The unique point of the Dutch School is how their Protestant environment totally changed the subject of their work. Whereas their Catholic counterparts in France and Italy would focus on the glory of the church and God, the Dutch would glorify everyday scenes of working people and natural landscapes.
Johannes Vermeer was our guide's favorite and very much encapsulates this spirit. Although his lifetime production only spans 40 paintings, each of them are masterpieces. We saw this work below about The Lacemaker. It looks like it could have been a photo, the woman is not posing but rather working rather diligently. Her craft is presented with much dignity. The red strings flow out of the pillow like it was liquid, so full of life. Vermeer is known for other scenes of people in their daily lives -- The Astronomer reaching for a globe, or The Milkmaid pouring her milk.
We saw Rubens's 24 commissioned paintings of Marie de Medicis, wife of Henry IV of France, a very difficult task given how unpopular of a ruler Marie would eventually become in the interim period between Henry IV's death and the adulthood of his successor Louis XIII. To make her life more interesting, Rubens inserted figures from Roman mythology talking to the greatness of Marie. 3 Gods attended her birth, apparently. Her education was also divinely inspired. When the angels presented Henry IV with her painting (because that is how people decided whom to marry or not back then, Henry IV was smitten by her beauty. Even weirder, Henry IV didn't have the time to attend his own wedding in Florence, so a representative was sent to give her the ring in the Florentine cathedral in his place. Later after Henry IV's passing, Rubens had to improvise how to show the period of Marie impeding her son from acceding to the throne. He shows her as a peacemaker, reconciling the claims to the throne between herself and her son... when in reality she was anything but diplomatic. Even her escape from being captured was depicted as heroic, when really it was a panicked, cowardly flight. As resident artist of the Royal Court, Rubens did his best to present what he could of Marie's momentous life.
Finally, we got to see Rembrandt who painted nearly 100 self-portraits. Despite being a prolific artist, he accumulated many debts and could not stop himself from spending his money in antiques. Bankrupt and in failing health, his last self-portrait was this one below, a self-portrait as Zeuxis. Zeuxis was a Greek painter from the 5th century BC. An old lady came to see him and asked him if he could paint her as... Aphrodite, Goddess of Beauty and Love. In response, Zeuxis laughed so hard that he literally died from laughing! A very original death if there ever was one. Like Zeuxis, Rembrandt knew he was approaching his end and preferred laughing about it.
