Topic 1
The Baroque and the Spanish Golden Era
The term• Baroque is the name given to European
culture in the period which started in the 17th cent and lasted for most of the 18th cent
Influenced by the religious conflicts
Catholic countries• Intense spirituality
• Crisis (Spain)
Protestant countries
• Individualistic way
• Economic success
The Milkmaid by Vermeer
Culture
• Inspired in classical forms
• But different
Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Teresa
Reality as it was
• No hiding defects
• No idealisation
• Movement
• Contrast
Literature
• Shakespeare
• Molière
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-_QlzUJBbU&feature=related
Spanish Golden Era
• Calderón de la Barca
• Lope de Vega
• Cervantes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WyO7yDvaJk&feature=related
Music
• Vivaldi
• Händel
• Bach
Summerhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0FTIPilHx8&feature=related
Science• Empiricism– Observation+Experimentation
• Rationalism– Use of reason
• Galileo
• Kepler
• Newton
Academies of sciencesGalileo before the Holy Office
Baroque in art
Architecture• Buildings were built to attract the attention
of passers-by
How?
• Curved lines
• Solomonic and spiral columns
• Light effects– Recesses and projections– Broken pediments– Light and shade
• Rich ornamentation
• Combination of painting+sculpture+architecture
Transparenteof Narciso
Tomé in the Cathedral of
Toledo
PaintingRembrandt
The Nightwatch
Rome, capital of Baroque
• Originated in Rome• Reconstruction of
Rome after Council of Trent
• Objective: Reinforce the idea of Rome as capital of the Christianity
• Also a symbol of the Counter-Reformation
How?
• Constructing large churches
• Squares
• Avenues leading to the main religious buildings
The best ones…
• Gian Lorenzo Bernini
• Francesco Borromini
Bernini
• Chosen by the Popes
• Redesigned the Saint Peter’s square and Basilica– 2 great colonnades– Baldachin (=pillared
canopy)
Piazza Navona
Borromini
• San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
Saint Ivo alla Sapienza
Spread of the style: Spain
• Rich ornamentation
• José de Churriguera– Churrigueresque
style
• Town squares (Salamanca)
Town square in Salamanca
Spread of the style: France
• Great palaces
• Versailles is the largest and the most famous