The Louvre: Fifty Plates in ColourBrockwell, Maurice W.
History
The Louvre: Fifty Plates in Colour
Brockwell, Maurice W.
Musée du Louvre
Breenberg (1599-1659?), who was born at Deventer, the home of Terborch,
has depicted a _View of the Campo Vaccino at Rome_ (No. 2334), and a
_Ruins of the Palace of the Cæsars_ (No. 2335) in the Italian manner
beloved by Berchem and Pieter van Laer. The latter, who is also
named Bamboccio, is represented by two small oval panels. Lingelbach
(1622-1674), who frequently collaborated with other Dutch artists, may
be judged by his _Vegetable Market at Rome_ (No. 2447) and three other
canvases, and Frédéric de Moucheron (1633?-1686) by a _Leaving for the
Hunt_ (No. 2482). It will be convenient to mention here Reynier Nooms,
whose _View of the Old Louvre from the Seine_ (No. 2491) has some
historical interest.
ARCHITECTURAL PAINTERS
A limited number of painters busied themselves in making faithful
transcripts of the streets and the exterior appearance of the
buildings. Jan van der Heyden (1637-1712) was perhaps the most
successful in this direction, and his _View of the Town Hall of
Amsterdam_ in 1688 is an excellent example of his methods, while
the Louvre also possesses three small panels by him. Jan Abrahamsz
Beerstraten (1622-1666), the son of a cooper at Amsterdam, travelled
to Italy and the Mediterranean, proof of which is afforded by his _Old
Town Gate at Genoa_ (No. 2310). The typical architectural painter is,
however, Gerrit Berckheyde (1638-1698). Although he never went to
Italy, his _View of Trajan’s Column_ (No. 2324) is a welcome relief
from the many versions he painted, with conspicuous success, of _The
Market-Place of Haarlem_.
Hendrik van Steenwyck (1580-1648) almost invariably contented himself
with reproducing the _Interiors of Churches_ (Nos. 2582, 2583); but
his _Christ in the House of Martha and Mary_ (No. 2581) is an unusual
subject with him, and must be his masterpiece. The _Vestibule of a
Palace_ (No. 2490), by Isaac van Nickelle (fl. 1660), is very good of
its kind; but the _Interior of a Guard-Room_ (No. 2453), by Aart van
Maes, is a poor attempt at dramatic action.
MARINE PAINTERS
The fact that the Dutch had fought with swamp and water and possessed
a large maritime commerce, is reflected in the _Seascapes_ of Simon de
Vlieger (1600-1660), and in the art of Ludolf Backhuysen (1631-1708),
who is represented by a _Stormy Sea_ (No. 2309) and five other
canvases; but one of the best works of this class in the Louvre is
the _Marine-piece_ (No. 2600) by Willem van de Velde the Younger
(1633-1707), who crossed over to England, and after a long career died
at Greenwich. These men sought to carry on the earlier tradition of Jan
van Goyen and the two Ruisdaels, but they showed less originality and
power.
STILL-LIFE PAINTERS
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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