Politics and Religion in 17th Century Dutch Art

Lesson

(Sequence times are only approximate.)

1. Students will be divided into small groups of 4-5 members.
2. Each student will first look carefully and silently at a reproduction of this work of art, for approximately 10 minutes. During this time, each student will record his/her observations and responses to specific questions on a worksheet or from an overhead transparency prepared by the teacher:
   Prompt: How did the artist use the following art elements in this work of art? Be specific in describing where in the artwork you see these elements.
   • How did the artist use line? What kinds of lines can you identify?
   • How did the artist use shapes?
   • How did the artist convey texture?
   • How did the artist convey the illusion of three-dimensional objects and three-dimensional space in this two-dimension work of art? Identify where the artist used placement, overlapping, relative size, and / or linear perspective to convey space (vocabulary from VAPA Standard 1.3).
3. Students will discuss these observations within their small groups. One member of the group will serve as a recorder and write out the group's collective responses. (20 minutes for discussion and reporting) Each recorder will report a summary of his/her group's responses.
4. The teacher will prepare a second worksheet or overhead transparency for the following discussion Prompt : How did the artist organize the elements in this work of art to communicate meaning to the viewer?
   • Where does your eye go first in this work of art?
   • How does the artist draw you to this part of the artwork?
   • How is action shown in this artwork?
   • What do you think the artist is communicating to the viewer?
   • What evidence of humor or satire can you identify?
   • Can you identify any historical clues to place this work in its time or place? Identify these clues and give your reasons.
5. Students will discuss their responses to these questions within their small groups. One member of the group will serve as a recorder, and write out the group's collective responses. (20-25 minutes for discussion and reporting)
6. Each group recorder will report out his/her group's responses. Did all groups come to the same conclusions? The teacher will facilitate a classroom discussion focused on the areas that generated multiple or diverse responses. (15 minutes)
7. The teacher will facilitate a discussion to generate new questions and suggest ways of learning more about the work in its historical context, using the Prompt : What else do you need to know to understand what this work is meant to communicate? What visual clues might help? What historical clues might help? The teacher, as facilitator, will chart student-generated “research questions.” (10 minutes)
8. The teacher will divide About the Spanish Withdrawl from the Netherlands into segments to distribute to the collaborative groups. (Jig-saw can use either the complete commentary on artist and artwork, or can use the student-level commentary, at the teacher's discretion.) Each group will try to find responses to the questions generated out of the group discussion within its segment of the written information. Each group will report out its findings. (30 minutes)
   
9. The teacher will assign students to read pertinent segments from the History / Social Science text with specific reference to the Protestant Reformation in the Netherlands and the Catholic Counter-Reformation in Europe . (This can be done as an overnight/out-of-class assignment, or as a jigsaw collaborative small group in-class assignment.)
10. The teacher will assign students to return to the work of art and discuss how effectively the artwork, and especially the artist's use of satire, addresses the larger issue of the Protestant Reformation and Holland 's break with Spain . The discussion Prompt should address: If the bull represents Holland /Northern Provinces of Netherlands and the gentleman in the large collar, riding the bull represents Spain , what is the artist communicating and to what audience do you think he is directing this message? Whose values do you think the artist is representing? (Option: This can be done as an overnight/out-of-class written assignment.)

 

Objective for Activity : Identify the Northern Province of Netherlands / Holland in relation to other European countries under Spanish control during the 17th Century.

Description:
Students – working either in small collaborative groups – or independently – will use the computer to access and then compare two different maps (primary documents) of Europe : one from 1560 and one from 1648.

History/Social Science Skills
Recognizing and interpreting maps of 16th and 17th century Europe to understand the implications of religion and geography during the 17th century.

Arts Skills
Using knowledge from maps to support the understanding and interpretation of values communicated through a work of art.

Sequence for students :

1. Working either in small groups or independently, access each of the following web sites to study, compare and contrast the historical map presented at each site. (Students may use a Venn diagram, at the teacher's discretion.)
2. Go to this web site to access the map of Europe in 1560: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/europe_1560.jpg . (Enlarge to read details.) Note that all countries under Spanish control are identified in yellow. List those countries/regions.
3. Go to this web site to access the map of Europe in 1648: www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/europe_1648_westphal_1884.jpg (Enlarge to read details.) This map was produced in 1648, the year that the Peace of Westphalia recognized Holland 's independence. Note that countries under Spanish control are identified in lavender and diagonal lines. List those countries and regions under Spanish control. Note the similarities and differences between this map of 1648 and the map of 1560.

Materials:
Computer access.
Color printer and paper.
Venn diagram, optional.
Worksheet, optional.

Assessment:
Respond to the following question in written or verbal form.
Prompt : How does this study of the maps connect to your understanding of the work of art?

Additional Tips:
Keep a reproduction of this image on view for students throughout the period of this lesson for directed, as well as informal, reference.

Artist

Pieter Quast, born in 1605/6 in Amsterdam , is considered one of the most active artists of his period. In 1634, he entered the painter's guild in The Hague , an important city southwest of Amsterdam and bordering the North Sea . By that time, Quast was in his late 20s and establishing a promising career. Ten years later, he returned to Amsterdam where he remained until his death in 1647 at 41 years old. Quast's contemporary, Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), settled in Amsterdam in 1631. Amsterdam at this time was the most populous city in the Netherlands , the center of an affluent merchant class, and the center of banking for Europe . Despite ongoing conflicts with Spain, Amsterdam 's prosperity made for a flourishing intellectual and cultural climate for a gifted artist like Quast.

Quast is best known as a keen observer of Dutch life, portraying carousing peasants, raucous soldiers and caricature-like actors in his drawings, engravings and paintings. Often his scenes were satirical or allegorical. His drawings were so popular that they were often made into engravings for wider distribution.

Artwork

About Satire on the Spanish Withdrawal from the Netherlands

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Although the date “1641” appears on this drawing, the last two numbers are difficult to read, which leads some scholars to question the exact date of this work. The subject matter places it in this period – late 1630s to early 1640s. Although Spain withdrew from the Netherlands in 1609, it maintained legal claims for several years beyond that date. At the time of this drawing, Spanish occupation of present-day Holland was clearly coming to an end. By 1648, only a few years later, the Treaty of Westphalia was signed to recognize the independence of the Netherlands from Spanish control.

The tone of this work is comical in its caricature of the figures with their exaggerated expressions and gestures. The political content – ridiculing the Spanish presence in the Netherlands – pushes it into satire. Quast depicts his main character – a man dressed in the oversized collar and aristocratic clothing of a Spaniard – riding on the back of a bull. Portrayed as an object of ridicule, this figure is facing backwards, desperately holding onto the tail. His dislodged hat is sailing through mid-air. The bull, an animal known for its power, symbolizes the strength and resistance of the Protestant Dutch in the face of the Catholic Spanish. The bull also represents Dutch prosperity based on its cattle and dairy farming. The other characters in this composition seem to be added for comic affect. Like clowns at a rodeo, one figure is tossed into the air by the agitated bull, while other figures in distorted poses and facial expressions look on. One figure seems either asleep on the ground or about to be trampled by the bull. Another figure seems to run off. Since Quast was well known for his portrayals of peasants, actors, etc., these characters seem to be drawn from his repertoire of figures.

Context

The Netherlands in the 17th Century

The humor in this work contrasts with its more serious political implications. The work comments on the relation between the primarily Protestant Netherlands (known as the Northern Provinces ) and Catholic Spain. In 1568, war broke out between Philip II of Spain and the Netherlandish Prince William of Orange . Among the factors forcing this conflict were the religious struggle between Catholicism and Protestantism in the Netherlands and Spain 's need for capital as it expanded into the New World . In 1609, the Protestant North and Catholic-controlled South signed a 12-year Truce. The Truce allowed the Dutch to trade with Spain and other countries (Dutch East India company formed in 1602; Dutch West India Company formed in 1621), and it allowed freedom from a Spanish-imposed religion. Even before the Truce, though, Spain 's power was greatly reduced throughout the world. Spain controlled only the Southern provinces, which are today known as Belgium . At the end of the 12-year truce, the treaty was not re-signed and war broke out again. When the Treaty of Westphalia was signed in 1648, formally ending the war, the positions of the two countries were quite different. The Netherlands decisively expelled the Spanish from its lands. Spain 's wealth and power were virtually depleted. For nearly 100 years, the Dutch enjoyed unprecedented prosperity.