From Rembrandt to Vermeer: 17th-century Dutch Artists

476 Pages·2000·84.22 MB·English

by  Jane Turner

The Grove Dictionary ofArt
From Rembrandt
Vermeer
to
17th-century Dutch Artists
grove
art
BOSTONPUBLICLIBRARY
CopleySquare
The Grove Dictionary of Art
From Rembrandt to Vermeer
The Grove Dictionary of Art
Othertitles in this series:
From Renaissance to Impressionism
Stylesand Movements inWesternArt,1400-1900
From Expressionism to Post-Modernism
Stylesand Movements in 20th-centuryWesternArt
From David to Ingres
Earlyigth-centuryFrenchArtists
From Monet to Cezanne
Late19th-centuryFrenchArtists
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The Grove Dictionary of Art
From Rembrandt to Vermeer
17th-century Dutch Artists
Edited by Jane Turner
GROVEa
rt
&
From Rembrandtto Vermeer
Copyright© 2000 byJaneTurner
All rights reserved. No part ofthis book maybe used or reproduced
in any mannerwhatsoeverwithoutwritten permission except in the
case ofbriefquotations embodied in critical article or reviews.
For information, address
St. Martin's Press. Scholarly and Reference Division
175 FifthAvenue, NewYork. NT 10010
First published in the United States ofAmerica in 2000
Printed in the United Kingdom
ISBN: 0-312-22972-0
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
TheGrovedictionaryofArt.FromRembrandttoVermeer : 17th<enturyDutchartists
editedbyJaneTurner
p.cm-(TheGroveArtseries)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-312-22972-0(cloth)
1. Art,Dutch. 2. Art.Modern- 17th-18thcenturies-Netherlands.
I. Title:FromRembrandttoVermeer.
II. Turner,JaneShoaf. III.Series
N6946.G76 2000
759.9492 09 032-dc21 99-087772
Contents
vii Preface
ix ListofContributors
x GeneralAbbreviations
xii ANoteon the Use oftheBook
1-410 From Rembrandt to Vermeer: 17th-century Dutch Artists
411 BlackandWhite IllustrationAcknowledgements
411 ColourIllustrationAcknowledgements
412 appendixa: List ofLocations
419 appendixb: List ofPeriodicals
422 appendix c: List ofStandard Reference Books and Series

Preface
In these days ofinformation glut, The Dictionary ofArt has been a godsend, instantly
relegatingall its predecessors to oblivion.Within its stately thirty-fourvolumes (one for
the index), the territory covered seems boundless. Just to choose the most amusingly
subtitledoftheseries, LeathertoMacho(vol. 19),wecan learn in thefirstarticlenotonly
aboutthewayanimalskins arepreserved, butabouttheuseofleatherthrough theages,
from medieval ecclesiastical garments to Charles Eames's furniture. And if we then
move to the last entry, which turns out tobe a certainVictorio Macho, we discover that
in the early 20th century, he graced Spanish cities with public sculpture, including a
monument to the novelist Benito Perez Galdos (1918) that manyofus have passed by in
Madrid's Parquedel Retiro.And shouldwewish to learn more about Macho, there is the
latestbiblio-graphical news, bringing us up to datewith a monograph of1987.
Skimming the same volume, we may stumble upon everything from the art ofthe
Lega people in Zaire and the use ofartificial Lighting in architecture to somewhat more
predictable dictionary entries such as Lichtenstein, roy; London: Westminster abbey;
Lithography; or Los angeles: museums. Ifbrowsing through one volume ofThe Dictionary
ofArt can open so many vistas, the effect of the whole reference work is like casting
one's netinto thewaters and bringingbackan unmanageable infinityoffish.Wouldn't
it be more useful at times to single out in one place some of the myriad species
swimming through the pages ofTheDictionary?And then there is the question ofcost
and dimensions. In its original, complete form, the inevitably stiffprice and the sheer
size ofall thirty-four volumes meant that it has fallen mostly to reference libraries to
provide us with this awesome and indispensable tool ofknowledge.
Wisely, it has now been decided to make this overwhelming databank more
specialized, more portable, and morefinanciallyaccessible.Todo this, the myriad sands
have been sifted in order to compile more modest and more immediately useful single
volumes thatwillbe restricted, say, to Dutch paintingofthe 17th centuryor to a survey
ofmajor styles and movements in Western art from the Renaissance to the end ofthe
19th century. So, as much aswe mayenjoythecountlessdelights ofleafing through the
thirty-four volumes in some library, we can now walk offwith only one volume thai
suits our immediate purpose, an unparalleled handbook for a wide range of readers.
especially for students and scholars who, rather than wandering through the
astronomical abundance ofart's Ato Z, want to have between only two covers the latest
words about a particular artist or 'ism'.
The great art historian Erwin Panofsky once said There is QO substitute for
information'.This newformatofTheDictionaryofArtwill help many generations meet
his sensible demands.
ROBER1 ROSENBLUM
HenryIttlesonjr, Professorof Modern EuropeanAn
Institute ofFine Arts
New York University
Vll