Bruegel's Painting: The Dutch Golden Age

The Dutch emphasis on landscape had influenced many artists during the Renaissance period — Bruegel among them. This style of painting and Bruegel’s integration of social values in his paintings helped create many masterpieces.

In Holland, the seventeenth century is known as the Dutch Golden Age, in which trade and art is nourished at an unprecedented level. Being born in this era, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn created many masterpieces, especially portraits. He was exceptionally skilled at capturing the personality of other people in his paintings. He also applied different lighting effects in his portraits to create figures that are life-likeness. Therefore, Rembrandt’s success in catching people’s personality through their facial expression,
In The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp (1632), not only did Rembrandt depict the different facial expression of the figures, but he also used the lighting effects to convey a shadow of the characters on the wall to make the image more life-like. The shadows of the figures cast on each other in the painting create a sense of depth. This helps create the effects that the characters are standing in a real space (p.350). The use of lighting was more blatant in Sophonisba Receiving the Poisoned Cup (1634), wherein the old woman in the background is hidden by the shadow. This woman gives a sense of mystery that the viewers can interpret it differently — the old woman may come to rescue Sophonisba, or she is in there to make sure Sophonisba drinks the poison. In The Night Watch (1642), there is a little girl in the center that more lights cast on her to make her appear more clearly so that this icon can stand out. The shadow on the background also creates the effect of brightness of the clothes of the two solider in the front. Rembrandt’s use of lighting effects depict the real moment in these paintings — the doctors involve in an anatomy in the dark room, the scene of a woman drinks the poison, and the soldiers patrol in the city at