Baroque – Dutch Flemish• The popularity and success of the "Baroque" was encouraged by the

Roman Catholic Church. They realized that artists' dramatic style could show religious themes with elaborate artistic styles

• The secular (nonreligious) aristocracy also saw the dramatic style of architecture and art as a means of impressing visitors and competitors

• This period used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce emotions such as drama, tension, exuberance, and excellence in sculpture, painting, literature, and music

• The style started around 1600 in Rome, and spread to most of Europe• For the first time, Baroque sculpture often had multiple ideal viewing

angles

Primary Artists:

Caravaggio Peter Paul Rubens Diego Velasquez

Bernini Rembrandt Vermeer

Caravaggio• Michelangelo Merisi – successful artist but

his turbulent lifestyle led to fights, drunkenness, murder and he spent years fleeing Rome and the police

• He used live models such as street people • Claimed he didn’t need to study past masters• He created realistic and “lived in” natural

emotions• His use of intense, unseen light sources cast

extreme contrasts of light and dark on the scene, called chiaroscuro influenced generations to come

The Calling of St. Matthew – oil on canvas, 1600

The Conversion of St. Paul –

oil on canvas, 1600

The Crucifixion of St. Peter –

oil on canvas, 1601

Peter Paul Rubens• A famous Flemish artist• His work is in France, Italy, and the

Netherlands, very famous throughout all of Europe

• At an auction in 2002, Rubens' painting Massacre of the Innocents sold for $75 million

The Adoration of the Magi

1624 Oil on canvas The Raising of the Cross 1610 Oil on wood

Diego Velasquez• The crown jewel of Spain’s golden age of painting• Inspired by Caravaggio, with a naturalistic style;

everyday activities and ordinary people as models• Many paintings include royals of Spain, who was his

primary commissioner• His masterpiece, Las Meninas is a play: is the family

royal? (the king and queen entering) or is it picture of the royal family on a commoners wall?

• His paintings have been recreated by Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali

• Friend of Peter Paul Rubens, who convinced him to use Oil painting Las meninas - 1656

Las meninas 1957– by Picasso

Bernini• Gian Lorenzo Bernini was undoubtedly the most

important sculptor of the Baroque period• He excelled in marble sculptures and busts, with overly

dramatic movement and emotions• Inspired by Greco-Roman sculpture and form• Believed Italian art was better than any other, which

offended the French • Designed the Piazza and colonnades of St. Peter’s Basilica

(Vatican City)

The Ecstasy of St. Theresa

marble sculpture, 1652The Piazza of St. Peter’s Basilica

Vatican, 1652

Apollo and Daphne marble, 1625

Rembrandt• Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn - The greatest

artist of the Dutch school, lived primarily in Amsterdam

• His paintings are characterized by luxuriant brushwork, rich color, and a mastery of chiaroscuro

• He was a master of light and shadow; his paintings, drawings, and etchings made him a master

• He was successful, but died poor, he couldn’t afford his living style

• He produced approximately 600 paintings, 300 etchings, and 1,400 drawings. (60 self-portraits)

The Night Watch, Rijksmuseum 1642

The Little Children Being Brought to Jesus 1649 Etching

Vermeer

• Johannes Vermeer was a Delft painter• He completed less than 40 works of art • He produced carefully detailed interiors

with just one or two figures - usually women – bringing beauty to everyday life• His style used light softly and subtly, like

natural daylight, with highlights to focus• His paintings were full of symbolism, as if

they were like poetry

Girl with a Pearl Earring 1666 Oil on canvas

Young Woman with a Water Pitcher 1665 Oil on canvas

• Choose one artist from the Baroque time period and create your own replica• You can copy the style, the subject, shadowing

effects, the exact paintings – YOUR INTERPRETATION• For examples:• If you copy Caravaggio, create unique light

sources, casting shadows• If you copy Rubens, create obvious emotions

and physical movement• For Velasquez, create your interpretation of

Las Meninas• For Bernini, draw a marble sculpture (Greek-

style) • For Rembrandt, paint a self-portrait• For Vermeer, paint a woman doing an

everyday task

Activity Time