BAROQUE ART1600 – 1750

Church Collapsed• In response to the Protestant Reformation the Church

began its own movement. This began in Italy and is known as the COUNTER REFORMATION.

• Art played a HUGE role in the counter reformation. Artists were called upon to create art that was doctrinally correct along with being visually and emotionally appealing so that it could influence the largest possible audience therefore renew religious spirit. Both the Catholic Church and the Catholic nobility supported ambitious building and decoration projects to achieve these ends.This movement has been labeled BAROQUE.

Baroque ArtBaroque art is characterized by:• rich colors• large scale• ornate decoration• vitality• tension • strong emotion• dramatic lighting• unusual curving compositions• swirling figures and

exaggerated gestures

Baroque painters and sculptors aimed to reproduce nature without any improvements.

This desire for realism was inspired in part by the growing interest in the natural sciences- knowledge of human anatomy and concept of space and light.

The new understanding of the relationship of Earth and Sun reaffirmed the expressive power of light, not as an abstract emanation of the divine, but as a natural phenomenon to be treated with realism and drama.

Galileo Galilei, astronomer, mathematician,and physicist was first to develop the telescope

Dutch lensmakerAntoni van Leeuwenhoekinvented the microscope

Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish scholar, publishedon the Revolutions ofThe Heavenly Sphereswhich argued that theEarth and other planetsrevolve around the Sun.

English philosopher Francis Bacon insisted on logical reasoning – facts be established through observation and testing

Explosion of Scientific Knowledge

Baroque in Italy

The center of early baroque was in Italy.

Papal patronage and the spirit of the Catholic

religion (and counter-reformation) brought artists

together to make Rome the “most beautiful city of the

entire Christian world.” Caravaggio, probably the most

significant of the Roman baroque painters, shows

us in two of his works his extraordinary style, in

which naturalism is carried to new heights.

Caravaggio

(Michelangelo Merisi)

Italian painter

1571-1610• Born in Caravaggio, Italy to a master builder who worked for a local lord

• Caravaggio was an apprentice to a painter in Milan and worked in a studio in Rome as a painter of fruits and flowers

• uses light and dark to achievea 3-d effect – chiaroscuro

•Makes the scene look as if it is taking place before your own eyes

• The Conversion of St. Paul,1601 Illustrates the conversion of Pharisee Saul by a light and voice from Heaven

The Calling of Saint Matthew, 1599-1600

Oil on canvas

Caravaggio interpreted his religious subjects directly and dramatically, combining intensely observed forms, poses, and expressions with strong effects of light and color.

Chiaroscuro (contrast of dark and light) is used in the painting to create spatial depth and model forms.

An intense raking light enters the painting from a high, unseen source at the right and spotlights the faces of the men.

Calling of Saint Matthew depicts Jesus calling Levi, the tax collector, to join his apostles.

Levi sits at a table, counting out gold coins for a boy atthe left, surrounded by overdressed young men in plumed hats.

Jesus (right), behind the cloaked apostle Peter, points dramatically at Levi commanding Levi to begin a new life by becoming his disciple Matthew.Caravaggio was influenced by Renaissance sources.

Jesus’ outstretched arm, for example, Recalls God’s gesture giving life to Adam in Creation of Adam on the Sistine Ceiling by Michelangelo..

Calling of St. Matthew expresses one of the central themes of Counter Reformation belief: that faith and grace remain open to all, and that spiritual understanding consists of a personal, and overpowering, emotional experience.

Supper at Emmaus, 1606

Caravaggio portrayed people naturally & realistically, not in an idealistic manner. Notice also, how he used strong light effects to emphasize form. He painted the fruit, roasted chicken, and bread with great detail.The diagonal line formed by each person’s head also adds to the dramatic composition.

Gianlorenzo BerniniItalian Sculptor & Architect

1598-1680•One of the greatest sculptors of the 17th century (Bernini’s father was a Florentine sculptor)•A child prodigy, Bernini showed an early aptitude for his father’s profession.

•He was strongly influenced by the antique Greek and Roman marbles in the Vatican

•Intimate knowledge of High Renaissance painting - inspired by Michelangelo’s work•Greatest patron – Pope Urban VIII•Outstanding architect – officially named architect of St. Peter’s•Known for his unprecedented fusion of sculpture & architecture as in The Papal Altar & Baldacchino.

St. Peter’s, Rome

The Papal Altar & Baldacchino 1624-33

The Baldacchino is an enormous bronze structure under the dome of the cathedral that marks the place where Saint Peter is believed to be buried. This monument, rises on its vine-covered corkscrew columns to a height of 98 feet. The church was so large that a dramatic focus on the altar was essential.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=d2Csge8GpsI

Gianlorenzo Bernini

David, 1623Marble 5’7”

Cornaro Chapel, RomeSaint Teresa of Avila In Ecstasy

1645-52Marble 11’6”

Michelangelo’s David

Flanders(under Spain domination and Catholic)

Peter Paul RubensFlemish painter

1577-1640

The Raising of the Cross, 1610-11

• Son of a Protestant attorneyfrom Antwerp – moved to Germanyto escape religious persecution• Rubens was an apprentice to

local painters who he acquired knowledge of Italian painting.

• Spent eight years studying the masterworks of the ItalianRenaissance in Rome• Returned to Antwerp and setup a painting workshop – hiring

established painters as assistants• Rubens was a diplomatand confidential advisorwho could write and speak six languages fluently.

The Raising of the Cross, 1610-11

• Triptych for the main altar of the Church of Saint Walpurga (The church no longer exist)The Raising of the Cross is currently located in a church in Antwerp.

• Wings extend the action of the central scene / not independent images• Herculean figures strain to haul upright the wooden cross with Jesus already stretched upon it• Left, followers join in morning• Right, indifferent soldiers supervise the execution• Drama and intense emotion• Dramatic lighting effects• Diagonal composition • Sense of deep space

Holland(Gained independence from Spain and became a Protestant,

democratic country)

Current map

Rembrandt van Rijn(Rhine River)

Dutch painter & etcher1606-1669

• Rembrandt was born in Leiden, Holland (Netherlands today) the son of a grain miller

• One of the greatest artist of all time• Second only to Albrecht Durer in

printmaking (etchings)

• Painted religious pictures, but he depended on portraiture for income – known as “Master of the Portrait”

• Rembrandt’s paintings are characterized by luxuriant brushwork, rich color, and mastery of chiaroscuro (Apprentice under Pieter Lastman)

• Produced over 600 paintings, 300 etchings, and over 2000 drawings.

The Night Watch, 1642 • The Night Watch is a group portrait• This is a dramatic group composition that shows a company forming for a parade in an Amsterdam street•The Captain and his lieutenant in yellow (a color associated with victory) stride purposefully forward, seeming to be stepping off the stage into the viewer’s presence.

• A young girl to the leftresembles Rembrandt’s wife, Saskia.

Rembrandt was devoted to sketching people he encountered – the extra figures add lively touches of interesting local color to heighten the excitement of the scene – depicting the moment of chaos which is about to be brought into order.

Because of the dense layer of grime and darkened varnishand dark background architecture this painting was once thought to be a Night scene and therefore called The Night Watch.

The Night Watch

After restoration in 1975-76

Frans HalsDutch painter

1581-1666

Group portraiture • documents membership of corporate organization• Members shared the cost of the

commission so the painter was challenged to create a coherent, interesting composition that gave equal attention to each individual portrait.

• Dynamic composition turned the group portrait into a lively social event.

• Strong underlying geometry of diagonal lines – gestures, banners, and sashes are balanced by the stabilizing perpendiculars of the table, window, tall glass, and striped banner.

• Black suits and hats make the white ruffs and sashes more brilliant.

• He used slashing brush strokes and was able to capture a momentary smile or twinkle of an eye with great accuracy.

Officers of the Haarlem Militia Company of Saint Adrian, 1627

Genre painting• Popular art form among

the Dutch painters.• Generally painted for

private patrons• Depicted scenes of

contemporary daily life• Symbolic references –

continuing a long Netherlandish tradition.

• Sometimes contain a moral lesson

The Milkmaid, 1660

The Lacemaker, 1669-1671 Oil on canvas

Jan VermeerDutch painter

1632-75

• Vermeer was born in Delft, Netherlands

• Son of an innkeeper who was involved in buying & selling art.

• Studied art with the painter Carel Fabritius – a student of Rembrandt

• In 1653, Vermeer was admitted to the artistic federation in Delft – the Guild of St. Luke – as a master painter.

Jan VermeerDutch painter

1632-75Subjects: women in their homes occupied

with some activity – writing, reading letters, or playing a musical instrument.

Woman’s moment of quiet introspection before she touches gold or pearls – recalls the vanitas theme of the transcience of life – quality of material things.

• Low-key in color• Controlled brushwork becomes invisible• Asymmetrical composition

The woman contemplates the balance and so calls our attention to the act of weighing and judging. Hand and scale are central but directly over her, hangs a large painting of the Last Judgement – metaphor for eternal judgement.

Woman Holding a Balance, 1664