LUXURY OF THE CAPITAL: «PRONKSTILLEVEN» IN THE XVII CENTURY HAGUE

Information about authors: Antsiferova Polina Konstantinovna, postgraduate student of the Department of Art History, Autonomous non-profit educational organization of higher education "European University in Saint-Petersburg" (Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation). E-mail: polina.ant@mail.ru

Annotation: The article is devoted to Dutch still life of the XVII century and its development according to the geographical features of the country, specifically the «pronkstilleven» type through the prism of the socio-cultural context in Hague in the Republic of the United Provinces of the XVII century. The relevance of the article comes fr om the fact that the subject remains practically unstudied in modern Russian historiography. The methodology is based on the formal stylistic method to analyze still lifes of several types – «pronkstilleven» and «fish still life». Since the study touches upon not only paintings, but also geographical, political, cultural, economic and social contexts within which they were created, historical-chronological method was used. The author describes the economic and social situation in Hague, and also compares the city with the other “capital” of the republic, Amsterdam. The work of the Dutch master of «pronkstilleven» Abraham van Beijeren and the artist Pieter de Putter, who created «fish still life» in The Hague were studied, especially the composition and elements depicted in the paintings. The author comes to the conclusion that the prevailing social group in the city - civil servants and courtiers with increased capital - determined the plot of the still life paintings sold by the artists. In the city wh ere the royal family and courtiers lived, there was a demand for luxury and royal scope. Artists were trying to answer this request in the still life genre, creating baroque works bright in color, complex in composition and large in format, depicting all the wealth of a prosperous country. Hereby, the appearance and development of the “sumptuous still life” type in The Hague becomes the result not of the personal ambitions of the artists, but the desire to satisfy the needs of the rich buyer of the city.

Keywords: Dutch «pronkstilleven», XVII century Hague, fish still life, Abraham van Beijeren, Pieter de Putter

DOI: 10.31773/2078-1768-2024-69-240-248

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