Goede Nacht: Images of the Night in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Visual Culture by © 2019 Reilly Oliver Winston Shwab Submitted To
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Goede Nacht: Images of the Night in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Visual Culture by © 2019 Reilly Oliver Winston Shwab Submitted to the graduate degree program in Art History and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________________________________ Chair: Linda Stone-Ferrier, Ph.D. _______________________________________ Stephen Goddard, Ph.D. _______________________________________ David Cateforis, Ph.D. _______________________________________ John Pultz, Ph.D. _______________________________________ Megan Kaminski Date defended: July 8, 2019 The dissertation committee for Reilly Shwab certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Goede Nacht: Images of the Night in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Visual Culture _______________________________________ Chair: Linda Stone-Ferrier, Ph.D. Date approved: July 8, 2019 ii Abstract Goede Nacht: Images of the Night in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Visual Culture provides a comprehensive study of depictions of the night in Dutch art from seventeenth century, and of a number of different ways in which contemporary understandings of the nighttime informed artistic practice throughout the northern Netherlands. The dramatic increase in the production of such pictures, the impressive diversity of their compelling subjects, and their exquisite visual appeal demand scholarly attention. To better understand this complex topic, analysis focuses on the most frequently represented subject matter in Dutch nocturnal imagery—religious scenes, urban fires, labor and leisure—and contextualizes the meanings and functions of the remarkable pictures within relevant historical, religious, socio-economic and cultural associations and circumstances. The wide range of depicted subjects demonstrates the richness of such imagery and engages the sometimes conflicting cultural perceptions of the night among the Dutch at this time. Artists in various Dutch cities throughout the century produced the fascinating nighttime paintings and prints under discussion here. This dissertation examines paintings, prints, and drawings by artists including Leonaert Bramer, Hendrick ter Brugghen, Jan van der Heyden, Aert van der Neer, Egbert van der Poel, and Rembrandt van Rijn, among others. iii To Jenica iv Acknowledgments I would like to first and foremost acknowledge the expertise, dedication, and kindness of my exceptional advisor, Dr. Linda Stone-Ferrier, who has both encouraged and challenged me in the best possible ways throughout my graduate career. Dr. Stone-Ferrier’s tireless guidance has been truly essential and without her this dissertation would not exist. Drs. Stephen H. Goddard and Kate Meyer at the Spencer Museum of Art also provided invaluable assistance along my path to becoming an art historian. Dr. Goddard, in addition to mentoring me as a young museum professional, served as a particularly spirited and helpful member of my dissertation committee. I would next like to acknowledge the following scholars and teachers, all of whom also provided both intellectual and moral encouragement: Dr. F.R.E. Blom, for directing my attention toward some very helpful and fascniating literary sources; Dr. Anne D. Hedeman, for recommending Craig Koslofsky’s Evening's Empire: A History of the Night in Early Modern Europe, which proved essential; Dr. Susan Donahue Kuretsky, for introducing me to significant German scholarship on Dutch night scenes; and Wijnie de Groot, for her valuable instruction in the Dutch langauge. I also appreciate that Dr. Richard S. Field and Prof. Dr. Eric Jan Sluijter set aside the time to have beneficial discussions with me in the early stages of my dissertation writing. Thank you, also, to my always supportive and inspiring family: mom, dad, Blue, Keats, Bingo, and Luna. And finally to Jenica, for her patience, fortitude, and very good company. v Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 Seventeenth-Century Dutch Night Scenes, Art Theory, and the Market .........................................7 Chapter 2 The Night, Spirituality, and the Occult in Dutch Art .....................................................................45 Chapter 3 Fires at Night in Dutch Visual Culture ..........................................................................................88 Chapter 4 The Night in Dutch Depictions of Labor and Leisure .................................................................126 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................166 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................171 vi Introduction “Darkness and night are mothers of thought.” -Dutch Proverb A dark night sky dotted with a seemingly infinite number of stars presents an awe- inspiring and overwhelming sight, including for men and women in the seventeenth-century northern Netherlands who lived before the invention of electric lightbulbs and attendant light pollution. They resided in a relatively flat country with views largely unobscured by mountains, hills, or dense woods. The hours after nightfall took on a unique tenor in which certain activities, behaviors, and experiences often or sometimes exclusively occurred. In many seventeenth-century Dutch paintings and prints, the night plays an active and prominent role in the generation of expressive effects and interpretive significance. This dissertation focuses on pictures of such subjects and examines the many related and sometimes conflicting cultural perceptions of the night among members of Dutch society. Chapters examine the most frequently represented subject matter in nocturnal imagery—religious scenes, urban fires, labor and leisure—and contextualize the meanings and functions of the remarkable pictures within relevant historical, religious, socioeconomic and cultural associations and circumstances. Many pictures discussed in this dissertation have been analyzed elsewhere in regard to considerations not directly related to the night. However, particular examination of the role played by nocturnal settings provides valuable insight into the ways in which Dutch artists and collectors understood and valued the expressive associations of nightfall. During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Dutch nocturnal scenes—often referred to as nachtjes (little night scenes) or simply nachts (nights) in contemporary inventories—experienced a dramatic increase in production and popularity that continued into 1 the nineteenth century.1 Despite the recent increase in research pertaining to the night in early modern Europe, the late-sixteenth and seventeenth-century pictures as a group have thus far received limited scholarly attention. As urban populations grew and street lighting systems developed, European culture experienced an “ongoing expansion of the legitimate social and symbolic uses of the night” or what historian Craig Koslofsky has referred to as “nocturnalization.” This process, Koslofsky explains, “changed how the people of early modern Europe ate, drank, slept, and worked, restructuring their daily lives and their mental worlds.”2 A. Roger Ekirch describes how the early modern nighttime “embodied a distinct culture, with its own customs and rituals.”3 This distinct culture, newly shaped by and still evolving through the process of nocturnalization, captured the attention and imagination of Dutch society, as manifested especially in the visual arts. Depictions of the night both constructed and perpetuated prominent associations with and understanding of the hours after dark. This dissertation examines the reciprocal nature of this relationship and situates the nocturnal imagery within the complex circumstances surrounding the nighttime in the Dutch Republic. The first chapter, “Seventeenth-Century Dutch Night Scenes, Art Theory, and the Market,” describes the high level of esteem enjoyed by those artists who mastered the painting of night scenes. In the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, prominent Dutch art theorists prescribed how to render the special effects of nocturnal scenes and applauded those artists who were successful in doing so. The art market also valued such craftsmanship. The chapter begins with an analysis of art theorists’ discussions of night scenes in contemporary publications. Those 1 For example, the Dutch artist Petrus van Schendel (1806–1870) specialized in night scenes of nocturnal markets and vendors related to those produced by seventeenth-century artists including Egbert van der Poel, Gerrit Dou, and Cornelis Snellinck. 2 Craig Koslofsky, Evening’s Empire: A History of the Night in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), 2–3. 3 A. Roger Ekirch, At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past (New York and London: W. W. Norton and Company, 2005), xxv. 2 writings include Karel van Mander’s Schilder-boek (Painter’s Book), 1603–4; Samuel van Hoogstraten’s Inleyding tot de Hooge Schoole der Schilderkonst: Anders de Zichtbaere Werelt (Introduction to the Academy of the Art of Painting: Or the Visible World), 1678; and Arnold Houbraken’s De Groote Schouburgh der Nederlantsche Konstschilders en Schilderessen (The Great Theatre of Netherlandish Painters and Paintresses), 1718,