Artists & their Patrons in the Seventeenth-Century Europe

In this course we will explore the nature of artistic patronage in 17th century Europe. Not only will we examine artists who negotiated the complexities of early modern patronage with great success, such as Bernini, Velazquez, Van Dyck, and Rubens, but we will also consider artists whose efforts met with failure, such as Caravaggio, whose Death of the Virgin was famously rejected. Other topics will include the role of gender and patronage, the circumvention of traditional forms of patronage, and artistic patronage and the state. 3 hrs. sem.