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Article Evaluation

Gian Lorenzo Bernini Bernini was a sculptor, who fell under the category of baroque during the 1600's. The article goes on to state that he was in fact also a painter, but that he was usually painting small pieces. The piece goes on to also say that he used to also design stage sets. Stage sets are very large so I feel as if they start to conflict with themselves right away in this article. The article goes on to state that we was a childhood genius, however it does not really clarify in what aspect.It says he was called a great by the patrons of the time period, however was that for sculpting or small paintings? It is hard for me to believe that an 8 year old was a master sculpture since, it was probably hard to obtain material to practice, and as an 8 year old the average human is very small. The tone of the article is that of someone who praises him, aposed to someone that is stating his life in facts. I feel as if I am reading a fan article of him, that is also stating some of his life in facts. The article does a good job plugging in all of the sources at the end, since they use so many throughout the article. They use a lot of other names throughout the article, and they are all plugged in as well.

The Physician's Visit is a 1660-1662 oil painting on a canvas painting by the Dutch artist Jan Steen, now seen in the Apsley House collection in London. Its subject is similar to his The Lovesick Maiden (Metropolitan Museum of Art) from the same era.

Visual Analysis

This painting is a visual representation of the medical practice that was performed on women in the 1660's. Jan Steen uses very direct, and forward facial expressions to show what the people in this painting were feeling. The women sitting down on the right has some illness, which during the time was not only hard to identify, but also extremely difficult to treat. Women in paintings such as this and The Lovesick Maiden are usually young, pretty and well dressed, while being possentioned upward in a chair (Dixon). Facial exprsstions in these paintings were often similar with a vacant an senseless look (Dixon). These paintings tend to have a lot going on in the background as well, such as elegant paintings or soft music playing to represent a sick room (Dixon). While the doctor is taking her pulse, he is also multitasking by looking at the urine sample that his assistant is holding up to the light (Dixon). Some of the themes that are represented in medical paintings are often created by the artist in retrospect to intellectual theories that were ancient, universal and intrinsically intertwined with their current culture (Dixon). These created themes allow for the viewer to get a more in depth thought of what was going on in this time period, with respect to women's medical treatment.

Historical Background

There is a connection between art and medicine, and that is very much so represented in these paintings, however many art historians have not widely recognized the connection (Dixon). The current medical information that was used in the paintings by the dutch painters and their patrons in the 1600's was often the only information they had, however if they would have had books in other languages with more information, they would have used them (Dixon).

Women Background

Women often had several children in this time period, due to the lack of birth control, or other tactics used today to prevent pregnancy. Women having several children at this time was a very dangerous task since there were highly infectious diseases everywhere. Having children often left flesh open to disease; this makes birthing children a dangerous task, and unfortunately it was not uncommon for a women to be come ill and die. Women in these paintings are often presented as weekend by the sickness, while being surrounded by people with concern (Dixon). Paintings consistently represent women in a fragile, passive, housebound way which was much more of a male wish, rather than a female reality (Dixon).

Medicine

Medical knowledge that was used to treat men and women during the 1600's was often tradition that was often 2000 years old opposed to fact based science (Dixon). During the 1600's this was the best they could do and by using tradition it gave women who suffered from illness hope. It was often believed during this the 17th century that the older the text was the more likely it was to be true to the original wisdom; many of the sources that were quoted refer to revered names in the history of medicine (Dixon). Many of the books that were used to practice medicine were written in dutch, and often used to help maintain health in a household, rather than to treat people suffering from illness (Dixon).

The Physician's Visit is a 1660-1662 oil on canvas painting by the Dutch artist Jan Steen, now in the Apsley House collection in London. Its subject is similar to his The Lovesick Maiden (Metropolitan Museum of Art) from the same era.

Sources

• https://www.artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-physicians-visit-144397

Category:1660s paintings Category:Paintings by Jan Steen Category:Paintings in the Wellington Collection Category:Dogs in art