Southern Baroque

(Italy and Spain)

David, Gianlorenzo Bernini (1623)

Entombment, Caravaggio (1603)

Counter-Reformation

Catholic church’s efforts to reinstate their power and authority and argue against the claims of the Protestants. Aims were to retain members, increase power and influence, and fight against heresy.

Council of Trent

the Council of Trent was a meeting of Catholic leaders who decided how to respond to Protestant accusations and determined the role of art moving forward. They declared that art was meant to be part of religious worship and learning as a teaching tool, that art should focus on Jesus, Mary, and the Saints (who were intercessors), that art should inspire piety and faith (especially through depicting these holy, suffering figures) and that art was a means of propaganda and glorifying the Catholic Church.

Ignatius of Loyola

a Catholic priest who led the Jesuit Order, a group of Catholic monks who led the Inquisition, where they interrogated people with harsh, threatening tactics in order to weed out and punish the heretics, and also made missionary efforts

Jesuits

group of Catholic monks led by Ignatius of Loyola, who carried out the Inquisition (torture interrogations) and missionary work in order to strengthen the power of the church, increase conversion, and fight against heresy. emphasis on the missionary work

Inquisition

series of interrogations led by Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuit Order that involved physical harm in order to put a stop to Protestantism and reconvert those that had fallen away

Divine Right

the belief that a monarch is divinely appointed by God to rule. Highly prevalent and used as justification by monarchs in this time.

Quadro riportato

framed paintings on the ceiling that are meant to look as though they have been mounted up there, when really they were painted on the fresco

Quadratura

illusionistic painting technique used to make it look like architecture has 3D features, when really it is just 2D paint. For example, sculptures and statues on the ceiling that are really just painted, not actual carvings. Or, ceilings that look like they keep going up.

Caravaggisti

followers of Caravaggi who mimicked his style and incorporated his techniques - primarily Dutch painters from Flanders who were able to travel to Italy protected by their Catholic faith, learn, and bring back Caravaggi’s style

Painterly

loose, rough, quick brushstrokes that give more movement

Tenebrism

dramatic contrast of light and dark (for dramatic effect)

30 Years War

religious war that takes away from available resources to put into art that contributed to the uncertainty and political turmoil of the time

80 Years War

religious war set off by the Iconoclastic Riots (destroying artwork in Catholic churches) and by the secession of Northern Roman Empire (Protestant Dutch Republic) Spain (southern Catholic Flanders)