BAROQUE ART
Art of the 17th Century - The age of Mannerism.  Baroque derives from the Portuguese word “barocco” – an irregular shaped pearl.  Baroque style, originating in Rome, Italy, was actively encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church to communicate religious themes in direct and emotional participation. The council of Trent (1563), the Church’s response to the Protestant’s Reformation, further encouraged the creation of visual art to illustrate the message of the scriptures to the laity. The Protestant Churches were totally opposed to the patronage of visual arts.

Religious commissions provided the main source of income for artists, however the nobility and aristocracy also promoted the baroque style who enjoyed its dramatic capacity to impress visitors with grand opulence and to express “triumph, power and control”.  Pomp and grandeur were important elements of the Baroque artistic movement, as can be seen when Louis XIV (the “Sun King”) said, "I am grandeur incarnate".

By the end of the 18th century, art critics were using the word in a derogatory sense - to be gaudy, over-sentimental or of poor taste.  Later those opinions would not last.

Italian Artists

ANNIBALE CARACCI  (1560-1609)
Early Italian Baroque artist.  Caracci’s interest in glimmering colors to paint objects with mistier edges owes influence by the Venetian painters like Titian.

“The Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne”  (1597)
Fresco (Palazzo Farnese Gallery, Rome, Italy)
Celling fresco depicts love scene of pagan gods (as described by the Roman poet Ovid).  Took 7 years.   New twist: the subjects look human, not Gods.

MICHELANGELO MERISI DA CARAVAGGIO  (c. 1571-1610)
Known as “Caravaggio”.  Italian artist who combined a realistic observation of the human state with a dramatic use of lighting, both ‘stage-like’ and yet natural (“radical naturalism”).

“The Incredulity of Saint Thomas”  (1602)
Oil on Canvas  (Sanssouci, Potsdam, Germany)
According to St John's Gospel, Thomas the Apostle missed one of Jesus's appearances to the Apostles after His resurrection, and said "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." (John 20:25). A week later Jesus appeared and told Thomas to touch Him and stop doubting. Then Jesus said, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

“The Calling of St. Matthew” (1600)
Oil on Canvas  (Church of St Louis of the French, Rome, Italy)
Depicts the moment at which Jesus Christ inspires Matthew to follow him (Matthew 9:9).

“David with the Head of Goliath”  (1610)
Oil on Canvas (Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy)
The sword in David’s hand carries an abbreviated inscription H-AS OS; interpreted as an abbreviation of the Latin phrase Humilitas occidit superbian (“humility kills pride”).  One interpretation of ‘David with the Head of Goliath’ is that of a double self-portrait:  the young Caravaggio as ‘David’, who lived too wild and riotous, now holds the head of the adult Caravaggio – the symbol of irresponsible youth destroying one’s life as a mature adult.

GIANIORENZO BERNINI  (1598-1680)
Bernini was an Italian sculptor and prominent architect.  He is credited with creating the Baroque style of sculpture.

"Apollo and Daphne"  (1622-1625)
Marble  (Balleria Borghese, Rome)
"Apollo and Daphne" depicts the climax of the story of Daphne and Phoebus in Ovid's Metamorphoses. In Greek mytholody, when Cassandra (daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy) angers Apollo by refusing him, he alters her gift of prophecy so that, while true, no one would believe her.  The Trojans disregard Cassandra's warnings about the wooden horse left on the beach by the Greeks, resulting in Troy's downfall.

“Ecstasy of Saint Teressa”  (1648-1652)
Marble (Church of Saint Maria, Rome, Italy)
Masterpiece of the High Roman Baroque period.  It pictures Roman Catholic mystic Saint Teresa of Avila.

Spanish Artists

DIEGO VELAZQUEZ (1599-1660)
Velazquez was a major painter of the Spanish Golden Age.  Painter to King Phillip IV.  Characteristics: skill in depicting humanity; cleaver usage of space; lots of ‘suggestive’ and ‘mysterious’ things.  Influenced by Caravaggio’s natural look. 

“Las Manitas”  (1656)
Oil on Canvas  (Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain)
Complex and enigmatic composition.  Raises questions about reality and illusion and the role between the viewer and the painting’s subjects (the young Margaret Theresa of Spain and her entourage).

“The Triumph of Bacchus”  (1629)
Oil on Canvas  (Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain)
Popularly known as Los Borrachos (The Drunks).  Bacchus surrounded by drunks.

“Portrait of Innocent X”  (c. 1650)
Oil on Canvas  (Doria Pamphilj Gallery, Rome, Italy)
Many artists and art critics consider Portrait of Innocent X the finest portrait ever created.

Flemish Artists

PETER PAUL RUBENS  (1577-1640)
Flemish painter who employed an extravagant baroque style that emphasized movement, color and sensuality.

“The Elevation of the Cross”  (1611)
Oil on Canvas  (Cathedral of Our Lady,  Antwerp, Belgium)
First great work. Skill in expressing the aliveness of the human anatomy.

“Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus”  (c. 1618)
Oil on Canvas  (Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany)
Depicts the mythical twin brothers, mortal Castor and the immortal Pollux, abducting Phoebe and Hilaeira, priestess daughters of Leucippus.

“The Lion Hunt”  (1621)
Oil on Canvas  (National Gallery, London, England)
Rubens proudly discussed this painting in a 1621 letter: "I have almost finished a large picture, entirely by my hand, and in my opinion one of my best, representing a Lion Hunt, with the figures life-sized."

“Self Portrait”
Oil on Canvas  (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna Austria)

Dutch Artists
In Protestant Holland life was different in comparison to the Flanders visual artist.  The Protestant Churches were totally opposed to the patronage of visual art.  They interpreted such art as graven and forbidden by scripture.  To make a living, Dutch artists focused on portraits, landscapes, seascapes, still-life or anything the artist considered celibate. In the end it proved to be a liberating development.  Portraiture became very popular among the thriving Holland business community.  A clear Baroque identity developed among the Dutch painters. 

FRANS HALS  (c. 1582-1666)
Dutch Golden Age painter.  Notable for his loose ‘painterly’ brushwork (visible brushstrokes); famous for his portraits in capturing the humanity and personality of the subjects.  Influenced by Caracci and Caravaggio. 

“Laughing Cavalier”  (1624)
Oil on Canvas  (Wallace Collection, London, England)

REMBRANT HARMENSZOON VAN RIJN  (1606-1669)
Dutch painter and etcher.  Generally considered the world’s greatest portrait artist.  Keen ability to capture the person behind the face.  He mastered the skill in depicting several people together.  Also a master of drawings and etchings.

“The Man with the Golden Helmet” (c. 1650) 

Oil on Canvas (Gemaldegalerie, Berlin) 

The self-absorbed expression on the man's face has been interpreted as a 'sleeping Mars' - symbolizing silent weapons, and thus peace. The Rembrandt Research Project currently considers the work to have originated from "someone in his circle".

“The Sampling Officials”  (1662)
Oil on Canvas  (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
Considered Rembrandt’s “last great collective portrait”. The painting appears on the packaging of Dutch Masters cigars. The men are drapers who were elected to assess the quality of cloth that weavers offered for sale to members of their guild.

 “Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis”  (1662)
Originally the largest painting by Rembrant (~15’).  The painting was commissioned by the Amsterdam city council for the Town Hall.  It was returned back to Rembrandt, who may have never been paid.  Rembrandt cut down the painting to a quarter of the original size to be sold.  The painting’s scene depicts an episode from the Batavian rebellion (70AD), where the one-eyed chieftain Claudius Civilis bounds the whole assembly of “bolder spirits of the lower class” with “barbarous rites and strange forms of oath.” (the painting was most likely returned due to Rembrandt’s incongruous crown and a King without a “consultative, republican attitude”).

JOHNANNES (JAN) VERMEER  (1632-1675)
Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of real people doing real things in real places. Calm distribution of light;  superb arrangement of space.  Some critics claim that Vermeer is not a Baroque artist in the strictest sense.

“The Milkmaid”  (c. 1658)
Oil on Canvas  (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
The Rijksmuseum regards “The Milkmaid” as “unquestionably one of the museum’s finest attractions”.

“View of Delft”  (1661)
Oil on Canvas  (Mauritshuis, The Hague, Netherlands)
Painting of Vermeer’s hometown.

“Girl with a Pearl Earring”  (c.1665)
Oil on Canvas  (Mauritshuis, The Hague, Netherlands)
Vermeer’s masterwork.

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