Sinners of the Seventeenth Century: Exploring Morality in the Genre Art of the Utrecht Caravaggisti

Joanna Quitly
Trinity College Dublin
Department of History of Art and Architecture
2017
BA

Subject: Painting
Country: Holland
Period: 17th Century

10,000 words

This dissertation aims to investigate and uncover underlying moralising messages in the secular art of the Utrecht Caravaggisti, a group of Dutch artists originating from Utrecht who adopted the style of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. The argument will be focused on the work of three artists within this group who are Gerrit van Honthorst, Hendrick ter Brugghen and Dirck van Baburen. Each of these artists travelled to Rome in the first decade of the seventeenth century and remained there for several years. This allowed them to experience the artistic landscape and atmosphere of Italy. Upon their return to Utrecht, they began creating genre art in the the style of Caravaggio featuring half-length figures close to the picture plane wearing contemporary dress and painted with a tenebrist quality.

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Sinners of the Seventeenth Century: Exploring Morality in the Genre Art of the Utrecht Caravaggisti