The Ornate Age
Baroque = “oddly shaped pear”

How did the Protestant Reformation and religious wars spark the style of
Baroque painting & architecture?

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Baroque art lasted from 16 th century to 18 th century
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Baroque = overdone, dramatic, even gawdy
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Baroque art expanded the role of art into everyday life
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Like explorers did, artists also built upon past discoveries
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The most common element: a sensitivity to and absolute
mastery of light to achieve maximum emotional impact
Chiaroscuro = use of light & shading

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Flow of Baroque: Rome (1600: Cathedrals to display family triumphs to attract new worshipers to Catholicism)  France
(divine-right monarchs spending like pharaohs on palaces— think my palace at Versailles)
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Paintings tended to be still lifes, portraits, landscapes, and scenes from daily life
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Religious art flourished in Catholic countries
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Religious art was forbidden in Protestant lands like England and Holland

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Artists could
 represent the human body from any angle
 portray the most complex perspective
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Realistically reproduce almost any appearance
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The change from the Renaissance to Baroque was through the emphasis on emotion and dynamism rather than rationality and stasis
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Three significant artists: Caravaggio, Bernini, and Borromini

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He took realism to new lengths
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He secularized religious art, making saints and miracles seem like ordinary people and everyday events
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Many said he was the first artist intentionally seeking to shock and offend…and if he tried to, he certainly succeeded
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Caravaggio was also a rebel, arrested multiple times and hung around the dregs of society…
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…and he once stabbed a man in the groin over a tennis wager. Ouch.

Caravaggio: “The Calling of St. Michael”

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“The Calling of St. Michael” is a vision of Matthew, the apostle-to-be, sitting in a dark pub counting money, when Christ orders him “Follow me.”

Caravaggio: “The Conversion of St. Paul”

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“The Conversion of St. Paul” demonstrates
Caravaggio’s ability to see a traditional subject in a unique, unusual way through hard focus and blinding spotlight and the use of St. Paul being flat on his back with a horse over him
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Usually St. Paul’s story of conversion is seen through
Saul being converted by a voice from heaven with
Christ on the heavenly throne surrounded by throngs of angels

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Gianlorenzo Bernini was an architect, painter, playwright, composer, and theater designer and most famour sculptor of his era…
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Bernini created his version of “David” at age 25

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Bernini captured the moment of maximum torque, as he wound up to hurl the stone
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David bit his lips from the strain, conveying the power about to be unleashed, causing observers in front of the sculpture to almost want to duck
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This is an example of Baroque art involving the viewer in its motion and emotion by threatening to burst its physical confines

“The Ecstasy of St. Theresa” by Bernini

“The Ecstasy of St. Theresa” by Bernini
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This was Bernini’s masterpiece and the culmination of the Baroque style Bernini’s goal was to relive Christ’s passion through the sculpture to give worshippers an intense religious experience
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The saint and angel appear to be floating on swirling clouds, which golden rays of light pour down from a vault of heaven painted on the ceiling
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The feathery wings and frothy clouds are equally convincing

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Chapter 13 study guide out Friday (The ch 13 quiz will be an ID one  )
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DBQs – I’m taking a lot of time on them, hope to have them in your hands by tomorrow