Architectural painting

Last updated
The old City Hall of Amsterdam by Pieter Jansz. Saenredam, 1657, Rijksmuseum,Amsterdam Saenredam - Het oude stadhuis te Amsterdam.jpeg
The old City Hall of Amsterdam by Pieter Jansz. Saenredam, 1657, Rijksmuseum,Amsterdam

Architectural painting (also Architecture painting) is a form of genre painting where the predominant focus lies on architecture, including both outdoor and interior views. While architecture was present in many of the earliest paintings and illuminations, it was mainly used as background or to provide rhythm to a painting. In the Renaissance, architecture was used to emphasize the perspective and create a sense of depth, like in Masaccio's Holy Trinity from the 1420s.

Contents

In Western art, architectural painting as an independent genre developed in the 16th century in Flanders and the Netherlands, and reached its peak in 16th and 17th century Dutch painting. [1] [2] Later, it developed in a tool for Romantic paintings, with e.g. views of ruins becoming very popular. Closely related genres are architectural fantasies and trompe-l'oeils, especially illusionistic ceiling painting, and cityscapes.

Western artists specialized in architectural painting

16th century

Architectural landscape by Hans Vredeman de Vries, Hermitage Museum Hans Vredeman de Vries - Architectural Landscape - WGA25387.jpg
Architectural landscape by Hans Vredeman de Vries, Hermitage Museum

The 16th century saw the development of architectural painting as a separate genre in Western art. The main centers in this period were Flanders and the Netherlands. The first important architectural painter was Dutch Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527-1607), who was both an architect and a painter. [3] Students of Hans Vredeman de Vries, both in Flanders and in the Netherlands, include his sons Salomon and Paul, and Hendrik van Steenwijk I. Through them the genre was popularized and their family and students turned it into one of the main domains of Dutch Golden Age painting.

Flanders

Netherlands

Antwerp Cathedral by Hendrik van Steenwijk I and Jan Brueghel the Elder, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest Hendrik I van Steenwijck en Jan I Brueghel, Interieur van de kathedraal van Antwerpen, Szepmuveszeti Muzeum-Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.jpg
Antwerp Cathedral by Hendrik van Steenwijk I and Jan Brueghel the Elder, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

17th century

Flanders

Paul Vredeman de Vries, 1612, Interior of a Gothic Cathedral, Los Angeles County Museum of Art Paul Vredeman de Vries - Interior of a Gothic Cathedral.jpg
Paul Vredeman de Vries, 1612, Interior of a Gothic Cathedral, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Italy

Netherlands

In the 17th century, architectural painting became one of the leading genres in the Dutch Golden Age, together with portrait painting and landscapes. Notable Dutch painter of the genre include:

Andrea Pozzo, 1703, illusionistic ceiling painting in the Jesuit Church, Vienna Fresco with Trompe l'oeuil - Andrea Pozzo -Jesuit Church Vienna.jpg
Andrea Pozzo, 1703, illusionistic ceiling painting in the Jesuit Church, Vienna

18th century

France

Italy

Architectural paintings, and the related vedute or cityscapes, were especially popular in 18th century Italy. Another genre closely related to architectural painting proper were the capriccios, fantasies set in and focusing on an imaginary architecture.

Dirck van Delen, A family beside the tomb of Willem I in the Nieuwe Kerk, Delft, 1645, Rijksmuseum Willem.zwijger.grablege.delft.jpg
Dirck van Delen, A family beside the tomb of Willem I in the Nieuwe Kerk, Delft, 1645, Rijksmuseum

Netherlands

19th century

Austria

Belgium

Denmark

France

Heinrich Hansen, "Sala Delle Quattro Porte, Palazzo Ducale, Venice", 1883 Hansen venice.jpg
Heinrich Hansen, "Sala Delle Quattro Porte, Palazzo Ducale, Venice", 1883

Germany

Italy

United Kingdom

Thomas H. Shepherd, 1853, New England Bank, British Museum Britains Bourse Shepherd.jpg
Thomas H. Shepherd, 1853, New England Bank, British Museum

Modern art

Chinese architectural painting

In China, architectural painting was called "jiehua", and mainly seen as an inferior type of painting. Known masters of the genre include the 10th century painter Guo Zhongshu, and Wang Zhenpeng, who was active around 1300. [4]

Notes

  1. Muller, Sheila D. (2013). "Architectural painting". Dutch Art: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. p. 20. ISBN   9781135495749.
  2. Fredericksen, Burton B. (1988). Masterpieces of Painting in the J. Paul Getty Museum: Second Edition. Getty Publications. p. 21. ISBN   9780892361373.
  3. Waagen, Gustav Friedrich (1860). Handbook of Painting: The German, Flemish, and Dutch Schools. John Murray. p.  245.
  4. Chung, Anita (2004). Drawing Boundaries: Architectural Images in Qing China. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN   9780824826635.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baroque painting</span> European art from about 1590 to 1750

Baroque painting is the painting associated with the Baroque cultural movement. The movement is often identified with Absolutism, the Counter Reformation and Catholic Revival, but the existence of important Baroque art and architecture in non-absolutist and Protestant states throughout Western Europe underscores its widespread popularity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hendrick de Keyser</span>

Hendrick de Keyser was a Dutch sculptor, merchant in Belgium bluestone, and architect who was instrumental in establishing a late Renaissance form of Mannerism changing into Baroque. Most of his works appeared in Amsterdam, some elsewhere in the Dutch Republic. He was the father of Pieter and Thomas de Keyser and Willem, and the uncle of Huybert de Keyser, who became his apprentices and all involved in building, decoration and architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gonzales Coques</span> Flemish painter (c. 1616–1684)

Gonzales Coques was a Flemish painter of portraits and history paintings. Because of his artistic proximity to and emulation with Anthony van Dyck he received the nickname de kleine van Dyck. Coques also worked as an art dealer.

Events from the year 1649 in art.

Events from the year 1603 in art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pieter de Grebber</span> Dutch Golden Age painter (c. 1600–1652/3)

Pieter Fransz de Grebber (c.1600–1652/3) was a Dutch Golden Age painter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerrit Berckheyde</span> Dutch Golden Age painter

Gerrit Adriaenszoon Berckheyde was a Dutch Golden Age painter, active in Haarlem, Amsterdam, and The Hague, who is best known today for his cityscapes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Job Adriaenszoon Berckheyde</span> Dutch painter

Job Adriaenszoon Berckheyde was a Dutch artist of the 17th century, active in Haarlem, Amsterdam, and The Hague.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flemish Baroque painting</span> Painting movement

Flemish Baroque painting was a style of painting in the Southern Netherlands during Spanish control in the 16th and 17th centuries. The period roughly begins when the Dutch Republic was split from the Habsburg Spain regions to the south with the Spanish recapturing of Antwerp in 1585 and goes until about 1700, when Spanish Habsburg authority ended with the death of King Charles II. Antwerp, home to the prominent artists Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, and Jacob Jordaens, was the artistic nexus, while other notable cities include Brussels and Ghent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frans Francken the Younger</span> Flemish painter (1581–1642)

Frans Francken the Younger was a Flemish painter and the best-known and most prolific member of the large Francken family of artists. He painted large altarpieces for churches as well as smaller historical, mythological and allegorical scenes. His depictions of collectors' cabinets established a popular new genre of art in the era. Francken often collaborated with other artists, adding figures and narrative elements to scenes created by specialists in landscape, architectural and floral still life paintings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hendrik van Steenwijk II</span> Dutch painter

Hendrik van Steenwijck II (c.1580–1640) was a Baroque painter mostly of architectural interiors, but also of biblical scenes and still lifes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hendrik van Steenwijk I</span>

Hendrik van Steenwijck I (also Steenwyck, Steenwijk) (c. 1550 – buried 1 September 1603) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, from early in the period, known mainly for his church interiors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pieter Neefs the Elder</span>

Pieter Neefs the Elder or Pieter Neeffs the Elder was a Flemish painter who specialized in architectural interiors of churches. Active in Antwerp, he was influenced by the works of the Dutch architectural painters Hendrik van Steenwijk the Elder and the Younger. His principal contribution to the genre were his nocturnal church interiors lit by two light sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pieter Neefs the Younger</span>

Pieter Neefs the Younger or Pieter Neeffs the Younger was a Flemish painter who mainly specialized in architectural interiors of churches. Son of the prominent architectural painter Pieter Neefs the Elder he started out working in his father's workshop in Antwerp. He collaborated with various leading staffage painters to create lively church interiors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haarlem Guild of St. Luke</span>

The Haarlem Guild of Saint Luke was first a Christian, and later a city Guild for various trades falling under the patron saints Luke the Evangelist and Saint Eligius.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hendrik Hondius I</span> Flemish-born engraver

Hendrik Hondius I was a Flemish-born and trained engraver, cartographer, and publisher who settled in the Dutch Republic in 1597.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marten van Valckenborch</span>

Marten van Valckenborch or Marten van Valckenborch the Elder, was a Flemish Renaissance painter, mainly known for his landscapes and city scapes. He also made allegorical paintings and some portraits. After commencing his career in the Spanish Netherlands, he later migrated to Frankfurt in Germany where he and other members of his extended family of artists played an important role in local artistic developments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Vredeman de Vries</span> Flemish painter

Paul Vredeman de Vries, was a Flemish painter and draughtsman who specialised in architectural paintings and, in particular, church interiors.