrical

costume. His master, Alonso Cano, in the few statues from his

chisel,

showed more

of the

originality

eighteenth century
40

was

(///.

and foreshadowed the graceful

40).

At Granada, while Pedro de Mena

starting the vogue for illusionist

realism in devotional images, Alonso

Cano

expressed in The Immaculate Con-

ception,

Cathedral Sacristy, Granada, a

feeling for gracious femininity,

which

was

down

to be continued

by

the School

to the eighteenth century.

style

PAINTING
The ch ief centre of painting in seventeenth-century Spain was
Seville. Whether tenebrism was introduced by the paintings of
Caravaggio that were imported into Spain or was an indigenous
creation is disputed. What is certain is that it already marks the work

fl

of Francisco Ribalta

at

Valencia (1565-1628), the master ofjusepe

(1 591-1652). Ribera went to live in Naples -

de Ribera

a Spanish possession

the followers of Caravaggio.

manner

further, in a

the end of his

life,

that

He

was sometimes rather

however,

In the seventeenth century

his art

two

(1

artificial.

Towards

grew more relaxed extending

,

(///.

was represented by Pacheco

(1

41).

met

tendencies

in Spain.

The

of Francisco de

art

598-1664) was dominated by sculpture, which was the

pilot art in Seville during the first third

of the century, owing to

Juan Martinez Montanes. Zurbaran's figures are conceived in

and

tion like statues,

carvings.

object;

The

by

it

their vigorous

isola-

modelling suggests that of wood-

realism of Zurbaran's

work

in Spain

had a mystical

he gave each of the sacred figures a pronounced

individual character, yet

inspiration

truly

564-1654) and Francisco

Herrera the Elder (1576-1656). In contrast, the

Zurbaran

time

carried their characteristic effects

even to include the depiction of wom en

painterly one

at that

- where he found himself in direct contact with

[III.

42).

decadence of the

made them appear

The second

style

half of his

illuminated
life

by an inner

coincided with the

derived from sculpture, and Zurbaran, having

lost his public, tried to

imitating - clumsily,

adapt himself to the

it

new

painterly style

by

must be admitted - Bartolome Esteban

Murillo (1617-1682). As against the exalted mysticism of Zurbaran,

Murillo's paintings display a
to ordinary people

(///.

43).

more

lovable kind of piety, attractive

He was one of the few

to allow himself to express feminine gentleness

most Baroque of
-^who

these painters

was Juan Valdes Leal

specialized, like certain Italians, in

Alonso Cano was more conventional.

56

Spanish painters

and tenderness. The

(1 622-1 690),

'temperamental painting'.

^i

F*^
~"*^flfl

ft

k.

*.

-S-Cl

j2

Si^
Jfe $??

'

^^fc^^_

1
S?9 i S^P

fe

P^l

P*

Ribera was a strange mixture in him the instinct for cruelty characteristic of the
Neapolitan School was pushed to the point of masochism yet other works of his, like this
Saint Agnes in Prison, Gemaldegalerie, Dresden, are filled with the feeling for femininity that

41

characterizes the Seville School.

by Zurbaran, Grenoble Museum. The monumental and ascetic

Seville
of Zurbaran was not derived from a study of Caravaggio, but from the
from
people
of
guise
the
in
saints
representing
of
manner
informal
His
sculpture.
of
tradition
century.
the humbler classes was common throughout Europe in the seventeenth

42

style

Adoration of the Shepherds,

43

Eliezer and Rebecca,

(who

also

worked

by Murillo, Prado, Madrid.

In contrast with Zurbaran, Murillo

at Seville) represents a quite different

conception, relying for effect on

brushwork. Earlier he had had to struggle against the influence of Zurbaran before taking
up the suave and blandishing style to which he owed his success.

Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez (i 599-1660), whose father

was Portuguese, was born and brought up in Seville. Though a pupil
of Pacheco, he began in the harsh
pictures that

were

religious but,

style imitated

more

realism and satire. In these pictures

(bodegones)

summoned
changed
portraits,

form

is

have
to

a place

still-life

studies

of some importance

(///.

with

by

of kitchen

utensils

When

he was

44).

he adopted

a fluid

Confining himself almost entirely to

manner,

all

fine shades, in

which the

and melts into an atmosphere of indeterminate grey.

made

Like Franz Hals, his contemporary in Haarlem, he

me nt

sculpture,

Madrid and became Court Painter to Philip IV, he

his style radically.

elusive

from

often than not, enlivened

of the brush the

the

move-

essential factor ofrnctorial expression.

brush, scarcely touching the canvas,

drew from

its

His

handling of the
59

44 Old Woman Cooking Eggs, by Velazquez, National Gallery of Scotland,

Edinburgh.
know from contemporary statements that Velazquez, in his early
works, derived inspiration from the few pictures by Caravaggio he was able to
see in Spain this led him to combine popular realism with chiaroscuro.

We
:

which

colours evocative statements over

it

did not linger - one

scarcely sure that they are there. In his portraits

of Court

dignitaries, princes

(///.

45), infantas

and

jesters,

he gives

came

naturally

expression to that profound feeling of loneliness that

which

is

of Philip IV,

world no

reality

but that

He endowed his portraits of clowns and beggars - a

subject-

to the Spanish soul, for

of God.

there

is

in the

matter in which Murillo saw no more than picturesque motifs - with

a

mood

of harsh disenchantment. More than any other

Velazquez was in

them with

full

discretion,

with an assured economy of means, and

without ostentation he had a kind of sovereign

;

him

to

effects

60

achieve

the

which merely

artist,

possession of all the resources of painting, using

right

tonality at

display virtuosity.

all

ease,

which enabled

times and to

disdain

45

Prince Baltazar Carlos on his Pony,

from
with

the sculptural
its

manner

broad landscape,

is

by Velazquez, Prado, Madrid. Velazquez moved on

to the painterly. This portrait

of the Infante Baltazar Carlos,

one of the most charming produced by this haughty painter.

The Artist's Family, by J. B. del Mazo, Kuns this tor isches Museum, Vienna.
The pupils of Velazquez, among them his son-in-law Mazo, developed his refin ed
manner in the direction of a pathos anticipating that of Goya.
4.6

It

was in

the direction of a rather too noisy virtuosity that painting

in Castile developed after Velazquez

in-law Juan Bautista del

Mazo

(c.

- particularly that of

1612-1667)

(///.

46),

times collaborated with him, of his imitator Carreno de

(1614-1685), and of Claudio Coello (1642-1693),

more

personal.

a painter

of

The

art

portraits

his son-

who somela

Miranda

whose

style

is

of the Benedictine Juan Ricci (1600-1681),

and

religious pictures,

is

somewhat nearer

to

the Italian manner.

THE MINOR ARTS

The minor arts in Spain,

so rich in the sixteenth century,

a real decadence in the seventeenth century

was
62

in store for

them

underwent

but a vigorous revival

in the century that followed.

The Seventeenth Century

the Southern Netherlands

in

The Truce of 1609 marked

the political separation of the Northern

Netherlands from the Southern Netherlands. The

included Flanders, Brabant, and the Walloon
subject to Spain,

and was represented by

an archduke. In the

first

districts,

governor

remained

half of the seventeenth century these

Archduke Albert of Austria and

first

which

who was usually

governors were ostentatious and maintained a Court

the

latter,

his

at Brussels.

wife the Archduchess

The

Isabella,

governors of the Southern Netherlands in the seventeenth

century, extended their protection to Rubens, as did their successor.

None

the

less,

the

main

artistic

centre

was not

at Brussels

but at

Antwerp. In 1648 the closing of the Scheldt reduced the economic

power of this city, yet during the second third of the century its
wealth made a great centre of the arts possible. Here, by virtue of
his genius,

recognized throughout Europe, Rubens exerted a kind

of sovereignty over the

painters,

and

his

work has given Antwerp an

outstanding position in the history of Baroque

art.

PAINTING
The study of Flemish art in the seventeenth century is best approached
through painting, not through architecture
this

for the architecture

of

region was about half a century behind that of Rome, the centre

of the

new movement,

while

its

painting was in advance.

The

Baroque rhythm of the composition-in-movement, which Rubens

was

practising with mastery

Battle of the

Amazons

(III 47),

by about 1618 in such a picture

was not achieved in Rome until

as

the^

rather

63

The Battle of the Amazons, by Rubens, Alte Pinakothek, Munich. Painted by Rubens
about 1618, when he was still young, this shows to the full the impetuosity of his talent.
The whirlwind composition is typically Baroque, while the horse charging headlong into
the fight was an image perfectly suited to this artist's passionate temperament.

47
in

later

- between 1626 and 163 1 - in

comparable picture, Pietro da

Cortona's Rape of the Sabines.

Rubens

(1

577-1640) learned

his trade

lasted several years (1600-1609).

At

during

this

a visit to Italy

than a tentative pupil, respectfully studying the masters

receive

some noteworthy commissions

for churches,

Painter-in-Chief and Artistic Adviser to Vincenzo

Gonzaga dukes of Mantua,

which

time he was hardly more

whom he persuaded to

II,

but he did

and became
one of the

buy Caravaggio's

when it was rejected by the Church of Sant'Anna

dei Palafrenieri in Rome. Such a picture as the Fermo Annunciation,
painted between 1606 and 1608, of which he later made another
Death of the Virgin

64

version for the

already in

full

Church of

possession of his art

to the great port

his Raising

St

of

(now

by

on

now

painting,

Antwerp, shows

that he

by the time he returned,

made

the Scheldt. In 161 3 he

the Cross

Walburg, and

exploit

St Paul in

in 1609,

a sensation

with

(commissioned in 16 10 by the Church of

in

Antwerp

Cathedral), and he repeated the

between 161 1 and 1614,

his Descentfrom the Cross

also in the Cathedral).

Before Rubens Flemish painting had been an intimate

stantly

showing

traces

for close examination

to

was

of its origin

by

art,

con-

in pictures meticulously painted

art lovers.

Flemish

artists,

when

called

on

produce large-scale compositions, contented themselves with

magnifying the dimensions of

easel pictures

the result being those

empty and unstable compositions, characteristic of the Mannerists. Rubens brought back from Italy the feeling
for compositions on the grand scale where the figures were life-size
or larger than life - figures oh a scale proportionate to the space. This

figures floating about in

idea of integrating subject into space

Rubens

is

the painter

who embodied

ceptions. His pictures are not

was
it

essentially

in the

autonomous

Baroque, and

most masterly conof space - as

definitions

The Chateau de Steen, by Rubens, National Gallery, London. At the end of his life,
48
Rubens's art tended to be meditative. His favourite dwelling-place was a country-house just
outside Antwerp, from which his gaze could lose itself in the limitless calm of the Flemish
plain.

of the

are the pictures

Italians

of the

who

Seicento,

never completely

succeeded in freeing themselves from concepts so firmly implanted

by the Renaissance

each

in

which we

in

forms and colours.

live,

is

moment

relationship that

many
is

it is

imagination creates

a living

elements are associated spontaneously in the

life,

wonder-

not merely a form of

is

expression. His brush

lingering, in a kind

nebula of colour and

this

his

necessary to produce an action. Rubens's

dynamic

form without ever

materializes

Rubens does not compose,

of analysis and deduction followed

impulse

ful handling, which quivers with

sensuality,

drama which

Strictly speaking,

a synthesis; in a single

organism, whose

of the space

suddenly crossed by

for this presupposes an operation

by

in the existence

moves from form

to

of whirling rush, and out of

light, as his sketches

show,

world comes

gradually into being.

Rubens had what the

Though

Italians lacked, the feeling for light.

he had studied attentively the beautifully balanced compositions of

the Carracci and

had appreciated the corporeal density attained by

Caravaggio, he rejected both the formers' abstract lighting and the

latter's

nocturnal opacity. In his

matter, the very fluid with

for
is

him
a

is

form of luminous

light, as

vibration,

owed

this

Flemish predecessors, deriving

Eyck.

It

was from there

light

is

which he imbues

not an absence of

mysterious. Rubens

work

it is

not 'lighting'
his colours.

it is

And

the

shade

with the Caravaggists

it

warmer, more muted, more

exceptional feeling for light to his

it

that he

from

its

source in the art of

took the magic of

Van

his transparent

him succeeded in using this technique so

He made of it a single generous fluid element,

handling, and no one after

felicitously

(///.

48).

capable of evoking any form in the world in

is

to say, in that perpetual

plants, threatening

men

full

becoming which

is

living truth

life:

mountains and vast plains with

- that

animals, trees,

limitless skies, old

of wisdom, muscular heroes, children with

flesh like fruit

women whose beauty embodies

the great force

and, above

all,

those

of universal creation - love.

66

all its

The

Italian painters

clothed with forms.

in the

guided the brush across

most Baroque of his

pictures, such as

or The Battle ofConstantine, worked with a

side and, in accordance
his

a surface,

The Italian nearest to Rubens,

which they

Pietro da Cortona,

The Rape of the Sabines

movement from

side to

with the tradition of that School, associated

forms closely together in a single impetus, yet conceived them

as

though they were carvings. Rubens, on the other hand, treated the
canvas in depth; he came and went outwards and inwards unceasingly, melting his foregrounds into his distances in a unity
It

was only

in their ceiling paintings that the Italians

in expressing space.

They had needed

the size of the church naves to

burst the bounds of the picture, and in this

their tradition,

which was

The few

artists.

Rubens

was

a tradition

way they were well within

of monumental decorative

square feet of a picture were enough to enable

to suggest a far greater depth

Pozzo had created with

also

of space.

had succeeded

in the tradition

all his artifices

of his

of limitless space than Padre

of perspective. In

own country - that of Van

this

Rubens

Eyck,

who

included the whole world in the few square inches of the landscape

of

his Rolin

Madonna, and of Brueghel, who, surpassing even Van

Eyck, united breadth and depth in the encircling space of his Merry

Way

to the

Broken

Gallows.
in

by

industrious study to every kind of technique,

armoured with the tremendous

first

few years

after his return to

could not do.

He

virtuosity

which he perfected

could create in three years (1622- 162 5) the

monumental sequence of
Infante Ferdinand. Finally,
after his

the Medici Gallery

50).

49).

In 1635

his

marriage with Helene Fourment, he could linger over

life

and the cosmos

These were pictures he painted for himself, independently

of commissions,
alone,

(///.

Triumph of the
in the easel pictures of the second half of his

dreams of love and of the universal forces of

(///.

in the

Antwerp, there was nothing Rubens

he could, within a few months, orchestrate

life,

and

as the confessions

of an enchanted

saw the beauty of the world with an

spirit that,

when

intensity heightened

by
67

The Birth of Louis XIII, by

49
Rubens, Louvre, Paris. In three
years, 1622-1625, with very little
assistance,

Rubens painted the

twenty-one large-scale pictures

which Marie de Medicis, the
Queen and Regent of France, had
ordered from him, to celebrate
the main actions of her life.

the feeling of inevitability that the time

must leave

Rubens

was approaching when he

it all.

is,

unquestionably, the most nearly universal of painters -

more so even than Titian, whose horizons were to some extent limited
by the anthropomorphism of the Renaissance. At a time when

many

artists,

were finding

now
it

using painting as a means of personal expression,

difficult to fit in

with, or were driven to break with,

the society that surrounded them,

greatest ease achieved a

and those of

his spirit,

Rubens was the one who with the

harmony between

the exigencies of his time

without sacrificing the one to the other -

doubtless because he emanated a compelling

from
68

the balance he

had succeeded

power of harmony

in creating in his

own

life.

Helene Fourment and her Child-

50

by Rubens, Louvre, Paris.

Rubens strove to keep all the freshness of a sketch in this picture - a
tender representation of his young
wife, who was sixteen when he
ren,

married her at the age of fifty-three,

and of two of the children he had

by

her: Claire Jeanne and Francois.

All the

works of Rubens follow upon one another - one

the others - and together they create a limitless world.

calls

forth

Rubens painted

Dyck (i 599-1641) painted pictures. In the 'Italian'

Dyck was an adept at covering painted surfaces with
life. His impressionable temperament enabled him to imitate Rubens
in Antwerp so well that, in some cases, historians fmd it hard to
distinguish their pictures. He travelled in Italy from 1622 to 1627 and
a

world; Van

manner, Van

was

sensitive to the art

of Titian - but

atmosphere of Genoa, where he

studio
his

from 1623

refmed

to 1627.

also to the

up

his

somewhat corrupt

extremely productive

At length he found

tastes in the aristocratic

was employed

set

a place agreeable to

Court of Charles

in 1620, 1632-1634,

I,

and 1635-1641.

by

whom he

He

modified
69

and his son, by Van Dyck, Louvre, Paris. This portrait

Van Dyck's Antwerp manner, which was very different from the final manner
adopted by him in England. The artist has taken Rubens's flowing handling and has made it
51

Portrait ofJean Grusset Richardot

belongs to
his

own, but

is

alreadv concerned to lend a certain distinction to his bourgeois

sitters.

Rubens's plebeian generosity with the elegance of Titian, and

posterity the

most accomplished image of the 'gentleman'

before Rigaud's development of the portrait of the honnete

the

left to

(///.

51)

homme

at

Court of Louis XIV.

Jacob Jordaens

(1

593-1678) took Brueghel's peasant subjects and

them to the school of Court pictures and pious pictures

The greasy heaviness of his handling, in contrast to the

transposed
(///.

52).

fluidity

<^

oFthat of Rubens, seems an expression of the

soil.

The Four Evangelists, by Jordaens, Louvre, Paris. In the seventeenth century,

52
following the example given by the Carracci and by Caravaggio, painters depicted
the Evangelists as robust men of the people. This picture, which dates from between
1620 and 1625, is painted in vigorous and thick brushwork - a technique very
different

from

that

of Rubens.

Annunciation, by Theodoor van Loon,

Scherpenheuvel Onze Lieve Vrouwekerke
(Montaigu), Antwerp. In Antwerp itself
53

there was a whole school of painters who

seemed unaware of Rubens's existence:
they went back to the old Flemish tradition
of Veenius and Van Moort, enriched by
Italian influence. Theodoor van Loon recalls the first-generation

Among the Antwerp artists who

with

its life-size

figures,

took up the

some - such

as

new

Caravaggists.

'Italian'

Gerard Seghers

Theodoor van Thulden (1606-1669), Caspar de Crayer

and Erasme Quellin II (1607-1678) - underwent the

manner

(i

591-165 1),

(1

584-1669),

attraction

of

whom on occasion they collaborated, but soon leaned

Van Dyck, whom they found easier to assimilate. Others

Rubens, with

towards
such

as

Jan Janssens (1590-1650), Abraham Janssens (1573/4-1632),

and Theodoor van Loon

resistance

and turned

Cornelis de

(c.

581-1667) - formed a centre of

their attention

Vos (1584-1651) was

more towards

Italy

a meticulous portraitist,

(///.

53).

more of a

craftsman than a painter.

One

type of painting practised by Rubens originated a genre - that

of the 'hunting
72

scene',

where man and exotic

beasts or

game from

The Larder, by Franz Snyders, Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels. The genre of
composed of things to eat was created at the end of the sixteenth century by the
Antwerp painter Pieter Aertsen. Franz Snyders gave it a decorative amplitude that belongs
to the Baroque spirit.
54

the

still life

our

own

full

of movement. Franz Snyders

(1

part of the

world were brought together

596-1678) took up

felicity,

this genre,

the other as a

on

things to eat led

mere

to life-size

a sensuousness that

quality

55

of the fur and

Trophies of the Hunt,

Fyt, Albert New-

by Jan

port Gallery, Zurich.

animals,

alive

or

The

dead,

painted by Jan Fyt have

less decorative value than
the compositions of Sny-

but he was the more

of the two at
rendering the quality of
pelt and plumage.
ders,

skilled

579-1657) and Paul de Vos

Game and

still-life
{III.

54)

proved equal

feathers

in compositions

one of them with

supplier.

executed in a decorative manner

with

(i

and the

real painterly

all sorts

paintings,

of other

which Snyders

and Jan Fyt (1611-1661)

to rendering the unctuous

flesh

of the

fruit

{III.

55).

r^^x^^^^
T/ie Kitchen of the Archduke Leopold William, by David Teniers the Younger,
56
Mauritshuis, The Hague, the best of the so-called 'genre painters' in Flanders.

He produced pictures on

a small scale, carried out

with

fine brushes in silver-grey

tones and representing rather conventional scenes of popular

All these

artists

manner'. But the

paintings -

them, such

belong to what might be called the Flemish 'grand

'little

as

it.

dramatic

number of

a large

Paul Bril (15 54-1626), Kerstiaen de Keuninck

century.

Momper

(1564-1635),

Roeland Savery

(1

mode of Mannerism. Jacob

still

576-1639)

easel

who
many of

painters

Landscape painters were very numerous -

1632/5), and Joos de

sixteenth

manner' - that of the traditional small

was continued by

specialized in

life.

(c.

1560-

belonged to the
continued the

d'Arthois (161 3-1686) and

Lodewijk de Vadder (1605-1655) were more modern, but more

superficial. Landscape painting merged naturally into genre painting,
of which the chief representative was the second David Teniers
(1610-1690).
in a

1638),

who had

free style

He painted a conventional peasantry in pictures

charming silver-grey

(///.

56).

bathed

Adriaen Brouwer (1605/6-

lived in Holland, introduced into genre painting the

of Franz Hals. Jan Siberechts (1627-1700/3) touches us with

more straightforward

74

light

realism

(///.

57).

Antwerp was

great centre of flower painters,

swarms of specialists

Middelburg and

established himself at
at

Utrecht,

and exported

- Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder

in this genre

and Jacques de Gheyr

at Utrecht,

at

Roelant Savery

Leyden, while Abraham

Brueghel went to Naples. The most gifted of these painters was the
Jesuit

Daniel Seghers

(i

590-1661),

who

loved to wreathe his

Madonnas with garlands of flowers (III. 8).

The traditions of the previous century were so tenacious that,
by side with the 'grand manner' decorative style of Snyders and
certain artists such as Osaias Beert

(c.

side

Fyt,

580-1624), Clara Peeters

(1594-1657), and Jacob van Es (i596?-i666) continued to produce

still-life

paintings of a mixture of objects, in a style derived

from the

foregrounds of the sixteenth-century pictures.

Of these

I
\

genius -

this

Brueghel,

57

painters in the

'little

was Jan Brueghel

who

painted with

The Sleeping Peasant

by Jan
Munich. In

Girls,

Siberechts, Alte Pinakothek,

Flemish genre painting the representation of country life remained somewhat

conventional.

manner' one only was gifted with

The

exceptionally vigor-

ous naturalism with which Jan Siberechts rendered landscapes, peasants and

farm beasts makes one think of Courbet.

(1

568-1625),

known

as

'Velvet'

equal felicity landscapes, flowers,

58

Madonna and Child

in a

Garland

of Flowers, by Daniel Seghers,

Gemaldegalerie, Dresden. Flower
painting

was

established

in

the

Netherlands
by Jan Brueghel,
Roelant Savery and Abraham Bosschaert. The best of the Flemish
flower painters - after Jan 'Velvet'

Brueghel - was a Jesuit father,

Daniel Seghers: he specialized in
painting
garlands
to
surround
Madonnas.
genre,
it

and allegory. He was the only one

to assimilate, while reducing

to a miniature scale, Rubens's transparent handling,

his 'earthly paradises' or his allegories

life

(21/.

of the

senses

and some of

teem with intense

59).

ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE

Architecture in the Southern Netherlands was confused in style and

not very original. Commissions for secular buildings were unimportant, since the capital

Spain,

was only the

seat

of the governors representing

and the Court had not much influence

there. Besides, the

was composed of bourgeois, and

were content with

ruling class

these

houses of modest dimensions, stretching back from narrow fronts

placed in line along the

arranged in
76

tiers,

streets.

which

These fronts displayed Classical orders

fitted in well

with the fenestrated system

i-J*

iim
*S

59

SiV/if,

by Jan

'Velvet' Brueghel, Prado, Madrid. Jan 'Velvet'

gifted painter of the Flemish School after Rubens.

Brueghel was the most

painter of sma^l pictur es, his curiosity

a wide variety of natural objects - flowers, fruit, landscapes - and by

ranging from peasants working in the fields to the mania of a collector.

was aroused bv
activity,

of architecture handed

down from

Middle Ages. The chief

the

ornament was the stepped pediment, decorated with

v

The
Jesuits,

greatest building enterprises

who

were

volutes.

religious;

in

them

the

enjoyed strong protection from the Archduke Albert

and the Archduchess

Isabella,

played

very active part without,

however, hastening the adoption of the characteristic features of

Roman
heuvel.
1609, a

architecture.

Although the pilgrimage-church

by Wenceslas Cobergher

dome crowning

a central

(c.

at

Scherpen-

560-1634), had already, in

ground-plan, the

basilical

ground-

plan - sometimes with an ambulator)' - remained usual and even

retained the Gothic form it had acquired in the fifteenth century.
The fmest church of the first half of the seventeenth century - that
of St Charles Borromeo in Antwerp, built by two Jesuits, Francois
Aguillon (who died in 161 7) and Pieter Huyssens (1577-163 7) - has

77

human

6o-6i

St Michael, Louvain. St Charles

Charles

Borromeo in Antwerp and

Borromeo, Antwerp. A comparison between St

Louvain shows the progress of the Baroque.

St Michael in

The former still belongs to Mannerism, the successor of the Renaissance - architecture did
not become overtly Baroque till the second half of the century.

nave and

side aisles. Its interior, for

which Rubens acted

as adviser

was covered with rich polychrome ornamenmanner of the churches in Rome (it was destroyed by
171 8). The facade, however, with its dominant vertical lines

and painted

a ceiling,

tation in the
fire in

and its ornamentation distributed in compartments,

the belfry

(///.

61), to the Mannerist conception.

architecture at this time

was created

in painting

still

The

belongs, like
real

and in the

Baroque

structures

put up for the triumphal entry of the Infante Ferdinand (1635) by

Rubens,

who had published a book on

also built,

palace,

the palaces of Genoa.

next door to his house in the Flemish

which was

later in part destroyed,

style,

an

Rubens

Italianate

but has been restored.

Romanization took place in the second half of the seventeenth

78

century.

good example of it

Louvain (1650-1671),
plan and facade

(///.

built

is

the Jesuit

Church of St Michael

Hesius, with a ground-

by Guillaume

60) derived

at

from the Gesu and with

a fine

scheme of ornamentation in white marble. The reconstruction of

the

Grand Place

bombardment

in Brussels, destroyed

in 1695,

was begun

the eighteenth century, yet

still

by

the Marechal de Villeroi's

in 1696

and carried out during

kept to the old manner. Except on

the east side, the square rejects the discipline of a uniform programme
as

introduced by the architects of Louis XIV.

The

deliberate variety

of its many houses, grouped about two Gothic buildings,

is

attractive.

The Southern Netherlands produced a whole nursery of carvers

and wood, among whom there were whole families of

in stone
artists,

such as the Duquesnoys, the Quellins

Verbruggens. There were so

to England,

Francesco,

Germany, Holland,

Duquesnoy joined

Obestal, Buyster,
attracted

were

many of them
the

Italy,

Roman

and the

and France. Francois, or

School Jean Warin,
;

and Desjardins (Van den Bogaert) went

Van

to France,

by the Court at Versailles. Commissions, almost all religious,

Southern Netherlands. They were mostly for

monuments and

for church furniture

choir screens, ex votos, and pulpits. In

assimilated

more quickly

fashions in architecture.
62 God
Quellin

Father,

the
II,

Bruges

The generous
work,

62)

some emigrated

plentiful in the

funerary

was

(///.

that

and

by Artus
Cathedral.

plasticity

its stresses

on

To

of

gesture,

his
its

handling of
draperies make Quellin almost a
rival - in sculpture - of Rubens.
opulence

its

- monumental

Belgium the

in sculpture than

this the influence

style

altars,

of Bernini

were the

Roman

of Rubens certainly

Faydherbe,

(Luc

contributed

while

pupil),

Walloon

the

collaborated with Bernini in

Often

a church's chief

with statues -

Rome

ornament was

its

Church of

a gigantic pulpit,

covered

appearance round about 1660. Henri-Francois

Verbruggen introduced movement into

in the

(1631-1707),

for ten years.

almost a theological encyclopaedia. This kind

at times

of furnishing made

1617-1697, for example, was his

sculptor Jean Delcour

St Peter

it,

and St Paul

for instance in his pulpit

at

Malines (1699-1702)

(Hi. 63).

THE MINOR ARTS

The output of the

Brussels tapestry factories remained brilliant

during the whole of the seventeenth century. The very quality

of abundance in the
several series

of Rubens,

art

who

supplied these factories with

of cartoons, suited tapestry well. In the second half of

lighter, when the influence of the

make itself felt.
The importance of Antwerp as a centre of publishing gave great
encouragement to the art of engraving. Carefully executed book

the century the style

became

Gobelins output began to

illustrations

and separate

prints spread

Baroque imagery throughout

Europe and beyond, aided for a while by encouragement from Rubens.

The pulpit of St Peter and St Paul, Malines, by

Henri-Francois Verbruggen. In the Germanic lands

63

during the eighteenth century, and in Belgium by the

become an iconographic
vehicle for expressing the truths of the Faith in figures
whose style was borrowed from the eloquence of the
seventeenth, the pulpit had

was called the

sermon was cultivated as

preacher. Indeed, the pulpit

verite

genre.

In France the

'chaire de

a literary

The Seventeenth Century

in

At the beginning of the seventeenth

won

the Northern Netherlands

new

known

nation,

as the

of Europe by

the United Provinces

century, with the Truce of 1609,

their national independence.

The

'United Provinces', was distinguished

from the

rest

religion.

This had important consequences for the

its

democratic constitution and Calvinist

arts.

While

Calvinism allowed no decoration in the churches, the democratic

system was hostile to sumptuous display by the more rich or powerful citizen s.

large-scale

Thus

th e ostentation

commissi oned works oi

The only grand

honour of the new

were of modest

art

led, in

mos t of Europe,

to

was almost ab sent in Holland.

edifice constructedTKere in the seventeenth century

was the City Hall of Amsterdam,

in

which

size,

built after the

liberal institutions.

The

Treaty of Westphalia

finest

dwelling-houses

and country palaces kept more or

medieval plan. There was therefore

little

less

to the

scope for the development

of sculpture. Painting, on the contrary, enjoyed the favour of a

bourgeois society

which was

susceptible

above

all

to realism.

Holland's liberal institutions, of which Descartes sang the praises,

made

that country a

parts

of Europe the Protestants, Jews, and

haven of refuge

in a divided

Europe - from

political exiles

all

found

refuge from persecution and contributed to the country's intense

scientific

and

intellectual

development. This did not prevent theo-

logical disputes within Calvinism

Protestants, like the Catholics,

from

flourishing,

and the Dutch

were divided over the problem of

Grace. These preoccupations with

human

fate are reflected in the

work of Rembrandt.
81

In the second half of the seventeenth century the United Provinces

became

a strong nation, in spite

population. This

of the smallness of their territory and

people proved capable of facing up to the

little

the

Power of the time, that of France - having already beaten

greatest Power of the sixteenth century, Spain, from which it

had

won

greatest

in the
still

had

found

liberty

its

first

by

But the

force.

great rise of its arts took place

half of the seventeenth century, at a time

to consolidate

itb

existence and to build

and expansion by

in trade

when

up the wealth

are not, as has sometimes been maintained, negligible.

Classicism

of having

architects

by

which was only

were

laid

later to reach

which

by

down

architecture

To

Holland,

the bases of the

the democratic system

imposed on

Classicism began in about 1630 in the province of Holland,

by Hendrick de Keyser

constructed

Amsterdam during
Westerkerk)

(///.

Its

of Classicism
secular

the avoidance of images in the churches. This

tended to take the lead in the United Provinces. Before

buildings

now

France and England.

certainly helped towards the conception

the sobriety

building and

it

sea.

ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE

Though insignificant in size, the monuments of Dutch
in fact, belongs the merit

the nation

the

64)

first

were

(1

which

this date, the

565-1621)

in

quarter of the century (Zuidekerk,

still

dependent on the Mannerist system

of proportions, though ornamentation was already more sober. The

revolution - the word is not too strong - was accomplished between

Campen (1 595-1657) and

when Descartes's friend, Con-

1630 and 1640 by two architects, Jacob van

Pieter Post
stantin

(1 608-1 669), at

the time

Huygens, Secretary to the Stadhoulder Frederick Henry,

The Hague. Jacob van Campen and

the tone of intellectual

life at

Pieter Post replaced the

dominance of vertical

from the Northern

82

lines

- an inheritance

was still in use at the beginning of

by a tendency to horizontalism, marking
building by a few colossal stone pilasters of the
tradition that

the seventeenth century the centre of the

set

The Westerkerk,

64

Amsterdam, from a
plan by Hendrick de
Keyser.

De

Keyser car-

ried out the first stag;e

of the work of purifythe complicated

ing

Mannerism elaborated
in

the northern pro-

the
during
second half of the six-

vinces

teenth century. In so

doing, he prepared the

way

for

Dutch

Classic-

ism.

Corinthian order bearing a triangular pediment, and surmounting

the cornice with a pavilion roof; the shell of the building
brick, stone being used only for the

Mauritshuis at

The Hague

(1633)

columns and quoins -

(///.

65).

was of

as in the

This very sober arrange-

ment prevailed throughout the century, being enriched only after

1670 with a little more ornamentation (swags between the two
pillars and a decorated pediment). The Amsterdam City Hall,
designed by Jacob van Campen,

two

is

of this type, but

it

was

built

with

tiers.

The Dutch

Protestants

found plenty of places of worship in the

existing Catholic churches,

features.

which they stripped of

When new churches were required,

their decorative

they hesitated between

the basilical ground-plan and the central one (which

to Protestant worship).

The only

is

more

suited

decorative features in the interior

were the organ and the wooden amphitheatre of seats. The exterior
S3

was

Classical in style.

survivor

Of

the Huis ten

is

French chateau.

It

the palaces of this period almost the only

Bosch

at

The Hague, which

is

out like a

laid

contains a salon d'honneur, decorated for Amalia

de Solms with Baroque paintings by Jordaens and other Flemish

artists in

memory of

her dead husband, the Stadhoulder Frederick

Henry. This Baroque decoration

and

it

is

is

example

the only

in Holland,

had to be brought

significant that the artists

in

from

Antwerp.

Towards

the end of the century the spreading influence of the art

of the Court of Louis

Dutch

XIV - arch-enemy of the

Chateaux

architecture towards a slightly greater ostentation.

with great gardens in the French

have

Netherlands - drew

now

style

were

built,

but

all

of these

been destroyed.

The system of architecture introduced by

van Campen was destined

to

Pieter Post

and Jacob

have wide repercussions

over

all

The Mauritshuis, The Hague. With its large stone pilasters carrying an architrave, the
house begun in 1633 by Jacob van Campen is completely Classical in spirit.

65

3
1

ri

ribP M
miiiii?

111111 1111

mil

Hi

III"!

(ill
1

1 is I

iiiiiiiiii

mi

it

imli

Pi

1,

Nil
1

66

The Bust of Maria van Reygers-

by Verhulst, Rijksmuseum,
Amsterdam. There is very little
Dutch sculpture. In the portrait
busts which he produced, Hendrick
de Keyser was still traditional. Romberg,

bout Verhulst introduced the lively

style, with the accent on movement,

by

practised

the Italians (Bernini)

and the French (Coysevox).

Northern Europe.

It

,*)*-

spread in time to the Rhineland and into

own

Scandinavia, and influenced the English in their search for their

Classicism.

Sculpture was rare in Holland because occasions for

sioning

it

were few. Moreover, the Dutch had

relief carving

work

and preferred paintings. Sculptors

in decorating

allegorical character

tombs and wooden

commis-

a certain distaste for

pulpits.

did,

however, find

These had not the

of the pulpits of the Southern Netherlands.

Throughout the century, the Dutch - like the French and

the Italians

- were fond of having portrait busts made of themselves. The best

artist

producing these was

PAINTING
The conditions

Verhulst (1624-1696)

(///.

66).

ck

different

Rombout

in

which the Dutch

from those

worked were somewhat

in the other countries: there the artists

much more dependent on

onwards there arose

painters

all

were

commissions, though from about 1630

over Europe

(for instance, in the case

of
85

Poussin, of Velazquez, and even

of Rubens)

a tendency to treat

painting as a personal speculation. This tendency found a favourable

soil in

the situation prevailing in Holland,

materially difficult for

artists.

which was in other respects

Portraits apart, the

Dutch

painters

were, in the greater part of their work, artisans specializing in a

somewhat narrowly defined type of picture, which they themselves

stocked and sold. They had to wait for a customer, and if their
pictures did not please - as was the case with Vermeer's, and with
Rembrandt when he grew old - they were reduced to a
precarious existence. Thus the conditions governing modern creative
those of

work

in the arts

began in Holland. There the

artist

found himself

alone, facing unaided a bourgeois society, while in the other

countries he exercised
ecclesiastical circle

real

social

European

function in a princely and

with an enormous demand for the visual

In Holland, as in the Southern Netherlands,

it is

arts.

possible to distin-

grand manner' and a 'little manner'. The 'grand manner'

made its appearance in the city of Utrecht, where it was advanced
by Abraham Bloemaert (1564-165 1), and by those native artists
guish a

who had
Baburen

spent

some period of

(1 590-1624),

Gerard Honthorst
vaggesque

style,

subjects and,

(1

formed

at

Hendrick Terbrugghen

above

all, its

side.

of portraits

(1 588-1629),

and

Roman

its

picturesque

technique of modelling a figure by means

While Utrecht tended

to be a detached

Caravaggesque, the Dutch style proper was

Haarlem, chiefly through Franz Hals

and genre

Dirck van

590-1656). These painters took from the Cara-

and brought home with them,

of lighting from the

branch of the

their lives in Italy:

(1 580-1666),

painter

scenes. Franz Hals inherited from the sixteenth

century the tradition of the portrait of a corporation or fraternity

(doelenstiicken)

but what had been merely a juxtaposition of effigies

became with him an assembly,

there passed a kind of vital

endowed

a collective being

communal

these compositions with

instinct.

through which

Like Rubens, he

movement, not only through the

action of figures but through the impassioned action of his brush.

86

Women Governors of the Haarlem Alms-houses, by Franz Hals, Franz Hals Museum,
Haarlem. Hals broke up the formal texture of the conventional portraits of his time and
substituted exhibitions of bravura. At the end of his life, when he depicted the male and female
governors of the hospital in which he had found refuge, his art had gained an inner quality.
6j

Along with Rubens and Velazquez, Hals was one of the painters who
made touch the painter's chief means of expression. This meant
destroying the impression of calm handling which had
traditional

with the Netherlanders. Formerly,

point of honour to

mask

virtuosity consisted in asserting

From

on

of reality but, for Franz Hals,

;

the canvas his

own

plastic

hand-

his Banquet of the Fraternity of Saint George (1616

1627) to his Governors and

houses (1664)

had been the painter's

the process of a picture's execution, so as

to attain the closest possible imitation

writing.

it

become

(III.

67),

Women

and

Governors of the Haarlem Alms-

Franz Hals followed a line of development

analogous to the one that led Rembrandt from the frank and joyful
sensuality

of his youth to the anxious meditation over destiny that

characterized his old age.

87

Rembrandt

(i 606-1 669),

more than any other

technique with the purpose of forcing

that arose

from

He

his soul.

to

it

worked

painter,

at

submit to the impulses

began painting in about 1623. From

the Utrecht painters he certainly took the methods of the Caravag-

gesque

way of bringing

style, especially its

and emphasizing

it

by

the figure right forward

the harshness of the lateral lighting

but

it

was

perhaps to his master Pieter Lastman, a belated Mannerist, that he

owed

the

more

spiritual feeling

he began to impart to chiaroscuro.

That strange landscape painter Hercules Seghers (who was born

round about 1590 and died before 1643) must also have opened his
mind to the poetry of the imaginary (///. 68). Like Rubens - but with
perhaps a more personal emphasis, since he was

less

responsive to

commissions than was the Antwerp painter - Rembrandt made

painting a means of exploring mythology, history, religious feeling,

and the picturesque of

deepening of the

always with a tendency towards

life,

His career divides into two periods. In 163 1,

in

Amsterdam, he

at

when he went

once became highly fashionable

painter [Professor Tulp's

Anatomy

Lesson, 1632).

to live

as a portrait

He made

happy

marriage, bought a fine house, and became a collector, so that

might have been thought

make

stance, in

life

use of commissions to further his

The Night Watch

it

would be a kind of Amsterdam

Antwerp. But soon after this he began

that his

pendant to that of Rubens in

to

spiritual side.

(III.

own

and

70), 1642),

this

researches (for in-

estranged his con-

The death of his wife Saskia in 1642 drove him into

solitude and confirmed him in his vocation as painter of the inner
life. This brought about his decline in favour and his ruin. From
1650 till his death his house in Amsterdam was comparable to
an alchemist's study, and in it, all alone, he worked out the magical
spells of painting to give his spiritual life free course. Haunted by
temporaries.

the figure of Christ, he

Supper

from

at

Emmaus

the severity

(III.

saw

in the Gospels a message

69), 1648),

and

of Calvinism, with

this
its

separated

of love (The

him somewhat

belief in the justice rather

~"*

88

The Great Tree,

engraving by Hercules Seghers who
68

led a strange, solitary

in

absorbed

life,

researches,

his

particularly into the

technique
graving.

of
His

enro-

mantic

visions

nature

may

of

well

brandt,

Remwho owned

some

of

have inspired

en-

his

gravings.

than in the mercy of God.

doctrines
It

of the Jewish

may seem

He was

circles in

also influenced by the Messianic

Amsterdam which he frequented.

paradoxical that, in that century of

of the Christian Faith that went deepest of

his

brush,

from Protestant Holland with

use of images in worship -

was indulging

in a regular

against this, that

69

The Supper

brandt,

at

Louvre,

by

at a

setting the artist free

Emmaus, by RemRembrandt

stripped his religious subjects of

all

all

the

the dog-

matic rules current in the Catholic

world: he went back to the Gospels

for the same direct contact which the
Protestants sought.

when

all

expressions

came, through

of the

its

rejection

all

Catholic Europe

orgy of images. But

Paris.

iconographic traditions and

time

faith,

from

it

must be

all

said,

the current

The Night Watch, by Rembrandt, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. A recent cleaning has

that the painting famous as 'Night Watch' was nocturnal only because of the dirt that
covered it. In fact the company of archers shown in the picture emerges from the shadow,
and its leaders, Captain Franz Banning Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruijtenburg, are
70

shown

seen in strong light.

iconographic

traditions

which formed

a screen

religion

Calvinism

itself,

of the Gospels, and

thirsting for

in

God

as

and

from

between the

this

set

him

was

the

face to face

priestly

of an

directives,

artist's

soul

and

with the naked truth

a fortunate circumstance for a soul

Rembrandt's was. The works of his

which more and more often he used

lessly

all

aspirations

his

own

last years,

face as model, tire-

studying in himself the progress of physical decay - messenger

of death - are surely the most moving and disturbing intimations

of the

tragic destiny

painting

90

(///.

71).

of

man

that

have ever been transmitted by

71

Self-Portrait ,

c.

Rem-

by

1668,

brandt,

Wallraf-

Richartz

Museum,

Cologne. Obsessed
by the life of the

Rembrandt

soul,

studied

its

mysteries

most frequently

own

his

in

features.

He and Van Gogh

are the

who

two

artists

have used the

self-portrait in this

way.

Rembrandt's technique

is

almost the opposite term to that of Franz

Hals and Rubens. Franz Hals, in the intoxication ofjoyous improvisation, slashes the canvas in all directions

the brush, and

it is

similarly the joy

that constant darting

a picture

of

his.

with sinewy movements of

of creation that drove Rubens to

of the brush, never absent from any part of

But Rembrandt's brush movement

is

a kind

of

kneading of pastes of paint, out of which the picture gradually

emerges, a mystery of shade and
It is

light.

not easy to catch the individuality of the various Schools in

Holland, where the

cities

are so close to

one another and exchange

9i

Vice-Admiral Jan

72

Liefde,

van

de

by Bartholomeus

der

Rijks-

Heist,

museum, Amsterdam. The

portraits painted by van
der Heist offered the

sitter

a flattering image, repre-

senting

him

in

the

all

generosity of youth, or in
the sufficiency of maturity,

or in the
age.

On

wisdom of

old

each occasion he

appears quite content with

himself.

between them so

easy. Classification

by

genres

is

the advantage of corresponding to a reality, since

were

easier

it

also has

most of the

artists

specialists.

Portrait painting

was the only genre

that

produced pictures in the

'grand manner* - full-length or half-length portraits of an individual,

a couple, or an assembly.

The portrait painters, whether independent

of Franz Hals or derivative from him, confined themselves to

careful,
clients

and impersonal craftsmanship which, indeed, was what

wanted.

of the human

Among
effigy

the

more

their

thriving of these excellent artisans

mention should be made of Jan Ravesteyn

(1572-1657), Bartholomeus van der Heist (1613-1670)

Thomas de Keyser

(///.

72),

and

(1 597-1667). But the most sensitive portraits

came from some of the painters of the

from Gerard Ter Borch (1617-1681);
92

a sober,

'little

manner', in particular

his portraits express a

deep

feeling

of loneliness -

especially those painted after his contact

the style of Velazquez in 1649

To

(///.

with

73).

speak very generally, Dutch painting derives from the art of

the small easel painting, as practised

fifteenth century

by

the Flemish School

from the

onwards. The Dutch painters of the seventeenth

century, jumping a

whole century of Mannerism, made

with the conception of painting

as the

a direct link

mirror of reality which had

,

been started by Van Eyck and had had no immediate sequel. In

pictures executed very carefully with fine brushes
light scumbles

Dutch

(which often

let

the

painters set out to give the

wood

and

a surface

of

panel speak through), the

most exact image they could of

everything that surrounded them - the picturesque details of social

life,

the secret

world of domestic

life,

familiar objects,

door scenes of both town and country.

attachment to r ealism

of merchants, for

may

whom

One of

and the out-

the causes of this

be seen in the mental outlook of a society

only the positive

effects

of daily

life

had

meaning. That there was almost no opera in Holland confirms that the

Dutch mind was not much tormented by

Portrait of a Young Man, by
Gerard Ter Borch, National Gallery,
London. Ter Borch is the artist
in whose work we can discern
traces of that anguished view of
destiny which tormented the Calvinists - but which the middle-class
civilization of Holland tended to
minimize. Later, he went to Spain
and came under the influence of

73

Velazquez.

the need for an escape into

the imaginary,
*r

then characteristic of other European countries.

Another cause may be the Calvinist

ethic,

which looked on the

possession of worldly goods as one of the springs of human dignity.

EutiFwe can manage to lay aside the prejudice against figurative

which

freedom of appreciation in our

limits

help considering as profoundly

directed

its

whole

civilization in all

loves painting
realized

by

sensibility

fine shades
is

fail

And finally, how

forms.

to be attracted

brushwork

light

art

cannot

of painting that

can anyone

who

with so

really

by those marvellous small worlds

that, for all its meticulousness,

from being weakened by

of the

a school

we

time,

towards expressing the image of

activities

its

human

own

repetition

keeps

its

and follows out the

much love? And how deep

a sincerity

implied in that humble attitude towards nature

An

incredible

number of

evidence of its success with

scenes

of military

amused

life,

its

family

a society which,

tending to stabilize

artists

practised genre painting - clear

public.
life,

picturesque

They

the tavern, and the inn.

emerging from the heroic period, was

itself in a bourgeois

stemming from Franz

They reproduced

Hals,

conformism. Genre painting,

was 'miniaturized' by

his brother

The

74

Mill

at

by Jacob van

Wijk,

Ruisdael, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Dutch landscape

consists

essentially

of sky dominating
low-lying land,

where

water

(whether
sea

or

it

some

frequently

be the
canal)
reflects

the clouds. In

work of
the

the

Ruisdael

of inwhich man

feeling

finity, in

seems

lost, attains a

Pascalian gravity.

y
I0!&

B^i JRir*
iy

iiiii

W
Mb

-.*._.

..

:.

/
1

Ml'
jj

...

yl Yom/i^ Woman Standing at a Virginal, by Vermeer, National Gallery, London. In a

75
picture by Vermeer the decorative details often have a symbolic significance: a map or a land-

scape suggests the outside world, and the cupid holding a letter refers to the absent

man whose memory

the girl

is

evoking

as

she plays a virginal or lute.

young

Dirck

(i

591-1656) and his pupil Hendrick Pot.

From Haarlem

it

spread throughout Holland - in the work, for instance, of Pieter

Codde

Duck

[c.

(c.

W.C.

599-1678),

1600-1667)

At Haarlem

Duyster

1599-163 5), and Jacob

(c.

(III 76).

also

Dutch landscape painting was developed.

Salomon van Ruysdael (1602-1670) took from Jan van Goyen

(1 596-1656) the amphibious landscape, where nothing seems to
exist

but sky and water. Jacob van Ruisdael (1628 9-1682), Salo-

mon's nephew, learned

dominated by the

He

with

its

feeling

o that

flat

country

of infinity and the fearfulness

many

imitators at

Haarlem and

Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, Meindert Hobbema

(163 8-1709)

of solitude
at

sky,

to express the grandeur

(Iff.

74).

gave

rise to

crushed the poetry of Jacob van Ruisdael under the heaviness of his
realism, while Aert

van Neer (1603-1677)

specialized in night scenes.

Others took the scenery whose lonely grandeur

Hobbema had
76

tried to express,

and peopled

it

Ruisdael and

with picturesque

life

Division of the Spoils, by Jacob Duck, Louvre, Paris. At the time when Jacob Duck and
Codde were painting, the disturbances caused by the wars of religion were long past,

Pieter

and representations of the excesses of

amused middle-class society.

the soldiery

had become

a picturesque

fc*

theme

that

Amsterdam, by Jan van der Heyden, Wallace Collection, London.

treated by the painters. Several of them specialized in
urban scenes, and the artist who best expressed the atmosphere of the Dutch cities was van

77

't'H'

of the JVesterkerk,

All aspects of

Dutch scenery were

der Hevden.

Wouweiman,

(Philips

Others again - such

as

1619-1668; Jan Wynants.

Willem van de Velde

1630 5-1684).

the Elder and

Younger

(1610-1693 and 1633-1707) and Johannes van de Capelle (1624 51679) - speciahzed in marine pictures. There were painters

concentrated on

van der Heyden, 163 7-1 7 12)

selves to depicting
(III.

78)]

It is

descent

still

(III.

jy),

church interiors

Emmanuel de

in the

who

city landscapes (Gerrit Berckheijde, 1638-1698 Jan

lifes

who

and others
(Pieter

devoted them-

Saenredam,

597-1665

Witte, 161 7-1692).

and paintings o

home

that the direct

life

of seventeenth-century Dutch painting from fifteenth-

*- century Flemish reahsm

is

most

are indeed closely connected.

upon which

the

still-life

clearly perceptible.

The love

The two

genres

for those familiar objects

paintings concentrate

made

its

appearance

97

of the Grote Kerk, Haarlem, by Pieter Saenredam, National Gallery, London.

who depicted churches were for the most part merely accurate illustrators

78

Interior

The

painters

only one of them, Pieter Saenredam, expressed in his pictures the intimidating nakedness
of these Protestant churches, with their complete lack of images and ornamentation.

in the Netherlands in the fifteenth century as an element in the

religious pictures

Flemalle.

At

of Jan van_Eyck, and indeed

and

In the

first

descriptive

religious compositions

together as though to

facilitate

great refinement, based

light.

The

on

difference

(who was
still-life

still-life

were

an inventory,

second stage followed, in which

detached

as,
still

98

laid

painting was

out or heaped

for instance, in the

living in 1665).

of composition, colour,

between the heaps of David de

(1570-163 2) and the harmonies ofJan Davidsz de

(1

from

painting became an art of

a subtle pursuit

neatly illustrates this progress.

and Pieter Claesz

itself

and became an independent genre.

the victuals and other objects

paintings of Floris van Schooten

and

still life

part of the seventeenth century,

;

Master of

the end^oTthe sixteenth century, both inlhe Northern

Netherlands and in South Germany, the

secular

in the

Heem

Willem Claesz Heda

Heem

(1608-1684)

(1594-f:.

1680/2)

596-1661) achieved highly sophisticated compo-

with harmonies that were almost monochrome (///. 79), while

Abraham van Beijeren (1620/1-1675) went in for rather facile effects
of abundance, and Willem Kalf (1619-1693) for a sensual treatment
sitions

of objects.
Flemish painting in the fifteenth century had also been interested
in the expression

of enclosed space, limited by the walls of a room.

The Master of Flemalle and Rogier van der Weyden had

theme empirically, but the pursuit of

Van

conscious in the

researches at the point

Eycks.

several generations

seems to have been fully

The Dutch

where the Flemish

Italian influence deflected the

and

it

painters took

artists

had

left

Netherlands from their

of artists

now

treated this

up these

them when

own

tradition,

devoted themselves to explor-

ing the limits of the enclosed space constituted by an interior, and to

defining the relative positions of the objects that furnished

human

beings

who

genre painters, this

lived in

was

still

it.

In the first generation

only empirical. They

it

and the

of the Haarlem

still

peopled the

houses with noisy companies (Pieter Codde, Molenaer, Koedijck,

Hendrick Pot)

but

it

became conscious research

in the second

1
I

79 Still life, by Pieter Claesz,

Gemaldegalerie, Dresden. In the
seventeenth

century,

both

France and in Holland, the

life

was

a favourite genre

still

and was

given a philosophical significance.

The objects grouped together by
the painters suggest both the invisible presence
silent servants

fragility

of the

are linked.

of the

in

man whose

they are, and the

to which they

4,
-*

life

^
7

generation - that of Gerard Ter Borch (1617-1681), Gerard

Dou

(1613-1675), and Gabriel Metsu (1629-1667). In these men's

work

the space enclosed

private

life,

by

the

room

is felt

as a secret place, a

where human beings belonging

refuge of

of consider-

to a society

able refinement indulge in music or in conversation, are seen dressing, or are caught at a

moment of silence when, pensive and alone,

human condition (///. 80).

they seem to be aware of the sadness of the

One

needs to be familiar with these ^pictures to discern, beneath their

apparent placidity, the

artifices

of composition and lighting by which

these delicate artists contrive to organize that small space so as to

concentrate our interest on the

These researches

who worked,

all

human

being

who was

its

soul.

culminated in Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675),

almost unknown, in the provincial city of Delft

80
The Sick Child, by
Gabriel Metsu, Rijks-

museum, Amsterdam.

Of

all

the

so-called

Metsu
was the one with the
most painterly sensibility. Gerard Dou (who
was more successful)
'genre painters',

inclined towards a
ral

lite-

reproduction that

rendered

human beings

and objects

lifeless.

Si

View of Delft, by Vermeer, Mauritshuis, The Hague. This is one of the two landscapes
the fascination it exerts over the spectator is due to t he magic of the light,
really to be the soul of the world.

by Vermeer
which seems

(///.

as it

81),

then inhabited by a highly distinguished society. Strange

may seem

Vermeer owed
Utrecht,

from

.side; the last

in
a

view of the
great

whom

difference

deal to

the

of

their subject-matter,

Caravaggesque painters o

he took up again the use of lighting from the

pictures of

Terbrugghen were,

in their

colouring.

75). What chiefly distinmany artisans was the way in which he, like
Rembrandt, deepened the human and artistic range of his art. He

airect forerunners

of Vermeer's work

(III.

guished Vermeer from

101

died at the age of forty-three, unappreciated and, so

poverty, leaving only a small
survive), each

Abandoning
pointillistc

number of pictures

one of them evidently the

the illusionist method,

technique of his own,

result

seems, in

it

(about forty

now

of long meditation.

Vermeer formed

a kind

made up of luminous

of

pricks of

colour that give intensity and a crystalline purity to the small space

of the

picture.

With him,

as

they used were opposed, light

images the mysterious

c.

life

with Rembrandt, though the means

is

the instrument for exteriorizing in

of the

Pieter de

soul.

Hooch

(1629-

1684) tried in vain to assimilate the technique the Delft master

made

his

own. Out of what had been

light

he drew only

had

effects

of

lighting.

Thus, thanks to Rembrandt and Vermeer - one by his emotional

power, the other through the virtue of silence - Protestant Holland

gave to seventeenth-century Europe, tormented
mysteries of the soul,

its

as

it

was by the

deepest expressions of the inner

life.

THE MINOR ARTS

A Dutch house contained few pieces of furniture.

was the huge wardrobe

Through

in

The

principal

one

which the Dutch housewife kept her linen.

the seventeenth century this furniture retained the

monu-

mental squareness inherited from the Renaissance and the Middle

Ages.

But Holland excelled

in

two of the minor

and pottery. Inside those calm houses with

Dutch displayed sumptuous

Paulus van Vianen

(1

objects

555-1614)

arts

- silversmiths' work

their Classical facades the

of silver from the workshops of

(111.

82),

Adam

van Vianen (1565-

Lutma (15 85-1669), executed in a Baroque style

(derived straight from German Mannerism) which, by a curious
paradox, surpasses in extravagance everything that was made in the
rest of Europe at this period. At the same time other silversmiths
were working in a more sober manner, which became the rule at
1627), or Johannes

the end of the century.

102

82
Silver dish, by Paulus van Vianen, 1613, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Holland was die
European country which produced the best goldsmiths and silversmiths in the first half of
the seventeenth century. Strangely enough, they retained the complicated style of Mannerism and moved on towards an exuberant Baroque, just when architecture was developing
in the direction of a strict Classicism.

Dutch

art

went

far

beyond the

frontiers

of Holland, thanks to

what - though it came from various cities - is known as Delft pottery.

At first the aim had been
but

at the

to imitate the pottery

imported from China,

end of the seventeenth century Delft acquired

its

own

independent style in which the decoration, though sometimes poly-

chrome,

is

usually confined to blue. Besides dishes

and

vases, the

103

Dutch

potters

produced figurative compositions of

decorating houses

[III.

83),

tiles

used for

and orders for these were sometimes

received from abroad.

Dutch Tile picture of oriental flowers and birds, Victoria and Albert Museum,
83
London. Pottery, chiefly in the form of vases of many shapes, or of tiles assembled
into ornamental or figurative compositions,
in Holland.

Its

products were imported by

by Portugal and even by

Brazil.

grew
all

to the proportions of an industry

the countries of Northern Europe,

The Seventeenth Century

At

in

the Germanic Countries

the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth century

a brilliant

Germanic

civilization flourished in Prague, at the

of the Emperor Rudolph

II.

centres

of the international Mannerist

seemed

set to

to

develop towards

Rococo, but

this

Court

This city was then one of the important

style.

Indeed,

a direct transition

movement was

interrupted

German

art

from Mannerism

by

the disasters of

War, which from 1618 to 1648 devastated all the

was not till 1 660-1 670 that artistic activity was
resumed with any intensity, for Germany, on emerging from this
crisis, had practically to start again from nothing. These events
the Thirty Years

Germanic

lands.

It

enabled Austria to acquire political dominance and to play the

leading role in civilization, aided by the Habsburgs' almost undisputed

monopoly of the Imperial title.

The period from 1600 to the beginning of the Thirty Years War
saw the continuation of Mannerist

art.

Architecture remained faith-

ful to

Flemish Mannerist principles based on the books on ornamenta-

tion.

This passion for ornamentation worked out by purely graphic

Wendel Dietterlin of Strasbourg,

poetic themes and drew from them

methods preoccupied such artists

who

treated the orders as

luxuriant forms

of the Gothic
wood-carvers

(///.

spirit,

84)

but

as

this style
it

is

who worked on

can be interpreted

a forerunner

renewal

of the Baroque. The

the decoration of interiors and

church altar-pieces were content to base their

tions

as a

of ornament - the Zurns applied

art

on

on

these elabora-

this restless style to statues.

This art spread into the Scandinavian countries, and one of the
105

84

Design Jor a Ceremonial Doorway, by

the

German

artist Dietterlin

lished drawings that

the

Classical

These

were

orders

influenced

who pub-

fantasies

on

about 1600.
sculptors and

in

the

decorators in the Germanic countries in

the

finest

examples of this flowery Mannerism

borg Castle (1602-1620),

a

85

monumental

The Wallenstein

architects

first

is

the Chapel of Frederiks-

of goldsmiths' work on

a treasure-house

scale.

from 1625
was one of the

Palace, Prague, took

were responsible

half of the seventeenth century.

for

it

and

it

Three Milanese
Baroque buildings in Central

to 1629 to build.
first

Europe.

&a

a o o u

^-^^

rturrtifitiiii s in

The

influence of the

style

art

was brought

in

Electors of Bavaria favoured this Ultramontanism, and

without

restraint,

during the Thirty Years War, in those

which avoided the horrors of the

Habsburgs.
Italian

and

of Italian

by the

who built several churches and colleges in the Germanic lands.

Jesuits,

The

new

From

conflict

example was

later imitated

After the Thirty Years

themselves produce the

enough, so they

Baroque

and were dependent on the

artists

Carlones, in Bavaria
built the fine

War

artists

83),

Germanic countries could not

Italy.

The

first

in Austria as well as Bavaria,

from

(III.

they needed for reconstruction quickly

Italy

on Agostino

in Austria
Barelli

on

Cuvilliers built the central part of

phase of the

was

directly

the Carnevales and

and Enrico Zucalli

Church of the Theatines in Munich

86 The Church of the Theatines,

Munich, begun in 1663, and carried
out by Agostino Barelli and Enrico
Zucalli, was practically an import
from Rome into Bavaria. In the
eighteenth century the Frenchman
the facade.

the

architects

both in Prague and in Vienna.

summoned them from

(1 660-1 690),

dependent on

spread

1623 to 1629 Wallenstein had a great palace in the

manner built for him in Prague by Milanese

his

it

territories

(1663 -1690)

who

(III.

86).

87

The

Flight into Egypt,

by

Adam Elsheimer, Alte Pinakothek, Munich. Elsheimer's atmos-

pheric night effects influenced such different

The

original style

artists as

Claude Lorraine and Rembrandt.

of German Baroque began

its

rise

in the

Habsburg dominance round about 1690.

Frankfurt, a great trading city,

was the only one

which an original school of painting was

teenth century.
1638),

and

It

produced the

still-life

landscape painter,

painter,

Adam

in

Georg

Elsheimer

Elsheimer, by his taste for atmospheric night scenes

fluenced not only
Italy

108

Rembrandt but

- Claude Lorraine.

also

Germany

in

flourishing in the seven-

Flegel (1563(1

578-1610).

(///.

8y), in-

- since he spent some time in

The Seventeenth Century

As

a Catholic

country with

its

remained largely self-enclosed

faced westwards.

new

Renaissance city of
capital.

back against the Slav world (which

until Peter the Great)

rise

style

Cracow

of Baroque religious

(III 88),

it,

new

Warsaw developed

a royal palace, palaces for

churches were built there, and were adorned

with stucco and painted decoration of

and

Rome,

but also in Warsaw, the

Like St Petersburg, but long before

many

art in

not only in the ancient medieval and

into a kind of laboratory of architecture

noblemen, and

Poland naturally

was therefore aware, from the beginning of the

It

seventeenth century, of the

and practised the

Poland and Russia

in

kind fashionable in

Rome

in Central Europe. In the second half of the seventeenth century

French influence began to penetrate.

From

the beginning of the century Poland possessed painters

were well aware of Flemish,

of meeting the demand for
Poland was

Baroque

art,

Italian,

portraits

thus, in the

or

Dutch

and for

art

who

and were capable

historical painting.

seventeenth century, the outpost of

one of the points from which Western influence could

penetrate into Russia.

At

the end of the fifteenth century and during the sixteenth, Russia

opened

its

tine style
tsars
still

had

doors, albeit timidly, to

Western

influences.

remained all-powerful in religious

called

on

Italians for the

and although the

building of the Kremlin, this was

only an isolated example of Court

In the seventeenth century the

art,

The Byzan-

initiative.

knowledge of Western

reach Russia through Poland and the Ukraine;

it

art

began to

even affected
109

Interior of the Jesuit Church

88
of St Peter and St Paul, Cracow.
Built by the Italian Giovanni
Trevano between 1605 and 1609,
this church belonged to a Jesuit
college and was one of the earliest
in the Roman style in Poland.

The Orthodox Church attempted

religious art.

resistance

by trying

to

make

to

outlaw the pyramidal church - a native invention which, in the

the traditional church with five cupolas obligatory and

preceding century, had resulted in some fine buildings; but this

ban remained

inefFective,

and the pyramidal plan continued to

inspire architects, not only at Jaroslavl

and Rostov but

Western elements crept into the decoration of

Moscow was
some of the
in the
style

no

surrounded by a ring of

ancillary buildings

Baroque

style (as at

was grafted on

now

at

Moscow.

these churches.

fortified monasteries,

constructed within

and

them were

Novodevitchy and Zagorsk). The Baroque

to a pyramidal structure. In this

mixed

style

89 The Church of the Virgin

of the Sign, Dubrovitzy. This
building is characteristic of
the first wave of the Baroque
in Russia, as

it

grafted itself on

to the traditional plan of an

Orthodox church.

hundreds of churches were built round about

the seventeenth century (for example, the

(1690-1704)
boyars

who

(///.

lived in a

churches - that at

Of the
little,

for

8g)). It

Fili

was

Moscow

at the

end of

Church of Dubrovitzy

called the 'Naryshkin style' after the

European manner and who built some of the

(1693), for instance - on their estates.

secular architecture

produced

at this

period there remains

most of the palaces were of wood.

In spite of the stern decrees of the Orthodox

any change in the

Church which forbade

of the icons and which even ordered, in 1654,

the destruction of images not in conformity with the canons, this art
also

art

came under Western

influence. This process

was made

easier

in

because for a century and a half the example of Constantinople had

not been there to act

and the Frankish

as a

The 'Greek' style was dying

its inspiration from Germany

counterbalance.

(Friaz) style, taking

or from Holland, was tending to

infiltrate, as

the frescoes at Jaroslavl

and Rostov show.

On

the iconostases ornamental elements began to develop at the

expense of icons. This opened the

cular to the solomonic

which thus found

its

way

column with

way

all

The iconostasis in the Cathedral

column and other Baroque motifs.

its

Baroque motifs,
Eucharistic

in parti-

symbolism -

over the Catholic and Orthodox

Christian world, being rejected only

90

to

by

at Polotsk,

the Calvinists

(///.

go)

showing the use of the solomonic

Seventeenth-Century France
France was in the seventeenth century the most powerful country in

Europe, having the largest population and being firmly centralized

about the king.

It

took over the

which had dominated Europe

sixteenth century,

In the

France had been the country that

succeeded best in assimilating the

but towards 1600,

when

of the

spirit

Italian Renaissance

the wars of religion had exhausted

powers and dried up the creative

crisis.

preponderance from Spain,

political

in the preceding century.

Though Henri IV gave

spirit,

French

art

underwent

its

a grave

impetus to building, the French

a fresh

School of Painting remained very poor until about 1640. The best

French
left

such

artists,

as

Moise Valentin, Poussin, and Claude Lorraine,

France and enriched the

depriving their

would have

own

School with their work,

supplied.

During the reign of Louis

arise

Roman

country of the creative impulse their presence

and under Louis

XIII,

however,

Court

art

began to

XIV the principal forms of French art became

concentrated about the Court, which the King removed to Versailles,

mobilizing the finest talents to his service.

of Versailles, begun in 1661, was carried

years.

By

the end of the century the chateau, with

decorations, stood out clearly as the

inspired

by

its

gardens and

supreme expression of

monarchy, and during the eighteenth century

princes of

Europe

art spread

everywhere.

To

The building and adorning

on actively for some thirty

tried to imitate

it,

so that the influence

all

artistic

the

of French

obtain this result Colbert, the leading Minister of Louis

organized the

its

art

XIV,

production of the country, systematically

113

creating or encouraging various institutions designed to develop the

arts

and

The Academic movement

culture.

and

tended, in France, to

govern

taste

decisive

encouragement to the Academie de Peinture

intellectual progress. In 1661

which was founded

Academie
advising

The

in 1648.

and

des Inscriptions,

Petite

set

up

on iconographic problems,

Colbert gave the

et

Academie,

in 1663,

inscriptions,

de Sculpture,

known

as the

was charged with

and on the design

of coinage; the Academie des Sciences was founded in 1666; the

Academie

became

d' Architecture,

a nursery

though not created

of builders; and

it

officially until 1671,

was followed,

in 1672,

Academie de Musique, de Declamation, and de Danse.

Academie de France,

set

up

in 1666,

In

by the

Rome

the

began to receive the best students

of paintings, sculpture, and architecture that they might learn from

the finest examples of the art of antiquity - which, in France even

more than in Italy, was considered the

given

Academie de Peinture

at the

unrivalled model.
et

The lectures

de Sculpture, which were

followed by discussions and controversies, ended in the working-out

of a kind of official doctrine, based on the principles of the beau

but modified by the theories of expression which were then

ideal

much

to the fore in France.

Colbert did

all

he could to ensure the

rise

of the

industrial arts.

He encouraged the manufacture of textiles in several cities, especially

He lured craftsmen from Venice, in order to import into

Lyons.

France the technique of making mirrors - one of the

first

large-scale

applications of this being the Galerie des Glaces at Versailles

He regrouped

the various Parisian tapestry

which

des Gobelins,

direction of Charles

the

King on

various arts and

g8).

Hotel

was made the royal factory under the

Le Brun (who was appointed

and

its

crafts,

First Painter to

mission was also to encourage initiative in

and

to be a school

silversmiths,

stone-cutters, cabinet-makers,

114

(///.

at the

July 1662). But the royal factory was not concerned

with tapestry only;

goldsmiths

in 1662

workshops

casters,

and

dyers.

of

art for the training

engravers,

The

of

carpet-makers,

administrative control

of the

arts

was assumed by Colbert himself,

of Buildings. The
Painter,

artistic

who worked

direction

Superintendent

Le Brun,

to Charles

First

all projects.

formed part of

Colbert's artistic initiative

which was

fell

out or approved

who was

to render France independent

general policy,

his

of other countries through

the possession of the industries and crafts capable of supplying those

manufactured products which

procure from abroad.

it

The results

had, until then, been necessary to

surpassed

all

hopes

artistic

XIV

received a decisive impetus, and the France of Louis

new

style

Down

of ornamentation, which

to the

it

could

now

creation

created a

export to Europe.

end of the eighteenth century France held the lead

in the production

of furniture and

The

tapestries.

other nations

were, indeed, not slow to imitate France by creating academies

and

officially

sponsored factories to stimulate their

own

artistic

production.

ARCHITECTURE
Building in France,
at the

as

we

have

said above, after

being slowed

end of the sixteenth century by the wars of

religion,

down
began

again very actively under Henri IV. In religious building the style

of the Counter-Reformation was brought in by the

spite

of this, France did not altogether renounce

its

Jesuits

own

but in

traditions,

and the complete 'Romanization of religious architecture

to take place until the reign
Italy, it

was

secular building,

time of Henri IV.

of Louis
not

He resumed

XIII.

religious, that

Paris

also

failed

in France, unlike

dominated

at the

building operations at the royal

chateaux and palaces, and the use of brick

The King

But

made possible rapid results.

undertook programmes of town planning, endowing

with two important squares - the Place des Vosges and the

Place Dauphine.

The ornamentation of

these buildings,

when not

confined to simple bands of stone blocks across walls of brick, was

very heavy, and

its

proportions and vocabulary

made

it

a continua-

tion of the last phase of French sixteenth-century architecture,

which
115

was Mannerist
Jesuits at

(the Hotel

La Flcche)

(77/.

de Ville
gi). In

at

La Rochelle

the College des

about 1625-1630 the overloading

of the exteriors with carved ornamentation, and the rich decoration

of the

interiors

suggest that this

France would
Italy.

Mannerism would develop

move

definitely

towards the

In about 163 5-1640 there

France began to

was

with painted and gilded panelling, were such

work out

to be pursued there

was

into Baroque,
style

then prevailing in

of tendency, and

who

Jacques Le Mercier (1580/5-1654),

the Val de Grace, had already purified the

ing age and used the orders correctly

(1

91

598-1666)

The Chapel of

continued the

work on

g2)

and of

it

was Francois Mansart

defined the true French Classical style in the

the Jesuit College, La Flcche, built

still

(77/.

Mannerism of the preced-

but

by Le Pere Martellange in the

its single nave and

years of the seventeenth century, interprets the plan of the Gesii, with
chapels, in a spirit

which

the end of the eighteenth century.

the Louvre and built the Chapels of the Sorbonne

who

that

a reversal

the principles of the Classical style

till

as to

and

reminiscent of the Renaissance

style.

first

side

92 Compared with the previous illustration, the Chapel

of the Old Sorbonne, Paris,

begun in 1629 and built by

Le Mercier for Cardinal
Richelieu, shows the progress
of Romanization in French
architecture.

Orleans wing of the Chateau of Blois (1635). Here the stone facade
has three

tiers

of orders, whose proportions combine harmoniously

a lafran^aise, and the slender chimneys - decora-

with the high roofs

tive features that

sance.

had been

Mansart perfected

traditional in France since the Renais-

this

type in the Chateau of Maisons-Laffitte

(1642-1650), where he exercised his Classical taste in the interior

substituting an extremely sober

the usual panelling framed in gold.

was the open one, with

all

the wings gave

(III.

93).

house

on

several

a theatrical

at the

as the 'hotel entre

origin -

garden' occupied

by

The type of chateau he adopted

wings and no inner courtyard, so that

to the gardens or

There arose in Paris

known

it

by

scheme of decoration in stone for

on

to the entrance courtyard

same period

cour

type of nobleman's

et jardin' (a

phrase which had

came from the position 'between court and

Opera built by Mazarin in the Tuileries).

the

117

The Chateau of Maisons-Lamtte was built by Francois Mansart in a noble style, and with
93
the decorations of its interior entirely in stone, this chateau is one of the earliest examples of
French Classicism.

doorway

from

the

while gardens extend on the other side of the building.

Even before Louis XIV took over the reins of government at

the

large

leads to a courtyard separating the front

street,

death of his Minister, Cardinal Mazarin, and began to give art the
royal impetus

French

art

it

had lacked during the

had been distinguished

first

by one

half of the century,

enterprise

worthy of

king, the Chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte (1656-1661). This was built

with extreme speed by the ambitious Superintendent of Finances,

Nicolas Fouquet (who
in 1661).

about a

The

dome which

(161 3-1670)

fell

into disgrace

and was imprisoned for

life

building, consisting of several pavilions assembled

(///.

p^),

roofs a large oval chamber,

is

by Le Vau

and Charles Le Brun was responsible for the

decoration of the interior with paintings and stucco-work. In front

of the chateau the landscape

created the

first

architect

of those huge

vistas

Andre Le Nostre (1613-1700)

their wide surfaces

of his, with

of water and green framed by groves of trees, which give the inhabitant

of the chateau

seemingly limitless view, an imposing avenue

that continues the architecture into the midst

118

of nature.

Le Vau was

at that

time the leading figure in French architecture.

His rather overloaded style seems evidence of a hesitation between

The need to create buildings with

would match the power of

the Classical and the Baroque.

an impressively monumental
a

quality that

monarchy, which in the person of Louis

impose

its

Baroque.

will

The

on

the arts,

crisis

which French

going came into the

XIV was

might well have produced

architecture

competition open to

was then under-

Italians,

his architects,

to France to put an

Unsatisfied

he threw the

and the prestige of Bernini (then

height of his career) was such that in 1665 Louis

end to the

crisis.

decision this crisis ended in an unexpected

at the

XIV summoned

But by another royal

way

The Oval Room in the Chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte

by Charles Le Brun, who executed the paintings

designs

much

birth of

open with the competition ordered by

with the plans produced for him by

94

new

XIV for plans for the eastern facade of the Louvre.

Louis

him

beginning to

Bernini's plans did

scheme based on
form is one that was

has a decorative
himself.

Its

imitated in the eighteenth century, chiefly in the Germanic countries.

'

*'

Rip

Si

***

S&BljLjijl

95

Bernini's

Whinney

first

project drawing for the East Front of the Louvre, 1664.

Dr M. D.

Collection, London.

96 The Colonnade. and East Front of the Louvre. When the noble Classicism of the existing
colonnade is compared with the Baroque style of Bernini's design, it is easy to understand
how the latter failed to please Louis XIV. Nevertheless he showered Bernini with honours
and commissioned his portrait bust from him.

Si
-14"

5e*EH

bJ'

..^^^M^^^HH^Mb

/A

m^

1_ MMflBl

yj
iJtHtiftimtti
Illil

''iJ'ili

li

Will

ntiJ* wi'i
ryf^W

STi

-i.

,1.
\.

97 An aerial view of the Chateau of Versailles shows how the royal palace is the point of
convergence of the three broad avenues about which the town and the perspective of the
park were arranged.

not please

(///.

95),

and

consisting of Le Brun,

finally a

design for the 'colonnade

scale

commission

du Louvre',

that

examples of French architecture

dominate the development of

century.

An

pairs stands

set

up by the King and

Le Vau, and Claude Perrault worked out the

style

most

(III.

till

Classical

of the large-

96). This design was to

the end of the eighteenth

order of colossal free-standing Corinthian columns in

high upon

a plain stylobate

and

is

completed by

balustraded terrace in the Italian manner.

When

the

to Versailles,

Vicomte -

to

King removed

his

Court and government from

Paris

it was to the team that had worked at Vaux-leLe Vau, Le Brun, and Le Nostre - that he entrusted

121

m^

98 The Galerie des Glaces, Versailles, was conceived by Mansart and decorated by Le
Brun. The novel use of mirrors for the decoration of the walls facing the windows was to
have an enormous influence in the Germanic countries during the eighteenth century.

99 A general view of the gardens at Versailles shows the manner by which Le Nostre
draws the eye of the observer to the distant horizon in a leisurely progress in which the
natural and artificial elements of trees, statues, grass, and water are skilfully composed.

which he desired

to be the most imposing

of the chateau - which was
with enlargements and changes - was not in

the realization of a palace

in

Europe

(III.

gj).

The

built in several stages,

itself

very

architecture

distinctive. Fortunately Jules

Hardouin Mansart (1646-

The
more clearly in the Grand
Trianon (///. 100) or the Trianon de Marbre (1687), a smaller pleasure
chateau built at some distance from the large one, and in the Dome
1708) was brought in to correct Le Vau's bad proportions.

purity of his Classicism comes out

of the Invalides (1679) in which he harmoniously modifies the horizontal effect of the orders by a use of the traditional vertical emphasis.
In the decoration of the interior at Versailles -

ments and the Galerie des Glaces

(III.

The Grands Apparte-

g8) - Jules

Hardouin Mansart

and Le Brun departed from the panelling with gold edges that had
been the rule under Louis XIII, in favour of an Italian-style decoration
in

marble of many colours,

decoration

is

gilt

bronze, and paintings; but this rich

ordered in a Classical

way -

that

is

to say, subjected to

the units of the architecture. For the exterior La Nostre designed a

prospect of over

two

miles

which

leads the eye right to the horizon.

Within the gardens he arranged

trees,

a whole system of green spaces,

and water - both fountains and mirrors of sleeping water -

with many forms of architecture

ings of rocaille (the Ballroom)

(III.

gg).

The gardens

and of marble

(the

contain build-

Colonnade) and

groups of sculpture, both ancient and new, creating an atmosphere

of myth; and the whole became

Roi

Soleil, a

fireworks, and other

amusements

French Classicism was

now

visual arts, to the dignity

the praises of la

Roman

a place dedicated to the glory

magnificent setting for the

tournaments,

of an

of the

ballets,

that took place there.

raised, in literature as

belle simplicite, in

architecture,

fetes,

institution. Critics

well

as in the

and poets sang

contrast to the unbridled licence

which was 'more barbarous and

less

of

pleasing

than the Gothic'.

from 1690
were dominated by

In the second half of the reign,

the

124

monumental

arts

to 171 5, architecture

the personality

and

of Jules

Hardouin Mansart, whose work was continued by his nephew,

Robert de Cotte (1656-173 5). Other chateaux - Marly, Saint-Cloud
- were built in the neighbourhood of

France became

Versailles.

dotted with chateaux, and in Paris, which was not abandoned

many grand
moved from

nobility,

houses were

he had

the capital, desert

built.

Nor
it;

by

the

did the King, though

he added to

it

several

of buildings, finishing the square courtyard of the

large-scale groups

Louvre, building the Hotel des Invalides for

men wounded

in his

wars, and laying out Squares - the Place Vendome, the Place des
Victoires - in
Classical

which

all

the facades

had

to

scheme. These Squares, centred on

conform

to

an overall

of the King on

a statue

horseback or standing, became the models for the place

royale,

which examples appeared throughout Northern Europe

eighteenth century.

Beyond

the Tuileries Gardens

of

in the

Le Nostre made

one of those vast prospects leading the eye to the horizon, the taste
for which he established firmly during this period - this was, of

Avenue

course, the

des Champs-Elysees, the great triumphal

way

into Paris.

Towards

the end of the reign French Classicism

was tending

towards a more chastened elegance, of which the Royal Chapel

(1699-1710), designed

Versailles

at

by Mansart and completed by

Robert de Cotte, gives the just measure.

SCULPTURE
The

continuity of the Classical tradition in seventeenth-century

France

is

perhaps most striking in

been created

at the

time of Henri

II,

its

sculpture. This tradition

in the full flush

by Jean Goujon, who had ornamented

Louvre, and it was not repudiated.
period,

Not

the Palace of the

that the sculptors turned a blind eye to Italy

went there
became

had

of the Mannerist

some of them

to study, others lived there for such long periods that they

part of the artistic

de Francheville,

who

life

of some

Italian centre

as

did Pierre

worked for a long time in Florence and

125

ioo In the chateau of Versailles itself, Mansart's art was

Le Vau but he displayed his pure elegant Classicism to the
is built of pale limestone and rose-pink marble.
;

restricted
full in the

by the earlier work of

Grand Trianon, which

continued the style of Giovanni da Bologna. But they resisted the

example of Bernini's
influence in his

work was

time of Louis XIV.

since

style.

He

The only one of them

Pierre Puget (1622-1694)

its

101) in the

one of those exceptions that prove a rule,

he came from Provence - a province where, even in archi-

he had worked

at

kind of

realistic

XIV,

this Classical

honesty, which

monumental tombs - requiring

- produced by
1658),

models were followed. Moreover,

Genoa. During the reign of Louis XIII and the

part of that of Louis

Gilles

as

first

tendency was nourished by

came out

clearly in the

many

they did an element of portraiture

Guerin (1606-1678), Simon Guillain (1581-

and Francois Anguier (1604-1669), whose younger brother

Michel Anguier (born in 1612) continued

126

(///.

show

is

tecture, Italian rather than Parisian

to

this

tendency

till

his

death

in 1686.

Both

in his sculptured

tombs and

in his

ornamentation of

buildings, Jacques Sarrazin (1588-1660) practised the Classical style

with an ease that made him the direct forerunner of the

art

of

Girardon.

Under Louis XIV

buildings, the

the ornamentation of Versailles and other royal

many orders for magnificent tombs and the decoration

of the

new

work

for sculptors. Charles

tiring

buildings in the city, involved an

enormous amount of

Le Brun took control of

this

un-

imagination produced innumerable designs and plans for

them, and these gave to

a great

number of

respectable professions

the support of inspiration and the feeling for composition

grand

his

scale.

The outstanding

Girardon (1628-1715),

sculptor

who was

of

Versailles

responsible for

on

the

was Francois

many

statues

and

groups of statuary in the gardens, in particular for the Apollo and

101 Milo
by
of Crotona,
Pierre Puget, Louvre, Paris,

formerly adorned the gardens

of Versailles. Its subject is the
legend of Milo, the ageing
athlete

who, with

his

hand

caught in a tree, was eaten by

a lion - a symbol of the agony

of

helpless

suited to the

Puget.

strength,

Baroque

well

style

of

the

Nymphs

(1668)

(77/.

102).

His Classicism was so pure that

seems to hark back to Pheidias, and the resemblance

fortuitous one.

The French

by

his time,

begun

is

not a purely

to feel that the

Rome - so much so
1696 a Director of the Acadcmie de France in Rome suggested

true source of Classicism

that in

had,

it

was

in Greece, not in

the creation of a school in Athens, to enable architects to study there.

In his statue for the Place

Vendome, which he

finished in 1699,

Girardon created the prototype for the royal equestrian statue whose

costume and attitude revived those of the typical

emperors

(77/.

103).

imagination than Girardon (who

designs)

statues

of Roman

Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720) had more

owed

a great deal to

Le Brun's

the serenity of the attitudes and the calm of the facial

by Francois Girardon: in the Bosquet d'Apollon, Gardens of

carved in 1668, is one of the purest expressions of French Classicism. At the end
of the eighteenth century Hubert Robert painted a romantic study of it. It was at first conceived as an adornment for a grotto of shells.
102

Apollo and the Nymphs,

Versailles,

version of the
of Louis XIV for the Place des
Conquetes (Place Vendome), by
Francois Girardon, Louvre, Paris.
Mansart and Girardon were together
Small-scale

103

statue

responsible for the Place

Vendome,

of the genre 'place

royale\ soon to be imitated throughout Europe. Girardon's statue, which

that masterpiece

was

finished

among

in

others,

Grand Elector

inspired,

1699,

the

statue

in Berlin

of the

by Andreas

Schlatter.

expressions (including those of the figures

that

he belonged to the

which

are perhaps his

Berninism. Whether
or an

artist

whose

history, the sitter

of the head, of

Classical

this

tombs) showed

his

in his portrait busts,

most inspired work, there appeared

it

was

a note

of

a king, a general, a financier, a minister,

were being handed down

features

was always shown

in action, with

glorified to

some movement

of wig designed to bring out the noble

clothes, or

and inspired quality of his

of

on

movement, yet

spirit

(///.

104).

Bernini was the inventor

type of portrait glorieux, and unquestionably his bust of

Louis XIV, commissioned

by

the

King

in 1665,

had

a decisive

influence over this kind of work in France.

There was

a magnificent

development of sculpture in bronze

under Louis XIV. The gardens

at Versailles

required a large

number
129

104 Bust of the Grande Conde, by

Coysevox, Louvre, Paris. In conformity
with the theories of expression expounded by Le Brun, Coysevox shows
the hero in the fire of action and the full
inspiration of his genius - a Baroque
conception, of which Bernini had set
the example in Paris with the bust commissioned from him by Louis XIV.

of sculptures in metal. The Keller family executed

superb

more

A type of sculpture in lead,

finish.

was

quickly,

PAINTING
The accepted

also created for the

which could be produced

ornamentation of gardens.

starting-point of the French School

Paris, in 1627,

with

casts

is

the return to

of Simon Vouet, summoned back by the King

after

Rome. The efforts of HenriJV to reconFrance had met with success in architecture

a fifteen years' residence in

stitute a

school of art in

only, and the country

when she wished

to

was

so

poor in painters

have the story of her

life

of the Luxembourg, had been obliged to

Simon Vouet
Caravaggesque

(1 590-1649),

style;

when

but in Paris

that

Marie de Medicis,

celebrated in her Palace

call in

Rubens

(///.

49).

Rome, had followed the

he changed his manner for a
in

decorative one, using light and gay colours - a moderated Baroque

(///.

105).

He

did not, however, succeed in creating a Court

art.

The

consciousness of this failure led Richelieu and the Superintendent of

130

Buildings, Sublet des Noyers, to lure back to France Poussin,

had become famous in Rome. The Superintendent had

gramme

for the organization

of the

Colbert later carried out. Poussin,

1640, found himself

from

his

own

arts

who came

overwhelmed with

by Richelieu and Sublet

des

to Paris unwillingly in

tasks that

left in

which

similar to that

took him away

researches in painting. Since these researches

only thing that mattered to him, he

1642,

and the

Noyers thus remained

were the

effort

Raphael and Correggio

St

105

Bruno

(///.

Wealth,

106) differs

by Simon

Vouet, Louvre, Paris. The

fleshly opulence and joyful colouring of Simon
Vouet made him, to some
extent, a French Rubens.

On his

from Rome
became Court

return

in 1627 he

Painter to Louis XIII and

was the founder of that

tradition
of decorative
painting which Le Brun
developed.

made

fruitless.

Eustache Le Sueur (16 17-165 5), though he never went to

also painted in a bright style,

who

whole pro-

Italy,

with an elegant Classicism inspired by

but his

series

from the

of paintings on the

Italian renderings

of the

life

of

lives

of

saints

and

is

typical

of the sober way

in

which the French approached

the depiction of holiness.

At

the end of the reign of Louis XIII and at the beginning of that

of Louis XIV, Philippe dc Champaigne (1631-1681) brought into

portrait painting his search for naturalness

and

to his subjects a gravity

of

this

period invested

elevation

the three Le
1648),

no work

in this respect

work a

bourgeois, or

and

with

quiet gravity

satirical,

108).

(///.

human

subjects

But indeed

artists at that

dignity

(///.

spiritual

that

of

Louis (1593-

- to other painters

or violent scenes - possess in

all

the

time, whether

of poor people, are touched with

feeling for

mood of

(15 8 8-1 648),

and Mathieu (i6oj>-i6yj). Peasant

painted by the French

The French painters

loy).

more remarkable than

is

Nain brothers - Antoine

the pretext for picturesque,

their

(///.

their figures

all

simplicity, giving

which some have thought

austerity in

they detected the influence ofJansenism

and

human figures
of

princes,

of

a certain naturalness

log).

The Baroque only laid its hand peripherally in the French proAt Nancy it inspired the draughtsman and engraver Jacques

vinces.

Callot (1592-163 5),

who had

studied in Florence. Also in Lorraine,

Georges de La Tour (i590?-i652),

took from the Caravaggists

it

took place in

a vault

his

who must

have been in

manner of lighting

a scene as

Italy,

though

and his way of choosing models from the poor

Even in the seventeenth century - that cen-

to play religious roles.

tury obsessed with the soul - his compositions, limited to one or a

few

figures,

are

among

those

which show the most profound

At Dijon Jean Tassel (1608 '-1667)

continued Mannerism. Sebastien Bourdon (1616-1671), who came
insight into the inner

life (///. 110).

from Languedoc, was a virtuoso who imitated various painters, always

with

very fine technique. At Toulouse Robert Tournier

practised a

sombre

style

Vignon

In Paris Claude

(1

590-1667)

of painting derived from the Caravaggists.

(1

593-1670),

who had

been in Rome,

painted as the provincial painters did, in chiaroscuro, at a time

the Parisian School

had gone over

when

to painting in light colours.

The Death of St Bruno, by Eustache Le Sueur, Louvre, Paris. This is the best
out of a cycle of twenty-two paintings which decorated the cloister of the
Carthusians in Paris its noble and Classical representation of death had a considerable
influence on French painting and even outside France.
106

known

'

107 Ex \ oto, 1662, by Philippe de Champaigne, Louvre, Paris. To commemorate a miraculous cure with which his daughter, one of the nuns of Port Royal, was favoured, Philippe
de Champaigne depicted her in prayer side by side with La Mere Agnes Arnauld, the

Mother Superior of Port Royal.

But

it

was

in

Rome, not

in Paris, that the French spirit attained

its

most profound expression in seventeenth-century painting. While

Moise Valentin

(1

594-1632) enlisted under the flag of Caravaggio

(whom he understood better than did many of the Romans),

Poussin

and Claude Lorraine, having learned what they could from

art (including that

of

their contemporaries), parted

the conception of art prevalent in

worked out

the

Rome

at the

Italian

company with

time of Bernini, and

most accomplished forms of Classicism -

to

some

extent a continuation of the Renaissance conception.

Nicolas Poussin

(1

594-1665) was able to

source that was right for him. In

134

Rome

distil

honey from every

he was careful not to

disregard

Domenichino nor

Carracci but above

;

from painting (The Aldobrandini

Raphael, from the Venetians,

Wedding), and

from the

seventeenth century
detested) as the art

is

of Annibale

to neglect the landscapes

he assimilated every form of Classicism, from

all

sculpture of antiquity.

so far

Nothing

in the

whole

removed from Caravaggio (whom he

of Poussin. Even the

Caravaggesque approach, such

as

artists

most opposed

Guido Reni, owed

to

to the

Caravaggio

the technique of slanting the light so as to stress the modelling very

strongly

108

but Poussin's light

is

distributed evenly as in the paintings

The Guard, by Le Nain, Private Collection, Paris. This picture, bearing the date 1643
(sic), is attributed to Mathieu, the youngest of the three Le Nain

beside the signature Lenain

of the Renaissance, so

as to define a

form

integrally

genesis. Poussin set out, in fact, to achieve the

the fifteenth century,

revive the

on

tion

had proposed

to the artists

first

coldness

by

for himself

which the French

of

his

Roman

time - to

history

yet

reliefs,

the generosity of his handling,

and which
It

removed
which he

and medium-

to have a natural inclination,

they were to the use of transparent painting

as

life

was the kind of handling towards

seemed

artists

consists in thick

were

working

part of his

Roman

his pictures as friezes, like

all

drawn

stories

During the

thick colours felicitously mixed.

little

of

Ovid's Metamorphoses and the great

worked out

of

a light

Alberti, in

and mythological bases of the ancient world.

the food of his inspiration.

from them

it is

aim which

of antiquity and he succeeded through deep medita-

life

the historical

he composed

it

was the handling adopted by the Le Nain brothers. To give vibrant

commonly

to his colour, Poussin

life

Roman

used reddish undercoats in the

manner, while the Parisian School (Simon Vouet, Le Sueur,

Philippe de Champaigne)

went

in for light undercoatings.

nately the surface layer of colour has thinned, allowing

red basis to be seen than the

paintings have darkened.

of twenty-nine, he had not

his

own

which

style.

is

artist

wished, so that

When he reached Rome in

(as

his

formed

For about ten years he painted in a sensuous manner,

which he took up from

Camerini d'Oro
is

many of

1624, at the age

has sometimes been asserted)

particularly apparent in the Bacchanals

The theme

Unfortu-

more of the

Bellini

at Ferrara

and

were

Titian,

at that

whose

(III.

111), a genre

paintings for the

time to be seen in Rome.

one that enabled painters to express the freedom of the

instincts in the

innocence of the Golden Age. His Parnassus (Prado)

Triumph of Flora (Dresden) render the same feeling in a more

intellectual manner which he learned from Raphael. Besides these

and

his

sources, Poussin's painting in this early phase

from

the

Liberata,

modern romances,
which exerted

from Tasso's Gerusalemme

a strong fascination at that time. Poussin

seems usually to have chosen

136

especially

drew nourishment

his

own

subjects;

he was one of the

U3

Landscape with Polyphemus,

by Poussin, Hermitage, Leningrad. Painted

in 1649, this

marks the beginning of Poussin's final period, that in which the poetry rises to an
all-embracing feeling for the world - still, however, interpreted through a mythological
picture

guise.

Though
thought,

Poussin lived at

by

Rome he was

famous in France, and was

the beginning of the reign of Louis

French painter. While Claude Lorraine was

Roman aristocracy,
- chiefly to the

pondence with
large

Poussin's

work was

noblesse de robe

XIV, the

much admired by

selling at

de Sculpture, where

paintings,

the

high prices in Paris

- and he was in continuous corres-

several Parisian art patrons. Louis

number of his

greatest

and

at the

his Biblical pictures

XIV

acquired a

Academie de Peinture

were

et

particularly admired,

work was the subject of pedantic dissertations and erudite discussions. The result of this was a kind of official aesthetic, Poussinism,

his

which passed through

several stages

teenth century, helping not a

little

and continued into the nine-

to steer the French School in the

141

direction of Academicism. For a long time Poussinism obscured

Poussin himself, and prevented

of works which

sensibility

typical expression
It

it

many

to represent as the

of intellectualism.

remains true that Poussin's art - though highly sensitive in the

quality of

its

execution

- was the

pictures)

result

(in

all

but a few excessively contrived

of conscious thought in

That of Claude Lorraine was quite

wit,

people from realizing the

had become usual

Claude was intuition and

different.

instinct.

its

working-out.

Poussin was intellect or

From

the

start,

even more

than for Poussin, nature was for Claude the essential source of his

which was that of a landscape painter. The backgrounds of the

two men were very dissimilar. Claude Gellee left Lorraine and went

art,

to

Rome

at

an early age, and there

at first

he vegetated in various

humble employments. He went back to Lorraine

returned to

on

Rome

for good.

He

in 1625,

and

in 1627

then modelled himself not so

much

on that of certain Nordic artists who were

Rome, an original style of landscape painting from

Italian painting as

working

out, in

which the

Classical conception

painter Paul Bril,

German

who

of landscape sprang - the Flemish

gave him the

Elsheimer, from

art

of composition, and the

whom he seems to have learned the feeling

114 The Tiber above Rome, wash drawing by Claude Lorraine, British Museum,
London. Although he painted in the open air, the only studies from nature by
Claude Lorraine that have survived are his innumerable drawings, most of them
in pen and wash. They are incomparable evocations of the Italian light.

brothers,

had been steering

Rome Poussin and

it

towards

a realistic integrity,

Claude were creating each

but now, mobilized for the glory of the prince, painting

approached what the

art

had been

of the early seventeenth century.

to Charles

of giving

Le Brun French

life

art

figures

Roman painters

aims were decorative, and thanks

to the figures in large-scale compositions,

on

which

a restricted surface

Hotel Lambert in

Paris,

on

that

its series

Le Brun
in

of the Great

Room

in the

Chateau

at Versailles

of huge pictures of the story of Alexander) Charles

rivalled the Italian decorative artists.

Rome, between 1642 and

art

than

but now, on the ceiling of the

of Vaux-le-Vicomte, and in that of the Galerie des Glaces

(with

had

it

had been particularly marked in

who had never been capable of painting more

the case of Vouet,

few

poetry

at Versailles

achieved the mastery of the technique

hitherto lacked. This shortcoming

of the

in the hands

Its

while in

his individual

1646, he

During

had managed

his residence

to assimilate that

of composition which the Carracci had mastered - notably in the

Galleria Farnese

of the Palazzo Farnese, which Le Brun studied

assiduously.

In Paris he did not

this

to study Rubens's Medici Gallery,

fail

was then looked upon

as

whose

the official doctrine,

established ideal

though

by pundits of
was Raphael. At the

an example of bad

taste

same time, the theory of expression, which Le Brun elaborated

the

Academie

made him

in his lectures illustrated

a real

Baroque

extent contradicted

by the

artist,

had not

at

by drawings, would have

this doctrine been to some

influence of Poussin. This influence

comes

out in his easel pictures on religious subjects, where the small surface
enabled

of his

him

to bring out the quality

light colouring,

the Parisian School

of his handling and the gaiety

which he took up again from the

(III.

116).

These were the best of

tradition

of

his pictures,

along with the portraits, in which he achieves an objective sincerity

- for instance, in

his Jabach

Chancellor Seguier (Louvre).

successor Louvois,

who

Family (Berlin,

On 6

now

destroyed) and his

September 1683 Colbert died;

his

hated everything to do with him, deprived

145

n6

by Charles Le Brun, Louvre, Paris. This picture shows howcomposition, at mingling the world beyond with earthly life and at
controlling the fantastic effects of the light produced by a screened fire.
Adoration oj the Shepherds,

clever

Le Erun was

at

Le Brun of
1695).

his prerogatives

and favoured Pierre Mignard (1612-

Mignard was no more than

poor in imagination,

as his

a rather

painting of the

boring craftsman, very-

Dome of the Val-de-Grace

proves but he had a great success because of the amiable and conven;

tional character

Le Brun

he gave to

started a

including families
tions,

such

as the

his portraits

of

women

whole school of decorative

who handed on

their

and children.

painters in France,

methods of several genera-

Coypels and the Boulognes.

To illustrate the King's

campaigns, Le Brun called in a talented Flemish painter, van der

Meulen,

who showed great sensibility in his watercolour landscapes.

who were no more than good artisans, were also

Lesser painters,

146

XIV, by Hyacinthe Rigaud, Louvre, Paris. Louis XIV had such an admiration
which he is shown invested with the attributes of royalty,
that he kept it although he had intended to present it to Philip V of Spain. Rigaud, as was his

H7

Louis

for this portrait of himself, in

usual practice in portrait painting, has turned his sitter into a type

old king has an intense quality of truth.

and yet the

face of the

needed to take part

in the depiction

of the King's pastimes. At the

end of the reign the outstanding painter was Hyacinthe Rigaud

(1659-1740). Although his activity continued well into the next
century, the ethical quality of his figures and the aesthetic quality of
his style are part

of the

spirit

of the Louis

Guided by Le Brun, Rigaud created

done

in sculpture, the portrait

XIV

attitude, expressiveness

gesture, and movement of the draperies - in

was

less

his

to depict an individual

and

started the

able importance in

the passion of

The aim

a character, as Philippe

de

Court

who might be the King, a

who was always of the Court.

sitter,

minister, a financier, or a soldier, but

portrait

by

of the

in the preceding period, than to affirm the

rank and 'condition' of the

Rigaud thus

short,

generous temperament to be capable.

Champaigne had done

social

Coysevox had

of the 'man of quality', whose value

he conveyed by the nobility of the

which he showed

period.

in painting, as

portrait,

which was to have a consider-

Europe during the next century. In 1701,

in his

of Louis XIV, he created the image of royal majesty, vested

in all his attributes (III 117).

THE MINOR ARTS

In the reign of Louis XIII the industrial

arts, especially

the

making

of furniture and tapestry, still followed the principles of the sixteenth

century - as indeed was the case in Europe as a whole. Yet already
the

new

vigour, which the applied arts were soon to display under

Louis XIV, was to be found in the vitality of that essentially French

art, tapestry.

This was produced in various privately

owned work-

shops in Paris and the best compositions of Simon Vouet were those
;

of the cartoons he made for the tapestry-workers.

Colbert's concentration of tapestry-making at the

Hotel des

Gobelins in 1662, under the direction of Charles Le Brun, gave the

art

an added impulse which soon brought

from

all

on cartoons by
148

many

orders for tapestry

over Europe. The tapestries were based, for the most part,
the First Painter,

whose

indefatigable invention

met

133

1
ll

*?#

Hi
If

M
k

is

AifcH

*-*

^B^^I^^!^^^^^^.rrr^^m^ .^i^t '^jslstjsl

s.
Is

a~sr

118

*>

jo

an una

a a a-a'-s-a-u

The most famous series of tapestries for which Charles Le Brun supplied cartoons is
The episode of Louis XIV Visiting the Gobelins Factory recalls the impetus

the Histoire du Roi.

given by the King to the

all

the

a -a-a

demands with

monarchy

(///.

arts

ease.

118)

through

his patronage.

Some of them

helped to form the image of

- for instance, the

series

known

as

V Histoire

du Roi and as Maisons Royales, also the Histoire d' Alexandre (which

was an

allusion to the glory

of Louis XIV)

but the one in most

demand in Europe had an exotic subject, The Indies, and the cartoons
for it, made at the Gobelins in 1687, were based on pictures brought
back from Brazil by the Dutchmen Franz Post and Van Eckhout,
which were sent to the King by Prince John Maurice of Nassau. At
the end of the reign Berain and Claude Audran I invented a new
style, less illustrative and more strictly decorative, borrowed from the
grotteschi - a type of theme which, started by the Italian Renaissance,
149

or

U9 Jean Berain was

one of the pioneers of
new

the

fused
into

style.

He

new

vigour

poetic

the

in-

and

decorative Renaissance

theme of

now
also

took on fresh

life (III. 119).

The Manufacture de

thegrotteschi.

Savonnerie

la

produced rich carpets whose design was divided up

like that

of

a ceiling.

At

the end of the seventeenth century the pottery

abandoned the designs

on the

in imitation

Italian Renaissance, to

The Rouen

potteries

lambrequin

(III.

120).

of the Chinese and those based

which Nevers had remained

began to use very

several colours, consisting

workshops

faithful.

fine designs in blue or in

of figurative motifs dominated by the

The Moustiers

potteries

took

their inspiration

from Berain's designs of grotteschi.

120

The Rouen pottery

nobility of the Louis

XIV

dishes,

with

continued the
of the eighteenth century.

their lambrequin decoration,

style into the first half

Few examples of

the goldsmiths'

and

silversmiths'

work of

this

time have survived, since almost the whole output was melted down.

sumptuous

set

of furniture in massive

Galerie des Glaces after designs

a

few years before

it,

too,

fell

silver

by Le Brun. But

was made
this

for the

only lasted for

victim to finance the King's wars.

Encouraged by Colbert, the

textile factories, especially at

Lyons,

created fabrics with designs of great splendour - brocades and silks

based on Italian models. Lace-work and glassware imitated the

products of Venice.

The development of furniture-making may perhaps be truly called

a revolution. It was accomplished by cabinet-makers working on
designs supplied by the masters of ornamentation. The new style put

an end to the furniture of cubic form which had been in use since the

Middle Ages, unchanged except

sance.
a

The

Baroque

actual forms
style; the

in decoration during the Renais-

of pieces were

wood was

now

twisted and fretted in

carved and gilded, often with the

The Boulle

though

it

did not invent, perfected a type of furniture decoration to which

it

addition of admirable bronze fittings.

gave

its

name - marquetry

in

copper and

family,

tortoiseshell.

And,

new idea of comfort was introduced into furniture

forms became better adapted to human requirements, and the

finally, the quite

its

types of piece that were

particular uses (one

made grew more

varied and specialized for

of the outstanding creations of the Louis

XIV

period was the chest-of-drawers, significantly called the commode

(III.

121) ).This

more and more close adaptaand towards a more purified style of orna-

development towards

tion to the needs of life

ment, which was to be the glory of French furniture in the eighteenth

century,

was begun by the refinement of social

life at

the Court of

Louis XIV.
The Boulle family became famous for its method of decorating furniture
121
with inlay in tortoiseshell and copper. This piece, made for the King's Room in
the Trianon, is an example of a type of furniture that was to have a great success
in the eighteenth century - the commode.

Seventeenth-Century England
For

much of the

seventeenth century, England suffered from great

political insecurity. In the visual arts,

during the reign of Charles

the main contributions came from abroad. Conscious of

dignity,

and loving

Rubens

to his Court,

display, Charles

and acquired

even finer than the one

his defeat in the Civil

of

his collection

were

after the Restoration,

came almost
it

later

War

was not a Maecenas

sold abroad,

such as

first,

though much remained and,

recovered. Production in the arts

Cromwell. With the Restoration

with the same

like his predecessor,

in 1666 greatly stimulated creative

At

artists

of pictures that was

brought together by Louis XIV. After

more was

not, at

summoned

I,

royal

and death on the block, important parts

to a standstill under

was resumed -

a collection

his

intensity, since Charles II

but the Great Fire of London

work,

especially in architecture.

the end of the seventeenth century, the artistic relationship

between the two countries was reinforced when Princess Mary was
called to the throne

with her husband William of Orange.

ARCHITECTURE
It

was

in the field

of architecture, unquestionably, that England's

greatest contribution

was made

by what

Baroque period. The general

ment

is

there

called the

was

exclusively as

is

definitely

to the

world stock of forms created

line

of develop-

towards Classicism, but by no means

as

often suggested, for the English architects frequently

turned aside towards richer forms that were sometimes frankly

Baroque.
153

The
were

of

principles

begun

with

his career

him towards

Classic form, towards

down by

clearly laid

Inigo Jones

have made

573-1652). Yet he had

was

have turned

easily

a theatrical designer for the

at the

He

English Court.

seems

but it was a later visit

of Europe - that confirmed him in his

his first journey to Italy in 1601,

-ini6i3-i6i4, during
vocation

which England tended,

kind of work that might

the Baroque; he

masques, which were then the rage

to

(i

a tour

This journey took him, in

as a Classicist.

not only to

fact,

Rome but also to the Veneto, where he was able to admire the works
of Palladio

the Library at Worcester College, Oxford,

copy of Palladio's Quattro

full

Libri

has the

still

which he brought back from

Italy,

of his annotations.

The Queen's House

(1615-1616),
architecture

(III.

at

Greenwich, begun by him on

122). Inigo

his return

of the principles of Palladian

a strict application

is

Jones was the real founder of the modern

English School of Architecture; in 161 5 he was

made Surveyor of

in 161 8 a member of the Commission on

recommend plans for the development of the
City of London. The principal building left by him, the Banqueting

the King's

Buildings

House

Works, and

set

up

to

in Whitehall

(1620-1621),

in a style based

is

on

that

of

Vicenza.

Thus

the doctrine of Palladianism,

fully in the eighteenth century,

was

which England was

clearly defined

and yet he himself sometimes strayed from

double cube

room

at

Wilton House

(c.

it,

to adopt

by Inigo Jones

as in the case

of the

1649) of which the elaborate

ornamentation resembles the kind usual

at that

time in the French

chateaux and town-houses. In about 1638 Inigo Jones worked on an

imposing plan for the Palace of Whitehall, which was never carried
out.

The
and

architects

Sir

of the next generation, John

principles

of Classicism, while

was more Baroque. But

154

Webb

(1611-1672)

Roger Pratt (1 620-1 685), also worked within the sober

Sir Balthazar

Gerbier (i5Qi?-i667)

parallel to this official art a

more workaday

122 The Queen's House at Greenwich, by Inigo Jones, begun in 1615,

of the application of the Palladian style in England.

style

was

in use in England, including

brick of forms surviving

from

London -

new

half of the century, building

in

Holland by Jacob van

originator of this change

continuation in

Classical forms. In the

brick

imitating the extremely sober Classicism

thirty years earlier in

the earliest

the previous century, but with an

occasional introduction of the

The

is

was Hugh

second

took an opposite turn,

which had been

started

Campen and Pieter Post.

(1 622-1 684), who had

May

War, in
company with Buckingham. This chastened style in brick, relieved
only by a few stone mouldings and bands of masonry, gives many of
taken refuge in the United Provinces during the Civil

the English

towns

their characteristic look. It

was used throughout

155

example

England for building town-houses

Victorian

Age

The Great

until stone

came

in again

with the

(III 123).

Fire

of London, which from the 2nd to the

5 th

of

September 1666 destroyed thirteen thousand two hundred houses

and eighty-seven churches, created

in the English capital a vast

building yard, comparable to the one that was being formed at

Versailles at the

monarch
the

same time. The

on

ruled, centred

art

of France, where an absolute

of England, where

a royal chateau; that

monarchy had become Parliamentary, on

a city.

new School of Architecture was

Christopher Wren (1632-1723). That he began

This sizeable
Sir

by

with a university

Astronomy is not unimportant it meant that

mind was broken in to the mathematical disciplines. As with

career as Professor of
his

presided over

Inigo Jones, a journey had a decisive influence on his development,

but this one was to Paris, in 1665. There he met Bernini and examined

with passionate

interest the

of construction.
style,

which

Jones and
latitude

altered the course set for English architecture

may truly be

and

chateaux already in existence or in course

He came back with an inclination towards an ornate

called

by Inigo

- having regard to London's northerly

to English Puritanism

- Baroque.

The rebuilding of London was organized with remarkable method.

Commission for Rebuilding the City of London was set up,

comprising three representatives of the King -

Wren,

Sir

Roger

Pratt,

and Hugh

May

of the City. The Commission's work led

the City of London (1667),
overall plan

radiating

was made

Christopher

to the

Act for Rebuilding

which was followed by other

for the City

from squares or

Sir

- and three representatives

circuses,

it

Acts.

An

consisted of large streets

and was

a survival

of the

radial

plans that had been dear to the Renaissance. Public buildings - the
Guildhall, the
afresh.

Royal Exchange, the Customs House - were

As regards dwelling-houses,

cal rebuilding

the need for rapid and economi-

imposed the use of brick, the

of architecture and the adoption of

i S6

built

result

being a sober

style

few standard types of house.

123

Compared with

May, shows

the Mauritshuis in

The Hague (III. 65), Eltham Lodge, Kent, by Hugh

by the Classical trend in England from Dutch

clearly the impetus derived

examples.

One

thing that helped to give the City of

appearance

many of

it

retained until the

these buildings

London

the general

Second World War, when so

were destroyed, was the rebuilding

stone of the parish churches,

which were the

focal points

in

of the

squares and vistas; of the eighty-seven destroyed in 1666, fifty-one

were

built afresh. It

clearly, for these

under

is

his supervision.

essentially

here that the importance of Wren

churches were designed by

assembly

him and

is

seen

Being meant for Anglican worship, they were

halls,

not on a very large

scale,

but spacious in

order to be well adapted for preaching. Sir Christopher

though he usually adopted the

central (St Stephen's

most

constructed

Walbrook,

basilical plan,

Wren,

did not exclude the

St Antholin's), but the supports

of

157

the roof were widely spaced-out Corinthian columns, leaving the

interior
tion,

unencumbered

and

The

(III 124).

a certain richness

vitality

of

of ornamentation taken from the vocabu-

lary then prevailing in Italy

and in France,

Wren's

set

from the Palladianism of Inigo Jones. Wren provided

with

belfries,

surmounted by slender

in the Gothic style,

composi-

his space

spires.

his

churches

Some of these

are even

all

which had never altogether ceased

England, chiefly for university buildings -

style apart

to

be used in

was used by Wren

it

Tom Tower,

Christ Church, Oxford (1681-1682).

The element of Romanticism comes out still more strongly

himself for

was conceived on

St Paul's Cathedral (1675-17 12). This

scale.

Wren's

first

designs, for a central

ground-plan of the type

favoured by Bramante and Michelangelo for St

opposed by the Commission

architect

was ordered

to

gradually, however, in
basilica

on

a vast

up

set

produce

making

to

Peter's,

were

approve the designs, and the

a Latin cross plan.

his

in

grand

Wren succeeded

views prevail, by centring the

dome, the outside of which has

colonnade of the

Wren's churches are spacious,

and relatively unencumbered, to
allow the whole congregation to wor124

light,

ship together as the Anglican religion

requires

St

Bride's,

London (photographed
125

Fleet

Street,

before 1940).

St Paul's Cathedral

to rival St Peter's in

was intended

Rome, and

its

Roman style contrasts with many of the

highly original churches also built by

Wren

in

London.

l!P^istt.iki

*mjm

jiij
%\

kg

wS|f!1

kind Bramante had invented for St Peter's

And
[III.

125).

(///.

Corinthian columns, with their effect of richness,

is

The use of
Roman.

definitely

indeed, in his colonnade for Greenwich Hospital (after 17 16)

Wren

126),

imitated Bernini's colonnade before St Peter's.

He

designed the Great Hall of the same Hospital (169 8- 1707) with
a

sumptuous scheme of ornamentation - which

of

examples

perfect

James Thorn-

Sir

completed with trompe-Y ceil paintings that are the most

hill later

produced in England. Wren's

this genre

Baroque tendencies were further emphasized

design for the heavily decorated choir

stalls

at St Paul's in his

carved by Grinling

Gibbons.

Our

survey of English art of the seventeenth century needs to

include the

first

by

indicated

Baroque

follower of

Wren's death, but

two

Nicholas

architects,

times

worked

scope
the

under the

- came

to be

of Hawksmoor

and indeed the two

men some-

They were responsible for the design and

two most Baroque of the great English country-

together.

construction of the
houses,

related,

styles

this

(1661-1736), a

(1 664-1 726)

opposed by the Neo-Palladian reaction. The

and Vanbrugh were closely

freely

Hawksmoor

Wren, and John Vanbrugh

is

moment

at that

- which seemed to be spreading

style

influence of

Not only

quarter of the eighteenth.

the date of

namely Castle Howard

(III

127)

and Blenheim Palace

(where Vanbrugh adopted a Versailles-like ground-plan with several

to create

them the aim of the whole conception was

an overwhelming impression of magnificence, and to sur-

prise the

onlooker by the richness of the

courtyards). In each of

distribution

of the masses. Yet, in

this architectural

there

is

language

is

spite

effects

and the imposing

of everything, one

feels that

opposed to the English temperament

a lack of that imaginative impetus

quality of Baroque in the countries

where

which

creates the poetic

this style is

spontaneous.

This lack rendered legitimate the Palladian reaction which, after

three-quarters

of a century of essays

architecture back to

126

The

of Wren's

Eastern

Roman

Dome
style

its

in the Baroque,

brought English

native tendencies.

and Colonnade of Greenwich Hospital shows another example

it was inspired by Bernini's colonnades in front of St Peter's.

127 The use of a colossal order and the richness of the ornamentation make
Vanbrugh's Castle Howard one of the most Baroque buildings in England.

Sir

John

128

Endymion

strength

Van Dyck's

by William Dobson, National

Porter,

Dobson

Gallery,

London. The rude

gives to people he paints contrasts with the aristocratic air of

figures.

SCULPTURE AND PAINTING

England produced

so

few

painters

and sculptors in the seventeenth

century that recourse had to be had to

these

came from

Netherlands.

artists

the United Provinces, but

The

best sculptor

from abroad. Most of

some from

the Southern

of English origin, Nicolas Stone of

Stuart, Duke of Richmond and Lennox, by Sir Antony van Dyck, Metro- w
Museum, New York. When he was required to paint Charles I and his Court,
Van Dyck found scope for the aristocratic tendency of his own temperament.

129

James

politan

The Family of Charles Dormer, Earl of Carnarvon, by Sir Peter Lely, Collection of Sir John
130
Coote, Bt. The pictures of the Dutchman Lely lack the aristocratic grace of Van Dyck. Instead,
they reflect the superficial character of the Court of Charles II.

Exeter (1583-1647), brought into his country the style of Hendrick

de Keyser of Amsterdam, whose son-in-law he was.

The ban on images

in churches did

commissions for religious

for

mythology,

this

on

and

since the English

entirely

had

with

little taste

inexhaustible source of inspiration for the

Baroque imagination was

paintings

art

away almost

also lacking.

The only

a large scale, the ceiling

Whitehall, was painted by Rubens in

set

of mythological

of the Banqueting Hall in

629-1 630. The painters were

Even to meet this need, appeal had to be

made to foreign artists, to Daniel Mytens from Holland and Van
Dyck from Antwerp. Van Dyck, who had already visited London
thus limited to portraits.

in 1620, returned in 1632

lasting

164

image of Charles

and

I,

his

settled there in 1635.

He

created the

Queen, and the nobles of his Court

(III.

on
as

I2g)

>

anc^

ms

had

a great influence

part of his career he

may be regarded

thoroughbred

elegant,

the next century. In the

last

style

an English painter, for he learned to render the peculiar aristocratic

by the
William
Dobson
style
of
his
contemporary,
(1611War.
The
Civil
1646), who was English, had in it more of a Baroque turbulence
grace of the society of the Cavaliers, soon to be threatened

(III.

128).

The English School of Portrait

brilliant in the

by

Sir Peter

Lely

parents, studied at

Haarlem, and

the Restoration he

became the

Van Dyck, he

which was

Painting,

to

become

so

may be said to have been really begun

(161 8-1680), who was born in Germany of Dutch

next century,

London

settled in

official

Under

'mannerized' the style of that

decadent way, which suited his

in 1643.

Court Painter an admirer of

artist in a

somewhat

sitters (///. 130).

THE MINOR ARTS

England remained attached

to Renaissance

whole of the seventeenth century.

It

forms during almost the

was

at the

beginning of the

eighteenth that the curvilinear forms of the Baroque style began to

appear in English furniture. But the sweeping rhythm of acanthus

volutes already gave

life

to the

woodwork

decorations in Wren's

time, especially to those of Grinling Gibbons (1648-1720),

the best wood-carver of the

who was

Baroque period and worked with Wren.

The English were among the first in Europe to use lacquer. This was
introduced from Japan and China, and it had been imitated in
England before 1688 when John Stalker and George Parker published a Treatise ofJapanning and Varnishing.

Pottery kept for a long time to Renaissance shapes and decoration

at the

end of the century these yielded

to Chinese

and Japanese

influence.

The

silversmiths' art

began in the seventeenth century that great

advance which enabled

it

to create so

many

masterpieces in the

next century. The decoration of the pieces remained Mannerist in

165

style

during most of the seventeenth century,

at the

its

place being taken,

beginning of the eighteenth, by the French

style

of Jean Le

Pautre and by the lambrequin motifs brought in by the Huguenot

emigres (notably Pierre Harache,

David Willaume

(///.

131),

and

Pierre Platel).

131
exile,

The

style of this silver ewer by David Willaume, a French Huguenot in

shows the continuation of the Louis XIV lambrequin decoration, which has

now become

baroquized to some extent.

PART

TWO

Eighteenth-Century

Italy

In spite of some political realignments, Italy in the eighteenth century

was moderately

peaceful.

The

territory

was

still

divided into several

of which the most important were the Kingdom of the

States,

Sicilies,

the

Grand Duchy of Tuscany,

the Papal States. Venice,

Two

the Republic of Venice,

Rome, and Naples were

main

the

and

centres

of art, for different reasons. People went to Venice to see the masterpieces

of the Renaissance, but contemporary works

able success, especially with visitors

also

had consider-

from Central Europe (with which

Venice had been in close relations continuously since the Middle

Ages) and from England. In

Rome new

attractions

were added to

those the Eternal City had presented in the previous century - the organization

of museums had made collections more accessible to the public

and archaeology, of which

Rome was

the great centre,

intensely active since the discoveries in the

who

settled in

Rome in

1755, laid

had become

Campagna. Winckelmann,

down rational and

scientific bases

for archaeology in his great Geschichte der Kunst der Altertums.

thus

became an

ideal place for the crystallization

Rome

of Neo-Classicism.

ARCHITECTURE
For

all

the importance of the buildings raised during the previous

century, the impetus of architecture in eighteenth-century Italy did

not slacken.

Rome

remained fixed in

kind of Berninesque formal-

who had worked

with Pietro da

Cortona, Rainaldi, and Bernini himself, transmitted

this tradition to

ism. Carlo Fontana (1634-1714),

the eighteenth century.

The creation of grandiose urban stage-settings

167

132 The Villa Albani, Rome, still contains the famous collection of Classical antiquities, of
which Winckelmann was the keeper. The Caffe Haus of the Villa by Carlo Marchioni
reflects this taste and led directly to the Neo-Classical style in architecture.

continued; they include the stairway of Santa Trinita dei Monti

by Francisco de

Sanctis, the

so Berninesque that

is

by

the

master),

Galilei. In the

on Roman
Marchioni

it

Trevi Fountain by Nicola Salvi (which

was long thought

middle of the century Neo-Classicism

architecture (the Caffe

132)).

(///.

But

Haus of the

Venice continued on the course

son of Philip
this

(c.

laid its finger

by Carlo

of Bernini,

the chief centres for original

set

by Baldassare Longhena.

1686-1766), at the Gesuati, achieved a Baroque

on the theme of the Palladian

In 1734 the

a design

the periphery, in Southern Italy and Piedmont.

Giorgio Massari
variation

on

Villa Albani,

in general, after the death

Rome ceased to be a place of innovation

work were on

to be based

and the facade of the Lateran by Alessandro

facade.

Crown of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies went to a

V of Spain, who reigned as Charles VII. Here then

megalomaniac prince (who

in 1754 succeeded to the throne

of

Spain) began to erect colossal buildings - the Palaces of Capodi-

monte and
168

Caserta,

and

in

Naples

itself

the Albergo dei Poveri and

the San Carlo Theatre. In addition,

were

built.

The most

Sanfelice (1675-1750),

which

palaces

a variety

about

artists

from out-

to meet the enormous demands he had created - Ferdinando

Rome

Fuga came from

Dutch

Vanvitelli

in 1752 to design the

Albergo dei Poveri;

(1 700-1 773) was from the same

and Luigi Vanvitelli

the

staircases, to

of capricious forms and un-

expected features. But Charles VII also called upon

side

and churches

was Ferdinando

original architect in Naples

who composed his palaces

imagination gave

his

many new

painter Gaspar

van Wittel

was summoned

(a specialist

in views

which would be the

seat

the plan included

scale,

of Rome),

by Charles VII to produce the

raise at Caserta, some way outside

Naples. Wishing to imitate Versailles, he had in

residence

Son of

in 175 1

plans for the palace he intended to

reduced in

city.

of

no

mind

political
less

a vast royal

power. Though

than twelve hundred

rooms, distributed in a quadrilateral enclosing four courtyards, a

huge chapel in

close imitation

of the one

at Versailles

a theatre. Vanvitelli stuck to the Italian type

plan, but this

up to the

one was original in

centre,

with

its

its

way of leading

entrance giving

(7//.

on

the visitor right

the Palace of Caserta is obviously inspired by the Chapel of

but the architect, Luigi Vanvitelli, has enriched his model with coloured

Versailles,

marbles.

SfeM!
v

3
9 i

m
\

:11

&
rays,

Hi

i^'

m
Jf*w5

w,

45N

'

and

to a vast stairway.

The Chapel of

133

133),

of compact ground-

Jiiin!-

nfcSLlisi!! u

***

Beyond

the chateau, again in imitation of Versailles, there

colossal vista,
still

and

this

was

novelty in

out in terraces. Caserta

laid

enormous

scale,

and

employment,

in the

tioned

but

it is

still

is

is

where gardens were

Baroque by virtue of

Neo-Classical in

its

sparing use of curves

its

for the outside elevations,

of colossal columns -

tiers

Italy,

of nobly propor-

scheme then becoming general

throughout Europe.
In Sicily,

meanwhile -

at

Palermo, Catania, Syracuse, Messina - an

over-ornamented Baroque was being given

Giovanni Battista Vaccarini (1702-1768),

from Carlo Fontana

extravagance.

made

it

To

in

Rome,

tried to bring

whole

Grammichele, Ragusa, Modica.

an admirable Baroque
tunity to treat the

string

some

At Catania

learned his trade

discipline into this

Of each

of towns - Noto, Comiso,

of these the

stage-set, taking full

whole town, with

churches and palaces,

as a single

The height of ornamental

at Lecce,

who had

the south-west of Syracuse the 1693 earthquake

possible to rebuild a

of Italy,

full liberty.

architects

made

advantage of the oppor-

its

squares and stairways,

work of art.

folly

was reached

in the

where Giuseppe Zimbalo and

extreme South

his pupil,

Giuseppe

Cino, mingled reminiscences of Gothic and the Renaissance with

Baroque, and built a kind of dream

unrestrained

While

it.

II

North

Filippo Juvarra (1678-1736), another pupil of

Carlo Fontana, was

summoned

to

Turin in 1714 by Vittorio

of Savoy, and there he began to curb the tendency to

Rococo which Guarino Guarini had

Palazzo

concept of an imagination

kind.

the South indulged in an independent Baroque, the

put a brake on

Amedeo

city, a

by conformism of any

Madama

started.

Sometimes -

as in his

(1718-1721) and his Chiesa del Carmine (1732-

1735) - he brought architecture right back to the Bernini norm.

Stupinigi he built a palace

whose ground-plan

in the

was dictated by the requirements of a hunting-lodge.

Classical,

Its

At

facades are

but the rooms inside are in a temperate Baroque

his Basilica della

170

form of an

style. In

Superga near Turin (1717-1731) the Berninesque

134 The Basilica of La Superga

near Turin, by Filippo Juvarra, is one

of the first buildings in Italy in which

sumptuousness was purified

Roman

in a Neo-Classical spirit.

forms are purified to an elegance that

Classical

and

(///.

134). Juvarra' s output

in other Italian cities. His reputation

to Lisbon,

London, and

is

Neo-

already entirely

was considerable, both

was such

that

Paris for consultation;

in

Turin

he was called

and he died in

Madrid, having been invited there to design the Royal Palace.

In Turin itself the spirit of Guarini was not entirely extinguished,
in spite

of Juvarra' s reaction against

Vittone (1704/5-1770),

who

it.

It

still

inspired Bernardo

loved intersecting planes and vaults

with interlaced groins, yet moderated Guarini's dynamism with

certain elegance

of proportion borrowed from Juvarra.

SCULPTURE AND PAINTING

The

process of populating the churches of

Rome

with

statues

and

carved tombs continued, and the sculptors' workshops were ex-

tremely active.

They even produced for export

from

Rome

ture,

even more than architecture, was

for the Palace-Monastery

(statues

were ordered

of Mafra near Lisbon). Sculp-

now firmly fixed in

the style

171

H Disinganno, by Francesco Queirolo,

135
Capella Sansevero, Naples. This group, in
which Queirolo has deployed

his

full

virtuosity, symbolizes the Christian sinner

extricating himself

from

with the help of the

of Bernini. In

Rome

in

this it contrasted to

the nets of error

Faith.

some extent with

which

painting,

soon began to incline towards Neo-Classicism. Camillo

Rusconi (1658-1728), the Frenchman Pierre Legros (1666-1719),

and Michelangelo Slodtz

typical

(1 726-1 746)

are

among

most

the sculptors

of this continuation of the Baroque.

In Naples and in Sicily sculpture

was more

original. In

Antonio Corradini (1668-1752), Francisco Queirolo

and Giuseppe Sammartino (i720?-i793?) gave

Naples

(1 704-1 762),

free access to a

kind

of illusionism. They were fond of trying to reproduce in

marble the transparent and fluid effects of painting - a type of
of

folly

virtuosity that contains a confession

creative

of impotence

(III.

133).

More

were the forms worked out by Giacomo Serpotta (1656-

1732) in his decorations in stucco for various oratories in Palermo

(III.

136).

Right

at the

began to explore the

start

of the eighteenth century

possibilities

ments in which the rhythm

is

his

work

of those asymmetrical arrange-

balanced through quasi-contrapuntal

136 The Oratory of S. Lorenzo, Palermo, by Giacomo Serpotta. Stucco was very
widely used in Italy and in Central Europe it made possible the rapid execution of
an extremely rich ornamentation, with a great virtuosity in varied expression.
:

compensation -

German

system which the

of the Rococo

artists

period made into the basic principle of their schemes of ornamentation.

Painting in Italy during the eighteenth century presents a complex
situation. In

from

this

it

the past, present, and future coincide.

It is

best studied

point of view, rather than under the various Schools.

more than elsewhere, many painters continued in a

formalism that became fossilized. Giuseppe Maria Crespi

In Bologna,
Seicento
(1

664-1 747) reacted, in Bologna

but in a direction that was

both to

and

his religious

a spirit

Seicento that

and

of realism

was

still

itself,

more

Academicism,

against this

Seicento

- that

is,

his battle pictures a chiaroscuro

(III.

carried

137).

was the Romantic

It

by applying
atmosphere
side

of the

on by Alessandro Magnasco (1667-1749),

known as Lissandrino, who worked in Milan, Florence, and Bologna

his satirical spirit

scenes to

makes him

a successor to Callot, his love

Morazzone and Francesco

del Cairo,

to Salvator Rosa, while he took also

of

his colour.

work, express

and

his

of night

Romanticism

from the Venetians the magic

His strange compositions, with their nervous brusha

deep melancholy

In Naples there flourished a

Of these, Francesco Solimena

(///.

138).

whole school of decorative

painters.

(1657-1747), with his crowds of figures

137

The Extreme Unction,

by Giuseppe Maria Crespi,

Gemaldegalerie, Dresden.
In his series of the Seven

Sacraments,

Crespi,

fol-

lowing the tradition of

Caravaggio,
humanized
the acts of religion by
representing

them

in their

everyday simplicity.

swirling through eddies of light and shade

(///.

the line of the tenebrosi, while Francesco de

Mura

next generation, abandons

that

this

139),

still

belongs to

(1696-1784), of the

chiaroscuro for a gaiety of colouring

makes him the Neapolitan Tiepolo. The love of realism, which

had already emerged in the preceding century, made the Neapolitan

painters continue very actively

In the

North of

painters towards

Italy, in

war

with

still-life

Lombardy,

pictures, based

peasants or of beggars,

who were

astringency (for instance,

Giacomo

painting.

this realism

turned some

on observation of the

depicted with a certain

Ceruti,

who was

life

of

satirical

active in the

middle of the century). This genre was represented in Naples by

174

Gaspare Traversi (active between 17322 and 1769),

who amused

himself with the oddities of small tradesmen and their servants.

In Venice Pietro
life,

not

Longhi (17021785) represented

but with

satirically

most astringent realism was

feeling for

that of a

Lombard

Giuseppe Ghislandi (1655-1743) of Bergamo,

Fra Galgario.

The

produced by

his brush,

effigies

Spanish royal family

It

was

name

Piazzetta. the

as

his time,

think o{ Goya's portraits o{ the

[HI. 141).
its

own. The

be rightly applied to the jagged compositions o

choppy handling o{

nights into space.

the Guardis. and to Tiepolo's

The way was prepared

for Venetian Settecento

painting by Sebastiano Ricci (1659-1734),

colours,

portrait painter.

o the decadent aristocracy o

make one

The

who was known

Venice that Rococo painting came into

can. in fact,

o varied

scenes

picturesque.

the

and by Giovanni

Battista

who

Piazzetta

painted in light

(1683-1754),

who

retained something of the tenebrosi style of the Seicento. Venice, in

love with her

own

beauty, gave birth to a

number o

landscape

by Alessandra Magnasco, Palazzo Bianco. Genoa.

of a large decoration, Magnasco's technique, his flurry ot
coloured brush-strokes evoking a halt-realized Romantic atmosphere, can be seen.
138

Reception on

Even

in this small detail

Terrace,

The Feast of the Ascension, Venice, by Canaletto, Aldo Crespi Collection, Milan.
140
Canaletto was a kind of chronicler of the life of Venice, its festivals, ceremonies, and monuments.

painters,

who

picturesque
success

depicted her palaces, open spaces, and canals, with the

life

that filled

them and
;

these vedute soon

had

throughout Europe. Antonio Canale (1697-1768),

a great

known

Canaletto, laid out his compositions in a geometrical spirit that

as

was

almost a return to the Quattrocento, in his desire to obtain the most

faithful

image

possible

whose

!793)>

(III.

140). In contrast

style already suggests

Francesco Guardi (1712-

Impressionism, never tired of

evoking the mirage of the Venetian atmosphere, with

reflects

and

is

reflected

(///.

144).

When

its

colour that

his association

with

his

brother Gianantonio (1699-1760) was ended by death he devoted

himself entirely to landscape painting. But within landscape painting

Rococo

the essentially

139

The Massacre

Museum,
Chamber

Naples,

genre

is

that

of the Giustiniani at Chios,

is

of the

capriccio.

This pastoral or

by Francesco Solimena, Capodimonte

the sketch for one of the large-scale compositions for the Senate

in Genoa. The space follows the same laws of perspective

Padre Pozzo.

as

those used

by

idyllic genre,

with

compositions

its

aim, was created by

Marco

full

of fantasy and

its

decorative

Ricci (1676-1720) and continued

nearly the end of the century

by Francesco

till

Zuccarelli (1702-1788).

Ceiling painting, to which Padre Pozzo had given such brilliance

in the last years of the seventeenth century, continued vigorously in

Naples

(Solimena,

Sebastiano

Conca, Francesco de Mura).

Its

developments of perspective inspired the members of the GalliBibiena family,

who came from

Bologna, to produce theatrical

designs for various Courts in Italy and Central Europe.

painter,

to

its

Gian

climax,

Battista

Tiepolo (1696-1770), brought

by leaving

aside the artificial devices

architectural perspectives

and

of his predecessors'

setting his flying figures in the midst

of clouds, with vertiginous foreshortenings. Both in

in his easel paintings in

and
(///.

brushwork

142).

that

sensitive, rapid,

and

and almost transparent

His masterpiece was the ceiling of the staircase of the

Prince-Bishop's Residenz at

The

his frescoes

Tiepolo used an extremely light colour

oils,

was

The Venetian

spatial painting

Wurzburg

in Franconia (1750-1753).

reputation of the Venetian painters was such that they were

summoned

to a

number of

foreign Courts. Sebastiano and

141

Hat,

Nobleman with

by

Vittore

the

Marco

Three-Comered
Poldi-

Ghislandi,

Museum, Milan. Ghislandi was

monk, and he is also known as Fra
Galgario. His portraits, with their mix-

Pezzoli
a

ture of satirical and romanticized elements in depicting a society moving

towards its decline, make one think of

Goya

(///.

142

176).

The

Gian

of the Rosary, by
Tiepolo, the Gesuati,

Institution

Battista

Venice, shows ceiling painting which

is still

arranged in the manner of Padre

Pozzo.

A staircase in the picture enables

the eye quite literally to climb to the

important figures and the open sky

beyond them.

WQ

143

Charles III

Museum,

visits

Benedict

XIV at

by Gian Paolo Pannini, Capodimontc

life have more sincerity than
which initially made him famous.

the Quirinak,

Naples. Pannini's energetic chronicles of

those rather conventional views of ruins

Ricci, Pellegrini

Roman

and Canaletto went to London (Canaletto through

the agency of Joseph Smith, the English Consul in Venice,

who was

Tiepolo painted in Madrid and

Wurzburg; Bernardo Bellotto, who was Canaletto's nephew
and borrowed his name, worked in Dresden, Warsaw, and Vienna
and the pastel artist Rosalba Camera went to Paris and Dresden.
It was in Rome, shortly before the middle of the century, that

an enthusiast for Venetian painting)

Italian painting

took a definitely Neo-Classical course, opposed both

to the Seicento

Baroque and

to Venetian

Rococo. The

renounced the seductions of the imaginary. The

sole exception

the engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778),

of Rome have an aura of fantasy. The other

180

artists

vedutisti

now
was

whose views

- such

as

Gaspar

144

The

Rw

dei Mcndicanti,

gamo. Guardi was

Venice, by Francesco Guardi, Acadcmia Carrara, Berforerunner of the Impressionists in the way he painted his forms

melting into the watery atmosphere of the Lagoon.

145

Achilles on Scyros,

peo Batoni,

by Pom-

The
Pompeo

Uffizi, Florence.

Neo-Classical brush of

Batoni freezes the mythological

whose fantasy gave

inspiration
life to

van Wittel (165 3-1 73 6), known

Pannini (1691/2-1778) - who were
with

Roman

patrons and with the

Rome, made

it

these

also

Vanvitelli,

now having

many

and Gian Paolo

a great success

both

foreigners passing through

their object to represent the picturesque sights

amusements of the
however,

as

Baroque painting.

city

with topographical exactitude. Pannini,

produced pictures of ruins

came from an

Pierre Subleyras

and

entitled Vedute Ideate, but

architect's vision rather

(1 699-1 749), a

than a poet's

Frenchman who

(///.

settled in

143).

Rome,

painted religious compositions that were sober and disciplined in

accordance with the French tradition; they suggest the

work of

Eustache Le Sueur in the preceding century. Marco Benefd {16841764)

went

Andrea de
182

so far as to plagiarize
Vetralla).

Raphael [The Transfiguration, San

Pompeo Batoni

(1708-1787), alike in his

mythological

(///.

and

143)

his religious pictures,

adopted simple

compositions, which he carried out in very light colouring with a

certain sentimentality;

he painted portraits of the

of Rome, including many English

visitors.

Anton Raphael Mengs

who came from Bohemia, was

(1 728-1 779),

Winckelmann's

theories

of an

aristocratic society

a passionate adept

beauty revived from antiquity;

ideal

but his mediocre talent was only capable of producing

THE MINOR ARTS

The overloaded Baroque
in the 1730s.

style

of furniture-making came to an end

There took place then,

in

Genoa and Venice,

which has been given the name

furniture
secretaire)

were produced,
and the

in particular

from Baroque to

from the

cassone into the cassettone

produced elegant

rocaille

Barocchetto

is

a simplifi-

New

Barocchetto.

the ribalta

pier-glass (an elegant piece in

transition

The

lifeless

and cold compositions with an archaeological flavour.

portraits

cation

of

types of

(an elaborate

two

parts).

and then into the

The

change

especially clear in the

Venice

ribalta.

furniture with painted decoration.

eighteenth century saw a revival of marquetry, which had

been in high demand in the sixteenth century. The most gifted of

the cabinet-makers specializing in the encrustation of precious

woods

Piffetti (1 700-1 777), who worked for the

And indeed it was Piedmont that produced the best

with ivory was Pietro

Court of Savoy.
designs and

most

carefully finished pieces

of furniture, profiting

from both French and German influences. The Palazzo Reale and
Palazzo dell'Accademia Filarmonica in Turin

rooms decorated

in gilded

still

wood, which were

the

contain admirable

originally filled with

very fme furniture.

The English

style

known

as

Chippendale began to influence

Venetian and Genoese furniture-making from 1760 onwards.

Pottery did not flourish in Italy

Germanic lands
reached

Italy,

at this time.

as

much

as in

But the enthusiasm

and some of this was produced by

France and the

for porcelain
factories at

now

Vinovo
183

in

Piedmont and

factory

Chinese

made

at

Capodimontc near Naples. The Capodimonte

the decorations of a

style for the Palace

montc Museum

(///.

whole room

of Portici, and

146). In Naples,

century onwards, cribs with a great

in churches - and

still

this

is

in porcelain in the

now in the

Capodi-

from the end of the seventeenth

many

figures

became

common

more common in the palaces. At first they were

carved in wood. In the eighteenth century, they were more often

moulded
in terms

in terracotta.

The

realist taste for

of people from the poorer

beginning of the
Neapolitan

Seicento,

classes,

ended up

representing sacred scenes

which had emerged

in the small figures

in the

of these

cribs.

146 The Porcelain Room from the Palace of Portici is now installed in the
Capodimonte Museum, Naples. The decoration in the 'chiiwiserie style was
carried out in porcelain between 1754 and 1759 by the Capodimonte factory.

*JJg

Eighteenth-Century France
The seventeenth had been a royal century the next was an aristocratic one. At the death of Louis XIV the Court at Versailles was
;

dissolved,

and Louis XV,

There was

a hasty flight

a child,

still

was brought to the

Tuileries.

from the Court where, during the

of Louis XIV, the gloom produced by

the austerity of Madame de

last

political miscarriages

Maintenon had caused

years

and by

a general feeling

Many town-houses were now built in Paris, and many

of depression.

chateaux in the provinces. Society changed and grew larger - in

financiers

now

mingled with the old

robe; intellectuals also

noblesse d'epee

and

it

noblesse de

were admitted, and they helped

to bring

a milieu where women were developgood manners, and the art of living. After

advanced ideas into vogue in

ing refinement of

taste,

the severity of the second half of Louis XIV's reign, morals relaxed.

The Duke of

Orleans,

who

exercised the

Regency

(171 5-1 723), set an example of pleasure-seeking

In this refined society there

both

new and

example

as a

the kings did

was

a great

for eight years

life.

demand

for

old. Connoisseurship spread. Louis

works of

XIV had

set

art,

an

royal patron, and in the eighteenth century, although

little

to

add

to the royal collections, art collectors

more and more numerous, and an organized

grew

art trade arose in

answer to the increased demand, which produced high

prices.

when the young King re-established the

The new Queen, with her lack of ostentation,

This did not change

Court

at Versailles.

had no

effect

on the arts. Later the royal mistresses, especially Madame

de Pompadour, were to contribute to the refinement of taste, but

it

185

was

now

the city that set the tone to the Court.

some of

hesitate to destroy

Louis XIV, such

as the Escalier des

there comfortably in the

Louis XVI,

who was

now

Ambassadeurs, in order to

interested only in hunting

Queen Marie-Antoinette was

Parisian society

arts,

and

in the lock-

and the

taste

applied chiefly to fashion and to

also to furniture.

The important

was acquiring completed,

of the royal influence. In the

live

fashionable petits appartements.

smith's craft, proved totally indifferent to the

and furbelows - but

The King did not

the finest parts of the Versailles of

salons,

in

where

position

of

frills

which

due course, the decline

politics, literature,

now

philosophy were discussed, intelligence was

and

better intro-

duction than wealth. Style was developing towards Neo-Classicism,

but the applied

arts,

being the expression of the art of living, exhibited

an increasing refinement.

None

the

ancien regime, a certain official activity

Comte d'Angiviller,
once more began to

exert an influence
arts in their

by commissioning works on

programme

years of the

initiative

of the

on

the

arts.

D'Angiviller

tendency towards Classicism

historical subjects

policy which helped to produce a

his

due to the

last

the highly intelligent Director of Buildings,

encouraged the figurative

was

during the

less,

from

living artists

new Academicism. More fortunate

for developing the

museums. In view of the

public exhibition of the King's pictures in the Great Gallery of the

Louvre, the Director of Buildings revived the policy of buying

works of art, making some happy additions

to royal collections.

become customary to call the three main stages of French

eighteenth-century style by the names of the political periods Regence, Louis XV, and Louis XVI. There is no disadvantage in
retaining these names, consecrated by usage, provided we realize
It

has

that the changes

of style did not correspond exactly with the dates

The Regence

which accomplished the transition

from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century, extended from 1705
to about 1730. The Louis XV style flourished between 1735 and
o{ the

1750.

186

reigns.

But the Louis

XVI

style,

style

began in about 1760 - that

is

to say,

long before that King came to the throne.

Classicism

became dominant -

cases the decoration

of the

common

'Louis

to

find a

interiors

lagged behind

XV' scheme of

town-house with 'Louis XVI'

From

moment
many

that

at least in architecture.
;

For in
it

is

not un-

decoration inside a

facades.

ARCHITECTURE
It

must be recognized that the change

had already begun

King

that

in the time

at Versailles after

reserved for official

marble and

in the decoration

of interiors

of Louis XIV. In the rooms made for

1684 - alongside the grand chambers

- the architectural decoration in polychrome

life

bronze was given up in favour of gold-edged and

gilt

rooms were on a small scale. In the town-

painted panelling, and these

houses that were built in Paris from the beginning of the eighteenth

century

this

development was accelerated gold-edged panelling and

;

mirrors, leaving

little

room

for pictorial compositions,

replaced

the grand columns and large-scale paintings of the preceding century.

In about 1720 this decoration began to acquire sinuous forms and

find place

to

for

rocaille.

Such designers of ornamentation

as

Oppenordt, Nicolas Pineau and,

later,

suous style to prevail in place of the

more noble style of Le Pautre. The

Meissonier caused

second Claude Audran (1658-1734) endowed the

had been reintroduced by Berain and were

with

a quality

this sen-

grotteschi,

which

now known as arabesques,

of imaginative fantasy and winged grace. The archi-

Germain BorTrand (1667-1754) contributed more than anyone

the rise of this Rococo style in French interiors, and it was he who

tect

to

designed the best example of

Soubise (173 8-1739)

(///.

it

this

it

- the rooms of the Hotel

147).

The importance acquired by

period makes

in Paris

the arrangement of interiors at this

legitimate for us to approach

point of view.

It

its

architecture

from

was the moment when people turned away

from Louis XIV's solemn

vistas

of rooms and sought to

specialize

the places where people lived in accordance with their uses - a bedroom,

187

147
Paris,

Germain Boffrand decorated

1738-1739. This

is

the best

an antechamber,

gallery, a study, a

usual to distinguish

the Salon Ovale and other rooms of the Hotel Soubise

example of the full Rococo style in French interiors.

dining-room,

boudoir for

a reception

room

leisure, a library;

replacing the

and

it

became

between reception rooms on the ground

and more intimate rooms

new town-houses was

upstairs.

in

floor

Moreover, the planning of the

given more suppleness to accommodate

this

The facades were made less severe, with many

windows and with the different storeys clearly stated. Their forms
too became more elegant - though there was no renunciation of
an external Classicism, which contrasted with the Rococo style of
the interior. In the architecture itself, examples of true Rococo were
rare. They were to be found mostly in the east of France, where
various artists - notably Germain Boffrand and Here - indulged in
division of function.

188

greater fantasy, in response to the taste of the Queen's father, the

dethroned King of Poland,

granted the

Stanislas

Leczinsky,

Duchy of Lorraine. The chateaux

have been destroyed, or deprived of

but the planned centre of Nancy

who had

built

by

their decoration

(III.

this

been

prince

and gardens

148) remains.

Apart from Nancy, programmes of town planning continued the

Classical style

which came

in during the reign

of Louis XIV.

Paris,

Rennes, and Bordeaux built places royales dedicated to Louis

XV,

modelled on those of the previous reign. After Robert de Cotte and

Germain BofFrand, who made the

and Louis

XV

periods, the

transition

dominant

between the Louis

architect

XIV

towards the middle

of the century was Jacques- Ange Gabriel (1698-1782). In the Place

de

Concorde

la

the idea of the

(///.

150), the

former Place Royale, he took up again

Louvre colonnade, using orders of giant Corinthian

columns and long balustrades (1753-1765). Twenty years earlier he

had given the Place de la Bourse in Bordeaux (///. i4g), also formerly
the Place Royale, a
Ionic

less

solemn and more elegant character by using

columns (1731-1755), and

comparison between these two

squares enables us to measure the change that

148

The

architect

in the

Nancy, for the Duke of Lorsometime King of Poland 1753 1755. One of the finest pieces
France, it is entirely in the Rococo style.

Here

carried out the Place de la Carriere,

raine, Stanislas Leczinsky,

of town planning in

had taken place

149-15 Place de la Bourse, Bordeaux. Place de la Concorde, Paris, with the Hotel de la
Marine and Hotel de Crillon. In both of these 'places royales Jacques- Ange Gabriel used the
arrangement already tried in the Louvre colonnade (///. 96), but the one in Bordeaux, with
its

high French roofs,

is

the

less Classical.

meaning of Classicism

Madame

designed for
built

from 1762

of

in the case

de

to 1764

a single architect.

Pompadour

is

in the

House

is

He

Versailles in this style,

also

During the reign of Louis

dominant

style,

whose

essential

we must

and

XVI

him

count ourselves
to

go ahead.

orders of colossal columns

architectural feature,

with

Opera

planned to remodel the

fortunate that the royal finances did not allow

the

Trianon gardens and

return to the Classical orders, to the Versailles

(1770), recently restored.

Chateau of

'folly'

the purest example of the Classicism of

Jacques- Ange Gabriel and he applied the same

characteristic

The

became

tendency to approximate

more and more to the proportions of those of antiquity. Jacques

Germain Soufflot (1713-1780) made this the motif of both the
interior and the portico of his Eglise Sainte-Genevieve (now the
190

Pantheon), which he surmounted with

of St Paul's

in

of Southern

London

Italy

(///.

cupola in imitation of that

But the discovery of the

131).

soon influenced

antiquities

architects to imitate the

Greek

Roman. The Greek proportions inspired the

art of Chalgrin (1739-1811), Gondoin (1737-1818) and, above all,
Claude-Nicolas Ledoux (173 6-1 806), who used for the Salt Mines
orders rather than the

at

Arc-et-Senans near Besancon

the temples at

Paestum

(III.

(1

152).

fortifications in a severe style.

which

architects

773-1 775) a Doric order based on

He

built the gates

of the new Paris

The colonnade became

repeated endlessly,

for

the motif

example in the Grand

Bordeaux (1773-1780) by Victor Louis.

Interiors were still decorated with ornamental woodwork, but

Theatre

rocaille

at

went out of

garlands, ribbons,

by

was replaced by compositions of

the architectural features of the exterior, and the return to the

orders,

which occurred in the first part of the reign of Louis XIV, was

carried out in
It

fashion and

and panniers. Sometimes they were even inspired

was

now

wood. This ornamentation was not uniformly

painted in light colours, often relieved

stronger colour or

by

a little gilding.

of the architect-designer Clerisseau,

Italy,

some of

the town-houses

gilded.

by touches of

After 1770 under the influence

who made

several journeys to

were decorated

in the

Pompeian

The Pantheon, Paris, by Soufflot, was originally intended as a church, Sainte151

Genevieve, and was inspired by St Paul's Cathedral, London {III. 125).
152

The

of the

Mines at Arc-et-Senans, 1773-1775, by Ledoux, was one

examples of industrial architecture, modelled on Classical antiquity.

Directors' Pavilion, Salt

earliest

The 'Hameau', or artificial village, in the grounds of the Petit Trianon, Versailles, was
by the architect Mique in imitation of an 'English garden' it was the final caprice
of Queen Marie-Antoinette.
153

laid out

style,

or in 'the Etruscan manner' which was then very

much

in

fashion in England.

The layout of the gardens remained, during the reign of Louis XV,
more or less in conformity with the style of Le Nostre, though on
a less

imposing

scale. In

the second half of the century the picturesque

'Anglo-Chinese' type of garden, with

duced into France -

it

its

winding walks, was intro-

was embellished with numerous pavilions

in

the Classical style, temples to the ideals of sentiment (to love, to

friendship, to faithfulness), Chinese kiosks, artificial Gothic ruins,
rustic dwellings, peasant villages.

there

is

Trianon

hardly anything
at Versailles, laid

in response to

left

in

Of all

these picturesque gardens

France, except that of the Petit

out in 1780 by Richard Mique

caprice of

Queen Marie- Antoinette

(1 728-1 794)

(///.

153).

SCULPTURE
more Baroque than architecture in eighteenth-century
stemmed from Coysevox rather than Girardon. Most

Sculpture was
France.

192

It

of the

artists

dramatic attitudes,

taste for

Rome, bringing back with them the

eloquent gestures, and drapery in move-

made long visits

to

ment. The evolution of baroquism can easily be traced through the

families

of artists which went back to the period of Louis

XIV -

the-

Coustous (nephews of Coysevox), the Lemoynes, the Adams, and

the Slodtz family.

The second Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne (1704-173 1)

was the

most

portraitist

tradition

in favour

character of the faces

(///.

154).

under Louis

XV

he revived the

more thorough study of the

Busts of women, which had been

of Coysevox's busts by

Soleil,

became fashionable and acquired

smiling and coquettish attitudes.

On the other hand, Edme Bouchar-

unusual under the Roi

don (1698-1762), during

his

nine years in

Rome, paid much

closer

attention to the statues of antiquity than to

Baroque ones. Recalled

to Paris in 1732, he protested unceasingly,

both in words and by

example, against the baroquism of the sculpture of his period, and

produced works which harked back to those of Girardon yet appear

Classical before their

time

(///.

Small rooms required small

The Bust of the Regent, by
Lemoyne II, Versailles.
Lemoyne continued the noble style
of Coysevox (///. 104), in such busts
154

Jean-Baptiste

as

this,

but his

work

lacked that

sharpness of expression and psychological

penetration

which

distin-

guished the busts by his predecessor.

155).
statues,

and various

artists

met

this

demand,

especially Jean-Bap tiste Falconet (1716-1791),

favourite sculptor of Madame de

somewhat weak, and

Pompadour. His

the statue of Peter the Great

in St Petersburg at the request of Catherine

his usual

work

(///.

II

was

who was

affected grace

which he

a sharp

the

was

set

up

break with

lgg).

In the second half of the eighteenth century official commissions

became

rare,

of houses.

and the

None

the

tained the 'grand

artists
less,

style',

worked more and more

for the interiors

Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1714-1785) main-

and

in his

d'Harcourt in Notre-Dame, 1776

Saxe in St Thomas's Church

at

(///.

Monument of

157),

and

his

the

Comte

Tomb of Marshal

Strasbourg he harmonized Baroque

movement with the Classical cadence. Jean-Jacques Caffieri (17251792) still endowed with nobility the art of the portrait bust, which
Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828) reduced, more often than not,
155

Cupid Making a

Bow

out of the Club of Hercules,

by Bouchardon, Louvre,

Paris.

156 Diana, by Houdon, Gulbenkian Collection, Lisbon. These two statues illustrate the
French conception of the smooth and elegant nude, which derives from the School of
Fontainebleau.

157

In.

the Funerary

Monument

to the

Comte D'Harcourt, by Pigalle, NotreDame, Paris, the praying widow and the
mourning

with

spirit

lowered torch seem

to cry out against the figure of Death

carries off the

who

body of the Count.

merely to the

face,

caught in one of its fugitive expressions. Claude-

Michel Clodion (173 8-1 8 14)

satisfied the taste

of society for the

by Fragonard's paintings on themes of

Under Louis XVI modelling became more and more
smooth, feminine nudes more and more numerous. Houdon's
Diana, with its smooth and slender limbs wholly integrated,

bibelot-sculpture inspired
gallantry.

reminds us of the forms characteristic of the Fontainebleau School

(especially those

of Primaticcio) in the sixteenth century

(///.

156).

PAINTING
Whether

the

name of Antoine Watteau - who was born

in 1684

and

died in 1721 - should be associated with the seventeenth or with the

eighteenth century

is

a controversial question.

his art, contrasting as

century, has

it

made some

The

poetic gravity of

does with the frivolity of the eighteenth

him
would

historians consider

seventeenth century, but this argument

as

belonging to the

force us to say the

195

same of Chardin. The truth

is

that

firmly to the eighteenth century

by

his

technique Watteau belongs

he brings out, in

fact,

the altered

balance between the tendencies that had been in conflict at the end

of the seventeenth century and had nourished the opposition between

the Poussinists and the followers of Rubens, between the partisans of

design and those of colour. Watteau had studied Rubens in the

Medici Gallery in the Luxembourg Palace and he had combined

and Veronese. His

art

was

a poetical escape into

an enchanted world,

which he created by means of characters from the

dell' Arte

Italian

Commedia

and from the Comedie-Francaise, and of landscapes from

the great gardens in autumn. His

choly and

from the

kind of anguished

rest

work

is

laden with a deep melan-

sensibility.

Two

pictures stand out

- the Embarquement pour Cythere (Louvre)

and the Enseigne

1 71 7,

this

great masters of colour - of Titian

two other

influence with that of

executed rapidly,

de

Gersaint (Berlin)

[III.

158),

(///.

than a year before his death, for use

less

159),

which he
as a sign

for a picture dealer's shop.

Watteau's painting,

like Chardin's,

been in the seventeenth century eighteenth century,

art,

was

still

as Poussin's

had

a personal speculation. In the

when painting was an

art

of society, not

Court

conditions changed. There was an abundance of commissions,

which enabled many

painters to gain a living.

But

these painters returned to the condition of artisans,

some extent
and there was

to

nothing comparable, in the eighteenth century, to the half-princely

situation enjoyed by Le

Brun under Louis XIV. Families handed down

members -

the tricks of the trade; 'dynasties' with almost countless

Van Loos - spanned the century.

quality of the artisan left its mark on the manner of painting.
sought not so much to find a style of their own as to paint

the Coypels, the de Troys, the

This
Artists

manner - which indeed was best suited

to the illustrative quality demanded of them. Painting, which in the
seventeenth century had tended towards formal research, became
correctly in an impersonal

mere
196

depiction.

/*

158 L'Enseigne de Gersaint, by Antoine Watteau, Staatliche Schlosser und Garten, Berlin.
Painted in a few days for use as a sign for the shop of Gersaint, the dealer, this picture is one

of the most poetic evocations of the elegant

When,

life

of eighteenth-century France.

in 171 7, the Embarquement pour

the Academie,

where

his reception as a

it

Cy there was

was the picture submitted by Watteau

member,

it

was omcially described

Tins genre was chiefly graced, after Watteau, by

his
as

- Jean-Bap tiste Pater (1695-1736),

Watteau did and who followed him

sphere to a
Lancret,

more

silvery one,

who was more

turned to genre scenes

The

registered at

(///.

two followers of

who came from

Valenciennes

closely, transposing his

and by Nicolas Lancret

varied,

more of

for

as zfete galante.

atmo-

(1 690-1 743).

a real painter, frequently

160).

painting of historical subjects turned into mythologie galante,

abounding in nudes. Francois Lemoine (1688-173 7),

who

1736 painted the ceiling of the Salon d'Hercule at Versailles,

something of Le Brun's nobility of

effeminate in the

work of

his

two

style

but

this style

in 1733
still

kept

became

pupils, Charles Natoire (1700-

1777) and Francois Boucher (1 703-1 770). Boucher was the favourite
painter of Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV's mistress his man;

nered grace

fitted in well

with the Rococo

perfectly to the requirements

style,

and adapted

itself

of trumeaux - those spaces framed in

197

159 L'Emharquement pour Cy there, by Watteau, Louvre, Paris. This was the picture presented by Watteau on his reception into the Academic it is a kind of summing up of his
;

art,

inspired

by Giorgione, Leonardo,

Titian and Rubens.

sinuous forms above doorways, which were

for paintings in the

Some

painters concentrated almost exclusively

of that royal and princely pastime par

(///.

162),
it

bleau, painted

XV. Both

this

these artists

the Chasses de Louis

by Oudry

finest evocations

on the

left

161).

illustration

genre under Louis

XIV

XV in

showed

a great interest

the Chateau of Fontaine-

for translation into tapestry, are

among

the

of natural scenery in eighteenth-century France.

In a society that delighted in

demand - on condition

198

(///.

and Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755) distinguished him-

under Louis

in landscape

society

only places

excellence, the chase. Francois

Desportes (1661-1743) began to excel in

self in

now the

rooms panelled with gilded wood

and supplied

its

that

it

sitters

itself,

portrait painting

adapted

itself to

with seductive

was

in great

the tastes of that

effigies.

Nicolas de

i k

3*

160

Lc Moulinet devant

la

no more than

*n

of the Beech Grove'), by Nicolas

profound poetic feeling becomes
picturesque and amiable evocation of the life of society.

charmille ('The Quadrille in front

Lancret, Staatliche Schlosser

in Lancret

-^

und Garten,

Berlin. Watteau's

by Francois Boucher, Banque de France, Paris. The mythothemes which had already inspired so many of the Baroque and Classical painters
are transformed by Boucher into the gallant style, which he adapted to the new decorative
161

Sylvia Freed by Amyntas,

logical

requirements.

Largilierre (1656-1746), straddling the

with

two

centuries, continued to

produce allegorical

portraits,

logical characters in

tumultuously flowing draperies

considerable success with

his subjects dressed

;

mythomanner had

up

his

as

women. The women became

decidedly

undressed in the portraits painted by Jean-Marc Nattier (1685-1766),

who was
desses

many

(///.

clever at transforming the weightiest matrons into god163).

accessories

most fashionable

There was

tendency to embellish portraits with

whose purpose was

practitioners

of

to define the sitter's status.

this

Louis Tocque (1696-1772), Nattier's son-in-law, and Carle

(1 705-1

200

765), also a painter

The

type of society portrait were

of goddesses.

Van Loo

But

Aved

a reaction

towards simplicity was not long in coming. Jacques

(1702-1776),

who owed

a great deal to

Chardin, was the best

men and women in private

wore when at home - the women reading or

representative of this tendency, depicting

life,

in the clothes they

doing needlework. The fashion for portraits in pastel

is

sometimes

dated from La Rosalba's coming to Paris (1720), but in fact this genre

was already being produced

1735) had

made himself a

two

exploited

artists

its

in France,

specialist in

where Joseph Vivien (1657it.

In the eighteenth century

resources to the full - Jean-Baptiste Perroneau

(1715-1783) and Maurice Quentin de La

Tour (1704-1788). Their

temperaments were opposed. Perroneau, a

all

restless

man, wandered

over Europe, and delighted in researches into colour which

him somewhat

forgetful of fidelity to the model.

made

La Tour, on the

contrary, stuck as close as possible to literalness at the expense of

162 Dog Guarding Game, by Francois Desportes, Louvre, Paris. This is an example of that
iconography of the nobleman's life, often used in the sort of decoration in which French
eighteenth-century painting specialized.

painterly effects
precision,
style

(III.

and

he aimed

rendering character with an analytical

at

his trenchant

drawing makes one think of Voltaire's

164).

The naturalism which

had inspired the

in the seventeenth century

Le Nain brothers was not extinct

it

emerged again

in the eighteenth

century under the influence of Dutch painting, which was having a

great

commercial

1779) painted
the

life

of the

With him,

success. Jean-Baptiste

still life

petite bourgeoisie

as

Simeon Chardin (1699-

and genre pictures that show,

sitive

woman

is

brush and confirming

had
163

Madame

his

illustrative painting

an Allegory of Water,
portraits.

of

highly sen-

of the loaded

real object

none of them approached

(///.

165).

He

his talent.

Nattier, Sao Paulo Museum,

mythological or allegorical fancy dress,

by Jean-Marc

Brazil. Nattier specialized in portraying his sitters in

and achieved great success with these

fine,

successive applications

emotion before the

several imitators, but

Victoirc as

by

intimacy,

the soul of these modest

Chardin created for himself an extremely

handling, achieved

its

of Paris to which he himself belonged.

with Vermeer,

homes. In contrast with the monotony of the

his time,

in

Madame de Pompadour, by Maurice

Quentin de La Tour, Louvre, Paris.
The meticulous care which La Tour
164

has given to every detail in this picture

in pastels

is

typical of his analytical

realism.

The most Rococo

painter of the French School belongs not to the

XV

but to that of Louis XVI, even though the

reign of Louis

tendencies to Neo-Classicism were then

Honore Fragonard
Boucher.

He made

(173 2-1 806)

a

journey to

return to Paris in 1762; but

it

was

coming

a pupil

Italy,

and

was the

into the open. Jean-

of Chardin and of

his career

painters

began on

of the Northern

Schools - Franz Hals, Rembrandt, Ruisdael and, above

who had

the

most

effect

Flemish and Dutch painters

on him. Like

who were

a feeling

masterly fashion.

his inspiration,

of improvisation and are always

He employed

the one inspired by Rubens,

rediscovered.

He began

all,

Rubens

the seventeenth-century

the highest importance to the handling of the brush

convey

he attached
his pictures

'carried off' in

different techniques, but the best

whose

secrets

as a practitioner

his

was

of transparent painting he
of the genre

galant,

and
203

produced the most daring pictures of the century. At the end of

the reign of Louis

own

XVI, moved by the

spirit

he turned to the

of the time and by

idyllic

and sentimental

This sentimental type of painting dominated the

work of Greuze

events in his
(///.

life,

167).

(1725-1805)

(///.

166),

whom the philosopher Diderot praised for his

fact, somewhat ambivalent. When

moralizing aims - which were, in

he followed the impulses of his

was

talent, forgetting 'illustration',

a fine painter, a forerunner

Portrait painting remained fashionable,

but no
field.

less ingratiating.

The

official

(1725-1802).

women, and

Hubert Drouais
and

Greuze produced

his best pictures in this

Duplessis

gracious portraits at this time

were of

most distinguished
(1 727-1 775),

Madame du

becoming more simple

now Joseph-Siffrein

Court Painter was

The most
the

Greuze

of David and even of Gericault.

who

Barry, and the

painters

painted

of these were Francois

Madame

two women

de Pompadour

painters,

Madame

Labille-Guiard (1748-1803) and Madame Vigee-Lebrun (1755-1842),

of whom the
204

latter

was favoured by Queen Marie- Antoinette.

Still Life with a Jar of Pickled

i6s
Onions, by Jean-Baptiste Chardin,

Louvre, Paris [opposite). Chardin

was the painter who rendered the
silent life of the humblest objects of
everyday life like food and drink
with the greatest degree of intensity.
1 66

by JeanLouvre, Paris
The technique of this 'gal-

The Broken

Baptiste
(right).

lant' picture,
is

Pitcher,

Greuze,

with

its

erotic allusion,

already completely Neo-Classical

in style.

167 The New Model, by JeanHonore Fragonard, Musee Jacque-

mart

Andre,

Paris

(bottom).

magnificent example of Fragonard's

Baroque brio, the whole is carried

off with the lightest of touches.

Landscape painting developed in eighteenth-century France, but

remained conventional. Joseph Vernet (1714-1789), during

a visit to

Rome, acquired from Claude Lorraine- through Manglard- the taste

and

for sea scenes

his

coastal scenes,

which he

treated romantically (in

storm pictures) or topographically the best are

;

his

topographical

pictures - his series the Harbours of France.

1808),

was

who

learned his trade during a

very productive

artist.

of ruins, but in

his

he became the

illustrator

hands

it

He took

became

of

Italian

Hubert Robert (1733long journey through Italy,

over from Pannini the theme

less

dry and more picturesque

and French gardens - and was

himself a landscape gardener. Later on,

end of the

at the

ancien regime

and under the Revolution, he developed into the chronicler of the

city life

of

Paris.

known

In his large-scale decorative works,

tableaux de place, he

was often conventional, but

in his

as

works on

small scale he was a very fine painter, with a sensitive and sponta-

neous technique. Moreau the Elder

(1 729-1

805),

who

depicted the

gardens and outskirts of Paris, took a step further towards sincerity

in looking at

and rendering outdoor

scenes.

History painting remained cold and conventional, in spite of

the efforts of d'Angiviller. Joseph Vien (1716-1809) was the

all

first

to

He was

put into practice the reaction towards Neo-Classicism.

followed by Francois Vincent (1746-18 16). But the manifesto of

Neo-Classical painting was Louis David's Serment des Horaces. This
picture,
at the

which was painted

in

Rome

in 1784

and exhibited

accordance with the theories of Winckelmann.

noble simplicity, like a carving in

painterly technique,
art

in Paris

1785 Salon, was based on a meticulous study of antiquity in

it

relief,

Composed with

and executed in an admirable

brought about the revolution from which the

of the nineteenth century was to be born.

MINOR ARTS
Made

for the

a prodigious

206

life

of society, French eighteenth-century

development of the

industrial arts.

The

art

produced

art lovers

of this

period had a passion for furniture and objects of

Madame

inventory of

many

kinds.

The

de Pompadour's possessions, in her various

town-houses and chateaux, fdled no

pages and took two notaries a year to

less

than two hundred quarto

make

after her death. Versailles

and the other royal buildings were packed with furniture and

objects,

most of which were sold by auction under the Revolution.

A new tapestry factory was opened and placed under the direction
of Oudry.

specialized in petit point

It

of different shades -

as

many

as

and used

remarkable number

twelve hundred - in order to imitate

painting as closely as possible, with the result that

were apt

many of the colours

The best efforts in history painting, by the de Troys,

Van Loos, in particular, were produced for tapestry.

to fade.

Coypels, and

The outstanding achievements of the French goldsmiths and silversmiths of this time can hardly be appreciated unless they are studied

abroad, preferably in Lisbon and Leningrad, since most of the pieces

owned by
some

five

the French aristocrats

hundred of

whom were Thomas

Germain
the

(c.

1 726-1

were melted down. There were

these craftsmen in Paris in 1750, the best

Germain

791)

(///.

(c.

1673 -1748) and Francois-Thomas

168). It

was an

Rococo forms. Equally, the workers

much

sought

and

gates

The

art that

in

- those by Jean Lamour

edict issued

by Louis

XV

at

Nancy

of gold and

pottery,

and then of porcelain, which became

style

many
major
ones

Barowas subjected to

In France the

168

que

restraints
arts.
it

in

In the

expressed

the

minor
itself

with more freedom and

fantasy,

as

in

this

silver

soup tureen made for Don

Jose of Portugal by Francois-Thomas Germain.

and ornamental
are outstanding.

in 1759 for the melting

services

silver plate

took kindly to

wrought iron were

after for staircase banisters, balconies,

railings

of

down of

brought into favour services of

a

luxury product.

which

Pottery,

and

smiths'

easily

took over the Rococo forms from the gold-

work, flourished throughout France.

silversmiths'

Its

finest shapes and polychrome decorations were produced at Marseilles

workshops of the widow Perrin) and

(in the

Niederwiller,

at

nobility,

the

Madame

de

in the east

of France -

Strasbourg, and Luneville. Encouraged

by

the

manufacture of porcelain received the favour of

Pompadour who,

in 1753, extended her protection to

the Vincennes factory. This had been started in 1738, and

was

in 1753

transferred to Sevres.

The refinement of social life found expression in the

of cabinet-

rise

making, both in Paris and throughout the provinces. The cabinet-

makers had

full

their customers

scope for fantasy; they responded to the

by inventing

all

taste

of

kinds of new forms adapted to this

or that requirement of living, especially pieces of furniture used by

women. This incomplete

list

may

give

some

idea

of the incredible

variety.

Tables, for instance, ramified to include bedside tables, bed tables,

trolley tables, tray tables, coffee tables, serving tables, card tables,

draught-board

boudoir

tables,

tables, tables

backgammon

dressing tables,

tricoteuses,

tables (a trictrac), flower stands,

with drawers

work

tables,

dressing tables

(toilette

(en chiffonniere),

combined work and

a transformations), pin-tray tables, breakfast tables, dining tables, side

tables,
etc.),

console tables (consoles en demi-lune,

d'ebenisterie, d' applique

gueridon tables, occasional tables, tables a fanglaise or a

Bourgogne - and, of course, writing

tables.

The writing

table

type or kneehole with drawers on

might be of the bureau plat

- developed through the

side

a serre-papiers
secretaire;

secretaire a dos d'dne (table

which could be closed

this

might be

in

by

la
it

either

supporting

a lean-to lid) into the full

en pente, en tombeau,

a abattant

(drop-

fronted), a cylindre (with a cylinder lid), de voyage, or the secretairearmoire,

at

and there were bureaux Mazarin, bureaux

which

to write standing, the bonheur du jour,

a cartonniers, desks

and other

varieties.

Again, there were wardrobes, corner cupboards, corner shelves,

208

book

cabinets, display cases,

and pedestal

jewel cabinets,

caskets, coffers, chests,

cabinets. Chests-of-drawers (commodes) could be frankly

such or could have drawers concealed by ornamentation flowing

over bellying fronts, and they could be

vantaux (with leaves), a

tablettes d' angles, mazarines, a perruques, a

la

Regence, a console, com-

modes tombeaux. There were candlesticks, wall-lights, candelabra, and

whose branches emerged from an urn borne

atheniennes (candelabra

on

a tripod, in imitation

Belle Athenienne).

of the tripod in Joseph Vien's painting, La

Mirrors were of many shapes and

There were

sizes.

and the prie-Dieu. There were barometers, therwide variety of clocks - bracket, cartel, mantel,

screens, fire-screens

mometers, and

pedestal, regulateur, musical, a clock

chest-of-drawers, etc. Beds

were

combined with

tombeau (box), a I'ange (partly canopied

a la francaise,

posts),

la turque,

and

styles.

a starry sky,

without

a la polonaise

(an

a la chinvise, a la d'Astsorg. Seats

were the most varied of all. Stools

heights,

by

a la romaine,

a I'italienne,

elaborate four-poster), a

a cabinet or

en bateau (with tapered ends), en

Chairs could be

(tabourets)
:

were of many forms,

en gerbe, en

lyre,

en eventail, a

fanglaise, en montgolfiere, caquetoires, chaises voyeuses (for sitting astride

card table), voyeuses a genoux, chaises

at the

chairs en cabriolet, a

la

bergeres, bergeres a confessional,

there

beds

were
(lits

chairs a coiffer

de repos),

and names, such

brisees,

were

d'affaires,

or

bidets;

arm-

Reine, de cabinet or de bureau, de commodite,

and short

and

chairs. Sofas (canapes),

day

a oreiller, a gondole, a la turque

and children's

settees (causeuses) also

took

many forms

as paphoses, veilleuses, turquoises, duchesses, duchesses

canapes en gondole, sultanes, ottomanes,

and marquises (which

also called confidents or tete-a-tete).

These pieces of furniture were executed with

a care that has

been surpassed. The chests-of-drawers, desks, and

tables

never

were often

covered with marquetry or with Chinese lacquer-work imitated in

vernis Martin.

Charles Cressent (1685-1768) extended the use of

gilt

bronze ornamentation on furniture of various kinds, especially writing desks and chests. Gaudreaux

(///.

169), Jean-Francois

Oeben (who
209

died in 1763), and Jean-Henri Riesener (173 4-1 806) were the most
celebrated cabinet-makers of the Louis

worked on

XV period, and the two latter

the famous Secretaire-Cylindre

du Roi, which took nine

years (from 1760 to 1769) to make. Georges Jacob (1739-18 14) was
the principal supplier of furniture to the Court under Louis

Furniture in the time of Louis

XV,

especially chests

XVI.

and wall-

bracket consoles, took particularly well to the sinuous and resilient

forms and
Louis

XVI

ornamentation of the Rococo

rocaille

straight lines replaced the

Under

style.

curved ones, and the orna-

mental motifs were borrowed from the repertory of Classical

antiquity:

rais

de cceur, ovolos, droplets, fluting, acanthus leaves,

palmettes, and fantastic beasts - to

soon be added. At

this

which Egyptian sphinxes would

time furniture was further enriched by the

use of exotic woods.

Under

the Revolution

all

this

richness

of ornamentation

appeared, yielding to a simplification of the Louis

as the

Directoire style.

furniture-making

169

Napoleon

XVI

style

known

restored sumptuousness to the

art.

Executed by Gaudreaux, with ornaments in bronze, by Cameri,

for the Chambre du Roi, Versailles, in 1739.

mode was made

dis-

this

com-

Eighteenth-Century Spain and Portugal

War of the Spanish Succession considerably

Low Countries, which were awarded to
the Treaty of Utrecht. The country now tended to with-

Spain emerged from the

diminished, having lost the

Austria by

draw

of the attitude of the Court, which became

more open to influences from abroad - that is to say, from

into

much

itself,

France and

resentful

Italy.

The head of the new Bourbon

was the grandson of Louis XIV.

and created

inforced in 1759,
Sicilies,

the

when

Court

Charles VII of the

last

Kingdom of

was

the

Two

III.

at that time, especially in the religious field,

splendid climax.

The Court

art,

localized in the royal palaces

while the

rest

formed by foreign

was

art,

attaining a

influences,

was

of Madrid and the near-by country,

of Castile, Andalusia, and Galicia were creating highly

original forms

of their own, which were to be the

the Hispanic School. This situation

to that

re-

became King of Spain under

This Court art was largely independent of the native Spanish

which

of

unknown

luxury hitherto

art there. Italian influence

the son of Philip and Elizabeth,

name of Charles

dynasty, Philip V,

married Elizabeth, the

They brought with them

the Farnese.
in Spain,

He

which prevailed

was

to

sought to Europeanize Spanish

expression of

some extent comparable

in the sixteenth century,

of the flowering of the native Plateresque

last

when

style the

in the midst

Habsburgs had

art.

THE MONUMENTAL ARTS

Architecture in this period was so closely

monumental

arts, especially

bound up with

with that of wood-carving

as

the other

shown

in

211

the altar-pieces, that

name

it

difficult to dissociate

is

it

from them. The

'Churrigucrcsquc' has often been applied mislcadingly to

comes from Jose Churridynasty of architects, whose work

Spanish eighteenth-century architecture.

guera (1665-1725), the

first

of a

It

of the tendencies of Spanish Baroque

represents only one

in the

eighteenth century, which varied very greatly from province to

province.

The

truth

is

that the eighteenth-century

was the creation of two

and

that

families, that

of the Churrigueras

in

ficant that the first large-scale

Baroque of Spain

of the Figueroas

Madrid and Salamanca.

in Seville
It is

signi-

work by Jose Churriguera was not

building but a piece of decoration for a church interior - the vast

altar-piece

of San Esteban

at

Salamanca

(77/.

170), for

which he sup-

plied the design in 1693. This fulfilled a development

begun
at

in about 1660

among

which had

the designers of altar-pieces, especially

Compostella - in the enormous

cliff

of gilded wood, the domi-

nant elements of which were the solomonic columns with vine-leaf

embellishments and acanthus foliage - while the whole was
subject to a

monumental

and Alberto (1676-1740),

made

unity. Jose's brothers Joaquim (1674-1724)

also

worked
1

70

at

Salamanca. The style of the

The High

Altar of the

Church of San
by Jose

Esteban, Salamanca, was designed

de Churriguera in 1693. It is over ninety

high and is of gilded wood. The

feet

gigantic twisted columns called 'solomonic'

are used. This altar-piece
in other parts

was often imitated

of Spain and in Portugal.

171

San Luis,

Seville, built

by Leo-

nardo, Mathias and Jose da Figueroa,

1699-173 1. The Figueroa family designed

churches

their

to

produce

astonishment by the accumulation of

ornamental motifs and by the creation

of

new forms

orders

in which the Classical

were purposely transgressed.

Churrigueras

is

distinguished

by the

care they took to retain in their

monumental works an overriding cadence ably, there

is

to be felt the influence

in which, unquestion-

of the Plateresque

Salamanca. In that city Alberto designed, in a noble

city square in Spain, the Plaza

and

in 1728,

it

style,

style

the finest

Mayor. He produced the plans

was completed by the ayutamiento (City

Hall),

was Andres Garcia da Quinones.

must go elsewhere - Toledo, Valencia, Madrid,

of

for

it

whose

architect

We

find examples of that unbridled

nately given the

name

origin.

mixing

The Figueroa

Classical motifs

Leonardo da Figueroa

which was
gueras;

sorts,

it

quite different

was the one

An engineer,

- to

freedom which has been unfortu-

'Churrigueresque'.

their churches in Seville, introduced a multiplicity

mouldings of all

Seville

(c.

family, in

of columns and

with those omudejar

650-1 730) invented

this style,

from the noble cadences of the Churri-

that spread to the overseas colonies

(///.

171).

Ignacio Sala, gave to a factory - the Tobacco Factory

213

of

whose building took from 1728 to 1750 - the air of a

but here, already, some restraint is applied to the disorder of

Seville,

palace

Figueroa's

monuments. Pedro da Ribera

Madrid with buildings

(the

adorned

(1683-1742)

Puente da Toledo (1729-173 2) and the

San Fernando Hospital (1722-1726)) whose overloaded ornamentation even borrows motifs

from drapery,

Valencia the Palace of the Marquis of

lace,

and braiding. At

Dos Aguas,

built

Vergara between 1740 and 1744, suggests the modern

At Compostella the employment of

tects

granite

by Ignacio

style

draw from

imposed on the archi-

these

some sumptuous

The whole town was

effects.

palaces,

and the old Romanesque

Cathedral was enrobed in a kind of Baroque reliquary.

was begun

at the

of a humanist canon,

Work

end of the seventeenth century, on the

on

initiative

Don Jusepe de Vega y Verdura, and was carried

on during many years of the eighteenth

two

172).

an almost exclusive use of mouldings, but they were able to

adorned with churches, squares, and

this

(///.

century.

The

facade with the

bell-towers - the obradoiro - was built between 1738 and 1750

by

Fernando de Casas y Novoa. Only Catalonia was almost innocent

of Baroque art. The most extravagant monument erected in eighteenth-century Spain

is

the Transparente at Toledo

(1 721-173 2), a

kind of chapel of many-coloured marble, stucco-work, and painting

in the

ambulatory of the Cathedral behind the high

altar

[III.

173).

by Narciso Tome (who was active in 171 5 and died in 1742),

and was celebrated by versifiers as the eighth wonder of the world.
It belongs to a specifically Spanish type of work, which is exempliIt is

fied in the camarim, or chapel

behind the choir, and consists in creat-

ing a transparent stage-set of gilded

to

which a magic grace

is

wood, stucco-work, or marble,

imparted by the light that passes through

it.

All over Spain the altar-pieces were enriched with decoration

which was more and more thickly

cluded

at times.

altar-pieces

The most

(1770)

by

a Portuguese,

Church of San Salvador

214

applied,

and mirrors were

in-

resplendent creations of this type are the

in Seville.

Coyetano da Costa,

in the

_
i

The Doorway of the Palace of the Marquis of Dos Aguas,

Vergara,

Valencia, built

by Ignacio

740-1 744.

The Transparente of Toledo Cathedral, by Narciso Tome, 1721-1732. With the

173
Palace of Dos Agnas, one of the most extravagant examples of Spanish Baroque art.
It is

worthy o remark

that

decoration remained Baroque in

all

these buildings

spirit,

and schemes of

the decoration being achieved

by an accumulation o ornamental motifs disposed symmetrically.

Spain would have remained innocent of the asymmetrical rhythms

of the Rococo, had not these been used in the royal palaces under
foreign influence.
In fact, as

we have

said, there

did develop, parallel with

art flourishing in the provinces, a

Italian

Court

this native

art closely related to the

and the French and imported by Philip

V after the

Treaty of

To escape from the Escorial, he had built for him

more modern palace at La Granja, near Madrid. The German
Ardemans and the Italian Sacchetti worked on this, but its gardens
Utrecht in 171 3.

in the

French

style

were

laid

out by Rene Carlier and Etienne

215

174

The Royal

Palace, Madrid,

was

carried out, 173 6-1764,

Juvara, which he simplified. This palace was the

spirit,

which

in time led to the

first

by

the decoration of the Palace

is

on

and

its

as sculptors

a closed

ground-plan of Italian type that

the Italian Juvarra,

out by his pupil Sacchetti

in a frankly

Rococo

on

gardens.

something of the austerity of the Spanish

by

by

Classical

Palace built in Madrid to replace the Alcazar (burned

in 1734)

plied

designs

new

abandonment of the Baroque.

Boutelau from France, and other Frenchmen worked

The

on

Sacchetti

example in Spain of

alcazar.

also

The

down

embodies

designs sup-

who died in Madrid in 1735, were carried

(///.

174).

style, dates

The

decoration of the interior,

from the time of Charles

III.

Buildings by Italian and French architects introduced into Spain

the Neo-Classical

movement which,

in the second half

of the eigh-

teenth century, gradually sterilized the Baroque art that had

such vitality in the provinces.

acquired a definitely

put up in Spain was

founded

in

official

now

The

Neo-Classical, as

spread,

stamp, for supervision of the buildings

vested in the

1752 by Ferdinand VI.

Academia de San Fernando,

The

best practitioner

of

this

was Ventura Rodriguez (1717-1785), who created

considerable number of designs, while the art ofJuan de Villanueva

Italian Classicism
a

it

shown

(1739-18 11) was

216

more

elegant and purist.

Monumental

sculpture - of

which

little

adorn gardens, and was usually done by Frenchmen.

chiefly used to

Baroque polychrome sculpture had

Granada,
Seville

was produced - was

at Seville,

and

in

a final

stemmed from

that

at
at

the images of the Faith to the graces

practised an effeminate

origin,

life

Murcia. At Granada Jose Risueno and

Duque Cornejo adapted

of the eighteenth century, while in Murcia the

Italian

moment of

of the Neapolitan

Salzillo family,

and mannered

art

of

which

cribs.

PAINTING
During the reign of Philip
It

became an

art

V Spanish painting was entirely decadent.

of the Court, supplied by Frenchmen, such

Michel-Ange Houasse and Louis Michel Van Loo, or

Italians,

as

such

Amigoni and Corrado Giaquinto. At the end of the century there

was more originality; Luis Melendez (1716-1780) continued the
as

mood of
Paret

the

still-life

(1 747-1 799)

painters

was

of the preceding century, and Luis

a society painter

who might

be compared

with Jean-Francois de Troy or with Lancret. At length Francisco

The Duchess of Alha, by Francisco

175
Goya, Alba Palace, Madrid. This picture,
which dates from 1795, is painted with the
lightness and delicacy characteristic of
Goya's first manner, which was still in the
spirit of the eighteenth century.

Goya

(i

746-1 828) came on the scene, and asserted once and for

the Spanish genius in painting. Goya's art divides into

From
life

two

all

periods.

1776 to 1793 he depicted the contemporary scene and the

of society in an elegant

a style that gradually

style,

sensuous and with gay colours

acquired a Neo-Classical form. His portraits

at this time, especially those

of women

(///.

173),

remind us of the

refinement of Velazquez. But his deafness, which became total in

1794, helped to produce in
satirical
(///.

manner he adopted

iy6).

cratic society
is

a bitterness

The French

which came out

in painting the family

His frescoes for San Antonio de

turning-point.

his art

Goya

invasion cut

la

characterized

by Romantic

of Charles IV

Florida (1793)

Goya

off

which had supported him, and from

in the

from the

that point

mark

aristo-

onwards

expressiveness and belongs to

the nineteenth century.

The Family of Charles IV, by Goya, Prado, Madrid. When he painted the Royal Family
Goya gave free rein to the Romantic style in which he had begun to work in San
Antonio de la Florida in 1798.
176

in 1800,

MINOR ARTS
Pottery flourished in Spain, the

was

on

called

more

to supply the colonies.

so since the

The

mother country

old factory at Talavera

kept up an enormous output. In the seventeenth century the designs

had been based on

of the East

Italian

filtered

models, but in the eighteenth the influence

through.

The

factory at Manises, near Valencia,

revived the production of pottery with metallic

Conde d'Aranda

lustre. In

organized, at Alcora near Valencia, the mass

production of pottery, recruiting three hundred workers,

cluded Frenchmen,
called in

1727 the

Italians,

in-

and Dutchmen. Potters from Moustiers,

by him, brought into Spain designs

The Talavera and Manises

who

factories,

in the

and other

manner of Berain.

factories in Catalonia,

produced polychrome pictures that were used to adorn the lower

parts

of the walls

in churches

One of the most

and

flourishing arts in Spain

in the eighteenth century

it

tall grilles

In the

was

it

had possessed

of the churches, the chapels are shut

with magnificent Baroque

work of the

of metal-work;

that

recovered the splendour

in the sixteenth. In the half-light

off by

palaces.

swirls.

silversmiths, repousse technique

was continued

along with the production of massive pieces.

The Bourbon dynasty

had been done

in France,

in Spain, following the

example of what

encouraged output in the

arts

of interior

decoration. Before the Treaty of Utrecht Spain had imported tapestries

from the

Brussels workshops.

Deprived of the

Low

Countries,

Spain became dependent on the Gobelins factories, which were

supplying the whole of Europe. In 1720, Philip V's Minister,
Alberoni,

summoned Jacob Vandergoten, an Antwerp weaver,

to

found the Spanish Tapestry Factory of Santa Barbara in Madrid.

Charles

this

The

III,

who had

started a royal porcelain factory at

Capodi-

when he was King of the Two Sicilies, transported

with him to Madrid when he became King of Spain in 1759.

monte

in 1743

factory decorated

two rooms

entirely in porcelain for the

Palaces of Aranjuez and Madrid.

219

Furniture-making, which in Spain during the seventeenth century

had remained

Renaissance

set in the

style,

developed during the

eighteenth century in the same direction as the rest of Europe,

owing

to the impetus given to the luxury arts by the Bourbon dynasty.

The English and French styles were imitated. The decorative scheme
of the interior of the Palace in Madrid was almost alone in admitting
Rococo features, and the rest of Spain remained faithful to the

Baroque throughout the eighteenth century.

PORTUGAL
an error - shared by the majority of historians - to

It is

kind of annexe of Spain. Portuguese

as a

of neighbouring Spain -

from

that

art

from German.

is

Another error

is

the Court, and

of La Granja
it

is

it is

from the

was an

architect

the sculpture,

its

art

vow

all

was confined

imported from

of Portugal

another

Italian,

is

to be

to Lisbon

V ordered

and in imitation of the

German Ludovice

Italianized

which was

It is

Escorial.

(1670-1752), and

forms

Italy,

a note-

Mafra became

true that

new

and the Alentejo. The

found in the North -

came

art as the Palace

of Seville or Salamanca. Joao

of a

yard where other architects learned the

influence

art

roughly, as French

from the native

worthy museum of the Berninesque.

a building

Portugal

initiative for this building

as different

to be built in pursuance

Its

as different,

treat

radically different

is

the tendency to exaggerate the importance of the

Palace-Monastery of Mafra. The

from

art

forms, but
real native

Oporto, where

at

Nicola Nazzoni (who died in 1773), became rapidly

assimilated to Portuguese ways,

and

at

Braga, where a fresh upsurge

of naturalism, comparable to that of the Manoeline

style,

may

seen. Eighteenth-century art in Portugal differed essentially

be

from

of Spain in being Rococo and using asymmetrical ornamentation - in the second half of the century, with the exception of the art

that

of Braga,

its

tendency was towards elegance, and

the art of Swabia or Franconia.

220

The

it

best examples,

was not unlike

however, are in

177 The Church of Sao Pedro dos Clerigos,

Oporto, Portugal, built by Nicholas Nazzoni,
1732-1748.

Brazil.

The churches

are very simple outside,

with hardly any

ornamentation except the facade; but their interiors are clothed in

gilded

woodwork, which

the ceiling. This kind

often covers the whole of the walls and

of ornamentation acquired an extraordinary

exuberance, especially at Oporto

(///.

177),

between 171 5 and 1740,

and then, between 1740 and 1760, moved towards unity and

harmony under the influence of the Rococo.

The art of the Court created few important
standing one

is

The outbuilt by
rooms and

buildings.

the Palace of Queluz, near Lisbon. This

Mateus Vicente (1710-1786), but the decoration of

was

its

gardens was by a Frenchman, Jean-Baptiste Robillion.

The Lisbon earthquake in

1755,

the city quickly, hastened the

radiated

most

from the

resistant. It

introduced the

was

its

capital into

was

new

in

which made

it

necessary to rebuild

coming of Neo-Classicism, and this

the provinces, the North proving the

about 1780 that the architect Cruz Amarante

style at

Braga. At Oporto the English influence

carrier.

221

Sculpture consisted almost entirely of religious images displaying

a great elegance

of form. In them the Rococo

the discretion characteristic of Portuguese

Machado de Castro
his

King

art.

not destroy

Under Don

Jose,

(173 2-1 822) attempted an equestrian statue

for the Praca

He was more

style did

do Comercio

in Lisbon.

The

result

successful in designing cribs, after those

of

was heavy.

of Naples.

by Francisco Vieira de Matos (1699-1783),

who produced Baroque compositions in the Roman taste; by the
Frenchman Quillard, who brought with him Rigaud's type of
portrait painting and - in the Neo-Classical period - by Domingos
Painting

is

represented

Antonio

de

Sequeira

pretentiously, as the Portuguese

The minor

were

arts

who was known,

(1768-1837),

chiefly

rather

Goya.
remarkable for a product that

specifically Portuguese, the decorations in tiles (azulejos)

is

with designs

in blue. These, in the eighteenth century, reproduced compositions

filled

with

religious

The

figures,

and considerable use was made of them, both

and in secular

art

(///.

in

178).

of covering surfaces with majolica began in Seville it was taken up in

it assumed great importance, at a time
when Spain was giving it up. In Portugal whole pictures were created with painted
tiles called azulejos, like this scene, from the Cloister of Sao Vicente de Flora, Lisbon,
178

art

Portugal, and there in the eighteenth century

now

in the

Museu

Nacionale, Lisbon.

*****

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THE OVERSEAS TERRITORIES

The overseas territories under Spanish and Portuguese domination
were not content to repeat the formulae imported from the mother
countries and to interpret
artistic centres

them more or

formed themselves

less skilfully.

Independent

in the colonies, inventing original

forms that were sometimes ahead of the mother country in their

working out of the

of Baroque. Thus the Portuguese

possibilities

colony of Goa, being in contact with the

the seventeenth century
as a

precocious Baroque.

monuments whose
The Puebla School

of covering the whole of a church with

stucco,

some

little

art

time before

this

of India, produced in

style

in

may

be regarded

Mexico had

the idea

scheme of decoration

was done

in Spain at

in

Cordova

and Valencia. In Peru the closely ornamented facades of the churches

at

Cuzco and Lima, dating from about 1660

to 1670,

were fore-

runners of those built in Spain at the beginning of the next century.

The seventeenth century saw a continuation of the building of

modelled on those of Granada, Valladolid, and Jaen
(in Mexico, at Mexico City, Puebla, Merida, Guadalajara, and
Oaxaca in Peru, at Cuzco and Lima and in Colombia, at Bogota).

large cathedrals

In the eighteenth century the colonial art

and the Baroque

style

produced

was

still

mainly

a great proliferation

religious,

of forms, both

in the gilded

woodwork of

(where

imitated the carvings of the altar-pieces). Sometimes,

in

artists

Mexico and

the interiors and

in Bolivia, a style

on the stone

facades

of carving in well-marked planes

appeared, marking a return to the plastic conceptions of pre-

Colombian
In Brazil,
arrival

art

(///.

lyg).

where there had been no

of the colonizers, the

art

is

artistic civilization

closer to that

before the

of the mother

country, although the various provinces of the colony are distin-

guished from one another and from the Portuguese Schools

certain formulae

of

indeed, Brazil carried

their

own. In the province of Minas

by

Gerais,

Rococo refinement further than did the mother

country, thanks to the genius of Antonio Francisco Lisboa (1738-

223

18

14),

known

as Aleijadinho.

Portuguese and

decorator, and

his

mother

cripple

and

a Negress),

a half-breed (his father

he worked

sculptor and, in his Prophets

at

as architect,

Congonhas do

Campo, breathed into the Baroque, which was by then failing, a

power worthy of the Middle Ages (///. 180).
The minor arts enjoyed great prosperity in Mexico, where they
were stimulated by influences from the Far East.
In painting on the whole in most of the Spanish and Portuguese
primitive

territories,

European models were interpreted

Sometimes they show

medieval flavour,

Mexico alone imported

School of Seville and
painters

it

large

in a popular manner.

numbers of

Quito and

at

Cuzco.

pictures painted

by the

as at

possessed, in the seventeenth century, certain

comparable to those of the mother country. In the eighteenth

century these schools declined,

as in Spain.

The portal of the Church of San Lorenzo, Potosi, Bolivia, is a remarkable example of a
179
type of sculpture that recalls pre-Columbian art. It is the work of native craftsmen.
The Prophet Isaiah, from the terrace of the Church of Bom Jesus, Sanctuary of Con180
gonhas do Campo, Brazil, is an example of the archaizing spirit of the great Brazilian sculptor,
Aleijadinho, the last genius of the Baroque anywhere in the world.

The Eighteenth Century

Central Europe and

in

the Germanic Countries

Artistic

in

activity

seriously

Central Europe and Germany,

down

slowed

in the seventeenth century

after

being

by the Thirty

Years War, revived- between 1660 and 1680, and continued to the

end of the eighteenth century with extraordinary

Political

circumstances

favoured

this

monarchy emerged with reinforced

victories

intensity.

upsurge.

prestige

The Austrian

from

its

decisive

over the Turks, and the feeling of triumph radiated

throughout the

Principalities

of Germany which had shared in the

struggle. This atmosphere of glory also contained a religious element,

since the victory

Crescent.

over the Turks was that of the Cross over the

Throughout Austria and Germany monastic Orders

their churches

and monasteries on

a vast scale

and with

rebuilt

a prodigious

luxury of ornamentation, making of them symbolical glorifications

of the Christian religion, with which they associated the Imperial idea.

Many

pilgrimage-churches also were rebuilt in the Baroque

Austrian and

had palaces and

Bohemian

princes,

castles built for

them from

century onwards. Prague became

style.

grouped about the Emperor,

as full

the end of the seventeenth

of churches and palaces

as

Vienna.

Before the Prussian hegemony, the vocation of Germany appeared

to be to avoid unity. In the eighteenth century

it

was more disunited

than ever, because France, in search of security, had succeeded

through the Treaties of Westphalia, Utrecht, and Rastadt in increasing the political fragmentation

by according sovereignty

to a

of Germany. This was done

great

many

lay or ecclesiastical

225

which were

Principalities,

now bound

to the

Emperor by no more

than a purely symbolical bond of obedience. All the bishops or

princes ruling these States -

some of which were

by

express their accession to the monarchical status

tion.

and

The

result

was

a multiplication

tiny

a royal ostenta-

of the centres of artistic

keen competition in building and in the luxury

strove at

first

arts.

activity,

Each

ruler

paragon of the monarchical

to equal that incomparable

XIV. Later they modelled themselves on the Imperial

idea, Louis

Court of Vienna. The

of that

- hastened to

in France,

Germany was

thus the opposite

centralization continued

and where, in the

situation in

where

eighteenth century, art was governed

by

rather than

by

the

life

the influence of the king, so that

a 'private' character. Ostentation

was

as

of Parisian society

it

tended to acquire

important to the Protestant

princes as to the Catholic, except that in a Protestant State the

of the Court had no

art

rival, since the

churches offered few chances for

kirche in Dresden: this building,

art.

arrangement of the Lutheran

An

exception was the Frauen-

which was

built

by Georg Bahr on

had all the external characteristics of a Catholic

a central ground-plan,

church, though the interior was adapted to Lutheran worship.

Since

Germany

did not suffer the devastation caused by the French

Revolution - and in

it is

in this part

and gardens that are

more than
inspired

The

by

spite

still

shadow its

of the ravages of the Second World

War

of Europe that one must look for princely palaces

whole and

intact,

magnificent one,

while France offers no

it is

- of what the

art

German Baroque

art

true

kings once was.

peculiar achievements of Austrian and

were the result of an original interpretation of the forms invented in

Italy

and in France. Austria, having received possessions in

under the Treaty of Utrecht, welcomed

all

kinds,

from

a flood

of

Italy

Italian artists

of

the end of the seventeenth century to the end of the

eighteenth - architects, painters, sculptors, masters of decoration,

and designers for the stage came

had been exporting craftsmen
226

in, chiefly

from Lombardy, which

in the building arts

from the Middle

Ages onwards and was

welcomed

now

Italians, chiefly for

under Austrian

not shone and had few fine models to offer

German Courts
artists,

whether

to the spirit

the

new-comers were

chiefly

of the

who had

to the

Germany

societies for

but for the art of the

from France. Yet

which they were working

the greatest influence in

artists.

these

by German

French influence

is

that

The French

Germany were

who were
The

princes about their residences.

reflected in the

it is

archi-

those closest

Rococo, Robert de Cotte and Germain Boffrand,

often consulted

names of many of the German

pleasure-palaces - Sans Souci, Sanspareil, Solitude, La Favorite,

plaisir,

also

French or Italian, assimilated themselves so perfectly

hard to distinguish them from the native

tects

rule.

church-building, in which France had

Mon-

Monaise, Monrepos, Bellevue, La Fantaisie, Monbrillant,

etc.

ARCHITECTURE
In Austria the Imperial

Baroque

of the seventeenth century.

style

was

Italian artists

Giovanni Zucalli contributed largely to

mainly the work of two great native
1723), ennobled in 1697 with the

Hildebrandt (1668-1745).
these artists

there

were trained

was not only the

Owing
in Italy;

fully

such
it,

as the

but

its

Carlones and

excellence

was

- Johann Fischer (1656-

artists

title

formed by the end

von

Erlach, and Lucas

to various circumstances,

von
both

what they brought back from

feeling for the 'grand

manner' of Bernini and

his followers,

but also the style of Borromini and of Guarino Guarini

with

on movement. Already

its stress

(Vranov) in Moravia, and in 1694,

Salzburg

(III.

181), Fischer

in 1688, at the Palace

at the

Church of

von Erlach had achieved

of Frain

the Jesuits in

his

own

style

of which he was to produce other examples in Vienna, in the

(III. 182) and in the Library of the Hofburg
by him and executed by his son). It is an eclectic style,
which works by an accumulation of masses and a multiplication of

Karlskirche (171 6)
(designed

effects

the

towards an expansion of the spaces - an aim which is shown by

artist's

love for the elliptical ground-plan a style

;

whose

richness

227

181-182

The Church of the Jesuit College, Salzburg, and the interior of the dome of the
by Johann Fischer von Erlach. In the Karlskirche von Erlach made
too literal application of the models he borrowed from Rome, while in the Church

Karlskirche, Vienna, both

a rather

of the Jesuits he allows himself greater creative freedom.

was meant

to express the Imperial majesty. Hildebrandt's style

a little less heavily charged,

cadences
in

at the

was

and more responsive to rhythmical

Mirabell Palace in Salzburg, and the Kinsley Palace

Vienna he created the type of the princely palace, in which the

main theme
sioned

him

is

a grandiose staircase. Prince

to build his

Summer

Palace at the Belvedere, a Baroque

version of certain French forms.

palaces, the
a pupil

makes

Eugene of Savoy commis-

The garden

separating the

of Le Nostre. In

his religious buildings

clear his preference for elliptical forms.

Hildebrandt also

One of the

decorative themes in the Palaces of Vienna and Prague

colossal atlantes,

who

and, in the interiors

228

two

upper and the lower, was designed by Claude Girard,

is

that

support the balconies on the facades

(///.

183), the stairways.

principal

of the

(///.

184),

The impetus

to the rebuilding

of the monasteries was given

at the

beginning of the eighteenth century by the Abbots of St Florian and

of Melk. Jakob Prandtauer

While

abbeys.
others

(77/.

183),

at St Florian

worked on both these

he continued an enterprise begun by
(i 660-1 726)

Melk, dominating the Danube,

is

entirely his

work.

In Upper and Lower Austria and the Tyrol the monasteries were
rebuilt

with enthusiasm. Often they include (centred about the

church) an array of sumptuous apartments - a richly adorned library

that

is

temple of knowledge, a great

festal

chamber, a theatre,

perhaps a museum, a prelacy or princely lodging for the Abbot, and

Imperial apartments signifying the alliance

power within

whose

utility

between the

monarchy

existing

was more symbolic than

spiritual

power and

real,

the temporal

by Divine Right.

From the monumental emphasis and grandeur of Johann Fischer

von Erlach and of Lucas von Hildebrandt, Jakob Prandtauer diverged
to evolve a

more chastened

style,

more

responsive to a harmonious

ordering of the masses and to rhythmical cadences. This refining of

the style

was

still

more firmly

Josef Mungennast

(d.

1741),

established in the

work of his

whose masterpieces

are the

cousin

Church

183-184 The Upper Belvedere, Vienna, by Lucas von Hildebrandt, and a section of the
South Front of the Palace of Sans Souci, Potsdam, by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobeldorff,
two examples of the use of one of the principal motifs of German and Austrian Baroque
the atlas-caryatid, or atlantes, symbolizing strength.

The Staircase of the Monastery of St Florian,

by Jakob Prandtauer, 1 706-1 71 4, seen
from the exterior. Even in the monasteries the
staircase was treated as a monumental entry: in
1

85

Austria,

this case it leads to the

Imperial apartments.

and Library of the Monarchy of Altenburg. But

it

is

still

not

Rococo, for Austria did not adopt the system of balanced asymmetrical motifs.

The decoration of the churches was

the palaces, and

was carried out

in various kinds

richer than that

of marble

often, in delicately painted stucco imitating marble, to

added white marble

tion the

rooms

statues

and painted

inside the Palace

ceilings.

or,

of

more

which were

By way of excep-

of Schonbrunn are decorated, in

what was being done in Germany, with

some rooms whose decoration derives from the Far East.
The Zwinger at Dresden (///. 187) may be considered as part of
Austrian Baroque by the quality of its inspiration it was a kind of
open-air festal chamber surrounded by a border of large and small
rooms, and it was built between 1709 and 1738 on plans by the
architect Daniel Poppelmann (1662-1736) for Augustus the Strong,
Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. But Germany very soon
moved towards an elaboration of the Rococo style this consisted in
imitation of Versailles and

186
in

The

interior

woodwork and

of the Residenz Theatre, Munich, decorated by Francois Cuvillies

stucco.

/A

drawing from an increasing abundance of varied forms and ornamentation an essential unity, achieved

by bringing

all

the elements

together symphonically through rhythmical principles comparable

of music - which

to those

at that

time was enjoying a wonderful

flowering in the same part of the world.

rhythm

ornamentation

in

its

is

The characteristic of Rococo

counterpointing of asymmetrical

elements, ordered within an architectural

many

curves and counter-curves and re-echoing planes render the

whole space
in

is

vibrant.

and

stucco

in gilded

The

framework where the

The decoration of the churches was

lively

colours,

woodwork and

creative wealth

so great that

book of this

it is

size.

carried out

of the princely apartments

that

stucco often incorporating mirrors.

of German Rococo in the eighteenth century

almost impossible to give even a glimpse of it in

Several of the German-speaking regions

became

laboratories

of forms, which contributed to the working-out of the

possibilities

of Rococo. The Austrian province of Vorarlberg was a

nursery of architects and of the building craftsmen,

little

land,

work

in their

Austria,

own

district

who produced

but swarmed out through Switzer-

and Swabia. In

their

religious

work

they were

remarkably constant to the simple type of church inspired by the

design of the Gesu in

Rome.

In

Bohemia, on the contrary, Christoph

187

Central Section of the Zwinger, Dres-

by Daniel Poppelmann, 1 709-1 71 8. The

Zwinger was conceived as a vast open-air
festal hall, surrounded by rooms used as art
den,

galleries,

etc.

This explains

wealth of ornamentation.

its

prodigious

Dientzenhofer (1655-1722), an architect from Bavaria, took Guarini

and explored the

as his inspiration

and springing curves. Wesso-

plans, oblique lines, elliptical forms,

brunn produced stucco-workers

The King

of complex ground-

possibilities

who went

all

over Germany.

of Poland, the principal electors

and the princes and

prince-bishops had imposing residences built for them, to

which

were added gardens that, even today, still have all their ornaments
- their statues, their temples, their systems of fountains, their openair

theatres,

their

'wetting-sports'.

exotic pavilions,

The most complete

orangeries,

their
is

palaces built

for him near Berlin -

at

their

the garden at Schwetzingen,

out for the Elector of Mayence. Frederick

laid

and

Potsdam

II

had pleasure-

(Sans Souci) and at

Charlottenburg.

The

were those of the Prince-Bishop of Wiirzburg.

finest interiors

These, unfortunately, were for the most part destroyed in the Second

World War, but

the frescoes painted

by Tiepolo on

the ceiling of

the Grand Staircase and in the Festsaal have miraculously escaped.

The Residenz at Munich was burned down during the war, but the

decorations of

its

ceremonial apartments (Reichenzimmem) had for-

removed and have been

tunately in part been

the

work of Francois

who became
tion,

is

entirely

Cuvillies (1695-1768),

reconstituted.

who was

1739), a

Germanized. His masterpiece, without ques-

and poetic decoration of the Amalienburg (1734hunting-pavilion in the gardens of the Palace at Nymphen-

woodwork, and

is

in them, in contrast to

carried out in stucco

what was

many figures are mingled with the other motifs.

where the ornamentation
Cuvillies

showed an

enchanting conceits
is

The

They are

Frenchman

the elegant

burg. In both cases the decoration

and

is

heavy than

usual in France,

In the Amalienburg,

in the

Reichenzimmern,

inexhaustible imagination in the creation of

the springing of the arabesque never

for ever starting

up again

fine embellishments

tenburg, on

less

and

in an endless chain

of the

interiors at

falters,

of melodies.

Potsdam and Charlot-

which Johann August Nahl had done work, have

233

remained

intact. Collections

of

fine porcelain are often inserted in

the schemes, and there are several examples of

rooms decorated

in

Chinese lacquer - Schonbrunn even has one adorned with Hindu

rooms were decorated with an

miniatures. Often, too,

which by multiplying the

mirrors,

modest space

All these princes had theatres built for

(///.

stucco

that

186).

The most
at

of Frederick

II,

Sumptuous

the

had

woodwork

in gorgeousness

found greater freedom

by

built for her

and

is

by

has been saved

gracious of these Court theatres

as all these residences

them

bombing and

is

the small

Bayreuth which the Markgrafin Wilhelmina,

Bibiena, and decorated in

surpassed

them and embellished with

of the Munich Residenz, which

was taken down before

opera house

images expanded the

reflected

to infinity.

woodwork and
Cuvillies,

interplay of

sister

the Italian Giuseppe Galli

painted blue and gold.

were, the ecclesiastical buildings

scale.

for the pursuit

Architects and decorators

of their

spatial

and ornamental

inventions in the large dimensions of the church interiors.

The

archi-

and decorator Dominicus Zimmermann (1685- 1766) produced

the two finest examples of Rococo church-building on an elliptical
tect

ground-plan, in the pilgrimage-churches of Steinhausen in Swabia

(III.

188)

and

Neu

Birnau by Lake Constance. The most grandiose

of the palace-monasteries
century

beuren

is,

(///.

all

Germany

in the eighteenth

unquestionably, the Benedictine Monastery of Ottoi8g) near the frontier

several architects

with

rebuilt in

between Swabia and Bavaria;

a rare thing - it was completed

worked on it, and -

the buildings originally projected.

The innumerable

statues,

ornamental motifs, and paintings in the church join together rhythmically in that symphonic unity to which the

name Gesamtkunstwerk.
The diverse tendencies of Germanic

Germans have given

the

architect

an

of genius, Balthasar

artillery officer

architecture converged in an

Neumann

(1687-1753). Beginning as

and military engineer, he worked mostly for the

Schonborn family, whose ramifications extended over Austria and

188 The Pilgrimage Church, Steinhausen, Swabia, with its oval plan, was the work
of the two Zimmermann brothers - Dominicus who planned it, and Johann Baptist
who painted the ceiling, which represents the Assumption of the Virgin and the four
quarters of the world paying homage to her.

'

1 89
The Church of Ottobeuren, Swabia,
begun in 1736, was built by several architects and decorated by the best artists of
the time. The huge Benedictine monastery
of Ottobeuren, of which the church forms
a part, is a kind of summing-up of German

Rococo.

Germany

Worms

(during a certain time the episcopal thrones of Spire and

in the Rhineland,

and Wiirzburg in Franconia, were

all

occupied by Schonborns). Obsessed by a mania for building, the

Schonborns carried on

correspondence on

this fascinating subject,

keeping each other abreast of their plans. Bishop Johann Philipp

Franz von Schonborn selected
Residenz

at

himself, he

1723

Neumann to provide designs for his

Neumann had not yet proved

Wiirzburg. But since

was not given

full

to submit his plans to

confidence, and

BofFrand; then Boffrand himself was

result

of this combination of talents

summoned

is

a palace

buted in the French manner, and with

baroquized according to the

Neumann
Bruhl

(///.

churches.

go) for the Elector

beautiful

sent to Paris in

its

to Wiirzburg.

with

its

masses

outside ornamentation

taste, though without excess.

- Bruschal for the Bishop of Spire,

of Cologne.
of these

is

He

also designed several

Vierzehnheiligen (1743) in

Franconia, the pilgrimage-sanctuary of the fourteen auxiliary

236

The

distri-

German

built other palaces

The most

was

Robert de Cotte and to Germain

saints.

In

it

Neumann showed

Balthasar

superb

in contriving spaces

skill

suitable to receive the weightless stucco decorations.

to include the

melody of his

ellipses in a basilical

and adds grace

the abundant light spiritualizes

while

all

He managed

ground-plan, and

to the ornamentation

the lines and ornamental motifs converge towards the

reliquary containing the remains of the saints,

which has the strange

Having achieved complete mastery of his

form of a

carriage.

Balthasar

Neumann, was

able to find, for every

him, whether a palace, a church, or

a chapel, the

solution and the one best calculated to produce

German Rococo

genius,

theme proposed

to

most elegant

harmony.

and abruptly. There was little transition between the Rococo and the Neo-Classical - it can be perceived
art died late

in such a building as the

begun

in 1769

movement
from

that

Prussia,

by
was

Monastery of St Blasien

in the

Black Forest,

Frenchman, Pierre-Michel d'lxnard. But the

to put an

where David

end

to

Baroque

Gilly,

art in

of French

Germany came

origin,

and K.G.

Langhans (1732-1808) reversed the tendency. The famous Brandenburger Tor in Berlin (178 8-1 791)

Greek

art,

which

it

was

possible to

190 The staircase is the great show-piece

of the palace, a huge space in which the
genius of the architect had full scope. That
of the Palace of Briihl, Rhineland, by Balthasar

the

Neumann, 1743-1748,

most sumptuous

in

is

Germany.

certainly

is

evidence of a deep sjudy of

make without going

to Athens,

simply through Stuart and Revett's Antiquities of Athens (1762) and

D. Le Roy's Ruines

J.

des plus beaux

monuments de

la

Grece (1758).

SCULPTURE
The decoration of the churches required a great number of craftsmen
Germany received this technique from Italy and proceeded
to develop it with virtuosity. As already stated, Wessobrunn in
Bavaria was a nursery of these craftsmen. But indeed, in the Rococo
period, this art graduated out of the craft stage, since more and more
motifs with figures were required and a number of great artists
in stucco.

applied themselves to

Asam

(///.

it.

These included in Germany, Egid Quirin

:

191); in Swabia,

Zimmermann, Josef Anton Feucht-

mayer (1696- 1770), and his brother Johann Michael Feuchtmayer

(who was responsible for the stucco-work at Zwiefalten, 17471758); and in Austria, Holzinger (responsible for the stucco-work

The one with the most genius was Josef Anton

Feuchtmayer, whose masterpiece is the stucco-work in the pilgrim-

at Altenburg).

age-church

up

at

Neu

in a frantic

Birnau

(HI. 192),

movement and

where

all

the figures are caught

hurl themselves about with cries and

convulsions. Feuchtmayer's art here

is

throwback

to the anguished

rhetoric of Alonso Berruguete.

Wood-carving,
countries, enjoyed
statues

craft

new

traditional

German-speaking

the

in

prosperity in the Baroque period. Religious

were most often of wood, the most elegant being those

produced by the Bavarian Ignaz Gunter

(1 725-1 775).

Stone and

bronze were used for secular work.

Many
were

artists

producing

foreigners. Frederick

statues for the palaces or for the gardens

II

imported to Berlin

famous French sculptors of his time

(besides

ing pictures by Watteau and his School).

two are worth singling out - Andreas

Prussia,

by

the

most

buying some outstand-

Among

the native

Schliiter

artists,

(1664-17 14) in

and Georg Raphael Donner (1693-1741) in Austria. The

former was responsible for one of the

191

statues

The Assumption of the

carried out

from 171 7

decorative painter.

equestrian statues

from the pilgrimage-church of Rohr, Bavaria, was

by Egid Quirin Asam, Bavarian architect, sculptor and

Virgin,

to 1725

finest

<r

Wt

192

Josef

Anton Feuchtmayer.

detail

of the stucco-work in the Church of

Providence, by
193
the original in lead,

Georg Raphael Donner, from the Fountain of the Mehlmarkt, Vienna in the Austrian Baroque Museum, Vienna.

cast in 1700.

Louis

XIV

ancien regime, that

For

it

of the Grand Elector, which

Schluter took as his example the statue of

designed by Girardon for the Place Vendome, but he

gave an entirely

new

movement with which he endowed

He may

anti-Baroque

model by the impetuous

Donner, who executed some

character to that

fine bronzes for fountains

Giulani.

Birnau (near Lake Constance) by

now

produced under the

was

Neu

it.

and gardens, was

PAINTING
The museums have

which makes him quite exceptional

distorted

Italian

who ought

(///.

193).

most people's view of painting - we

tend to base our appreciation only on what

240

of the

be compared with Bouchardon in virtue of his

spirit,

the art historians,

a pupil

we

see there

to guide the public, lead

it

and even

astray.

Thus

commonly

it is

School
as

by
mediocre. They

is

stated

German

writers that the painting of the

are content to

mention

few names such

Raphael Mengs or Antoine Pesne. They have merely forgotten to

look up, and to absorb the forms and colours displayed on the

Many of these paintings are admirable their only

many of them that they discourage those
who would describe them. To concentrate human admiration, a

church

ceilings.

fault

that there are so

is

of loss

certain coefficient

harms

is

required; the very wealth of Baroque art

reputation, since admiration

its

The Germanic

artists

becomes too much

the possibilities of ceiling painting to

what was

learned

to be learned

stage further. In Italy,

from the

known as

from the

it

had discovered

Italians,

set

Having

they carried

onwards, one

painting free

from the

on the

walls,

by

the perspective

but by the end of the fifteenth century some

that the surface

it

may

into space. This spatial extension

at first horizontally,

'linear'

highest degree.

its

fifteenth century

observe a slow and tenacious effort to

painted surface and to project

was achieved

diffused.

of the eighteenth century took research into

artists

above the spectator was even more

propitious to such spatial expansion, and this gave rise to perspective

ceiling painting.

on

painting
its

effect

on

walls,

made

first it

use of the techniques tried out in

and Padre Pozzo's famous

a perspective

summit of the

who had

At

converging to

visual cone.

It

ceiling

a single point

depended for

which was the

was the Venetians and the Lombards

the idea of giving mobility to the ceiling space and

rejecting the help

had been borrowing from the stage designers, dared to

freely in the sky

human

figures delivered

The Germanic artists took up

further

came

the church.
its

field

set

whirling

from the laws of gravity.

these researches

and pushed them much

they distorted the space and imparted to

ments, by increasing the

picture

who,

of those architectural elements which the painters

number of vanishing

it

swirling

move-

points so that the

to life for spectators situated in the different parts

And

indeed

it

was

in the churches that this art

of expression, for in the palaces - except in

their

of

found
grand
241

<.*

^*Miky^

jT
1

jM

if

\\

s
fl^^^

1'

>*

mSpK
The

Bergmiiller,

from
from which

out an

and of diagonal

194

the ceiling of the nave,

frescoes

axis,

staircases

this detail

Church of Steingaden, by Johann Georg

taken, are a remarkable

is

example of composition with-

spatial vision.

- the dimensions were too small to allow

plav for

full

these speculations into the possibilities of space.

The

painters

to this art

who.

Germanic

in the

with greater or

less felicity,

virtuosity in the handling of spaces,

well

known,

for their

countries, applied themselves

work

acquiring an extraordinary

were

legion.

has been very

little

They

are

still

not

reproduced, and

indeed the intoxication caused by the contemplation of these forms

can hardly be experienced except on the spot.

standing
(///.

artists are

in

Among

Germany, Kosmas Damian Asam, Bergmiiller

194), Johann Baptist Zimmermann, Matthaus Giinther

and Johann Zick;

Hohenburg
artists

whom

(or

the out-

in

Austria,

Paul Troger,

(///.

195),

Daniel Gran, and

Altomonte). The colouring used by the Austrian

who were

closer to the

Lombards and Venetians, from

them -

is brighter, more joyful.

more voluptuous; that of the Germans is sharper or more artificial.
often indeed more Romantic, for there is sometimes a curious

242

the technique

came

to

admixture of the influence of Rembrandt. Romanticism, however,

of Anton Maulpertsch (1724-1796).

kind of Germanic Magnasco, who differed from Magnasco

touched Austria

He was

also, in the case

bounds of the

in bursting the

easel picture (to

limited himself) releasing into the space

of the

which

that artist

ceilings his

had

atmosphere

of lurid gleams that burst through the swirling darkness of night.

Finally, let us

not forget that Tiepolo painted the masterpiece of

ceiling painting for the

all

denz.

Nowhere

else

Grand

combined with those of painting.

No

himself by the enthusiasm he could

Is it

really right to mention,

such artisans

by

origin,

images and
interlopers

as

and

by

effigies

laboured

around him.

the side of these artists of genius,

at the

who

indeed was French

Court of Berlin

artists

is

who

created

ceilings.

Out Evil Spirits, by Matthaiis Gunther,

good example of 'whirlwind' composition.

St Peter and St Paul Driving

Goetzen (Tyrol),

to supply the

demanded of him? These men were mediocre

by comparison with those Germanic

imaginary worlds on the church

195

doubt he was carried beyond

feel

Antoine Pesne (1683-1757),

who

of the Wurzburg Resi-

Staircase

are the spaces of architecture so perfectly

F\fT
I

Parish

Church of

MINOR ARTS
German eighteenth-century furniture was an imitation of the French,
its forms were heavier and much less well balanced. In fact
the German Courts imported a great deal of their furniture from
France. They also imported tapestry, since none was woven in
Germany at the time.
On the other hand, Germany produced some good goldsmiths and
but

silversmiths in the eighteenth century,

to the art

and gave

powerful impulse

of ceramics. Though the German goldsmiths and

silver-

smiths did not attain the perfection of the French, they achieved

Rococo forms

were more exuberant. One of them, Johann

that

who worked

Melchior Dinglinger,

at the

Court of Saxony, repro-

duced in gold and precious stones extravagantly elaborate scenes with

many figures - for instance, in 171 1, 'The Great Mogul Aurungzebe
receiving the gifts of the nobles on his anniversary', with a hundred

and

sixty-five figures.

The glory of having

for the

re-invented the manufacture of porcelain

Western world belongs

the principal import

from China

to

Germany. Porcelain had been

into the

West

since early in the

seventeenth century, and the Chinese had guarded the secret of

its

manufacture jealously and

effectively.

But

in 1709 the researches

of Bottger, encouraged by Augustus the Strong

collector

who was a passionate

of Chinese porcelain, were successful in discovering the

process; and in 1710 Augustus the Strong founded the Meissen

factory to exploit

ware but

it.

were to have such

by an

at

highest standard

near

Munich

of Meissen.

its

then

Nymphenburg,

The

244

The most delicate of these were modelled

The Saxons kept the secret less well than the

factories, first private,

Ludwigsburg,

- started by Kandler - which

success.

Italian, Bustelli.

Chinese
at

This factory not only produced porcelain table-

also the miniature figures

official,

were

set

at Frankenthal,

up

in Vienna,

and

in Berlin.

was reached by the Nymphenburg

statuettes

have

a refinement

factory,

even greater than those

The Eighteenth Century

In the

first

in

Poland and Russia

part of the eighteenth century, Poland

dependent on Saxony since Augustus

II

was

and Augustus

politically

III,

successive

Kings of Poland, were Electors of Saxony. This situation made

easier for influences

from Central Europe - and, by

France - to penetrate into Poland.

painter Louis de Silvestre,

The

who were

architect

this route,

it

from

Longuelune and the

favourite artists of the

of Dresden, were called in to work in Poland. In

this

Court

way

the

country came in contact with the Rococo.

French influence was accentuated during the reign of Stanislaus

who in 1763 succeeded the Electors of

He had been brought up in Paris and had come under the
guidance of Madame Geoffrin, whose salon was then the most

Augustus Poniatowski,
Saxony.

famous

in Europe.

Wishing

to impart a Classical air to

and acquired collections

called in Victor Louis to enlarge his palace,

Yet the Lazienky Palace in Warsaw, 1784

designed by an Italian, Domenico Merlini, was Palladian

of French works of
(///.

196),

in style

art.

- a proof that

unknown

Warsaw, he

artistic

developments in England were

in Poland. Neo-Classicism

also

not

came into painting with Simon

Czechowicz (1689-1775), who had been a pupil of Carlo Maratta.

In Russia the policy of the open door to Europe had immediate
consequences in the
Petersburg, at the
architects
Italians.

who

It

arts.

There was

mouth of the Neva - and

of various

was the

nationalities

Swiss-Italian

basilical

city

being built - St

Peter the Great called in

- Germans,

Domenico

built the Cathedral in the Fortress

church whose

new

Dutchmen, and

Tressini

(1670-1734)

of St Peter and St Paul,

ground-plan with

its

dome

at the western

245

was

crossing

entirely

opposed to Orthodox

overall plan proposed for

Amsterdam, with

its

many

replaced that of Holland.

the Great,

when

St Petersburg

The

traditions.

was based on

first

that

of

but French influence soon

canals;

Even before

his

journey to France, Peter

considering the building of a Palace at Peterhof,

had been disturbed by the reports of what was being done

and had begun

Versailles

visited Paris

grandeur.

He

and

to recruit artists in France. In 171 7

Versailles,

and was struck by

their

scale

at

he

and

gave up the Dutch idea for St Petersburg, and the

Frenchman Leblond established the city on the right

bank of the Neva, with avenues fanning out from the Admiralty - a
plans of the

plan that

recalls Versailles.

The

Palace of Peterhof, built

on

the shore

of the Gulf of Finland, was inspired by the chateau of Louis XIV.

The

seeds

of the Baroque in Russia blossomed magnificently

during the reign of Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great,

princess

of great refinement and with

Chief Architect was the

the son of a sculptor
France.

He had

inspiration

Italian

a taste for magnificence.

Bartolommeo

whom Peter the

Rastrelli (1700-1771),

Great had brought back from

been trained by Robert de Cotte, but

came from Bernini and from Borromini.

his principal

In St Petersburg

196 Designed by an Italian, Domenico Merlini, the Lazienky Palace, Warsaw,

Neo-Palladianism that flourished in the Veneto in the eighteenth century.

Her

recalls the

197 The Imperial Palace of Tsarkoie-Selo, by Bartolommeo Rastrelli

decoration draws its inspiration from German Rococo.

he built the Winter Palace, on

a closed Italian

an order of colossal columns. But in the

(now Pushkin),

Selo

to the south

greater degree of Baroque fantasy

on

the gardens.

work edged with gold and

ground-plan and with

Summer

Palace at Tsarkoie-

of St Petersburg, he showed
[III.

lgj).

the French manner, with a facade, three

long, giving

'here the elaborate

This palace

hundred and

fifty

The decoration of its rooms

stucco - they included a

open

lies

in

yards

woodsmall room
in

decorated in amber, which Peter the Great had bought from

Frederick

War.

It

- was unfortunately destroyed during the Second World

made

Tsarkoie-Selo one of the most sumptuously

bellished royal residences in Europe.

tsars,

the great lords also

architecture

built for

them. Even religious

now became subject to the principles of civil architecture

and often acquired

Convent on

had palaces

em-

Following the example of the

monumental

look. Rastrelli built the

a scale as grandiose as that

Smolny

of the monasteries in Central

Europe. All these buildings were executed in brick, with ornamentation

added in stucco. The bare wall surfaces had

coloured sea-green, red ochre, yellow, or sky-blue, and

city

on the Neva

their stucco
this

gave the

a cheerful atmosphere.

247

French influence soon began to restrain the exuberance of the

Baroque

of the Fine

under the direction of

Arts,

were revised by Catherine

were occupied by
de
it,

la

founded an Imperial Academy

in Russia. In 1758 Elizabeth

who

Mothe,

in a style

from France.

its

Frenchman.

was

It

Statutes

Frenchman, Vallin

in 1759 designed the building

movement towards

Its

more important Chairs

which was

whose Classicism broke away from

In general the

Catherine

artists

in 1764;

II

to house

Rastrelli.

Classicism

was reinforced by

who was one of the greatest art patrons of the eighBy the quality and the quantity of the collections

II,

teenth century.

by her

she acquired

artistic enterprises

company of philosophers,

and by her fondness for the

she placed the

Court of

St Petersburg in

the front rank of the Courts of Europe.

As

a setting for the pleasures

Great ordered Vallin de

la

of her

Mothe

intellectual life Catherine the

to build,

on

the banks of the

Neva, the Small Hermitage, connected with the Winter Palace by

a gallery.

Here she housed her

much larger

building, and

this,

collections

the

but they soon required a

Old Hermitage, was

built for her

by Velten. Her favourite architect was an Italian Neo-Classicist,

Giacomo Quarenghi (1744-18 17). In St Petersburg he built several
palaces and a theatre joined on to the Hermitage (///. 198). The
Alexander Palace

at

Tsarkoie-Selo

is

also Neo-Classical.

1750-18 11), a Scot, built in the purest

(c.

the

Summer

Adam

style

Cameron

an annexe to

Palace at Tsarkoie-Selo, which included the Agate

Pavilion.

Won

over by these foreigners and by the Imperial

Fine Arts, the Russians themselves began to produce

European

spirit.

Neo-Classical

Academy of
work in the

Starov built the Tauride Palace, in a very pure

style, for

Potemkin, Catherine's favourite. After the

death of Catherine the Great in 1793 the part played by Russian

architects

to

became more important.

imposing character such

248

It

remained for Tsar Alexander

complete the building of St Petersburg, imparting to

as

Napoleon hoped

to give to Paris.

it

an

THE FIGURATIVE ARTS

Almost the only noteworthy examples of sculpture before Catherine
the Great

were due

1744 he raised

of the

in imitation

to Carlo Rastrelli, the father

his equestrian statue to the

of the

architect. In

glory of Peter the Great,

of Louis XIV of Girardon. A Frenchman,

who was Professor at the Imperial Academy

statue

Nicolas-Francois Gillet,

of Fine Arts, trained several Russians in sculpture, and they went on

to France to

complete their training. So

of Shubin, Kozlovsky, and Shchedrin

style.

The

is

it

came about

boldest enterprise in sculpture

was the

that the art

closely related to the French

of an equestrian

during the reign of

bronze to Peter

Catherine

II

the Great.

The French sculptor Falconet worked on this from 1766 to

sits in Olympian calm on a rearing horse (///. 199).
number of French and Italian painters, who spent varying

raising

statue in

1778 - the Tsar

A large

lengths of time in Russia, contributed examples of the style current

in Europe,

and

this

made

it

possible to create in St Petersburg a

School of Court painting, hitherto wholly lacking in Russia. History

painting remained mediocre; but Dimitri Levitsky (173 5/7-1822)

and Vladimir Borovikovsky (1757-1825) were talented portrait

painters.

Catherine's personal taste led her in the direction of Classicism.

198

The

Interior

of the Hermitage Theatre, Leningrad, by Giacomo Quarenghi, built

the Neo-Classical style, with rich decoration in stucco.

in

She dreamed constantly of Rome, but, afraid of

left St

Petersburg, cherished the plan of having

in the Vatican

Raphael's frescoes

copied in her Palace. Except for the Loggia, the pro-

was not carried

ject

all

a coup d'etat if she

out. Clerisseau,

with

whom she kept up a corres-

pondence, nourished her desire to learn about the monuments of

antiquity in Italy
all

she asked

him

for various designs,

which included

the drawings and watercolours in his studio,

studies

from antiquity and designs

and bought up

for imaginary buildings.

MINOR ARTS
With remarkable
Rastrelli,

ease the Russian architects

who was

under the direction of

responsible for the ornamentation of the

Winter

Palace and of Tsarkoie-Selo, developed into extremely accomplished

stucco-workers, bronze-workers, gilders, furniture-makers, metal-

workers, porcelain-makers, and jewellers, in response to the enor-

mous demand for works of art which had suddenly arisen in St

Petersburg. The Russian cabinet-makers and cabinet-decorators
specialized in the use
alabaster,

of

new

materials - walrus ivory, malachite,

and metal. The Tula factory produced extremely elegant

garden furniture of steel or copper. But for silverware Catherine the

Great and her Court sent their orders to Paris. This
sales

by

the

is

Soviet Government, the Hermitage

why,

in spite

Museum

of

still

contains a magnificent collection of French silver.

199
trian

The

eques-

statue

in

bronze of Peter the

Leningrad,
Great,
by Falconet, 17661778.

The

of the

rearing; horse

is

assured

devices -

balance

by various
by the tail,

and by the serpent,

which symbolizes
rebellion defeated.

***

Xr

The Eighteenth Century

Art

in the

in

the

Low

Countries

Southern Netherlands remained Baroque during the

first

half of the eighteenth century, with a certain French influence

already apparent in architecture, in the Maison des

(in the

Dues de Brabant

Grand' Place, Brussels) by G. de Bruyn. During the second

half of the century Baroque exuberance in architecture was gradually

cooled by Classicism. In Brussels the large-scale complex formed by

the Place Royale

Guimard,

(III.

200)

and the Park was

laid

out by Barnabe

Frenchman, in the Neo-Classical style (1776). He worked

altering them to an unknown

from plans drawn in Paris by N. Barre,

extent.
to the

The Baroque extravagance of the pulpits lent

Rococo style. In Laurent Delvaux's pulpit for

itself perfectly

the

Church of

Saint-Bavon in Ghent, and Theodore Verhaegen's pulpit for Notrc-

Dame

of Hanswyck

at Malines, the structure disappears,

drowned

beneath the decoration. But the influence of Versailles introduced

Classicism into ornamental sculpture.
200 The Place Royale, Brussels, was laid out by the French architect, Guimard, who lived
in Belgium, but on the basis of designs sent from Paris by another French architect, Barre.

**m

Antwerp produced

whole

of minor

series

genre painting to the spirit of the century.

painter, Pierre -Joseph

One

who

down

In Holland Daniel Marot, a

adapted

fine decorative

Verhaegen (1728-1811), remained

Rubens's conception of art

style

painters,

faithful to

to the nineteenth century.

Huguenot, introduced the Louis

- which, in architecture,

when compared with

the

XIV
sober

Classicism of the seventeenth century, produced a truly Baroque

effect (in the case, for instance,

of the Royal Library in The Hague,

from 1734 (///. 201)). Most of the private

of brick, and often their only ornament was

built to a design dating

houses were
a delicate

still

built

Rococo doorway, sometimes of wood. The

rich burghers'

Amsterdam are adorned with Baroque

facades in stone, and sometimes their rooms have a decoration in
stucco that makes them into real palaces (for example, the Hotel
de Neufville, 475 Heerengracht, Amsterdam). The Neo-Classical

houses lining the canals of

reaction appeared in about 1770 (in the City Hall of Weesp).

The

genius for painting, which had burned so brilliantly during the

preceding century, failed in the eighteenth. Cornelis Troost (16971750)

is

worth mentioning; he

elegance adapted to the

telling a story, as

201

new

treated genre painting with an

spirit,

Hogarth was

to

and composed

do

England

in

The Royal Library, The Hague, designed in 1734 by

of pictures

series

(III.

202).

the French architect Daniel Marot.

<6l

1
wit

1!

IB

Ml IB

11

listub

h 11

202

'Loqucbantur Omnes' ('And so they

The Hague. One of a

all fell

to talking'),

by Cornells Troost, Mauritshuis,

of pictures in pastel recounting imaginary incidents during an

evening party of friends held at the 'House of Biberius', depicted in a lightly satirical spirit.

In contrast, the
silversmiths

series

minor arts remained quite brilliant. The Amsterdam

produced

Delft pottery

lies

lambrequin decoration,

now

fine

Rococo

pieces

and the hey-day of the

between 1700 and 1740. The Rouen

which was brought

in

style

of

by Daniel Marot, was

combined, in the so-called Delft ware, with the ornamental

motifs which were

still

not relinquished. Porcelain made

ance after 1750, at Weesp, Loosdrecht, Amsterdam, and

its

appear-

The Hague.

253

The Eighteenth Century

Artistically,

on

in

Scandinavia

during the seventeenth century, Scandinavia had lived

mixture of influences from Germany, Flanders, and Holland.

In the eighteenth century,

Sweden and Denmark changed

direction,

turning towards France.

The

kings of Denmark, wishing to modernize their capital, called

in the architect Nicolas

Henri Jardin (1720-1799), the sculptors Le

Clerc (1688-1771) and Joseph Saly (1717-1775)

founded an Academy which in time trained

these

Frenchmen

local artists. Saly raised

203-204 The equestrian statue of Frederick V by Joseph Saly, 1768, Amalier,borg Square,
Copenhagen, was inspired by Bouchardon's equestrian statue of Louis XV in Paris. The
portrait of the King, National Museum, Stockholm, is by Gustav Pilo, whose painting is
sometimes reminiscent of Goya.

205

Lady

The

with

by Alexandre
National Mus-

the Veil,

Roslin,

eum, Stockholm. This

portrait has

come

to

typify the smiling, co-

women

grace of the
of the eigh-

teenth

century

quettish

shows

it

certain

Venetian influence.

a fine equestrian statue to the glory

of Frederick

(///.

203).

The

best Scandinavian painter of this period, Gustaf Pilo (1711-1792), a

Swede who worked

Frenchmen
In

at the

in

Denmark, was

Academy

in

in

Copenhagen

Stockholm French influence had begun

contact with these

[III.

to

204).

make

its

way

at the

end of the seventeenth century. Hedvige-Eleonore, the Queen

Mother,

widow of

Charles X, had the Palace of Drottningsholm,

near Stockholm, built for her after the manner of Versailles by her

Nicodemus Tessin the Elder. When he died in 168

Nicodemus Tessin the Younger (1654-1728) carried on his work,

architect

255

and designed

garden in the French

style for

Drottningsholm.

He

then undertook the building of the Royal Palace in Stockholm. This

went on

for nearly a century

(i 697-1

771) and provided a field for

the practice of the arts over a long period. Tessin brought over

from France
smiths,

and

whole team of painters,

achieved some notable

by the

sculptors, ornamenters, gold-

One of them, Bernard Foucquet, a sculptor,

pieces. In 1732, when the work, interrupted

silversmiths.

disasters

of the armies of Charles XII, was resumed, the

Superintendent of Fine Arts, Harleman, went to Paris to recruit a

fresh

team of

statues

artists

of

Larcheveque made the

these, the sculptor

of Gustavus Vasa and of Gustavus Adolphus, and Jacques-

Philippe Bouchardon, younger brother of

Edme Bouchardon

(the

great French Classicist of the eighteenth century), stayed for twelve

years and produced

many important

pieces, including several royal

Count Karl Gustaf Tessin (1 695-1 770), the son of Nicodemus

Tessin the Younger, was Swedish Ambassador in Paris from 1739
to 1742, where he was active in bringing other artists to Sweden,
busts

and

still

more

Swedish

in arranging the purchase

artists

went

like Lavreince, spent

to France to

of French

art collections.

complete their training. Some,

long periods there, while others became part

of the French School - notably the portrait painter Alexandre Roslin

(171 8-1793).

Having married and

settled

Court Painter to Louis XVI, but

naturalist stiffness

which

The 'Gustavian

style'

is

his pictures

lost a certain
(///.

205).

- which prevailed throughout the reign of

III (1 746-1 792),

who visited France

and 1784 - took Sweden in the direction o Neo-

Classicism. Jean-Louis Desprez (1742-1804),

long time in

never

he became

foreign to the French character

that enlightened despot Gustavus

twice, in 1771

down in France,

Italy

and was Court Painter

who had

to the

studied for a

King of France,

received authorization in 1784 to go to Sweden. There he became

First Architect to

Haga,

interrupted

256

the

King and designed,

as a royal

a vast palace in the Neo-Classical style,

by

the death of Gustavus

III.

residence at

whose building was

The Eighteenth Century

In the eighteenth century, while the

Holland - was glorifying the

institution

Great Britain

in

whole of Europe - except

of monarchy established by

Divine Right (an institution so dispersed that the smallest German

Principalities

could boast of

England was experimenting with

it),

Parliamentary monarchy, with a king

government being assured by

What made
was the

talking to

Cabinet responsible to Parliament.

throne was occupied by a dynasty of foreign

fact that the

reigned but did not rule,

the development of the Parliamentary regime easier

The

origin, the Hanoverian.

George

who

two Georges remained German -

mafe himself understood by

could only

them

first

in Latin.

When

George

anglicized, tried to regain the reins

III,

his Ministers

who was

of government,

it

by

completely

was too

late.

Partly for these reasons, and partly because of the grossness of the
first

two Hanoverian

any influence on the

place

monarchy at this time had hardly

The refinement of manners which took

kings, the
arts.

to the Court - it was due to an aristocratic

whose advantages, indeed, were not based merely on the

owed nothing

society,

privileges

of birth

were admitted

to

it

thanks to the Whigs, merchants and bankers

and recognized

as the equals

important part in the development of social

of the provincial
the waters, and

cities,

life

of the nobles.

An

was played by one

Bath, to which the Londoners went to take

where Beau Nash became the

arbiter

of elegance.

During the second half of the eighteenth century, the drawing-rooms

rivalled the coffee-houses

they did not acquire the

and the clubs

full

as

meeting-places, though

importance which they had in France.

257

British eighteenth-century art has, therefore, this in

French

art,

that

it

was an expression of social

life.

common with

In France, at the

death of Louis XIV, the Court lost control over manners and minds,

though

it

retained the political preponderance

more and more

a safeguard

which

is

of

to be

in

England

it

tended

merely an expression of national sovereignty,

essential unity

within that

full

play of party

strife

the very principle of the democratic system.

ARCHITECTURE
Eighteenth-century England went through a fever of architectural
experiment. Books on the theory and practice of architecture, also
specialist reviews,

period.

were published in considerable numbers during

Members of the

Pembroke, and

aristocracy, such as

this

Lord Burlington, Lord

Horace Walpole, did not disdain to contribute.

Sir

All these researches

were grouped about

a revival

of the tradition

by Inigo Jones at the beginning of the seventeenth century,

whose direction was towards Classicism. Yet, paradoxically, Gothic
started

architecture -

which had never

fallen into disuse

- was

also to

have

a real revival at this time.

When

in

1718 William Benson

Surveyor-General of the
four years to
to that

live),

he

Works

set his office

of his predecessor.

(1682-1754), was appointed

(in place

upon

He found

of Wren,

who had

a Classicist course,

support in a whole

still

opposed

new move-

ment of opinion, general at that time in the Whig society, of which

Lord Burlington (1694-1753) was one of the chief representatives.
Lord Burlington visited Italy in 1714-1715, and returned at the
moment when Colen Campbell published the first volume of his
Vitruvius Britannicus (171 5), the aim of which was to display before
the eyes of architects the best - the most Classical - examples of English architecture. Palladio

outstanding model

and published, with

was now, more than

the plates

of his Quattro

a translation, in

ever, considered the

Libri

London

were re-engraved

in 171 7

by Giacomo

Leoni (1686-1746), a Venetian. In 1727 the designs of Inigo Jones were

258

206

Mereworth

directly inspired

Castle,

by

by Colen Campbell, 1723, is one of the earliest buildings

Rotonda at Vicenza, later much imitated in

Palladio's Villa

England.

published. Vitruvius, Palladio, and Inigo Jones constituted the three

theorists

new

of the

aesthetic

known

as Palladianism.

This aesthetic immediately met with great favour. Only James

Gibbs (1682-1754), a Scot and indeed a Tory, held apart from

followed the

Roman

taste

of Wren with

architecture

London).

By

(as

in the

from

the examples

of

St Martin-in-the-Fields,

(since destroyed) in the Palladian style. In 1723

he built Mereworth Castle

Rotonda

derivation

and

1715 Colen Campbell had already begun to build

Wanstead House
Villa

its

Church of

it

(III.

206),

which was inspired by Palladio's

just outside Vicenza. This

example was imitated by

Lord Burlington at.Chiswick House, begun

became general

in 1723. Palladianism

in the English country-houses

Campbell and Lord

Burlington built a dozen each. Lord Burlington worked closely

with William Kent (1685-1748), whose principal achievement

Holkham

Hall;

its

are certainly the

is

entrance and staircase with their Ionic columns

most

characteristic

maimer. Kent designed, in

Whitehall, executed

later.

example of the Burlington

a severe style,

the Horse Guards in

Lord Pembroke (1693-175 1) followed

259

2oy

The Royal Crescent, Bath, was laid out by John Wood II almost entirely in the
manner between 1767 and 1775. The city of Bath has been called 'the English

Palladian
Vicenza'.

Burlington's example.

He

ship with a technician,

himself built country-houses, in partner-

Roger Morris (who died

in 1749). Their

enthusiasm for Palladio was so fervent that they carried out

(in the

gardens of Wilton, Prior Park and Stowe) a plan of Palladio's for

a

triumphal bridge which he had never executed. Henry Flitcroft

(1697-1767), Isaac

(who died

The

Ware (who

in 1765) also

first

died in

belong to

this first-generation Palladianism.

generation of the English Palladians were restrained by

an excess of erudition the second - for example,

;

(171 8-1788)
style

now

and John Vardy

1766),

Sir

Robert Taylor

and James Paine (1725-1780) - were more

spread throughout the country.

creative.

The outstanding

The

achieve-

ment of Palladianism was the building of Bath, the watering-place

which the aristocracy nocked, by the first John Wood (1704-

to

1754) and

by

the second John

Wood (1728-1781). The latter invented

an element of town planning which was to have

Great Britain - the Crescent

(///.

much

success in

207).

Palladianism led on, quite naturally, to Neo-Classicism. This took

its

inspiration

Greek and
Italy,

no longer from Palladio or Vitruvius, but from the

Roman

remains which had been discovered in Southern

Greece, Dalmatia, and the Middle East (Palmyra and Baalbek)

and were

at that

time the subject of various publications. The

promoters of British Neo-Classical were the four

together with Sir William

Adam

Chambers (1723-1796),

brothers,

the author of

The Music Room, 20 Portman Square, London, is one of the purest examples of
Neo-Grecian decoration. It was carried out in stucco to designs by Robert Adam,

208

1775-1777.

Treatise on

Civil Architecture

practice at Somerset House,

scale

in

Adam

London. Robert

four brothers, paid a long

course of which he

met

(1759)

who

put his theories into

an administrative building on a large

(1728-1792), the oldest of the

from 1754

visit to Italy

Clerisseau,

who was

to 1758, in the

producing

body

a large

of drawings of ancient ruins. The sources of the Adam manner were

complex - they included French influence, antiquity, and the Renaissance - and

made

possible the elaboration

of a

than Palladianism and therefore adaptable to

The most
House.

expressive

He

style far

more

work by Robert Adam

is

undoubtedly Sion

by

revolutionized the conception of an interior,

ducing into

it

supple

many different schemes.

the style of ornamentation based

intro-

on antiquity and

completely with the style of the architecture

so

harmonizing

it

The

of the Classical buildings by architects of the preceding

interiors

generation had, in

fact,

(///.

208).

been decorated in the Rococo manner,

and sometimes with exuberant

chinoiserie,

and

usually being confined to the hall

the Classical elements

staircase.

The new schemes

of decoration were Pompeian, or Neo-Greek, or even Etruscan,

and there was

Chambers

a revival ogrotteschi in

trained several pupils

James Gandon)
the second

Adam

style.

who

followed

an elegant and very

(such as

his principles,

free

form.

Thomas Coolcy and

while others (such

George Dance and James Wyatt) were

as

closer to the

Neo-Classicism was to dominate Great Britain during

the birth of the 'picturesque' style in the

Romantic period.

&T*.

And

yet,

as if to

principles, the

brought with

it

of the Gothic

a revival

ceased to be used, to
buildings.

counterbalance the rigidity of the Classical

second half of the eighteenth century in Great Britain

some

style,

which indeed had never

extent, for university or ecclesiastical

The promoters of

Palladianism themselves - William

Kent, for instance - produced Gothic buildings. Amateurs such

started a fashion for

Gothic in

houses, Strawberry Hill and

this style.

became

The new

common

taste

architecture.

The

Sir

Twickenham,

built

caught on, and Gothic

and decorated

libraries

and

in

galleries

in the great houses.

The evolution of garden

paradoxical, for

as

Horace Walpole (1717-1797)

country-houses. Walpole had his own

Sanderson Miller (1717-1780) and

it

went

design in Great Britain was no

from

in the opposite direction

creation of the type of garden

known

less

that

of

as 'English'

or 'Anglo-Chinese' was in fact the principal contribution of Great

Britain to the

Rococo

tions the British kept

style

on

- that 'French

their guard.

style' against

The most

whose seduc-

curious fact

the chief initiators of this type of garden design

were

is

that

also the

champions of Palladianism in architecture - William Kent, William

Chambers, and Lord Burlington. Palladian country-houses

like

^1

'*

&--)i-ii,-*:

View ofSnowdon, by Richard Wilson, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. Wilson looked
the British Isles through the golden haze of Claude Lorraine.
209

210

The Morning Walk, by Thomas Gainsborough, National Gallery, London.

at

Chiswick were

and were

full

set in

gardens that had a multitude of winding paths

of streams, pools,

valleys, cascades,

and rocks pretend-

ing to reproduce nature. Rare species of trees were eagerly sought

after,

and there was

a great variety

pavilions, artificial ruins

of Chinese, Moorish, and Gothic

(Graeco-Roman or medieval), mausolea,

and temples to the abstractions of philosophy or sentiment. This type

of garden

at

once became fashionable throughout Europe and either

replaced the garden in the French style or was laid out next to

THE FIGURATIVE ARTS

The outstanding sculptors
foreigners,

gardens.

in

producing tombs,

eighteenth-century
busts,

Britain

and ornamental

The most remarkable of them was

it.

were

statues

for

Frenchman, L.F.

Roubiliac (1702/5-1762).
Shortly After the Marriage, by William Hogarth, National Gallery, London.
from one of Hogarth's celebrated moralizing series, 'Marriage a la Mode'.

211

picture

Early in the eighteenth century, England continued to receive

from the

painters

were

now

Low

added to

Mercier) came to

Countries, but Italians, mostly Venetians,

these,

work

in

and Frenchmen

London. However, the country began to

James Thornhill (1675-1734), who

the methods of ceiling painting, carried out

produce painters of its own.

had studied

in Italy all

(Watteau, Philippe

also

Sir

trompe-V ceil pictures in the Great Hall of Greenwich Hospital and in

the

Dome

But

of St

(1697-1764).
in

Paul's.

the real founder of the British School of Painting

He

Holland and galant in France - into painting with

where expression of thought was

In England,

end of the seventeenth century

since the

was Hogarth

transformed genre painting - which was picturesque

a

moral message.

free, there

a great

had been

advance in

satirical

writing. This spirit of satire inspired Hogarth, and he scourged the

customs of British society in several

series

of pictures - The Rake's

Mode (III. 211). This literary genre, created

by Greuze in France, was very popular
during the second half of the eighteenth century, as is shown by the
sales of engravings which Hogarth had made after his pictures. He
also painted portraits that are really more 'studies' than portraits,
as did Fragonard later. The true glory of Hogarth is not that he

Progress

and Marriage

by him and adopted

a la

later

invented literary painting, but that he was the pioneer of the British

manner of painting inspired

by

that

generous manner, with broad brushwork

of Rubens, whose influence remained active during

the eighteenth century both in France and in England.

It

was

in portrait painting that the British artists

create a style

direction

to

of their own. Allan Ramsay (1713-1784) imitated the

ceremonial portrait current

contrast to

were destined

this,

at the

time in France and in

English portrait painting after 1750

of naturalness.

Sir

Joshua Reynolds

(1

Italy. In

moved

in the

725-1 792)

and

Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) - exact contemporaries - were

the two greatest English portrait painters of the eighteenth century,
but their pictures were of quite different types. Reynolds was a
265

temperamental painter

who

loved to yield to the excitement of

actual painting. For all that, he

was acutely concerned over

questions of technique, and throughout his

of the masters,

especially

to penetrate their secret

and gave every year

life

of Rembrandt and of Rubens, in an

[III.

212).

a lecture

He was

also

expounding

manner he painted
the

sitter's

first

fond of discussing

When

his sitters

art,

III

on 17 DecemBaroque

President). In the

his figures in the action

character.

effort

his principles before the

Royal Academy (which was sanctioned by George

ber 1768, and of which he was the

all

he studied the pictures

and

attitude best fitted to

were women, he approached

the sensuousness of Rubens.

Thomas Gainsborough was more

naive,

more spontaneous,

sophisticated than Reynolds. His portraits are poetic

evocations like those of Van Dyck, for

tion.
(///.

He

less

aristocratic

whom he had a deep admira-

often painted group portraits, showing husband and wife

216) or a

whole family - the genre known

pieces', started in

Dutch.

and

He

as 'conversation

England by Hogarth and already practised by the

loved to place

his sitters in a natural setting

- and indeed

212
The Death of Dido, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Buckingham Palace, London. The dramatic
element in many of Reynolds's pictures marks the transition between Baroque eloquence
and Romantic sentiment. (Reproduced by gracious permission of H.M. the Queen.)

P*

^Pf

%
1
""v;^

JBPlRi^J*4.jhsH^HI^I

The Forest, or Comard Wood, by Thomas Gainsborough, National Gallery,

213
London. Gainsborough's vision of nature was inspired by the landscapes of Rubens
and of Ruisdael.

during

his

Ipswich period (1754-1759) he painted landscapes in a

spirit that recalls

Rubens and

leads

on

sensuous than Reynolds, what attracted

to Constable

him

in the

(///.

213). Less

women who

him was the soul and its sensibility.

The Neo-Classicism dominant in architecture made

sat

for

later in painting;

it

marks the

art

its

appearance

of Romney (1734-1802).

He began

by being a history painter; the naturalness, enthusiasm, and movement which turned the studies of Reynolds and Gainsborough into
living portraits became softened, in Romney, into a sentimental
pose

(III.

214).

Hoppner

handling into broad,

fat,

(175 8-1 8 10) crystallized the fine British

somewhat conventional brushwork. Rae-

burn (1756-1823) depicted Scottish society with

done with a generously loaded brush. The

relief

been ironed out for the most part by the restorers

his pictures, so that

much of their charm

a superb handling,

of his surfaces has

who have rebacked

has been removed.

267

Lady Hamilton as a Bacby George Romney, Tate

Gallery, London. A somewhat
214

chante,

sentimental expressiveness

com-

with a Neo-Classical
treatment, with which it contrasts, brings many of Romney's
pictures close to those of Greuze
bined

(see III 166).

Zuccarelli, a Venetian landscape painter

a

long time and was

foundation,

member of

introduced

the

who

lived in

the Royal

fantastic

landscape.

Richard Wilson (171 3-1 782), was led by

his

England for

Academy from

Welshman,

admiration for Claude

Lorraine to seek out the places in Italy that had inspired that

When
own

artist.

he returned to Britain, he painted the landscapes of

country in

delicate

its

his

golden or silvery light in which a

certain nostalgia for Italy can be felt

[III.

20g).

Watercolour paint-

ing - which in the other schools of painting was merely like

wash drawing,

method used

for preliminary studies

- became in

England, during the second half of the eighteenth century,

on

its

own,

practised for

its

own

sake and leading the

towards an attentive observation of nature

(as,

a genre

artists

on

for instance, in

work of A. Cozens, 171 5-1 78 5, and his son John Robert Cozens).
The influence of the stage was considerable in English society, and
the great actor Garrick was fond of the company of painters. At the
the

268

German, Johann Zoffany (1734/5-1810), often

depicted Garrick in actual scenes from plays. Sporting pictures
were in much demand in a country where the love of horses was so
end of the century

marked. The best painter of these, George Stubbs

lished an

Anatomy of the Horse

(1 724-1

and produced

in 1766

806),

pub-

real portraits

of

the noble animal.

The

genre in

history painting

which the English

;

petrified for so living a painter.

Yet

that Neo-Classicism invaded the art.

1798) and an American, Benjamin

a prodigious success,

David

were

least

happy was

it

was through history painting

A Scot, Gavin Hamilton

West

(173 8-1 820),

who

(1723-

enjoyed

were in advance of the French painter Jean-Louis

in the conception

history, based

painters

the efforts of Reynolds in this direction are strangely

of

a painting as

upon thorough

a scene

from

Classical

archaeological research.

MINOR ARTS
The

clearly

the

of the decorative arts in eighteenth-century Britain divide

into three periods - Baroque, Rococo, and Neo-Classical. In

styles

first

half of the eighteenth century the Baroque style enjoyed a

somewhat retarded flowering, chiefly under the influence of the

architect William Kent, who was one of the first ensembliers - designing the whole of the decoration of a house, including

Against

this rather

its

furniture.

heavy Baroque magnificence there came, round

about 1750, a counter-offensive which was favoured by the Chinese

influence, the revival
rocaille

of Gothic, and the introduction of French

forms. Hogarth's Analysis of Beauty, published in 1753, sang

the praises of the serpentine line just

condemning

it.

when,

All these researches into

nated in the publication of

Thomas

in France,

Rococo

Cochin was

possibilities

culmi-

Chippendale's The Gentleman

and Cabinet-Maker' s Director, in 1754. This book at once began to

circulate

gate

throughout Europe, except in France, and helped to propa-

the English

Rococo forms

in Portugal,

Holland, where 'Chippendale' became the

name

Spain,

Italy,

for a style.

and

England
269

made

of exotic woods, especially mahogany

great use

which some highly elegant forms were

In 1758,

when he

Adam

Robert

the

last detail,

which he had made such

composed

was

esques that he designed

pilasters

and he employed

ensembles in

it

style

style

- blue, yellow, green. For the

style,

view

Adam

available.

to placing the fine forms

1742 a technique of plating with

by

Round about

of solid

origin, invented the

side chair

duran Mahogany,

classical.

c.

silver

this

time

that,

within the reach

a Sheffield cutler, invented in

silver

which became known

as

1750 Paul de Lamerie, a Frenchman

most extravagant

of Cuban or Hon1740, Irwin Untermyer Collection, New York, shows the

Chinese influence, which was common
in the decorative arts in England at a
time when the architecture was Neo215

Thomas

style in furniture,

forms of great lightness and elegance.

of a wider public, Thomas Boulsover,

'Sheffield plate'.

aristo-

which the cabinet-

Silverware was so fashionable in Great Britain at

with

and arab-

by means of
shapes of his rooms

his walls

he sought variety in the

Sheraton (1751-1806) further purified the

to

he brought stucco

maker George Hepplewhite made more widely

it

With

Italy.

for palmettes, ovolos, dentils,

he gave rhythm to

light colours

He

which everything, down

cracy he designed furniture in the same

drawing from

dominant.

of building and

long study in

subject to the Classical style

back into fashion, using

columns or

from

extracted.

found the so-called Chippendale

elaborate care he

213),

returned from his journey to Italy and Dalmatia,

very quickly imposed on England the Classical

decoration, of

(///.

rocaille

forms

(///.

216).

^21

Ph

^H

216

217

The Richmond Cup in the Collection of the Marquess of Zetland

was designed by Robert Adam in about 1770.

Silver

Tea Caddy, by Paul de Lamerie,

c.

1735, shows the

rocaille

form of decoration.
is

Neo-Classical in

style. It

These were

at

once imitated, but extremely simple silverware

remained very popular. In due course,

also, the Classical style

rendered with extreme strictness by the silversmiths

fashionable the urn shape,
(///.

217).

the oval,

was

who made

and the two-handled cup

This highly elegant type of work had an enormous success

throughout Europe, and was imitated in Holland, in Portugal, and

even in France.
Before the Neo-Classical reform, pottery in England had been
subject to the

most varied foreign influences - from Saxony,

Delft,

China, Japan. The English invented the technique of printed decoration,

which made

factories Chelsea

it

possible to lower the prices.

came

nearest to Meissen.

It

Of the

porcelain

was Wedgwood's

fine

271

pottery that proved to be the most original invention in British

ceramics, both technically and artistically. In 1768 Josiah
(173 0-1795)

founded

a factory

clearly his intention to imitate the

Etruscan

Greek vases then believed

the cameos of antiquity (III 218).

in the

218

to be

but in his coloured pieces, where the essentially Classical

shapes are decorated with white figures in

success,

Wedgwood

whose name - Etruria - showed

relief,

Wedgwood's

he was also imitating

invention had a vast

and competed with the productions of France and Germany

European market.

On

the

Wedgwood

Porcelain Vase the classical motif, 'The Apotheosis of

Homer', was designed by Flaxman,

who

took Greek vases

as his

model.

Bibliography
This bibliography has been prepared as a guide for further reading on subjects covered by the book. For
this reason a number of short comments have been included to assist the reader who finds such
direction welcome. General works in English on the Baroque and Rococo are rare and many of the
most useful studies in French, German, Italian and Spanish have not been translated.

wittkower,

General Works

Italy

bialotocki, j. b. 'Le Baroque:

attitude',
epoque,
Style,

briganti, G. Pietro da Cortona,

Florence, 1962.

Bernini,

friedlaender, w. Caravaggio
Studies, Princeton, 1955. The

V Information d'His-

article in

Jan.-Feb. 1962,
pp. 19-33. An excellent study
on the origin of the word and
the evolution of the concept
toire de Vart,

of Baroque
castelli,

and

e.

others. Retorica

Atti del III

Con-

Internazionale di

Studi

e Barocco,

gresso

art.

Rome,

Umanistici,

1955.

on

the

of

New

Consult for
historical background of the
early part of the period.

documenand biblio-

graphy.

text

Almost

and bibliography.

hempel, e. Francesco Borromini,

Vienna, 1924.

tion,

The Classical TradiOxford, 1949. 'Note on

G.

the Baroque', p. 289, provides a succinct study of much

of the underlying theory.

kaufmann, e. The Architecture

in the Age of Reason, Cambridge, Mass., 1955. Useful,
though much of the book is

given to Neo-Classicism.
lees-milne,

j.

Baroque Europe,

London,

1962. Should be
consulted for its illustrations.

SCHONBERGER, A., and SOEHNER,

H. The Age of Rococo, London,
i960. Valuable for the arts of
the eighteenth century.

Many

illustrations.

tapie, v.

Lyon,

Carauage,

L.

London,

r.

gether
historic

i960.
several

Brings

interest,

to-

of
grouped

studies

XVIIIth

in

London,

I959-

mahon,

D. Mostra dei Carracci,

Catalogue, Bologna, 1956.

much

Introduction,

docu-

mentation, illustrations, bibliography.

tallucchini,

r.

La

pittura vene-

ziana del Settecento, Venice,

i960.

1955.

Essential

catalogue

raisonne

of Bernini's sculp-

ture.

Spain, Portugal and Latin

America

ANGULO

iniguez, D. Historia del

to

Barcelona, 1945-.
study of art in

date,

An exhaustive

South America.
baird, j. a. The Churches of
Mexico, 1530-1810, Berkeley,
1962.

bazin,

V Alcijadinho

g.

baroque

sculpture

au

et

la

bresil,

Paris, 1963.

bazin, g.
baroque

V architecture
au

bresil,

religieuse

vols.,

Paris, 1956-58.

GOMEZ-MORENO, M. E. Escultlira
del Sigh XVII, Barcelona,
1963. An exhaustive study on
with

sculpture

important

bibliographies.

kubler,

g.

and soria, m. Art and

Spain
and
in
and their American
Dominions, 1500-1800, Har-

Architecture

Portugal

mondsworth,
pane,
R.
Bernini
architetto,
Venice, 1953. Should be con-

1959.

The most

complete survey in English.

Illustrations and bibliography.

sulted for Bernini's architec-

kubler,
Sighs

ture, bibliography.

waterhouse, e. Italian Baroque

Painting, London, 1962.

wittkower,

The Age of Grandeur,

London,

1961.

levey, M. Painting
Century
Venice,

certainly be consulted.

highet,

a thousand
comprehensive

Munich, 1956. Should

Barock,

of the

Baroque,

arte hispano-americano, 3 vols,

colzio, v. Seicento e Settecento,

2nd edition, 2 vols., Turin,

jullian,

hausenstein, w. Von Genie des

includes

subject;

original research,
tation, illustration

illustrations,

1952.

Sculptor

and most thorough work

1961.

penetrating symposium.
friedrich, c. j. The Age
the Baroque 1610-1660,

York,

best

Roman

Gian Lorenzo

r.

the

R.

in

tecture

Art and ArchiItaly

1600
to

Harmondsworth, 1958.
Covers most of the period
1730,

and should certainly be con-

geographically, on the seventeenth and eighteenth cen-

illustrations

turies.

essay

sulted.

Full

bibliography,

and
on Bernini.

important

Arquitectura

g.

XVII y XVIII,

de

los

Barce-

lona, 1957.
j. Baroque in Spain
and Portugal and its antecedents,
London, i960. Should be
used with caution.

lees-milne,

lopez-rey,

j.

Velazquez.

A cata-

of his

oeuvre

introductory

study,

logue

raisonne

with

an

London, 1963.

Essential for

the art of Velazquez.

273

lozoya, Marquis

193 1-

Barcelona,

minor

of. Historia del

to date,

5 vols,

art hispanico,

For

the

Colonial Architecture and Sculpture in Peru,

Cambridge, Mass., 1949h.

e.

Southern Netherlands
fierens,

V Art en

p.

Moyen Age

Belgique du

a nos jours,

2nd

edition, Brussels, 1947.

gerson, h. and kuile, ter, e. h.

Art and Architecture in Belgium, 1600

tecture of the period. 2 vols,

of illustrations.

arts.

wethey,

The Hague, 1928-41. Should

be consulted for Dutch archi-

to

1800,

Harmonds-

worth, i960. A useful work,

with good study of Rubens,
illustrations,

Brussels,

siecle,

1956.

Thorough study of

still-life

Erlach,

Bernard
Vienna,

Die

Barocke

1956
h.

Freskomalerie

Germanic Countries

Munich, 195 1.
Poland and Russia

bourke,

ANGYAL,

Baroque
of Central Europe,

Churches

j.

London,
manual of

very full
1958.
religious architecture in all
the Germanic regions. Lists of
the

and

Deutschland,

in

boeck, w. Joseph Anton Feuchtmayer, Tubingen, 1948.

works of principal artists

a good bibliography.

Die

A.

1961.
general study by a
Hungarian professor is one of
the few works on Baroque
the Slav countries
art in
written in a language of

This

Geschichte der Deut-

g.

Kunst, Section III, 2

vols., Leipzig, 193 1. Remains
a work of great value on

schen

German

art.

Hamilton,

The Art and

h.

g.

of Russia, Harmondsworth, 1954. Useful

for all the arts, but especially

Architecture

Bibliography

architecture.

and many
reau,

l.

illustrations.

Vart

russe. Paris,

painting.

feulner,
hairs, M.

L.

de fleurs
Brussels,

Les peintres fiamands

XVIteme

au

van,

Rubens,
short but
Brussels, 1952.
useful introduction to the
painter. Bibliography.

puyvelde,

l.

thiery, Y. Le paysage flamand au

XVlteme siecle,

Brussels, 1953.

United Provinces

bergstrom,
Painting

Dutch

i.

Still-Life

Seventeenth

the

in

English

Century.

edition,

1956. Should be
consulted. Illustrations and
bibliography.

London,

GELDER,

VAN,

H.

E.

Guide

to

Dutch Art, The Hague, 1952.

An

excellent introduction to

Dutch art. Consult sections

on the period of the Baroque.
Swhxens,

P. T.

A.Johannes Ver-

meer,

Painter

recht,

1950.

of Delft, Utexhaustive

An

study of Vermeer's painting.

vermeulen,

Handbocck
tot de Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche Bouwkunst, 4 vols.,

274

f.

a.

j.

a. Bayerisches

Rokoko,

Munich, 1923.

siecle,

1955. Should be
consulted for flower painting
period.
of the

Slawische

Leipzig,

Barockwelt,

Western Europe.
decker, h. Barockplastik in den
Alpenldndem, Vienna, 1943.
dehio,

e.

von

Fischer

tintelnot,

bibliography.

Les peintres flamands

de nature morte au XVIfime

greindl,

sedlmayr, H. Johann

freeden, von, m. h. Balthasar

Neumann, Leben und Werk,

Munich, 1962.

talbot

rice,

t.

1945.

Concise

History of Russian Art,

don, 1963.

Lon-

France

adhemar,
grimschitz, B.Johann Lucas von
Hildebrandt, Vienna, 1959.

LANDOLT, H.,
Schweizer

and SEEGER,

T.

Barockkirchen,

Frauenfeld, 1948.

and dieth, F. Die Vorarlberger Barockbaumeister,

Munich, i960. A study of
the Vorarlberger families of

lieb, N.,

architects,

whose work

is

found all over central Europe

and Germany.
LIEB,

and

N.,

HIRMER,

M.

Barockkirchen zwischen Donau

und Alpen, Munich, 1953.

thorough survey, illustraand lists of works of art.

tions

h. Watteau, sa
son oeuvre, Paris, 1950.

blunt,

vie,

Art and Architecture

a.

1500

France,

1700,

to

mondsworth, 1953. The

in

Harbest

introduction to the seventeenth century, including an

important study on N. Poussin,

illustrations

and biblio-

graphy.
bazin,
and
g.,
Catalogue de
Vexposition Nicholas Poussin,
2nd edition, Paris, i960.

blunt,

a.,

sterling,

c.

Important

documentary

material and bibliography.

bourget, p., and cattaui, g.

Jules Hardouin Mansart, Paris,
1956.

powell,

From Baroque to
London, 1959. A
study of the development
of Baroque architecture in
Austria and Germany.
n.

Rococo,

SCHOENBERGER,
A.
IgnaZ
Giinther, Munich, 1954. Contains a catalogue raisonne of
the sculptor's work.

dacier,
siecle:

E.

Vart au XVIIIeme

epoques Regence, Louis

XV,

1715-1760, Paris, 1951.

Part of a series of 4 works
which provide an excellent
survey of the arts of the
period. Also see the works

of Mauricheau-Beauprc and
Reau listed below.

florisoone,
francaise.

m. La peinture
Le XVIIIeme siecle,

Paris, 1948.

MAURICHEAU-BEAUPRE, C. L 'art
an XVIIeme siecle en France,
Parts I and II, Paris, 1952.
reau,

L'art au

l.

en France.

XVIIIeme

Style Louis

siecle

XVI,

EDWARDS,

and RAMSEY, L. G. G.
Connoisseur Period

R.

editors.

Guides: The Stuart Period,

London, 1957;
1603-1714,
The Early Georgian Period,
1714-1760, London,
1957;
The Late Georgian Period,
1760-1810,
Invaluable

London,
for

the

1961.

minor

rothlisberger, m. Claude Lor2 vols.,

New

Haven,

196 1.

With

raisonne

of the painter's work.

verlet,

p. Versailles,

hyams, e. The English Garden,

London, 1964.

Paris, 1961.

Art 15531625, Oxford, 1962. Consult

for the beginning of the

mercer,

Painting

in

whole period,

1790,

full biblio-

graphy.

and mtllar,

wfflNNEY, m.
English

Art

Oxford,

1957.

o.

625-1 71 4,

Exhaustive
well
illustrated, but with far too few
examples from the decorative

e.

arts.

English

e.

period, bibliography.

1837,

in

Har1953. Covers

to

catalogue

Decorative

England,

1537-

London, 1962. Covers

large-scale decorative paint-

ing from Early Tudor to

James Thornhill.

Sir

e. f. Wren and his place in

European Architecture, London, 1956.

sekler,

summerson,
Britain,

j.

1530

Architecture
to

1830,

mondsworth, 1953.

Scandinavia

paulsson,
tecture:

England

croft-murray,

the

Painting

e.

1330
monds worth,

Britain,

bibliography,

Paris, 1952.

raine,

waterhouse,

in

Har-

T.

Scandinavian Archi-

Buildings and Society in

Denmark, Finland, Norway

and Sweden, London, 1958.
reau,

l.

Histoire de

V expansion

de Vart francaise. Pays ScandiPays-Bas,

naves, Angleterre,
Paris, 193 1.

275

List of Illustrations
The author and

Rome, from

St Peter's,
air.

2 Detail of the Cathedra

marble
Photo:

stucco.

Anderson.

S.

S.

Bust of Cardinal Scipione

Borghese by Bernini, 1632.
Second
study.
Marble.
Height 3 of. Galleria Borghese, Rome. Photo: Mansell- Alinari.

14 St Veronica by F. Mochi,
1629-40. Marble. St Peter's,

Rome. Photo:

Ivo della Sapi-

Alinari.

Rome, by Borromini,
1

Facade of the central block

of the Palazzo Barberini,
Rome, 1628-33, attributed
to Bernini. Photo: Alinari.
Susanna,

Rome, by Carlo

St Susanna

by F. Duquesnoy,

1629-33. Marble. S. Maria

di Loreto, Rome. Photo:
Alinari.

16 Detail from The Calling of

St Matthew by Caravaggio,
c. 1599. Oil on canvas. Size

of whole:

Maderno, 1 597-1603 Photo

Mansell-Anderson.

129JX137.

S.

Carlo

tane,

alle

Quattro Fon-

Rome, by Borromini,

1665-67. Photo: Alinari.

Luigi dei Francesi,

Hesperides

9 S. Croce, Lecce. Begun by

Riccardo in 1582. Decorated

18

Photo:

Rome.

to

Paris

Mansell-

Guarini,

Turin,
1668-87.

G.
Photo:

Alinari.

11

Nave of

St Peter's,

Rome.

Building begun by Carlo

Maderno, 1607. Decorated
by Bernini. Photo: Scala.

276

Sala
Pitti,

della

25 The Glory of St Ignatius by

Padre Andrea Pozzo, 169194. Fresco, ceiling of the
nave of S. Ignazio, Rome.
Photo: Scala.
Still Life by Evaristo Baschenis,
oil
on
canvas.

Palazzo Moroni, Bergamo.

Photo: Urbani.

by

Cook

Bernardo

c. 1612, oil on canPalazzo Rosso, Genoa.

Photo: Mansell-Alinari.

Strozzi,

vas.

28 Melancholy by D.

on
19

Palazzo

Stufa,

Florence. Photo: Scala.

Hudson

S.

by

24 The Golden Age by Pietro da

Cortona, 1641-46. Fresco,

27 The

and

Galleria

23 Liberation of St Peter by
Caracciolo, 1608-9. Oil on
canvas,
146x81 \. Chiesa
del Monte della
Misericordia,
Naples.
Photo:
Mansell-Alinari.

The Conversion of St Paul by

Archives.

Lorenzo,

88|Xi26.

22 The Martyrs St Cecilia, St

Valerian and St
Tiburzio
with an Angel by Orazio
Gentileschi. Oil on canvas,
I37ix88|. Brera, Milan.
Photo: Scala.

26

Thames
of the dome,

Pallavicini-Rospi-

Rome. Photo: Alinari.

Borghese. Photo: Alinari.

by Anni-

1 600-1. Oil on
canvas, 90JX68I. S. Maria
del Popolo, Rome. Photo:

Alinari.

10 Interior

and individuals

21 Diana Hunting by Domenichino, c. 1617. Oil on can-

597-1 605.
Fresco detail from the Galleria Farnese, Palazzo Farnese, Rome. Photo: Alinari.
Carracci,

Caravaggio,

by G. Zimbalo and

others.

gliosi,

17 Mercury Giving the Golden

Apple of the Garden of the

Palazzo Pesaro, Venice, by

B. Longhena, begun c. 1663.
Photo: Mansell-Alinari.

later

Palazzo

S.

Photo: Scala.

bale
8

institutions,

vas,

13

Alinari.

1642-50. Redrawn.

Over life-size. S. Maria della

Rome.
Photo:

Vittoria,

Petri,

Thames and Hudson.

12 Ecstasy of St
Teresa by
Bernini, 1645-52. Marble.

Plan of the Gesu, Rome, by

Vignola and Giacomo della
Ponte; begun 1568. After
The Art of the Conquistadores,

enza,

bodies,

Bronze,

and

4 Plan of

official

their assistance in supplying original illustration material.

Rome, by Ber-

1656-66.

nini,

the

Photo: Mansell-Alinari.

St Peter's,

many

publishers are grateful to the

mentioned below for

canvas,

Madonna of the Bergellini by

Lodovico Carracci, c. 1591.

Louvre,
Giraudon.

Oil on canvas, 1 1 1 X 74.

Pinacoteca, Bologna. Photo:

29 St Francis

Villani.

20 Aurora by Guido Reni, 1613.

Fresco
of
the
Casino,

Oil

5o|.

Photo:

Paris.

in

Morazzone
chelli).

Fetti.

66

Oil

by II
Mazzuc-

Ecstasy
(F.

on

canvas.

Milan.
Photo: Mansell-Aiinari.
Castello

Sforzesco,

30 The Meal of St Charles

Borromeo by Daniele Crespi,
1628. Oil on canvas.
c.
Chiesa della Passione, Milan.
Photo: Mansell-Alinari.

40 The Immaculate Conception

by Alonso Cano, in wood
polychrome, 1655. Height,
20. Sacristy, Granada Cathedral. Photo: Mas.

31 Harbour Scene by Salvator

Rosa, 1639/40. Oil on can-

41 5/ Agnes in Prison by Ribera.

Oil on canvas, 79^X595.

9i|XH5f.

vas,
Pitti,

Palazzo

Florence. Photo: Scala.

Formerly
galerie,

I55|xn6.

vas,

Medici

Gallery,
Louvre,
Photo: Bulloz.

50 Helene
Children

Paris.

Fourment and her

by Rubens, c. 1636/

37. Oil on wood, 44 J X 32 J.

Louvre,
Paris.
Photo:

GemaldeDresden.
Photo
in

Bulloz.

Museum.
32 The Destruction of Sodom by
Monsu Desiderio. Oil on
canvas. Collection of the
Princess

Sanfelice

gnoli,

Naples.

Gabinetto
Nazionale.

di

Ba-

Photo:
Fotographico

42 The Adoration of the Shepherds by Zurbaran. Oil on

canvas, II2f X 68 J. Grenoble
Museum. Photo: Museum.
and
Rebecca
by
43 Eliezer
Murillo. Oil on canvas,

42^x67!.
33 Christ Expelling the

Money

Changers by Luca Giordano,

1684. Fresco, Gerolomini,
Naples.
Photo
Mansell:

Alinari.

34 Armchair of the early seventeenth century by A. Brustolon. Height, 49J. Museo

di Ca' Rezzonico, Venice.
Photo: Museum.
35 Chapel of San Isidro from
the Church of San Andres,

Madrid, c. 1640, by P. de
Torre. Photo: Mas.

la

37 St Ignatius by Juan Martinez

Montanes, figure carved in

wood polychrome. University

Chapel, Seville. Photo:

Mas.

Photo:

Dyck. Early. Oil on wood,

43iX29. Louvre, Paris.
Photo: Bulloz.
52 The Four Evangelists by
Jordaens, c- 1620-25. Oil on
canvas, 52^x46 \. Louvre,

Mas.

Paris.

Woman

Cooking Eggs by
1620. Oil on
canvas, 39x46. Courtesy of
the Trustees of the National
Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh. Photo: Thames and

44 Old

Velazquez,

Hudson

53

c.

The Annunciation by T. van

Loon, c. 1625. Oil on canvas. Scherpenheuvel Onze
Lieve

Vrouwekerk (Mon-

Antwerp.
Copyright A.C.L.,

taigu),

Photo:
Brussels.

Artist's

Family by

J.

B.

54 The harder by Snyders. Oil

on

canvas,
66^X1145.
Musees Royaux des BeauxArts, Brussels.

55

47 Battle of
Rubens,

Vienna.

the

Amazons by

161 8. Oil on
47fx65i. Alte Pina-

kothek,

Thames

Albert Newport Gallery,

Zurich. Photo: Gallery.

Photo:

c.

Munich. Photo:
and
Hudson

Trophies of the Hunt by J.

on canvas, 61 X 59.

Fyt. Oil

Mazo. Oil on canvas,

58JX68J. Kunsthistorisches

Museum,
Museum.

Photocopy-

right A.C.L., Brussels.

del

wood,

Photo: Giraudon.

Archives.

45 Prince Baltazar Carlos on his

Pony by Velazquez, c. 1634.
Oil on canvas, 82^x68^.
Prado. Photo: Thames and
Hudson Archives.

46 The
36 Granada Cathedral, facade
designed by Alonso Cano,
c. 1667. Photo: Mas.

Prado.

Grusset
51 Portrait
of fean
Richardot and his son by Van

56 The Kitchen of the Archduke

Leopold William by David
Teniers the Younger, 1644.
Oil on copper, 22^X3of.
Mauritshuis, The Hague.

Photo: Museum.

Archives.
38 Pieta

by G. Fernandez

in

wood polychrome,
Life-size.

detail.

Museum.

161 7,
Valladolid

Photo:

Martin

Hiirlimann.

39 High Altar of La Caridad,

Seville,

Cross

wood
Mas.

with Descent from the

P. Roldan, 1670,
polychrome. Photo:

48 The Chateau de Steen by

Rubens, c. 1635. Oil on
wood, 54 X 92 J. Courtesy of
the Trustees of the National
Gallery,
London. Photo:

Thames

and

Hudson

Archives.

by

49 The Birth of Louis XIII by

Rubens, c. 1623. Oil on can-

57 The Sleeping Peasant Girls by

Oil on canvas,
J. Siberechts.
4 2 iX33i. Alte Pinakothek,
Miinich. Photo: Museum.

58

Madonna and Child

in a GarFlowers
by D.
Oil on copper,
Gemaldegalerie,
3 1\ x 24.
Dresden. Photo: Museum.

land

of
Seghers.

277

59 Sight, one of the 'Allegories

Am-

Rijksprentenkabinet,
sterdam. From Dutch

of the Senses' by Jan 'Velvet'

Breughel, 1617. Oil on canvas, 25! X42J. Prado, Madrid. Photo: Mas.

ings

and

Prints,

DrawThames and

77 View of
Amsterdam

at Emmaus by
Rembrandt, 1648. Oil on
canvas, i6X23f. Louvre,
Paris. Photo: Thames and

don. Photo:

69 The Supper

61

The Tower of

St

Charles

Hudson

God

Father by Artus
c. 1682. Marble.
the rood screen of

From

II,

Bruges Cathedral. Photo:

Copyright A.C.L., Brussels.
63

Museum.

141IX172J. Rijksmuseum,
Amsterdam. Photo: Thames
and Hudson Archives.

79

H.

F.

1702.

Verbruggen, 1699Copyright
Photo:

80 The Sick Child by G. Metsu,

c.
1660. Oil on canvas,
13

Museum, Cologne. Photo:

Museum.
72 Vice- Admiral Jan de Liefde by
B. van der Heist, 1668. Oil

on

canvas,

museum,

A.C.L., Brussels.

54IX48.

H.

de
Photo:

Keyser, c.
Rijksdient

1620.

81

Rijks-

Amsterdam.

v.d.

Monumentenzorg.
65

The

Mauritshuis,

73 Portrait of a Young Man by

G. Ter Borch, c. 1662. Oil
on canvas, 26X2if. By
courtesy of the Trustees of
the National Gallery, Lon-

don. Photo:

The

Hague, built by J. van Campen and P. Post, 1633-44.

Rijksdient
Photo:
v.d.

Monumentenzorg.

Amsterdam.

Photo:

Dutch

Polyheight 42.
By
courtesy of the Victoria and
Albert Museum, London.
Tile Picture.

Photo: Museum.
84 Design

for

Engraving
75

Young

Ceremonial

Doorway by W.

Woman

Standing at

by J. Vermeer, c.
Oil on canvas, 2o|X

tura,

Dietterlin.

from

Architec-

1594.

a Virginal

Archives.

278

Photo: Museum.

Museum.

Museum, Haarlem. Photo:

Thames
and
Hudson

68 The Great Tree by Hercules

Seghers. Etching, 8fxn.

Diana and Actaeon by P.

van
Vianen.
i6X2o.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

74 The Mill at Wijk Bij Duurstede by Jacob van Ruisdael,

c.
1670. Oil on canvas,
Rijksmuseum,
3 2 fX39f.

17 It. By courtesy of the

Trustees of the National

Archives.

View of Delft by Vermeer, c.

1658. Oil on canvas, 38!
Mauritshuis,
The
46|.

82 Silver dish with scene of

Museum.

Governors of the
Haarlem
Almshouses
by
Franz Hals, 1664. Oil on
canvas, 67x98^. Franz Hals

Women

Photo:

chrome,

1670.

67

Rijksmuseum,

iof.

Hague. Photo: Museum.

83

66 Bust of Maria van Reygersberg (?) by R. Verhulst, in

terracotta.
Height
17I.

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Photo: Museum.

Amsterdam.
Museum.

Photo: Museum.
64 The Westerkerk, Amsterdam, built from a plan by

Still Life by P. Claesz. Oil

on wood, 25fX2if. Gemaldegalerie,
Dresden.

Photo: Museum.
71 Self-Portrait by Rembrandt,
1668. Oil on canvas,
c.
32JX25I. Wallraf-Richartz

The

Pulpit of St Peter and

St Paul, Malines. Carved by

c.

&X

canvas,

the

Quellin

on wood, 23

32J. By courtesy of the

Trustees of the National
Gallery,
London. Photo:

Watch or The
Company of Captain Franz
Banning Cocq by Rem-

A.C.L., Brussels.

62

1636. Oil

on

Museum.

Haarlem by P. Saeredam,

Archives.

brandt, 1642. Oil

J.

78 Interior of the Grote Kerke,

70 The Night

Borromeo, Antwerp. The

church was built by F.
Aguillon and P. Huyssens,
1620. Photo: Copyright
c.

by

van der
Heyden. Oil on wood,
i6X22|. By courtesy of the
Wallace Collection, Lon-

Hudson.

60 St Michael, Louvain, built

by G. Hesius and others,
1650-71. Photo: Copyright
A.C.L., Brussels.

Westerkerk,

the

Gallery,

Thames

London. Photo:
and
Hudson

85

The

Palace of Wallenstein,
or Waldstein, Prague. Built
by A. Spezza and others,
1623-29. Photo: Bildarchiv

Foto Marburg.
86 Church

76 Division of the Spoil by J.

Duck. Oil on wood, 21 f x
33^. Louvre, Paris. Photo:
Bulloz.

of the Theatines,
Munich. Built 1663-90 by
A. Barelli, E. Zuccalli and
Photo:
Foto Marburg.
others.

Bildarchiv

87 The Flight into Egypt by A.

Elsheimer, 1609. Oil on
Alte
copper,
I2^xi6J.

97

view of

Aerial

The Chateau

Versailles.

was

built

1623-88. Gardens designed

Pinakothek, Munich.
Photo: Museum.

by A. Le Nostre, begun

Berckheim,
Giraudon.

in

French

Photo:

1667.

108 The Guard by M. Le Nain,

1643. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Baronne de
Paris.

Photo:

Government Tourist
88 Interior of the Jesuit Church
of St Peter and St Paul,
Cracow. Built by G. TreFrom
vano,
1605-9.
Sztuka Sakralna WjPohce

Office.

98

decorated by C. Le Brun.
1678. Photo: John

Architektura.

the Sign, Dubrovitzy, built

1 690-1 704. Photo: Society
for Cultural Relations with

St Sebastian Attended by St
Irene

on

by G. de La Tour. Oil
Church of

canvas.

The Gardens of

general view. Photo

tin

Thames

Versailles,
:

Mar-

Archives.

Archives.

The Triumph of Flora by

N.

The Grand Trianon, Versailles, by J. H. Mansart,

1687. Photo: John Webb.

Poussin,

canvas,
Paris.

Photographiques, Paris.
92 The Chapel of the Sorbonne, Paris, by J. Le
Merrier,
Photo:
1629.
Giraudon.

1 01

102 Apollo and the Nymphs by

F. Girardon, 1666. Marble.

Gardens
of
Versailles.
Photo: Giraudon.

1630. Oil

on

Archives.

112 The Finding of Moses by N.

Poussin, 1638. Oil on canvas,

113 Landscape with Polyphemus

by N. Poussin, 1649. Oil
on canvas, 59AX77&.

Leningrad.
Hermitage,
Photo: Museum.

for the equestrian

of Louis XIV by F.
Girardon, c. 1669. Bronze.
Louvre,
Paris.
Photo:
Giraudon.

36fX47i- Louvre,
Photo: Giraudon.

statue

graphiques, Paris.

104 Bust of the Grand Conde

by A. Coysevox. Bronze,
height 23 J. Louvre, Paris.
Photo: Giraudon.
105 Wealth by S. Vouet, c.
1640. Oil on canvas, 66|x
48|. Louvre, Paris. Photo:

Giraudon.
106 Death of St Bruno by E. Le
Sueur, c. 1647. Oil on canvas,
76x51^ Louvre,
Paris.

the Courtauld Institute of

Art.

107

96 The Colonnade, East Front

of the Louvre, Paris. Designed, 1665 Photo: Giraudon.

Model

c.

X 94J. Louvre,

P.

Paris.

Photo-

95 Drawing by Bernini showing his first project for the

East Front of the Louvre,
1664. Collection of Dr M. H.
Whinney.
Photo:
by
courtesy of the owner and

by

1671-83. Marble,
1 06 J. Louvre, Paris.
Photo: Giraudon.

93 Chateau of Maisons-Laffitte
by F. Mansart, 1642-50.

94 Interior of the Oval Room,

Chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte. Built 1656-61 by L.
Le Vau and decorated by C.
Le Brun. Photo: Archives
Photographiques, Paris.

Crotona,

of

Puget,
height

103

Archives

Milo

65

Photo: Thames and

Hudson

91 Interior of the Chapel of the

Jesuits, La Fleche by Le
Pere Martellange, early 17th
century. Photo: Archives

Hudson

and

Hiirhmann.

in
100

Photo:

France.

Broglie,

99

the U.S.S.R.

90 The iconostasis in the CathePolotsk.

Photo:
dral
at
Hudson
Thames
and

no

Begun
Webb.

89 The Church of the Virgin of

Photo:

Galerie des Glaces (Hall of

Mirrors), Versailles. Designed by J. H. Mansart and

109 The Forge by L. Le Nain.

Oil on canvas, 27^X22 \.
Louvre,
Paris.
Photo:
Giraudon.

Photo: Bulloz.

Ex

Voto by P. de Champaigne, 1662. Oil on canvas,

Paris.

65

x 90J.

Louvre,

Photo: Thames and

Hudson

Archives.

114 The Tiber above

Claude

Rome by

Lorraine.

Wash

drawing, 7JX10J. Courtesy of the Trustees of the

British Museum. Photo:
John R. Freeman & Co.
115

The Embarkation of the

Queen of Sheba by Claude
Lorraine, 1648. Oil on canvas, 58 J X 76 J. By courtesy
of the Trustees of the
National Gallery, London.
Photo: Eileen Tweedy.

116 Adoration of the Shepherds

by C. Le Brun. Louvre,
Paris. Photo: Giraudon.
117 Louis
1701.

XIV by
Oil

H. Rigaud,
canvas,
on

109IX74I. Louvre,
Photo: Thames and
son Archives.

Paris.

Hud-

279

Louis XIV
Visiting
the
Gobelins Factory. Gobelins
Tapestry designed by C.
Le Brun, c. 1665. Gobelins

n8

129 James

Stuart,

Duke

of

Richmond and Lennox by

Sir Anthony Van Dyck, c.

Photo:

Oil
on canvas,
1639.
85 X 5o. By permission of
the Metropolitan Museum

119 Design by J. Berain. Ecole

des
Beaux-Arts. Photo:
Giraudon.

Henry G. Marquand, 1889.

Photo: Thames and Hud-

Museum,

Paris.

Giraudon.

of Art,

New

York. Gift of

138 Reception on a Terrace by A.

Magnasco. Oil on canvas.
Palazzo Bianco,
Genoa.

Photo: Thames and

son Archives.

139 The Massacre of the Guistiniani at Chios by F. Solimena. Oil on canvas,

io8x64.

son Archives.

Museum,
120 Rouen Pottery Dish with
lambrequin

decoration.

Photo: Thames and Hudson

Archives,
Eileen

130 Family of Charles Dormer,

Earl of Carnarvon by Sir
Peter Lely, c.
1658/59.
Oil on canvas, 84 X 60. By
kind permission of the

Tweedy.

owner, Sir John Coote, Bt.

Photo: Courtesy of Professor Ellis Waterhouse.

121 Boulle Commode made

for the King's Room in the

Trianon.
Louvre,
Photo: Giraudon.

Paris.

131 Silver ewer,

The

Queen's
House,
Greenwich, by Inigo Jones,
Photo:
161 5-16.
Royal

122

Commission on
Monuments.
123

Willaume.

mark

1 700-1. Height,
courtesy of the
Victoria
and
Albert

8.

Historical

132 Caffe Haus, Villa Albani,

Rome by C. Marchioni,
i743-6"3- Photo: Alinari.

124 Interior of St Bride's, Fleet

133 Interior of the Chapel of

the Palace of Caserta by L.
Vanvitelli,

1752.
Mansell-Alinari.

1940).
Paul's,

London,

by

Wren, 1675-1712. Photo:

Royal Commission on Historical Monuments.

Dome

and ColonGreenwich,
by
Wren, after 171 6. Photo:
Ministry of Works.

126 Eastern
nade,

134 Basilica of the Superga by

F.Juvarra, 1717-31. Photo:
Alinari.

Sir

John Vanbrugh.

1699-1712. Photo:
Copyright Country Life.

Built

128

Endym ion
Dobson,

c.
1643. Oil on
59X50. By cour-

140 The Feast of

the Ascension,

by

Canaletto. Aldo
Crespi Collection, Milan.
Venice,

Photo: Thames and

son Archives.

Hud-

141 Nobleman with the ThreeCornered Hat by V. Ghislandi, c. 1740. Oil on canvas,
Poldi42jX34i.
Pezzoli Museum, Milan.
Photo: Mansell-Alinari.

142 The

of the Rosary
1737-39.
Fresco,
ceiling
of the
Chiesa dei Gesuati, Venice.

by

Institution

Tiepolo,

Photo: Alinari.
143 Charles

HI

Visits

Benedict

by G.
on can-

the Quirinale

Pannini, 1776. Oil

48x68. Capodimonte Museum, Naples.

vas,

Photo: Scala.
144 The

Rio

Venice,

by

dei
F.

Mendicant i,
Guardi. Oil

on canvas, 7|X5|. Academia Carrara, Bergamo.

136

Disinganno by Francesco
Queirolo. Marble. Capella
Sansevero, Naples. Photo:
Mansell-Alinari.

7/

The

Interior of the Oratory

of San Lorenzo, Palermo
by G. Serpotta. Stucco
decorations,
1 699-1 706.
Photo: Mansell-Anderson.

tesy of the Trustees of the

Extreme Unction by
Giuseppe Maria Crespi.

Gallery,
Tate
London.
Photo: Thames and Hudson Archives.

Oil on wood, 26X2if.

Gemaldegalerie, Dresden.
Photo: Museum.

canvas,

280

Porter by William

Photo:

Photo: Scala.
135

127 Castle Howard, Yorkshire,

by

Photo:

Capodimonte
Naples.

Scala.

XIV at

London, by Wren,

1670-84. Photo: A. F.
Kersting (before bombing

125 St

for

By

Museum, London. Photo:

Museum.

Eltham Lodge, Kent, by

Hugh May, c. 1664. Photo:
Copyright Country Life.

Street,

gilt, by David
London hall-

Hud-

145 Achilles on Scyros by Pompeo Batoni. Oil on canvas.

Uffizi,
Florence.
Photo:
Mansell-Alinari.

146 Porcelain Room of the

Palazzo Portici, Capodimonte Museum, Naples.

Decorated in the chinoiserie

by G. and S. Grice,
1754-59. Photo: Scala.

style

137 The

147 Salon Ovale, Hotel SouParis. Decorated by

Boffrand,
G.
1738-39.
Photo: John Webb.
bise,

de

148 Place

1720. Oil on canvas, 64IX

12 1 J. Staatliche Schlosser

Carriere,

la

Completed by
Nancy.
Here de Corny, 1753-55.

und Garten,

Photo: Giraudon.

Gallery.

149 Part of the Place de la

Bourse, Bordeaux, byJ.-A.
Gabriel, 1731-55. Photo:
by courtesy of the French

Government

Berlin. Photo:

167 The New Model by J.-H.

Fragonard. Oil on canvas,
20JX24I. Musee Jacquemart- Andre, Paris. Photo:
Giraudon.

159 Embarquement pour Cythere

(Embarking for the Island

by Watteau,

of Venus)
1717. Oil

Tourist

on

168 Silver tureen made for

of
Portugal
Jose

Hudson

and

Archives.

150

The

Place de

by

Paris,

Concorde,

la

Gabriel,

J.-A.

160 he

Martin

Photo:
Hurlimann.
1753-65.

151

by J.

devant

la

169

Photo:

Giraudon.

153

The

'Hameau',
Petit
Trianon, Versailles, by R.
Mique,
Photo:
1780.
Giraudon.

of the

154 Bust

Regent

by

bronze by J. Caffieri. Oak

veneered with kingswood,
mahogany, etc. Top of
Lavanto rosso marble. 35 X
77x3 if. By courtesy of
Wallace Collection,
the
London. Photo: Collection.

Schlosser

reaux.

und

Garten,

Berlin.

Photo:

Thames

and

Hudson

Photo: Giraudon.

Paris.

163

Louvre,

Paris.

Madame

Gulbenkian

Museum.

Photo:

Mausoleum of the Comte

d'Harcourt by Pigalle.
Marble. Notre-Dame,
Paris.

on

Louvre,
Photo: Giraudon.

paper,
Paris.

165

Still
Life with a Jar of
Pickled Olives by J. B. S.

Chardin. Oil on canvas,

66| X 78. Louvre, Paris.
Photo: Archives Photographiques, Paris.

Photo: Giraudon.

158 VEnseigne de Gersaint (sign

for

Pastel

the

Gersaint)

picture

by

Luis,

Seville,

by

Leonardo,
Mathias and
Jose da Figueroa, 1699173 1. Facade and two bell
towers. Photo: Mas.
172

164 Madame de Pompadour by

Maurice Q. de La Tour,

68fX50|.

in

Doorway of

the Palace of
the Marquis of Dos Aguas,
Vergara,
Valencia,
by

1740-44. Photo: Mas.

Toledo
173 Transparente,
Cathedral, by N. Tome,
1721-32. Photo: Mas.

Founda-

Lisbon.

Foundation.
157

171 San

Victoire as an Alle-

Water by J. M.
Oil on canvas,
41 J X 54i. Museum of Sao
Paulo,
Brazil.
Photo:

1752.

the

Photo: Giraudon.

of
Nattier.

156 Diana by Houdon. Marble.

Height, 83. By courtesy of
tion,

F.

Ornaments

170 High altar of San Esteban,

Salamanca, by Jose de
Churriguera, 1693. Height
over 90 ft. Gilded and
polychrome wood. Photo:
Mas.

gory

Giraudon.
155 Cupid Making a Bow out of
the Club of Hercules by
E. Bouchardon. Marble.

Dog Guarding Game by

Desportes, 1724. Oil on

canvas, 42^x55^. Louvre,

J.-B. Lemoyne II. Marble.

Versailles Museum. Photo:

1739

Oil on canvas, 51^X38^.

161 Sylvia freed by Amyntas by

Boucher. Oil on canvas.
Banque de France, Paris.

162

in

Chambre de Roi,
Versailles, by A. R. Gaud-

for the

Archives.

152 Pavilion of the Director,

Salt-Mines, Arc-et-Senans,
by C. Ledoux, 1773-75.
Photo: Archives Photographiques, Paris.

Commode made

(The Quadrille
in front of the Beech
Grove) by N. Lancret.
Staatliche

the Pantheon, Paris,

Soufflot, 1755.

Moulinet

charmille

Church of Ste-Genevieve,

now

by

Francois-Thomas Germain,
1757. Height 1 if. Museu
Nacionale de Arte Antiga,
Lisbon. Photo: Museum.

canvas, 5of X

76f. Louvre, Paris. Photo:

Thames

Office.

Don

dealer

Watteau,

166 The Broken Pitcher by J.-B.

Greuze. Oil on canvas,
43iX33i- Louvre, Paris.
Photo: Giraudon.

174

The Royal Palace, Madrid,

by F. Juvarra and G. B.
Sacchetti, 1735-64. Photo:

Mas.
Duchess of Alba by
Goya, 1795. Oil on canvas,
76^X51. Collection of the
Duke of Alba, Madrid.
Photo: Thames and Hudson Archives.

175 The

28l

176 The Family of Charles IV

by Goya, 1800. Oil on canvas,
1 1 o I X 1 3 2 \.
Prado,
Madrid. Photo: Thames

186 Interior of the Residenz

Theatre, Munich by F.
Cuvillies. Photo: Thames
and Hudson Archives.

and Hudson Archives.

Section of the
Zwingcr,
Dresden
by
D. Poppelmann, 1709-18.
Photo:
Bildarchiv
Foto
Marburg.

187 Central
177 Church of Sao Pedro dos

Oporto, by N.
Nazzoni, 1732-48. Photo:
the Author.
Clerigos,

picture
(azulejos),
178 Tile
1740-50. From the Cloister
of Sao Vicente de Fora.
Museu Nacionale de Arte
Antiga,
Lisbon.
Photo:

188 Ceiling of the Pilgrimage

Church at Steinhausen by

Domimcus and Johann

Baptist Zimmermann, begun c.

Mas.
Prophet
Isaiah
by
Aleijadinho, c. 1800. Soap-

180 The

stone.

Terrace

of

181

189 Interior of the Church of

Ottobeuren, Swabia, begun in 1736 by J. M.
Fischer and others. Photo:
Hirmer
Foto
Archiv,

Munich.

Photo: Mas.

190 Staircase of the Palace of

Briihl, Rhineland, by Neumann, 1743-48. Photo:
Bildarchiv Foto Marburg.

Church of

191

has

do

Campo,

Brazil.

the Jesuit College, Salzburg, by J. F. von

Erlach, 1696. Photo: Bildarchiv Foto Marburg.

of the Dome,
Karlskirche, Vienna, byj. F.
von Erlach, 1716. Photo:

The Assumption of the Virgin by E. Q. Asam, 1717Marble. Church of

25.
Rohr, Bavaria. Photo: Hirmer Foto Archiv, Munich.

183 Atlantes of the Sala TerUpper Belvedere,

rena,

von HildeAnton
Vienna, Thames

Vienna by
brandt.

Macku,

and Hudson.
184 Detail of the South Front,
Palace of Sans Souci, Potsdam, by von Knobelsdorff.
Photo: Bildarchiv
Foto Marburg.

197 Imperial Palace, Tsarkoie-

Birnau by Josef Anton

Feuchtmayer,
1747-49.

Photo: Wiirttemberg
Archives, Stuttgart.

by

193 Providence

Raphael

Donner,

by Rastrelli.

Selo (Pushkin),

Photo: Gassilov.
198 Interior of the Hermitage
Theatre,
Leningrad,
by
G.
Quarenghi.
Photo:
National Museum of the

Hermitage.
199 Equestrian statue of Peter
the Great, Leningrad, by
Falconet, 1766-78. Bronze.
Photo: Thames and Hudson Archives.

200 Place Royale, Brussels, designed by N. Barre and

executed by B. Guimard.
Begun 1776. Photo: Copyright A. C.L., Brussels.

by D. Marot,

192 Detail of the stucco decorations of the Church of Neu

The Hague,

Rijksdienst

1734. Photo:
v.d.

Monu-

mentenzorg.

202

Loquebantur Omnes'

so they

all fell

(and

to talking)

by C. Troost, 1740. Pastel

on paper, 22^X48!. No. 3

L.

Photo:

London.

201 Royal Library,

182 Interior

Anton Macku,
Vienna,
Thames and Hudson.

196 Lazienky Palace, Warsaw,

by Merlini, 1784. Photo:
Polish Cultural Institute,

1727. Photo:

the

Church of the Bom Jesus

de Matozinhos, Congon-

Munich.

Hirmer
Foto Archiv, Munich.

Mas.
179 Portal of the Church of
San
Lorenzo,
Potosi,
Boh via, 1728-44. Photo:

195 St Peter and St Paul Driving

Out the Evil Spirits by
Matthaiis Gunter,
1775.
Fresco from the ceiling of
the
Parish
Church of
Goetzen, Tyrol. Photo:
F.
Bruckmann Verlag,

Georg
from

Mehlmarkt Fountain,
Vienna,
Original,
1738.
lead.
Austrian
Baroque
Museum, Vienna. Photo:
Reclamjun. Verlag, Stuttthe

gart.

of a

set

of six. Mauritshuis,
Photo:

The
Hague.
Museum.

203 Equestrian
Frederick

of

statue

by

J.

Saly,

Copenhagen, 1768. Bronze.

Photo:

National

Travel

Association of Denmark.

194 Detail from fresco by J. G.

185 Exterior of the Monastery
of St Florian, Austria by
Prandtauer,
1706-14.
J.
Photo: Martin Hiirlimann.

282

Bergmtiller,
Steingaden.

Bruckmann
Munich.

Church

of

Photo:

F.

Verlag,

V by C. G. Pilo.
Oil on canvas, 33jX26f.
National Museum, Stockholm. Photo: Museum.

204 Frederick

205 The Lady with the Veil by

A. Roslin, 1768 (Suzette
Gironist, the artist's wife).

Oil on canvas, 25JX21J.

National Museum, Stock-

holm. Photo: Thames and

Hudson

Archives.

From

the south-west.

Photo: National Buildings

Record.
207 Royal Crescent, Bath, by
John Wood II, 1767-75.
Photo: Thames and Hudson Archives.
208 Music Room, 20 Portman
Square, London. Decorated

by Robert

Adam

Hudson

Archives.

211 Shortly After the Marriage,

No. 2 of 'Marriage a la

Mode' by Hogarth, 1743.

Oil on canvas, 27^x35!-

206 Mereworth Castle, Kent,

by Colen Campbell, 172225.

the National Gallery, London. Photo: Thames and

Countess of Home, 1775Copyright

Photo:
Country Life.

courtesy of the Trustees of the National Gal-

lery,

Thames

London.
and

Photo:

Hudson

Archives.

212 The Death of Dido by Reynolds,

1 78 1.

Oil on canvas,

55iX94h Reproduced by
permission
of
gracious
H.M. the Queen. Photo:

A. C. Cooper.
213 The

Cornard

or

Forest

Wood by Gainsborough,
on canBy courtesy of

finished 1748. Oil

vas, 48

209 View of Snowdon by R.

Wilson, c. 1770. Oil on
canvas, 39^ X 48! Courtesy
of the Walker Art Gallery,
Liverpool. Photo: Thames

kind permission of Judge

Irwin Untermyer and the
Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York. Photo:

Museum.

By

for the

77.

chair of Cuban or
Honduran mahogany, c.
1740. 39x26^x32^. By

215 Side

61.

the Trustees of the National

Gallery, London. Photo

216 Silver Tea Caddy made

by Paul de Lamerie, 173536. Height 5. By courtesy
of the Victoria and Albert
Museum, London. Photo:

Museum.
217 The Richmond Cup. Silver
Gilt. Designed by Robert
Adam and made by D.
Smith, 1770. Height 19.
Lent by His Grace the
Marquess of Zetland to the
Bowes Museum, Barnard
Castle, Durham. Reproduced
with
the
kind
permission of the owner
and the museum. Photo:

Museum.

Gallery.

and Hudson Archives.

214 Lady Hamilton

chante (study)
c.

210 The Morning

Gainsborough,

Walk

by

1786.

Oil

By

93 X 70^.
courtesy of the Trustees of

on

canvas,

1786.

Oil

as

Bac-

by Romney,
on canvas,

I9xi5f. By courtesy of
the Trustees of the Tate
Gallery, London. Photo:
Gallery.

218 Vase by Wedgwood, designed by Flaxman, c. 1789.

Height 18. By courtesy

of the Castle Museum,
Nottingham. Photo: by
courtesy of the Trustees
of the Victoria and Albert
Museum, London.

283

Index
Italic titles indicate

works of

art

and publications,

italic figures

denote page number of illustration

Academia de San Fernan- Augustus the Strong, 230, Bosschaert, Ambrosius the Carnevales, family
do, 216

Accademia

degli

Incam-

minati, 33

Adam,

Robert, 260, 261,

270, 271
of, 193
Aguillon, Francois, 77
Albano, 35
Alberoni, 219
Albert, Archduke, 63, 77
(Antonio
Aleijadinho
Francisco Lisboa), 223-4

Adams, family

233, 244
Aved, Jacques, 200-1
Azulejos, 222, 222

.,

242
of the

Virgin

(Asam, E. Q.), 238, 239

Atlantes, 229

Audran, Claude
Audran, Claude
Augustus I, 245
Augustus II, 245

284

93, 99
Bordeaux; Grand Theatre,
191; Place de la Bourse,

189, 190, 190

I,

II,

149
187

107

Bouchardon, Edme, 193,

31-3,31,66,71, 135
Carracci, Lodovico, 33, 34,
194, 194, 240, 254, 256
Baburen, Dirck van, 13, 86 Bouchardon,
Jacques
34
Bacchanals (Poussin), 136
Philippe, 256
Carriera, Rosalba, 180
Bahr, Georg, 226
Boucher, Francois, 197, Caserta, Palace of, 168-70;

Banquet of the Fraternity of

200, 200
St George (Hals), 87
Boulle, family of, 152,
Barelli, Agostino, 107
152
Boulognes, family of, 146
Barocchetto, 183
Barra, Dedier, 46
Boulsover, Thomas, 270
Alexander VII, Pope, 12, Barre, N., 251
Bourdon, Sebastien, 132
Baschenis, Evaristo, 39, 42 Boutelau, Etienne, 215-16
15
Alexander, Tsar, 248
Bath, 257, 260; Royal Braga, 220, 221
Algardi, Alessandro, 27
Crescent, 260, 260; Prior Bril, Paul, 74, 142
Allori, Cristofan, 39
Park, 260
Brosses, Salomon de, 26
Altenburg, 229, 238
Batoni, Pompeo, 182-3, Brouwer, Adriaen, 74
Amarante, Cruz, 221
182
Brueghel, Abraham, 75
'Velvet',
Amigoni, 217
Brueghel,
Bautista, Francisco, 49
Jan
Amsterdam, 253; City Bayreuth, Opera House,
75-6, 77
Hall, 81; 475 HeerenBriihl,
Palace
of,
236,
237
234
gracht, 252; Hotel de Beau Nash, 257
Bruschal, 236
Neufville, 252; Wester- Beert, Osaias, 75
Brussels, 251; Grand Place,
kerk, 84, 83; Zuidekerk, Beijeren, Abraham van, 99
251; Maison des
79,
82
Belle Athenienne, La (Vien)
Dues de Brabant, 251;
The
Analysis of Beauty,
Place Royale, 251, 251
209
of
(Hogarth), 269
Bellotto, Bernardo, 181
Brustolon,
Andrea
Anatomy of the Horse, The Benefil, Marco, 182
Venice, 48, 48
(Stubbs), 269
Bruyn, G. de, 251
Benson, William, 258
Angiviller, Comte d', 186, Berain, Jean, 149, 150, 130, Burlington,
Lord,
258,
206
219
259, 260, 262
Garden, Berckheijde, Gerrit, 97
Anglo-Chinese
Bustelli, 244
Bergmiiller, Johann Georg, Buyster, 79
192, 262
Anguier, Francois, 126
242, 242
Anguier, Michel, 127
Caffieri, Jean-Jacques, 194
Berlin, 237
Athens Bernini,
Gian Lorenzo, Cairo, Francesco del, see
Antiquities
of
(Stuart and Revett), 238
Morazzone, II
12-14, 14, ^5, 17-21, 24,
Matthew
Antwerp, 63; St Charles
Calling
of St
24, 25, 26, 26, 27, 27, 80,
Borromeo, 77-8, 78;
(Caravaggio), 29, 29
119, 120, 129, 130, 134,
Scherpenheuvel (MonCallot, Jacques, 132, 173
156, 160, 167, 168
taigu), 77
Berruguete, Aionso, 52, Cameron, Charles, 245
Apollo and Daphne (BerCampbell, Colen, 258, 259
53, 238
nini), 26
Bibiena, Giuseppe Galli, Campen, Jacob van, 82, 83,
Aranda, Conde d', 219
234
84, &*, 155
Aranjuez, Palace of, 219
Blenheim Palace, 161
Canale, Antonio (CanaArc-et-Senans, 191, 191
Bloemaert, Abraham, 86
letto), 177, 177, 180
Arthois, Jacob d', 74
Bodegones, 59
Cano, Aionso, 50, 51, 51,
Asam, Egid Quirin, 238, Boffrand, Germain, 187,
55, 55, 56
Capelle, Johannes van de,
188, 188, 227, 236
239
Asam, Kosmos Damien, Borch, Gerard Ter, 92, 93,
97
Assumption

of,

Carracci, Agostino, 31, 33

Carracci, Annibale, 28, 29,

Elder, 75, 76
Bottger, 244

Borovikovsky, Vladimir,
249
Borromini, Francisco, 17,
17, 19, 19, 20

Caracciolo,

Giovanni (II
38

Battistello), 36, 38,

Caravaggio, 28-31,

29, 32,

33, 35-7, 43, 45, 56, 58,

60, 64, 66, 71, 134-5

Carlier, Rene, 215

Carlones, family

227

of,

107,

Chapel, 169, 169

Castle Howard, 160, 161
Castro, Machado de, 222
Catherine the Great, 9,
248, 249, 250

Cerquozzi, Michelangelo,
36
Ceruti, Giacomo, 174
Chalgrin, 191
Chambers, Sir William,
260, 262

Champaigne, Philippe

de,

132, 134, 134, 136, 144,

148
Chancellor

Siguier

(Le

Brun), 145
Chardin,
Jean-Baptiste
Simeon, 195, 196, 201-4,
204

Charles

of England, 69,

153, 163, 164

Charles
164
Charles

II

of England, 153,

III

of Spain, 211,

216

of the Two
219
Charles IV of Spain, 218
Charles VII of the Two
Charles

III

Sicilies,

Sicilies, 168, 169, 211

Charles
of Sweden, 256
Charles XII of Sweden,

256
Charlottenburg, 233
Chasses
Louis
de
(Oudry), 198
Thomas,
Chippendale,

XV

269, 270
Christina of Sweden, 10
Churriguera, Alberto, 212
Churriguera, Joaquin, 212

Churriguera, Jose, 212-13,

212
Claesz, Pieter, 98-9, 99
Claude Lorraine, 13, 34,
108, 113, 134, 141-4,
142, 143, 145, 206, 263,

268
Clerisseau, 191, 250, 261

Clodion, Claude-Michel,
195
Cobergher, Wenceslas, 77

Cochin, 269

Dobson, William,

Codde,

Dolci, Carlo, 39

Pieter, 96,

99
Coello, Claudio, 62

Domenichino,

Colbert, I13-15, 131, 145,

148, 151
Compostella, 50, 212, 214
Conca, Sebastiano, 178
Constantine, Battle of (Pietro da Cortona), 67

Cooley, Thomas, 261

Cornejo, Duque, 217
Corradini, Antonio, 172
Cortona, Pietro, see Pietro
da Cortona
Costa, Coyetano da, 214
Cotte, Robert de, 125, 189,
227, 236, 246
Council of Trent, 11
Coustou, family of, 193
Coypels, family of, 146,
196, 207
Coysevox, Antoine, 128,
129, 130, 148, 192, 193
Cozens, A., 268

Cozens, John Robert, 268

162,

165

34, 36, 36,

39, 135

Donner, Georg Raphael,

238, 240, 240

163, 163, 164-5, 266

Frederiksborg, 106
Fuga, Ferdinando, 169

Eckhout, van, 149

Fyt, Jan, 73, 73. 75

Elizabeth,
Empress
Russia, 246, 248

Giuseppe

Crespi,

Maria,

El Greco, 49

Elsheimer,
108, 142

Gabriel,

Adam,

of

13, 108,

Jacques-Ange,

189-90, 190

(2)

Gainsborough,

Thomas,

263, 265-7, 267

Embarquement pour Cythere

(Watteau), 196-8, 198

Alessandro, 168
Garrick, David, 269
Gaudon, James, 261
Gaudreaux, 209, 210
Galilei,

Eltham Lodge,

Cromwell, 153

Giulani, 240

157, 157

Enseigne de Gersaint (Wat-

Gaulli,

231, 233
Czechowitz, Simon, 245

teau), 196, 197

Es, Jacob van, 75
Escorial, Palace of,

35, 39
Gentileschi, Orazio, 36, 37,

Dance. George, 11, 261

David (Bernini), 26
David, Jean-Louis, 204,
206, 269
Death of the Virgin (Caravaggio), 64
Delcour, Jean, 80
Delft ware, 103, 104, 104,
253, 271
Delvaux, Laurent, 251

Etruria Factory, 272

Eugene, Prince of Savoy,

Cuvillies,

Francois,

230,

220

228
Falconet,

Jean-Baptiste,

194, 249, 250, 250

Fantonio, Andrea of Bergamo, 48

Fanzago, Cosimo, 21
Faydherbe, Luc, 79

Giovanni

Battista,

37
Gentleman
and
CabinetMaker's Director,
The
(Chippendale), 269
Geoffrin, Madame, 245
George I of England, 257
George III of England,
257, 266
Gerbier, Sir Balthazar, 154
Germain,
Francois-

Thomas, 207, 207

Ferdinand VI of Spain, 216 Germain, Thomas, 207

Fermo
Annunciation Gerusalemme
Liberata
(Rubens), 65
(Rubens), 64
(Tasso), 136
Desiderio, Monsu, 45, 46, Fernandez, Gregorio, 52- Geschichte der Kunst des
Alter turns
46
(Winckel4,54
Desjardins
(Van
den Fetti, Domenico, 39, 43, 43
mann), 167
Bogaert), 79
Feuchtmayer,
Johann Ghent, 251
Desportes, Francois, 198,
Michael, 238
Gheyr, Jacques de, 75
201, 201
Feuchtmayer, Josef Anton, Ghislandi, Giuseppe (Fra
Desprez, Jean-Louis, 256
Galgario), 174, 178, 179
238, 240, 240
Diderot, 10, 204
Figueroa, Jose da, 213, 213 Giaquinto, Corrado, 27
Dientzenhofer, Christoph, Figueroa, Leonardo da, Gibbons, Grinling, 161,
232-33
213, 213
165
Dietterlin, Wendel, 105, Figueroa, Mathias da, 213, Gibbs, James, 259

Descartes, 10, 81, 82

Descent from
the
Cross

106
Dinglinger, Johann Melchior,

244
Diogenes, Louvre
sin),

140

(Pous-

192, 193, 240,

128, 129,

249
Glory

St
Ignatius
of
(Pozzo), 39, 40, 41

Goa, 223
Gobelins, Hotel des, 48,
114, 148-9, 149, 219
Goetzen (Tyrol), 243
Gondouin, 191
Goujon, Jean, 125
Governors of the Haarlem
Alms-houses (Hals), 87
Goya, Francisco, 174, 179,
217-18, 217, 218
Goyen, Jan van, 96
Gran, Daniel, 242

204
254-5
Duquesnoy, Francisco or Frederick Henry, StadFrancois, 27, 28, 28, 79
houlder of Holland, 82,
Duyster, W. C, 96
Granada, 50, 51
84
Dyck, Sir Anthony van, Frederick II of Prussia, 10; Greuze, 204, 205, 265, 268
Guardi, Francesco, 177,
233,238
13, 43, 68, 70, 72, 162,

Crespi, Giovanni Battista,

173, 174
Cressent, Charles, 209

Florence, Pitti Palace, 37

Fontana, Carlo, 167, 170
Fontana, Domenico, 12

Foucquet, Bernard, 256

99, 100
Frauenkirche, Fouquet, Nicolas, 118
Dresden:
Four Seasons, The (Pous226; Zwinger, 230, 232
Drottningsholm, 255-6
sin), 140, 143
Fragonard, Jean-Honore,
Drouais, Hubert, 204
Dubrovitzy, 1 11, ill
203-4, 20$, 265
Duck, Jacob, 96, 96
Frain, Palace of, 227
Dughet, Gaspard, 45, 46
Francheville, Pierre de, 125
Duplessis, Joseph-Siffrein, Frederick V of Sweden,

Ecstasy of St Teresa (Bernini), 26, 26

43

Girardon, Francois, 127-9,

Dou, Gerard,

Cracow,

109, 110
Crayer, Caspar de, 72
Crespi, Daniele, 43, 44

Flaxman, John, 272

Georg, 108
Flitcroft, Henry, 260

Flegel,

213

Gillet,

Fire of
Fischer

London,
von

Johann,
(2),

229

227,

153, 156

Erlach,
228, 228

Nicolas-Francois,

181

Guardi, Gianantonio, 177

Guarini, Guarino, 21-3,
23, 170, 171
Guercino, 35
Guerin, Gilles, 126
Guido Reni, 34, 35, 35, 135
Guillain, Simon, 126
Guimard, Barnabe, 251
Gunter, Ignaz, 238
Gunther, Matthaus, 242,
243
Gustavian style, 256

Gustavus

III,

256

Hague, The, 253; Huis ten

Bosch, 84; Mauritshuis,
The, 83, 84, 157; Royal
Library, 252, 252
Hals, Dirck, 94-5
Hals, Franz, 59, 74, 86-7,
87, 91, 92, 94
Hamilton, Gavin, 269
Harache, Pierre, 166
Harbours of France (Hubert
Robert), 206
Harleman, 256

Hawksmoor,

Nicholas,

161

Heda, Willem Claesz, 98

Hedvige-Eleonore, Queen
of Sweden, 255

Heem, David de, 78

Heem, Jan Davidsz de, 98
Bartholomeus van
der, 92, 92
Henri IV of France, 113,
Heist,

H5, 130
Hepplewhite, George, 270
Here, 188, 189
Hernandez, see Fernandez
Herrera,

Francisco

the

Elder, 56
David, 237
Hesius, Guillaume, 78, 79
Giordano, Luca, 46, 47, 47 Heyden, Jan van der, 97,
Girard, Claude, 228
97

249

Gilly,

285

Hildcbrandt,
227-9, 229

Lucas

von,

Hobbema, Meindert, 96
Hogarth,

William,
269

252,

264, 265-6,

Hohenburg (Altomonte),

Larcheveque, 256
Largilierre,
Nicolas de,
198-200
La Rosalba, 201
Lastman, Pieter, 88
La Tour, Georges de, 132,

US

242

(Dome);
St Matos, Francisco Viera
Walbrook,
222

265

Sion House, 261;

Somerset House, 260;
20
Portman
Square
(Home House), 260,
260; Wanstead House,
157;

Holkham Hall, 259

La Tour, Maurice Quentin
259
Honthorst, Gerard van, 86
de, 201-2, 203
Longhena, Baldassare, 20,
Hooch, Pieter de, 102
Lavreince, 256
20,21, 168
Hoppner, 267
Leal, Juan Valdes, 56
Longhi, Pietro, 174
Michel-Ange, Leblond, 246
Houasse,
Longuelune, 245
Le Brun, Charles, 23, 114, Loon, Theodore van, 72,
217
Houdon,
Jcan-Antoine,
115, 118, 119, 121, 12772
8, 131, 145-6, 146, 148, Louis XIII, 113, 115, 126,
194, 194, 195
Huyssens, Pieter, 77, 78
131, 132, 148
149, 151. 196, 197
Lecce, 21, 170; S. Croce, Louis XIV, 7, 9, 84, 113,
Infanta Isabella, 63, 77
22, 22
115, 118, 119, 120, 126,
Inigo Jones, 154, 155, 155, Le Clerc, 254
127, 129, 132, 141, 147,
Leczinsky Stanislas, King
158, 258
152, 185, 187, 189, 191,
Ixnard, Pierre-Michel d',
of Poland, 189
193, 211, 258
Ledoux, Claude Nicolas, Louis XV, 185-7, 189,
237
191, 191

Jabach Family

(Le Brun),

Janssens,

Legros, Pierre, 172

Abraham, 72

Lemoyne, family

Janssens, Jan, 72

Jardin, Nicolas Henri,

254

of,

193;

Jones,

Society of Jesus Le Nain, Antoine, 132

of Portugal, 220
Le Nain, Louis, 132, 137
Inigo Le Nain, Mathieu, 132,
Inigo,
see

Jones

135

Jordaens, Jacob, 71, 71

II, Pope, 12

Le Nostre,

Juni, Juan de, 52, 53

Juvarra, Filippo, 1 70, 171,

Leone, 51

Julius

216, 216
Kalf,

Willem, 99

Kandler, 244
Keller Family, 130
Kent, William, 259, 260,
262, 269

Keuninck, Kerstiaen de, 74

Keyser, Hendrick de, 82,
83, 83, 85, 164
Keyser, Thomas de, 92
Knobelsdorff,

George

Andre,

118,

121, 123, 125, 192

Leoni, Giacomo, 258

Leoni, Pompeo, 51
Le Pautre, 166, 187
Le Sueur, Eustache,
133, 136

Le Vau,

131,

118, 119, 121, 124,

126
Levitsky, Dimitri, 249
Lisbon, 221; Sao Vincente
de Fora, 222
Liss,

Livre de Verite
Lorraine), 144

Lancret, Nicolas, 197, I9g3

217

286

St

Antholin's,

Maderno, Carlo,
14, 19, 19, 24,

12,

14,

25

Madrid: Puente da Toledo,

214; Royal Palace, 171,
216,

216,

219,

220;

S.

Barbara Factory, 219; S.

Fernando Hospital, 214;
S. Isidro Chapel, Church
of S. Andres, 50, 51
MafTei, Francesco, 39
Mafra, 171, 220
Alessandro
Magnasco,
(Lissandrino), 173, 174.
174
Maisons-Lamtte, 117, 118

Malines:

(Claude

Notre-Dame of

Hanswyck, 251; Church

156;

St

Mazo, Bautista

Meissonier, 187

Melendez, Luis, 217

Melk, Monastery of, 229
Mena, Pedro de, 55

Mengs,

259; St
Cathedral, 158-9,

Anton

M anises Factory, 219

Manoeline

Style,

Mansart,

Francois,

Raphael,

183, 241

Merrier, Philippe, 265

Mereworth
259
Merlini,

Castle,

259,

Domenico, 245,

246
Metamorphoses (Ovid), 3 1,
136, 139
Metsu, Gabriel, 99-100,
1 00

Meulen, van der, 146

Mexico, 223-4
Mignard, Pierre, 146
Miller, Sanderson, 262
Mique, Richard, 192-3,
Miranda, Carreno de la,
62
Mochi, Francesco, 27-8, 28
Molenaer, 99
Momper, Joos de, 74
Montaries, Juan Martinez,
52, 53-5, 56
Morazzone, II (Francesco
del Cairo), 43, 44, 173
the Elder, 206

Moreau

Morris, Roger, 260

Moscow, no, in
Mothe, Vallin de la, 248
Moustiers Potteries, 150

Mungennast,
Munich:
(Theatre,
Theatines,
107, 107

Josef,

220
116,

Hardouin,

122, 124-6, 126

Marchioni, Carlo, 168

Marie- Antoinette, Queen,
186, 192, 204
Marie de Mediris, Queen,
68, 130
Marot, Daniel, 252, 252
Martellange, Le Pere, 116,

229

Residenz,
230), 233-4;

Church
de,

of,

174,

178
Murillo, Bartolome Estaban, 56, 59, 59, 60
Mytens, Daniel, 164

Johann
233-4
Nancy, 189, 189
Nahl,

August,

Naples, 168, 184; Albergo

dei Poveri, 168; Capodimonte, Palace of, 168,
(Porcelain
from
184,
Factory, 184), 219; S.
Carlo Theatre, 169

Naryshkin Style, 1 1
116
Martyrdom of St Matthew Natoire, Charles, 197
Paul's
(Caravaggio), 29
Nattier, Jean-Marc, 200,

Bride's, Fleet Street, 158,

158; St Martin-in-theFields,

del, 62, 62

Mazzoni, Sebastiano, 39
Meissen Factory, 244, 271

Mura, Francesco

80, 80 (Pulpit)

Manfredi, Bartolomeo, 35

117, 118
Mansart, Jules

Maulpertsch, Anton, 243

May, Hugh, 155-6, *57
Mazarin, Cardinal, 1 17-18

192

of St Peter and St Paul,

Johann, 39

Wenzeslaus von, 229, 22g London, 153, 156-8, 259,

Koedijck, 99
264; Banqueting Hall,
Kozlovsky, 249
Palace
of Whitehall,
Chiswick
164;
154,
Labille-Guiard,
Madame
House, 259, 264; Cusde, 204
toms
House,
156;
Laer, Pieter van, 36
Greenwich,
154,
155
La Fleche, 116, 116
(Queen's House), 160
(Colonnade), 161, 265;
La Granja, 215, 220
Lamerie, Paul de, 270-1,
Guildhall,
156; Horse
Guards, Whitehall, 259;
271
Lamour, Jean, 207
Royal Exchange, 156;

Lanfranco, 35, 39
Langhans, K. G., 237
Laocoon, the, 24

Louvain, 78, 79
Ludovice, 220
Lutma, Johannes, 102

Jean-Baptiste, 193

Jesuits, see

Joao

193, 203, 207, 210

XVI, 185-7, 195,
203, 204, 210, 256
Louis, Victor, 191, 245

Louis

Lely, Sir Peter, 164, 165

Le Merrier, Jacques, 116,
117
Lemoine, Francois, 197

145
Jacob, Georges, 210
Jansenism, 132

de,

Stephen's,

159,

Massari, Giorgio, 168

202

Nazzoni,

Nicolas,

Peter the Great, 245, 246,

238,

Philip
Philip

249

240

Neumann,

Balthasar, 234,

236, 237

Night

Watch,

The (Rem-

brandt), 88, 90

Nome,

Francesco de, 46

Novoa, Fernando de Casas

y,

Racine, 24
Raeburn, 267
Rainaldi, Carlo, 20, 167
of Spain, 49, 51
III of Spain, 49
Raising
the
Cross
of
Philip IV of Spain, 49, 5 1,
(Rubens), 65
Ramsey, Allan, 265
59
Philip V of Spain, 49, 168, Rape of the Sabines (Pietro
da Cortona), 64, 67
21 1, 215, 219
Piazzetta, Giovanni Bat- Rastrelli,
Bartolommeo,
tista, 174
246-8, 247, 250
Pietro da Cortona (Berret- Rastrelli, Carlo, 249
tini), 20, 35-7, 40, 64, Ravesteyn, Jan, 92
Rembrandt van Ryn, 81,
67, 167

220,

221, 221

Neer, Aert van, 96

Neu Birnau, 234,

214

Nymphenburg,

Palace of

(Amalienburg),
233;
Porcelain Factory, 244
Obestal, van, 79

II

Piffetti, Pietro,

183

86, 88-102, 89, 90, 91, 108

Guido, see Guido

Pigalle, Jean-Baptiste, 194,

Reni,

195, 195
Pilo, Gustaf, 254,

Reni
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 265,

255

Oeben, Jean-Francois, 209- Pineau, Nicolas, 187

266, 266
10
Piranesi,
Giovanni Bat- Ribalta, Francisco, 56
Opera, 18, 24, 117
Oporto, 220; Sao Pedro
dos Clerigos, 221
Oppenordt, 187
Orpheus, Louvre (Poussin),
140
Ottobeuren, 234, 236

Oudry, Jean-Baptiste, 198,

207
Oxford, 158

tista,

180

(Poussin), 140, 141

de,

185, 190, 192, 203, 204,

207, 208

Ribera, Pedro da, 214

Ricci, Juan, 62
Ricci,

Marco, 178-80

Ricci,

Sebastiano,

Pacheco, 59
Porta, Giacomo della, 16
Post, Franz, 149
Palermo, 170; Oratory of Post, Pieter, 82, 84, 155
S. Lorenzo, 172, 172
Pot, Hendrick, 96, 99

Rigaud,

Palladianism,
161, 259-60

Robillion,

Palladio, 18, 154,

258-60

Pannini, Gian Paolo, 180,

Potosi, Bolivia, 224, 224

Potsdam, 227, 229, 233
Poussin, Nicolas, 13, 28,
34, 35, 113, 131, 134-44,

206
139, 140, 141, 145
Paris, 115-25; Hotel Lam- Pozzo, Cassiano del, 35,
bert,
145; Hotel des
139
Invalides, 124-5; Hotel Pozzo, Padre Andrea, 39,
Soubise,
187,
188;
41, 67, 177, 179, 214
Louvre,
1 19-21, , 120,
Prague, 105, 107, 225, 228;
189; Pantheon (Eglise
Wallenstein Palace, 106,
180, 182,

Ste-Genevieve), 190-1,
Place
Dauphine,
191;
115; Place de la Concorde, 189, 190; Place des
Vosges, 115; Place Ven125,

(des

Victoires),

129;

Sorbonne

(Chapel of), 115, 116;

Tuileries Gardens, 125;
Vale-de-Grace, 146
Parnassus,

Jacob,

229,

230
Pratt, Sir

Roger, 154, 156

45

Preti, Mattia,

Tulp's Anatomy
Lesson (Rembrandt), 88
Puebla School of Painting,
Mexico, 223
Puget, Pierre, 126-7, 127
Professor

Prado (Poussin),

136
Pater, Jean-Baptiste, 197

Paul V, Pope, 11, 14

Peeters, Clara, 75
Pembroke, Lord, 258-60
Pereda,

106
Prandtauer,

Bernardo Simon

de, 54

Perrault, Claude, 121

Perroneau, Jean-Baptiste,
201
Pesne, Antoine, 241, 243

Rudolph
105
Ruines

II,

des

Emperor,
plus

beaux

monuments de la Grece
(Le Roy), 238
Ruisdael, Jacob van, 94, 96,
267

96

174,

St Florian, 229, 230

St Petersburg (Leningrad),

271

Hyacinthe,

71,

147, 147, 148, 222

Risueno, Jose, 217

Robert, Hubert, 206

248

Jean-Baptiste,

221
Rodriguez, Ventura, 216
Rohr, 238, 239 (Assumption
of the Virgin)
Roldan, Pedro, 53, 54, 55
Rome, 11-21, 167-8; St
Peter's, 12-15, (Baldacchino, 13), 14, (Cathedra Petri, 13, 15), (Nave,
12-13, 25), 161; Caffe
Haus, Villa Albani, 168;
Galleria Farnese, Palazzo
Farnese, 16, 18, 28, 313,
145; Lateran, 168;
Palazzo Barberini, 17,
18, 37; S. Carlo alle
Quattro Fontane, 19,
20; S. Carlo al Corso,

20;
S.

S.

Ignatio, 39, 40;

Ivo della

Quarenghi, Giacomo, 248,

Francesi,

249
Quattro

Maria

Sapienza,

(Palladio),

154, 258

Queirolo, Francesco, 172,

172
Quellin, Artus II, 79, 79
Quellin, Erasme II, 72
Quillard, 222

Quinones, Andres Garcia

da, 213

26;

28;

Santa

della Vittoria, 25,

Santa Maria del

Popolo,
Susanna,

32;
19,

19;

Trinita
dei
(Stairway), 168;

245-6, 248-50; Hermitage (Old, 248), (Small,

(Theatre,
248,
248),
249); Peterhof, Palace
Palace,
Tauride
of, 246;

213
Salamanca: City Hall, 213;
Plaza Mayor, 213; San
Esteban, 212, 212 (High
Sala, Ignacio,

17, 17, 20; S. Luigi dei

Libri

13,

43, 63-9, 64, 65, 68, 69,

70-2, 78-9, 86, 88, 91,
130, 145, 153, 164, 196,
203, 265, 266, 267

130,

131

Paine, James, 260

dome

Cardinal,

Riesener, Jean-Henri, 210

232

158,

Potteries, 150, 151

Sacchetti, 215, 216

Saenredam, Pieter, 97, 98
St Blasien, 237

178-80
Richelieu,

Poppelmann, Daniel, 230, Richmond Cup, 271,

154,

Rouen

Royal Academy, 266

Rubens, Peter Paul, 8,

56, 57

Plateresque style, 21
Polotsk, 112, 112
Polyphemus, Landscape with

Pompadour, Madame

255,

256

Rusconi, Camillo, 172

Ruysdael, Salomon van,

Ribera, Jusepe or Jose, 45,

166

Platel, Pierre,

Alexander,

Roslin,

Roubiliac, L. F., 264

Santa
Santa

Monti

Altar)
Salvi, Nicola, 168

Saly, Joseph, 254, 234

Salzburg: Jesuit College

Church, 227, 228; Mira228

family of, 217
Giuseppe,
Sammartino,
bell Palace,

Salzillo,

172
Sanctis, Francisco de, 168

Sangallo, Antonio da, the

Younger, 17, 18
Saraceni, Carlo, 36
Sarrazin, Jacques, 127
Sassoferrato, 39
Savery, Roelant, 74, 75, 76
Andreas,
Schliiter,
129,
238, 240

Schooten, 98
Schwetzingen, 233
Seghers, Daniel, 75, 76
Seghers, Gerard, 72
Seghers, Hercules, 88, 89
Domingos
Sequeira,

Antonio

de,

222

des
Horaces
Serment
Fountain, 168
(David), 206
Romney, George, 267, 268 Serodine, Giovanni, 36
Rosa, Salvator, 45, 45, Serpotta, Giacomo, 172,
172
173

Trevi

287

Seven

The Tiepolo,

Sacraments,

(Poussin), 139
S.

Salvador,

To-

214;

bacco Factory, 213

Shchedrin, 249
Sheraton, Thomas, 270
Shubin, 249
Siberechts, Jan, 74, 73
Sicily,

Gian

Vedute
Ideate
(Pannini), Vivien, Joseph, 201
182
Voltaire, 10, 202
Velazquez, Diego Rod- Vos, Cornells de, 72
Toledo, 214, 215, 215
riguez de Silva, 49, 59- Vos, Paul de, 73
Tome, Narciso, 214, 213
Vouet, Simon, 13, 130,
62, 60, 61, 93, 218
Torre, Pedro de la, 50, 30
Velde, Willem van der,
131, 136, 145, 148
Tournier, Robert, 132
the Elder, 97
Traversi, Gaspare, 174
Velde, Willem van der,
Treatise on Civil ArchiWallenstein, 107
the Younger, 97
Gesuiti Walpole, Sir Horace, 258,
tecture (Chambers), 260
Venice,
167;
Treatise of Japanning and
Church, 168; Palazzo
262
Battista,

178-80, 179, 233, 243

Seville: S. Luis, 213, 213;

170
Louis de, 245

Silvestre,

Tocque, Louis, 200

Varnishing (Stalker and

Smith, John, 180
Parker), 165
Snyders, Franz, 73, 73, 75
Tressini, Domenico, 245
Society of Jesus, 12, 77, Travano, Giovanni, no
Triumph of Flora, Dresden
107, 115
family
of,
Schonborn,
(Poussin), 136
235-6; Bishop Johann Triumph of the Infante
Philipp Franz von, 236
Ferdinand (Rubens), 67
Solimena, Francesco, 173- Troger, Paul, 242
Troost, Cornells, 252, 253
4, 176, 177, 178
of,
Soufflot, Jacques Germain, Troys,
family
de,
190, 191, 191
196, 207; Jean-Francois,
Stanislaus Augustus Ponia217
towski, 245
Tsarkoie-Selo, Palace of,
Steingaden, 242, 242
247, 247, 248, 250
Steinhausen, Swabia, 234, Tula Furniture Factory,

Sixtus V, Pope, 11, 12

250

235

Stockholm, 255-6
Stodtz, 193
Stone, Nicholas, 162-4

Stowe, 260
Strawberry Hill, 262
Strozzi, Bernardo, 39, 42,
42,43
Stubbs, George, 269
Stupinigi, Palace of, 170
Sublet des Noyers, 131
Subleyras, Pierre, 182
della,
Basilica
Superga,

Turin, 170, 171; Chiesa del

Carmine, 170; Palazzo
Filardell'Accademia
monica, 183; Palazzo
Madama, 170; Palazzo
Reale, 183; S. Lorenzo,
21, 23; Santa Sidone
Chapel (Turin Cathedral), 21-3, 23

Twickenham, 262

Urban VIII, Pope, 12

170, 171
Supper at Emmaus, The Utrecht, Treaty of, 211,
(Rembrandt), 88, 89
215, 225, 227
Tacca, Pietro, 51
Taine, 10
Talavera Factory, 219
Tassel, Jean, 132
Taylor, Sir Robert, 260
Teniers,

David

Terbrugghen,

II,

13,

Vaccarini, Giovanni Battista, 170

Vadder, Lodewijk de, 74

74, 74
35, 86,

101
Tessin,

Count Karl

Gustaf,

256

Nicodemus
Tessin,
Elder, 255
Nicodemus
Tessin,

the
the

Younger, 255-6
Thirty
225

Years

War,

107,

Thornhill, Sir James, 161,

265
Thulden,
72

288

Theodore van,

Valencia, 214, 215, 213

Valentin, Moise, 13, 35,

Ware, Isaac, 260

Warin, Jean, 79
Warsaw, 109, 245; LaziVeraga, Ignacio, 214, 213
Verbruggen, Henri-Franenky Palace, 245, 246
Pesaro,

20,

21;

Salute

Church, 167

cois, 80, So

Verdura,

Don

Jusepe de

Watteau, Antoine, 195-7,

197, 198, 198, 265

Webb, John, 154

y, 214
Verhaegen, Pierre-Joseph, Wedgwood, Sir Josiah,
271-2, 272
252
Verhaegen, Theodore, 251 Weesp, Town Hall, 252
Verhulst, Rombout, 85, West, Benjamin, 269
Westphalia, Treaty of, 81
85
Vermeer, Johannes, 86, 93, Wilhelmina, Markgrafin,
100-2, 101, 202
234
William of Orange, 153
Vernet, Joseph, 206
Versailles, Chateau of, 7, Willaume, David, 166, 166
113, (Galerie des Glaces, Wilson, Richard, 263, 268
114, 122, 124, 145), 121, Wilton House, 154, 260
(Gardens, 123, 124, 129- Wlnckelmann, 167, 168,
(Grand
183, 206
124,
30),
Trianon, 124, 126, 190), Witte, Emmanuel de, 97
Wittel,
Gaspar van, 169,
(Chapel,
125), 185,
125,
182
187, 190, (Opera House,
Trianon, Wolfflin, Heinrich, 6
(Petit
190),
Women Governors of the
192), 246, 251
Alms-houses
Haarlem
Viancn, Adam van, 102
(Hals), 87, 87
Vianen, Paulus van, 102,
Wood, John, 260
103
Wood, John II, 260, 260
Vicenza, 18, 154, 259, 260
Wouwerman, Philips, 97
Villa Rotonda, 259
Vicenzo II, Duke of Man- Wren, Sir Christopher,
156-61, 138-60, 165, 258
tua, 64
Wiirzburg Residenz, 233,
Vien, Joseph, 206, 209
Vienna, 225-6, 228; Belve236, 243
dere Palace, 228, 229; Wyatt, James, 261
Hofburg, 227; Karls- Wynants, Jan, 97
Vega

kirche, 227, 228;

Palace,
228;

Kinsky
Schon-

brunn, Palace of, 230, Zick, Johann, 242

Zimbalo, Giuseppe, 21, 22,
234
of Viezehnheiligen, 236-7
170
Madame, Zimmermann, Dominicus,
Vigee-Lebrun,
234-8, 235
204
Johann
Vandergoten, Jacob, 219
Vignola,
Giacomo,
16, Zimmermann,
Baptist, 234, 235, 242
Van Loo, family of, 196,
16
Zoffany, Johann, 269
207; Carle, 200; Louis Vignon, Charles, 132
Zucalli, Giovanni, 227
Michel, 217
Villanueva, Juan de, 216
Zuccarelli, Francesco, 178,
Vanvitelli, Luigi, 169, 1 69, Vincent, Francois, 206
Vitruvius, 258, 259
268
182
Britannicus Zurbaran, Francisco de,
Vitruvius
Vardy, John, 260
(Campbell), 258
Vaux-le-Vicomte, Chateau
56, 58, 59
Ziirns, family of, 105
of, 118, (Oval Room, Vittone, Bernardo, 171
Zweifalten, 238
Vittorio Amedeo II, 170
119), 121, 145
113, 134
School
Valladolid,
Sculpture, 52
Vanbrugh, John, 161

Art

PRAEGER WORLD OF ART PAPERBACKS

Baroque
and Rococo Art
by

GERMAIN BAZIN

The seventeenth and eighteenth

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Chief Curator of the Louvre

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Bazin,

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in

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