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The Counter-reformation and Baroque Style

Martin Luther’s protests against the Catholic Church ignited a wave of religious and political dissent across much of Europe. The word Catholic means universal but after Luther religion was hardly universal in Western Europe. Reformers took control of places like Switzerland, northern Germany, Sweden, Denmark and even the United Kingdom. The battle became especially intense in the Spanish controlled Low Countries. The Protestant north was at odds with the Catholic south. War raged for years. Ultimately a treaty would divide these two areas and create separate entities- the independent Protestant Netherlands, and the Spanish controlled Catholic Belgium.

In the midst of all this turmoil, the Catholic Church realized that it needed to become

proactive in defending the faith. The Church Council was called to consider Luther’s and others’ concerns. The church council gathered in the Northern Italian city of Trento (or Trent for English speakers). This Council of Trent would be responsible for major

changes in church practices. They recognized that some of the concerns of the reformers were legitimate. This begins a period known as the Counter-reformation- a Catholic response to the Protestant revolt. In many ways the Church had become too worldly. There was a feeling among some at the council that complacency had set in. The Church needed to “cleanse the inner vessel” and create a more appealing image to maintain the faithful and reclaim the lost.

By about 1600, in reaction to this complacency new religious orders (groups) were formed. One of the most prominent of these was known as the Jesuits or Society of Jesus. The Jesuits sought to aggressively return members to the fold- to thoughtfully and thoroughly indoctrinate people in

The Baroque Age

Il Gesu main altar

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Catholic teaching. They wanted to present an image of a church of glory and majesty. One of the first Jesuit buildings was found in the heart of Rome. It was dedicated to the Savior and called simply, Il Gesu. The interior of this building marks a new age of architectural style- a style that would ultimately shape the visual arts and music of the era, the Baroque.

When you look at the interior of Il Gesu, gone is the subdued, logical approach of Renaissance designers. Now movement is emphasized, decoration enthroned. The dome of the Church especially shows this as the Holy Ghost (the dove) forms the center of a massive swirling scene of religious triumph and ecstasy.

Baroque comes from the Portuguese word Barocco, which refers to a large, irregularly shaped pearl. It’s a pearl gone crazy; it’s too big and seems that Nature has gone too far. “Going too far” is an apt phrase for the Baroque style that dominated the arts roughly from 1600-1775. Apollo has given way to Dionysus. The Apollonian/Dionysian dichotomy means that there is more than one way to appeal to the human soul. Apollonian art appeals to man’s cognitive side. Dionysian is more affective. Affective is an old-fashioned word that is akin to our modern word emotional. Today we often think of emotions as things that aren’t truly real. When a wife tells a husband that they shouldn’t do something because it doesn’t “feel right,” he is apt to respond that she is “just being emotional.” Or take the unhappy event of a girl breaking up with her boyfriend. It may have been the best thing she ever did. He was bad to her,

Il Gesu Dome

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and unfaithful, and she will be a much better person without him. It makes no sense at all that she would be sad to see him go. And yet her heart is breaking. No amount of reasoning makes her feel better. She knows the reasons for breaking up were valid. She has no intention of going back to him. And yet, the fact that her emotions are irrational doesn’t make them any less real.

In the 1600s, when the word affection was used to describe emotion, people believed that these feelings were firmly rooted in physical reality. Affections were a result of various combinations of the humors—bodily fluids generated in the glands, such as blood, phlegm, and bile. Blood, for instance, made you hopeful, or sanguine (from the Latin sangue, or blood), but too much made you apoplectic (Greek, to fall down, to have such a rage it causes a stoke). Phlegm balanced the blood, but too much made you dull and lazy, or phlegmatic. Too much yellow bile and you became jaundiced (from the French word jaune, meaning yellow), and too much black bile made you melancholy (melas chole is Greek for “black bile”). Outside stimuli affected all of the humor-producing glands. For instance, the light reflected from certain colors on a painting could stimulate our spleens and fill us with melancholy. A musical melody with an upward thrust and wide leaps could make the heart leap for joy. To this day we hear melodies in the major mode (such as “Deck the Halls”) as happy tunes, while those in minor (such as “Greensleeves”) are serious or even sad. In the 1600s composers and artists carefully studied and catalogued various techniques that stirred the humors. This idea was called the Doctrine of Affections. To them art didn’t just have the capability of moving the affections: it was its duty to do so. It should cause a physical change. Today you might consider the ancient belief in the humors and art’s ability to move them a little naïve, and probably don’t think of emotions as the result of physical stimuli.1 We make use of art, nonetheless, in much the same way. The girl irrationally mourning her lost love, unmoved by rational arguments that she is better off with out him, will find her solace in a sad song, or a romantic novel, or a “chick flick,” and she’ll have a good cry and feel much better. It’s all very irrational, but for whatever reason, it works. Just because it’s irrational, doesn’t mean it’s not real. In addition to describing Baroque art as emotional or over the top in decoration, author Roger Kamien suggests a great way to consider Baroque creations- action. He writes, “An oversimplified but useful characterization of baroque style is that it fills space-canvas, stone, or sound- with action and movement.” The Catholic Church enlisted artists and architects to promote religious zeal. As in the case of the Renaissance, many of the early shakers and movers in the Baroque era were Italians. Italy’s two brightest baroque stars were the painter Caravaggio and the sculptor Bernini.

1 It is interesting to note, however, that the pendulum has swung back a little, and emotional maladies are

once again believed to be caused by a chemical imbalance.

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Caravaggio was born Michelangelo Meresi. You don’t want to become an artist with a first name of Michelangelo- it puts you at a bit of a disadvantage. You would need to spend much of your time saying things like, “no, not that one” or “no, we’re not related” or “yes, I know there was a famous artist with that name.” His religious works took the idealized saints and apostles from their Renaissance perfection and created a much more down to earth approach. The Biblical figures in a Caravaggio painting were readily recognizable to the Italian viewers of 1600. In his Calling of Matthew he takes a Bible story and injects people from his time into ancient Judea.

Notice how Matthew, seated at the customs table, and his associates are hardly dressed in typical New Testament attire. They look like 16th or 17th Century publicans. Only Peter, with his back to us and the mostly obscured figure of Christ behind him seem to

Caravaggio, The Calling of St. Matthew

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be wearing the requisite robes. Caravaggio hasn’t made Christ the center of the picture either. Our focus is on Matthew and his rather confused response to the Lord’s call of “Come follow me.” He seems to indicate with his gesture, “Who? Me?” The drama of the scene is enhanced by the dramatic chiaroscuro so typical of a Caravaggio. Not only are there dramatic shadows but there is a clear beam of light pouring in from the upper right side of the painting. Caravaggio’s style would have a tremendous amount of influence on other painters during the Baroque era- particularly Rembrandt. Bernini worked his theatrical magic in stone. To really understand the contrast between Renaissance and Baroque styles all one has to do is look at two David’s, Michelangelo’s from the Renaissance and Bernini’s Baroque shepherd boy turned hero.

Michelangelo’s David is 13 feet tall, idealized and contemplative. Bernini’s David is life-sized, of more normal features (in fact the face is a self-portrait), and very active. It’s as if the time for thinking (Renaissance) has passed. It’s time for the true believer to take action. Notice how the element of line that we had discussed earlier in the course becomes so prominent here. Bernini uses diagonal lines to communicate action and dynamism.

Two David Statues, Michelangelo (left) circa 1504; Bernini (right)

circa 1624. Note: the photos do not have the two works in proper scale.

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Beyond Italy the most prominent Baroque Catholic artist was from Belgium, Peter Paul Rubens. Rubens became so popular that he was more than an artist he was virtually a brand name. His studio became a factory for turning out portraits of the wealthy and large historical and allegorical paintings for churches and palaces. If Rubens had a motto it probably would have been “bigger is better.” His paintings were in such demand that he would employ large numbers of assistants to work on a canvas. Rubens would complete the faces and a few other details and then the painting would be sent to the waiting buyer- a Rubens original (actually closer to a Rubens and Company product). One of his most amazing artistic achievements involved the widow of the King of France. Marie de Medici (yes, she was from the same important Florence family we read about during the Renaissance) was the widow of Henry IV. Her son, Louis XIII was thought too young to ascend to the throne upon his father’s untimely death and so Marie was appointed Regent (acting monarch) until Louis was of age. After a few years of doing nothing but sitting on the throne she retired. Rubens- a huge favorite of royals was asked to create a series of paintings celebrating her life. This is perhaps the epitome of baroque style- making a dull woman’s life appear beautiful and interesting. Rubens and company delivered. 21 giant canvases where Marie was now in the company of Greek gods, angels, wild animals, and who knows what else while doing such mundane things as riding a wagon from one town to another. Baroque art in the Protestant Netherlands While Rubens, Bernini and others were working their magic in Catholic countries, another important group of painters was working in Protestant Holland. These Dutch painters weren’t concerned with the heroic religious works- Protestants were wary of what might be considered “graven images.” Instead they painted to beautify homes, businesses, and public buildings. Dutch baroque paintings were still active and dramatic, but in a different way. Nobody demonstrates this better than Rembrandt. One of the most popular kinds of paintings in the Netherlands was a group portrait of important

people. Each individual in a company, guild or military group would pay a separate sitting fee to the painter with the end result sort of like a class picture you would get in public school. That’s not what Rembrandt would paint! A group portrait was an opportunity to

Rembrandt, The Night Watch

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show action. In Rembrandt’s most famous work, The Night Watch what was supposed to have been a simple group portrait of some members of a paramilitary club is transformed into a scene of movement bordering on chaos. We see people beating a drum, loading and firing muskets, handling pikes (long spear-like weapons), and gesturing all over the place. There’s even a girl with a dead chicken tied to her dress.

Captain Banning Koch with his red sash may be the central figure in the painting, but the person truly in command of the occasion is Rembrandt. You can see how he was influenced by Caravaggio’s emphasis on light. Rembrandt developed a style where in a generally low value painting he placed the most light near the central figure. It was a practice he developed during his life-long obsession with self-portrait painting. One thing that baroque visual artists like Rembrandt and Rubens mastered, was bringing action to their works. Certainly Rubens had to create some spectacular work to make Queen Marie seem important, but it was Marie de Medici’s grandson who became the central figure of the Baroque age.

Louis XIV: Monsieur Baroque Just as the Counter-reformation wanted people to remain true to the faith, so the monarchs during this time wanted people to remain universal in their loyalty to the crown. The most Baroque monarch of them all, undoubtedly was Louis XIV, King of France. In France they don’t use the term baroque much, usually they just describe the

Night Watch central detail

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style as “Louis the 14th.” Louis assumed the throne in 1643 when he just four years old, and was succeeded by his great-grandson in 1715, seventy-two years later. This was one of the longest documented reigns of any monarch. Louis was called the Sun King (le Roi de Soleil) because his divine light shone on all his subjects- he was not known for his humility. Throughout his long reign he carefully centralized power in his own person and in a powerful bureaucracy that was fiercely loyal to him. Louis’ motto was L’etat est moi: “I am the state.”

Hyacinthe Rigaud, Louis XIV

When he was a child Louis’ prime minister, the Catholic Cardinal Mazarin, ruled for him. During this time there was a rebellion, known as the Fronde, in which some members of

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the French aristocracy conspired to overthrow the young king. The Fronde was mercilessly put down, and Louis vowed to never again let the nobles of his realm have substantial power or influence.

Bernini, Bust of Louis XIV

Louis’ plan was to build a palace where he could bring all of the French noblemen to live with him, both so that he could watch them closely and so that he could carefully influence their opinion. He chose the royal hunting lodge at Versailles, just far enough outside Paris to be isolated. In 1661 he began extensive remodeling and expansion under the direction of the architect Louis le Vau, the landscape architect André le Nôtre, and the painter-decorator Charles le Brun. Together they would transform the lodge into the largest and most spectacular palace in Europe.

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Palace and Gardens at Versailles

The palace was built over a period of fifty years, and took 36,000 workers and 6,000 horses. Over 225 people died during the construction, which spread out over 280 acres, including gardens, lakes, and fountains. At its peak it housed 20,000 people—about 3000 courtiers and 17,000 servants. The cost, 65 million livres, was staggering for the day. It is estimated that it took 25% of the total annual income of the French government just to keep the place running. At Versailles Louis was able to consolidate his absolutist control over the country, first by pressing all the French nobility to live with him, and then by substituting court prestige for political power. In Versailles’ rarefied universe the favor of the king was everything. Nobles would cluster around his bedside to see him get up in the morning—behold the rising of the sun!—and would jockey for the honor of dressing the king or holding the royal chamber pot. Everything was about manners, and conversation hovered around such topics as who wore what to the last ball, and who was in love with whom, and how embarrassing so-and-so was with his recent gauche remark. In such a place life became deathly dull, and it was critical to provide the nobility with divertissements (diversions) so that they would not try to shake off their boredom with intrigue against the king. Thus every night the king served up, at great expense to the royal treasury, some new offering to amuse the nobles and keep them sedated, as it were. The divertissements came in every shape and size (of course they had to, to have enough variety to keep things interesting), but usually they had something to do with ballet. Ballet had been enormously popular in France since the 16th century. Baroque

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ballet featured songs, spoken dialogue, and fabulous sets and costumes. The stories of the French ballet simply served as a loose justification for the dancing, the costumes, and the music, in that order of importance.

Baroque Music: The Birth of “Our” Music

If Louis XIV and the folks at Versailles were mostly interested in spectacle, others in Europe took music much more seriously. Baroque music is stylistically similar to the painting and architecture of the age. It is decorated (lots of trills and moving melody lines), elaborate (it’s mostly polyphonic) and active. The Baroque era in music marks the beginning of many of the most important musical traditions that have carried on through the centuries. New musical innovations during the Baroque era include the four-section orchestra, opera, oratorio, the concerto, instrumental program music, keyboard compositions, and many more. The sound of baroque music is more familiar to us than the music that preceded it. We recognize the instruments and harmonies as being what we still use today. Probably the best place to begin is with the development of opera. During the Baroque era opera came into being. It was really a continuation of the Renaissance idea of rebirth. The scholars and musicians who created opera were trying to re-create Greek theater, which was primarily musical. The only problem is nobody knew exactly what ancient Greek music sounded like, so the composers of opera just had to make up something new. The big breakthrough came around the year 1600 when the composer Monteverdi created recitative as the musical method of delivering dialogue for much of his opera Orfeo (Orpheus- a Greek hero). Soon opera caught on and began to sweep Europe. The operatic elements, like aria, overture, recitative we’ve covered earlier- now you know where it began. Oratorio got its start during the Easter season. Oratorios were designed as religious alternatives to opera. They would not feature acting costumes, sets and so on. Instead, they would be performed concert style – like in a church or concert hall. Musically there is no difference between opera and oratorio. Both feature the same styles of singing, the same number of performers, etc. The two major differences are that oratorio is religious in content and opera is theatrical in performance. Opera and oratorio brings us to one of the three giants of baroque music we’ll meet, Handel.

Handel was born in Germany, musically trained in Italy and achieved his greatest fame in Britain. When he first came to England he was noted as an opera composer who also created exciting instrumental compositions. When George of Hannover (a German- in fact Handel’s former employer) became king of England, Handel created a large musical suite for a royal boat ride- The Water Music. Listening to any of these movements we get a sense of the Baroque style- ornamentation, movement and elegance. Handel’s greatest renown comes from his oratorio, The Messiah. This is one of the most widely known and performed works in western music. Drawing from the Old and New Testaments, Handel creates a musical exploration of the life and mission of Jesus Christ.

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Religious faith was also at the center of the second of our three baroque musical giants, J.S. Bach. Back spent most of his career as the organist and musical director of a Lutheran church in eastern Germany. 17th century Lutheran services were very long affairs- often more than four hours (and you thought the LDS three-hour meeting block was long), featuring preaching, congregational singing, scripture reading and usually a cantata. A cantata is a slightly smaller version of an oratorio. Bach wrote hundreds of them. In addition to these choral/orchestral works, Bach was the master of the organ. He composed dozens of fugues, scores of preludes and other works for the baroque “king of instruments.” Beyond that Bach also composed a few concertos. His style in concerto composition was patterned after the third member of our Baroque musical all-star team, Antonio Vivaldi. Vivaldi composed over 300 concertos. Most of them were written for the girls’ school where he was musical director. Vivaldi developed a compositional style based on a structure known as ritornello- alternating between the soloist and a recurring theme played by the orchestra. His best-known concertos are of course the Four Seasons. Think for a moment how these 12 movements of program music are decorative, active, polyphonic- in a word, baroque. On a certain level the Four Seasons are not that different from the Palace gardens at Versailles. They are an attempt to idealize nature by imposing man’s will upon it. No bird sounds as good as Vivaldi’s Spring violin solos. No rain-storm is as rhythmically clear and solid as his Winter 2nd movement. No pond ever looked as good as the grand bassin at Versailles either. This is part of what makes Baroque art baroque. In summary, the Baroque style reflected the desire to infuse action and dynamism into the arts.