Baroque Visual Art Analysis ActivityBaroque is derived from the Italian word “barocco” which means “misshapen pearl.” It was a term applied later, probably as an insult by changing tastes, to a period that came to be dominated by excess and ornamentation. But Baroque art is better characterized by being full of drama and energy, and contrasts and tensions, which were meant to appeal to the heart instead of the mind. Emotion was the goal, and artists used dramatic lighting and strong contrasts between light and dark to break from the cool, “Classical” qualities of the Renaissance.

The conflict between the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation can be seen in the subject matter of the artwork. Catholic countries used religious subject matter to draw people back to the Catholic Church while Protestants wanted no religious art for their churches. Northern artists focused on portrait, landscape, still-life, and genre (scenes of everyday life) paintings. Two artists, one from Italy and one from Holland, used Baroque characteristics in their artwork.

Michelangelo Merisi “Caravaggio” (1571-1610)

Michelangelo Merisi , known as Caravaggio can be credited with giving Baroque art its distinctive look and feel. He used chiaroscuro, extreme contrasts between light and dark values, to illuminate his works. Like a spotlight focused on an actor on the stage, light is used to emphasize the drama and emotion in his paintings. Unlike Renaissance painters, Caravaggio’s figures are not perfect, but flawed which made the figures seem much more real and human. This characteristic made his paintings shocking at the time. People thought he was being disrespectful by showing religious figures as ordinary, everyday people.

Presumably born in the town of Caravaggio, Italy, Caravaggio became an artist’s apprentice in 1584. He moved to Rome when he was 21 and moved from workshop to workshop learning to paint in the Renaissance style. His early works show a strong attention to detail and classical ideas. Caravaggio believed early on in looking at nature and the world around him for inspiration. His early paintings were mostly still lifes and portraits (he couldn’t afford to hire models so he used himself), and show his developing use of chiaroscuro. He found a patron, the Cardinal del Monte, who would commission some of Caravaggio’s greatest works, including three paintings based on the life of St. Matthew for the Contarelli Chapel in Rome.

The Calling of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio

In The Calling of St. Matthew, Christ enters a tavern to summon Matthew as his future apostle. A shaft of light over Christ’s head illuminates the faces of the men counting money at the table, including the bearded face of Matthew who was a tax collector. Christ points at Matthew, his hand painted as a direct copy of Michelangelo’s hand of God in The Creation of Adam from the Sistine Chapel. Unsure, perhaps fearful, Matthew points to himself, as if saying, “Who, me?” The asymmetrical balance of the painting and the diagonal line of the shaft of light create interest and drama. The light also symbolizes the light of God and divine selection. This painting was Caravaggio’s first public work, and it created shock. At first the church refused the painting even though it was based on St. Matthew’s own account of what happened. Here were religious figures painted as common men in a bar. Caravaggio’s works were finally accepted as being much more truthful and understandable than the idealized religious figures of the Renaissance.

Caravaggio’s own life was far from being considered religious. Around this same time, his temper led him to get in trouble with the law. He got into fights, was sued and sent to prison. In 1606 he killed a man in an argument over a score in a tennis game. He spent the remaining four years of his life as a fugitive. Oddly enough, some of his most renowned paintings came from this time period. They were darker and the subjects more violent. In 1610 he was arrested trying to board a ship. He asked for a church pardon and was released to go to Rome. On the way, he caught pneumonia and died at the age of 39.

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669)

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born in Leiden, Holland which is close to Amsterdam. His father was a miller who ground grain in machines powered by windmills close to the Rhine river. Rembrandt went to a Latin preparatory school and on to the University of Leiden. He dropped out of the university to become a painter’s apprentice. He learned how to paint, etch (printmaking), and draw. He moved to Amsterdam to work with an artist who had studied in Italy and was greatly influenced by Caravaggio. Rembrandt learned how to use chiaroscuro and returned to Leiden to set up his own workshop.

The Night Watch by Rembrandt

Unlike most Dutch painters, Rembrandt painted religious subjects; but, he also painted numerous self-portraits, as well as landscapes, portraits, still-lifes, and genre paintings. He earned good profits from doing group portraits including The Night Watch. In this painting, Rembrandt created a dramatic scene of a group of militia men assembling for a parade, not a battle. The painting shows a lot of movement as figures hurry to line up while a drummer plays and the captain in the center (notice Rembrandt’s use of a red sash as a focal tool) gives a speech. A dog is barking, a boy runs out of the scene, and a little girl is moving through the group of men turned in every direction while readying their weapons for the march. Rembrandt used his own special type of lighting to spotlight certain figures which makes the scene appear more chaotic and active. Figures are captured in the soft, warm glow of light that seems to come from multiple directions. The painting is full of energy and tension. The painting darkened over time, making it appear to be a night scene and led to it being inaccurately titled The Night Watch.

Rembrandt’s wife, Saskia, died the same year he painted The Night Watch. Rembrandt fell into debt and was forced to sell all his possessions. He began losing commissions as people no longer wanted portraits that were not flattering. He returned to painting religious subjects near the end of his life. Rembrandt will always be remembered for his special use of lighting, creating a golden glow around his subjects to express mood and emotion.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598- 1680)

Bernini was a sculptor, painter and architect and a formative influence as an outstanding exponent of the Italian Baroque. He was an exceptional portrait artist and owes to his father his accomplished techniques in the handling of marble and also an impressive list of patrons that included the Borghese and the Barbarini families. Bernini originally worked in the Late Mannerist tradition but rejected the contrived tendencies of this style. By 1624 he had adopted an expression that was passionate and full of emotional energy. His figures are caught in a temporary moment from a single viewpoint, bursting into the spectator's space. In 1644 such interpretation reaches maturity in his rendition of the vision and Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. The Spanish nun swoons in heavenly rapture at the point of an angel's arrow. The work is a prime example of Bernini's vision of a decorative whole combining different materials and colors within an architectural space. A succession of powerful patrons in Rome and in Paris assured his reputation as an entrepreneurial artist who captured the spirit of the Counter-Reformation. His extreme and intense characterizations have fallen in and out of favor but his Baroque legacy remains intact

Ecstasy of Saint Theresa

Saint Theresa was a nun who was made a Saint by the Church because of the spiritual visions she experienced. She lived during the middle of the 16th century in Spain—at the height of the Reformation.

When we look at the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa by Bernini we have to consider the entire space of the chapel. The chapel is called the Cornaro Chapel, after the Cornaro family who owned it and commissioned Bernini to sculpt Saint Theresa. Saint Theresa wrote several books in which she described her visions.

This is her description of the event that Bernini depicts: “Beside me, on the left, appeared an angel in bodily form.... He was not tall but short, and very beautiful; and his face was so aflame that he appeared to be one of the highest rank of angels, who seem to be all on fire.... In his hands I saw a great golden spear, and at the iron tip there appeared to be a point of fire. This he plunged into my heart several times so that it penetrated to my entrails. When he pulled it out I felt that he took them with it, and left me utterly consumed by the great love of God. The pain was so severe that it made me utter several moans. The sweetness caused by this intense pain is so extreme that one cannot possibly wish it to cease, nor is one's soul content with anything but God. This is not a physical but a spiritual pain, though the body has some share in it—even a considerable share. “

Saint Theresa describes her intensely spiritual experience in very physical, even sexual terms. We know that an important goal of Baroque art is to involve the viewer. Theresa is describing this in physical/sexual terms so that we can understand. After all, being visited by an angel and filled with the love of God is no small experience.

The first thing that we notice when we walk into the chapel is that we have the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa in front of us, and on either side of us, on the side walls; we see what look like theater boxes. In the boxes, seated figures in appear to be talking and gesturing to each other. Perhaps they are kneeling in prayer as they watch the scene of the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa.

There are portraits of members of the Cornaro family. Behind them Bernini created a fabulous illusion of architecture—a coffered barrel vault, doorway and columns. And, if we follow the metaphor of a theater, it feels as though we've got the best seats in the house! And importantly, what's happened is that we have immediately become a part of the work of art. It surrounds us, and we are literally inside of it. This is, as we have seen, a typical feature of Baroque art—breaking down the barrier between the work and the viewer, to involve us.

Baroque Visual Art

1. Name four way that make Baroque visual art different.

2. What is the difference between Protestant church art and the Catholic Church art?

3. What technique did Caravaggio use?

4. Explain why the church did not want Caravaggio’s painting of St. Matthew.

5. Which technique does Rembrandt use?

6. What is the Night watch a picture of?

7. How did The night watch gets its name?

8. What happen to Rembrandt after his wife died?

9. What should Bernini thank his father for?

10. What techniques did Bernini achieve in 1624?

11. Explain what St. Theresa says about Bernini depiction of the ecstasy of St. Theresa.

12. Why is the sculpture of St. Theresa controversial?

13. What are the people in the theater boxes doing and who are they?

Baroque Visual Art Discovery Activity

1. Look at a Rembrandt or Caravaggio painting. Explain how the elements of art and principles of design are used to create the mood of the work. Explain what Chiaroscuro means and how the painter used the technique –and to what effect.

2. Create a SHORT comic strip using the Chiaroscuro technique.

3. Alfred Hitchcock used the Chiaroscuro technique in his movies very effectively. His techniques have been emulated by hundreds of directors that came after him. Think of other ways in which Chiaroscuro can be used. What art forms can make use of it? How? Where do we see examples of it today?