ITALIAN BAROQUE
Italian Baroque
Patrons and their influence on artHow did royal patrons of the arts choose to have themselves portrayed in the art of the seventeenth century? Comparing the art of painters such as Riguard, Van Dyck, Rubens, and Velazquez will help students to visualize the changes that had occurred since the Renaissance. Regional differences should also be noted.
Naturalism/verisimilitudeThe desire of seventeenth-century painters to achieve naturalism in their works marks a shift away from Classical ideals. The willingness of patrons to be portrayed, "warts and all" (p. 752), is a startling shift from the trends first seen in the art of the ancient Near East. Caravaggio takes this notion to an extreme, and was famously persecuted because of it.
New patronsThe emergence of a middle-class art-buying public in Holland during this period is an extraordinary development. The Calvinistic mores of that culture need to be closely scrutinized to understand the laces in their portraits and the oysters in the still lifes of the period (p. 799).
Shifting stylesThis chapter includes the Baroque and the Rococo art styles. The reasons, not fully understood, for this shift in taste and what it means visually, are of major importance. Unlike Mannerism, the Rococo style is mostly uniform, and quickly identified. Nonetheless, the chapter provides opportunities for students to practice connoisseurship—for example, in a comparison of Watteau and Boucher.
Concepts to know…
ITALIAN BAROQUE
Italian Baroque
ITALIAN
FRENCH
SPANISH
FLEMISH
DUTCH
Bernini, Borromini, Caravaggio,Gentileschi
Louis XIV, Poussin, Lorrain
Philip IV, Velazquez
Rubens, Van Dyck, Charles I
Hals, Ruisdael, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Claesz
People to know…
ITALIAN BAROQUE
Italian Baroque
Goals of Art during the COUNTER-REFORMATION(The “Empire Strikes Back”)
To deliberately evoke intense emotional responsefrom the viewer
ITALIAN BAROQUE
Italian Baroque
Goals of Art during the COUNTER-REFORMATION(The “Empire Strikes Back”)
To deliberately evoke intense emotional responsefrom the viewer
To create dramatically lit, often theatrical compositions
ITALIAN BAROQUE
Italian Baroque
Goals of Art during the COUNTER-REFORMATION(The “Empire Strikes Back”)
To deliberately evoke intense emotional responsefrom the viewer
To create dramatically lit, often theatrical compositions
To use diverse media such as bronze and marble within a single artwork
ITALIAN BAROQUE
Italian Baroque
Goals of Art during the COUNTER-REFORMATION(The “Empire Strikes Back”)
To deliberately evoke intense emotional responsefrom the viewer
To create dramatically lit, often theatrical compositions
To use diverse media such as bronze and marble within a single artwork
To create work with spectacular technical virtuosity
ITALIAN BAROQUE
Italian Baroque
Gianlorenzo BERNINIHis works include:
▪ The colonnade of St. Peter’s Piazza
▪ The baldacchino on the St. Peter’s altar
▪ Vibrant marble sculpture of David
▪ Ecstasy of St. Theresa sculpture
Bernini
ITALIAN BAROQUE
Italian Baroque Gianlorenzo Bernini, Baldacchino, St. Peter’s, Rome. 1623-1634.
Long before the planning of the Piazza, Bernini had been at work decorating the interior of Saint Peter’s. His first commission, completed in 1624
and 1633, called for the design and erection of the gigantic bronze baldacchino ( a canopy made of
cloth or stone erected over an altar, shrine, or throne in a Christian church) above the main altar
under the great dome. The canopy-like structure marks the tomb of Saint Peter. At almost one
hundred feet high it serves as a focus of the church’s splendor.
At the top of the columns four colossal angels stand guard at the upper corners of the canopy. Forming the canopy’s apex are four serpentine
brackets that elevate the orb and the cross, symbols of the Church’s triumph since the time of Constantine. All over the baldacchino are letter B’
s representing the Barberini family (Pope that commissioned the work).
ITALIAN BAROQUE
Italian Baroque
Gianlorenzo Bernini, “David”,Galleria Borghese, Rome, 1623.
Bernini’s sculpture is expansive and dramatic, and the element of time usually plays an important role in it. This marble statue aims at catching the figure’s split-second action and differs markedly from the restful figures of David portrayed by Donatello and Michelangelo.
The figures legs are widely and firmly planted, beginning the violent, pivoting motion that will launch the stone from his sling. If the action had been a moment before, his body would have been in a completely different position. Bernini selected the most dramatic of an implied sequence of poses, so observers have to think simultaneously of the continuum and of this tiny fraction of it.
This is not the kind of sculpture that can be inscribed in a cylinder or confined in a niche; its indicated action demands space around it.
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Italian Baroque
Donatello(Early Italian Renaissance)
Michelangelo(High Italian Renaissance)
Bernini(Italian Baroque)
Comparing Davids….
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Italian Baroque
Gianlorenzo Bernini“Ecstasy of Saint Theresa”,
Bernini Cornaro Chapel, Rome Italy, 1645-1652
Saint Theresa was a nun of the Spanish Counter-Reformation. Her conversion
occurred after the death of her father, when she fell into a series of trances, saw visions, and heard voices. Feeling a persistent pain,
she attributed to “the fire tipped arrow of Divine love” that an angel had thrust repeatedly into
her heart.
In her writings, Saint Theresa described this experience as making her swoon in delightful
anguish. The whole chapel became a theater for the production of this mystical drama.
Bernini depicted the saint in ecstasy, unmistakably a mingling of spiritual and
physical passion, swooning back on a cloud while the smiling angel aims his arrow.
ITALIAN BAROQUE
Italian Baroque
Francesco Borromini, facade of “San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane”,Rome, Italy, 1665-1676.
The church was designed by the architect Francesco Borromini and it was his first independent commission. Designed as part of a small monastery for a community of Spanish monks, it is an iconic masterpiece of Baroque architecture. Built to fit in a cramped and difficult site, the church has an unusual and somewhat irregular floor plan in the shape of a Greek cross defined by convex curves. The facade is similarly undulating in plan, and this effect was subsequently adopted by other Baroque architects in their church designs. The unifying design feature in the interior is the use of the triangle, a motif for the Trinity.
ITALIAN BAROQUE
Italian Baroque
The interior of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane is not only an ingenious response to an awkward site but also a provocative variation on the theme of the centrally planned church.
In the plan, San Carlo looks like a hybrid of a greek cross and an oval, with a long axis between entrance and apse. The side walls move in an undulating flow that reverses the façade’s motion.
Vigorously projecting columns define space into which they protrude just as much as they do the walls attached to them. This molded interior space is capped by a deeply coffered oval dome that seems to float on the light entering through windows hidden in its base.
Francesco Borromini, facade of “San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane”,Rome, Italy, 1665-1676.
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Italian Baroque
Francesco Borromini, interior of “San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane”, 1665-1676.
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Italian Baroque
Michelangelo Merisi (Caravaggio), Conversion of Saint Paul , 1601.
Caravaggio painted Conversion of Saint Paul for the Cerasi Chapel in the Roman church of
Santa Maria del Popolo. It illustrates the conversion of the Pharisee Saul to Christianity,
when he became the disciple Paul.
The saint-to-be appears amid his conversion, flat on his back with his arms thrown up. In the background, an old hostler seems preoccupied
with caring for the horse. At first inspection, little here suggests the momentous significance of
the spiritual event taking place.
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Italian Baroque
CaravaggioConversion of Saint Paul, 1601
On display at the Santa Maria del Popolo (Rome, Italy)
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Italian Baroque
Caravaggio,“Calling of Saint Matthew” c1597-1601
The painting depicts the story from the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 9:9): "Jesus saw a man named Matthew at his seat in the custom house, and said to him, "Follow me", and Matthew rose and followed Him." Caravaggio depicts Matthew the tax collector sitting at a table with four other men. Jesus Christ and Saint Peter have entered the room, and Jesus is pointing at Matthew. A beam of light illuminates the faces of the men at the table who are looking at Christ.
In this work Caravaggio draws inspiration from his own world, placing the biblical scene in modern reality.
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Italian Baroque
Caravaggio,“Calling of Saint Matthew” c1597-1601
In this work Caravaggio draws inspiration from his own world, placing the biblical scene in modern reality. This work is evidence of Caravaggio's artistic confidence. He was not comfortable with the traditions of contemporary idealizing history painting and so he regressed to the subjects of his youth which had previously earned his success.
Additionally, in this work, there is a likeness between the gesture of Jesus as pointing towards Matthew and that of God as he awakens Adam in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel.
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Italian Baroque
Caravaggio,“Calling of Saint Matthew” c1597-1601
The Calling of Saint Matthew can be divided into two parts. The figures on the right form a vertical rectangle while those on the left create a horizontal block. The two sides are further distinguished by their clothing and symbolically, by Christ's hand.
ITALIAN BAROQUE
Italian Baroque
Caravaggo, Crucifixion of St. Peter, c1600. Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria
del Popolo, Rome.
The painting depicts the martyrdom of St. Peter by crucifixion. Peter asked that his cross be inverted so as not to imitate his God, Jesus Christ, hence he is depicted
upside-down. The large canvas shows Romans on Nero’s behalf, their faces
shielded, struggling to erect the cross of the elderly but muscular apostle. Peter is
heavier than his aged body would suggest, and his lifting requires the efforts
of three men, as if the crime they perpetrate already weighs on them. dark,
impenetrable background draws the spectator's gaze back again to the sharply
illuminated figures, yet the faces of Romans are hidden – perhaps in shame.
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Italian Baroque
Michelangelo, Crucifixion of St. Peter Caravaggio, Crucifixion of St. Peter, c1600.
Contrast the two Crucifixions
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Italian Baroque Caravaggio, The Taking of Christ, 1602.
"The one I shall kiss is the man; seize him and lead him away safely" (Mark 14:44).
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Italian Baroque
Caravaggio, “Entombment” 1602-1603.
Beyond its ability to move its audience, this composition also had theological
implications. To viewers in the chapel, it appeared as though the men were laying Christ’s body onto the altar, which was in
front of the painting This served to visualize the doctrine of transubstantiation (the
transformation of the Eucharist and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ) -- a
doctrine central to Catholicism but rejected by Protestants. By depicting Christ’s body
as though it were physically present during the Mass, Caravaggio visually articulated
an abstract theological precept. Unfortunately, viewers no longer can
experience this effect.
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Italian Baroque
Artemisia Gentileschi“Judith Slaying Holofernes”
ca. 1614-1620
Gentileschi used what might be called the “dark” subject matter Caravaggio
that favored. Significantly, Gentileschi chose a narrative involving a heroic female, and favorite theme of hers.
The story, from the Book of Judith, relates the delivery of Israel from its
enemy, Holofernes. Having succumbed to Judith’s charms, the
Assyrian general Holofernes invited her to his tent for the night. When he fell asleep, Judith cut off his head. In this version of the scene, Judith and
her maidservant are beheading Holofernes.
You go, girl!
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Italian Baroque
Artemisia Gentileschi“Judith and Maidservant With Head of Holofernes”ca. 1612-1613
Judith Beheads Holofernes In Other Works, Too!
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Italian Baroque
Artemisia Gentileschi“Judith and Maidservant Beheading Holofernes”ca. 1625.
Judith Beheads Holofernes In Other Works, Too!
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Caravaggio, “Judith Slaying Holofernes”, ca. 1599.
Judith Beheads Holofernes In Other Works, Too!
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Lucas Cranach“Judith With Head of Holofernes”, 1530.
Judith Beheads Holofernes In Other Works, Too!
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Michelangelo. Judith and Holofernes. 1508-1512. Fresco. Sistine Chapel.
Judith Beheads Holofernes In Other Works, Too!
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Italian Baroque
Andrea Mantegna,Judith and Holofernes. c. 1495EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
Judith Beheads Holofernes In Other Works, Too!
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Italian Baroque
BotticelliDiscovery of the Body of Holofernes.c.1469-1470.
Tempera on panel. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy.
Judith Beheads Holofernes In Other Works, Too!
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Italian Baroque
Donatello,Judith and Holofernes, 1455-60.EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
Judith Beheads Holofernes In Other Works, Too!
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Italian Baroque
Annibale CarracciLoves of the Gods, 1597-1601.
Cardinal Odoardo Farnese, a wealthy descendant of Pope Paul III, commissioned this ceiling fresco to celebrate the wedding
of the cardinal’s brother.
The title interprets the variety of earthly and divine love in classical mythology.
Carracci arranged the scenes in a format resembling framed easel paintings on a
wall, but here he painted them on the surfaces of a shallow curved vault.
The Sistine Chapel ceiling, of course, comes in mind, although it is not an exact
source. This type of simulation of easel painting for ceiling designed is called quadro riportato (transferred framed
painting).
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Italian Baroque
Giovanni Battista Gaulli, “Triumph in the Name of Jesus”, Church of Il Gesu, Rome, Italy, 1676-1679 ITALIAN BAROQUE
ITALIAN BAROQUE
Italian Baroque
Giovanni Battista Gaulli “Triumph in the Name of Jesus”,
Church of Il Gesu, Rome, Italy1676-1679 ITALIAN BAROQUE
As the mother church of the Jesuit order, Il Gesu played a particularly prominent role in the Counter-
Reformation. Gaulli’s compostion focuses on the joyful rise of spirits to Christ’s aura. In contrast,
figures of the damned seem to plummet through the ceiling to the nave floor. Gaulli successfully
combined architecture, painting and sculpture to create a dramatic work that celebrates the glory of
Christ and His Church.