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Germany from the Earliest Period Volume 4 By: Wolfgang Menzel (1798-1873) |
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FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD BY WOLFGANG MENZEL TRANSLATED FROM THE FOURTH GERMAN EDITION By MRS. GEORGE HORROCKS WITH A SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER OF RECENT EVENTS By EDGAR SALTUS VOLUME IV THE HISTORY OF GERMANY PART XXI THE RISE OF PRUSSIA (CONTINUED) CCXLIV. Art and Fashion
Although art had, under French influence, become unnatural,
bombastical, in fine, exactly contrary to every rule of good taste,
the courts, vain of their collections of works of art, still emulated
each other in the patronage of the artists of the day, whose
creations, tasteless as they were, nevertheless afforded a species of
consolation to the people, by diverting their thoughts from the
miseries of daily existence. Architecture degenerated in the greatest degree. Its sublimity was
gradually lost as the meaning of the Gothic style became less
understood, and a tasteless imitation of the Roman style, like that of
St. Peter's at Rome, was brought into vogue by the Jesuits and by the
court architects, by whom the chateau of Versailles was deemed the
highest chef d'oeuvre of art. This style of architecture was
accompanied by a style of sculpture equally unmeaning and forced;
saints and Pagan deities in theatrical attitudes, fat genii, and
coquettish nymphs peopled the roofs of the churches and palaces,
presided over bridges, fountains, etc. Miniature turnery ware and
microscopical sculpture also came into fashion. Such curiosities as,
for instance, a cherry stone, on which Pranner, the Carinthian, had
carved upward of a hundred faces; a chessboard, the completion of
which had occupied a Dutchman for eighteen years; golden carriages
drawn by fleas; toys composed of porcelain or ivory in imitation of
Chinese works of art; curious pieces of mechanism, musical clocks,
etc., were industriously collected into the cabinets of the wealthy
and powerful. This taste was, however, not utterly useless. The
predilection for ancient gems promoted the study of the remains of
antiquity, as Stosch, Lippert, and Winckelmann prove, and that of
natural history was greatly facilitated by the collections of natural
curiosities. The style of painting was, however, still essentially German, although
deprived by the Reformation and by French influence of its ancient
sacred and spiritual character. Nature was now generally studied in
the search after the beautiful. Among the pupils of Rubens, the great
founder of the Dutch school, Jordaens was distinguished for brilliancy
and force of execution, Van Dyck, A.D. 1541, for grace and beauty,
although principally a portrait painter and incapable of idealizing
his subjects, in which Rembrandt, A.D. 1674, who chose more extensive
historical subjects, and whose coloring is remarkable for depth and
effect, was equally deficient. Rembrandt's pupil, Gerhard Douw,
introduced domestic scenes; his attention to the minutiƦ of his art
was such that he is said to have worked for three days at a
broomstick, in order to represent it with perfect truth. Denner
carried accuracy still further; in his portraits of old men every hair
in the beard is carefully imitated. Francis and William[1] Mieris
discovered far greater talent in their treatment of social and
domestic groups; Terbourg and Netscher, on the other hand, delighted
in the close imitation of velvet and satin draperies; and Schalken, in
the effect of shadows and lamplight. Honthorst[2] attempted a higher
style, but Van der Werf's small delicious nudities and Van Loos's
luxurious pastoral scenes were better adapted to the taste of the
times. While these painters belonged to the higher orders of society,
of which their works give evidence, numerous others studied the lower
classes with still greater success. Besides Van der Meulen and
Rugendas, the painters of battle pieces, Wouvermann chiefly excelled
in the delineation of horses and groups of horsemen, and Teniers,
Ostade, and Jan Steen became famous for the surpassing truth of their
peasants and domestic scenes. To this low but happily treated school
also belonged the cattle pieces of Berchem and Paul de Potter, whose
"Bull and Cows" were, in a certain respect, as much the ideal of the
Dutch as the Madonna had formerly been that of the Italians or the
Venus di Medici that of the ancients... Continue reading book >>
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