
Baroque Art: 1600s

Contemporary artist and MFA graphic designer Eben Haines compares 17th-century Dutch and Flemish self-portraits to his own work—whereas artists of the past depicted power in their self-portraits, Haines attempts to portray vulnerability.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini was only 23 years old when he was commissioned to carve a bust of Pope Paul V. Learn more about this piece with Timothy Potts from the J. Paul Getty Museum.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Pope Paul V

How real is too real?
Pedro de Mena, Ecce Homo and Mater ...

Tour a doll’s house modeled after a 17th-century Dutch home
A Dutch doll house

What lies behind this ornate display of pewter, oysters, blue-and-white porcelain, and sugary sweets?
Osias Beert, Still Life with Various Vessels ...

Based on a print made a century earlier, this figure appeared again in a later Rubens painting as the artist attempted to create an authentic portrayal of an African king.
Peter Paul Rubens, Mulay Ahmad

Learn what a genre scene is and why this type of subject grew in popularity
What is genre painting?

One of Rembrandt’s most technically ambitious prints has been primarily known more for its price tag than for its subject: The Hundred Guilder Print.
Rembrandt, Christ Preaching (Hundred Guilder Print)

You can almost smell the sweet fragrance of honeysuckle emanating from the garden alcove in this full-length portrait by Peter Paul Rubens of Rubens and his new wife, Isabella Brant
Peter Paul Rubens, Rubens and Isabella Brant ...

A glimpse of the lost art of painted wooden synagogues popularized among Eastern European Jewish communities in the 17th and 18th centuries
The Gwoździec Synagogue

We can’t deny that one strand of the global Baroque is its Catholic, monarchical, and colonizing nature, but this doesn’t mean that there wasn’t room for artistic individuality, experimentation, or even dissent.
Introduction to the Global Baroque

Van Mander rewrites art history in this book of "celebrity" artists from the Netherlands
Van Mander, Het Schilder-Boeck

Van Dyck paints himself as Icarus, a boy whose wings melted when he flew too close to the sun
Anthony van Dyck, Self-Portrait as Icarus with ...

Ceramics factories in Holland compete with the demand for Chinese porcelain
17th-century Delftware

Rembrandt makes a case for painting and art-making as an intellectual endeavor, rather than a craft
Rembrandt, The Artist in His Studio

From Indonesia to the Netherlands, this coconut encased in silver features a fish tail, a mermaid, and a chimp
Fashioning luxury from a coconut cup

A very expensive Atlas from Amsterdam attempts to map the known world to Dutch viewers
The Great Atlas, Dutch edition

Gentileschi's Mary Magdalene chooses between a spiritual and worldly path.
Artemisia Gentileschi, Conversion of the Magdalene

The altar tabernacle of the Pauline Chapel at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome repackages a medieval icon and turns it into a dazzling Baroque trophy.