FYI

"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Burgtheater and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna; these confirmed Klimt's eclecticism and broadened his range of historical references.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

Minerva, goddess of wisdom, reclines comfortably on her throne. Her right shoulder is turned slightly back; she would originally have been holding a lance. The book on her arm symbolises wisdom and knowledge. The lost lance, the armour and the helmet with its cock, refer to her other function: goddess of war. Her Roman-like armour is decorated with floral motifs and depicted on Minerva's breastplate is the snake-haired head of Medusa, one of the goddess's characteristic symbols. Minerva looks down to her left, to Cupid, the god of love, standing next to her.     rijksmuseum.nl

Hercules lifts his opponent into the air. Standing with his legs apart, he holds Antaeus firmly around the waist with both arms. But Antaeus tries to struggle free, pushing with his left arm against the hero's head. His expression shows the anguish of pain. The muscles of the powerful physiques gleam. This bronze statuette was made around 1600 by an Italian sculptor, working in the style of the famous Fleming, Giambologna.      rijksmuseum.nl

The marble bust, a portrait of a man, was made by Hendrick de Keyser in 1608. De Keyser was at that time the leading Dutch sculptor as well as one of the foremost architects of the day. He was one of the first to work in marble, a new material for Dutch sculpture. Realism is characteristic of De Keyser's work: life-like representations. This is well demonstrated in this head of a man. De Keyser has mercilessly depicted the man's wrinkles. De Keyser has used a monster's head, a 'mascaron' to cover the problematic transition between the shoulders and the plinth. This trick was often used in busts of the period.   rijksmuseum.nl

An entire city of houses, mills, church spires, a river with boats and even a town wall, country estates and a fort: all this is meticulously portrayed on this römer. The engraving was executed with a diamond-tipped graver. This was often employed on glasses in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It was a difficult method, however. It requires considerable skill to draw on the small, curved surface, while the fragile material breaks easily under pressure. The anonymous artist who decorated this glass was clearly a competent and patient craftsman.   rijksmuseum.nl

Автопортрет, 1878, музей Метрополитен Работы на Викискладе

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Самые извращенные демонические символы в изображениях Ада на его полотнах так или иначе ассоциируются со «знаком Зверя». Впрочем, никаких тому письменных свидетельств Босх нам не оставил. Каждый, кто всматривается в густонаселенные огромным количеством сюрреалистических образов миры Иеронима Босха, волен видеть в них то, что ему больше нравится. Или не нравится.   ( Read more... )         

A plump, naked boy, made of bronze. His curly hair is bound in a knot on his forehead and drapes onto his neck. The winged infant is the god of love Cupid. He is standing on his toes, stretching his arms as if about to loose an arrow: the right arm bent back, the left full out in front.

This shallow dish - a tazza - was designed as a drinking vessel. The object is a combination of various parts: a hollow, trumpet-shaped foot, a solid stem and a shallow bowl with a broad, flat rim. The glassblower varied the thickness of the stem. This gave the opportunity for additional decorative elements on the glass, such as the glass edges and the ribbed knop. Parts of the drinking vessel are superbly decorated with painted ornamentation in different colours.   rijksmuseum.nl

Like its predecessor, the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-1667) was essentially a dispute about trade fought on water. The end of the war was hastened in June 1667 when the Dutch launched a spectacular raid on the English naval base at Chatham on the river Medway, east of London. It came as a complete surprise to the British. The Dutch smashed the chain that defended the river from enemy attack. As a result, they were able to capture two English ships and burn a further six. One of the prizes was the flagship, 'Royal Charles', brought back to Holland as a trophy of war. Admiral Michiel de Ruyter received this gold cup picturing the encounter in enamel to mark the successful raid.   rijksmuseum.nl

Forty flowers could be arranged in this tower of Delft blue faience called a tulip or pyramid vase. In fact it was not only used for tulips; all sorts of cut flowers could be arranged in it. This example was made in Delft, between 1690 and 1720 and it is more than a metre high. The construction comprises a stack of 6 loose, watertight vases. Vases with spouts for individual flowers were made in all sorts of shapes in the last quarter of the seventeenth century. The pyramid vase was the ultimate achievement in this field.   rijksmuseum. nl

This bust depicts Queen Mary II of England, the wife of the Dutch Stadholder-KingWilliam III. It was made between 1680 and 1685, of blue painted Delft faience, of which Mary was particularly fond. Mary was a enthusiastic collector and owned the largest collection of faience in existence at that time. The couple's Dutch palaces, Het Loo and Honselaersdijk,were full of these pieces. Thanks to Mary's enthusiasm for the blue and white earthenware it became popular in court circles of the Stadholder-King - both in the Republic and in England. This provided an important stimulus for the Delft faience industry.       rijksmuseum.nl

This charming lady is Hortense de Beauharnais. Her father, a member of an old aristocratic family, had been decapitated during the French Revolution. Her mother's second husband was Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1802, Hortense, then 19, married her step-father's brother, Louis. In 1806, Louis Bonaparte was placed on the Dutch throne and Hortense became Holland's first queen. Yet she rarely came to the Netherlands and the marriage was far from happy. This portrait was painted in Paris. It was intended for the Royal Palace on Amsterdam's Dam Square, which Louis made his residence. In fact the King never took delivery of the painting. It remained in the painter's possession and was later sold with the rest of his estate.     rijksmuseum.nl

That's odd ... it's a glass, a wine glass in fact, but it is upside down - the glass has no foot. Instead, it has a decorative silver sphere containing a silver die. This type of glass is known as a wager cup. When filled with wine it can only be put down once the contents have been drunk: the glass cannot stand upright. This particular wager cup is known as a dice glass. It is a product of seventeenth-century Dutch workmanship in the Venetian style.    rijksmuseum.nl

Two ships in high seas. The larger ship is clearly in trouble: high waves are breaking against the hull, the square foresail has broken loose and one of the masts has been broken in this sudden squall. The sails are hauled in and the crew is hard at work. A few men are still up in the rigging - one has been left behind in the crow's nest. The small fishing boat on the left is also having trouble keeping course. The seething sea and threatening sky portend more bad weather. This dramatically lit sea scene was painted by Willem van de Velde the Younger. He has signed it below on the left.   rijksmuseum.nl