![]() ![]() The other traditional classes of history and portrait painting were present, but the period is more notable for a huge variety of other genres, sub-divided into numerous specialized categories, such as scenes of peasant life, landscapes, townscapes, landscapes with animals, maritime paintings, flower paintings and still lifes of various types. Dutch Calvinism forbade religious painting in churches, and though biblical subjects were acceptable in private homes, relatively few were produced. An unusually monumental animal painting that challenges the hierarchy of genres.Ī distinctive feature of the period, compared to earlier European painting, was the small amount of religious painting. Paulus Potter, The Young Bull (1647) 3.4 metres wide. Most work, including that for which the period is best known, reflects the traditions of detailed realism inherited from Early Netherlandish painting. The painting of religious subjects declined very sharply, but a large new market for all kinds of secular subjects grew up.Īlthough Dutch painting of the Golden Age is included in the general European period of Baroque painting, and often shows many of its characteristics, most lacks the idealization and love of splendour typical of much Baroque work, including that of neighbouring Flanders. The upheavals and large-scale transfers of population of the war, and the sharp break with the old monarchist and Catholic cultural traditions, meant that Dutch art had to reinvent itself almost entirely, a task in which it was very largely successful. The northern Netherlandish provinces that made up the new state had traditionally been less important artistic centres than cities in Flanders in the south. The new Dutch Republic was the most prosperous nation in Europe and led European trade, science, and art. Like the process of art itself, masterpieces take time, a lot of time, before they offer us their full and true potential and become a work of genius.Johannes Vermeer, The Milkmaid (1658–1661)ĭutch Golden Age painting is the painting of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history roughly spanning the 17th century, during and after the later part of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) for Dutch independence. It does not just automatically happen or quickly become one. To understand them they require a story, a background and a standing before knowing more about it is not a task or something you have to try hard to get to love.Ī masterpiece becomes a masterpiece through time. I don’t think that anyone can truly love a work of art until you’ve held it in your gaze and in your ears, and in your heart and mind for some time. ![]() I’m not sure you can tell if any work is a masterpiece without context. However, if you are hearing a masterpiece for the first time, with little to no context, can you tell whether it is a masterpiece? Does it grab you as other music does? Does it stand out over other works you’ve heard? Can you tell it’s a masterpiece from just one listening? It is celebrated, rejoiced and universally loved by the majority. It’s written about by the most seminal writers and intellectuals throughout history. It is played by the most known orchestras, conductors, and the greatest musicians on our planet. This forever masterpiece hangs on the walls of the best galleries in the world. If there’s one thing that seems to never change about a masterpiece, it is that once it has become a masterpiece, it remains that forever, even if we forget about it. ![]() They are talked about by people in the know, such as academics, conductors, musicians and composers (sometimes) throughout their history. Plus, masterpieces are generally universally loved, known and respected. And from my study, I find that this is correct. ![]() Like a painting, the choice of colours, the refinement, the balance, the harmony and the overall impression of a piece of music should decide what is a masterpiece or not. But isn’t content the thing, and the only thing that should decide what is and isn’t a masterpiece? It might be quite possible that a masterpiece is called that by humans based upon a critical assessment by other humans and not so much on its content. ![]()
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