The seventeenth century was a golden age for Dutch painting, with artists producing genre paintings (depictions of scenes from everyday life), still lifes of fruit or flowers, and portraits of prominent citizens or community groups. Such paintings were typically intended not only to create visual pleasure but also to serve other purposes: to convey a moral lesson, to serve as legal documentation, or to commemorate an event or person. One important element in achieving these functions was the use of text-information expressed in words.
Text figured in paintings in various ways. Like their counterparts elsewhere, many seventeenth-century Dutch artists signed and dated their works. A few sculptors and manuscript painters from earlier periods had signed their works, but the signing of pictures as standard practice was a recent development in the Netherlands. Although it may now seem a self-evident procedure, the introduction of signatures and dates on paintings had significant effects on viewing pictures. The inscription of the artist’s name on a picture calls attention to the making of the image and thus disturbs the illusion that the painting is a simple, faithful record of reality. Perhaps aware of this illusion-breaking effect, and to avoid it, the architectural painter Pieter Saenredam often countered it by inscribing his name on a column in his painting of a church as if it were graffiti, and by recording the precise location and date as a guarantee that he personally recorded the scene: “This is the Cathedral great church of Haerlem in Hollandt. Pieter Saenredam finished painting this, the 27th of February 1648.”As in legal documents, a signature also had the function of claiming the initial ownership of the work by the master of a workshop. Even if he or she had not painted all of the picture, the signature was a guarantee to the customer that the work had come from a particular workshop.
Painters and printmakers also inscribed texts to convey information about the themes of their images. Portraits often give the sitters’ ages and occasionally their names, thus verifying that the work presents an image of a particular person at a specific time. Like signatures on pictures, the making of portraits in the sense of records of specific people had become widespread Netherlandish practice only in the fifteenth century. Both developments reflect a new European understanding of personal identity.
Many other types of images included texts, especially still lifes and genre paintings. In his painting Room Corner with Curiosities of 1712， Jan van der Heyden (1637-1712) depicted books, globes, and fine objects from foreign cultures as a miniature collection, apparently in use by its owner, who has left open a book of maps and a Bible. The Bible is opened to the beginning of Ecclesiastes, one of the gravest Old Testament sections, with the opening words, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Dutch preachers, writers, and still- life painters frequently cited this text to underscore the vanity, in the sense of futility (uselessness), of earthly goods and pursuits in the face of death and Christian concepts of an eternal afterlife. The text was so well- known that it gave its name to a subtype of “vanitas still lifes,” paintings filled with objects to mark the shortness of life. Still-life paintings could include images of books by famous Dutch poets or praise for naval heroes, thereby celebrating their contributions to Dutch literature and history.
Some writers and artists even blurred the border between picture making and writing. Early in the century, schoolmasters and engravers turned handwriting into a pictorial art form of its own, in calligraphic exercises (exercises in stylized handwriting) that indicate both learning and extreme manual control. A handwriting manual by Jan van de Velde (1569-1623) offers intricate designs that attest to the skills of the author as well as those of the engraver Simon Frisius (c. 1580-1629)， who created the illustrations for the book. Perhaps not accidentally, these spectacular celebrations of writing and its reproduction in print were developed in a period of European self-consciousness about literacy and printing as feats that distinguished European civilization from cultures elsewhere in the world.
1
The seventeenth century was a golden age for Dutch painting, with artists producing genre paintings (depictions of scenes from everyday life), still lifes of fruit or flowers, and portraits of prominent citizens or community groups. Such paintings were typically intended not only to create visual pleasure but also to serve other purposes: to convey a moral lesson, to serve as legal documentation, or to commemorate an event or person. One important element in achieving these functions was the use of text-information expressed in words.
Paragraph 1 indicates that all of the following were true of seventeenth-century Dutch paintings EXCEPT:
ASome depicted the members of important social organizations.
BSome contained images of legal documents.
CSome were created to preserve the memory of an event.
DSome were created to act as records recognized by the law.
2
Text figured in paintings in various ways. Like their counterparts elsewhere, many seventeenth-century Dutch artists signed and dated their works. A few sculptors and manuscript painters from earlier periods had signed their works, but the signing of pictures as standard practice was a recent development in the Netherlands. Although it may now seem a self-evident procedure, the introduction of signatures and dates on paintings had significant effects on viewing pictures. The inscription of the artist’s name on a picture calls attention to the making of the image and thus disturbs the illusion that the painting is a simple, faithful record of reality. Perhaps aware of this illusion-breaking effect, and to avoid it, the architectural painter Pieter Saenredam often countered it by inscribing his name on a column in his painting of a church as if it were graffiti, and by recording the precise location and date as a guarantee that he personally recorded the scene: “This is the Cathedral great church of Haerlem in Hollandt. Pieter Saenredam finished painting this, the 27th of February 1648.”As in legal documents, a signature also had the function of claiming the initial ownership of the work by the master of a workshop. Even if he or she had not painted all of the picture, the signature was a guarantee to the customer that the work had come from a particular workshop.
The word “thus”in the passage is closest in meaning to
Aas a result
Bin addition
Cinstead
Dsimilarly
3
Text figured in paintings in various ways. Like their counterparts elsewhere, many seventeenth-century Dutch artists signed and dated their works. A few sculptors and manuscript painters from earlier periods had signed their works, but the signing of pictures as standard practice was a recent development in the Netherlands. Although it may now seem a self-evident procedure, the introduction of signatures and dates on paintings had significant effects on viewing pictures. The inscription of the artist’s name on a picture calls attention to the making of the image and thus disturbs the illusion that the painting is a simple, faithful record of reality. Perhaps aware of this illusion-breaking effect, and to avoid it, the architectural painter Pieter Saenredam often countered it by inscribing his name on a column in his painting of a church as if it were graffiti, and by recording the precise location and date as a guarantee that he personally recorded the scene: “This is the Cathedral great church of Haerlem in Hollandt. Pieter Saenredam finished painting this, the 27th of February 1648.”As in legal documents, a signature also had the function of claiming the initial ownership of the work by the master of a workshop. Even if he or she had not painted all of the picture, the signature was a guarantee to the customer that the work had come from a particular workshop.
Paragraph 2 suggests which of the following about the idea that a”painting is a simple, faithful record of reality”?
AIt originated among artists in the Netherlands.
BIt became widely believed in Europe as a result of developments in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century.
CIt seemed less true once many paintings began to be signed and dated.
DIt was accepted by most seventeenth-century Dutch painters.
4
Text figured in paintings in various ways. Like their counterparts elsewhere, many seventeenth-century Dutch artists signed and dated their works. A few sculptors and manuscript painters from earlier periods had signed their works, but the signing of pictures as standard practice was a recent development in the Netherlands. Although it may now seem a self-evident procedure, the introduction of signatures and dates on paintings had significant effects on viewing pictures. The inscription of the artist’s name on a picture calls attention to the making of the image and thus disturbs the illusion that the painting is a simple, faithful record of reality. Perhaps aware of this illusion-breaking effect, and to avoid it, the architectural painter Pieter Saenredam often countered it by inscribing his name on a column in his painting of a church as if it were graffiti, and by recording the precise location and date as a guarantee that he personally recorded the scene: “This is the Cathedral great church of Haerlem in Hollandt. Pieter Saenredam finished painting this, the 27th of February 1648.”As in legal documents, a signature also had the function of claiming the initial ownership of the work by the master of a workshop. Even if he or she had not painted all of the picture, the signature was a guarantee to the customer that the work had come from a particular workshop.
According to paragraph 2， why did Pieter Saenredam sign his name on a painting of a cathedral so that his name looked like writing on a church column?
AHe wanted to be able to establish legal ownership of the painting.
BHe wanted to call attention to the fact that he was creating an image of the church.
CHe wanted to sign his paintings in a way that had become popular among artists in the Netherlands.
DHe did not want his signature to disrupt the viewer’s sense of looking at an actual church.
5
Painters and printmakers also inscribed texts to convey information about the themes of their images. Portraits often give the sitters’ ages and occasionally their names, thus verifying that the work presents an image of a particular person at a specific time. Like signatures on pictures, the making of portraits in the sense of records of specific people had become widespread Netherlandish practice only in the fifteenth century. Both developments reflect a new European understanding of personal identity.
According to paragraph 3， including the age of the sitter on a portrait showed that the portrait
Arepresented a real person at a particular moment in time
Bhad been approved by the person depicted in the painting
Chad been painted by a Netherlandish painter
Dprovided a highly accurate image of the sitter
6
Many other types of images included texts, especially still lifes and genre paintings. In his painting Room Corner with Curiosities of 1712， Jan van der Heyden (1637-1712) depicted books, globes, and fine objects from foreign cultures as a miniature collection, apparently in use by its owner, who has left open a book of maps and a Bible. The Bible is opened to the beginning of Ecclesiastes, one of the gravest Old Testament sections, with the opening words, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Dutch preachers, writers, and still- life painters frequently cited this text to underscore the vanity, in the sense of futility (uselessness), of earthly goods and pursuits in the face of death and Christian concepts of an eternal afterlife. The text was so well- known that it gave its name to a subtype of “vanitas still lifes,” paintings filled with objects to mark the shortness of life. Still-life paintings could include images of books by famous Dutch poets or praise for naval heroes, thereby celebrating their contributions to Dutch literature and history.
According to paragraph 4， what was particularly characteristic of “vanitas still lifes”?
ARepresentations of books by well-known Dutch preachers
BRepresentations of books by famous Dutch poets
CRepresentations of scenes showing Dutch naval heroes
DRepresentations of objects suggesting how brief human life is
7
Many other types of images included texts, especially still lifes and genre paintings. In his painting Room Corner with Curiosities of 1712， Jan van der Heyden (1637-1712) depicted books, globes, and fine objects from foreign cultures as a miniature collection, apparently in use by its owner, who has left open a book of maps and a Bible. The Bible is opened to the beginning of Ecclesiastes, one of the gravest Old Testament sections, with the opening words, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Dutch preachers, writers, and still- life painters frequently cited this text to underscore the vanity, in the sense of futility (uselessness), of earthly goods and pursuits in the face of death and Christian concepts of an eternal afterlife. The text was so well- known that it gave its name to a subtype of “vanitas still lifes,” paintings filled with objects to mark the shortness of life. Still-life paintings could include images of books by famous Dutch poets or praise for naval heroes, thereby celebrating their contributions to Dutch literature and history.
Why does the author mention “Dutch literature and history”?
ATo help illustrate why texts were included in still-life paintings
BTo show that the Dutch enjoyed written works more than painted works
CTo emphasize that the fear of death had remained an important subject in Dutch texts
DTo explain how Dutch religious beliefs had changed over time
8
Some writers and artists even blurred the border between picture making and writing. Early in the century, schoolmasters and engravers turned handwriting into a pictorial art form of its own, in calligraphic exercises (exercises in stylized handwriting) that indicate both learning and extreme manual control. A handwriting manual by Jan van de Velde (1569-1623) offers intricate designs that attest to the skills of the author as well as those of the engraver Simon Frisius (c. 1580-1629)， who created the illustrations for the book. Perhaps not accidentally, these spectacular celebrations of writing and its reproduction in print were developed in a period of European self-consciousness about literacy and printing as feats that distinguished European civilization from cultures elsewhere in the world.
According to paragraph 5， which of the following is true about Simon Frisius?
AHe wrote a handwriting manual that blurred the borders between picture making and writing.
BHe engraved the images used in an important seventeenth-century handwriting manual.
CHe argued that literacy and printing distinguished European civilization from all other cultures.
DHe developed exercises for increasing the manual skills needed for handwriting.
9
Painters and printmakers also inscribed texts to convey information about the themes of their images. [■] Portraits often give the sitters’ ages and occasionally their names, thus verifying that the work presents an image of a particular person at a specific time. [■] Like signatures on pictures, the making of portraits in the sense of records of specific people had become widespread Netherlandish practice only in the fifteenth century.[■] Both developments reflect a new European understanding of personal identity.[■]
Look at the four squaresthat indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage
Details such as these about an individual remind viewers of the capacity of art to preserve life by creating a permanent record of someone.
Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square sentence to the passage.
10
Many seventeenth-century artists in the Netherlands produced paintings that included text.
AMany artists had begun signing their works, an act that showed who originally owned a work and called attention to the artist’s role in making an artwork.
BStil lifes and genre paintings often included text to emphasize moral lessons, while portraits often included text for the purpose of indicating that a specific person was being depicted.
CIncluding images of books by famous poets or naval heroes in paintings allowed artists to display their learning and calligraphic skills as well as their patriotism.
DAlthough it became standard practice to make signatures and dates in paintings easily visible, painters in the Netherlands before the seventeenth century often hid such text within their painted scenes.
EThe detailed titles that painters often gave to their works provided viewers with important clues to the meaning that the artist of a specific work intended to convey.
FIn the Netherlands in the early seventeenth century, handwriting was transformed into the pictorial art of calligraphy at a time when Europeans took great pride in literacy and printing.
