ITALIAN
Bernini, Borromini, Caravaggio,
Gentileschi
FRENCH
Louis XIV, Poussin, Lorrain
SPANISH
Philip IV, Velazquez
FLEMISH
Rubens, Van Dyck, Charles I
DUTCH
Hals, Ruisdael, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Claesz
Italian Baroque
Goals of Art during the COUNTER-REFORMATION
To deliberately evoke intense emotional response from the viewer
To create dramatically lit, often theatrical compositions
To use diverse media such as bronze and marble within a single
artwork
To create work with spectacular technical virtuosity
Italian Baroque
Gianlorenzo BERNINI
His works include:
The colonnade of St. Peter’s Piazza
The baldacchino on the St. Peter’s altar
Vibrant marble sculpture of David
Ecstasy of St. Theresa sculpture
Italian Baroque
Long before the planning of the Piazza, Bernini
had been at work decorating the interior of
Saint Peter’s. His first commission, completed
in 1624 and 1633, called for the design and
erection of the gigantic bronze baldacchino ( a
canopy made of cloth or stone erected over an
altar, shrine, or throne in a Christian church)
above the main altar under the great dome.
The canopy-like structure marks the tomb of
Saint Peter. At almost one hundred feet high it
serves as a focus of the church’s splendor.
At the top of the columns four colossal angels
stand guard at the upper corners of the canopy.
Forming the canopy’s apex are four serpentine
brackets that elevate the orb and the cross,
symbols of the Church’s triumph since the time
of Constantine. All over the baldacchino are
letter B’s representing the Barberini family
(Pope that commissioned the work).
Gianlorenzo Bernini,
baldacchino,
Saint Peter’s, Vatican City, Rome Italy
Italian Baroque
Bernini’s sculpture is expansive and dramatic, and the
element of time usually plays an important role in it. This
marble statue aims at catching the figure’s split-second
action and differs markedly from the restful figures of David
portrayed by Donatello and Michelangelo.
The figures legs are widely and firmly planted, beginning the
violent, pivoting motion that will launch the stone from his
sling. If the action had been a moment before, his body
would have been in a completely different position. Bernini
selected the most dramatic of an implied sequence of poses,
so observers have to think simultaneously of the continuum
and of this tiny fraction of it.
This is not the kind of sculpture that can be inscribed in a
cylinder or confined in a niche; its indicated action demands
space around it.
Gianlorenzo Bernini, “David”,
Galleria Borghese, Rome, 1623
Donatello
Michelangelo
Bernini
(Early Italian Renaissance)
(High Italian Renaissance)
(Italian Baroque)
Italian Baroque
This is Another Bernini sculpture that displays the
expansive quality of Italian Baroque art and its
refusal to limit itself to firmly defined spatial settings.
Saint Theresa was a nun of the Spanish CounterReformation. Her conversion occurred after the
death of her father, when she fell into a series of
trances, saw visions, and heard voices. Feeling a
persistent pain, she attributed to “the fire tipped
arrow of Divine love” that an angel had thrust
repeatedly into her heart.
In her writings, Saint Theresa described this
experience as making her swoon in delightful
anguish. The whole chapel became a theater for
the production of this mystical drama. Bernini
depicted the saint in ecstasy, unmistakably a
mingling of spiritual and physical passion, swooning
back on a cloud while the smiling angel aims his
arrow.
Gianlorenzo Bernini
“Ecstasy of Saint Theresa”,
Bernini Cornaro Chapel, Rome Italy, 1645-1652
Italian Baroque
Carlo Maderno,
“Santa Susanna”
Rome, Italy 1597-1603
BAROQUE
Santa Susanna
MANNERISM
il Gesu
Italian Baroque
Carlo Maderno
Restoring Saint Peter’s
Vatican City, Rome, Italy 1606-1612
Italian Baroque
Francesco Borromini,
facade of “San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane”,
Rome, Italy, 1665-1676
Italian Baroque
The interior of san Carlo alle Quattro
Fontane is not only an ingenious response
to an awkward site but also a provocative
variation on the theme of the centrally
planned church.
In plan San Carlo looks like a hybrid
greek cross and an oval, with a long
between entrance and apse. The
walls move in an undulating flow
reverses the façade’s motion.
of a
axis
side
that
Vigorously projecting columns define
space into which they protrude just as
much as they do the walls attached to
them. This molded interior space is capped
by a deeply coffered oval dome that seems
to float on the light entering through
windows hidden in its base.
Francesco Borromini,
plan of “San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane”,
Rome, Italy, 1665-1676
Italian Baroque
Caravaggio painted Conversion of Saint Paul for the
Cerasi Chapel in the Roman church of Santa Maria del
Popolo. It illustrates the conversion of the Pharisee
Saul to Christianity, when he became the disciple Paul.
The saint-to-be appears amid his conversion, flat on
his back with his arms thrown up. In the background,
an old hostler seems preoccupied with caring for the
horse. At first inspection, little here suggests the
momentous significance of the spiritual event taking
place.
Michelangelo Merisi (Caravaggio)
Conversion of Saint Paul , 1601.
Caravaggio
Conversion of Saint Paul, 1601
On display at the Santa Maria del
Popolo (Rome, Italy)
Italian Baroque
Caravaggio
“Calling of Saint Matthew”
Rome, Italy ca. 1597-1601
Michelangelo, Crucifixion of St. Peter
Caravaggio, Crucifixion of St. Peter, c1600.
Caravaggio. Flagellation of Christ. c.1606-1607. Oil on canvas.
Caravaggio, The Taking of Christ, 1602.
"The one I shall kiss is the man; seize him and lead him away safely" (Mark 14:44).
Italian Baroque
Caravaggio
“Supper at Emmaus”
National Gallery, London 1601
Italian Baroque
Caravaggio
“The Incredulity of St. Thomas”, 1602
Italian Baroque
Beyond its ability to move its audience, this
composition also had theological
implications. To viewers in the chapel, it
appeared as though the men were laying
Christ’s body onto the altar, which was in
front of the painting This served to visualize
the doctrine of transubstantiation (the
transformation of the Eucharist and wine into
the Body and Blood of Christ) -- a doctrine
central to Catholicism but rejected by
Protestants. By depicting Christ’s body as
though it were physically present during the
Mass, Caravaggio visually articulated an
abstract theological precept. Unfortunately,
viewers no longer can experience this effect.
Caravaggio
“Entombment”
1602-1603
Italian Baroque
YOU GO GIRL!
Gentileschi used what might be called the “dark”
subject matter Caravaggio that favored.
Significantly, Gentileschi chose a narrative
involving a heroic female, and favorite theme of
hers.
The story, from the work of the Old Testament,
the Book of Judith, relates the delivery of Israel
from its enemy, Holofernes. Having succumbed to
Judith’s charms, the Assyrian general Holofernes
invited her to his tent for the night. When he fell
asleep, Judith cut off his head. In this version of
the scene, Judith and her maidservant are
beheading Holofernes.
Artemisia Gentileschi
“Judith Slaying Holofernes”
ca. 1614-1620
Judith Beheads Holofernes In Other Works, Too!
Artemisia Gentileschi
“Judith and Maidservant With
Head of Holofernes”
ca. 1612-1613
Judith Beheads Holofernes In Other Works, Too!
Artemisia Gentileschi
“Judith and Maidservant
Beheading Holofernes”
ca. 1625.
Judith Beheads Holofernes In Other Works, Too!
Caravaggio, “Judith Slaying Holofernes”, ca. 1599.
Judith Beheads Holofernes In Other Works, Too!
Lucas Cranach
“Judith With Head of
Holofernes”
1530.
Judith Beheads Holofernes In Other Works, Too!
Michelangelo. Judith and Holofernes. 1508-1512. Fresco. Sistine Chapel.
Judith Beheads Holofernes In Other Works, Too!
Andrea Mantegna. Judith
and Holofernes. c. 1495
Judith Beheads Holofernes In Other Works, Too!
Botticelli
Discovery of the Body of
Holofernes.
c.1469-1470.
Tempera on panel. Galleria degli
Uffizi, Florence, Italy.
Judith Beheads Holofernes In Other Works, Too!
Donatello,
Judith and Holofernes,
Bronze.
1455-60.
Italian Baroque
Cardinal Odoardo Farnese, a wealthy
descendant of Pope Paul III,
commissioned this ceiling fresco to
celebrate the wedding of the cardinal’s
brother.
The title interprets the variety of earthly
and divine love in classical mythology.
Carracci arranged the scenes in a format
resembling framed easel paintings on a
wall, but here he painted them on the
surfaces of a shallow curved vault.
The Sistine Chapel ceiling, of course,
comes in mind, although it is not an exact
source. This type of simulation of easel
painting for ceiling designed is called
quadro riportato (transferred framed
painting).
Annibale Carracci
Loves of the Gods
1597-1601
Italian Baroque
Giovanni Battista Gaulli
“Triumph in the Name of Jesus”,
Church of Il Gesu, Rome, Italy, 1676-1679
Italian Baroque
Fra Andrea Pozzo,
“Glorification of Saint Ignatius”,
Rome, Italy, 1691-1694