The Currier Museum has a rich collection of European painting and sculpture from the 14th to the 17th centuries, representing the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque eras. Gerini’s altarpiece is exceptional for being in near perfect state of preservation and demonstrates how early Renaissance artists emphasized the spiritual holiness of Christ and the Virgin. Just over a century later, artistic goals had changed. Now painters like Joos van Cleve and sculptors like Benedetto da Maiano accentuated the human qualities of holy figures. Heroic figures from ancient Greece and Rome that were being unearthed in the Renaissance profoundly influenced artists like Montorsoli and Cosini, both assistants to Michelangelo.

In Italy and Spain, 17th-century Baroque art continued to be influenced by religion, but artists gave their works greater emotion and drama. Painters like Mattia Preti and Matthias Stom focused on the most dramatic, consequential, and climatic moment of the narrative. The powerful gestures and theatrical lighting enhance the emotive power of their message of faith and the promise of eternal life.

In much of northern Europe, Protestantism was the dominant religion in the 17th century and art in those regions took a different course. When churches were converted from Catholicism to Protestantism, their art and decorations were stripped away. In general, explicit paintings of Christ and the Virgin were elided. Art in the Netherlands flourished to an unprecedented degree, with the vast majority of collectors being individuals; even modest household had a few paintings. These new collectors sought a variety of paintings for their homes, such as comic paintings like Molenaer’s Card Players, smaller scale landscapes of familiar places (Jacob van Ruisdael), and still lifes composed of everyday household objects (Balthasar van der Ast).

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Please note that only a small fraction of the collection is on view at a given time, and the galleries are rotated often. If you want to know if a specific work is currently on view, please write or call ahead.