The Baroque World

Chapter 15: The Baroque WorldOUTLINE

The Counter-Reformation Spirit The Visual Arts in the Baroque Period Painting in Rome: Caravaggio and the Carracci Roman Baroque Sculpture and Architecture:

Bernini and Borromini Baroque Art in France and Spain Baroque Art in Northern Europe Baroque Music The Birth of Opera Baroque Instrumental and Vocal Music:

Johann Sebastian Bach Philosophy and Science in the Baroque Period Galileo Descartes Hobbes and Locke Literature in the Seventeenth Century French Baroque Comedy and Tragedy The Novel in Spain: Cervantes The English Metaphysical Poets Milton's Heroic Vision

Outline Chapter 15

Timeline Chapter 15: The Baroque World1534 Loyola establishes the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) 1601 Caravaggio, The Calling of Saint Matthew 1620 Artemesia Gentileschi, Judith and Holofernes 1629 Bernini appointed official architect of St. Peter's, Rome 1632 Galileo, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World

Systems 1639 Poussin, Et in Arcadia, Ego 1642 Rembrandt, Night Watch 1645 Bernini, Saint Teresa in Ecstasy 1656 Velázquez, Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor) 1665 Vermeer, The Girl With Pearl Earring 1682 Louis XIV moves court to Versailles 1690Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding;

Second Treatise on Government 1720 Vivaldi, The Four Seasons 1721 J. S. Bach, Brandenburg Concertos

Timeline Chapter 15

If the history and culture of the sixteenth century were profoundly affected by the Reformation, the prime element to influence those of the seventeenth century was the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church's campaign to regain its authority and influence. By clarifying and forcefully asserting their teaching, backed up with a vigorous program of missionary work, church leaders aimed to present a positive and optimistic appearance that would eliminate past discords.

The Counter-Reformation Spirit

In this example of Catholic propaganda, the Pope holds his ears while Calvin and Luther battle, with the Bible as one of the weapons.

Europe After the Reformation

Among the resources used by Counter-Reformation reformers were the arts. Imposing architectural complexes like Saint Peter's Square in Rome, paintings and sculptures, music and verse could all serve to reinforce the glory of the church. In some cases works were commissioned officially; in others artists responded individually to the spirit of the times. Bernini's Saint Teresa in Ecstasy, a statue that reflects the artist's own devout faith, was commissioned for the church in Rome in which it still stands. Richard Crashaw's poetry represents a more personal response to the religious ideas of his day.

Counter-Reformation Art

Saint Peter's Square and Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome

BerniniThe Ecstasy of Saint Therese1647-52Marble

For all the importance of religion, the seventeenth century was also marked by significant developments in philosophy and science. Galileo, the father of modern physics, revolutionized astronomy by proving Copernicus' claims of the previous century correct. Thinkers like Descartes and Hobbes, instead of accepting official church teachings, tried to examine the problems of human existence by their own intellectual approaches. Descartes was the founder of modern rational thought (although a believer in a supreme being); Hobbes was the first modern materialist

The Rise of Science

Copernicus Galileo Descartes Hobbes

The principal artistic style of the seventeenth century was the baroque, a term originally used for the visual arts but also applied by extension to the other arts of the period. Although the Baroque style was created in Italy, it spread quickly throughout Europe and was even carried to the New World by missionaries.

The Arts in the Baroque Period

Baroque art is marked by a wide range of achievements, but there are a number of common features. Artists in the seventeenth century were concerned to express strong emotions, either religious or personal. This in turn led to an interest in exploring human behavior from a psychological point of view. With the new subjects came new techniques, many of them emphasizing the virtuosity of the artist. These in turn led to the invention of new forms: in music that of opera, in painting that of landscape scenes, to take only two examples

Common Features of the Arts of the Baroque Period

The chief characteristics of baroque painting were created in Rome around 1600 by two artists. Caravaggio's work is emotional and dominated by strong contrasts of light and darkness. Annibale Carracci painted scenes of movement and splendor, many on classical themes. Both strongly influenced their contemporaries and successors. Caravaggio's use of light was the forerunner of the work of artists as diverse as the Spaniard Vel·zquez and the Dutchman Vermeer, while Carracci's choice of classical subjects was followed by the French Poussin. The two greatest painters of northern Europe, Rembrandt and Rubens, were also influenced by the ideas of their day. Rembrandt used strong contrasts of light and dark to paint deeply felt religious scenes as well as the self-portraits that explore his own inner emotions. Rubens, one of the most versatile of artists, ranged from mythological subjects to historical paintings like the Marie de' Medici cycle to intimate personal portraits.

Baroque Painting

Painting in Rome: Caravaggio – dark contrasts

The Fortune Teller1596-97Oil on canvas

The Taking of Christc. 1598Oil on canvas

St. John the Baptist (Youth with Ram)c. 1600Oil on canvas

Supper at Emmaus1606Oil on canvas

Madonna with the Serpent1606Oil on canvas

Painting in Rome: Carracci – brilliant light

Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne1597-1602FrescoPalazzo Farnese, Rome

Artemisia Gentileschi

Judith Beheading Holofernes1611-12Oil on canvas

Susanna and the Elders1610Oil on canvas

Although the seventeenth century saw architects increasingly employed in designing private houses, most of the principal building projects were public. At Rome the leading architect was Bernini, also one of the greatest sculptors of the age, whose churches, fountains, and piazzas changed the face of the city. In his sculpture Bernini drew on virtually all the themes of Counter-Reformation art, including mythological and religious works and vividly characterized portraits. The other great building project of the century was the palace built for Louis XIV at Versailles, where the splendor of the Sun King was reflected in the grandiose decoration scheme.

Baroque Architecture

The Ecstasy of S. Teresa of Avila, the centerpiece of Bernini’s Cornaro Chapel at the Church of S. Maria della Vittoria in Rome

Roman Baroque Sculpture and Architecture: Bernini and Borromini

Gian Lorenzo BERNINIDavid1623-24Marble

The headquarters of the Propaganda fide in Rome, housed by architects Borromini and Bernini: etching by Giuseppe Vasi, 1761

Palace of Louis XIV at Versailles

Versailles Palace, facade

Versailles Palace, coutyard

Baroque Art in France and Spain

• Georges de La Tour• Nicolas Poussin• Claude Le Lorrain (Claude Gellee)• El Greco• Diego Velazquez

Georges de La Tour

Fortune Teller1632-35Oil on canvas

Magdalen of Night Light1630-35Oil on canvas

Nicolas Poussin

Midas and Bacchus1629-30Oil on canvas

The Triumph of David1630-31

The Rape of the Sabine Women1634-35Oil on canvas

Claude Le Lorrain (Claude Gellee)

Landscape with Acis and GalatheOil on canvas

Landscape with Apollo and MercuryOil on canvas

Embarkation of St Paula Romana at Ostia

El Greco

The Pietà (The Lamentation of Christ)1571-76Tempera on panel

Assumption of the Virgin1577Oil on canvas

Christ on the Cross1600-10Oil on canvas

View of Toledo1597-99Oil on canvas

Diego Velázquez

Peasants at the Table(El Almuerzo)c. 1620Oil on canvas

The Immaculate Conceptionc. 1618Oil on canvas

Prince Baltasar Carlos on Horseback1635-36Oil on canvas

Diego Velázquez, Las Meninas

Las Meninas1656-57Oil on canvas

This is a composition of enormous representational impact. The Infanta Margarita stands proudly amongst her maids of honour, with a dwarf to the right. Although she is the smallest, she is clearly the central figure; one of her maids is kneeling before her, and the other leaning towards her, so that the standing Infanta, with her broad hooped skirt, becomes the fulcrum of the movement. The dwarf, about the same size as the Infanta, is so ugly that Margarita appears delicate, fragile and precious in comparison. On the left in the painting, dark and calm, the painter himself can be seen standing at his vast canvas. Above the head of the Infanta, we see the ruling couple reflected in the mirror.

Baroque Art in Northern Europe

• Rubens• Vermeer• Rembrandt

Rubens

Virgin and Childc. 1604Oil on panel

Venus at a Mirrorc. 1615

The Union of Earth and Waterc. 1618Oil on canvas

Vermeer

Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window1657Oil on canvas

The Milkmaidc. 1658

View of Delft1659-60

Woman Holding a Balance1662-63

Rembrandt

Self-Portrait1659Oil on canvas

Descent from the Cross1634

The Anatomy Lecture of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp1632Oil on canvas

In music, as in the visual arts, the Baroque period was one of experimentation and high achievement. Counter-Reformation policy required that music for church use should be easily understood and appreciated, as was already the case in the Protestant countries of northern Europe. At the same time there was a growing demand for secular music for performance both in public and at home.

Music in the Counter-Reformation

17th Century Musical Instruments: Violin, Recorder, Lute, Double Virginal

One of the most important innovations of the seventeenth century was opera. The first opera was performed just before 1600 in Florence, and by the middle of the century opera houses were being built throughout Europe to house the new art form. The first great composer of operas was the Italian Monteverdi, whose L'Orfeo is the earliest opera still to hold the stage. Among later musicians of the period to write works for the theater was the German Georg Frideric Handel, many of whose operas were composed to Italian texts for performance in England

The Birth of Opera

Handel also wrote oratorios, sacred dramas performed without any staging; indeed the most famous of all oratorios is his Messiah. The oratorio was a form with a special appeal for Protestant Germans. The greatest of all Lutheran composers, Johann Sebastian Bach, wrote masterpieces in just about every musical form other than opera. Like many of the leading artists of the age, Bach produced works inspired by deep religious faith as well as pieces like the Brandenburg Concertos for private entertainment.

Bach and Handel

Bach Handel

The baroque interest in emotion and drama, exemplified by the invention of opera, led to important developments in writing for the theater as well as in the style of poetic composition and the invention of new literary forms. In France the comedies of MoliËre and the tragedies of Corneille and Racine, written in part under the patronage of Louis XIV, illustrate the dramatic range of the period. The religious fervor of the English metaphysical poets is yet another sign of baroque artists' concern with questions of faith and belief. The more practical problems involved in reconciling ideals with the realities of life are described in Don Quixote, one of the first great novels in Western literature. The most monumental of all literary works of the seventeenth century, Milton's Paradise Lost, aimed to combine the principles of Renaissance humanism with Christian teaching. Its drama, spirituality, and psychological insight mark it as a truly baroque masterpiece.

Baroque Literature

Don Quijote and Sancho, engraving, by Gustave Dore