Jan van Bijlert was a Dutch Golden Age painter who lived from 1598 – 1671. He was a major artist from the Utrecht school and he lived in Rome for some time. I like to think you can see a bit of an Italian influence in his works, which sometimes reminds me of the works of Artemisia Gentileschi or… Read on
Charles Landseer was an artist who lived from 1799-1879. Landseer, though sadly not as popular as his painter brother Edwin (famous for his works for Queen Victoria), generally painted scenes depicting historical events or those from literature and each of his works vividly bring stories to life. Take for example this piece, “The Eve of the Battle of… Read on
Hi everyone! I’ve been busy getting my gothic novel, The Stuart Vampire ready in time for its release on Halloween! A few people have been asking for more information, so I thought I would post a few images which helped shape the characters. As several characters are from different times in history, i had a great deal of… Read on
It is with great honour that I welcome our last Guest Post of the month – this by harpsichordist Christopher Bucknall of the Academy of Ancient Music. I have long been a fan of theirs, and I was more thrilled than I can say when they agreed to contribute. Please welcome Christopher and the AAM to The Seventeenth… Read on
I finally was able to visit the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich, and egads! it was an amazing experience. First you see the towering architectural buildings designed by the great Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor in 1698: I looked up to see the intertwined initials of Queen Anne and George, and William… Read on
Baroque art came before Rococo art, and for those who are not very well acquainted with these genres, hopefully, this will help differentiate between the two. Both are exquisite kinds of art, and both are well worth admiring. Of course, this is a very superficial look at these two movements, but there is a list of recommendations for… Read on
Artemisia Gentileschi, female Baroque painter, was born on the 8th of July, 1593, the daughter of Orazio Gentileschi (another masterful painter). Whenever people discuss Artemisia, her work is almost always associated with painful events that occurred during her teens, which I will get to a bit later on. But, first, here is a self-portrait from the lady herself: One of the… Read on
Agostino Carracci, Italian Late Renaissance/Early Baroque painter, was born on the 6th of August 1557 and died on the 22nd March, 1602. One of the main aims of this article, initially, was to raise interest in this little-known artist. Since first posting this in March, however, some things have changed. I’ll address that later on. “The Penitent Magdalene:” As… Read on