Introduction to Baroque.

Baroque to Neoclassical, Week 1

Background:

Rome was the artistic capital of the world during 1700s and saw the emergence of new genres:

• Landscape becomes the subject as opposed to just a background.

• Rise of portraits.

• Mythological scenes.

• Genre paintings and still life.

BAROQUE, a Period or a Style? - Both.

Baroque is best exemplified by Bernini (sculptor & architect) and Rubens (painter). The style of the Baroque artists is anti-mannerist.

Caravaggio: realism, simple clothes, profound expression of emotion. 

Caravaggio, Christ at the Column, 1607

Annibale Carracci: more traditional than Caravaggio, more idealised but similar in that they both express extreme emotion. 

Annibale Carracci, Domine, Quo Vadis?, 1602

Rubens: key figure in revival of religious subjects. Ferocious energy, deep space, dramatic/vivid realism, very physical figures. 

Peter Paul Rubens, Raising of the Cross, 1610

ARCHITECTURE:

Renaissance architecture combined the idea of a high nave with lower side aisles; this was linked on the façade with scrolls.

Contrast the Renaissance Il Gesù with the Baroque Santi Luca e Martina. Pietro da Cortona’s Baroque church is very curvaceous, the centre bulges forward, the roundness of the columns compliment the curvature of the façade. This creates a dynamic sense of undulating movement.

BORROMINI was the master of Baroque architecture. His buildings undulate in huge curves to create a rhythmical composition. e.g. S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1646).

Curvaceous facade of San Carlo 

Detail of facade

In Sant’Agnese in Agone (1653-60) he has created a swinging movement within the façade. Wren was influence by Borromini in his design for St Paul’s cathedral, however, the design is much more constrained in England.

Facade of Sant’Agnese in Agone

The Château de Versailles (1669-85) is huge, Baroque, and Rectilinear. Composed of lots of straight lines with a careful balance of verticals and horizontals. The interior exemplifies the Baroque.

 

Rectilinear facade of the Château de Versailles 

The extreme richness of the interior at the Château de Versailles

PAINTING in BAROQUE ROME.

- CARAVAGGIO (1573-1610) had a huge impact on Italian art. He had no assistants or pupils, but he had many imitators.

Caravaggio, Crucifixion of St. Peter, 1600, Cerasi Chapel, Rome

He painted ordinary human types to portray saints. The figures are realistic, and not idealised (the bottoms of feet are exposed, dirty and wrinkled). This depiction is very different to, for example, Bronzino’s Martyrdom of St. Lawrence (1596).

Bronzino, Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, 1596

Caravaggio uses *CHIAROSCURO* ((chiaro - light, oscuro - dark) Light areas contrasted with deep shadow). He uses very few figures, bringing the subject right up close, providing a sense of physical presence. Involving the spectator in the event, making them feel apart of it.

In his early work, his paintings were more evenly lit and were more conventional than his later works. For example, Rest on the Flight into Egypt (c. 1597) is much more reserved and quietly naturalistic, than any of his other paintings. The tones of colour are softer and more varied.

Caravaggio, Rest on the Flight into Egypt, c. 1597

Caravaggio’s Fortune Teller (c. 1596) is one of his early genre paintings. He distinguishes his work toward the Early Baroque with the use of dramatic shaft of light. The anecdotal genre scene, which depicts a contemporary subject, in contemporary dress, reflects the development of his dramatic narrative.

Caravaggio, Fortune Teller, c. 1596

Judith Beheading Holofernes (c. 1599) represents Caravaggio’s commitment to naturalism when portraying drama. The drama of the scene is heightened by the sharp contrasts of light and dark, chiaroscuro.

Caravaggio, Judith Beheading Holofernes, c. 1599

In Caravaggio’s Supper at Emmaus (1601), he depicts a very ordinary looking type of Christ in an inn after the resurrection. Not only does Caravaggio demonstrate his skill at foreshortening, but also paints a still life within the religious scene. The dramatic lighting heightens the moment of revelation, through the intensified shadows of chiaroscuro. Caravaggio was criticised for lacking decorum, as Christ is shown young, and without a beard. The apostles are portrayed as dirty and unkempt.

Caravaggio, Supper at Emmaus, 1601

The Contarelli Chapel - dedicated to St. Matthew.

In The Calling of St. Matthew (c. 1600), Caravaggio uses the technique of tenebrism, as most objects remain in shadow, few objects are illuminated providing emphasis on the immediacy of the moment of the divine calling. Caravaggio juxtaposes temporal and eternal, sin and apostolic mission through darkness and light (Martin, 58). The naturalism of the scene brings the biblical event into the earthly world of the viewer, as seen with the modern dress of Matthew’s companions. 

Caravaggio, The Calling of St. Matthew, c. 1600

Opposite The Calling of St. Matthew in the Contarelli Chapel is the Martyrdom of St. Matthew (c. 1601). The scene depicts the murder of Matthew. The emotional drama is directed through the use of light. Caravaggio’s naturalism includes the modern and biblical dress, bringing the biblical event into the contemporary world of the viewer.

Caravaggio, Martyrdom of St. Matthew, c. 1601

Above the altar is the Inspiration of St. Matthew (1602). St. Matthew is represented receiving dictation from an angel. The stool upon which Matthew kneels is placed at the edge of a platform, creating a shadow beyond the picture plane (Harris, 41).

Caravaggio, Inspiration of St. Matthew, 1602

ANNIBALE CARRACCI (1560-1609) was a more conventional painter than Caravaggio. He revitalised tradition and was highly influential with lots of pupils. Carracci was a draftsman, unlike Caravaggio who would avoid the preparatory drawing process and would work alla prima, directly onto canvas.

The genre painting Bean-Eater (1584) expresses very ordinary life. The realism of this painting demonstrations a conscious reaction to the previous Mannerist style.

Carracci, Bean-Eater, 1584

Carracci’s Lamentation (1585) is similar to Bronzino’s Lamentation (1529), but Carracci’s conveys a stronger sense of emotion. Although it is an idealisation, it still has a connection with reality.

Carracci, Lamentation, 1585

Hercules at the Crossroads (1595) portrays the struggle between vice and virtue. On the left is virtue, with an emphasis on light, and on the right is vice, with temptation and darkness. Carracci was influence by the Farnese Hercules, relating to the continuing influence of classical sources for Baroque artists.

Carracci, Hercules at the Crossroads, 1595

Galleria Farnese - ceiling (1595-1600) is composed of a huge cycle of frescoes, using subjects from classical mythological scenes with many allegorical elements. The use of sources from antiquity illustrates that the classical influence was still prevalent during the Baroque. The fresco is composed of framed paintings of various sizes, known as quadri riportati. The Galleria also relies upon the use of illusion, for example, the appearance of architecture, the projection into space and the integration of grisaille statues.

Carracci, Galleria Farnese - ceiling, 1595-1600

Carracci’s Assumption of the Virgin (1601) resembles a strong contrast to Caravaggio’s reliance upon realism. Compared to the dramatic lighting of Caravaggio’s religious scenes, Carracci relies upon the use of light and colour to represent the presence of the figures, returning to the style of previous generations.

 

Carracci, Assumption of the Virgin, 1601