Global Exploration

• The motivation: in 1453, Turks take Constantinople (renamed Istanbul), thus blocking direct routes from Europe to Asia.

• Europeans seek all-water routes to Asia– Vasco da Gama (Portugal) sails east around

Africa to India– Columbus (Italian, employed by Spain) sails

west and “discovers” America

Major Explorations, 15th-16th c.

Spanish in Americas

• The Conquest: in 1521, Cortes with 600 soldiers overtakes Aztec Empire (Mexico)

• Mexico’s population: – 1521: 25 million– 1600: 1 million

• Bartolome de Las Casas, Very Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies (1552)

The Catholic Reformation and the Baroque Style

Christianity in Europe, 1590

Catholic Reformation

• Beginning in early 16th century

• Two movements:– Internal reform of Church– Expansion of Church’s influence

Council of Trent (1545-63)

• Reaffirms the 7 sacraments (Protestants had reduced the number)

• Makes guidelines to eliminate abuses by clergy

• Increases preaching to the uneducated, and monastic intellectual life

Council of Trent (1545-63)

• Revives Inquisition, establishes Index Expurgatorius

• Emphasizes mystical experience

Jesuits (The Society of Jesus) (1)

• Founded by Ignatius Loyola, a former Spanish soldier, in the 1530s

• Jesuits took special oath of allegiance to pope

• In Europe, defended Catholicism against Protestantism

• In Americas, India, China, and Japan, did missionary work

Jesuits (2)

• Jesuits functioned according to two principles: “mysticism and militant religious zeal” (509):– Personal, intuitive experience of God (this is

similar to the Protestant sensibility)– Absolute obedience to the Church

• Spiritual Exercises (1548) combines these principles (see 510): mysticism as physically tough practice

Jesuits (3)

• From 16th to 19th centuries, Jesuits were the main intermediaries between Europe and Asia– Matteo Ricci in China (late 16th, early 17th

centuries): first dressed as a Buddhist priest, later as a scholar

• Jesuits much more successful at conversions in Latin America than in Asia

Teresa of Avila

• Like Ignatius Loyola, brings together sensual and religious experience

• Like Loyola, she was peripatetic: known as “the roving nun”

• Visions (1611)

• Richard Cranshaw appeals to St. Teresa in his The Flaming Heart (1652)

Bernini, The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1645-52)

Mannerist Painting

• Intermediate style between the Renaissance and the Baroque, esp. present in Italy and Spain

• An expression of the Catholic Reformation tendencies of sensuousness and mysticism

• Its characteristics: “spatial complexity, artificiality, and affectation”; also “psychological intensity” (513).

Leonardo, The Last Supper (1485-98)

Tintoretto, The Last Supper (1592-94)

Raphael, Alba Madonna, c.1510

Parmigianino,

Madonna of the

Long Neck

(1534-40)

El Greco, The Agony in the Garden (c. 1585-86)

The Baroque Style

• In general: “ornateness, spatial grandeur, and theatrical flamboyance” (518)

• From Portuguese barocco: pearl of irregular shape, used for decoration/ornament

• Baroque painting: “asymmetric compositions, strong contrast of light and dark, and bold, illusionistic effects” (518)

Caravaggio, The Supper at Emmaus (c. 1600)

He sat down to eat with them, took the bread, and said the blessing; then

he broke the bread and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened

and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight.

--Luke 24:30-31

Baroque Architecture

• Baroque Catholic churches are decorative theaters where Catholic rituals are performed

• See Bernini, Baldacchino, p. 532

How does the Baroque style differ from Mannerism?

• Both are spatially complex in composition and in human figures.

• Both have strong contrasts of light and dark. However:

• Baroque is more naturalistic, creating life-like illusions

• Mannerism is more artificial and mystical in its effect

How does the Baroque style reflect the ideas and issues of its time?

• In Southern Europe, reflects the religious zeal of Catholic Reformation, combining sensuousness and mysticism

• In its spatial expansiveness, reflects European exploration of and expansion across the globe

• See Andrea Posso, Apotheosis of Saint Ignatius (1691)

Pozzo, Apotheosis of Saint Ignatius (1691)

The Protestant Baroque

Protestant Baroque• Like Catholic Baroque, Protestant Baroque

is mystical, but:• Unlike the Catholic Baroque (ornamental,

theatrical), the Protestant Baroque style is unornamented and anti-theatrical

• Focus is on private (rather than public) devotion, and internal vision

• Bible is central, rather than later saints• Financed by new commercial class

Rembrandt,

The Return of the Prodigal Son

(ca. 1662-68)

English Commonwealth• Elizabeth I (1558-1603) [Tudor]• James I (1603-1625) [Stuart]• Charles I (1625-1649)

--Civil War (1642-48)--• Oliver Cromwell (1649-1660, Puritan

“Commonwealth”)• Charles II (1660-1685); the Restoration [Stuart]• James II (1685-1688 [a Catholic])• William and Mary (1689, “Glorious Revolution”)

Van Dyck,

Charles I

on

Horseback

(c. 1638)

King James Bible (1611)

• “authorized” English-language edition

• Written by committee of 54 scholars

• Based on earlier 16th century English versions as well as on Hebrew and Latin manuscripts

• Concision, rhythm, and poetic imagery have influence on English language in general

John Donne (1571-1631)

• Meditations, Holy Sonnets, and other poems (e.g., “The Flea” and “Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”) employ metaphysical conceits, extended metaphors that bring together two seemingly dissimilar things

• These conceits reflect “the baroque affection for dramatic contrast, for frequent and unexpected shifts of viewpoint, and for the dramatic synthesis of discordant images” (569)

John Milton (1608-74)

• A Puritan and a defender of Cromwell• His modern epic poems: Paradise Lost and

Paradise Regained • Form: Blank verse• Plot: cosmic account of the relationships between

God, Satan, and humanity• Themes of Paradise Lost: “knowledge, sin, and

free will” (570)• Paradise Lost: possibly an allegory of English

Civil War?