Art Appreciation Topic V: Baroque Art
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Transcript of Art Appreciation Topic V: Baroque Art
Art Appreciation
Topic V:Baroque Art
c.1600-c.1720
“Baroque” is the name given to the vigorous style that dominated art and architecture in the 17th century. It was a bold, theatrical style characterized by movement, intense emotion, and dramatic contrasts in lighting. This style originated in Rome and spread throughout Europe.
In some ways, the Baroque style looked back to the grandeur, dignity, and directness of the High Renaissance, but it also took elements from Mannerism, blending these influences into a fresh and dynamic style.
Because it was linked to the Counter-Reformation in the Catholic Church, Baroque art in its purest form was produced only in Catholic countries. It generally seemed overemotional to Protestant eyes, although elements of the Baroque style often occur in art from Protestant countries and are used to treat secular subjects.
Aside from religion, other popular Baroque subjects included: portraits, landscapes, mythological and allegorical subjects, , and scenes of everyday life.
Sick Bacchus by
Caravaggio
Sleeping Cupid by Caravaggio
Ceres and Stellio
byAdam
Elsheimer
Old Woman at the Mirror
byStrozzi
Diana and her Nymphs by Domenichino
Apollo and Daphne
byBernini
St. Matthew and the Angel
byReni
Romulus and
Remus Given
Shelter by Faustulus
byCortona
Beheading of St. Paul
byAlgardi
Rocky Landscape with a Huntsman and Warriors by Rosa
During the 17th century France became the most powerful state in Europe and began to rival Italy for artistic leadership. While in Italy the most characteristic Baroque art was religious, in France it was frequently used in the service of the state—specifically to glorify King Louis XIV. His palace at Versailles is one of the two great monuments to the style.
The most influential French Baroque painters worked primarily in Rome, but they were highly influential in France, helping to create an ideal of classical dignity and restraint that had a profound and enduring impact on the country’s art.
The Fortune Teller by Vouet
Cheater with the Ace of Diamonds by La Tour
The Empire
of Floraby
Poussin
Peasant Family by the Le Nain brothers
Smokers in an
Interiorby theLe Nain brothers
Landscape with Dancing Figures by Lorraine
Molièreby
CharlesLe Brun
Vanitas (Still Life with Skull) by Champaigne
Apollo Tended by the Nymphs by Girardon
Milo of Crotona Attacked by a Lion
byPuget
Louis XIVby
Rigaud
Although it had declined greatly in political power, Spain had a glorious flowering of art in the 17th century and the Baroque style was well suited to the religious fervor of the country. Religion dominated its art, although the greatest Spanish artist of the time—Diego Velázquez—was primarily a portraitist. His work sometimes has a rhetorical quality characteristic of Baroque art, but it is always tempered by naturalism.
Madrid was the most important art center in the country, although other cities, notably Seville, were also of major importance at this time.
The Merciful Christ
by Montañés
Still Life with Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber by Sánchez Cotán
Still Life with Pottery Jars by Zurbarán
Still Life with Lemons by Zurbarán
Las Meninas
byVelázquez
Two Boys Eating
Melons and Grapes
byMurillo
Young Boys
Playing Diceby
Murillo
In Ictu Oculi
by Valdés
Leal
Art in Flanders (roughly equivalent to modern-day Belgium) and the Dutch Republic (Holland) shared a common heritage, as the two countries had been united in the 16th century. However, while the Dutch broke away from Spanish rule to create an independent, largely Protestant state, Flanders remained loyal to Spain and to the Catholic Church.
Consequently, although there are many similarities between the countries’ art, religious subjects remained of major importance in Flanders but were relatively uncommon in Holland. Rubens dominated Flemish art and ranks as one of the archetypical figures of the Baroque style, his work being full of warmth and energy. Rembrandt was a figure of comparable statue in Holland, and 17th century Dutch art was unprecedented for its volume and variety of painters.
Venus at the Mirror
byRubens
Bacchusby
Rubens
The Three Graces
byRubens
Self-Portrait with Sunflowers by van Dyck
Lord John and Lord Bernard Stuart
byvan
Dyck
The Bitter Tonic
byBrouwer
The Wild Boar Hunt by Snyders
Fire and Childhood
byLievens
The Laughing Cavalier
byHals
The Mulatto
byHals
The Music Party
byRembrandt
Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt
The Night Watch by Rembrandt
A Table of Desserts by de Heem
The Milkmaid
byVermeer
Girl with the Pearl Earring
byVermeer
The Art of
Paintingby
Vermeer
The Merry Family by Steen
The Windmill at Wijk
byRuisdael