{Baroque Art

Italy and Flanders

1600-1725 EuropeCounter-Reformation: effort by Catholic Church to lure people back and to regain its power

Baroque style: characterized by movement, vivid contrast and emotional intensity.

Characteristics of Baroque Era

Appeal to emotions and the desire for magnificent ornamentation

Appealed to the Church and middle class…glorified the Church.

Unify ornamentation through variation on a single theme.

Objective is realism.

Characteristics of Baroque Style

Color and grandeur emphasized, dramatic use of light and shade.

Composition emphasizes feeling over form, emotion over intellect.Viewer is invited to share in the emotion, not just observe it.

Open composition (pictures cut off by frames)

Characteristics of Baroque Style (Cont.)

Revival of Church Building and remodeling.

CharacteristicsHuge sculptured scrolls at each side of the upper storyused to unite the side sections of the wide façade (front of the building) to central portion

Baroque Architecture

Francesco Borromini – architectSan Carlo alle Quattro Fontane

Façade features: concave and convex surfaces; result is appearance of elasticity

three-dimensional: overall effect of movement, contrast, and variety

Baroque Architecture (cont.)

Characteristics:

Emphasis on mood and drama

Little interest in ideal or realistic beauty

Use of deep undercutting to create shadows and sharp contrasts of light and dark values

Baroque Sculpture

Merging of sculpture, painting, and architecture

The Entrance of St. Ignatius into Paradise By Fra Andrea PozzoWhere does the architecture end and the painting begin?

Baroque Sculpture (cont.)

Gianlorenzo Bernini

The Ecstasy of St. Theresa use of space and light

figures appear to float in space

Baroque Sculpture

(cont.)

DavidMovement: coiled stance, flexed muscles, determined expression

Use imagination to place Goliath in front of David

Bernini (cont.)

Michelangelo da CaravaggioStudied and painted the world around him

Light an important part of his painting: to illuminate figures and expose their imperfections

Baroque Painting

The Conversion of St. Paul Space projects outward from the picture plane to include the viewer as eyewitnessUse of light to add drama to the scene:Chiaroscuro

Controversy: use of ordinary people to portray religious subjects

Michelangelo de Caravaggio (cont.)

First woman in the history of western art to have a significant impact on the art of her time.

Characteristics of her style:Lifelike treatment of subject matter

Use of light and dark contrasts reminiscent of Caravaggio

Storytelling skills

Artemisia Gentileschi

Judith and the Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes

background: dark and cramped

foreground: illuminated by single candle

Influenced by Titian, Tintoretto, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio.Titian: rich colorsTintoretto: dramatic designMichelangelo: powerful, twisting figures

Caravaggio: use of light to illuminate important parts of paintings

Other Flemish influences: realistic detail

Peter Paul Rubens

Other characteristicsAvoids stiff, geometric forms to give pictures feeling of energy and life

Use of curving lines to create feeling of movement

Place figures against background of color to soften contours.

Peter Paul Rubens (cont.)

The Raising of the Crossfigures arranged to form solid pyramid of straining bodies

figures strain to regain balance

strong diagonal axis line follows the vertical section of the cross

Daniel in the Lions’ Den Natural poses of lions & emotion of scene

{Chapter 19: Lesson Two

Dutch Art

Genre: scenes from every day life

Dutch didn’t want religious paintings and sculptures in their churcheswanted secular works instead.

Dutch artists begin to specialize

Dutch Genre Paintings

Frans HalsSpecialized in portraitsCharacteristics

quick, dashing brush strokes

captures fleeting expressions

Dutch Genre Painting (cont.)

Portrait of a Member of the Haarlem Civic Guard

Officer looks as if just looked over his shoulder

Dutch Genre Painting:

Frans Hals (cont.)

CharacteristicsPainted portraits, everyday events, historical subjects, landscapes

Refused to specializeWork is by, for, and about the middle class.

Rembrandt van Rijn

Human emotion and psychology, the human spirit

Uses suggestion, not details because the human spirit is intangible

Rembrandt van Rijn (cont.)

The Night Watch Original group portrait of the military

portrayed as if on duty, not in a social scene

A "celebration of chaos, symbolic of a free people.“

Rembrandt van Rijn (cont.)

No natural light source…how are the figures illuminated?

Figures fade into shadow or are hidden by another's hand

The Mill Largest and most famous landscape

Darkness, shadows move slowly = Peaceful and still;

feeling of solitude and loneliness a reflection of his feelings for the loss of his wife.

Rembrandt van Rijn (cont.)

Group only doing genre style paintings

Jan SteenJan VermeerJudith Leyster

Little Dutch Masters

Characteristics and Stylegood humored and observant – amateur actor and an innkeeper

paintings carry good moral message

moral messages repeated in form of inscriptions on walls of his paintings

Little Dutch Masters: Jan Steen

Characteristics and Style (cont.)Majority of paintings: the folly children get into when not raised properly

Other typical themes: lovesick maidens and groups of merry, carefree people

Little Dutch Masters: Jan Steen

St. Nicholas’ Dayvarious reactions to gifts in stockings

use of diagonal

Little Dutch Masters: Steen

(cont.)

Painter of interiors…people in paintings less important than composition and effect of light on textures.

The Love Letterfigures surrounded by light and air = feeling of deep space

paintings in the background of the painting

Little Dutch Masters: Jan Vermeer

Viewer looks into the scene from a closetBlack & white tiles lead to sceneFacial expressions of both say letter is special

InfluencesCaravaggio’s dramatic use of light and dark

Hals – not so much the impression of fleeting moment, but the effect of achieving a feeling that care and time have been taken to achieve an elegant effect

Little Dutch Masters: Judith Leyster

Self-Portrait

Psychological interaction between subject and viewer

Little Dutch Masters: Leyster (cont.)

{Chapter 19: Lesson Three

Spanish Art

Painted more realistic saints, crucifixions, and martyrdoms

Spanish Art

. Jusepe de Ribera avoided painting masses of active people

avoided excitement and action in favor of calmness

Spanish art (cont.)

The Blind Old Beggar

St. Paul the Hermit

Worked in the Palace of King Phillip IV

The Surrender of Breta (fig. 19.21b)Spanish victory commanders placed directly in the center

erect lances show victory of Spaniards

Spanish Art: Diego Velázquez

Figures on left and far right bring viewer into the picture by looking at the viewer

Las Meninas -- The Maids of HonorIllusion of spacescene stretches out before you

Artist painted in the picture

Spanish Art: Diego Velázquez (cont.)

Reflection in mirror brings the scene behind you into it.

Room beyond glimpsed through open door

Bartolomé Esteban MurilloWorked for monasteries and convents.

The Return of the Prodigal Soncontrast between excitement and calm

avoided sharp lines and color contrasts to keep it simple and harmonious

Spanish Art (cont.)