The Choices We Make: A Baroque Analysis
The Choices We Make:
a Baroque Analysis
The Boy and Girl with a Cat and an Eel caught my eye immediately. It was one of the first paintings I saw from the Baroque period that had people smiling, and they were children at that! I felt like I had just stumbled upon these two mischief makers and caught them in the act of their mischief. The boy’s half smile gives us the impression he is contemplating going through with his misdeed, checking the adult to see if he can get away with pushing those boundaries. How angry or stern does the adult look? The consequence could depend on their demeanor. Should he dare? The little girl even has some mischief, though she appears to be pointing out that they won’t do it! But the gleam in her eyes and smile say otherwise. They definitely will, just when we turn away and are no longer looking.
Judith Leyster was a mother and painter in the Haarlem St. Luke’s Guild. She and her painter husband had five children, only two of whom survived to adulthood. Judith was well-known for her art during her time and did well for herself and her family. Born in 1609 to a brewer and a weaver, she was the second of the youngest of eight children. There is very little known of her, but scholars suspect she started painting young, for by the time she was 24, she already owned her own studio and had apprentices herself. Scholars speculate she may have studied under Frans Hals, as their paintings have many similarities. There is also a record that she sued Frans for poaching one of her students! Unfortunately, many records and information were lost over the years, and much of her art was misattributed until 1893 when Historian Cornelius Hofstede de Groot discovered some paintings attributed to Frans Hals were the work of Judith Leyster, recognized by her monogram JL.
In The Boy and Girl with a Cat and an Eel, you can see some influences of Caravaggio. In fact, it is speculated that she was influenced by the Utrecht School and artists in the Dutch city of Utrecht who were influenced by Caravaggio. Much like Caravaggio, she uses a flat space behind these two children, bringing them close up and giving us the feeling we are in a room with them. The light and dark contrast give a dramatic effect to their faces and their activities, giving us a sense of realism and immediacy.
The Boy and Girl with a Cat and an Eel represents a time when the merchant class in the Netherlands was rising, and prosperity in Dutch trade, science, colonization, and art was booming. This is often Referred to as the Dutch Golden Age, roughly between 1588-1672. Judith Leyster was in the thick of it, painting scenes of everyday people. People with joy and often partaking in their vices. Her paintings would have been influenced by the trend at the time of painting common people, art relatable to everyday life, with morals that were easy to understand. This theme started with the counter-reformation movement when the Catholic church began the 20-year meetings of the Council of Trent from 1545 to 1563 in response to the Protestant Reformation. Here, the Catholic church decided to commission artists to portray art that is relatable, emotional, and understandable by the common people, depicting religious morals. Music would also become more accessible, with lyrics to draw people in. That’s what the church was trying to do: bring back its people who had split and left the church.
You may wonder what moral could be in this picture, where two children are up to no good? Children were often used to illustrate improper behavior. According to Art Historian Cynthia Kortenhorst-Von Bogendorf Rupprath, this painting depicts a Dutch proverb: “He who plays with the cat gets scratched.” This means one who looks for trouble finds it. These children are most certainly looking for trouble! From those mischievous smiles and gleams in their eyes to holding a cat that looks very unhappy about the situation. Look closely; you can see the cat's claws out; the cat glare means trouble will be coming soon. And what on earth is that boy going to do with the eel? The anticipation of chaos erupting at any moment is palpable.
Judith often painted scenes with people happily enjoying life’s games and pleasures, sometimes imbibing a little too much. This was a trend among the Dutch artists. Dutch art was often about choices—the choices we make in our everyday lives. What choice will the boy and girl make? Will they continue down the path of chaos and trouble? Or will they make the better choice of obeying the rules? Dutch artists tended not to depict religious themes but kept the trend of symbolic morals of life that we face daily. Mrs. Leyster did just this, she had an ambiguous style, leaving the viewers to come up with their own conclusions about what she was portraying.
During this time, the Thirty Years War was in full swing. A time when Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II demanded all citizens in the Holy Roman Empire must practice Catholicism. Due to the Protestant Reformation, people had begun to enjoy their freedoms, and this demand really pissed them off. Many northern princes and royalty refused to abide by this rule. In fact, the Bohemian Royalty showed their rebellion by throwing Ferdinand’s representatives out of the window at Prague Castle in 1618! And so began the Thirty Years war. The Bohemian Royalty in Austria and Czech formed alliances with the Protestant Union in Germany. Ferdinand allied with His nephew in Spain, present-day Germany, Belgium, and France. This explains why the art of the Dutch remained secular and ambiguous, yet still drawing upon morals and dilemmas we must deal with in our lives.
Judith Leyster is a testament of her time. When everything from science, art, religion, architecture, and trade was changing and prospering, so were women in the arts and sciences. Only recently have we begun to hear about them, which have been hidden from history for hundreds of years. Judith Leyster was a woman who excelled in her art and genre and lived a full life with her family in comfort because of talent and the time period where she found support to be what she wanted to be.
Your analysis was great! I agree with your connection to the Thirty Years War and the rise of the merchant class. I also like that you connected it to women in the arts and explained some background on Judith Lester. For the painting itself, I personally find it kind of creepy. I see the mischief, playfulness, and uncertainty that you mentioned. But before I read the title of the painting, I thought the boy was holding some kind of sharp hook. Now I can’t shake the slightly eerie feeling that it initially gave me. I know that kids will be kids, but I also think they can be cruel. The little girl is pulling the cat's tail, and the eel is dead. Also, drama and exaggerated facial expressions were popular during the Baroque era. The little boy's face reminded me of that slightly. There seems to be a lot of emphasis on the little boy's face. It’s more in focus, there’s more light on it, and the color contrast is stronger. It stands out from the rest of the painting.
ReplyDeleteI really love that you chose this piece! It is so fun and leaves so much to imagination. I agree with you about being able to see the rise of the merchant class in this artwork, even in the way they are dressed. I can almost imagine them working alongside their parents in a little shop in the Netherlands while getting into some trouble along the way. Also, I notice and appreciate that their faces look very similar to other Dutch art I have seen over the years. They are regular, everyday faces with flaws and uniqueness. Great analysis!
ReplyDelete