Chapter 24
Popes, Peasants, Monarchs, and
Merchants
Baroque & Rococo Art
The Baroque Period
• Art of the 16th and 17th century Roman Catholic
Counter-Reformation.
• Reaction against the increasing ideas of
individual rights and self-autonomy.
• Backlash against emerging scientific
investigation.
• Characteristics of Baroque Art
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–
–
–
Dramatic theatricality
Grandiose Scale
Elaborate ornateness
Emotional appeal and intensity
Baroque
• Baroque literally means distorted or grotesque. The
term was used to discount or slander the art which
dominated the seventeenth century. It came into
widespread use, however, and more or less lost its
negative connotations. The Baroque was born in the
first years of the seventeenth century in Rome and was
primarily associated with Catholic (as opposed to
Protestant) art. But as the century progressed the style
made inroads into the Protestant countries, although it
tended to be used in a more secular (less religious) way
in the north.
Inspiration and Influences
• One of the major discoveries of the
Italian Renaissance, Laocoön and his
Sons - a Hellenistic sculptural
grouping - was found in Rome in
1506 in the ruins of Titus' palace.
• The theatricality and emphasis on
emotional intensity is typically
Hellenistic Greek-often called
"Baroque" as well. Note the writhing
serpents, one of whom bites
Laocoön's left leg, and the pained
expressions on the faces.
• The furrowed brow and openmouthed pain would be copied by
Bernini and Caravaggio in the
seventeenth century.
Some Key Events of the Period
• Galileo refines the telescope and finds evidence in
support of the heliocentric system, 1600-1620.
• Thirty Years War in Germany - 1621-1648.
• Kepler defines laws of planetary motion, 1609-1619.
• Jamestown established,1619; Plymouth Colony
founded, 1620.
• Harvey discovers blood circulation, 1628
• English Civil War: England’s monarchy overthrown, 1647
by Cromwell, King Charles I executed, 1649.
• Establishment of the slave trade during the first half of
the 17th century.
• Newton defines law of gravity, 1687.
St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome
• Design by Michangelo; façade by Maderno, piazza by Bernini
24-3,4: Carlo Maderno, Plan of St. Peter’s
• Oval plan reflects Michelangelo’s
Campodoglio on the Capitoline
Hill.
• “Arms” of St. Peter’s “embrace”
the plaza, including obelisk from
Egypt and the fountains by
Maderno.
• The dome above becomes
secondary to the piazza in front.
• Intended to be awe inspiring and
authoritative.
24-5 Bernini’s Baldacchino, St. Peter’s
• Marks “tomb” of St. Peter,
the rock on which the church
was founded.
• Bronze, 30 m. high
• Spiral columns inspired by
baldacchinos in early
Christian churches.
• Bridges gap between humans
and colossal architecture.
• Bronze came from Pantheon
ceiling.
24-6 Bernini Scala Regia, Vatican
• Passage leads from
papal apartments to
the narthex of St.
Peter’s.
• Barrel vaulted ceiling.
• Columns with tiny
aisles on each side
(mimics a church).
• Narrows & brightens
as it ascends.
24-7 Bernini, David
• Expansive and dramatic
image compared to earlier
Davids.
• Note the movement of figure,
drapery, and the twist in body.
• Observe the tension and
concentration in David’s face
• Observer is forced to see the
outcome of David’s action in
the mind.
Three Davids
24-8 Bernini, Cornaro Chapel
• In Santa
Maria della Vittoria,
Rome.
• Baroque spectacle,
theatrical event.
• Entire complex with
sculpture was
designed by Bernini.
24-8 Bernini, Cornaro Chapel
• The Cornaro family is
immortalized by Bernini
as spectators in
sculptural groups at
sides of chapel.
• Note the resemblance to
box seats in opera house
or theatre.
• Observe Bernini’s use
of perspective in the
relief behind the family.
24-9 Bernini,
The Ecstasy of St. Theresa
• St. Theresa: nun with
visions of angel piercing her
heart with fire-tipped arrow.
• Angel poised, drawing back
robe of nun
• Theresa experiences
“delightful anguish”
• Counter-Reformation
emphasis on mystical
spirituality
24-10 Borromini,S. Carlo delle
Quattro Fontane
• Rome, built 1665-76
• Irregular site required a
unique solution to
planning
• His façade ripples like
a
wave, niches recede,
columns move forward.
• Borromini was said to
have “eliminated the
corner.”
24-10 Borromini, S. Carlo delle
Quattro Fontane
• San Carlo delle Quattro Fontane as it appeared in the 17th Century.
24-10 Borromini,S. Carlo delle
Quattro Fontane
•
Ceiling of San Carlo delle Quattro Fontane; note the complex geometric forms, hints
of the Pantheon.
Two Baroque Churches
•
Left: S. Carlo delle Quattro Fontane (1665-76); Right S. Andrea del Quirinale (1658-1670).
Two Baroque Churches
• Left: S. Carlo delle Quattro Fontane; Right S. Andrea del Quirinale
Architectural Rivals
• Bernini and Borromini were archrivals; this figure from Bernini’s
Fountain of the Four Rivers in the
Piazza Navona looks with horror
on a church designed by
Borromini.
24-19 Caravaggio, Calling of St. Matthew,
Contarelli Chapel, 1597-1601
• Christ, displaced
to right side of
work, stands
behind Peter.
• Theatrical
lighting
dramatises the
central event.
• Matthew points
to himself,
doubting the call.
24-18 Caravaggio, Conversion of St. Paul,
Cerasi Chapel, 1601
• Light within painting
corresponds to the
illumination from a
window in the chapel.
• The painting was
designed specifically for
this site.
• Caravaggio again uses
tenebroso-dramatic
shadowing to enhance
the visual impact
24-20 Caravaggio, Entombment,
Vittrice Chapel, 1603.
• Dramatic lighting,
ordinary faces and
figure types.
• The painting was
placed over the chapel
altar.
• Evokes image of
Christ as Eucharist body going into altar.
24-21 Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith
Slaying Holofernes
•
•
•
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653), was the
daughter of a well-known Roman artist,
Orazio Gentileschi (1563-1639). She was one
of the first women artists to achieve
recognition in the male-dominated world of
Baroque art. At a time when female artists
were limited to portrait painting and imitative
poses, she was able to paint major historical
and religious scenarios.
The heroines of her art, especially Judith, are
powerful women exacting revenge on such
male evildoers as the Assyrian general
Holofernes.
After her death, she drifted into obscurity, her
works often attributed to her father or other
artists. Renewed interest in Artemisia in
recent years has recognized her as a talented
17th century painter and one of the world's
great woman artists.
24-21 Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith
Slaying Holofernes
• She was a caravaggista
(a follower of
Caravaggio’s style)
• The image gives a
dramatic presentation of
moment of his
decapitation.
• Judith saves the
Israelites from the
Assyrian enemy through
the seduction and killing
of their general.
Artemisia Gentileschi, Susanna
and the Elders
• Painted 1610, when she was
17 years old!
• Artemesia tells the story of
Susanna from a woman’s point
of view.
• Most male artists show her
from a coy or voyeuristic
stand-point. Artemisia shows
Susanna as vulnerable,
frightened and resisting their
demands, whilst the men loom
large, leering, menacing and
conspiratorial behind her.
Artemisia Gentileschi, Self-Portrait
• The artist paints
herself as the
allegory of
painting.
• The female figure
serves as
inspiration and
agent of creativity.
Artemisia Gentileschi, two images
of happiness.
•
Left: The Lute Player, 1610; Right: Felicity, 1624.
Artemisia Gentileschi, Rest on the
Flight into Egypt.
24-22 Annibale Carracci,The Flight
into Egypt.
• Idealized landscape, similar to the style of Titian or Giorgione.
• Holy Family walks in foreground, dwarfed by the landscape.
• Image is expressive of the “pastoral” view.
24-22 Annibale Carracci,
The Loves of the Gods, Palazzo Farnese
• “Framed” fresco paintings on
curved vault.
• Central scene is Triumph of
Bacchus (god of wine).
• Sensuous, lavish display of
paganism; Renaissance
themes
in Baroque style.
• This “over the top” secular
Baroque decorative style could
be found in many palaces of
the
17th and 18th centuries.
Annibale Carracci, The Triumph of
Bacchus
Annibale Carracci, The Triumph of
Bacchus
Annibale Carracci, Venus and
Adonis
A Venerable Foursome
24-24 Guido Reni, Triumph of
Aurora
•
•
•
Inspired by Raphael (see the Galatea)
Aurora, goddess of dawn, leads Apollo’s chariot accompanied by the Hours.
Simulated easel painting on ceiling-fresco technique.
Raphael’s Galatea
4-25 Pietro da Cortona
Triumph of the Barberini Family
• Ceiling of the gran
salone, Barberini
Palace, Rome.
• The Barberini family
receives allegorical
gifts of Divine
Providence and
Immortality.
24-25 Pietro da Cortona
Triumph of the Barberini Family (detail)
24-28 José de Ribera,
Martyrdom of Saint Bartholemew
• Ribera was a Spaniard
who settled in Italy and
followed the style of
Caravaggio.
• Brutal accounts of saints’
lives reinforce brutality
of Counter-Reformation
practices (both Protestant
& Catholic).
• Martyrdom as theme of
sacrifice to a “greater”
good.
24-29 Francisco de Zurbarán
St. Serapion
• One of the Caravaggisti;
also a Spaniard. Spain was
marked by intense CounterReformation reaction (e.g.
Jesuits).
• Again, note the light figure
against a dark background.
• “Common” features
designed to draw sympathy
and devotion from lower
classes, reinforce
Catholicism.
Diego Vélàzquez (1599-1660)
• Born in Seville to lesser nobility;
he
apprenticed to a painter who had
court contacts.
• He was influenced by the work of
Caravaggio;
studied Michelangelo, Raphael,
Titian.
• Appointed court painter to King
Philip IV of
Spain in 1623.
• In 1629 he went to Italy,
encouraged by
Rubens; he made more trips
there in later years.
24-30 Vélàzquez
Water Carrier of Seville
• A very early work, done
at age 20.
• Genre painting - ordinary
scenes, no allegory,
history, religion
• Image shows the dignity
of working classes, gives
the workers nobility of
features.
24-33 Vélàzquez, Las Meninas
• Has been called the most
perfect painting.
• It depicts the Infanta (eldest
daughter of the king) and
her ladies in-waiting.
• Vélàzquez shown in
painting at left; mirror in
background shows king and
queen; the painter is on a
higher level than the king.
• Velazquez changed painting
to add his noble emblem.
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
• Flanders remained Catholic and kept its links
to Spain after the Netherlands broke away.
• Rubens combined elements of Michelangelo
and Titian with Caravaggio’s Baroque drama
to become the first “European” painter.
• Classically educated, multi-lingual with
aristocratic and royal contacts, especially in
France and Spain.
• Robust, fleshy nudes were Rubens’ hallmark.
24-34 Peter Paul Rubens
Elevation of the Cross
24-35 Rubens
Drawing of Laocoön & his sons
• Done while Rubens
was in Italy, 16001608.
• Drawn from
observations of the
statue in the Vatican
collection.
24-36 Rubens,
Arrival of Marie de Medici at Marseilles
• Marie de Medici was Queen
of France, wife of Henri IV,
regent for her son, Louis XIII.
• She was an extremely
powerful and ambitious
woman.
• Rubens presents her as the
idealized, perfect woman,
honoured by the gods an
allegory of power and
authority.
24-38 Anthony Van Dyck
Charles I Dismounted
• Van Dyck was the former
assistant to Rubens in
Flanders.
• He painted, in a courtly
manner, elegant figures,
pleasing to royalty.
• Charles’ “casual” dress is
belied by his manner, pose.
• The king is placed to enhance
his height and superiority
The Dutch Republic
• Bank of Amsterdam founded 1609.
• Henry Hudson sails to New York 1610.
• Colonies, fur trade and spice plantations
established; overseas empire created in Asia and
the Americas.
• Urban patrician class of merchants and
manufacturers with money to spend become
primary art patrons-taste differs from royal, noble
patrons and the landed aristocracy.
• Religious toleration: Catholic, Protestant and Jewish
communities coexist.
24-40 Gerrit von Honthorst, Supper Party
•
•
Genre painting, informal, unidealized.
The artist studied Caravaggio on a trip to Italy, uses dramatic
lighting for nonreligious work.
Frans Hals, The Jolly Toper
24-41 Frans Hals, Archers of St.
Hadrian
•
•
Individualized faces; similarity of attire is offset by unique features of each man.
Group of civic militia feasting on their patron saint’s day; such militias worked to expel
the Spanish from Holland.
24-42 Franz Hals
Regents of the Old Men’s Home
• Aspects of each woman’s personality shown
• Lack of spontaneity; focus on stability; women in authority need to
be sober, responsible and pious.
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669)
• Educated young, Latin schooling,
two-year
apprenticeship.
• Portraiture his specialty
–Anatomical studies led to over 100
self portraits.
• Moved to Amsterdam, made many
contacts
among upper classes (rich
merchants).
• Drew and painted the poor of
Amsterdam as well
as the rich merchants.
• Sought by many for portraits but
died in poverty.
24-43 Rembrandt, Anatomy Lesson
of Dr. Tulp
• Painted 1632
• Note the dramatic
foreshortening and subdued
colour forcing us to focus
on the white corpse
• The 17th century saw the
rise of the new “scientific”
medical profession, distinct
from “barber surgeons.”
• Clean and neat dissection.
24-44 The “Night Watch”
• Largest painting by
Rembrandt (not a
night scene, the
varnish has
darkened).
• Company of civil
guard (militia)
commissioned the
work for their hall.
• Brilliant effects in
lighting, costumes,
composition.
24-45 Rembrandt, Return of the Prodigal Son
• Calvinist objection to
religious art was not
really a law, more a
warning against certain
types of religious images.
• Favoured Old Testament
themes, such as this one.
• Scene represents
humility, mercy,
redemption without
ostentation, sensuality.
Rembrandt: Three self-portraits
Left: 1620, Centre: 1659-60, Right: 1660
Note light source in each image, also paint texture.
24-47 Rembrandt: Christ with the Sick
• Etching, 1649.
• Focus is on the
humility of
Christ, mercy
toward sick,
affection for
children.
• Jews at left are
not demonized,
but shown as
normal humans.
24-48 Judith Leyster, Self-Portrait
• This painting shows the
influence of Frans
Hals’.
• Leyster paints herself
painting a genre scene;
the fiddler was a
contemporary image
• In 1633 she became a
member of the Haarlem
painter’s guild.
24-49 Aelbert Cuyp,
Distant View of Dordrecht
• Carefully rendered
local landscape.
• Such works,
showing the
prosperity of their
lands, were popular
with landowners, as
“portraits” of one’s
home or estate.
• Note the accurate
rendering of details.
24-52 Jan Vermeer,
Allegory of the Art of Painting (1670-1675)
• Vermeer, the “Master of
Light,” specialized in cozy
interiors of prosperous
merchant homes.
• Here, the painter works at
rendering precise details
of the subject posing for
him.
• The drawn curtain
provides us with a “peek”
at the scene
Vermeer’s Allegory of the Art of
Painting
• This painting is not a
tranquil interior, however;
it is highly charged with
mood.
• This painting is a host of
symbols and icons. A
curtain covers much of
the canvas, indicating that
this is a stage-set, and the
diagonal pattern of floor
tiles draws the eye into
the scene. There is a chair
at lower left, ready for the
viewer to sit down and
watch the show.
Vermeer’s Allegory of the Art of
Painting
• The woman has a blue dress
and a yellow skirt, she has a
crown of laurel, a trombone,
and a book; she is interpreted as
Clio, the muse of History, as
described by Cesare Ripa's
Iconologia, an Italian study of
symbols that was translated into
Dutch in 1644. The book she
holds is the works of
Thucydides, the classical Greek
historian. The traditional name
for this painting is therefore
possibly wrong; it may not be
about painting, but about
history – or about the
relationship of art and history.
Vermeer’s Allegory of the Art of
Painting
• The chandelier hanging
from the ceiling has a
double-headed eagle
motif at the top, symbolic
of the Habsburg empire,
who had recently been
ejected from the newlydemocratic United
Netherlands. There are no
candles in the chandelier,
showing Vermeer's
opinion of the power of
the Habsburgs.
Vermeer’s Allegory of the Art of
Painting
• A large part of the canvas is taken up
by a map of the Netherlands,
produced by Nicolaes Visscher, from
1592, when the Habsburgs still
occupied the Netherlands. The map
is, however, divided by a prominent
vertical crease into the newly
liberated United Netherlands (right),
and the remaining occupied Spanish
part: Catholic Flanders, that will
eventually become Belgium. The
Muse of History stands directly in
front of the view of The Hague, the
seat of the Dutch Court and residence
of the House of Orange.
Vermeer’s Allegory of the Art of
Painting
The painter, dressed in fanciful, not
contemporary, clothing, works with an
almost empty canvas, symbolic of the
new republic of the United
Netherlands. Furthermore, the easel on
which he paints is directly in front of
the new country.
On the table at the left, silk flows
towards us, echoing the flow of light
from behind the curtain. Also there is
an object that looks like an oversize
death-mask, which may be the face of
Willem I, from the tomb of the House
of Orange in the Prinsenhof in Delft.
Vermeer’s Delft
Vermeer’s People
24-56 Rachel Ruysch, Floral Still Life
• Over her 70 year career,
Ruysch painted only
flowers; such painting were
in high demand in wealthy
homes for decoration.
• She apprenticed to Willem
van Aelst, another painter
of flowers before being
admitted to the painters’
guild in The Hague
• She was Court Painter to
the King of Bavaria, 17081716
Baroque France
• Royal power greater than that of the Church
following the consolidation of centralized monarchy
under Louis XIII and Louis XIV (1661-1715).
• Art, literature, and culture come under the
increasing control of the monarch who dictated
subject matter and style, dress, deportment, and
language – especially for the nobility.
• Frequent warfare combined with increasing
isolation is detrimental to the economic, political,
and artistic health of France.
• Louis XIV’s Palace at Versailles is the symbol of
French Baroque (compare to St. Peter’s in Rome).
The French Royal Academy
• “Royal Academy of
Painting & Sculpture.”
• Founded by Louis XIV.
• Provided instruction,
sponsored annual exhibits
called “Salons.”
• Elected members who
judged (jury) entries of
potential new members.
• Excluded women.
•Eliminated “guild”
system.
•Provided hierarchy of
subject matter.
•Art was to serve state
(monarchy’s) interests.
•Established academic
satellite location in Rome
and the Prix de Rome for
artists chosen to go study
there.
24-58 Le Nain, Peasant Family, 1640
•
•
•
Genre painting with a socio-political message.
Lower classes were equated with simplicity, religious piety and purity.
Compliant lower classes were what nobility wanted to see
24-60 Poussin, Et In Arcadia Ego
c.1655
•
•
•
Classicism, Poussin went to Rome to study.
Balanced, pyramidal composition with references to antique statuary.
Note uniform lighting.
24-62 Claude Lorrain
Landscape with Cattle and Peasants
• Landscape creates mood through colour, organization.
• Representation of hardworking, content peasants, prosperous
countryside, healthy farm animals promotes French superiority.
24-63 Apollo Attended by Nymphs
•
•
•
Located in the park at Versailles, inspired by classical sculpture.
Glorification of king: Apollo (sun god) = Louis XIV.
Represents “appropriate” roles for women.
24-65 Mansart, Château de Blois
• Height of French
Classical Baroque
• Heavy use of
entablature
• Centralized entry
• Sharply sloping
roof
• Doubled columns,
pediment applied
to central doorway
24-66 Rigaud, Portrait of Louis
XIV, 1701
• Very large scale oil on
canvas, 279 x 190 cm,
Musée du Louvre, Paris.
• Absolutism and
authority represented in
the image of the king.
• The aging king is
represented as still
vigorous.
24-68 Versailles
• Gardens surround the palace, integrated iconographically with a
decorative program of architecture
24-68 Versailles
• Entire landscape at Versailles is organized - both the formal
and the informal were cut, pruned, ordered to show man’s
power over nature.
24-69 Plan of Versailles
• The central axis through the marble courtyard and the centre of
the palace focusses on the king’s bedchamber.
24-70 Versailles, Galerie des
Glaces
• Long, narrow gallery for
display of art.
• Mirrors on right make
room seem larger,
reflecting light from
windows on left.
• Ostentatious display of
wealth and power
• Part of suite of reception
rooms that open on to
King’s bedroom.
English Baroque
• English styles do not follow same time line as
those in France, Spain, Italy; English Baroque
lasts into 18th century.
• English Renaissance architecture begins c.
1600 with work of Inigo Jones
• Strong Parliament kept monarchy in check,
overthrew King Charles I in 1647, then executed
him,1649. Cromwell’s Puritan Commonwealth
lasts until to 1660, followed by the Restoration
during which English Baroque flourishes.
24-73 Inigo Jones,
Banqueting House, Whitehall, 1622
• An English
Renaissance building
marked by severe
classical detail e.g. the
heavy entablatures.
• Regular columns,
arches and triangular
pediments alternate
over windows, swags
over upper floor.
24-74 Sir Christopher Wren,
St. Paul’s Cathedral, London 1675-1710
• Baroque scale, eclectic
style.
• Double columns on
classical portico.
• Heavy towers recall
Gothic style.
• Dome similar to St.
Peter’s, Rome.
• Palladian influence on
lower stories of towers.
24-75 John Vangrugh, Blenheim Palace
•
•
Country house commissioned by the government for the Duke of
Marlborough; named for the decisive victory by Duke.
Building expands around a large courtyard; the heavy porch,
entablatures, etc. create a low, ground-hugging appearance.