To our regret, we have to inform you that Hans Raben has passed away in March 2021. This account will be continued in order to keep his work available. After his studies of art history at Leiden University Hans Raben continued as an independent researcher pursuing his special interest in the relationship between the painter, critic and the public in Italian art of the end of the sixteenth and the first half of the seventeenth century. He found that sometimes the praise for the powerful qualities of some painters like Poussin tended to obscure either their own ideas or changes or nuances in the ideas of the critics themselves, Giovanni Pietro Bellori being the most obvious example. In much the same way modern criticism, extolling the so-called revolutionary qualities of the Carracci, has led to an unrealistic appraisal of late Cinquecento art in Rome. In his latest publication, the book The Art Behind the Words, Hans Raben analyzed the developments of public taste in Rome after 1550 such as they manifest themselves in the comments of three more or less contemporary critics, Van Mander, Mancini and Baglione, and in the changing interest of the market in landscape painting. Supervisors: In the past I have greatly benefited from the various discussions with the late Professor Anton Boschloo. I continue to profit from my contact with researchers like Mrs. Nelke Bartelings, lecturer in early modern art at Leiden University.
JUST OUT!
This book can be ordered under ISBN 9789464065923
The book offers an in-depth analysis... more JUST OUT! This book can be ordered under ISBN 9789464065923
The book offers an in-depth analysis of thinking and writing about art in late sixteenth and early seventeenth century Italy.
From the cover: "As a painting leaves the artist's workshop it becomes a focus of various sentiments and thoughts .... It will be admired or disliked, it will be analyzed on technical grounds and commented upon. It took a long time for this process to become visible. This study examines some examples of the manner in which critical reactions began to manifest themselves in an age in which writing about works of art was leaving the tradition of ex cathedra declarations. The views of three art lovers from that typical transitory period at the end of the sixteenth century are analyzed in opposition to the common modern assumption of a style of revolution taking place in those days. Next, the dilemmas of an outspoken critic as Giovan Pietro Bellori from the middle of the seventeenth century are deciphered. And finally, the thoughts of one of the first painters to claim a personal interpretation of his works, the great Nicolas Poussin, are reconstructed by means of a close reading of his own notes and critical reactions on remarks of his patrons."
The notion of a "revolution" in painting around 1600 is still widely held. The question of its va... more The notion of a "revolution" in painting around 1600 is still widely held. The question of its validity has also arisen at various times. The present study examines the reactions of three very different contemporaries in order to establish if and to what extent the stylistic changes in painting at the end of the sixteenth century were experienced as a fundamental break.
JUST OUT!
This book can be ordered under ISBN 9789464065923
The book offers an in-depth analysis... more JUST OUT! This book can be ordered under ISBN 9789464065923
The book offers an in-depth analysis of thinking and writing about art in late sixteenth and early seventeenth century Italy.
From the cover: "As a painting leaves the artist's workshop it becomes a focus of various sentiments and thoughts .... It will be admired or disliked, it will be analyzed on technical grounds and commented upon. It took a long time for this process to become visible. This study examines some examples of the manner in which critical reactions began to manifest themselves in an age in which writing about works of art was leaving the tradition of ex cathedra declarations. The views of three art lovers from that typical transitory period at the end of the sixteenth century are analyzed in opposition to the common modern assumption of a style of revolution taking place in those days. Next, the dilemmas of an outspoken critic as Giovan Pietro Bellori from the middle of the seventeenth century are deciphered. And finally, the thoughts of one of the first painters to claim a personal interpretation of his works, the great Nicolas Poussin, are reconstructed by means of a close reading of his own notes and critical reactions on remarks of his patrons."
The notion of a "revolution" in painting around 1600 is still widely held. The question of its va... more The notion of a "revolution" in painting around 1600 is still widely held. The question of its validity has also arisen at various times. The present study examines the reactions of three very different contemporaries in order to establish if and to what extent the stylistic changes in painting at the end of the sixteenth century were experienced as a fundamental break.
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Book by Hans Raben
This book can be ordered under ISBN 9789464065923
The book offers an in-depth analysis of thinking and writing about art in late sixteenth and early seventeenth century Italy.
From the cover:
"As a painting leaves the artist's workshop it becomes a focus of various sentiments and thoughts .... It will be admired or disliked, it will be analyzed on technical grounds and commented upon. It took a long time for this process to become visible. This study examines some examples of the manner in which critical reactions began to manifest themselves in an age in which writing about works of art was leaving the tradition of ex cathedra declarations. The views of three art lovers from that typical transitory period at the end of the sixteenth century are analyzed in opposition to the common modern assumption of a style of revolution taking place in those days. Next, the dilemmas of an outspoken critic as Giovan Pietro Bellori from the middle of the seventeenth century are deciphered. And finally, the thoughts of one of the first painters to claim a personal interpretation of his works, the great Nicolas Poussin, are reconstructed by means of a close reading of his own notes and critical reactions on remarks of his patrons."
Papers by Hans Raben
Drafts by Hans Raben
This book can be ordered under ISBN 9789464065923
The book offers an in-depth analysis of thinking and writing about art in late sixteenth and early seventeenth century Italy.
From the cover:
"As a painting leaves the artist's workshop it becomes a focus of various sentiments and thoughts .... It will be admired or disliked, it will be analyzed on technical grounds and commented upon. It took a long time for this process to become visible. This study examines some examples of the manner in which critical reactions began to manifest themselves in an age in which writing about works of art was leaving the tradition of ex cathedra declarations. The views of three art lovers from that typical transitory period at the end of the sixteenth century are analyzed in opposition to the common modern assumption of a style of revolution taking place in those days. Next, the dilemmas of an outspoken critic as Giovan Pietro Bellori from the middle of the seventeenth century are deciphered. And finally, the thoughts of one of the first painters to claim a personal interpretation of his works, the great Nicolas Poussin, are reconstructed by means of a close reading of his own notes and critical reactions on remarks of his patrons."