Gerard van Honthorst - The procuress - Google Art Project

Utrecht Caravaggism ( nl, Utrechtse caravaggisten) refers to the work of a group of artists who were from, or had studied in, the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People ...

city of

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Ne ...

, and during their stay in Rome during the early seventeenth century had become distinctly influenced by the art of

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

.Murray, P. & L. (1996), ''Dictionary of art and artists''. Penguin Books. Upon their return to the Dutch Republic, they worked in a so-called Caravaggist style, which in turn influenced an earlier generation of local artists as well as artists in Flanders. The key figures in the movement were

Hendrick ter Brugghen Hendrick Jansz ter Brugghen (or Terbrugghen) (1588 – 1 November 1629) was a Dutch painter of genre scenes and religious subjects. He was one of the Dutch followers of Caravaggio – the so-called '' Utrecht Caravaggisti''. Along with Gerrit v ...

Gerrit van Honthorst Gerard van Honthorst (Dutch: ''Gerrit van Honthorst''; 4 November 1592 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch Golden Age painter who became known for his depiction of artificially lit scenes, eventually receiving the nickname ''Gherardo delle Notti' ...

and Dirck van Baburen, who introduced Caravaggism into Utrecht painting around 1620. After 1630 the artists moved in other directions and the movement petered out. The Utrecht Caravaggisti painted predominantly history scenes and

genre scenes Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, work, and street scenes. Such representations (also called genre works, ...

executed in a realist style.Paul Huys Janssen, ''Utrecht Caravaggisti''
at Grove Art Online, accessed on 16 January 2021

History

Dirk van Baburen - Kroning met de doornenkroon

Painters such as Dirck van Baburen,

and

Jan van Bijlert Jan Hermansz van Bijlert (1597 or 1598 – November 1671) was a Dutch Golden Age painter from Utrecht, one of the Utrecht Caravaggisti whose style was influenced by Caravaggio. He spent some four years in Italy and was one of the founders of th ...

were all in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in the 1610s, a time when the

tenebroso Tenebrism, from Italian ' ("dark, gloomy, mysterious"), also occasionally called dramatic illumination, is a style of painting using especially pronounced chiaroscuro, where there are violent contrasts of light and dark, and where darkness becom ...

of Caravaggio's later style was very influential. Adam Elsheimer, also in Rome at the same time, was probably also an influence on them. Back in

, they painted mythological and religious history subjects and genre scenes, such as the card-players and gypsies that Caravaggio himself had abandoned in his later career. Utrecht was the most Catholic city in the United Provinces. Its population was about 40% Catholic in the mid-17th century and the rate was even higher among the elite groups, who included many rural nobility and gentry with town houses there. It had previously been the main centre, after

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

, of

Northern Mannerist Northern Mannerism is the form of Mannerism found in the visual arts north of the Alps in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Styles largely derived from Italian Mannerism were found in the Netherlands and elsewhere from around the mid-century, es ...

painting in the Netherlands. Abraham Bloemaert, who had been a leading figure in this movement, and taught van Honthorst and other artists, was receptive to the influence of his pupils. He changed his style many times before his death in 1651. The painter

Matthias Stom Matthias Stom or Matthias Stomer (c. 1600 – after 1652) was a Dutch, or possibly Flemish, painter who is only known for the works he produced during his residence in Italy. He was influenced by the work of non-Italian followers of Caravaggio in ...

is often associated with Utrecht Caravaggism. There is no evidence that he spent time in Utrecht or studied under any of the members of the movement. It is not even clear that he was Dutch rather than Flemish. His style is generally regarded as being close to that of van Honthorst. The brief flourishing of Utrecht Caravaggism ended around 1630. At that time, major artists had either died, as in the case of Baburen and ter Brugghen, or had changed style, like Honthorst's shift to

portraiture A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this ...

and history scenes informed by the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

tendencies associated with

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradit ...

and his followers. They left a legacy through their influence on

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consi ...

's use of chiaroscuro and

Gerrit Dou Gerrit Dou (7 April 1613 – 9 February 1675), also known as Gerard Douw or Dow, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, whose small, highly polished paintings are typical of the Leiden fijnschilders. He specialised in genre scenes and is noted for his ' ...

's "niche paintings" (a genre developed by Honthorst). Along with other

Caravaggisti The Caravaggisti (or the "Caravagesques") were stylistic followers of the late 16th-century Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio. His influence on the new Baroque style that eventually emerged from Mannerism was profound. Caravaggio never establishe ...

active in Italy and Woerden, they set the stage for later artists who worked in a Caravaggio-inspired manner such as

Georges de La Tour Georges de La Tour (13 March 1593 – 30 January 1652) was a French Baroque painter, who spent most of his working life in the Duchy of Lorraine, which was temporarily absorbed into France between 1641 and 1648. He painted mostly religious chiar ...

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of G ...

. They may have also influenced Flemish Caravaggisti such as Theodoor Rombouts, Gerard Seghers, Jan Cossiers, Adam de Coster and Jan Janssens, most of whom had spent time in Italy where they had been influenced first-hand by the same artists who had influenced the Utrecht Caravaggists.Gregori, Mina, Luigi Salerno, and Richard E. Spear, ''The Age of Caravaggio'', Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1985

Work

The Utrecht Caravaggisti painted mainly history paintings and genre scenes. They broke with the dominant

Northern Mannerism Northern Mannerism is the form of Mannerism found in the visual arts north of the Alps in the 16th and early 17th centuries. Styles largely derived from Italian Mannerism were found in the Netherlands and elsewhere from around the mid-century, e ...

previously in favour in the Dutch Republic, preferring a heightened realism borrowed from Caravaggio. Their works were characterized by a direct and lifelike representation of figures in powerful compositions. They preferred the use of

chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrast (vision), contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts ...

effects which raised the dramatic impact of their compositions which were filled with a small number of figures which are portrayed in close-up. The saints in their biblical compositions are depicted as ordinary people.

References

External links

*
''Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi''
a fully digitized exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries, which contains material on Utrecht Caravaggism (see index)
''Fifteenth- to eighteenth-century European paintings: France, Central Europe, the Netherlands, Spain, and Great Britain''
a collection catalog fully available online as a PDF, which contains material on Utrecht Caravaggism {{Caravaggio Baroque painting Art movements in Dutch painting * Art of the Dutch Golden Age Artists from Utrecht