Plik:Denying.jpg

(b. ca. 1610, Haarlem, d. 1668, Haarlem)

The Denying of Peter 1636 Oil on canvas, 99,5 x 135 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

Molenaer was a Dutch painter active in his native Haarlem and Amsterdam. In 1636 he married Judith Leyster; both belonged in their youth to the circle of Frans Hals. He and his wife probably collaborated and sometimes it is difficult to differentiate their work. Molenaer specialized in genre scenes, but his range was wide, from pictures of the crude, indecorous activities of peasants to small, exquisitely finished domestic scenes of well-to-do families. He also did portraits and religious scenes. His early works (which are considered his best) have a grey-blond tonalitiy and touches of bright colour, but his later ones are darker, in the manner of Brouwer and Ostade.

It is hardly recognizable that this genre painting depicts a Biblical scene; it is happening in a Dutch tavern filled with peasants and soldiers. However, this is a dramatic and colourful representation of a theme taken from the gospel. The detail is well observed. We are made to feel Peter's alarmed wish to escape and the scornful superiority of the servant-girl; we see the braggart, the sly informer and the soldiers, drunk and indifferent. It is as if the figures were characters in a biblical play produced to give the episode the tragicomic casualness of everyday life. The style of the painting approaches so near to the developing tradition of contemporary genre that the religious theme is not immediately apparent.

This picture exemplifies the moment in the development of the vigorous style of Dutch painting during the late sixteen-twenties and early sixteen-thirties when religious painting came closest to genre; from then onwards the two styles developed in ways that were mutually exclusive. Later, Rembrandt alone was to resolve the contradiction between the two styles, but his contemporaries, including Molenaer, all abandoned the attempt.

The painting is signed on the right side, on the back of the chair: M MOLENAER 1636. <P> <TABLE ALIGN=LEFT CELLPADDING=5 BORDER=1 WIDTH=320 BGCOLOR="#99CCCC"> <TR VALIGN=MIDDLE><TD><IMG SRC="/support/gif/listen.gif" BORDER=0 VALIGN=MIDDLE> Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 3 minutes):<BR><A HREF="#" onClick="w=window.open ('/music1/15_cent/dufay_peter_paul.html', 'newWin', 'scrollbars=yes,status=no,dependent=yes,screenX=0,screenY=0,width=350,height=350');w.opener=this;w.focus();return true"><B>Guillaume Dufay: Aurea luce, hymn for the feast of Sts Peter and Paul</B></A> </TD></TR></TABLE>

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Author: MOLENAER, Jan Miense Title: The Denying of Peter Time-line: 1601-1650 School: Dutch Form: painting