Masters of the Everyday
A beautifully produced publication presenting a superb collection of Dutch genre painting from the Royal Collection.
LUDOLF DE JONGH (ROTTERDAM 1616-HILLEGERSBERG 1679)
A formal Garden: three Ladies surprised by a Gentleman
c.1676Oil on canvas | 60.1 x 74.8 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 400596
De Jongh is best known for courtyard or garden scenes, closely resembling the late work of Pieter de Hooch. This is a perfect demonstration of the way in which prosperous Dutch merchants became aristocrats in the latter part of the century, especially after the French invasion of 1672. There is a similarity between this palace garden and its occupants and those depicted in moralizing scenes at the beginning of the century, such as Steenwyck's Figures on a Terrace (Royal Collection). The main difference is that de Jongh's figures are not 'Spanish Brabanters' but an equally parodied type, which replaced them towards the end of the century: imitators of French fashion. Furthermore, the palace gardens of Steenwyck and his contemporaries were imaginary and impossible, whereas the present one may be imaginary, but is certainly possible. This is the kind of country house, built in the classical style and with a rectilinear formal garden, which became fashionable after the construction of the Huis ten Bosch ('House in the Woods') near the Hague in 1645-55, the royal summer palace and sort of patriotic shrine to the Stadtholder, Frederick Henry of Orange.
There may be something similarly patriotic here, for this scene does not seem to be mocking courtly indolence in the same way that Steenwyck (and others) did. The garden is designed like a fort, with high hedges defended by a magnificent replica of the Borghese Gladiator, catching the evening sun. This perhaps expresses the heroism of the aristocratic owner who, we are lead to imagine, protected the Dutch Republic and made it safe for Dutch maidens to gather roses like the Three Graces. The man here wears a sword, which is much less common for civilians in Holland during this period than it was in other countries, where it was the ubiquitous badge of a gentleman. He starts forward so abruptly that his hat has fallen off; is he coming to protect or to steal a kiss from the women? This is a 'gallant' scene; the word, as universal in European languages as 'conversation', has two meanings exactly describing this combination of arms-bearing courage and attentive courtship depicted here.
Text adapted from The Conversation Piece: Scenes of fashionable life, London, 2009
There may be something similarly patriotic here, for this scene does not seem to be mocking courtly indolence in the same way that Steenwyck (and others) did. The garden is designed like a fort, with high hedges defended by a magnificent replica of the Borghese Gladiator, catching the evening sun. This perhaps expresses the heroism of the aristocratic owner who, we are lead to imagine, protected the Dutch Republic and made it safe for Dutch maidens to gather roses like the Three Graces. The man here wears a sword, which is much less common for civilians in Holland during this period than it was in other countries, where it was the ubiquitous badge of a gentleman. He starts forward so abruptly that his hat has fallen off; is he coming to protect or to steal a kiss from the women? This is a 'gallant' scene; the word, as universal in European languages as 'conversation', has two meanings exactly describing this combination of arms-bearing courage and attentive courtship depicted here.
Text adapted from The Conversation Piece: Scenes of fashionable life, London, 2009
