European Renaissance

By the 1600s, the Renaissance style had spread across Europe and taken root among all royal courts. The revival of classical architecture was seen everywhere and depicted in paintings of the Renaissance masters and their apprentices. There were also many important artists from Holland who created marvelous genre paintings that reveal much about daily life at the time.

Below is an example in which we see a curious scene painted by a Dutch artist named Bartholomeus Cornelixzoon van Bassen. On the left, we see a group of elegantly dressed men and women engaged in polite conversation. But the figure on the right is attended by two women, having indulged in too much food and wine.

The interior is richly decorated with a tiled floor, coffered ceiling, rows of windows, impressive architectural features, and elaborately carved furniture. Two huge marble columns are topped with composite capitals and the sidebaord has a display of precious-metal plates and goblets.