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The Baroque Era

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Europe in the 17th Century

Protestant Reformation• By the early 1500s, many people in Western Europe were growing

increasingly dissatisfied with the Christian Church. Many found the Pope too involved with secular (worldly) matters, rather than with his flocks spiritual well-being. Lower church officials were poorly educated and broke vows by living richly and keeping mistresses. Some officials practiced simony, or passing down their title as priest or bishop to their illegitimate sons. In keeping with the many social changes of the Renaissance people began to boldly challenge the authority of the Christian Church.

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Martin Luther

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Martin Luther and his 95 Theses• A German monk by the name of Martin Luther was particularly

bothered by the selling of indulgences. An indulgence, a religious pardon that released a sinner from performing specific penalties, could be bought from a church official for various fees. Martin Luther was especially troubled because some church officials gave people the impression that they could buy their way into heaven. To express his growing concern of church corruption, Martin Luther wrote his famous 95 Theses, which called for a full reform of the Christian Church. In it, he stressed the following points:

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• The Pope is a false authority. The bible was the one true authority.

• All people with faith in Christ were equal. People did not need priest and bishops to interpret the bible for them. They could read it themselves and make up their own minds.

• People could only win salvation by faith in God's forgiveness. The Church taught that faith, along with good works was needed for salvation.

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LUCAS CRANACH THE ELDER, Allegory of Law and Grace, ca. 1530. Woodcut, 10 5/8” x 1’ 3/4”. British Museum, London.

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ICONOCLASM

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St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre1572

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The Thirty Years War

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Thirty Years’ WarThe Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history. The conflict lasted, unceasing, for 30 years, making it the longest continuous war in modern history.

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The Counter Reformation

• Attempts by the Catholic church and secular Catholic authorities to stem the flow of Protestantism and reform some of the worst excesses of medieval Catholicism.

• Art was used as a tool of persuasion.

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Baroque

• The seventeenth-century period in Europe characterized in the visual arts by dramatic light and shade, turbulent composition, and exaggerated expression.

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What is Baroque?

Art produced from the end of the 16th to early 18th centuriesStresses emotional, rather than intellectual responses; likes dramaGrew out of the tug-of-war between Protestant Reformation (Northern Europe) and Counter Reformation (Italy)Artists tried to persuade to the faithful through dramatic worksUsed by “absolute” rulers (popes and kings) to overwhelm and awe

Culture of Baroque Era

Wealthy middle class continues to pursue strong patronage of artsBuildings, painting, sculpture continue to be adaptedStill lifes and genre paintings (everyday life) emergeScience begins to challenge religion, Earth is not center of the universeWorkshops begin to churn out copies of popular themesValue on the original work is a modern notion

Bernini

A child prodigy who the pope demanded an audience ofDeemed the “Michelangelo” of his generationHis David is hailed as the first Baroque sculpture – it depicts a dramatic moment and involves the audience (many ducked when seeing the statue for the first time)

Bernini and St. Peters

Bernini also was responsible for the courtyard extending in front of the basilicaFrom Bramante’s original central plan design to the extensions made by Maderno, Bernini unified these artistic stylesTwo curved porticoes extended like the “motherly arms of the Church”

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alternate view Aerial view of Saint Peter’s, Vatican City, Rome, Italy, 1506–1666.

Aerial view of Saint Peter’s, Vatican City, Rome, Italy. Piazza designed by GIANLORENZO BERNINI, 1656-1667.

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GIANLORENZO BERNINI, Fountain of the Four Rivers, Piazza Navona, Rome, Italy, 1648–1651. Travertine and marble figures, granite obelisk.

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GIANLORENZO BERNINI, baldacchino, Saint Peter’s, Vatican City, Rome, Italy, 1624–1633. Gilded bronze, 100’ high.

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GIANLORENZO BERNINI, Scala Regia (Royal Stairway), Vatican City, Rome, Italy, 1663–1666.

GIANLORENZO BERNINI, Apollo and Daphne, 1623–1624. Marble, 8’ high. Galleria Borghese, Rome.

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GIANLORENZO BERNINI, David, 1623. Marble, 5’ 7” high. Galleria Borghese, Rome.

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Teresa of ÁvilaIn the cloister, she suffered greatly from illness. Early in her sickness, she experienced periods of religious ecstasy through the use of the devotional book "Tercer abecedario espiritual.

She claimed that during her illness she rose from the lowest stage, "recollection", to the "devotions of silence" or even to the "devotions of ecstasy", which was one of perfect union with God. During this final stage, she said she frequently experienced a rich "blessing of tears." As the Catholic distinction between mortal and venial sin became clear to her, she says she came to understand the awful terror of sin and the inherent nature of original sin. She also became conscious of her own natural impotence in confronting sin, and the necessity of absolute subjection to God.

GIANLORENZO BERNINI, inerior of the Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della vittoria, Rome, Italy, 1645-1652.

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GIANLORENZO BERNINI, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome, Italy, 1645–1652. Marble, height of group 11’ 6”.

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Caravaggio

Recast biblical scenes or themes in new lightUsed naturalism but instead did not idealize the narratives Accentuates the “sinner” or the lower classes in his worksStrong use of light with deep pockets of shadow - tenebrism Strong personality, thrived in Roman underground scene – nec spe nec metu

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CARAVAGGIO, Musicians, ca. 1595. Oil on canvas, 3’ 1/4" X 3’ 10 5/8”. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Rogers Fund, 1952).

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Tenebrism • From the Italian tenebroso ("murky"), (also called

dramatic illumination) is a style of painting using very pronounced chiaroscuro, where there are violent contrasts of light and dark, and darkness becomes a dominating feature of the image. Spanish painters in the early seventeenth century who were influenced by the work of Caravaggio have been called Tenebrists, although they did not form a distinct group.

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CARAVAGGIO, Calling of Saint Matthew, ca. 1597–1601. Oil on canvas, 11’ 1” x 11’ 5”. Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome

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CARAVAGGIO, Conversion of Saint Paul, ca. 1601. Oil on canvas, 7’ 6” x 5’ 9”. Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome.

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CARAVAGGIO, Entombment, from the chapel of Pietro Vittrice, Santa Maria in Vallicella, Rome, Italy, ca. 1603. Oil on canvas, 9’ 10 1/8” x 6’ 7 15/16”. Musei Vaticani, Rome.

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ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI, Judith Slaying Holofernes, ca. 1614–1620. Oil on canvas, 6’ 6 1/3” x 5’ 4”. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

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ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI, Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting, ca. 1638–1639. Oil on canvas, 3’ 2 7/8” X 2’ 5 5/8”. Royal Collection, Kensington Palace, London.

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The Habsburgs

Charles V abdicates Holy Roman Empire throne in 1556The Western portion (Spain, American colonies, Netherlands, Burgundy, Milan, Naples and Sicily) go to his son Phillip IIThe Eastern portion (Germany and Austria) go to his brother FerdinandEven as Spain’s gold imports lessen from New World, and eventual bankruptcy in 1692, this is known as Golden Age of SpainThe artwork tends to support heavily the Catholic Church and the Habsburgs liked the use of strong dramatic effect and lighting

Spain: Hapsburg Empire

• 16th century: dominant power in Europe-(Portugal, pt. Italy, Netherlands, New World)

• 17th Century: 1660 Hapsburg Empire has fallen– failure to capitalize on trade– Catholic and repressive– King Philip

• Religious fanaticism

• Counter Reformation – Religious scenes of death and

Martyrdom– Realistic details and tenebrism

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DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ, King Philip IV of Spain (Fraga Philip),

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JOSÉ DE RIBERA, Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, ca. 1639. Oil on canvas, 7’ 8” x 7’ 8”. Museo del Prado, Madrid.

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FRANCISCO DE ZURBARÁN, Saint Serapion, 1628. Oil on canvas, 3’ 11 1/2” x 3’ 4 3/4”. Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford (The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund).

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Diego Velazquez

Leading artist in the court of King Phillip IV

Because of Velasquez' great skill in merging color, light, space, rhythm of line, and mass in such a way that all have equal value, he was known as "the painter's painter.”

Master realist, and few painters have surpassed him in the ability to seize essential features and fix them on canvas with a few broad, sure strokes.

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DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ, Water Carrier of Seville, ca. 1619. Oil on canvas, 3’ 5 1/2” x 2’ 7 1/2”. Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

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DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ, King Philip IV of Spain (Fraga Philip), 1644. Oil on canvas, 4’ 3 1/8” x 3’ 3 1/8”. The Frick Collection, New York.

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DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ, Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor), 1656. Oil on canvas, approx. 10’ 5” x 9’. Museo del Prado, Madrid.

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• Hung in the kings private quarters• The Mystery of the visual world

– Canvas image– Mirror image– Optical images, not forms

• Dual theme– Family portrait

• Genre scene– Self portrait-The Artists studio

• Wearing illustrious order of Santiago

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