Baroque Art & Rococo17th and early 18th Centuries in Europe

The term Baroque once had a negative meaning.

The name is derived from Baroque pearls – pearls with unusual, odd shapes

Compared to Renaissance art, it was considered to be “over-dramatic” and the

architecture, “overly decorated”.

Baroque Pearl

Baroque style is Dramatic

Strong Contrast of Light and Dark

Dynamic Composition

Architecture is decorative / many details

Roman Catholic Church supported Baroque art style in response to the Protestant Reformation (movement to

reform Catholic Church) – communication of religious themes with viewer's direct and emotional involvement

Aristocracy adopted Baroque style to impress visitors and to express triumphant power and control

Baroque Style spread throughout Europe, including Italy, Holland, France, and Spain.

Italian Baroque

Annibale Carracci, Loves of the Gods, 1597 – 1601, Ceiling Fresco

Annibale Carracci, Loves of the Gods

Commissioned by Cardinal Farnese to celebrate the wedding of his brother

Various Gods and Humans in love

“quadro riportato” – looks like framed easel paintings

Inspired by Italian Renaissance art (Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian)

Comparison

Baroque fresco Renaissance fresco

Caravaggio, Conversion of St. Paul, 1601, Oil on Canvas

Story of Pharisee Saul converting to Christianity

Appears to be an accident in the horse stable (everyday life)

Caravaggio used strong light and dark / shadowy style (greatly influenced European art)

Perspective and Chiaroscuro (light and shadow) used to bring the viewer closer to the event

Caravaggio, Calling of St. Matthew, 1597 – 1601, Oil on Canvas

Christ enters from the right to summon Levi (a Roman tax collector) to a “higher calling”

Bland street scene (“normal, everyday life”)

Caravaggio’s style of strong light and shadow

Light as a symbol of God

Comparison

Gianlorenzo Bernini, Baldacchino, 1624 – 1633, Gilded Bronze

Bronze “canopy” over the tomb of St. Peter

Focal point of church

Made from Bronze of doors of the ancient Roman Pantheon (Pantheon was a temple for Pagan religion)

Commissioned by the Barberini Family

30 Meters Tall

St. Peter’s, Vatican (Rome)

St. Peter's, Rome exterior – late Renaissance (Completed 1690) designed in part by Michelangelo

Largest interior of any Catholic Church in world – holds up to 60, 000 people

Ancient Roman Pantheon, 125 – 28 CE

Spanish Baroque

Diego Valazquez, Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor), 1656, Oil on Canvas

• Informal family portrait

• Theme “Mystery of the Visual World”

• Young Princess in middle “Infantata”

• Maids in waiting helping her

• Her favorite dwarfs and her dog

• Valasquez is working on large canvas (portrait of King Philip IV and Queen Mariana (reflections in mirror)

• Man framed in doorway

Diego Valazquez, Surrender of Breda, 1634 – 1635, Oil on Canvas

Made for King Philip IV

Spanish Victory over Dutch in 1625

Spanish troops on right (organized - victory)

Dutch troops on left (disorganized – defeat)

Spanish General patting the back of Dutch General

Francisco de Zurbaran, Saint Serpion, 1628, Oil on Canvas

St. Serpion (Martyr) – tied to a tree and tortured (devotion to religion)

St. Serpion - monk born in England - “commoner” (normal person)

De Zurbaran inspired by Caravaggio’s light and shadow

Figure fills the foreground (close to viewer)

Dutch Baroque

Rembrandt van Rijn Self-Portrait in a Cap, Etching, 1630

• Created when he was a student

• Exercise in lighting, expression

• Rembrandt created at least 70

self-portraits during his lifetime

(oil paintings and etchings)Rembrandt van Rijn Self-Portrait in a Cap, Etching, 1630

Rembrandt Self-Portraits

Comparison

Rembrandt van Rijn, Return of the Prodigal Son, 1665, Oil on Canvas

Stillness / inward contemplation (less dramatic than Italian Baroque paintings)

Humility and humanity of Christ

Father and Son relationship (father forgiving Christ)

Light mixed with shadow

Light focused on father and son

Jan VermeerThe Art of PaintingOil on Canvas1662 – 1668

Jan VermeerThe Art of PaintingOil on Canvas1662 – 1668

• Vermeer painted less than 40 paintings in his lifetime (eight of them considered masterpieces)

• Vermeer known for his domestic interior scenes

• Vermeer worked slowly - highly detailed

• Realistic perspective

• Dramatic use of lighting from behind curtain

Anthony van Dyck, Charles I

Dismounted,1635, Oil on Canvas

Van Dyck – portrait artist (full body portraits)

Elegant portrait of King of England

King as a nobleman riding a horse in park

King higher up – looking down

Landscape in background

French Baroque

Hyancinthe Rigaud, Louis XIV, 1701, Oil

on Canvas

King Louis XIV

Grandiose

Absolute Monarchy

Wore high heels to make him taller (5’4”)

Jules Hardouin-Mansart and Charles Le Brun, Hall of Mirrors (Palace of Versailles), 1680, interior architecture

Hall of Mirrors in King Louis XIV’s Palace of Versailles

Mirror – Baroque source of illusion

100’s of rooms in palace

Rich decoration / details

Palace of Versailles, Paris

Rococo Art

Rococo

• 18th Century Style began in France

• In Reaction to Baroque Style

• Associated with King Louis XV

• Characterized by soft pastel colors

• Architecture is light and airy

• Asymmetrical Design

• Playful and Witty Style

Interior of Hôtel de Soubise Paris

Hôtel de Soubise interior designed by Germain Boffrand, Paris, 1735 - 1740

• Palace built in 1375 for Prince and Princess de Soubise - now a museum

• Interiors renovated in Rococo style in 1735 – 1740

• Light and airy oval-shaped rooms

• Light and airy feeling,

asymmetrical, decorative curves, creamy pastel colors with gold

Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Swing,

oil on canvas, 1767

Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Swing, oil on canvas, 1767

• Typical Rococo Style

• Departure from Serious Baroque Subject Matter

• Pastel Colors

• Visual Movement / Diagonal Composition

• Garden Scene with Cupid Statues

• Witty Subject / Erotic