Baroque Art – 1600-1750
1. Begins in Rome
-Renaissance artists did everything “perfectly”, so it was a time to change…
-Reaction to Mannerism
Baroque Art – 1600-1750
1. Begins in Rome
-Renaissance artists did everything “perfectly”, so it was a time to change…
-Reaction to Mannerism
2. Every country that develops it, adds its own “spin”
3. Most common element = Use of light to achieve maximum
emotional impact.
Baroque Art – 1600-1750
1. Begins in Rome
-Renaissance artists did everything “perfectly”, so it was a time to change…
-Reaction to Mannerism
2. Every country that develops it, adds its own “spin”
3. Most common element = Use of light to achieve maximum
emotional impact.
4. Patrons = wealthy & burghers looking for home
improvements for living rooms…
5. Emphasis on emotion + dynamism rather than
rationality + stasis
Baroque Art – 1600-1750
Two distinct “schools” of Baroque Art:
1. Catholic Countries: Italy, Flanders (Flemish), Spain, France
2. Protestant Countries: England & Holland (Dutch)
Baroque Art – 1600-1750
Catholic Countries: Italy, Flanders (Flemish), Spain, France
Common Traits that reflect the values of the time:
-Gigantic religious works to display their faith’s triumph and to overwhelm and attract new worshippers.
-Massive displays of wealth by absolute monarchs to enchant and
impress visitors.
Baroque Art – 1600-1750
Catholic Countries: Italy, Flanders (Flemish), Spain, France
What to look for:
-Use of light – harsh light from single source to concentrate your eye
(chiaroscuro but for focal point…).
-Saints and miracles looking like ordinary people and events
-dynamic explosion of energy – images captured at height of action
-VERY fat female nudes
-portraits – posed to show refinement but looked “real”
Caravaggio
Italian
Conversion of St. Paul
Caravaggio
The Supper at Emmaus
Italian
Bernini
Italian
David
David
Bernini
Italian
The Ecstasy of St. Theresa
Bernini
Italian
Baldachin of St. Peter’s Cathedral
This supreme example of Baroque art was the
first masterpiece that the twenty-six year old
genius, Gianlorenzo Bernini made for St.
Peter's Basilica. It is impossible not to admire
this fantastic, sumptuous bronze canopy
supported by four spiral columns, richly
decorated with gold, as it majestically rises
upward. It is the largest known bronze artwork.
He sent most of his life working on St. Peter’s
Cathedral
Rubens
Flemish
The Descent from the Cross
Rubens
Flemish
The
Hippopotamus
Hunt
Rubens
Flemish
Marie Arrives at Marseilles
Rubens
Flemish
The Three Graces
Van Dyck
Flemish
Charles I at the Hunt
Van Dyck
Flemish
Count of Ossuna
Velazquez
Spanish
Portrait of Pope Innocent X
Velazquez
Spanish
This painting was
voted in 1985 as
“the greatest work
of art by a human
being.”
Las Meninas
In the seventeenth century, France was the most powerful
country in the world and Louis XIV tapped the finest talents
to glorify his monarchy. France replaced Rome as the center
of European art (a distinction it held until WWII) even
though its art was modeled on Roman relics…
Poussin was the most famous French artist.
Painted antiquity – French Baroque art is often
referred to as “Classicism” because it was copied so
often during the next 200 years.
Poussin
French
Burial of
Phocion
Poussin
French
Autumn
or
The Grapes
brought from the
Promised Land.
The classic example of Baroque art/style
Baroque Art – 1600-1750
Protestant Countries: Holland (Dutch) & England
Common Traits that reflect the values of the time:
-Still lifes
-Landscapes
-Portraits
-Very little to no religious imagery
Ruisdael
Dutch
The Sunbeam
Ruisdael
Dutch
The Sunbeam
Hals
Dutch
The Jolly Toper
Jester with a Lute
Hals
Dutch
The Laughing Cavalier
Rembrandt
Dutch
Rembrandt
Dutch
Night Watch
Rembrandt
Dutch
The Masters of
the Cloth Guild
Vermeer
Dutch
The Geographer
Vermeer
Dutch
The Milkmaid
Vermeer
Dutch
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Vermeer
Dutch
The Artist’s Studio
Hogarth
English
Breakfast Scene
from Marriage a
la Mode
Hogarth
English
Gin Lane
Gainsborough
Reynolds
English
English