Baroque Art Summary

Baroque Art (c. 1590- c. 1725)

  • Began in Italy, especially Rome.
  • Time of the Church of Rome and Catholic monarchs.
  • Projected grandeur and power, embraced art's religious power.
  • Monarchs used art to proclaim power, like Louis XIV at Versailles.
  • Baroque artists created propaganda for monarchs and popes.

Baroque Style and Period

  • Period from 1590-1725.
  • "Baroque" comes from Portuguese/Spanish for irregular pearl.
  • Shift away from Renaissance harmony.

Characteristics of Baroque Art

  • Dramatic action, violent scenes, emotional expression.
  • Dramatic contrast of color and light, rich textures.
  • Asymmetrical space, lacks controlled linear perspective.
  • Portraiture developed to depict character and mood.
  • Advances in science (medical, telescope) confirmed heliocentrism.
  • Counter-Reformation: Catholic efforts to oppose Protestant Reformation.

Italian Baroque Painting

  • Carracci and Caravaggio most influential.
  • Reacted against Mannerism, brought back naturalism.
  • Annibale Carracci (1560-1609): Cultivated classical beauty.
  • Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610): Stark realism, truth, not afraid of ugliness.

Caravaggio's Innovation

  • Painted directly on canvas, no preliminary drawings.
  • Popularized tenebrism: extreme contrast of light and dark.
  • Religious figures in contemporary clothing, unidealized.
  • Humanized the divine.

Tenebrism

  • From Italian 'tenebroso' (darkened, obscuring).
  • Details illuminated against dark settings.
  • Chiaroscuro vs. Tenebrism: Chiaroscuro uses light/shadow for depth, tenebrism goes full black.

Key Works by Caravaggio

  • Calling of St. Matthew: Tenebrism enhances Christian message.
  • Beheading of St. John the Baptist: Clustered figures, empty space.
  • Death of the Virgin: Caused contemporary stir, depiction of Mary as ordinary.

Annibale Carracci

  • (1560-1609): Transition between Mannerist and Baroque.
  • The Bean Eater: Honest depiction of everyday life.
  • Christ Appearing to Saint Peter on the Appian Way: Initiated Baroque art, return to naturalism, dramatic gestures.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

  • (1598-1680): Italian sculptor and architect.
  • David: Emotional, direct appeal to faithful.
  • Ecstasy of Saint Teresa: Theatrical, heightened emotion, infused with natural light.

St. Peter's Square

  • Designed by Bernini.
  • Impressive approach to the church.
  • Elliptical and trapezoidal shapes, Classical Orders with Christian saints.
  • Reflects a taste for involving audiences in created space, in particular a processional space leading to a high altar.

Baroque Churches of Malta

  • Mattia Preti associated with adorning them.
  • Cathedral of St. John in Valletta: High Baroque architecture.

Peter Paul Rubens

  • (1577–1640): Flemish painter.
  • Raising of the Cross: Affected by Counter-Reformation, viewers drawn into the picture.

French Baroque Art

  • Elegant, ordered, rational, restrained.
  • Rejected Italian Baroque exuberance.
  • Geometric regularity, absolute monarchy (Louis XIV).
  • Art glorified Louis XIV and France, secular rather than religious.
  • Palace of Versailles: Unity of arts, conveys absolute power.

Later Developments

  • Baroque ended with Rococo in Paris around 1720.
  • Baroque artists continued to be influential.
  • Neoclassical style led to Baroque artists being overlooked.