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Learn about Baroque art, from its derogatory origins to its appreciation as a distinctive style in the 17th century. Explore notable artists and key events that shaped this period in European art history.
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NOTES FOR TOPIC 9 Baroque • The dominant style of European art from c. 1600 to c. 1720. • The word probably derives from the Portuguese barroco, used to describe irregularly shaped pearls. • Originally used as a pejorative (negative) term to characterize what was perceived to be the extravagant, unclassical, even grotesque nature of 17th-century architecture. • Nowadays employed as a neutral term to designate the 17th-century style in general, but in popular usage can still mean ornate, ornamental, extravagant, overdone, etc.
ADDITIONAL NOTES FOR TOPIC 9 By the end of the 16th century there was a widespread belief in Italy that art had grown old, that it was dying (or already dead) from “a certain I-don’t-know-what kind of malign influence, either of the sun, or the stars, or the moon, or of destiny or fortune.” There was also a nostalgic sense that what we now call the High Renaissance—the age of Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael—was a Golden Age, and that the second half of the 16th century was “an age of senility,” or an “age of decrepitude,” characterized by a style that was “weak,” “sluggish,” “indolent,” and “washed-out.”
ADDITIONAL NOTES FOR TOPIC 9 • Protestant Reformation • Martin Luther • “95 Theses” (1517) • Catholic Counter-Reformation • Council of Trent (1545-63)
MAPS OF ITALY IN THE 15TH & 16TH CENTURIES Note location of the town of Trent (called Trento in Italian and Trient in German)
Rules governing art laid down at the Council of Trent: • Clarity, simplicity, intelligibility • Realistic interpretation of subject matter, which must be absolutely true to the Bible • Emotional stimulus to piety
Portrait of Caravaggio by Ottavio Leoni (chalk on blue paper) “Caravaggio’s style corresponded to his . . . appearance. He had a dark complexion and dark eyes, and his eyebrows and hair were black; this coloring was naturally reflected in his paintings.”—G. P. Bellori, 1672 Another 17th-century source described Caravaggio’s behavior as stravagantissimo—extremely bizarre or eccentric.
Supper at Emmaus Detail: basket of fruit jutting out over the edge of the table into the “liminal” space—the space on the “threshold” of the real world.
Supper at Emmaus Another detail
Supper at Emmaus One last detail
View of the Contarelli Chapel, endowed by Matteo (Matthew) Contarelli Caravaggio, Calling of St. Matthew, c. 1599-1600
Calling of St. Matthew Two of Matthew’s companions, one of whom listens to St. Peter
Calling of St. Matthew St. Matthew pointing to . . . whom?
Calling of St. Matthew Old man watching boy count money. But whose hands are counting the money?
Caravaggio, David with the Head of Goliath, c. 1609
Self-portrait? Portrait of Caravaggio
Gentileschi, Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes, c. 1625
Gentileschi, Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes, c. 1625 The painter’s full name was Artemisia Gentileschi, and she was the first woman artist to achieve international fame. Today she is a heroine of feminist art history. Since the mid-20th century, she has been the subject of 2 scholarly books in English, 4 novels, 3 plays, and a movie! Approximately 90% of her surviving works feature women as the main protagonists.
Map of Western Europe The Caravaggesque style arrives in Spain (Note the locations of Seville and Madrid) Zurbarán, St. Serapion, c. 1628
Caravaggio, David with the Head of Goliath, c. 1609 Francisco de Zurbarán, St. Serapion, c. 1628
Caravaggio, David with the Head of Goliath, c. 1609 Diego Velázquez, The Water Carrier of Seville, c. 1619
Detail Diego Velázquez, The Water Carrier of Seville, c. 1619
Velázquez, The Maids of Honor (Las Meninas), 1656
Las Meninas Detail: The Infanta (Princess) Margarita
Reflection in the mirror: Queen Mariana and King Philip IV of Spain
