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Baroque comes from the Portuguese for “grotesque”;

A judgment made by later neo-classical artists who found Baroque art

too elaborate for their taste.

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• Today the term refers to the art of the 17th

century.

• It is highly ornamental and theatrical which is a better description than grotesque.

Baroque

The King’s Bedchamber from the Palace of Versailles

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• It is he art style or art movement of the Counter-Reformation in

the 17th century.

• Although some features appear in Dutch art, the Baroque style

was limited mainly to Catholic countries.

• It is a style in which painters, sculptors, and architects sought

emotion, movement, and variety in their works.

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Advances in the Sciences

• The increased secularization of

government coincided with

developments in science that

challenged many fundamental

religious tenets.

• Copernicus's argument that the sun

was the center of the universe, was

developed further and accepted

throughout Europe.

• The atomic basis for chemistry was established.

• Other scientific discoveries introduced ideas that had widespread

ramifications.

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A World-Wide Market

• Various changes promoted the growth of a worldwide

marketplace.

• Trade brought coffee and tea to Europe.

• The taste for sugar, tobacco, and rice, however, contributed to

the expansion of the slave trade to provide the labor force

needed to produce these crops.

• The establishment of a worldwide mercantile system

permanently altered the face of Europe.

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The Baroque in Italy

• The Baroque was born in Italy under the patronage of the

Catholic church.

• A papal program to beautify Rome drew artists from all over Italy.

• Artists of this era were highly skilled in drawing and painting the

human figure from every angle.

• Discover the meaning of tenebroso.

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Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680)

• Bernini was the most important Baroque sculptor and architect of the 17th-century and one of the key creators of the whole era. But he worked initially as a painter.

• This no was a sideline which he did mainly in his youth.

• Despite this his work reveals a sure hand.

• He studied in Rome under his own father, Pietro, and soon became one of the most precocious prodigies in the history of art.

Bernini, Self-Portrait as a Mature Man, 1630-35,

Oil on canvas, Galleria Borghese, Rome

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• This self-portrait was painted

when the artist was about 25 years

old, when he sculpted the David,

and Apollo and Daphne.

• The nervous rapidity of the

brushstrokes and quick flash of his

eyes reveal his desire to capture

expression in an instant.

• He did this systematically in his

sculpted portraits.

Self-Portrait as a Young Man c. 1623

Oil on canvas

Galleria Borghese, Rome

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• Next is one of the few paintings by Bernini.

• He despised painting, he regarded it as deception and lie in

contrast with sculpturing which is the truth.

• He painted only five self-portraits and a few pictures representing

saints.

Saint Andrew and Saint Thomas, c. 1627,

Oil on canvas, 59 x 76 cm, National Gallery, London

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Aeneas, Anchises,

and Ascanius, 1618-

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Marble, height: 220

cm, Galleria

Borghese, Rome

• Primarily a sculptor and

architect Bernini was a

versatile and influential

artist.

• In this, Aeneas,

Anchises, and Ascanius

Fleeing Troy, Bernini

carved his first important

life-size sculptural group.

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• Apollo and Daphne

is one of Bernini’s

most popular

sculptures.

• The influence of

antique sculptures and

of contemporary

paintings is clearly

seen.

• This life-size marble sculpture,

begun by Bernini at the age of 24

has always been in the same room

in the Borghese villa.

• Anyone entering the room first sees

Apollo from behind, then the fleeing

nymph appears in the process of

metamorphosis.

• Bark covers most of her body, but

according to Ovid's lines, Apollo's

hand can still feel her heart beating

beneath it.

• The scene ends by Daphne being

transformed into a laurel tree to

escape her divine aggressor.

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• Bernini’s 1623 sculpture of

David is quite different from

the earlier David sculptures by

Michelangelo and Donatello.

• In his David, Bernini depicts

the figure casting a stone at an

unseen adversary.

David, 1623, 67” h,

Villa Borghese, Florence

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• In comparison to the earlier

celebrated David sculptures,

Bernini paid particular attention

to the biblical text and sought to

follow it as closely as possible.

• Unlike the earlier sculptures,

Bernini's hero has a shepherd's

pouch around his neck which

already contains pebbles ready

to use in the deadly sling which

he will use against Goliath.

• The upper part of David's body is represented immediately after has taken a stone from his pouch.

• This means that the torso twists and strains not just physically but psychologically.

• The Renaissance versions of this subject show David in tranquillity with the head of Goliath or the sling-shot as attribute.

• Bernini, on the other hand, represents David in action, in the very moment of shooting.

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• The youth's tense facial

expression is modelled on

Bernini himself as he

struggled with his tools to

work the hard marble.

• According to contemporary

sources Cardinal Maffeo

Barberini (who visited

Bernini several times in his

studio) himself held the

mirror during its execution.

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• With the pontificate of

Urban VIII (1623-44), Bernini

entered a period

of enormous productivity and

artistic development.

• Bernini was commissioned to

build a symbolic structure over

the tomb of St Peter in St Peter's

Basilica in Rome.

• The result is the famous

immense gilt-bronze baldachin

executed between 1624 and

1633.

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• Bernini brought the fountain sculpture from the villa to the city, from the natural to the social setting.

• With him, the sculpture is conceived in relation to the water, to its ceaseless flow, to its shape and course, and thus it becomes one of the "symbolic forms" of the Baroque.

Fontana del Tritone, 1624-43

Travertine, over life-size

Piazza Barberini, Rome

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• The Fountain of Trevi may or may not be the most beautiful fountain in Rome but it is without doubt the most famous.

• The imaginative concept, the theatrical composition, the sober and imposing beauty of the sculptured marble figures make it a true masterpiece both of sculpture and of architecture.

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• The greatest single example of Bernini's mature art is the

Cornaro Chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria, in Rome, which

completes the evolution begun early in his career.

• The chapel, commissioned by Cardinal Federigo Cornaro, is in a

shallow transept in the small church.

• Its focal point is his sculpture of

The Ecstasy of St Teresa (1645-52), a depiction of a mystical

experience of the great Spanish Carmelite reformer Teresa of

Ávila.

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• In the Cornaro Chapel, Bernini

employed a combination of

architecture, sculpture, and painting

to create an appropriate dramatic

tension for the mystical drama of the

Ecstasy of Saint Theresa.

• Bernini combines a painted ceiling,

a marble sculpture, bronze rays of

light and a carefully placed window

to create this highly dramatic

interpretation of The Ecstasy of

St. Theresa.

Bernini, Ecstasy of St. Theresa, 1645-53.

Marble, 11 1/2 ‘ h.,

Coronaro Chapel,

Santa Maria della

Vittoria, Rome.

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• The white marble group

of swooning saint and

smiling angel appears to

float as a vision might in

the cleverly illuminated

central niche.

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Caravaggio (1571-1610)

• Caravaggio, byname of Michelangelo Merisi, was a painter whose revolutionary technique of tenebrism, or dramatic, selective illumination of form out of deep shadow, became a hallmark of Baroque painting.

• Scorning the traditional idealized interpretation of religious subjects, he took his models from the streets and painted them naturalistically.

• His three paintings of St Matthew (c. 1597-1602) caused a sensation and were followed by such masterpieces as The Supper at Emmaus (1601-02) and Death of the Virgin (1605-06).

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• Caravaggio shocked his patrons by placing religious figure in common,

earthy settings.

• This ability to make us seem as if we were in the painting is called

naturalism.

• The subjects in The Supper at Emmaus are brilliantly lit by a single

source of light.

Caravaggio, The Supper at Emmaus, 1597, Oil on canvas, 54 x 76”

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In The Conversion of St. Paul - Caravaggio uses both tenebroso and dramatic placement of the figures to engage the viewer.

According to the bible, on the way to Damascus Saul (Paul the Apostle) fell to the ground when he heard the voice of Christ saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' and temporarily lost his sight.

It was reasonable to assume that Saul had fallen from a horse.

The Conversion on the Way to Damascus,

1600, Oil on canvas, 230 x 175 cm, Cerasi

Chapel,, Rome

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• In his naturalistic treatment of the Conversion of Saint

Paul, Caravaggio employs dramatic chiaroscuro effects,

called tenebrism, with sharply lit figures seen emerging

from a dark background.

• The dramatic spotlight-like light illuminates the figure of

Saint Paul and at the same time serves as the divine

source of his conversion.

• Light also carries this double meaning in the dramatically

lit commonplace setting of Caravaggio's Calling of

Saint Matthew.

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Caravaggio

Calling of Saint

Matthew, ca.

1597-1601.

Oil on canvas,

11' 1" x

11' 5". Contarelli

Chapel,

San Luigi dei

Francesi,

Rome.

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• The Calling of St Matthew shows the moment at which two men

and two worlds confront each other:

• Christ, in a burst of light, entering the room of the toll collector,

and

• Matthew, intent on counting coins in the midst of a group of gaily

dressed men with swords at their sides.

• In the glance between the two men, Matthew's world is

dissolved.

30The Calling of Saint Matthew (detail), 1599-1600, Oil on canvas,

Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome

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• The tax-gatherer Levi (Saint Matthew's name before he

became the apostle) was seated at a table with his four

assistants, counting the day's proceeds.

• Surprised by the intrusion and perhaps dazzled by the sudden

light from the just-opened door, Levi draws back and gestures

toward himself with his left hand as if to say, "Who, me?", his

right hand remaining on the coin he had been counting before

Christ's entrance.

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Italian Baroque Architecture

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Maderno is best known for his work between 1606-1612 on facade

and nave of St. Peter's basilica.

The building event of the great cathedral allowed Maderno to

illustrate his talents of Renaissance application of classical

elements and proportions.

• Although Bernini grafted completely new sculptural forms onto

Renaissance buildings, he maintained a continuity with the original

serenity of the Renaissance ideal.

35View of the piazza and colonnades from St. Peters

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View facing the Piazza and Colonnade

of St. Peter’s Rome,

designed 1657.

The monumental piazza in

front of Saint Peter's,

designed by Gianlorenzo

Bernini, is in the form of a

vast oval embraced by two

colonnades of huge Tuscan

columns and joined to the

façade of the church by two

diverging wings.

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Francesco Borromini (1599-1667)

• When Maderno died in 1629, Borromini joined the workshop of

Bernini.

• Under Bernini he gained more experience as a draftsman and

designer.

• In 1634 he began work as an independent architect with his

reconstruction of the monastery and church of St. Carlo

Borromeo.

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• Borromini created a dynamic counterpoint of concave and convex elements in the façade of San Carlo alleQuattro Fontane in Rome.

Francesco Borromini,

façade of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane

Rome, 1665–1676.

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• The church is small, and

the plan and proportions

are said to be based on

one of the piers supporting

the dome of St Peter's.

• Because of its size, it is

also known as San Carlino

alle Quattro Fontane, Little

St Charles' at the Four

Fountains.

• This refers to the four

fountains at the corners of

the intersection where the

church stands.

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• The centrally

planned

interior space

molds a Greek

cross design

into an oval

shape.

Plan of San Carlo

alle Quattro

Fontane,

1638–1641.

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• The term Baroque, originally used in a pejorative sense, is employed today generally as a period designation. But no commonalities can be ascribed to all of the art and cultures of this period.

• The coordination of long-distance trade and the expansion of markets contributed to the intense economic competition between European countries.

• Stimulated by the energy and demands of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, Italian Baroque art developed a new dynamic and spectacular style that is characterized by dramatic theatricality, grandiose scale, and elaborate ornateness.

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• The monumental piazza in front of Saint Peter's, designed by

Gianlorenzo Bernini, is in the form of a vast oval. Bernini's marble

statue of David catches the figure in a dramatic moment of split-second

action.

• The Italian Baroque architect Francesco Borromini created a dynamic

counterpoint of concave and convex elements in his façades.

• The manipulation of space and the creation of theatrical effects are also

evident in Baroque painting, notably in the work of Caravaggio. His

unidealized figures and naturalistic treatment of subject matter

influenced many later artists.

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• In contrast to Caravaggio, Annibale Carracci and his followers studied and emulated the masters of the Renaissance period and developed a classically ordered style.

• As a predominantly Catholic country, Counter-Reformation imperatives encouraged Spanish Baroque artists to produce art that moved viewers towards greater devotion and piety.

• After he became official court painter to Philip IV, Velázquez painted in a style that relies less on Caravaggio and more on Titian and Rubens.