Baroque Art & Architecture - Detailed Notes

Europe Before the 1600s: The Diaspora

Northern Europe: Mostly Reformists (Christian Protestants), 1535
Southern Europe: Humanism

Religious Divisions

Catholic Church: Rome, Italy, Spain, Portugal, eastern Europe, part of England.
- The Pope and the church were above the emperor or king.
- They decided for everyone in the name of God.
Reformist (Christian Protestant): The Netherlands, Austria, some areas in France, Norway, Sweden, Finland and some areas in Germany.
- Reformists believed that the Pope should not be the mediator between people and God.
- Men should be able to talk to God directly.

The Baroque Movement (1600-1750)

Began in 1600 in Rome.
Catholic popes financed magnificent cathedrals and works to display their faith’s triumph after the Counter-Reformation.
The church wanted to attract new worshippers by overwhelming them with theatrical, “must-see” architecture.
The Pope suggested that religious art should be directed toward clarity, realism, and emotion to increase understanding, make it more meaningful to everyday life, and to arouse piety and fervor.
Comes from the term “barrocco”, a Portuguese word meaning “irregularly shaped pearl”.
Originally a negative term.

Baroque Characteristics

Sumptuous and Ornate Decorations: In architecture, there are no spatial boundaries.
Emotional Impact of Light (Tenebrism):
Drama/Pathos:
Religious Ecstasy:
Memento Mori: Life is transient, and we will all die.
Realism: Subjects were normal people, not idealized.
Abundance, Excess, Richness: Seen in each singular element and item.
Vanitas Paintings: Strong symbolism in all objects.

Baroque Architecture Vocabulary

Aedicule: A small temple usually having a circular or octagonal shape, used as a shrine.
Amorino or Cupid: Infant children with small wings.
Broken Pediment: The top of a portico or a façade.
Volute: A decorative theme consisting of a spiral.
Trophy: A group of objects arranged to form an ornament.
Cartouche: A decorative tablet imitating a scroll with Latin writings.

Examples of Baroque Architecture

St. Charles at the 4 Fountains, Rome:
- Features: Broken pediment, in-and-out façade, cupids, aedicule, volutes, trophy, niches (classical art), Corinthian capitals (classical art), cartouche.
- Exemplifies sumptuous decorations and ornate architecture.
Church of Frauenkirche, Dresden, Germany:
- Features: Curves and soft undulated shapes, in-and-out Façade (like a wave) expanding out from its boundaries.
- Demonstrates sumptuous decorations and ornate architecture with no spatial boundaries.
Church of Veltenberg Altar, Germany:
- Features: Spiral Solomonic Columns (classical – Jerusalem), excessive use of gold, Corinthian columns, decorations hanging from the ceiling.
- Exemplifies sumptuous decorations and ornate architecture with no spatial boundaries.
"The Assumption of the Virgin Mary” Asam Kirke, Munich, Germany:
- By Egid Quirin Asam, a famous German plasterer who lived in 1600.
- Demonstrates sumptuous decorations and ornate architecture with no spatial boundaries.

Baroque Painters

Italian Artists:
- Michelangelo Merisi or Caravaggio (Painter)
- Gianlorenzo Bernini (Sculptor)
- Artemisia Gentileschi (Painter)

Michelangelo Merisi or Caravaggio

His work became popular for the Tenebrism technique he used: dark shadows to emphasize lighter areas.
Caravaggio used prostitutes and people from the lower class of society as models for his paintings.
Caravaggio killed a man during a brawl and fled Rome. He died young.
Example: "David and Goliath" by Caravaggio.
Caravaggio used real people: Jesus is a peasant with dirty hands, eats humble food, and is dressed as a poor person.

Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680)

He created baroque sculpture.
His commissions were so large that he had to draw into his studio most of the sculptors from Rome.
Bernini's bigger works were usually executed by assistants, working from his designs and under his close supervision.
Bernini’s St. Sebastian.
It is often said that Bernini was the first artist comparable to Michelangelo’s mastery.
He was, however, opposite in character. Bernini was extroverted, sociable, funny, a good father, and an excellent worker. Pope Urban the 8th (his commissioner) said 'you are made for Rome and Rome is made for you!'
Example: “The Ecstasy of St. Theresa of Avila” in S. Peter, Rome. by Gianlorenzo Bernini 1647-52
- The sculpture depicts St. Teresa when she sees a vision and hears voices.
- The saint and angel appear to be on clouds, God’s light coming down from the top, the marble quivering…
- The entire piece shows emotion, drama, and passion.
Bernini’s Baldacchino in S. Peter, Rome.
- Bernini received his first commission when he was 26 years old.
- He was interested in creating a baldacchino or a canopy for the main altar in St. Peter Church (Rome).
- His gigantic $30 m$ tall structure of bronze, embellished with gliding, rises to reaffirm the Papal power and stood as a symbol of Christianity.
- The structure is supported by Solomonic columns, similar to the temple in Jerusalem, decorated with angels and heavy fabrics.
Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers, Rome (1648 c.ca).
- Bernini was also commissioned a Baroque extravaganza, the famous Fountain of the Four Rivers, committed by pope Innocent X.
- Four gigantic figures seated in contrasting poses personifying the great rivers of this world and accompanied by a characteristic animal.
- These fountains summarize the Baroque concept of grandeur and Catholic triumph in Rome.

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593 – c. 1656)

One of the first famous female artists.
Had a very bad experience (she was abused).
She turned to art to express her emotions. Her art is full of drama and revenge.
Example: Judith Slaying Holofernes (1614-20)

Spanish Artists

Zurbaran (Painter)
Diego Velasquez (Painter)

Francisco de Zurbarán

“St. Francis in Meditation”
Skull = Memento Mori, Death is inevitable.
The dusk symbolizes the end of the day, which is represented as the end of life, the entrance into the darkness and unknown.

Diego Velasquez

Velasquez entered the service of King Philip the 4th. Shortly, he painted Las Meninas or the Maids of honor, which is considered a supreme achievement, a calculated demonstration of what painting could do.
The central figure is a five-year-old girl, Margarita, daughter of Philip the 4th. She is attended by her two maids, and dwarfs stand behind the large sleepy dog. A lady in waiting and a male official are engaged in a conversation at the back.
The painter is portrayed painting himself. The portray of the king and the queen mother and father of Margarita are visible in the mirror reflection at the very back.
This painting is considered one of the most vibrant and alive in the history of painting.

Dutch Artists

Pieter Paul Rubens (Painter)
Anthony Van Dyck (English painter: studied in Holland and went back to England)
Rembrandt Van Rijn (Painter)
Pieter Claesz (Painter)
Jan Vermeer (Painter)

Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)

Rubens was a skilled diplomat. The artist-turned-envoy contributed to negotiating peace between England and Spain.
He was a social media genius. Centuries before the Web, Rubens saw the potential of engravings to make his work go viral, not only employing many engravers to reproduce his drawings and paintings but also establishing an early version of copyright in the reproductions.
Example: “St. George and the Dragon” 1607-09
- Excessive decoration in the helmet and the armor of the knight.
- The horse has perms, curls in his mane (hair) – overly decorated.
- There are many curves, twisted objects, filled spaces, which make the painting busy and heavy.
Example: "Battle of the Amazons"
Rubens created a new model of women’s beauty: Robust women, with lots of flesh, pale and translucent skin, real and not idealized, non-erotic even if naked.
- Example: “Rape of the daughters of Leucippus”

Anthony Van Dyck

Van Dyck was Ruben's assistant.
He painted many religious and mythological subjects, but he became famous because of his excellent portraits of Charles I, King of England.
He depicted King Charles I in many different ways: on a horse, as a dragon slayer and as a knight, and with his family.
He started a new portray style on how to depict kings and important figures.
Examples: “Charles I as hunter”, “Charles and S. Anthony”, “Charles’ family”

Rembrandt VAN RIJN (1606-1669)

The greatest artist of the Dutch school.
His paintings are characterized by luxurious brushwork, rich color, and a mastery of chiaroscuro.
Numerous portraits and self-portraits exhibit a profound penetration of character.
Example: The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq (The Night Watch: 1642)
- Shows Cocq’s company welcoming Marie de’ Medici’s (Queen of France) morning arrival at Amsterdam’s city gate.
- Painting moves in diagonals (figures walking toward the center- implied movement).
Example: The Syndics of the Drapers' Guild (1662)

Pieter Claesz (1597–1660)

Claesz's still lifes often suggest allegorical purpose, with skulls serving as reminders of human mortality.
Pieter Claesz was influenced by the artist movement 'Vanitas'.
- Example: Still life with Spinario
  - Skull = memento mori
  - Instruments = human virtues (show off)
  - Glass = transparency of the soul
  - Books = knowledge
  - Cupid (Spinario) = he is hurt, is no longer immortal
Still life = bread and roemer
- Fruit & flowers = life and beauty
- Dying fruit & flowers = decay and death
- Food = human need
- Upset objects = a problem is coming

Jan Vermeer

Jan Vermeer specialized in genre pictures. He did paint very little as he apparently supported his family as an innkeeper and an art dealer.
He is mostly known for his extraordinary capability to bring luminosity to his painting, and for his predominantly blue and yellow color schemes. The use of light is a new technique based on optical experiments and observation as well as the awareness of the subject.
The painter almost got forgotten but he was rediscovered in the mid-19th century.
Examples: “girl with a pear earring", "The Art of Painting"

References

‘Baroque’, paperback - Written by Hermann Bauer, Andreas Prater, Ed: Tashen-Last printed edition: 2016
‘Storia Dell’ Arte, Vol 3’, paperback - Written by Giulio Carlos Argan, Ed: Sansoni. Owed edition: 1993.
On-line resources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque
https://www.romeartlover.it/Glossar4.html