The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, February 24-May 29, 2016…
In the late 16th century, a small, predominantly Protestant region in northern Europe shrugged off the yoke of Spanish rule to emerge as the world’s preeminent maritime empire. Unlike neighboring monarchies, the newly-independent Republic of the Seven United Provinces (as it was formally known) adopted a decentralized government that divided power between the individual provinces and a hereditary official called stadholder. Although sovereignty was shared rather than concentrated in the hands of a single individual, the Dutch Republic was not democratic and egalitarian. A close-knit group of so-called regents drawn from the mercantile elite monopolized most administrative positions and enjoyed a lifestyle that set them apart from other segments of society.
Reflecting Class in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer takes as its starting point these inequalities in political power to explore the complex social structure of the new republic. Organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the exhibition examines how portraits, landscapes and genre paintings from the period communicated differences in rank and status. An array of decorative art objects including linen tablecloths, eating utensils and other accoutrements at the dining table give tangible expression to the lifestyles enjoyed by the various socio-economic groups.
The exhibition follows an organizational structure that closely mimics the Dutch Republic’s hierarchical society, with the nobility and wealthy regents at the top, skilled artisans and shopkeepers in the middle and manual laborers and other people of limited means at the very bottom. Further divisions within this tripartite system were based on whether a person was involved in manual labor, and how much disposable income was on hand. Artists including household names like Vermeer, Rembrandt, Frans Hals and Gerard ter Borch revealed a person’s social standing by describing with scrupulous attention to detail their clothing, material possessions and physical surroundings. Other signs of status, at times subtle, were revealed through posture, facial expression and behavior.
Take for example Rembrandt’s life-sized full-length portrait of Andries de Graeff. A member of one of the leading families in Amsterdam, Andries studiously avoids making reference to the source of his family’s wealth and appears in the guise of an erudite, worldly gentleman. With his arm casually resting on a pedestal, he exudes an air of effortless ease cultivated by members of the aristocracy. The black satin suit in a fashionable French cut and the monumental format of his portrait (typically reserved for the nobility) underscores his high social standing.
Job Berckheyde’s The Baker, on the other hand, can be immediately identified as a man who works for his living. Shown with his sleeves rolled up and trumpeting the readiness of his baked goods, he exemplifies the virtues of hard work much admired in the Dutch Republic. The attention paid to describing the cracked crusts of the loaves of bread and glistening pretzels on display in the foreground also show patriotic pride in the nation’s Baltic grain trade, which guaranteed that this staple of a European diet was never in short supply.
Berkhyede’s burly baker is one of many paintings that sheds light on the many industries that fueled the Republic’s economic prosperity. Scenes of fishing boats collecting their catch allude to Dutch control of the herring trade, while a milkmaid in a barn celebrates the importance of dairy farming. Other paintings provide insight on the places that brought various social classes together, including stepping out on a frozen canal during winter to ice-skate, fish or play a game of kolf (a game analogous to golf or ice hockey).
Although visually tantalizing and lifelike in appearance, these paintings were not neutral records of reality. More often than not, they communicated the ideals and aspirations of specific members of society—the middle and upper classes who could afford to purchase or commission works of art. Stereotypical scenes of the poor in a state of drunken disarray, for example, identified them as socially “inferior” and validated the existing social order. The exhibition thus gives a wealth of information on the underlying values and beliefs of Dutch society as much as it offers a glimpse into the physical appearance of places, objects and activities from 17th century Netherlands. It encourages us to take a closer look, read between the lines, and perhaps reflect on how our society is not that far removed from the reality revealed (or rather conceived) in some of the greatest masterpieces from the Dutch Golden Age.
–Rima Girnius, Ph.D., Associate Curator of European Painting and Sculpture, The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art
