"The naturalism of seventeenth-century art is inextricably bound up with a metaphysical view of the world. It is for this reason that the familiar objects of visible reality may be looked on as emblems of a higher invisible reality." (Martin, 119)   ( Read more... )

A small, richly decorated priest's bell from Indonesia. The bronze hand bell was used in Buddhist rituals. Such hand bells are still used by Buddhist priests, for instance in Bali, Nepal and Tibet. But they are rarely as finely made as this example. The priest's bell consists of three parts: the domed body of the bell itself, the handle and the top. Four adjacent heads form the handle. The upper part (varja) consists of four sickle-shaped protrusions around a pin. rijksmuseum.nl

The work of the Austrian painter and illustrator Gustav Klimt, b. July 14, 1862, d. Feb. 6, 1918, founder of the school of painting known as the Vienna Sezession, embodies the high-keyed erotic, psychological, and aesthetic preoccupations of turn-of-the-century Vienna's dazzling intellectual world.

Love
1895 (90 Kb); Museum der Stadt Wien, Vienna
Detail of a well-dressed woman closing her eyes and abandoning herself to her first kiss. A gypsy-like man looks down on her about to kiss her.

He has been called the preeminent exponent of ART NOUVEAU. Klimt began (1883) as an artist-decorator in association with his brother and Franz Matsoh. In 1886-92, Klimt executed mural decorations for staircases at the Burgtheater and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna; these confirmed Klimt's eclecticism and broadened his range of historical references. Klimt was a cofounder and the first president of the Vienna Secession, a group of modernist architects and artists who organized their own exhibition society and gave rise to the SECESSION MOVEMENT, or the Viennese version of Art Nouveau. He was also a frequent contributor to Ver Sacrum, the group's journal.
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Nine scraps of paper with sketches of faces of men with beards have been pasted into medallions. These scraps once formed part of a sheet of studies drawn by Anthony van Dyck with black ink. He used these sheets of model drawings in his studio as examples for himself and his pupils. Some of these faces were based on those kept by his own teacher, Peter Paul Rubens.    rijksmuseum.nl

As the inscription testifies, these goblets celebrate fifty years of marriage of the Utrecht regent Jan Jacob van Westreenen, Lord of Lauwendrecht and Catharina Mamochet, Lady of Hoedringen. Their golden wedding anniversary fell on 25 August 1759. The date appears in the inscription on the right goblet, the capitals in the motto 'Geluk ô eDeL paar Met 't Vyftigst huwLYK Jaar' forming a chronogram. These glass goblets may have been blown in the Southern Netherlands where a flourishing glass industry existed around Liège and Namur. But who engraved the two goblets remains unknown.

It looks as if the De Moucheron family are having a meal around a table. But that's not the case. The artist has simply used the table as a means of arranging the family scene. At the centre is Pierre de Moucheron (1508-1567), a merchant in Middelburg and Antwerp. He and his equally enterprising sons figured at the dawn of the Dutch Golden Age.   rijksmuseum.nl

This is a remarkable chair: it can actually be folded. Collapsible chairs date back to early Rome and the city's public dignitaries. But in the Dutch Republic of the seventeenth century the chair was also a symbol of civic honour. Which explains the superbly carved decoration. Behind the sculpted lion's head is a hinge. For the rest, the motifs are mainly nautical, including dolphins. Carved beneath the armrests are a triton (sea-deity) and a naiad (sea-nymph).    rijksmuseum.nl

This is the earliest surviving jug and dish made in the Northern Netherlands. It was the showpiece of the city of Flushing’s silver collection. An unknown silversmith in Amsterdam made the set. That the city of Flushing commissioned its principal silver ornaments in distant Amsterdam demonstrates the capital’s preeminence as a silver centre. A position that had earlier been occupied by Antwerp.   rijksmuseum.nl

A knight in full armour is steadying a restless horse. The animal appears to be bending its back legs, about to buck its rider. The front legs are rigid. Turning slightly to the right, the rider is sitting straight-backed. His sword arm is bent back a little. He is ready to fight. There is nothing in this lively statue to indicate its original function. That is because an essential part of the piece is missing: a spout with a tap in the horse's breast. This is an aquamanile, a 'water jug' for washing the hands. This example is one of the most eloquent thirteenth-century aquamaniles to survive.   rijksmeusum.nl

This faience inkstand, mounted in silver, was designed to hold pens in the basin and to hold pots of ink above. Three coats of arms are shown on the inkstand: two lions support shields displaying the arms of the city of Leiden on the left and of Delft on the right. The large coat of arms of Prince William III of Orange is flanked by the motto: ‘vijva oranie’ (Long live Orange).      rijksmuseum.nl