Prado Museum
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Two exhibitions
dal 2/12/2009 al 14/4/2010

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Museo Nacional de Prado



 
calendario eventi  :: 




2/12/2009

Two exhibitions

Prado Museum, Madrid

Dutch Painters at the Prado / Invited work: The Company of Captain Reijnier Reael


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From December 3 to April 15
Dutch Painters at the Prado

The exhibition Dutch Painters in the Prado has been organised in conjunction with the publication of the fi rst catalogue of the collection of 17th-century Dutch paintings in the Museo del Prado. The exhibition brings together a sizeable group of works from this practically unknown collection, which has barely been displayed in the galleries of the Museum since the 1940s.

The term Dutch Painting refers to the works produced in the Northern United Provinces, which became an independent nation following the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1579, while the Southern United Provinces (Flanders) remained under Spanish rule. The Northern Provinces numbered even, of which Holland was the largest. Its capital, Amsterdam, was the economic engine behind this new nation, which became one of the leading European powers over the course of the 17th century. Its powerful mercantile, middle class promoted a highly active process of cultural development and used painting as the primary vehicle for an affi rmation of this new national identity.

Coinciding with the celebration of this exhibition and in addition, the Museum will present in an adjoining room the painting The Company of Captain Reijnier Reael and Lieutenant Cornelis Michielsz Blaeuw by Franz Hals and Pieter Codde, coming from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. This painting, which hangs in the Prado as part of Invited work, will be exhibited at the Museum until February 28.

The exhibition is organised into three sections: Dutch paintings originally in the collections of Philip IV and Charles II; Dutch paintings from the collections of the Bourbons; and new acquisitions in the form of bequests, donations, gifts in lieu and purchases. Many of the works on display were restored for the purposes of preparing the catalogue. As a result, it is now possible to appreciate the subtle chromatic gradations, beautiful effects of light and the precision of line to be found in many of these works, whose previous state of conservation prevented a full appreciation.

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From December 3 to February 28
Invited work: The Company of Captain Reijnier Reael

Together with Rembrandt and Vermeer, Frans Hals (1581/85-1666) is one of the best known of all seventeenth-century Dutch painters. Although he worked in Haarlem, this commission came from Amsterdam in 1633. Following a dispute between the patrons and Hals due to the delays in finishing the picture, it was completed in 1637 by Pieter Codde (1599-1678), an important Amsterdam painter.

The part painted by Hals is typical of his finest works. He designed the entire composition and painted at least the seven figures on the left. Their animated expressions and the positioning of the heads and hands makes them appear involved in some action or in conversation. Another characteristic feature is the emphatic nature of some of the brushstrokes, which are primarily used to convey the brightest points of light. This manner of painting, which recalls Velázquez, would make Hals one of the artists most admired by his fellow countryman Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), who in a letter expressed his admiration for the standard-bearer.

The section painted by Pieter Codde (who is thought to be responsible for the figures on the right as well as significant re-touching of the clothes of the other figures) does not correspond to his usual minutely detailed technique and reveals how he aimed to imitate Hals’s style.

The present work conforms to a type of group portrait known as the “militia company”, which is widely found in Dutch art in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Such companies, made up of volunteer members of the urban elite, existed in Holland from the late sixteenth century, assembling when their services were required. They commissioned group portraits of this type, the most famous of which is Rembrandt’s Night Watch (1642), to hang in their headquarters. During the period that the present canvas was painted these companies were still occasionally involved in military conflicts and played a role in the struggle for independence from the Spanish Monarchy.

Within the context of the Museo del Prado, it is worth noting the existence of an interesting parallel in Spain. In the same way that Hals and Codde’s painting can be considered a vehicle for visual propaganda that emphasised the willingness of those depicted to defend the Dutch Republic, a number of works executed at the court in Madrid during this period exalt the virtues of the Spanish forces. One such work is Velázquez’s Surrender of Breda, painted in 1634-35, at exactly the same time as the present work, which celebrates the capture of the Dutch city of Breda by the troops of the Spanish king. This work by Frans Hals and Pieter Codde is an expression of pride by one side in the conflict, while Velázquez’s canvas conveys comparable sentiments on the part of the other.

Image: Judith delivering the Head of Holofernes, Salomon de Bray. Oil on panel, 89 x 71 cm. 1636. Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

Museo Nacional del Prado
Calle Ruiz de Alarcón 23. Madrid 28014
Opening times
Tuesdays to Sundays and public holidays from 9am to 8pm and 24 and 31 December and 6 January from 9am to 2pm.
Ticket purchase and entry up to 7.30pm. Galleries emptied 10minutes prior to closing.
Closed to the public every Monday, 25 December and 1 January
Ticket including entry to the Permanent Collection, Juan Bautista Maíno Exhibition and Invited work Programme: 8 €
Reductions and free entry according to the Museum’s regulations
Free entry from Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm to 8pm and Sundays from 5pm to 8pm, 19 November and 6 December.

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