Gerard van Honthorst - The procuress - Google Art Project

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

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

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

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

.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, Gerrit van Honthorst and

Dirck van Baburen Dirck Jaspersz. van Baburen ( – 21 February 1624) was a Dutch people, Dutch Painting, painter and one of the Utrecht School, Utrecht Caravaggisti. Biography Dirck van Baburen was probably born in Wijk bij Duurstede, but his family moved to ...

, 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

Painters such as

, Gerrit van Honthorst, Hendrick ter Brugghen and Jan van Bijlert were all in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in the 1610s, a time when the tenebroso 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 language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

, of Northern Mannerist painting in the Netherlands.

Abraham Bloemaert Abraham Bloemaert (25 December 1566 – 27 January 1651) was a Dutch painter and printmaker who used etching and engraving. He initially worked in the style of the " Haarlem Mannerists", but by the beginning of the 17th-century altered his style ...

, 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 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. Dirk van Baburen - Kroning met de doornenkroon

Dirk van Baburen - Kroning met de doornenkroon

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 and history scenes informed by the Flemish tendencies associated with

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

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

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

'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 h ...

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

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

. They may have also influenced Flemish Caravaggisti such as Theodoor Rombouts,

Gerard Seghers Gerard SeghersGerard Seghers
at the

Jan Cossiers Jan Cossiers (Antwerp, 15 July 1600 – Antwerp, 4 July 1671) was a Flemish painter and draughtsman. Cossiers' earliest works were Caravaggesque genre works depicting low life scenes. Later in his career he painted mostly history and reli ...

, 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, es ...

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 In art, chiaroscuro ( , ; ) is the use of strong 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 of light to ach ...

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 (city)