Class 14: The Baroque in italy

Class 14: The Baroque in italy

NOTE ABOUT EXAM GRADES:Exam grades and extra credit grades should be posted on elearning by next Monday. Baroque (17th c.)Baroque originally meant a oddly shaped pearl and was applied as a kind of insult by later scholars to this period after the Renaissance. Now it is used as a neutral term.Social and religious trendsProtestant Reformation in North continues. Protestants generally avoid religious art, and artists have to seek patronage outside of Church. They generally find patronage among the middle classes, and this gives birth to new subject matter in art.Catholic Counter-Reformation in South continues.Catholics continue to use art to increase the emotional appeal of the Church. Artists are encouraged to use subjects that emphasize martyrdom or mystical states. A series of Popes continue to build up Rome artistically.

Bernini, David (1623) marble, 5 5, Rome, Baroque; Michelangelo, David (1501-1504) marble, 17, Florence, High Renaissance

Bernini, David (1623) marble, 5 5, Rome, BaroqueBAROQUE STYLE:Theatricality, dramaEmotional intensityAgitation, dynamic movementVirtuoso techniqueSeems to transcend the boundaries of its space; involves viewer in the action

Bernini, David (1623) marble, 5 5, Rome, Baroque

Bernini, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1645-1652) Cornaro Chapel, Rome, Baroque

Multimedia, combining sculpture, architecture, painting, stained glass, and lighting effects

Bernini, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1645-1652) Cornaro Chapel, Rome, Baroque

Beside me on the left appeared an angel in bodily form . . . He was not tall but short, and very beautiful; and his face was so aflame that he appeared to be one of the highest ranks of angels, who seem to be all on fire . . . In his hands I saw a great golden spear, and at the iron tip there appeared to be a point of fire. This he plunged into my heart several times so that it penetrated my entrails. When he pulled it out I felt that he took them with it, and left me utterly consumed by the great love of God. The pain was so severe that it made me utter several moans. The sweetness caused by this intense pain is so extreme that one can not possibly wish it to cease, nor is one's soul content with anything but God. This is not a physical but a spiritual pain, though the body has some share in it even a considerable share.

St. Teresa of Avila

8Bernini, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1645-1652) Cornaro Chapel, Rome, Baroque

Bernini, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1645-1652) Cornaro Chapel, Rome, Baroque

10Old St. Peters4th century convertedbasilica formBramante planfor New St. Peters(1506)Michelangeloplan for NewSt. Peters(1546-1564)Maderno planfor New St. Peters(1607-1626)Bernini plan forNew St. Peterspiazza (1656-1657)

ST. PETERS BASILICA11

Bernini, Piazza in front of St. Peters Basilica, Vatican City, Rome (1656-57), Baroque12BerniniBaldacchino (1624-1633), Gilded bronzeapprox. 100 highBasilica of Saint PeterRome, Baroque

Built over the high altar, which also marks the tomb of St. Peter, the columns symbolize the union of the Christian and Jewish traditions. The vines symbolize the Eucharist (i.e. the wine and bread that symbolize the blood and flesh of Christ), and the twisting columns that are thought to represent columns of the Temple of Solomon.

CaravaggioThe Entombment of Christ(c. 1602-1604)oil on canvas9 10 x 6 8Vatican, Rome, Baroque

Key terms:Caravaggisti=someone who follows the style of CaravaggioCaravaggesque=in the style of CaravaggioTenebrism=casting the background into deep shadow and spotlighting the figures in the foreground

CaravaggioConversion of St Paul(1601)oil on canvas8 x 6Rome, Baroque

Note: since from the Baroque period onward almost all paintings are oil on canvas, you do not need to pay attention to this fact any longer.

Caravaggio, The Calling of St. Matthew (1600) 11 x 11, oil on canvas, Rome, Baroque

Caravaggio, The Calling of St. Matthew (1600) 11 x 11, oil on canvas, Rome, Baroque

Caravaggio, The Calling of St. Matthew (1600) 11 x 11, oil on canvas, Rome, Baroque

Artemesia Gentileschi, Suzanna and the Elders (1600), oil on canvas, Baroque

Artemesia Gentileschi, Suzanna and the Elders (1600); Tintoretto, Suzanna and the Elders (1560)[naked vs. nude]