Europe in
th
The 17 Century
The Age of Reason,
Enlightenment,
Scientific Revolution,
Neo-Classicism, and
Global Trade
The Scientific
Revolution
A replica of Isaac Newton's telescope of 1672.
 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
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 Telescope
1609
 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.
Galileo Galilei
1564-1642
Sir Isaac Newton
1643-1727
Godfrey Kneller's Sir Isaac Newton at 46
 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
particles
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 Descartes
1596-1660
“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 Bacon
1561-1626
 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
Voltaire
Thomas Paine
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
David Hume
Mary Wollstonecraft
A CLASS SOCIETY
 The Aristocracy
 Professionals
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Scientists
Physicians
Attorneys
Clergy
Literati
Military Officers
 Merchants and Bankers
 Tradespeople
 Working Class
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Domestic Servants
Hired labor
Apprentices
The Unemployed: debtors,
beggars,thieves
 Peasants
Poverty and
Unemployment
 Displaced agrarian
labor
 No social safety net
 Education only for the
elite
 Child labor
 Cheap gin
Gin Lane (1751). Etching and Engraving by William Hogarth.
The New York Public Library.
Societal Ideals
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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
Social Gatherings
Prince of Wales
Samuel Johnson
Oliver
Goldsmith
James Boswell
Hester Thrale
Duchess of Devonshire
Mary “Perdita” Robinson
Vauxhall Gardens (1784). A drawing by Thomas Rowlandson.
Victoria and Albert Royal Museum.
Coffee and
News
Periodicals
and Newpapers
Addison and Steele
The Spectator
Periodical Essays
Literary Criticism
Character Sketches
Political Discussion
Philosophical Ideas
A London coffeehouse.
The British Museum
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
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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
ARTIFICE
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
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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
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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
Entertainment
Theatre
Opera
Symphony
The Laughing Audience (1733).
Etching and engraving by William
Hogarth. The New York Public
Library
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
Rulers/nobility
Affairs of state
Unhappy ending
Lofty poetic style
Revealed the horrible
results of mistakes and
misdeeds committed from
passion
Corneille and Racine
Comedy
Middle class/bourgeosie
Domestic/private affairs
Happy ending – often deus
ex machina
Ordinary speech
Ridicules behavior that
should be avoided
Moliere
Pierre Corneille
1606-1684
 Known as “the founder
of French tragedy”
 Chafed under the
critical strictures of
Cardinal Richelieu and
the Académie Français
 Le Cid 1637
Querelle de Cid
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliére
1622-1673
 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 Racine
1639-1699
• 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:
Actresses
Heroic couplets
Neoclassical
modes:
Social
comedies
Heroic
tragedies
 Comedy of
Manners
Witty-language
driven
Satirical of
social mores
Risque
Marriage
and money
Painting 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 (167781)
 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)
The Royal Exchange. Engraving by Bartolozzi.
The British Library
Commerce
The Rise of the Middle Class
Increased Literacy
Leisure Time
International Trade
Empire Building
Triangular Trade
Global Cooling: 1550-1700
The 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, 1565
Hunters 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
Manila
Galleon
New Spain
Potosi Silver Mine
Center for Chinese
traders
Vermeer
The Geographer
1668-69
Model: Antoine Van Leeuwenhoek?
Genre painting –
science embodied
in astronomy
and geography
Vermeer
The Astronomer
1668
The Terrestrial Globe
The Celestial Globe
Jan Vermeer, 1632-75
View of Delft, 1658
The pre-eminence of Holland in Global Trade:
The Dutch East Indies Co.
Warehouse of the Dutch East India Company
Officer and Laughing Girl
1655-60
Interior with a Dordrecht
Family (detail)
Nicolaes Maes
1656
Delft China 18th Century,
Companie Des Indes
Girl Reading a Letter
1657-59
Woman Asleep,
1656-57
Woman Holding
a Balance
1662-65
Dutch Silver Ducat
The Emergence of
WOMEN ARTISTS
and
WOMEN LOOKING AT
THEMSELVES
Sofonisba
Anguisola
c. 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
Self Portrait, 1577
 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 stilllifes, 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.
Lavinia
Fontana,
Noli Me
Tangere,
1581
 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 selfportraits.
Clara Peeters
1589-1657
Still Life, n.d.
Vanitas c. 1610
Artemesia Gentileschi
 Daughter of painter
Orazio Gentileschi, a
1593-1652
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-- psychodrama rather than physical
charm
 Strong personality
Self-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
Maidservant
1613-1614
Artemesia Gentileschi, Cleopatra, 1621-22
Her first reclining nude -- departs from tradition by showing
effects of gravity
Artemesia
Gentileschi
Woman
Playing
the Lute,
1610-12
Artemesia
Gentileschi,
Pittura, 1630
Self-Portrait, 1635
Judith
Leyster
1609-60
 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 newlyrich merchants.
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 wellknown 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