Please join me for this exploration of six of the most influential painters in the history of western art.
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| Michelangelo, Prophet Jeremiah, Sistine Chapel, 1511. |
Michelangelo: The greatest master of the Italian High Renaissance, Michelangelo, dubbed by his contemporaries “The Divine One”, was equally adept as a draughtsman, painter, sculptor and architect. We’ll trace his career from its early beginnings at the Medici Court through seminal works including the Pieta, David, the Sistine Ceiling, Tomb of Julius II, Laurentian Library, Piazza di Campidoglio, dome of St Peter’s and his exquisite drawings..
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| Titian, Bacchus and Ariadne, 1520-22. |
Titian: A celebrated master of the Venetian Renaissance, Titian was the go-to portrait painter of princes across Europe, as well as a tremendous innovator in the realm of sacred paintings, presenting Bible stories with an unprecedented naturalism and vivacity. We’ll examine his greatest works and learn how a novel collaboration with a Spanish king led to the birth of a whole new type of picture: the “poesie”, his poetic paintings of mythological figures.
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| Caravaggio, Medusa, 1597. |
Caravaggio: Caravaggio’s reputation as an incorrigible bad boy sometimes overshadows his tremendous achievements as a painter whose dramatic use of light influenced generations of later artists. We’ll discover how Caravaggio’s use of models recruited from the streets of Rome shocked church officials, and review some of the theories as to how he achieved his remarkably lifelike results.
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| Rubens, Samson and Delilah, 1610. |
Rubens: A giant of the Baroque, Rubens combined the vigour of Michelangelo, the colour of Titian and the realism of the Northern European tradition to create a vivacious new style that answered the Catholic Church’s call for paintings to inspire the faithful. In addition to his celebrated altarpieces and regal portraits, we’ll also discover how the landscape paintings Rubens did for his own pleasure influenced the great English landscape painters.
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| Velázquez, Innocent X, ca. 1650. |
Velázquez: A true “painter’s painter”, Velázquez spent his career at the service of the Spanish court, capturing living likenesses in which he balanced the requisite idealism with bravura brushwork. We’ll look at the breathtaking realism of his early genre scenes, his dazzling portraits of the Hapsburgs and their retinues, and of course the artist’s most famous painting, Las Meninas, an enigmatic work that has inspired artists from Manet to Picasso to Salvador Dalí.
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| Rembrandt, Self-Portrait, 1659. |
Rembrandt: The most renowned of the Dutch Old Masters, Rembrandt’s style evolved from the highly polished manner that won him commissions from Amsterdam’s elite, to a deeply personal approach in which Caravaggesque lighting is combined with a loose yet deft paint handling not seen previously. We’ll analyze the artist’s innovative take on the group portrait (the so-called “Night Watch” ), his poignant self-portraits, the quietly intimate religious scenes painted in his later years, and his highly original approach to print making.