Baroque Art Professor A. D’Ascoli. Baroque Era 1611 King James Bible is published 1612 Foundation of New York by the Dutch 1618 Beginning of the Thirty

Baroque Art

Professor A. D’Ascoli

Baroque EraBaroque Era

• 1611 King James Bible is published• 1612 Foundation of New York by the

Dutch• 1618 Beginning of the Thirty Years' War,

which devastates much of the German region

• 1619 First African slaves in Virginia• 1636 Foundation of Harvard College

Baroque Art CharacteristicsBaroque Art Characteristics

• Symmetry still applies in architecture• Classical themes are replaced by religious ones

in the classical style• Ornate, rich, lavish decorations inside and even

outside• Attempt to show power of the Church• Emotional and violent portrayals• Strong contrast between light and dark colors• Trompe l’oiel (fool the eye) painted illusions

Baroque ArtBaroque Art

• St Peter’s façade• 1607 – 1615• Rome, Italy• Architecture• Artist: Carlo Maderno• Changed Michelangelo’s

Greek cross plan to Latin cross to accommodate large crowds

• Largest of any church in Europe

• Uses symmetrical order to connect the stories

• Grand theatrical work to evoke power of Pope


• Piazza di San Pietro• 1657• Rome, Italy• Architecture• Artist: Gianlorenzo Bernini• Plaza and colonnade

represent the outstretched arms of the church encircling the faithful

• Fountains align exactly


• Baldacchino• Rome, Italy• 1624 – 1633• Sculpture• Artist: Bernini• Altar that sits directly over

St. Peter’s tomb• Bronze that this is made

of was taken from the Pantheon’s roof by order of Barberini family

Baroque ArtBaroque Art• David• 1623• Rome, Italy• Sculpture• Artist: Bernini• David caught in the

middle of hurling the stone

• Amazing skill is seen here in the expression, clothing and details of muscles and veins

Blessed Ludovica Albertoni1671-1674Rome, ItalySculptureArtist: BerniniShows her dying but in religious ecstasy at the same timeNot a saint yet, just beatified – claimed she could levitate and perform miracles

Baroque ArtBaroque Art• St. Theresa in

Ecstasy• 1645 – 1652• Rome, Italy• Sculpture• Artist: Bernini• Moment when angel

is piercing St Theresa’s heart with the arrow of pure love of God, her face in divine pleasure (almost erotic)

BerniniBernini

BerniniBernini


Baroque ArtBaroque Art• San Carlo alle Quattro

Fontane• 1638 – 1667• Rome, Italy• Architecture• Artist: Francesco Borromini• Church is on an intersection of

narrow streets upon each corner is a fountain

• Curvilinear surface is a unique aspect of Borromini’s work

• Unique space called for unique church – columns of a made up classical order

Dome of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane

1665-1676

Rome, Italy

Architecture

Francesco Borromini

Dove painted in center represents the Holy Spirit

Chapel of Saint Ivo1642

Rome, Italy

Architecture

Francesco Borromini

Most famous architect of the Baroque – he and Bernini were rivals

Known for using curved lines and spaces rather than the straight symmetry of the Renaissance

Chapel of Santissima Sindone

1667-1694

Turin, Italy

Architecture

Guarino Guarini

The Shroud of Turin rests here

Multi-layered dome causes unique perspective

Baroque ArtBaroque Art• Calling of St. Matthew• 1599 – 1602• Rome, Italy• Painting• Artist: Caravaggio• Seated at a bar St

Matthew is called to Jesus

• The use of light makes this into a religious experience

• Christ’s halo is barely visible

• Tenebrism – in a dark manner

Conversion of Saint Paul

ca. 1601

Rome, Italy

Painting - oil on canvasapproximately 7 ft. 6 in. x 5 ft. 9 in.

Caravaggio

Caravaggio is considered the greatest of the Italian Baroque painters, his use of light to cause spotlight effects is one of his great innovations in art

Baroque ArtBaroque Art• The Entombment• 1603• Rome, Italy• Painting• Artist: Caravaggio• The stone slab is placed at

eye height to give the viewer the sense that he/she is in the tomb ready to receive Christ’s body

• Self portrait snuck in here• Caravaggio’s saints are

regular people – common looking – an aspect that got him in a lot of trouble during his career

David Victorious over Goliath

1599

Rome, Italy

Painting - oil on canvas43 1/4 x 35 7/8 in.

Caravaggio

Heavily influenced his pupil Gentileschi as can readily be seen in this compared to Judith Slaying Holofernes

Baroque ArtBaroque Art• Judith Slaying Holofernes• 1620• Rome, Italy• Painting• Artist: Artemesia Gentilischi• In the style of Caravaggio’s

tenebrism• She was a female artist• The light is used as a sort of

spotlight to the main characters in the work

• A lot of her art portrayed violence – many say associated with her being sexually assaulted at 15

Judith and her Maidservant

ca. 1612-1613

Rome, Italy

Painting - oil on canvas44 7/8 x 36 13/16 in.

Artemisia Gentileschi

Note the head is now in the basket


• Triumph of St. Ignatius Loyola

• 1691 – 1694• Rome, Italy• Painting• Artist: Fra Andrea Pozzo• Ceiling of Sant’Ignazio in

Rome• Illusionist Baroque style –

flat ceiling line is gone – looks like it goes up into space

Triumph of St. IgnatiusTriumph of St. Ignatius

Baroque ArtBaroque Art• The Bedroom• 1663• Netherlands• Painting• Artist: Pieter de

Hooch• Baroque Dutch

painting focused on details of everyday life

• Painting above doorway to show art is in everyday life


• Jolly Toper• 1628 – 1630• Amsterdam, Netherlands• Painting• Artist: Frans Hals• Spontaneity is captured

here instead of the usual stiff seated portraits

• Balancing a glass of wine in one hand and gesturing with the other

• He did not blend the brushstrokes


• Boy Playing a Flute• 1630 – 1635• Amsterdam, Netherlands• Painting• Artist: Judith Leyster• A follower of Hals• Depicted animated

scenes from daily life like this one

• Use of light and shadow


• The Night Watch• 1642• Amsterdam, Netherlands• Artist: Rembrandt• Painting• The event painted took place

in the morning but years of candle soot and age caused it to be known as the Night Watch in error due to its darkening

• All men in the painting paid equally for its commission

• Composed along diagonal lines


• Self-Portrait• 1669• Amsterdam, Netherlands• Painting• Artist: Rembrandt• His last self-portrait of well

over 60• Contours have become

looser• Painting himself as he was

– it was an insightful reflection not like the paintings of Durer at all


• Young Woman with a Water Pitcher

• 1664 – 1665• Delft, Netherlands• Painting• Artist: Jan Vermeer• Ordinary daily life activities

in ordinary surroundings was Vermeer’s signature style

• The light shines in producing shadows in all its subtleties

Girl with the Pearl Earring

1670-1675?

The Hague, Netherlands

Painting - oil on canvas18 x 16 in.

Jan Vermeer

His most famous painting – even made into a movie

Focus is on the pearl, may not even be a real person

Called “The Mona Lisa of the North”


• The Love Letter• 1669 – 1670• Amsterdam, Netherlands• Painting• Artist: Jan Vermeer• Composed in a series of

rectangles formed in perspective

• Paintings hang on the wall, a laundry basket and the letter itself adorn this painting

Elevation of the Cross

1610

Antwerp, Belgium

Painting - oil on panel15 ft. 2 in. x 11 ft. 2 in.

Peter Paul Rubens

Rubens focuses on musculature much like Michelangelo in his early work, this will change in his works

Baroque ArtBaroque Art• Marie de’ Medici, Queen of

France, Landing in Marseilles• 1622 – 1625• Antwerp, Brussels• Painting• Artist: Peter Paul Rubens• Gained his fame from

European royal courts, especially Marie de’ Medici

• Full of drama for such an ordinary situation

• Plump females were his trademark “Rubenesque”

The Three Graces1636- 1639

Paris, France

Painting - oil on canvas87 in. x 71 1/4 in.

Peter Paul Rubens

This is Rubens 2nd wife and her 2 sisters – seems they had scoliosis

Baroque ArtBaroque Art• Portrait of Charles I at the

Hunt• 1635• London, England• Painting• Artist: Anthony van Dyck• Painting captures the king’s

attitude of control and calm while contrasting it with the unsettled horse and the struggling groom

• Van Dyck was an assistant to Rubens originally

Self-Portrait

ca. 1630

Haarlem, Netherlands

Painting - oil on canvas2 ft. 5 3/8 in. x 2 ft. 1 5/8 in.

Judith Leyster

A student of Hals

She became one of the first truly successful female painters

Baroque ArtBaroque Art• Las Meninas (Maids of Honor)• 1656• Madrid, Spain• Painting• Artist: Diego Velazquez• Both a family portrait and a

genre scene at the same time• Velazquez himself (behind

canvas) as well as the king and queen (in mirror at back of room) have all been placed in the painting surreptitiously as the princess and her maids pose

• Considered his masterpiece and possibly the most recognizable painting in the world

.

Baroque ArtBaroque Art• Rape of the Sabine

Women• 1636 – 1637• Paris, France• Painting• Artist: Poussin• Diagonals, and verticals

aid in perspective • Figures seem frozen in a

moment rather than fluid• Style that is meant to

appeal to the mind not the eye

Et in Arcadia Ego

ca. 1655

Paris, France

Painting - oil on canvas2 ft. 10 in. x 4 ft.

Nicholas Poussin

Became more famous in modern times because of Da Vinci Code and Rennes le Chateau mystery as it is said to lead to clues to Christ and the Magdalen’s tomb in France.


• Palace du Louvre East Façade

• 1667 – 1670• Paris, France• Architecture• Artists: Louis Le Vau,

Charles Le Brun & Claude Perrault

• A return to strict classical forms began during the late Baroque era in France – it would develop into a style known as Neo-Classicism

Baroque ArtBaroque Art• Gardens at the

Chateau of Versailles• 1662 – 1668• Versailles, France• Architecture/Sculpture• Artist: Andre le Notre• Natural world turned to

geometric shapes in symmetrical patterns


• Garden Façade Versailles

• 1669• Versailles, France• Architecture• Artist: Louis le Vau• This is the rear of the

palace at Versailles facing the gardens; strict classicism was still followed for this structure

VersaillesVersailles

Baroque ArtBaroque Art• Hall of Mirrors• 1680• Versailles, France• Architecture• Artists: Charles le Brun &

Jules Hardoun-Mansart• 240 ft long but only 34 ft

wide and 43 ft high it gives the appearance of a tunnel

• The window side overlooks the gardens

• Symbol of French Baroque elegance

Eglise de Dome/ Church of the Invalides

1676-1706

Paris, France

Jules Hardouin-Mansart

French military church and hospital

Now also a museum of the French military

Napoleon’s tomb is also inside

Napoleon’s TombNapoleon’s Tomb


• St. Paul’s Cathedral• 1675 – 1700• London, England• Architecture• Artist: Christopher Wren• A Baroque interpretation

of the Pantheon of Rome• Columns are arranged in

pairs – a characteristically Baroque feature

• Also added a lantern to the dome

• The 2 towers are also Baroque in style

Interior of Vierzehnheiligen

1743-1772

Staffelstein, Germany

Architecture

Balthasar Neumann

German Baroque is extremely detailed and extravagant

Assumption of the Virgin

1723

Rohr, Germany

Architecture

Egid Asam

Light from window makes it a seemingly heavenly experience


• Harpsichord• 1658• Germany• Painting/Sculpture• Artist: Jerome de Zentis• In the Baroque era, the

harpsichord was a key instrument used by both Bach and Handel in their compositions and performances

• Strings were plucked not hammered by a mechanism inside

Salon de la Princesse

1737-1740

Paris, France

Achitecture

Architect - Germain Boffrand with Painting by Charles-Joseph Natoire and Sculpture by J.B. Lemoine

Considered by some to be Rococo – not Baroque as it is too extravagant

Spanish BaroqueSpanish Baroque

• Christ Embracing St. Bernard

• 1625-1627• Valencia, Spain• Painting• Artist: Francisco Ribalta• Actually depicts Christ’s

descent from the cross into the Saint’s arms

Spanish BaroqueSpanish Baroque• Immaculate Conception• 1678• Madrid, Spain• Painting• Artist: Bartolome Esteban

Murillo• The idea of the immaculate

conception of Mary came out of Seville Spain in 1617, it is a recent Catholic addition to the dogma

• So Spanish artists were the first to portray it


• The Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew

• 1634• Naples, Italy• Painting• Artist: Jusepe de

Ribera• Heavily influenced by

Caravaggio as he worked in Italy

Spanish BaroqueSpanish Baroque• Christ on the Cross• 1627• Llerena, Spain• Painting• Artist: Francisco de Zubaran• Creates illusion of super-reality and

expresses the dual nature of Christ• One of his most famous works


• Cristo Yacente• 1625-1630• Valladolid, Spain• Sculpture• Artist: Gregorio

Fernandez• Lifelike and the gore

caused quite a stir


• Chapel of the Rosary• 1690• Puebla, Mexico• Architecture• Inside Church of Santo

Domingo• Baroque style pushed

to the limits of design and decoration

• Full of flourishes and gilded gold

Baroque ArtBaroque Art• Frontispiece of Leviathan• 1651• London, England• Ink and Pen• Written by Thomas

Hobbes• The body of the king is

made up of his subjects referring to the social contract betweens government and the people

• A supported government rules of over a well fortified land at peace

• The Leviathan is seen as a defense of monarchial rule

Baroque ArtBaroque Art• Telescope• 1609• Florence, Italy• Sculpture and Glasswork• Artist: Galileo Galilei• Galilei was able to

contradict the Ptolemaic view of a geocentric universe by observing the motions of the heavens

• He was excommunicated for his views and told to recant them publicly

The end . . .The end . . .

Next lecture . . . Next lecture . . .

The 18The 18thth century century

Documents

Baroque Art Professor A. D’Ascoli. Baroque Era 1611 King James Bible is published 1612 Foundation of New York by the Dutch 1618 Beginning of the Thirty