The Dutch Baroque period roughly spanned from 1610 to the 1700 hundreds, one factor that made this era stand out is its new use of lighting. Out of all the Dutch Baroque painters, the two that are most revered are Vermeer and Rembrandt. However, these two artisans paint in exceedingly different styles. For two reasons, both artists used different techniques to express emotion, in their subjects; as well as; their approach to their shading and attention to details.
In the Dutch Baroque period shadows were used to express the tone of the painting. In Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch” the setting takes place during daylight, however because of its dark background and use of shadows, it appears to be nighttime. The tone of this painting is very dramatic in emotion and reinforced by the overall darkness. Where as Vermeer’s paintings display a lighter canvas, Vermeer used a new revolutionary technique called Camera Obscura, a dark box with only one hole to allow light to shine through. As evident in “the Kitchen Maid,” the light in the portrait does not come from the open window, but instead appears to be shining through a circular hole. Even though a majority of the painting is dark, it does not portray a grave tone much like “The Night Watch.” …show more content…
For instance in Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch” the spears are intended to be placed in disarray to catch the observer eye. In addition, the darkness portrays a serious tone, which intrigues the observer to hunt out all the details in the painting. Vermeer’s “The kitchen Maid,” the meal is spread out on the table, there are stains on the wall from something that had splattered while cooking. These detail ass to the perception of a normal household. Most paintings prior to this time had perfect backgrounds with beautiful scenery. This realistic portrait captures the beauty in an everyday