Pieter Lastman (1583-1633) is most famous, arguably, as having been the teacher of Rembrandt (1606-1663). Rembrandt was brought up Protestant, Lastman was Catholic. This is noteworthy because it shows that even in religiously torn Holland, people—artists, at least—still managed to respect each other.
The Protestant Reformation in the 16th century involved a lot of violence, for example, the destruction of stained glass windows, tapestries, paintings and statues in Catholic churches so that these stripped down buildings could then be converted to Protestant houses of worship. Holland became officially Protestant with Catholics being restricted to worshipping in private homes. How did this religious turmoil affect art and artists? Drastically. Painters, sculptors and craftsmen lost their primary client, the Catholic Church.
To work as an artist (to teach and to sell your work) you had to be a member of the Guild of St. Luke. They met regularly and discussed art and business. You can imagine these discussions when the big client was no longer there. Paintings with religious themes were no longer being ordered.
Well, what about the genre called history painting? That was still popular. All the more so, since the shipping industry was booming, merchants were getting rich, built themselves huge houses and, ta-tah, needed paintings for their expansive walls. Given the religious-political climate, these had to lean towards the secular.
History painting gave the artist the opportunity to present edifying tableaus with figures, both clad and not-so-much, congregating in idyllic landscapes. This required some acquaintance with Greek and biblical mythology. The owner of such paintings could throw a dinner party and feel cultured.
The Mauritshuis in The Hague recently acquired the Lastman painting we’re looking at here. Their website offers a nice entry into the painting:
https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/explore/the-collection/pieter-lastman/
What fascinates me about this painting is the composition. (No surprise to the reader who has followed this blog for even only a short time).
Shall we?
I’ve asked a couple of people what they see as the most prominent thing in this painting. One said, the man on the left in that long red coat. The other said, the huge man on the right, striking that showy pose on that too-small horse. I agreed with them. My attention was also drawn to these large figures – but only momentarily. Then my focus landed in the middle and got stuck there.
Look! Lastman put a white circle smack-dab into the middle of his painting. What was he thinking?!
If he had made that headband brown it would not stand out. If he wanted it white but had made the background figure’s tunic light, then there would be no white circle to command our attention. What was he thinking?
Not only is the white circle exactly in the middle, two diagonal lines (pink 3 and 4) lead directly to it. Lastman contorts the figure along line 3 so that the leg line leads our eye directly to the white circle. On the other side, along line 4, the woman’s garment is forced up to conform to a line that leads to the white circle. And then it leads along the dog’s paws, perfectly.
What was he thinking?
The picture purports to illustrate John the Baptist preaching. There he is. You look at him because, well, because you’re supposed to. The title of the painting tells you to. Then your eye wanders to the more colorful, theatrical characters in the crowd and then, wham, there’s the circle in the middle.
This is not a photo. Did he work at this carefully, deliberately constructed composition to create an effect in our minds? But what would that be? Why would he want us to keep coming back to that white circle in the middle? Maybe he didn’t think about that. Maybe it was a joke. Maybe he was jaded and cynical.
The painting measures only 24” x 36.” Twenty-seven people, a horse (or three) and a dog are crammed into that small frame. Maybe, as the article on the Mauritshuis page says, he wanted to show how well he could draw anatomy in difficult poses and from different angles. Maybe that was good enough. It was a living. The nouveau riches bought it.
His pupil, Rembrandt, created paintings with mystery and depth. We stand before them, fall silent, are drawn into them. They pose questions that we cannot answer. They silence us. And we come back to Rembrandt’s paintings, drawings and etchings over and over, to be silenced. We never say, maybe he was jaded and cynical.
More paintings by Lastman:
https://www.google.com/search?q=pieter+lastman&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=uVlE-pYGwlWo8M%253A%252CjZbTIFugtDKwJM%252C%252Fm%252F07hgdr&usg=AI4_-kSDtwmzQCXWf1jxlBs5IvYZWq-qjg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiH1ZiRvbTgAhURTawKHe3RBkEQ_h0wDnoECAUQDg#imgrc=y5URQBjXaAGrAM
For paintings by Rembrandt, try:
https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=dytiXJnbKOrF_QbVi4mQCA&q=rembrandt+paintings&oq=rembrandt&gs_l=psy-ab.1.2.35i39j46i39j0l4j0i131j0i67.2927.4915..8996…0.0..0.179.1357.0j10……0….1..gws-wiz…..0..46j46i131j46i67.jqZ9b3kqCm8
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artamaze by Katherine Hilden 