baroque art fountain at versailles. baroque: the ornate age 1600-1750 advanced the techniques and...

Baroque Art

Fountain at Versailles

Baroque: The Ornate Age

• 1600-1750• Advanced the techniques and grand scale of the

Renaissance were married to the emotion, intensity and drama of Mannerism

• Styles ranged from Italian realism to French flamboyance

• Common thread was a sensitivity to and absolute mastery of light to achieve maximum emotional impact.

• It began around 1600, with the Catholic Popes financing to advertise their triumphs after the Counter Reformation.

• Attraction to new worshippers with “must see” architecture

• Spread to France where rulers spent sums similar to the Egyptian Pharaohs to glorify themselves.

• Themes ranged from classical to religious in the Catholic countries to still lifes and landscape paintings in Protestant countries where religious paintings were forbidden.

Carravagio: “The Conversion of St. Paul”

• 1601• Italian Baroque• Took realism to new

lengths.• Criticized for depicting

holy figures as common people.

• Use of light brought focus to particular details.

St. Paul, thrown from horse, showing an “explicit rear-end view”

Italian Baroque

• Differed from Renaissance in its emphasis on emotion rather than rationality,

dynamism rather than stasis.

• “It was as if Baroque artists took Renaissance figures and set them

spinning like tops.”

“The Calling of St. Matthew”

• He advocated direct paintings from nature—often directly from the seamy slums.

• Apostle to be as a tax collector, in a tavern, surrounded by dandies, when the light comes on him and the call from Jesus.

Bernini: “The Ecstasy of St. Theresa”

• 1645-1652• Sculptor• His work showed

dynamic, explosive energy

• This work fuses sculpture and architecture.

St. Peters Cathedral

• The essence of Baroque style: mixture of dazzling colors, forms and materials—provide an overwhelming theatrical effect.

Borromini: “San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane”

• 1665-1667• Serpentine nature

makes the walls seem to be in motion

• Used never before linked shapes

• Alternating convex and concave walls give rippling effects.

Flemish Baroque

• Flanders (S. Netherlands—now Belgium)

• Remained Catholic after the Reformation, which gave artists ample incentive to produce religious paintings.

• Key artist was Sir Peter Paul Rubens

• 1612• Worked everywhere,

bringing synthesis of all styles

• Over 2,000 paintings• This painting shows

“Baroque curves and dramatic lighting.

Rubens: “The Descent from the Cross”

“Marie Arrives at Marseilles

• 1622-1625• Famous for his

paintings of full figured nudes

• The arrival of the French Queen depicted as a “sensory extravaganza spilling over with color and opulence”

Van Dyke: “Charles I at the Hunt”

• 1635• Flemish painter; hired

by English King, Charles I

• Painted officials in “action poses”

• Popular for flattering adjustments given to subjects of his work.

Dutch Baroque

Heda: “Still Life”• 1636• Dutch• Still life paintings

began in “post-reformation” Netherlands.

• Extraordinary realism in portraying domestic scenes.

Hals: “The Jolly Toper”

• 1627• Dutch• Used sweeping brush

strokes to freeze the passing moment (here, he looks just about to talk)

• Known for enlivening his subjects

Ruisdael: “Windmill at Wijk-bij-Duurstede

• 1665• Dutch• Most versatile

landscape artist• Emphasized great

stretches of sky water and fields, with contrasting colors to add somber mood to his paintings

Rembrandt: “The Nightwatch”

• 1642; Dutch• Perhaps most famous

painter of Western World.• Early in career did many

commissioned works• “Nightwatch” was a

turning point between early and later in his career.

• Later works moved from Baroque style to darker, moodier themes

Vermeer: “The Kitchenmaid”

• 1658• Dutch • Master of using light

and shapes and texture to bring out features in paintings.

English Baroque

Hogarth: “Breakfast Scene”

• 1745• England• Very satirical artist• Influenced by his

father’s imprisonment for debt.

• Targeted idle aristocracy, drunken urban workers and corrupt politicians

Wren: “St. Paul’s Cathedral”

• 1675-1712• Dome: diameter 112

feet and height 365 feet.• Lantern and cross at the

top weighed 64,000 tons.

Velazquez: “Las Meninas”

• 1656• Spanish • Created forms

through color and light rather than through lines. . .

• “preferred understatement to ostentation and realism to idealism.”

La Tour: “The Penitent Magdalen”

• 1638-1643• Use of light ala

Carravagio.• Use of geometrical

shapes/less life like• Human features “hidden”

Poussin: “Burial of Phocion”

• 1648• Most famous French

painter of 17th c.• Took classical

rationalism seriously• Battles, heroic

actions, and religious themes were the only thing worth painting according to Poussin.

La Brun & Hardouin-Mansart: “Hall of Mirror” (Versailles)

• 1680• 240-foot-long gallery,

lined with massive silver furniture

• 17 floor to ceiling windows and mirrors reflect the sun.

Le Notre: “The Grounds at Versailles”

• 1669-1685• Water added to

appease the complaints of Louis XIV’s mistresses complaints about the symmetry.