Art Through the Ages

Chapter 24-COf Popes, Peasants, Monarchs, and

MerchantsSpanish & Flemish Baroque

Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew

Influenced by Caravaggio, Jusepe de Ribera imbued his work with both a naturalism and compelling drama.

The brutal theme of martyrdom satisfied Counter-Reformation and Spanish taste for the representation of courageous resistance to pain.

shows unidealized, plebeian figures.

Joséde Ribera, ca. 1639. Oil on canvas, approx. 7' 8"

X 7' 8".

Saint Serapion

Francisco de Zurbarán was also influenced by Caravaggio's naturalism and dramatic lighting effects.

In his painting, he shows the coarse-featured saint emerging in bright light from a dark background.

Saint Serapion, a Scottish monk who took part in the Third Crusade in 1196, was martyred preaching the Gospel to Moslems.

According to one account of his martyrdom, Saint Serapion was tied to a tree, tortured and decapitated--although here he is depicted in an immaculate white habit, two branches of the tree faintly visible in the background.

Francisco De Zurbarán, 1628. Oil on canvas, 47 ½ " x 40 ¾ ".

Water Carrier of Seville

The influence of Caravaggio is also seen in the dramatic contrast of darks and lights in Diego Velázquez's Water Carrier of Seville, which also includes plebeian figures and finely painted, naturalistic detail.

Diego Velázquez, ca. 1619.

Oil on canvas, 41 ½ " x 31 ½ ".

Surrender of Breda

Portrait of Philip IV

Velázquez's Portrait of Philip IV shows the king as a military leader.

Diego Velázquez, (Fraga Philip), 1644.

Oil on canvas, 51 1/8" x 39 1/8".

Las Meninas

Elevation of the Cross The Flemish painter Peter Paul

Rubens synthesized in his art a variety of mostly Italian influences to create an international Baroque style.

His various influences are evident in the Elevation of the Cross painted for Antwerp Cathedral.

The combination of dynamic diagonals, strong modeling in dark and light, and anatomically powerful figures involved in violent action creates a scene of intense physical and emotional drama.

Peter Paul Rubens,, 1610. Oil on canvas, 15' 2" x 11' 2".

Arrival of Marie de' Medici at Marseilles

His largest commission was in 1621 for a series of 21 paintings for Marie de’Medici, the Queen Dowager of France, widow of Henry IV.

The paintings, describing Marie's life, were for her palace in Paris. It was not an easy work. The queen was far from being a beauty, her life was not full of interesting events, besides she was of bad temper

The rich, decorative splendor of Rubens's painting is enlivened by the inclusion of allegorical personifications and mythological figures :

Peter Paul Rubens, 1622-1625. Oil on canvas, approx. 5' 1" x 3' 9 ½ ".

Allegory of the Outbreak of War

Rubens himself provides a written explication of the content and also reveals his opinions on military conflict. Peter Paul Rubens, 1638. Oil on canvas, 6' 9" x 11' 3 7/8".

Charles I Dismounted Here effectively combined, of the

courtier as an "honest man" and as a "prince" among men; the individual matching his persona.

On the one hand there are the servants, the cane standing for government, clothes which are almost too sumptuous for a hunt and the proud stance;

on the other, a masterly isolation of the main figure silhouetted against a pale sky, and set subtly off-centre, as is emphasized by the curve of branches

Anthony Van Dyck, ca. 1635. Oil on canvas, approx. 9' x 7'.