Periods

Italian Renaissance

The rebirth of Greek/Roman ideals characterized by balance, harmony, idealized human figures, and calm composition, exemplified by artists like Raphael.

Northern Renaissance

Focused on obsessive realism and intricate symbolic detail through oil techniques, with examples like Van Eyck and Holbein.

Mannerism

An art movement that deliberately breaks the calm rules of the Renaissance with elongated bodies and unstable spaces, pushing towards artificiality; notable artists include Parmigianino and Tintoretto.

Baroque (Italian)

A dramatic and theatrical artistic style known for extreme light and dark contrasts (tenebrism), intended to captivate viewers; exemplified by Caravaggio.

Baroque (Spanish)

Similar to Italian version but more somber, connected to strict Catholic culture, with notable works by Velazquez.

Baroque (French)

Retains the common grandeur but combines it with classical order, resulting in a more rational composition; represented by artists like Poussin and Claude Lorrain.

Baroque (Dutch)

Focuses on everyday domestic life and portraits instead of grand religious or royal drama, resonating with Protestant values, with artists like Rembrandt and Vermeer.

Baroque Architecture

Characterized by grand, monumental buildings and designed landscapes aimed at impressing viewers, as seen in Wren's churches and Stourhead Gardens.

Rococo

A lighter variant of Baroque emphasizing playful, pastel colors and themes of aristocratic leisure rather than serious grandeur, as illustrated by Watteau and Fragonard.

Neoclassical

A reaction against Rococo's frivolity, marked by classical restraint and moral seriousness, with clean lines reminiscent of ancient Greece and Rome; exemplified by David and Ingres.

Romanticism

A movement reacting against Neoclassicism's coldness, focusing on raw emotion, nature, and the sublime, highlighted by Turner's storms and Friedrich's solitary figures.

Impressionism

An art style capturing fleeting moments of light and color with loose brushstrokes, focusing on everyday life rather than historical themes; notable artists include Monet and Manet.

Post-Impressionism

A continuation of Impressionism that adds personal structure, emotion, or symbolism, marked by Van Gogh's raw emotion and Cezanne's geometric forms.

Modernism (Cubism)

An innovative movement that breaks the traditional single viewpoint, showcasing multiple angles and fragmented forms, pioneered by Picasso and Braque.

Modernism (Surrealism)

An artistic trend that employs dream logic and unconscious imagery, depicted realistically to create convincing scenarios, with examples like Dali's clocks and Magritte's puzzles.

Modern Art (Abstraction)

Art that strays from recognizable subjects, focusing instead on pure shape, color, and form, as seen in Mondrian's grids and Rothko's color fields.

Modern Art (Expressionism)

An art movement that distorts color and form for emotional impact and sociopolitical commentary, exemplified by Munch's The Scream and Picasso's Guernica.

Modernist Architecture

Characterized by minimalism, emphasizing 'less is more' through the use of glass and steel, represented in the Seagram Building.

Post-Modern Art

A diverse movement that reacts against the seriousness of Modernism, using irony, pop culture references, and immersive work, showcased by Warhol and Lichtenstein.

Post-Modern Architecture

Architecture that playfully references historical styles or makes the structure itself a spectacle, with examples like Sony Tower and Lloyds Building.

Baroque (Literature)

Literature that is elaborate and intellectually complex, using unexpected metaphors to explore serious themes, as seen in John Donne's works.

Neoclassicism (Literature)

Prose reflecting order and social decorum, paralleling the art's clarity, exemplified by Jane Austen's Persuasion.

Romanticism (Literature)

Poetry focused on nature and the sublime, echoing landscape painting's emotional approach, with examples like Wordsworth.

Realism (Literature)

A style characterized by psychological observation through a single speaker, illustrating more than what is intended, as seen in Browning's My Last Duchess.

Modernism (Literature)

Literature exhibiting fragmentation, irony, and disillusionment, reflecting the breakdown of traditional narratives; seen in Owen's WWI poetry.

Postmodernism (Literature)

Narrative styles that are hybrid and self-aware, resonating with the eclecticism and appropriation found in the time period’s art, with examples like Rushdie.