Tasked with researching how wealth, property and class is depicted in the 17th and 18th centuries, the only way I know that wealth was shown was through Still Life paintings. One artist that comes to mind is Clara Peeters; a Flemish painter mostly known for floral depictions and breakfast scenes, such as "Still life with Artichoke, and Cherries" (1625, Oil on canvas) shown below.
Still Life paintings of food and delicacies were aimed towards the more wealthy, showing food that they may enjoy and served as a religious reminder to avoid gluttony. Owning paintings depicting still life scenes were more likely to be found in wealthier homes, or paintings in general, as poorer households could not afford to spend money on decorative items.
Another type of painting found within richer housing was Portraits. Around the 17th century in The Netherlands portrait painting became increasingly popular as part of what is known as The Dutch Golden Age. It was around this time that the artist Rembrandt became successful before he moved away from portraits due to boredom. Another artist around this time was Bartholemeus Van Der Helst who painted many portraits including the portrait of ''Sophia Trip, wife of Balthasar Coymans''(1665), who was a member of one of the wealthiest families in Holland.
There were many similarities in Dutch Portrait Paintings, and this is mainly due to the fear of showing the sin of Pride. It was due to this that possessions were not included in paintings, nor were views of the land and the seated pose was much the same amongst paintings as a standing position may also show pride. Women were mainly restricted to seated positions in portraits but children would be allowed more freedom. Portrait paintings and paintings including human figures were very high up in the "Hierarchy of Genres", where genres were in ranks, with the more difficult paintings being ranked as more prestigious, thus worth more and favoured more amongst the wealthy; Landscapes were amongst the bottom of the ranks, above Still Life paintings whilst portraits were high at the top of the ranks.
"He who produces perfect landscapes is above another who only produces fruit, flowers or seafood. He who paints living animals is more estimable than those who only represent dead things without movement, and as man is the most perfect work of God on the earth, it is also certain that he who becomes an imitator of God in representing human figures, is much more excellent than all the others ..."- André Félibien, a historiographer, architect and theoretician of French classicism
An interesting painting to analyse after reading this quote would be Paulus Potter's "The Bull" from 1647, which contains a landscape, living animals and a human figure; this means that we can see the different genres (minus Still Life) compiled into one painting.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WLA_lacma_Clara_Peeters_still_life.jpg
Another type of painting found within richer housing was Portraits. Around the 17th century in The Netherlands portrait painting became increasingly popular as part of what is known as The Dutch Golden Age. It was around this time that the artist Rembrandt became successful before he moved away from portraits due to boredom. Another artist around this time was Bartholemeus Van Der Helst who painted many portraits including the portrait of ''Sophia Trip, wife of Balthasar Coymans''(1665), who was a member of one of the wealthiest families in Holland.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_sophia_trip_wife_of_balthasar_coymans.jpg
There were many similarities in Dutch Portrait Paintings, and this is mainly due to the fear of showing the sin of Pride. It was due to this that possessions were not included in paintings, nor were views of the land and the seated pose was much the same amongst paintings as a standing position may also show pride. Women were mainly restricted to seated positions in portraits but children would be allowed more freedom. Portrait paintings and paintings including human figures were very high up in the "Hierarchy of Genres", where genres were in ranks, with the more difficult paintings being ranked as more prestigious, thus worth more and favoured more amongst the wealthy; Landscapes were amongst the bottom of the ranks, above Still Life paintings whilst portraits were high at the top of the ranks.
"He who produces perfect landscapes is above another who only produces fruit, flowers or seafood. He who paints living animals is more estimable than those who only represent dead things without movement, and as man is the most perfect work of God on the earth, it is also certain that he who becomes an imitator of God in representing human figures, is much more excellent than all the others ..."- André Félibien, a historiographer, architect and theoretician of French classicism
An interesting painting to analyse after reading this quote would be Paulus Potter's "The Bull" from 1647, which contains a landscape, living animals and a human figure; this means that we can see the different genres (minus Still Life) compiled into one painting.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paulus_Potter_-_Young_Bull.JPG
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