Chapter 10: The Baroque
The Baroque in Italy
• Baroque style is defined as the love of
extravagant & monumental beauty.
NOËL HALLÉ’s Joseph Accused by Potiphar's Wife
The Baroque in Italy
• Gianlorenzo Bernini
– His sculpting style infused
Renaissance technique
with the dynamism and
emotional force of the
baroque style.
The Baroque in Italy
• Gianlorenzo Bernini
– His work became the
defining high mark of the
counter-Reformation (the
Catholic Church
reexamined the
corruption proposed by
Luther and cleaned up the
Church.).
Bernini’s David
Italian Music
• Opera
– This style was born in the baroque age and is
drama set to music.
Italian Music
• Opera
– Claudio Monteverdi
• He produced the first
operatic masterpiece,
Orfeo.
Italian Music
• Opera
– Types
• Opera seria: mythological themes favored by the
aristocrats.
• Opera buffa: comic opera favored by the urban middle
class.
Italian Music
• Concerto
– This baroque style was
mastered by Antonio
Vivaldi.
– This format saw a small
group of instruments
perform with a large
orchestra.
Baroque in Spain
• Miguel de Cervantes
– He writes the most
popular literary work
in the world, Don
Quixote.
– The story is about an
addled man believing
he is a chivalric knight
and his adventures.
Baroque in France
• King Louis XIV
– He was known as the
Sun King and
recognized as the
most absolutist ruler
of Europe.
Baroque in France
• King Louis XIV
– He also support the academies, state sponsored
agencies that oversaw the training of artists and
performers.
Baroque in France
• King Louis XIV
– The Palace of Versailles
• The greatest example of baroque architecture.
Baroque in France
• King Louis XIV
– The Palace of Versailles
• The Hall of Mirrors is one of the highlights of the
baroque style.
Baroque in France
• Theater & Dance
– Jean Baptiste Lully was
the innovator of French
opera and French ballet.
Baroque in France
• Theater & Dance
– Charles-Louis Beauchamp
• He formalized foot and leg
positions that are still used
today.
• He also allowed woman to
perform.
• He created the first publication
of a manual of choreography.
The Protestant Baroque
• Johann Sebastian Bach
– He developed the
counterpoint, a
combination of two or
more melodies of equal
importance.
The Protestant Baroque
• Johann Sebastian Bach
– He developed the cantata, a choral work that
became a sacred opera for the Lutherans.
The Protestant Baroque
• Johann Sebastian Bach
– He developed a technique called modulation in
which a melody could be altered from one key to
another without altering the tune.
– This worked for all 24 major and minor keys.
The Protestant Baroque
• Johannes Vermeer was
the Dutch painter who
was the master of light
and color.
The Protestant Baroque
• Rembrandt van Rijn
– He was regarded as
the Dutch master of
painting.
The Protestant Baroque
• Rembrandt van Rijn
– He also excelled in etchings in which lines were
scratched on wax-covered metal plates and then
exposed to acid.
Jupiter & Antiope
New Science
• The Scientific Revolution
– Through empirical observation of nature allowed
the arrival at scientific truth.
– The verification of proposed truths through
experimentation and mathematical calculation.
New Science
• Heliocentric Theory
– The idea of the sun being of the center of the
solar system replaced the geocentric theory
among scientists.
New Science
• Heliocentric Theory
– Nicholas Copernicus
• In 1543, he
repopularized the lost
idea of the heliocentric
theory.
New Science
• Heliocentric Theory
– Johannes Kepler
• This German scientist
proved mathematically
that the planets actually
moved elliptically.
New Science
• Heliocentric Theory
– Galileo Galilei
• He proved the
heliocentric theory was
correct.
– The moon’s of Jupiter.
– Venus’s size change.
– He was placed under
house arrest by the
Catholic Church for 18
years until he recanted.
New Science
• Rene Descartes
– He challenged
modern concepts of
thinking through his
philosophical work.
– He coined “Cognito
ergo sum,” (“I think
therefore I am.”).
New Science
• Isaac Newton
– He developed the
universal theory of
gravity and motion.
English Unrest & Change
• English Civil War
– Initially caused by the
absolutist kings, James I
and Charles I, trying to
rest power from
Parliament.
– Parliament, led by
General Oliver Cromwell,
overthrew and executed
the king.
Oliver Cromwell
English Unrest & Change
• John Milton
– He composes the
epic poem
Paradise Lost,
about the fall of
Adam and Eve.
English Unrest & Change
• Christopher Wren
– The Great Fire of 1666 allowed this architect to
place his personal stamp on London.
English Unrest & Change
• Christopher Wren
– He most prized work was St. Paul’s Cathedral.
– It blended a synthesis of Gothic, Baroque, and
Renaissance styles.
English Unrest & Change
• George Frederic Handel
– He saved his career with
the use of the oratorio, a
narrative choral work
containing the musical
elements of opera, but
without action, scenery, or
costumes.
– His Hallelujah became the
pinnacle of his work.
English Unrest & Change
• The Glorious Revolution
– Cromwell’s death lead to
the reappointment
(a.k.a. English
Restoration) of King
Charles II and King James
II, both of which had
been raised as Catholics
in France.
King James II
English Unrest & Change
• The Glorious Revolution
– With James fathering a
son, Parliament worried
that he would try and
return England to
Catholicism.
James Francis Edward Stuart
English Unrest & Change
• The Glorious Revolution
– Parliament forced him to
abdicate and offered the
throne to his daughter,
Duchess Mary of Orange,
who had married the
protestant Duke William of
Orange.
English Unrest & Change
• The Glorious Revolution
– This created the first limited constitutional
monarchy, where the legislative branch was more
powerful than the monarchy.
English Unrest & Change
• Philosopher’s of the
Revolution
– John Locke
• He promoted the concept of
natural rights which were life,
liberty, and property.
• He also proposed the initial
idea of the social contract,
where society obeys the law
so long as government
protects them.
English Unrest & Change
• Philosopher’s of the
Revolution
– Thomas Hobbes
• He grew up in the chaos of
the civil war.
• He championed the idea of
Cromwell’s use of
authoritarian power in his
book Leviathan.
English Unrest & Change
• Philosopher’s of the
Revolution
– Political Ideologies
• Locke became associated with
the concept of liberalism, the
protection of individual rights and
freedom.
• Hobbes became associated with
the concept of conservativism,
fear of change and the use of
repressive power when
necessary.