1.
Johannes Vermeer
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Johannes, Jan or Johan Vermeer was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. Vermeer was a successful provincial genre painter in his lifetime. He evidently was not wealthy, leaving his wife and children in debt at his death, Vermeer worked slowly and with great care, and frequently used very expensive pigments. He is particularly renowned for his treatment and use of light in his work. Vermeer painted mostly domestic interior scenes and he was recognized during his lifetime in Delft and The Hague, but his modest celebrity gave way to obscurity after his death. He was barely mentioned in Arnold Houbrakens major source book on 17th-century Dutch painting, since that time, Vermeers reputation has grown, and he is now acknowledged as one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age. Relatively little was known about Vermeers life until recently and he seems to have been devoted exclusively to his art, living out his life in the city of Delft. Until the 19th century, the sources of information were some registers, a few official documents. John Michael Montias added details on the family from the city archives of Delft in his Artists and Artisans in Delft, Johannes Vermeer was baptized in the Reformed Church on 31 October 1632. His father Reijnier Janszoon was a worker of silk or caffa. As an apprentice in Amsterdam, Reijnier lived on fashionable Sint Antoniesbreestraat, in 1615, he married Digna Baltus. The couple moved to Delft and had a daughter named Geertruy who was baptized in 1620, in 1625, Reijnier was involved in a fight with a soldier named Willem van Bylandt who died from his wounds five months later. Around this time, Reijnier began dealing in paintings, in 1631, he leased an inn, which he called The Flying Fox. In 1635, he lived on Voldersgracht 25 or 26, in 1641, he bought a larger inn on the market square, named after the Flemish town Mechelen. The acquisition of the inn constituted a financial burden. When Vermeers father died in October 1652, Vermeer took over the operation of the art business. In April 1653, Johannes Reijniersz Vermeer married a Catholic girl, the blessing took place in the quiet nearby village of Schipluiden. Vermeers new mother-in-law Maria Thins was significantly wealthier than he, according to art historian Walter Liedtke, Vermeers conversion seems to have been made with conviction
2.
Dresden
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Dresden is the capital city and, after Leipzig, the second-largest city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the border with the Czech Republic, Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Electors and Kings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendour. The city was known as the Jewel Box, because of its baroque, the controversial American and British bombing of Dresden in World War II towards the end of the war killed approximately 25,000, many of whom were civilians, and destroyed the entire city centre. After the war restoration work has helped to reconstruct parts of the inner city, including the Katholische Hofkirche, the Zwinger. Since German reunification in 1990 Dresden is again a cultural, educational and political centre of Germany, the Dresden University of Technology is one of the 10 largest universities in Germany and part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative. The economy of Dresden and its agglomeration is one of the most dynamic in Germany and it is dominated by high-tech branches, often called as “Silicon Saxony”. The city is one of the most visited in Germany with 4,3 million overnight stays per year. The royal buildings are among the most impressive buildings in Europe, main sights are also the nearby National Park of Saxon Switzerland, the Ore Mountains and the countryside around Elbe Valley and Moritzburg Castle. The most prominent building in the city of Dresden is the Frauenkirche, built in the 18th century, the church was destroyed during World War II. The remaining ruins were left for 50 years as a war memorial, the church was rebuilt from 1994 to 2005. Although Dresden is a relatively recent city of Germanic origin followed by settlement of Slavic people, Dresdens founding and early growth is associated with the eastward expansion of Germanic peoples, mining in the nearby Ore Mountains, and the establishment of the Margraviate of Meissen. Its name etymologically derives from Old Sorbian Drežďany, meaning people of the forest, Dresden later evolved into the capital of Saxony. Around the late 12th century, a Slavic settlement called Drežďany had developed on the southern bank, another settlement existed on the northern bank, but its Slavic name is unknown. It was known as Antiqua Dresdin by 1350, and later as Altendresden, dietrich, Margrave of Meissen, chose Dresden as his interim residence in 1206, as documented in a record calling the place Civitas Dresdene. After 1270, Dresden became the capital of the margraviate and it was given to Friedrich Clem after death of Henry the Illustrious in 1288. It was taken by the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1316 and was restored to the Wettin dynasty after the death of Valdemar the Great in 1319, from 1485, it was the seat of the dukes of Saxony, and from 1547 the electors as well. The Elector and ruler of Saxony Frederick Augustus I became King Augustus II the Strong of Poland in personal union and he gathered many of the best musicians, architects and painters from all over Europe to the newly named Royal-Polish Residential City of Dresden. His reign marked the beginning of Dresdens emergence as a leading European city for technology, during the reign of Kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland the Zwinger Royal Palace, the Hofkirche and the Frauenkirche were built
3.
Genre painting
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Genre painting, also called genre scene or petit genre, depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. A work would often be considered as a genre work even if it could be shown that the artist had used a known member of his family. In this case it would depend on whether the work was likely to have intended by the artist to be perceived as a portrait—sometimes a subjective question. The depictions can be realistic, imagined, or romanticized by the artist, because of their familiar and frequently sentimental subject matter, genre paintings have often proven popular with the bourgeoisie, or middle class. Genre subjects appear in many traditions of art and these were part of a pattern of Mannerist inversion in Antwerp painting, giving low elements previously in the decorative background of images prominent emphasis. The generally small scale of these paintings was appropriate for their display in the homes of middle class purchasers. Often the subject of a painting was based on a popular emblem from an Emblem book. The merry company showed a group of figures at a party, other common types of scenes showed markets or fairs, village festivities, or soldiers in camp. In Italy, a school of painting was stimulated by the arrival in Rome of the Dutch painter Pieter van Laer in 1625. He acquired the nickname Il Bamboccio and his followers were called the Bamboccianti, whose works would inspire Giacomo Ceruti, Antonio Cifrondi, jean-Baptiste Greuze and others painted detailed and rather sentimental groups or individual portraits of peasants that were to be influential on 19th-century painting. Spain had a tradition predating The Book of Good Love of social observation and commentary based on the Old Roman Latin tradition, practiced by many of its painters and illuminators. More than a later, the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya used genre scenes in painting and printmaking as a medium for dark commentary on the human condition. His The Disasters of War, a series of 82 genre incidents from the Peninsular War, with the decline of religious and historical painting in the 19th century, artists increasingly found their subject matter in the life around them. In French art this was known as the Troubador style, in the second half of the century interest in genre scenes, often in historical settings or with pointed social or moral comment, greatly increased across Europe. Other 19th-century English genre painters include Augustus Leopold Egg, George Elgar Hicks, William Holman Hunt, scotland produced two influential genre painters, David Allan and Sir David Wilkie. Wilkies The Cottars Saturday Night inspired a work by the French painter Gustave Courbet. Famous Russian realist painters like Vasily Perov and Ilya Repin also produced genre paintings, in Germany, Carl Spitzweg specialized in gently humorous genre scenes, and in Italy Gerolamo Induno painted scenes of military life. Subsequently the Impressionists, as well as such 20th-century artists as Pierre Bonnard, Itshak Holtz, Edward Hopper, other notable 19th-century genre painters from the United States include George Caleb Bingham, William Sidney Mount, and Eastman Johnson
4.
Brothel
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A brothel or bordello is a place where people may come to engage in sexual activity with a prostitute, sometimes referred to as a sex worker. Technically, any premises where prostitution takes place qualifies as a brothel. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments sometimes describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub parlours, studios, sex work in a brothel is considered safer than street prostitution. Under English criminal law, a brothel is commonly referred to as a disorderly house, attitudes around the world to prostitution and how it should be regulated vary considerably, and have varied over time. Part of the impacts on whether the operation of brothels should be legal. On 2 December 1949, the United Nations General Assembly approved the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons, the Convention came into effect on 25 July 1951 and as at December 2013 has been ratified by 82 states. The Convention seeks to combat prostitution, which it regards as incompatible with the dignity, parties to the Convention agreed to abolish regulation of individual prostitutes, and to ban brothels and procuring. Some countries not parties to the Convention also ban prostitution or the operation of brothels, various United Nations commissions, however, have differing positions on the issue. In the European Union, there is no policy and no consensus on the issue. The European Womens Lobby condemns prostitution as a form of male violence. In February 2014, the members of the European Parliament voted in a resolution, in favor of the Swedish Model of criminalizing the buying. Prostitution and the operation of brothels is illegal in many countries, such situations exist in many parts of the world, but the region most often associated with these policies is Asia. When brothels are illegal they may operate in the guise of a legitimate business, such as massage parlors. In other places, prostitution itself may be legal, but many activities which surround it are illegal and this is the situation, for example, in the United Kingdom, Italy and France. In a few countries, prostitution and operating a brothel is legal, the degree of regulation varies widely by country. Most of these countries allow brothels, at least in theory, in parts of Australia, for example, brothels are legal and regulated. Regulation includes planning controls and licensing and registration requirements, and there may be other restrictions, however, the existence of licensed brothels does not stop illegal brothels from operating. The Netherlands has one of the most liberal prostitution policies in the world, amsterdam is well known for its red-light district and is a destination for sex tourism
5.
The Astronomer (Vermeer)
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The Astronomer is a painting finished in about 1668 by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. It is oil on canvas,51 cm x 45 cm, portrayals of scientists were a favourite topic in 17th-century Dutch painting and Vermeers oeuvre includes both this astronomer and the slightly later The Geographer. Both are believed to portray the man, possibly Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. A2017 study indicated that the canvas for the two came from the same bolt of material, confirming their close relationship. The astronomers profession is shown by the globe and the book on the table. The provenance of The Astronomer can be traced back to 27 April 1713, in 1940 it was seized from his hotel in Paris by the Nazi Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg für die Besetzten Gebiete after the German invasion of France. A small swastika was stamped on the back in black ink, the painting was returned to the Rothschilds after the war, and was acquired by the French state as giving in payment of inheritance taxes in 1983 and then exhibited at the Louvre since 1983. Liedtke, Walter A. Vermeer and the Delft School, Institutiones Astronomicae Geographicae by Adriaan Metius
6.
The Geographer
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The Geographer is a painting created by Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer in 1668–1669, and is now in the collection of the Städelsches Kunstinstitut museum in Frankfurt, Germany. It is closely related to Vermeers The Astronomer, for using the same model in the same dress. A2017 study indicated that the canvas for the two came from the same bolt of material. This is one of three paintings Vermeer signed and dated. Details of the face are slightly blurred, suggesting movement. His eyes are narrowed, perhaps squinting in the sunlight or an indication of intense thinking, Carr asserts that the painting depicts a flash of inspiration or even revelation. The drawn curtain on the left and the position of the carpet on the table—pushed back—are both symbols of revelation. He grips a book as if hes about to snatch it up to corroborate his ideas, the globe was published in Amsterdam in 1618 by Jodocus Hondius. The globe is turned toward the Indian Ocean, where the Dutch East India Company was then active, Vermeer used an impasto technique to apply pointillé dots, not to indicate light reflected more strongly on certain points but to emphasize the dull ochre cartouche frame printed on the globe. Since the globe can be identified, we know the decorative cartouche includes a plea for information for future editions—reflecting the theme of revelation in the painting, the sea chart on the wall of all the Sea coasts of Europe has been identified as one published by Willem Jansz Blaeu. This accuracy indicates Vermeer had a source familiar with the profession, the Astronomer, which seems to form a pendant with this painting, shows a similar, sophisticated knowledge of cartographic instruments and books, and the same young man modeled for both. That man himself may have been the source of Vermeers correct display of surveying and geographical instruments, Wheelock and others assert the model/source was probably Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek, a contemporary of Vermeer who was also born in Delft. The families of men were in the textile business, and both families had a strong interest in science and optics. A microscopist, van Leeuwenhoek was described after his death as being so skilled in navigation, astronomy, mathematics, philosophy and that one can certainly place him with the most distinguished masteres of the art. Another image of van Leeuwenhoek about 20 years later shows a face and straight nose. At the time Vermeer painted the two works, the scientist would have been about 36 years old and he would have been actively studying for his examination for surveyor, which he passed on February 4,1669. There is no evidence for any kind of relationship between the two men during Vermeers lifetime, although in 1676, van Leeuwenhoek was appointed a trustee for Vermeers estate. The pose of the figure in Vermeers painting takes up precisely the position of Faust in Rembrandts famous etching, according to Lawrence Gowing, similar arrangements can be found in drawings by Nicolaes Maes
7.
Gerard ter Borch
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Gerard ter Borch, also known as Gerard Terburg, was a Dutch genre painter who lived in the Dutch Golden Age. Gerard ter Borch was born in December 1617 in Zwolle in the province of Overijssel in the Dutch Republic and he received an excellent education from his father Gerard ter Borch the Elder, also an artist, and developed his talent very early. The inscription on a study of a head proves that Ter Borch was at Amsterdam in 1632, duysters influence can be traced in a picture bearing the date 1638, in the lonides Bequest. In 1634 he studied under Pieter de Molijn in Haarlem, a record of this Haarlem period is the Consultation at the Berlin Gallery. In 1635 he was in London, and subsequently he travelled in Germany, France, Spain and his sister Gesina also became a painter. It is certain that he was in Rome in 1641, when he painted the portraits on copper of Jan Six, A Young Lady. He seems to have resided for a time in Haarlem, but he settled in Deventer. He died at Deventer in 1681, Ter Borch is a significant painter of genre subjects. He is known for his rendering of texture in draperies, for example in The Letter and in The Gallant Conversation, Ter Borchs works are comparatively rare, about eighty have been catalogued. Six of these are at the Hermitage, six at the Berlin Museum, five at the Louvre, four at the Dresden Museum, a pair of portraits are located at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington D. C. highlighted in 2010 by Blake Gopnik. The artists painting The Suitors Visit, c,1658, oil on canvas,80 x 75 cm in the Andrew W. Mellon Collection, was used on the cover of Marilyn Stokstads second edition of Art History. Gerard ter Borchs paintings This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Ter Borch. Gerard Terburg et sa famille, by Emile Michel Der künstlerische Entwickelungsgang des C
8.
The Procuress (Dirck van Baburen)
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The Procuress is the name given to a number of similar paintings by the Dutch Golden Age painter Dirck van Baburen. The painting is in the Caravaggiesque style of the Utrecht school, the painting shows three figures, a prostitute on the left, the client in the middle and the procuress on the right pointing to her palm to indicate that she is expecting payment. The client is holding a coin between his fingers as he puts his arm around the prostitute, who is playing a lute, the painting is an example of the popular genre known as Bordeeltjes, or brothel scenes. The cropped, close-up figures close to the plane against a flat blank background are typical of Utrecht Caravaggism. There are at least three versions of the painting, the versions in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston are attributed to Dirck van Baburen or his studio. One copy of the painting was owned by Maria Thins, mother-in-law of Johannes Vermeer, a copy owned by the Courtauld Institute in London has been identified as the work of the forger Han van Meegeren. This was featured in the episode of the BBC TV series. One of these paintings was owned by Vermeers mother-in-law, and it may have been an influence on one of his own paintings on a similar subject. It also appears in the background of two of Vermeers later paintings, The Concert and Lady Seated at a Virginal, in both of these later paintings the blatant lust depicted by Baburen is contrasted with the genteel, but erotically charged, middle-class world occupied by Vermeers women. The contrast between the images may also imply a more general association between music and love, Vermeer sets up a series of contrasts between his own delicate, restrained style and Baburens vulgar realism. According to Michael Wayne Cole and Mary Pardo this represents Vermeers own move away from such low-life subjects, the older, cruder style of Baburen is relegated to the background, eclipsing it with the more modern kind of genteel subject that Vermeer would soon paint exclusively. In 1960, Geoffrey Webb presented a version of the painting to the Courtauld Institute, at the end of the Second World War, he had been an allied officer in Europe investigating art works looted by the Nazis. He believed it was a fake painted by Han van Meegeren, in his own defense, van Meegeren claimed that the painting had been bought in an antique shop by his wife. A spokesperson for the stated that they were surprised by the results. Following this, the BBC TV programme Fake or Fortune conducted a further investigation, the resulting film was first shown July 2011. Philip Mould and Fiona Bruce traveled to Amsterdam where they obtained samples of the used by van Meegeren. These included a resin which turned out to be Bakelite. The use of Bakelite had the effect of hardening the paint, chemical analysis showed Bakelite in the Courtauld painting, thus confirming that it was a modern forgery
9.
Dirck van Baburen
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Van Baburen was a Dutch painter and one of the Utrecht Caravaggisti. Dirck van Baburen was probably born in Wijk bij Duurstede, and he was also known as Teodoer van Baburen and Theodor Baburen. The earliest reference to the artist is in the 1611 records of the Utrecht Guild of St. Luke as a pupil of Paulus Moreelse, sometime between 1612 and 1615 he travelled to Rome. There, he collaborated with fellow countryman David de Haen and befriended the close follower of Caravaggio, Baburen was one of the earliest artists to belong to the group of Dutch-speaking artists active in Rome in the seventeenth-century known as the Bentvueghels, his nickname was Biervlieg. In late 1620 Baburen returned to Utrecht, where he began painting genre scenes and he was buried on 28 February 1624 in the Buurkerk, a medieval church which now houses the Museum Speelklok. Around 1629, Constantijn Huygens noted Baburen as one of the important Dutch painters active in the decades of the seventeenth century. Dirck van Baburens career was short, and only a few of his paintings are known today and he mostly painted religious subjects in Rome, including the San Pietro in Montorio Entombment that is indebted to Caravaggios version of the same subject in the Vatican Museums. Baburen also painted a Capture of Christ for Scipione Borghese and Christ Washing the Feet of the Apostles for Vincenzo Giustiniani. The Utrecht works made between 1621 as 1624, the years of Baburens career, merged the visual characteristics learnt from Caravaggio and Manfredi into genre, mythological. He was among the first artists to popularize genre subjects such as musicians, one of his best-known works is The Procuress. It depicts a man offering a coin for the services of a prostitute while an old woman. This painting was owned by Johannes Vermeers mother-in-law and appears in two of artists works, The Concert and Woman Seated at a Virginal. Han van Meegeren forged a copy of work which he may have intended to use as a prop in his forgeries of Vermeer. He painted several musicians, many of which contain a self-portrait. Oxford University Press, March 15,2007, brown, Christopher, The Utrecht Caravaggisti, in Gods, Saints & Heroes, Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt. National Gallery of Art, Washington D. C, franits, Wayne, Dutch Seventeenth-Century Genre Painting. Levine, David A. Schildersbent, Grove Art Online, slatkes, L. J. Dirck van Baburen, A Dutch Painter in Utrecht and Rome. Slive, Seymour, Dutch Painting 1600-1800 ISBN 0-300-06418-7, Vermeer and The Delft School, a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Dirck van Baburen
