Martin,
You're absolutely right about the symbolism in the painting. Van Leyden was
not a medieval painter, he was a Northern Renaissance painter. The
Medievals did almost exclusively sacred works, altar pieces, illuminated
manuscripts, etc. Mainly because the Church was the only patron that could
afford to pay them. Early and High Renaissance painters were still beholden
to the Church because that's where the money was. Michaelangelo, Rafael and
the Pope for example. All their best work was done for the Church. Van
Leyden lived in a transitional period between Church and businessmen
patronage.
With the emergence of the Dutch merchant class, (an early flowering of
capitalism), for the first time (outside of royalty and the court
painters), you had lay people who could afford to buy fine art. This led
to the development of genre painting, the depiction of everyday life.
Artists were freed from the dominance of the subject matter and focused on
style and form.The Golden Agers developed an incredibly realistic style. I
love looking at the drops of water on grapes and the detailed flies in fruit
still lifes. The realism of the Dutch Golden Age was only exceeded by the
Photorealist Movement.
Genre paintings were extremely popular in their day. They were seen as
puzzles or riddles to be solved by the viewers. People studied and
discussed them endlessly. They often contained inside jokes and
contemporary references. They would poke fun at the high and mighty. The
Rijksmuseum is full of excellent examples of genre painting. Delightful
stuff, with people drinking, smoking, laughing, fighting, having sex,
pooping, peeing, etc. Once they got away from all the religious,
historical, mythological subjects, it opened up a whole new way of looking
at things. I think this was the beginning of Modern Art.
Phil Pieter de Hooch Whitmer
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