I love Godfrey Kneller. Kneller was a German painter and an exceptionally good painter, in my opinion, and a worthy successor to Peter Lely as a painter to the nobility. Why? His portraits of some of the most influential and important people of the Seventeenth century provide us with fascinating visuals of that beloved time. He’s kinda cute.… Read on
I feel the 17th century may soon experience a surge in interest. For far too long, the 1600s, sandwiched in between the ever-popular Tudor era and the sexy Enlightenment/Dangerous Liaisons of the 18th century, has been too readily forgotten about. Perhaps I am being too optimistic, I don’t know, but I just have this incredible feeling about my… Read on
Nicolas de Largillière, French Baroque painter famous for his portraits, was born on this day the 10th of October, 1656, in Paris, France. Largillière painted many important figures of his day, including famous wit and philosopher Voltaire, and diamond merchant, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. Here is a lovely video with images by Largillière and music by Marin Marais:
I just finished reading this post from the excellent Anne Boleyn Files about Queen Elizabeth I’s bout with smallpox on this day in 1562 and it made me think of how many people throughout history that were affected by this terrible disease. Rich and poor alike, this disease was nasty, and there were varying strains of the disease. The worst, called Hemorrhagic smallpox, was almost always… Read on
Heinrich Schütz was born on this day 8 October (O.S) 1585. Now, some of you may wonder why I’m celebrating the birth of someone in the 16th century, so the reason is this: Schütz was a very influential composer of the Baroque. I’m only sorry that I didn’t know about this composer until only in the past five years,… Read on
