28.11. - 31.03.2024.

Dutch painting of the 17th century – motifs in landscapes

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See exhibition (croatian version):
Nizozemsko slikarstvo 17. stoljeća – motivi u krajolicima
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The norms and values of 17th-century Dutch society were shaped by three major processes: the struggle for political independence in the long war against the Spanish Habsburgs (1568–1648), the triumph of Calvinism after the Reformation movement of the previous century, and the economic boom based on overseas trade and colonialism that transformed the Dutch Republic into the most prosperous country in Europe.

Paradoxically, the attack on paintings and sculptures, as the outbreak of iconoclastic fury in 1566 against works of art in Catholic churches at the height of the Protestant Revolt was called, was the prelude to the golden age of 17th-century Dutch painting. Jean Calvin's appeal to painters, in his Institutio Christianae Religionis, to paint portraits, cattle, and landscapes instead of sacred subjects resulted in unprecedented artistic freedom. The obligation to depict religious dogmas in painting disappeared, and themes related to the everyday lives of Dutch citizens emerged. Previously depicting them exclusively as background scenery, the Dutch masters of the 17th century painted landscapes as an independent theme, paying attention to local characteristics and rendering them with meticulous realism and naturalism derived from observation of the surrounding world.

A significant influence on this approach of emphasized naturalism in the depiction of landscapes was exerted by northern artists of previous generations such as Jan van Eyck, Albrecht Dürer, Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the 15th and 16th centuries, but as a direct model in the choice of themes and motifs, the drawings of an unknown Flemish master printed in two series of prints in Antwerp in 1559 and 1561 stand out. The so-called Small Landscapes, depicting in an unpretentious manner a rural setting with the usual motifs of farms, windmills, meadows and cattle on pastures in a pastoral atmosphere, became a catalogue of motifs for Dutch landscape painters of the 17th century.

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Dutch landscape painting of the 17th century was traditionally considered a genre of lesser artistic value because, according to connoisseurs and collectors, it lacked substance and ideas, especially in relation to biblical, mythological, allegorical or genre scenes created on the basis of textual templates. In 1876, the French writer and enthusiast for Dutch painting Eugène Fromentin argued that Dutch painters had no other intention than the artistic need to depict reality and create visual and aesthetic pleasure. In the early 1970s, a stream of art historians led by Eddy de Jongh emerged, who disagreed with Fromentin's claim, believing that common landscape motifs such as trees, architecture, domestic animals or elements of the atmosphere can carry various rich and subtle meanings. A virtual exhibition of selected examples of landscapes from the Mimara Museum's holdings will show the meaning of individual motifs in the context of the norms and values of the emerging Dutch society in the 17th century.

WINDMILLS
Along with tulips, bicycles, and Delft Blue pottery, windmills are today the most popular association with the Netherlands as well as its unofficial logo. They were introduced to northwestern Europe from the Middle East by the Crusaders in the mid-12th century, and as an iconographic motif, they appear as early as the mid-13th century in painted manuscripts, symbolizing the wind, which according to theological interpretations represents the Holy Spirit. Early Dutch and Flemish painters of the 15th and 16th centuries depicted them as a subtle detail in the background of biblical scenes, and the famous master Hieronymus Bosch (1450–1516) placed a windmill in hell as part of the triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights. With its characteristic cross-shaped propellers, the windmill could also allude to the Crucifixion in medieval painting.

After the iconoclasm of 1566, traditional Christian iconography lost its importance and the windmill motif took on secular connotations. Several sheets in the map of prints Small Landscapes contain the earliest depictions of the windmill as a common motif of the rural landscape without an emphasized symbolic meaning. In the graphics from the early 17th century, by depicting the older type of square-bodied windmill, which was traditionally used for grinding grain, its contribution to the agrarian prosperity of the Netherlands was emphasized.

Windmills gained their greatest popularity in the context of the industrial and engineering ventures of the Dutch in the 17th century, especially after 1650, when a windmill with a polygonal tower and a rotating roof was designed, which greatly accelerated work processes and gained wide application in numerous industries, such as shipbuilding, where it was used as a sawmill, reducing the time required to build one ship from four months to just one week. Dutch landscape painters then began to paint them as the dominant motifs in their scenes, evoking their heroic character and contributions to the overall prosperity and progress of Dutch society.

The popular proverb God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands refers to the famous engineering feat of building polders, land created by draining water bodies, which gained particular momentum in the 17th century. In this process, windmills were used as water pumps, as was evidenced by subtle detail of one of them placed next to the water surface in the back of Jan Sieberechts' painting. Therefore, it can be said that in addition to the Dutch, windmills also created the Netherlands, deservedly becoming synonymous with the country and a typically Dutch artistic motif that was continuously depicted in the painting of subsequent periods. An example is the painting by Johan Barthold Jongkind created at the end of the 19th century, when windmills gradually gave way to electric machines and internal combustion engines.



Jan Sieberechts, Landscape (detail) / Johan Barthold Jongkind, Windmill, 19th c.

COWS
In the Christian artistic tradition, in addition to the Old Testament golden calf, the iconographically more complex motif of the ox appears as a symbol of idolatry. The ox is one of the four apocalyptic beings of the Tetramorph, and in the context of the New Testament it became the symbol of Saint Luke the Evangelist. Along with the donkey, the ox is almost invariably present as a motif in the theme of the Nativity, alluding to Christ's sacrifice for the salvation of humanity.

With the predominance of secular themes in the art of the Protestant Dutch Republic from the last quarter of the 16th century, the cow became the central bovine animal in iconography instead of the ox. Among the earliest depictions of this animal in the new context are the Small Landscapes, where cows are depicted in a rural pastoral setting without prominent religious symbolism. Flemish painters of the last quarter of the 16th century popularized depictions of cows and other domestic animals in genre and still life themes, only for Dutch masters of the 17th century to depict them as a separate theme.

Although Dutch prints in the 17th century retained the traditional meaning of the cow as a symbol of spring, motherhood, fertility and the earth (Latin Terra) as part of the Four Seasons, in painting this motif took on connotations associated with the development of modern Dutch society. Having gained control of the Baltic wheat trade in the 16th century, Dutch peasants turned to more profitable branches of agriculture, in which livestock and dairy farming played a large role, as evidenced by the fact that in the 17th century the provinces of Holland and Friesland surpassed the much larger England and Germany in terms of milk production. In this context, the motif of the cow in the landscape reflected the pride of the Dutch in their dairy farming and rural wealth in general.

The interest in depicting the cow in Dutch painting from the late 16th century onwards carries political connotations as well. In this context, the cow represents an allegory of the Dutch state, as evidenced by numerous prints from that period, such as the one by Hendrick Hondius from 1644 depicting a cow in a landscape in which the author warns to be vigilant, alluding to the danger from the Spanish at the height of the Eighty Years' War.


Jacob van Strij, Landscape with Cows and River with Boats (detail) 1800. / Aelbert Cuyp, Landscape with Cows (detail) / down: Jan Sieberechts, Landscape (detail)

SKY
In many cultures, the sky carries sublime symbolic connotations. Ancient cosmological myths consider it the primordial element in the creation of the world, and in the great world religions, including Christianity, the sky is an abstract metaphysical space in which deities reside. In this context, in Christian sacred art, from the 5th century onwards, a golden background was used to depict the sky and space in mosaics, frescoes and altarpieces, the physical brilliance and shimmer of which evoked in the eyes of the faithful the atmosphere of paradise and the presence of God. Clouds took on stylized geometric shapes of cylinders and triangles and served as a boundary between celestial and terrestrial space and as a platform for the placement of Christ or saints. The artists of the 14th century gradually replaced the gold background with blue, thus bringing the first signs of naturalism to painting, but the symbolic concept of the sky still prevailed, with the colour blue being an allusion to the Heavenly Jerusalem, but also to the virtues of purity and humility, which is why, with the growth of the Marian devotion from the 13th and 14th centuries, it frequently appeared in themes related to Virgin Mary.

During the periods of International Gothic and Renaissance, artists' interest in the natural world and the depiction of physical space resulted in the abandonment of the symbolic principle in favour of an increasingly pronounced naturalism, when in an effort to imitate nature as faithfully as possible, the sky was depicted as a three-dimensional space with realistic clouds, and increasing importance was placed on meteorological phenomena such as haze on the horizon.

In 17th-century Dutch landscape painting, the sky became the dominant motif and almost an independent theme, which was most clearly manifested in panoramic views where, by lowering the horizon line to three-quarters of the painted surface, the celestial space was occupied by voluminous clouds of elaborate shapes that most faithfully embodied the Baroque concepts of drama, theatricality and movement. In this context, the motif of the sky elaborated with clouds, as well as other meteorological phenomena such as fog, storm or sunbeams, was used by 17th-century Dutch painters as an expressive means of creating mood, an artistic and aesthetic concept that would culminate in 19th-century Romantic painting as a way to create intense emotional charge.
Known for their detailed observation of natural phenomena and technical precision, 17th-century Dutch painters are often considered forerunners in the creation of cloud atlases, even a century and a half before scientifically classified surveys were made in the field of meteorology.


Dutch Painter, Warships (detail) / Jan van Goyen, Nijmegen (detail) / In the manner of Aelbert Cuyp, Castle on the Coast (detail)

TREES
In Western art, until the 17th century, the motif of the tree appeared predominantly in a religious context, as a theological symbol (such as the biblical Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life) or as an indication of the setting and background element of narrative scenes. Due to the prevailing symbolic meaning, artistic depictions of trees were stylized and without excessive details. With the awakening of naturalism in the art of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance in the 15th century, the emphasis shifted from the symbolic to the painter's aspiration for a credible and detailed depiction of the textures, shapes and proportions of the visible world, and thus the motif of the tree took on an appearance true to nature.

Dutch painting of the 17th century continued the formal tradition of naturalism but the motifs were enriched with new meanings related to the norms and values of the Dutch society of the time. The prevailing compositional principle of isolating and magnifying the usual landscape motifs in the period from the 1640s to the 1670s gave farms, hills and trees a monumental and heroic character, making them central to the theme. In this context, monumental trees symbolize the heroic character of the young Dutch Republic in its fight for its freedom against Spain during the Eighty Years' War (1568 – 1648).

In addition to associations with patriotic pride, trees could also carry more universal connotations, as is the case in the painting of trees by Meindert Hobbema (1638–1709). Towering over travellers happily walking along dirt paths, creating an atmosphere of calm, harmony and well-being, the voluminous crowns seem like protectors and guardians of people and their habitats.

The trees also reflect the awareness in Dutch society, already present at that time, of the changes caused by human influence on nature. In order to increase arable land, create pastures for extensive cattle farming in the dairy industry, and provide material for shipbuilding, deforestation intensified during the 17th century. In this context, the trees can also be interpreted as a symbol of nature's resistance to the destructive forces of man in the struggle for economic progress.


Meindert Hobbema, Krajolik (detail)

SHIPS
Ancient civilizations depicted the motif of the ship in religious contexts as a means of transportation for deities – such as the solar barque with the symbolism of the day and night cycle – or for rulers on their journey to the afterlife. In paintings in Egyptian tombs and temples, ships were also depicted in the context of everyday life. The ship motif has appeared since early Christianity as Noah's Ark in frescoes, mosaics and painted manuscripts in the context of the Old Testament story of the Great Flood. In medieval art, the ship sailing through stormy seas carries the allegorical meaning of the Church as the ship of salvation.

Since the earliest times the specific geography rich in water has had a decisive influence on the lives of people in the Netherlands. The unpredictable North Sea caused floods of biblical proportions, but besides the constant threat and danger, it also brought the Dutch blessings, starting from the extensive herring fishery from the 14th century to the access to the oceans through which the vital navigation of the merchant fleet of the East India Company took place, which, bringing colonial goods, turned the Dutch Republic into the most prosperous European country in the 17th century. The powerful navy brought the Dutch countless victories in the battles of the Eighty Years' War for independence (1568 – 1648) and in conflicts with the English Royal Navy in the second half of the 17th century.

Given their deep connection with the sea, which turned the Dutch into excellent sailors and shipbuilders, and the ingrained nature of seafaring in their identity, a significant place in the repertoire of motifs in 17th-century Dutch painting belongs to vessels of all sizes and purposes – from imposing war galleys to the most modest fishing boats, depicted as part of maritime painting, which includes scenes of dramatic battles, detailed portraits of individual ships, ships caught in a storm on the high seas, and peaceful seaports populated by sailing ships, boats, and figures engaged in everyday activities.

War galleys in battle scenes evoke the pride of the Dutch in their successes in the fight for their freedom, and ships and sailing ships depicted in everyday activities are a symbol of pride in the wealth that came from the hard work of both ordinary fishermen and the powerful East India Company in the trade of colonial goods. The connection between the symbolism of the ship and economic prosperity is also evidenced by early-century prints such as the Allegory of Amsterdam, which depicts a female allegorical figure in a harbour setting, receiving gifts from all over the world, with her main attribute being a model of a ship in her hand.

In addition to patriotic meanings, ships could also symbolize universal spiritual concepts. Scenes of ships caught in a storm or just before a storm are metaphors for the dangers and troubles of human life. In still lives, ships also symbolized the transience of human life.

Finally, some artists such as Jan van de Cappelle depicted sailing ships anchored in harbours to emphasize the harmonious atmosphere and peaceful coexistence of man with the sea and nature.

Dutch masters of the 17th century painted ships in extremely detailed and realistic way, so much so that the illustrations could serve as a reliable source for historians in studying the development of shipbuilding.


Jacob van Strij, Landscape with Cows and River with Boats (detail) 1800. / Dutch Painter, Warships (detail) / In the manner of Aelbert Cuyp, Castle on the Coast (detail)

NIJMEGEN
In Dutch historiography and general culture, it is widely believed that Nijmegen is the oldest Dutch city with continuous settlement since antiquity. In the 8th century, Charlemagne had a palace built, to which Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa added the imposing Valkhof fortress in the mid-12th century, which was a prominent element of the city's skyline until its demolition in 1797.

The popularity of Nijmegen and the Valkhof fortress in the visual arts is evidenced by numerous surviving drawings, prints and paintings. Among the earlier depictions, the topographically accurate drawing by the Dutch vedutist painter Anthonis van den Wijngaerde (1512/1525 – 1571) created in the mid-16th century stands out. The series of prints depicting cities by the Dutch masters Hendrick Goltzius (1558 – 1617) and Claes Jansz. Visscher (1587 – 1652) certainly contributed to the spread and popularity of this motif. The motif of Nijmegen with the Valkhof fortress took a more prominent place in painting in the 17th century, when it became part of the patriotic ideology of the Dutch Republic. In order to legitimize the emerging state and establish a national identity, Dutch writers connected stories from the glorious past with current events. In this context, Nijmegen grew into a national symbol of the struggle for freedom during the war for liberation from Spanish rule (1568 – 1648) because, according to ancient writers from the 1st century AD, near the present-day city, from the fortress of Oppidum Batavorum in 69 AD, an uprising of the Batavians – the bravest Germanic warriors and presumed ancestors of the Dutch – against Roman repression broke out.

As a result, Nijmegen and the Valkhof fortress experienced an exponential increase in popularity in painting, with the most distinguished landscape masters including Jan van Goyen, Jacob van Ruisdael and Aelbert Cuyp depicting them. Van Goyen painted more than thirty versions of this theme between 1633 and 1656, one of which found its place in the Mimara Museum’s collection of paintings.


Jan van Goyen, Nijmegen (detail)

FLAGS
Flags as state emblems in the modern sense of the word appear at the time of the emergence of modern nation states during the 17th and 18th centuries. The Dutch Statenvlag with its horizontal red, white and blue fields is the oldest tricolour flag in the world. It appeared in the last quarter of the 16th century at the height of the War of Independence against Spain, being used simultaneously with the orange-red-blue Prince’s Flag of William I of Orange (1533 – 1584), which it completely replaced after 1652. By painting the national flag as an indispensable detail on ship masts as part of the maritime painting, Dutch masters of the 17th century turned it into a generally accepted and widespread artistic motif.

During the 17th century, the Dutch Republic had the most powerful navy in the world, which won numerous victories in the naval battles of the War of Independence against Spain (1568-1648) and military conflicts for economic and colonial supremacy against England and France in the second half of the 17th century. In tribute to these successes, battle scenes with elaborate depictions of warships became extremely popular and sought-after in painting, with the national flag almost invariably depicted as a detail on the masts, symbolizing resistance and unity and emphasizing the national pride and political identity of the Republic.

In addition to patriotic connotations in a military context, the Dutch national flag was also depicted in peacetime themes, such as in scenes of merchant ships on the high seas or scenes of bustling ports crowded with sailing ships and human figures engaged in everyday activities. In this context, the presence of the Dutch flag on the masts symbolizes the pride of the Dutch in the prosperity of the country, which was largely based on seafaring and shipbuilding.


Jacob van Ruisdael, Sailboats (detail) / Jan van de Cappelle, The Dordrecht Harbor (detail)