The Bamboccianti
The Bamboccianti were a
group of mainly Dutch artists that worked in Rome in the mid seventeenth
century. They were followers of Pieter
van Laer, who is credited with the name of “Bamboccianti.” Van Laer was nicknamed il Bamboccio (meaning
puppet or large baby) because of his physically deformed body. The term bambocciata was also a synonym used
to describe childish scribbling (D. L. Levine, Grove Art). Bambocciati painters chose to represent
trivial or low-life genre scenes that related to contemporary Italian life,
known as bambocciate. They were
influenced by caravaggesque lighting and tenebristic coloring, and were in turn
influential on the genre paintings of the eighteenth century Netherlands and
Italy. They were also influenced by Caravaggio’s subject matter and attention
to certain details; Caravaggio paid considerable amounts of attention to
figures and little attention to nature and the setting. The subject matter of prostitutes, beggars,
and the poor were oftentimes considered vulgar and critics scorned the
bambocciati choice of subject matter because of its “lack of decorum.” Even though the classically minded artists
and critics rejected them they were popular among the Roman aristocracy, the
bourgeoisie, and private collects. The
main bambocciati painters were Pieter van Laer, Andries Both, Michelangelo
Cerquozzi and Jan Miel. This discussion
of the style of bambocciate will discuss the above-mentioned artists and their
work.
When
Pieter van Laer arrived in Rome around 1630, his characteristically Dutch genre
style of painting became immediately popular.
“It was as if no one had dared to depict such commonplace subjects”
(Burke, 124). His depiction of everyday
street life was a brush of realism that many Romans were not entirely ready
for. In his painting The Cake
Seller, van Laer depicts a common low-life street scene. The use of caravaggesque lighting can be
seen most prevalently with the four figures clustered around the standing
basket. There is a bright light source
coming in from the upper left corner and shining down onto the figures leaving
most of the figures in shadow. One
figure is blocked from view by the old man with the cane, but the part that is
visible is bathed in shadow. There is
great attention paid to the figures, but the actual setting is plain and not
very detailed, an influence from Caravaggio.
The Cake Seller
http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/art/l/laer/cakesell.jpg
Other themes that were very popular in van Laer’s
paintings were morra, the popular game of chance, vagabonds attacking
travelers, blacksmiths, and travelers, and military actions. Van Laer is known for painting one religious
scene, an Annunciation, which again has many characteristics of
Caravaggio.
Annunciation to the shepherds
http://www.museumbredius.nl/schilders/pics/laer.jpg
Even though Pieter van
Laer’s work was popular, it was also highly criticized. “Andrea Sacchi and
Francesco Albani reviled the bambocciata as a debased form of art, the latter
referring to works of this genre as ‘monstrous abortions’. Pesseri condemned van Laer for having
‘destroyed and violated’ painting.” (D. L. Levine, Grove Art). This type of harsh judgment is
understandable when considering that most critics were of the classicist idea
and praised the ideal visual reality over actual reality. Despite these criticisms van Laer was still
a very popular artist and he had a great following.
Two of Pieter van Laer’s
main followers were the Both brothers, Andries and Jan. They traveled to Rome from Utrecht where
their father was a glass painter. They
became linked to van Laer because of their close personal relationship with
him, but also because of their choice of subject matter. They chose to depict the low life Roman
genre scenes in which van Laer was a specialist. Andries Both is credited with helping van Laer define repertory
traditions of the Bamboccianti. (L. Trezzani, Grove Art). The Both brothers, especially Andries, brought the
harsh reality and objectivity that was characteristic of the Dutch painters to
the genre of low-life scenes. In the
painting Hunting by Candlelight 1630, one can see Andries’ depiction of
a very harsh low life scene where peasants are picking fleas off the body of
the nude kneeling figure. Critics
responded cruelly to Andries Both’s low life genre scenes because they showed
the harsh reality of the slums and the poor of Rome. These types of scenes were not what polite and refined society
wished to see when visiting art galleries.
Andries Both was a very talented artist, but unfortunately he drowned in
a Venetian canal in 1642, and it is not known whether or not it was suicide or
a drunken stupor. (Gayford, 44).
Hunting by Candlelight, 1630
http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/html/b/both/andries/index.html
Jan Both joined his brother in Rome around 1637 and
was loosely connected with the style of the Bamboccianti. “He devoted himself to painting genre scenes
with small figures” and he concentrated on landscapes with beggars and peasants
rather than the urban scenes. (L. Trezzani, Grove Art). Jan Boths style differed slightly from his brothers. Rather than emphasizing the caravaggesque
lighting, he bathed his paintings of peasants and beggars in a rich golden
glow. This can be seen in his painting Ruins
by the sea. 
Ruins
by the sea http://gallery.euroweb.hu/art/b/both/jan/ruins.jpg
Jan Both left Rome in the early 1640’s to return to
the Netherlands where his style changed to focus mainly on landscapes.
The
only Italian follower of Pieter van Laer was Michelangelo Cerquozzi. He painted low-life scenes, battles,
religious subjects, and still-lives (D. L. Levine, Grove Art).
Cerquozzi became famous for his small, naturalistic depictions of
peasant life in Rome. In his painting The
Peasant Wedding, one can see his reliance on the “naturalism, composition
and careful observation of the homely details of country life” (D. L. Levine, Grove Art). The popularity that he claimed from his
depictions of Roman low life citizens was much to the annoyance of the
practices of high art in Rome (Waterhouse, 62). Cerquozzi was known for his
paintings of peasant figures, which can be seen in his collaboration with the
artist Angeluccio in Tree lined Avenue 1640. In this painting, one can see the use of tenebrism in the
modeling of the figures, as well as in the detail paid to the naturalism of the
figures. In the late 1640’s Cerquozzi
and Jan Miel departed from the genre of bamboccianti to depict higher society
figures and anecdotal aspects of country and town life, but he still relied on
the technique of naturalism that he had employed in his bamboccianti works.
Tree lined Avenue, 1640 The Peasant Wedding, and date unknown
http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/art/c/cerquozz/figures.jpg
http://www.prydein.com/pipes/bw2/wedding.html
The
last true Bamboccianti painter was Jan Miel.
When he arrived in Rome in the 1630’s, he immediately came under the
influence of Pieter van Laer. He was
associated with the style of the bamboccianti for his entire stay in Rome and
carried it on into the 1660’s with Cerquozzi.
Jan Miel took subjects and compositions directly from Pieter van Laer’s
work and some of his paintings are thought to be direct copies, such as his Halt
at the Inn and Hunter’s Rest 1630’s (L. Trezzani, Grove
Art). Jan Miel became well known for
his carnival and festivity scenes of the poor Roman class. In his painting Peasants Dancing 1640’s,
he depicted country folk of Rome playing music and dancing in a local square, a
common peasant activity. In his large
scale painting Carnival in the Piazza Colonna, which was commissioned by
Marchese Antonio Raggi in the late 1640’s, Miel was able to “incorporate around
the central theme of carnival celebrations a wide variety of scenes: actors
from the commedia dell’arte, peddlers, musicians, and a fortune-teller…and a
group of figures playing morra at the lower left corner.” (L.
Trezzani, Grove Art). Miel often utilized the
composition of the group of figures playing morra in his other works. Miel took the genre of the bamboccianti to
its height as a popular genre for Roman bourgeoisie, but like the other
followers of Pieter van Laer, he abandoned the style, in his case for religious
paintings.
Peasants Dancing, 1640’s
http://www.akademiegalerie.at/bilderthemen/gesellschaften/InvNr1372.jpg
Carnival in the Piazza Colonna, 1640 http://btr0xw.rz.uni-bayreuth.de/cjackson/m/miel1.jpg
The short period in which the genre of bamboccianti paintings were acceptable and in popular demand never allowed the techniques to have a wide spread influence on the artwork of the following centuries. It did, however, have a profound influence on the idea of popular art. The work of Pieter van Laer and his followers were highly criticized by art critics, but were well received and they were well patronized among the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie of Rome between 1630 and 1650.
Bibliography
McComb,
Arthur. The Baroque Painters of Italy: An Introductory Historical
Survey. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1934.
Waterhouse,
Ellis. Italian Baroque Painting. New York: Phaidon Press Ltd., 1969.
Burke,
James D. Jan Both. New York
& London: Garland Publishing Inc., 1976.
Gayford,
Martin. “Views to Charm” Spectator 289.9073 (2002): 44.
L.
Laureati: “Dutch Italianates”, The Grove Dictionary of Art Online, L.
Macy (Accessed 18 February 2003) http://www.groveart.com
L.
Trezzani: “Both”, The Grove Dictionary of Art Online, L. Macy (Accessed
25 February 2003) http://www.groveart.com
L.
Trezzani: “Miel, Jan”, The Grove Dictionary of Art Online, L. Macy
(Accessed 25 February 2003) http://www.groveart.com
D.
L. Levine: “Cerquozzi, Michelangelo”, The Grove Dictionary of Art Online,
L. Macy (Accessed 25 February 2003) http://www.groveart.com
D.
L. Levine: “Bamboccianti”, The Grove Dictionary of Art Online, L. Macy
(Accessed 18 February 2003) http://www.groveart.com
D. L. Levine: “Laer, Pieter van”, The Grove Dictionary of Art Online, L. Macy (Accessed 25 February 2003) http://www.groveart.com
Created by: Autum MatysekSnyder
March 16, 2003