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.

Consider what your classmate has written about each of their selections.

• Provide one additional element about each piece potentially influenced by the identity and tastes of its patron.
• Explain your position as thoroughly as possible, citing specific details from the selection that support your ideas.