The Baroque Era

17th & 18th Centuries

The Baroque Era

1600 – 1775

The term “Baroque” originated from Portuguese meaning “a pearl of irregular form”

It was first used to describe the style of art as distraught, ostentatious, and overridden with excessive ornamentation

Baroque music and art advanced the techniques of the Renaissance

Baroque arts can be described as: emotional, intense, sumptuous, and highly ornate

Impact of Religion

Religion provided a drive for many of the greatest works of art

This was driven by a personal religious experience

Example: Rembrandt

Shift of Wealth

In the 17th century, the center of wealth shifted from Italy to Germany, the Netherlands, and Flanders

Shift of Wealth

In the 17th century, the center of wealth shifted from Italy to Germany, the Netherlands, and Flanders

The arts in these countries reached far greater heights of achievement than the Italian arts

Middle-Class Merchants

Baroque painters and composers turned toward “common people” for work because of the emerging middle class

Landscapes became a prominent part of painting

Music for personal religious experiences became popular

Notable Artists

Tintoretto, Rembrandt, Rubens, Velasquez, Bernini, Monteverdi, Corelli, Giovanni Gabrielli, Schutz, Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, & Domenico Scarlatti

All have won a place among the truly great artists

Painting

Characteristics:

1. Light

There is usually one source of light in Baroque art

The contrasting light and dark, such as in shadows, bring drama to the works

2. Realism and Naturalism

Realism was an important aspect

Naturalism was also seen in Baroque art through the use of normal details unique to daily life

Facial expressions highlight the subjects' moods or emotions

3. Lines

Lines help to convey motion and were often featured in Baroque pieces

4. Time

The positioning of people in each work gives the feeling of time moving forwards and backwards.

Tintoretto’s Last Supper

Da Vinci’s Last Supper (1495-1498)

Tintoretto’s Last Supper (c1570)

Tintoretto (1518 – 1594)

Real name: Jacopo Robusti or Jacopo Comin

Nicknamed Tintoretto “the little painter guy”

One of 21 children

Trained for a short period of time by Titian

Great admirer of Michelangelo

Tintoretto later developed a style of his own characterized by expressive use of colors and maximum use of contrast between dark and light

c1548 Tintoretto was commissioned to paint four pictures in the Scuola Grande di San Marco

"Miracle of the Slave,” "The Finding the body of St Mark," "The Saint's body brought to Venice," and "Votary of the Saint delivered by invoking him from an Unclean Spirit"

Tintoretto’s Masterpieces

c1548 Tintoretto was commissioned to paint four pictures in the Scuola Grande di San Marco

"Miracle of the Slave,” "The Finding the body of St Mark," "The Saint's body brought to Venice," and "Votary of the Saint delivered by invoking him from an Unclean Spirit"

Miracle of the Slave

Mid-Life

Married Faustina de Vescovi in 1550

Two sons and five daughters

Two sons Domenico and Marco, and also his daughter Marietta all assisted him in his studio.

In 1564 the artist began his association with the Scuola di San Rocco

Worked here for over twenty years and decorated the building with vast canvases

Theme was the life of the Virgin and the life of Christ

Paradise

REMBRANDT (1606 – 1669)

Born in Leiden, Netherlands on July 15, 1606

Full name: Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn

Began his studies at the Latin School

Age of 14 he was enrolled at the University of Leiden

The program did not interest him, and he soon left to study art

After six months, having mastered everything he had been taught, Rembrandt returned to Leiden, where he was soon so highly regarded that although barely 22 years old, he took his first pupils

Mid-Life

Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam in 1631

Married Saskia van Uylenburgh in 1634

She was the cousin of a successful art dealer which enhanced his career

Tragedy

Rembrandt produced many of his works in this fashionable town house in Amsterdam

Unfortunately, the family suffered many tragedies in this houses children died here

Night Watch

Dramatic events in his personal life worsened his financial situation…

Rembrandt’s Legacy

The courage to innovate and venture beyond convention, especially in the face of such adversity, could only be a lesson to those who came after

Peter Paul Rubens (1577 – 1640)

One of the greatest painters to come from the Flemish Counter-Reformation

Considered at master painter at age 23

Travels to Italy & studies the work of Italian masters making an occasional trip to Spain & England

Banquet Hall of the Whitehall Palace

Rubens’ Assembly-Line Method

Because of his enormous popularity as a painter, Rubens had many more orders than he could fill by his own creative efforts

He organized a commercial art studio operated in the assembly-line method

The general plan for a piece of work was done by Rubens, his assistant executed the background and figures, Rubens then completed the work

Diego Velasquez (1599 – 1660)

Lived and worked in Spain

Like Rembrandt, he was a master of light & shade, with a feel for space and realism

Sculpture

There is more action, expressiveness, and individuality in the sculpture of the Baroque.

Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598 – 1680)

The most famous sculptor of this era

David vs. David

Renaissance: Michelangelo

Baroque: Bernini

Bernini Videos

Architecture

Architectural design remained classic in its fundamental forms well into the 20 th century, but the Baroque spirit added vigor and, at times, profuse ornamentation.

Stairway at Schloss Augustusburg

1687 – 1753

Bruhl, Germany

Monastery Church

1702 – 1738

Melk, Austria

Baroque Music Two main lines of musical development during the Baroque:

1. Dramatic vocal music: Opera, oratorio, and cantata

2. Emancipation of instrumental music

Becomes the dominant type of music by the end of the period

Important developments:

1. Basso continuo

Bass line played by instruments such as the viola da gamba, violoncello, bassoon, or string bass

1. Figured bass

1. System of musical shorthand; system of numbers and symbols indicated to the performer the chordal structure of the music

Other Important Terms

Opera

(new form) Fused drama and music together through the use of recitative and arias which carried the narrative text of the drama

Recitative

Simple musical setting of a dramatic text so the words would be understandable

Aria

Complex musical setting of a dramatic setting

More lyrical, florid, and complex

Reserved for the very best singers

Vocal Music

Claudio Monteverdi 1567 – 1643

The greatest of the early opera composers

He pioneered the principles of combining the most important innovations of the Baroque era

Combined such items as music, text, and dramatic action into a unified expression

Ingenious stage machinery produced striking effects of supernaturalism and realism requiring stage settings (painters producing canvases) to reveal the excitement of the drama

One of Monteverdi’s most famous operas: Orfeo

Other Notable Vocal Composers :

Giovanni Gabrieli

Heinrich Schütz

Instrumental Music

Development of solo and orchestral music

Forms of these genres developed from vocal music

Baroque instrumental music is divided into 2 textures:

1. Homophonic – one predominant melodic line

2. Polyphonic – two or more melodic lines:contrapuntal – having two or more independent but harmonically related melodic parts sounding together

Baroque Instrumental Textures

1) Homophonic

One predominant melodic line

Examples: sonata, suite, concerto

2) Polyphonic

Contrapuntal: having two or more independent but harmonically related melodic parts sounding together

Example: fugue

Sonata

Derived from the Italian word sonare meaning sound

Sonatas vary from single-movement works for a solo instrument to several movement works for small ensembles

Keyboard sonatas (performed on clavichord or harpsichord) were the most popular

Domenico Scarlatti composed hundreds of harpsichord sonatas which are the best examples of this genre

Suite

Genre of music comprised of 4 dances (in order):

1. Allemande

2. Courante

3. Sarabande

4. Gigue

Concerto

Early concerto: competing or contrasting groups of instruments were played off against each other

Antonio Vivaldi

He wrote a series of twelve concertos; the first entitled The Four Seasons in which each season is represented by a single concerto

Along with the music, he wrote (or had written) a poem for each movement

The poems set the general tone of the movements and furnishes the detail for musical expression

“Spring” from the Four Seasons

Spring has returned and the birds joyously salute it with their gay songs.The streams, set free by the breath of spring, flow again with their sweet murmur.…

“Storm” from “Summer” mvt. 3 of the Four Seasons

…A gentle breeze blows, but BoreasJoins battle suddenly with his neighbour,And the shepherd weeps because overheadHangs the dreaded storm, and his destiny.

His tired limbs are robbed of their restBy his fear of the lightning and the heavy thunderAnd by the furious swarm of flies and hornets.

Alas, his fears are well foundedThere is thunder and lightning in the skyAnd the hail cuts down the lofty ears of corn.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750)