Palettes: a series of films devoted to great works in painting history. Thanks to recent developments in video animation technique, the secrets of these images are revealed like thrilling ventures of discovery.
Rubens: The Glory of the Flesh At the age of 53, the widower Rubens marries Helene Fourment, a 16 year-old girl. The two portraits at the Louvre (Helene Fourment with a Carriage, Helene Fourment and her children), show her superbly dressed, in the full splendour of her opulent flesh. 'The Little Fur', a portrait in which she holds back the flow of her generous bosom with her arm, offers a good impression of the style of this painter's other nudes. Reason enough for a contemplation of allegories of the flesh in the Baroque Age.
Rembrandt: The Mirror of Paradoxes Self-portraits were made possible because in the period from the 13th to the 15th century glass mirrors became widely used. With Masaccio, Botticelli and Diirer as his precursors, Rembrandt brought the genre to full bloom. From the very beginning he made appearances on his own paintings. More than a hundred times he was to make etchings, drawings and paintings of his own face. In these canvases and panels it is not merely the history of Rembrandt's face that can be traced, but also the vast changes that were taking place in humanist Europe.
Vermeer: The Grain of the Light In the corner of a room, daylight falls through a panelled windowpane upon the face of a man studying a celestial globe, which charts the constellations and the signs of the zodiac. The fundamental characteristic of Vermeer's oeuvre is the integration of perspective into a photographic vision. It is highly probable that Vermeer had recourse to a 'camera obscura', yet his use of this predecessor to the present-day camera is but one aspect of Vermeer's painting which is discussed here.
We use cookies to help you navigate our website and to keep track of our promotional efforts. Some cookies are necessary for the site to operate normally while others are optional. To find out what cookies we are using please visit Cookies Policy.