[meteorite-list] Martin, explanation please.

[JoshuaTreeMuseum]

Martin,

You're absolutely right about the symbolism in the painting.  Van Leyden was 
not a medieval painter, he was a  Northern Renaissance painter.  The 
Medievals did almost exclusively sacred works, altar pieces, illuminated 
manuscripts, etc.  Mainly because the Church was the only patron that could 
afford to pay them.  Early and High Renaissance painters were still beholden 
to the Church because that's where the money was.  Michaelangelo, Rafael and 
the Pope for example. All their best work was done for the Church.  Van 
Leyden lived in a transitional period between Church and businessmen 
patronage.

With the emergence of the Dutch merchant class, (an early flowering of 
capitalism),  for the first time (outside of royalty and the court 
painters),  you had lay people who could afford to buy fine art.  This led 
to the development of genre painting, the depiction of everyday life. 
Artists were freed from the dominance of the subject matter and focused on 
style and form.The Golden Agers developed an incredibly realistic style.  I 
love looking at the drops of water on grapes and the detailed flies in fruit 
still lifes. The realism of the Dutch Golden Age was only exceeded by the 
Photorealist Movement.

Genre paintings were extremely popular in their day.  They were seen as 
puzzles or riddles to be solved by the viewers.  People studied and 
discussed them endlessly.  They often contained inside jokes and 
contemporary references. They would poke fun at the high and mighty.  The 
Rijksmuseum is full of excellent examples of genre painting.  Delightful 
stuff, with people drinking, smoking, laughing, fighting, having sex, 
pooping, peeing, etc.  Once they got away from all the religious, 
historical, mythological subjects, it opened up a whole new way of looking 
at things.  I think this was the beginning of Modern Art.

Phil Pieter de Hooch Whitmer