Читать книгу Art History For Dummies - Jesse Bryant Wilder - Страница 35

A lot of art was commissioned by rich and powerful patrons to serve the patrons’ purposes. Some of them commissioned religious works showing themselves kneeling beside a saint, perhaps to demonstrate their religious devotion and earn brownie points from God. Others commissioned works to celebrate themselves or their families — for example, Philip IV of Spain paid Spanish painter Diego Velázquez to immortalize Phil’s family during the Baroque period.

Some patrons merely wanted to fatten their art collections and enhance their prestige — like Pieter van Ruijven, who commissioned works from Johannes Vermeer in 17th-century Holland. Van Ruijven (1624–1674) was one of the richest men in Delft and Vermeer’s primary patron.