Description
Book SynopsisThis book discusses an important theme in art history - artistic emulation that emphasizes the exchange between Flemish and Dutch art in the seventeenth century. Since the Middle Ages, copying has been perceived as an important step in artistic training. Originality, on the other hand, has been considered an indispensable hallmark of great works of art since the Renaissance. Therefore, in the seventeenth century, ambitious painters frequently drew inspiration from other artists’ works, attempting to surpass them in various aspects of aesthetic appeal. Drawing on this perspective, this book considers the problems of imitation, emulation, and artistic rivalry in seventeenth-century Netherlandish art. It primarily focuses on Rubens and Rembrandt, but also discusses other masters like van Dyck and Hals. It particularly results in expanding the extant body of knowledge in relation to Rubens’s influence on Rembrandt and Hals. Moreover, it reveals certain new aspects of Rubens and Rembrandt as work-shop masters - collaboration with specialists, use of oil sketches, and teaching methods to pupils for example.
Table of ContentsList of Color Plates and Figures – Preface – Rubens’s Painting Practice: Some Considerations on his Collaboration with Specialists and his Relationship with Van Dyck as Workshop Assistant – Rubens and Flower Still Life Paintings: Regarding Pausias and Glycera – Rubens and the History of the Oil Sketch – Rembrandt’s Andromeda – Rembrandt’s The Blinding of Samson: A Work for Artistic Emulation with Rubens? – How to Construct Better Narrative Compositions: Rembrandt’s Probable Teaching Methods and Instruction – Frans Hals’s Painterly Style and his Tronie-like Genre Paintings: An Examination of the Influence of Flemish Head Studies – Bibliography
