In class yesterday, we continued to look at works from the northern Netherlands. We looked at two different landscapes: Jan van Goyen’s Pelkus Gate Near Utrecht. We used these two images to identify what details of subject matter, style, and composition are important to look at in landscape works. Next, we looked at different genres of painting, still life and genre paintings. We learned that there is a hierarchy in the arts placing certain subject matter above others in terms of what was deemed worthy. In both the still life and genre paintings we looked at, I thought it was interesting how the artists incorporated transient messages into the otherwise ordinary scenes. For example, in Heda’s Still Life with Oysters, the broken glass serves as a reminder of transience and the pitfalls of vanity as it relates to piety.
After we concluded our discussion of the Netherlands, we shifted focus to 16th century France. For some contextual knowledge of the political climate in the region at the time. When Louis XIV assumed his role as king, he was wary of civil uprisings and established an absolute monarchy. We learned how the Palace of Versailles was a symbol to communicate this power.