BALTIMORE, Maryland, Sunday, January 22, 2017 - The painting hangs now in Baltimore in the wonderful Baltimore Museum of Art. It was created at the time of the Renaissance, but not in the location of it. Nonetheless, when the Dutchman Dirk de Quade van Ravesteyn composed it, it was very much a part of a great coming together of artists. This 'coming together' had a catalyst; the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire called upon the finest Dutch artists of the time to come to Prague in what is now the Czech Republic. Called the Golden City, Prague was very much a center of artistic creation when the Emperor, Rudolf II, made the request. Van Ravesteyn and other artists heeded the Emperor's request; their collaboration is known as the Prague School of Dutch and Flemish Painting, and the years under Rudolph have come to be called the Dutch Golden Age. This photo isn't the kind that does justice to the painting. I took it and I'm to blame.
Dirk de Quade van Ravesteyn was born into a family of privileged artistry. His father, Claes, was an artist at the Dutch Capital at The Hague, and Dirk was born there in 1565. Dirk, or "Dirck" as it is sometimes spelled, arrived in Prague in about 1590, and there is every evidence that he was quite the success while he was there. When the Emperor died in 1612, van Ravesteyn was listed as one of his creditors. It is also understood that the artist was able to purchase his own home in Prague, where he stayed until the death of Rudolf, or, possibly, two or three years before.
The style and grace of The Three Graces is typical of the overall style he used in his many paintings. A prolific artist, even today prints of his dozens of works are available on line and in art stores around the world.
The same style, the same grace, the same pale feminine figures were recreated in one of van Ravesteyn's most famous paintings, "Penitent Mary Magdalene," which was also created in Prague. Mary Magdalene is shown looking off of the campus but toward the sky. Her face depicts profound sadness, but also a sense of being overwhelmed. Christ, hanging on the cross, is painted in what is a vignette in the upper left corner of the work. The artist was quite intent on depicting the main subject's female side. Even in a painting supposedly devoted to her sadness, she is shown with a wrap of sorts only barely covering her breasts, and then only because she is holding the wrap up with her forearm.
He also painted other subjects besides women. One work is a full canvas profile of a Lipizzan Horse. These large animals were fully white, with powerful legs. The work is part of the Baltimore Museum of Art's permanent collection, on display in the galleries devoted to European artists.
As for the photo, it doesn't do the painting justice. I took it and I'm the one to blame.
No comments:
Post a Comment