Discussion Board Statement: These discussions are meant for you to jot down your thoughts and analyses of the works of the week. In art, everything is evaluated by your perspective. There is no right or wrong answer to be graded against; instead, you will be graded on how you defend your analysis of the art pieces and the use of the resources (when appropriate).The church commissioned much of the art from the Renaissance, and art commissioned by wealthy patrons like the Medicis often portrayed biblical subjects. As the Baroque period progressed, new patrons emerged. Velazquez was the court painter for King Philip when he painted the secular but mysterious Las Meninas. Peter Paul Ruben's cycle of paintings for Marie de Medici was not of biblical scenes but of celebratory and dramatized scenes from her life. Middle-class Dutch patrons could purchase and even commission art for themselves, and their tastes often gravitated toward genre scenes.

• How do patrons' social or religious status influences the overall development of art stylistically and in terms of its subject?
• Provide two examples from this week's reading, each with a different patron to support your ideas.
  • Explain who the patron is and how their identity might have influenced the subject and style of the piece.