Europe inThe 17th Century

The Age of Reason, Enlightenment,

Scientific Revolution,Neo-Classicism, and

Global Trade

The ScientificRevolution

Emphasis on experimentation and inductive reasoning

Scientific Method New methods of

observation: the microscope and the telescope

1645: Charles I chartered the Royal Society of London for the Improving of Natural Knowledge

A replica of Isaac Newton's telescope of 1672.

Heliocentric Theory Nicholas Copernicus,

astronomer: On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres, 1543

Giordano Bruno, astronomer: burnt at the stake for teaching heliocentric theory and infinity of universe, 1600

Johannes Kepler, mathematician and physicist:  laws of planetary motion; Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican Astronomy. They also provided one of the foundations for Isaac Newton's theory of universal gravitation.

Copernicus, Portrait from Toruń, 1580

Giordano Bruno

Johannes Kepler

Galileo Builds the First Telescope1609

Galileo Galilei1564-1642

Florentine astronomer Law of falling bodies: gravity Adapted Dutch lens in

to telescope: Saw Jupiter’s moons, Saturn’s

rings, phases of Venus and stars in the Milky Way

Proved heliocentric theory

The Starry Messenger, 1610 Dialogue Concerning the Two

Principal Systems of the World, 1632

Persecuted by Inquisition – forced to recant.

Sir Isaac Newton1643-1727

Mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, and natural philosopher

Developed calculus contemporaneously but separately from Liebniz

Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica: described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion

Opticks: discovered that light was composed of particlesGodfrey Kneller's Sir Isaac Newton at 46

The Age of Reason 17th c. philosophers broke with Medieval and Renaissance

scholasticism System-builders — philosophers who present unified systems of

epistemology, metaphysics, logic, and ethics, and often politics and the physical sciences

RATIONALISTS: Knowledge can be gained through the power of reason – mathematics as basis of knowledge Rene Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Leibniz

EMPIRICISTS: Knowledge comes through the senses, through experience – physical sciences as basis of knowledge Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, George

Berkeley, David Hume

René Descartes1596-1660

“Cogito ergo sum” “I think, therefore, I am”

“Father of Modern Philosophy,” “Father of Modern Mathematics”

Developed analytic geometry

Discourse on the Method: methodological skepticism – favors deduction over perception

René Descartes. Portrait by Frans Hals, 1648

Francis Bacon1561-1626

Leading advocate for empiricism

Inductive reasoning: fact > axiom > law

Novum Organum (New Method), 1620: advocated scientific study guided by precise methodology: experimentation, tabulation, record keeping

Separation of religion and science

The Enlightenment

18th c. movement in European and American philosophy and intellectual thought which advocated REASON as the primary basis for authority.

Period is marked by: Nation building Government consolidation Systemization of knowledge: academies, encyclopedias,

dictionaries Decline in power of authoritarian institutions such as the

church and nobility Greater rights for common people

Prominent Enlightenment Philosophers

Thomas Paine

Mary Wollstonecraft

Voltaire

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

David Hume

A CLASS SOCIETY

The Aristocracy Professionals

Scientists Physicians Attorneys Clergy Literati Military Officers

Merchants and Bankers Tradespeople Working Class

Domestic Servants Hired labor Apprentices The Unemployed: debtors,

beggars,thieves Peasants

Gin Lane (1751). Etching and Engraving by William Hogarth.

The New York Public Library.

Poverty and Unemployment

Displaced agrarian labor

No social safety net Education only for the

elite Child labor Cheap gin

Societal Ideals

Clear hierarchical structures Public life more important than private life Decorum: well-defined codes of behavior Society: importance of the social group and shared

opinion Marriage and family as a social microcosm Urbane: the city is the center of human discourse –

the country is pastoral, an idealized refuge for renewal and relaxation, or the venue of the ignorant “country bumpkins”

Wit: the importance of language used well

Vauxhall Gardens (1784). A drawing by Thomas Rowlandson. Victoria and Albert Royal Museum.

Samuel Johnson

James Boswell Hester Thrale

Oliver Goldsmith

Duchess of Devonshire Mary “Perdita” Robinson

Prince of Wales

Social Gatherings

A London coffeehouse. The British Museum

Coffee and News

Periodicals and Newpapers

Addison and SteeleThe Spectator

Periodical EssaysLiterary CriticismCharacter SketchesPolitical DiscussionPhilosophical Ideas

Literary Salons

Intellectual and literary circles formed around women

Brought together members of society and philosophers and artists

Emphasis on conversation and wit

A reading of Molière, Jean François de Troy, ca. 1728

Neo-Classicism

The consideration of Greek and Roman art and literature as “the canon” of art

Adoption of Classical conventions into art, architecture and literature

Desire for stability and order Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns

The Ancients: Greece and Rome established standards and models never to be excelled

The Moderns: those standing on the shoulders of their predecessors could see farther – the new could excell the ancient

G. P. Pannini assembles the canon of Roman ruins and Roman sculpture into one vast imaginary gallery (1756)

Neo-Classical Artist

Social Arbiter of Taste Elitist Moral Intellectual Critic

Louis Michel van Loo Portrait of Diderot

Artistic Conventions Verisimilitude

a semblance of truth Hazlitt: “ the close imitation of men and manners… the very texture of

society as it really exists.” recognizable settings and characters in real time elimination of fantastic and supernatural elements

Morality Revelation of ideal moral patterns Poetic justice: the good are rewarded and the wicked punished God’s plan is inevitably just

Universality Social norms are unchanged regardless of period or locale

Decorum Appropriate adherence to contemporary behavioral standards

J. S. Muller after Samuel Wale, A General Prospect of Vaux Hall Gardens Shewing at one View the disposition of the whole Gardens

(after 1751).

ARTIFICE

ARTIFICE Art as an improvement upon nature Neo-classical ideals: balance, harmony, reason Gardens Major poetic forms:

Heroic couplets: rhymed iambic pentameter (English): / / / / ں ں ں ں / ں

Alexandrines: rhymed iambic hexameter (French): / / / / / ں ں ں ں ں / ں

Epic and mock epic Poetic essay

Literary Genres Drama: comedy and tragedy Epistle: public letters in poetry or prose Epic: didactic, idealistic, Ode: occasional poem in praise of an event or person Satire: exposure of public and private foolishness

Mock epics Mock odes

Epigrams: pithy, witty ideas Novels: realistic portrayals of bourgeois life

Social Satire

Voltaire, Candide Alexander Pope

Mock epic: “The Rape of the Lock”

Literary Satire: “The Dunciad

Jonathan Swift “A Modest Proposal” Gulliver’s Travels

The Laughing Audience (1733). Etching and engraving by William Hogarth. The New York Public Library

Entertainment

TheatreOpera

Symphony

French Neoclassical Theatre, 17th-18th C.

Modelled theatre on Greek and Roman examples Disdained English Elizabethan theatre’s

“messiness” and eclecticism Neoclassical Conventions

Decorum Verisimilitude Universal truths Poetic: Alexandrines 5 act structure 3 unities: time, place action

Tragedy and Comedy

Rulers/nobility Affairs of state Unhappy ending Lofty poetic style Revealed the horrible

results of mistakes and misdeeds committed from passion

Corneille and Racine

Middle class/bourgeosie Domestic/private affairs Happy ending – often deus

ex machina Ordinary speech Ridicules behavior that

should be avoided Moliere

Pierre Corneille1606-1684

Known as “the founder of French tragedy”

Chafed under the critical strictures of Cardinal Richelieu and the Académie Français

Le Cid 1637Querelle de Cid

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliére1622-1673 Playwright, actor, producer – headed his

own theatrical company Favorite of Louis XIV – troupe was

established at court: Palais Royale Theatre Influenced by commedia dell arte and by

Roman comedies and French farces – he used these forms to ridicule social and moral pretensions.

Le Misanthrope, (The Misanthrope), L'École des femmes (The School for Wives), Tartuffe ou l'Imposteur, (Tartuffe or the Hypocrite), L'Avare ou l'École du mensonge (The Miser), Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (The Bourgeois Gentleman).

Jean Racine1639-1699

• First tragedies originally produced by Moliere’s company – he defected to the rival Hôtel de Bourgogne

• Most of his tragedies are based on classical themes and tragedies

• Considered the master of the Alexandrine line

• Major works:Andromaque (1667) Britannicus(1669) Bérénice (1670) Iphigénie (1674) Phèdre (1677)

English Restoration Theatre Theatres reopened

with restoration of Charles II

French influence:ActressesHeroic

coupletsNeoclassical

modes:Social

comediesHeroic

tragedies

Comedy of MannersWitty--

language driven

Satirical of social mores

RisqueMarriage

and moneyPainting of the interior of the Drury Lane Theater.

Thomas Rowlandson. The British Library.

England’s first professional female author:

Aphra Behn

Novelist Venice Preserv'd The History of the

Nun Love Letters

between a Nobleman and his sister (1684)

The Fair Jilt (1688) Oroonoko (c.1688) The Unfortunate

Happy Lady: A True History

Playwright The Forced

Marriage (1670) The Amorous Prince

(1671) Abdelazar (1676) The Rover (1677-

81) The Feign'd

Curtezans (1679) The City Heiress

(1682) The Lucky Chance

(1686) The Lover's Watch

(1686) The Emperor of the

Moon (1687) Lycidus (1688)

Commerce

The Royal Exchange. Engraving by Bartolozzi. The British Library

The Rise of the Middle Class

Increased LiteracyLeisure Time

International TradeEmpire Building

Triangular Trade

Global Cooling: 1550-1700The Little Ice Age

Shorter growing seasons Rising grain prices Increased illness – outbreaks of the plague in

Europe and China Shifts in fishing and trade patterns

Frost Fair on the Thames River,1677

Pieter Breughel, 1565Hunters in the Snow

Transculturation

“The Age of Discovery was largely over, the age of imperialism as yet to come. The seventeenth century was the age of improvisation.” Timothy Brook, Vermeer’s Hat

Mutual influence among cultures – negotiation and borrowing

Age of mobility Europeans adopted new technologies: magnetic

compass, paper, gunpowder – all invented in China

China’s Demand for Silver

http://www.learner.org/vod/vod_window.html?pid=2158

Potosi Silver Mine

New Spain

Center for Chinesetraders

Manila Galleon

VermeerThe Geographer1668-69

VermeerThe Astronomer1668

Model: Antoine Van Leeuwenhoek?

Genre painting – science embodied in astronomy and geography

The Terrestrial Globe

The Celestial Globe

Jan Vermeer, 1632-75View of Delft, 1658

Warehouse of the Dutch East India Company

The pre-eminence of Holland in Global Trade: The Dutch East Indies Co.

Officer and Laughing Girl1655-60

Interior with a Dordrecht Family (detail)Nicolaes Maes1656

Delft China 18th Century, Companie Des Indes

Girl Reading a Letter1657-59

Woman Asleep,1656-57

Woman Holding a Balance1662-65

Dutch Silver Ducat

The Emergence ofWOMEN ARTISTS

andWOMEN LOOKING AT THEMSELVES

Sofonisba Anguisolac. 1532- 1625

Self-Portrait, c. 1554

Italian Spent 10 yrs. at court

of Philip II in Madrid An aristocrat, not

daughter of painter but encouraged by her father

Numerous self-portraits -- more than any other artist between Dürer & Rembrandt

Sofonisba Anguisola, The Chess Game, 1559

                                                                                                                              

Sofonisba Anguisola, Portrait of Queen

Anne of Austria, 1570

Sofonisba Anguisola, Self-Portraits, 1610 and 1620

Lavinia Fontana 1552-1614

• Daughter of painter in Bologna

• First woman to have normal successful artistic career -- she had a very helpful husband who supported her in her career and helped to care for their many children

• 32-57 extant paintings (over 100 listed) including still-lifes, small and large scale Biblical and mythological works, and altarpieces (very rare for women artists of this time period)

• In 1572, she received a papal commission and was elected to the Roman Academy. Self Portrait, 1577

Lavinia Fontana, Noli Me Tangere,

1581

Clara Peeters1589-1657

• Clara Peeters was born possibly in Antwerp, Holland.

• By the time she was seventeen, her works indicate that she was already a highly accomplished artist.

• She specialized in still life studies of gorgeous objects, luscious fruits, exotic flowers and expensive food.

• She was also a portraitist whose works included self-portraits.

Still Life, n.d.

Vanitas c. 1610

Artemesia Gentileschi1593-1652

• Daughter of painter Orazio Gentileschi, a follower of Caravaggio

• Raped by teacher Agostino Tossi

• Married to a Florentine and moved to Florence

• Considered to be 1st influential woman artist

• Biblical and mythical subjects with heroines -- female nudes-- psycho-drama rather than physical charm

• Strong personalitySelf-Portrait as a Female Martyr, c. 1615

Artemesia Gentileschi, Jael and Sisera, 1620

Artemesia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying

Holofernes, 1612-13

• Judith as model of psychic liberation -- female who acts- confrontation of sexes from female point of view

Artemesia Gentileschi, Judith and Her Maidservant1613-1614

Artemesia Gentileschi, Cleopatra, 1621-22Her first reclining nude -- departs from tradition by

showing effects of gravity

Woman Playing the Lute, 1610-

12

Artemesia Gentileschi

Artemesia Gentileschi, Pittura, 1630

Judith Leyster1609-60

One of 2 female members of the painters' guild in her native Haarlem

an independent Dutch artist with her own workshop & pupils.

Her work was influenced by Frans Hals

Lively genre scenes popular with newly-rich merchants.

Self-Portrait, 1635

Judith Leyster, The Musicians, 1631-33

Judith Leyster,

A Game of Cards

Mary Beale, 1633-99

Daughter of a puritan rector, an amateur painter.

Became a well-known portrait painter who supported her family by her painting.

Self-Portrait, 1675

Her husband, Charles gave up his occupation in the Patents Office to join her in her studio to prepare her canvases and mix her paints.

He experimented with pigments and became an expert in the field, sometimes selling his ideas from his “tryalls” to other artists.

It was interest not necessity that made Mary and Charles such a good partnership.

Mary Beale Portrait of Aphra Behn

Elisabetta Sirani(1638-65)

Daughter of a Bolognese artist, she took over his studio when he developed gout.

Known for religious and historical scenes.

Opened the first studio for women artists.

Self-Portrait, ca. 1660

Elisabetta Sirani

Timoclea, 1659

“This year's (1994) Traditional Holiday stamp is the first to depict the work of a woman artist. Elisabetta Sirani's Virgin & Child was chosen for the stamp.

An artist of international renown, Sirani created 190 pieces during the 1660s, a time when there were very few women artists. She established a painting school for women in her early twenties and was so beloved in her native Bologna that the entire city went into mourning when she died at age twenty-seven.

Her depiction of the Virgin and child has been admired both for its technical mastery and for its tenderness.”

Virgin and Child, 1663 Elisabetta Sirani