The Baroque: The Age and its Art

Narration Script and Visual References*

While no video or slide can capture the wonder of art seen in the original, this video and the slides linked to this text of it should provide a good introduction to appreciation of the art of this period. If the title of the painting seen in the video is underlined, you may view it by clicking on the link.

The Baroque: Part One

  1. (Detail from The Ecstasy of St. Theresa, marble sculpture, 1645-52, Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome, Italy)
  2. (Detail from number 1)
  3. (Detail from number 1)
  4. "When that sweet Huntsman from above First wounded me and left me prone, (Detail from number 1)
  5. Into the very arms of love my stricken soul forthwith was thrown (Detail from number 1)
  6. The dart wherewith He wounded me Was all embarded round with love, (Detail from number 1)
  7. And thus my spirit came to be One with its Maker, God above." (Whole of number 1)
  8. Dynamic. (Detail from The Adoration of the Shepherds, c. 1612-14, El Greco, The Prado, Madrid, Spain)
  9. (Detail from The Apotheosis of Henry IV, oil on canvas, 1622-25, Peter Paul Rubens, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  10. (Detail from number 8)
  11. Dramatic. (Detail from Marie de'Medici arriving at Marseilles, oil on canvas, 1622-25, Peter Paul Rubens, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  12. (Detail from number 11)
  13. (Whole of number 11)
  14. Splendid. (Detail from The Coronation of Marie de'Medici, oil on canvas, 1622-25, Peter Paul Rubens, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  15. (Detail from number 14)
  16. (Whole of number 14)
  17. Sensuous. (St. Mary Magdalen, oil on wood, 1530s, Titian, Pitti Palace, Florence, Italy)
  18. (Detail from Marie's Government, oil on canvas, 1622-25, Peter Paul Rubens, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  19. (Detail from Diana and Nymphs, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1696-1770, Academy, Venice, Italy)
  20. Turbulent. (Detail from The Flemish Kermess, oil on wood, c. 1635-38, Peter Paul Rubens, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  21. (Detail from number 20)
  22. (Whole of number 20)
  23. Tempestuous. (The Cemetery, oil on canvas, c. 1660, Jacob van Ruisdael, Dutch, The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan)
  24. (Detail from number 18)
  25. (Lion Hunt, oil on canvas, 1577-1640, Peter Paul Rubens, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany)
  26. The 16th century nurtured a period of great conflicts and confusions-religious, political, and intellectual. (The Fall of the Giants, fresco, finished 1534, Giulio Romano, Sala dei Giganti, Palazzo del Te, Mantua, Italy)
  27. The ship of the church was storm-tossed on a sea of controversy. (The Foundering of the Church, woodcut from Prenostication, 1526, Johann Lichtenberger, German edition, British Museum, London, England)
  28. Luther and the Protestant Reformation set Europe ablaze. (Detail of Martin Luther from Luther and Melanchton, 1543, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy)
  29. (Detail from The Supper of the Evangelicals and the Damnation of the Papists, woodcut, c. 1540, Lucas Cranach the Younger, Kupferstichkabinett, Dresden, Germany)
  30. Men set the torch to one another with religious passion. (Procession and burning, engraving from Annales d'Espagne et de Portugal, 1741, Don Juan Alvarez de Colmenar, Hispanic Society of America, New York, New York)
  31. The Catholic Counter-Reformation brought with it the dread Inquisition…(Auto da Fe, oil on wood Pedro Berruguete, working 1483-1503/4, The Prado, Madrid, Spain)
  32. …and a great outburst of religious art. (Detail from The Throne of St. Peter, gilt bronze, marble, stucco, 1765-66, Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, apse of St. Peter's, Vatican City, Rome, Italy)
  33. The French armies of Franics I swept into the Italy of the Renaissance. (Francis I on Horseback, c. 1545, Francois Clouet, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy)
  34. And Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, in his running feud with the Popes, sacked Rome in 1527. (Detail from Battle before Rome, anonymous, 17th century)
  35. His troops set fire to the city-one of the greatest monuments of Christendom. (Detail from Landscape with Orpheus and Erydice, oil on canvas, 1650s, Nicolas Poussin, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  36. The discoveries of unknown continents and their resources during the early 16th century…(Detail from Portuguese Carracks, c. 1521, Cornelis Anthoniszoon, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England)
  37. …led to fierce competition for political power and economic riches-for Empire!-in the 16th and 17th centuries. (Portrait of Lucas van Uffel, oil on canvas, c. 1635-37, Anthony van Dyck, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913)
  38. In France and Germany one civil war followed another, until those two countries were splintered into numerous hostile factions. (Battle of the Amazons, c. 1618, Peter Paul Rubens, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany)
  39. As if these religious and political upheavals weren't enough for Europe, Western man's intellectual attitudes were also challenged and upset. (The Four Evangelists, 1620-25, Jacob Jordaens, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  40. Renaissance man had believed the earth to be the center of the universe. (The Creation of the World, woodcut, c. 1534, anonymous, from the Bible of 1534 translated by Martin Luther, Rare Book Division, New York Public Library, New York, New York)
  41. (Different view of number 40)
  42. But Copernicus, in 1543, published a book setting man's globe on a whirling path around the sun. (Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus)
  43. Drawing of orbits of the planets by Nicolaus Copernicus)
  44. In the 15th century, Renaissance man had discovered an orderly world. (Detail from The Delivery of the Keys, fresco, 1482, Pietro Perugino, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Rome, Italy)
  45. His art reflects this. (Whole of number 44)
  46. Renaissance painters used architectural backgrounds…(The Flagellation of Christ, c. 1455-60, Piero della Francesca, National Gallery, Urbino, Italy)
  47. …to create a feeling of geometric clarity and order. (Same as 46, with overlay)
  48. A Renaissance poet said, "God has formed the world in a goodly pattern." (Madonna and Child with Saints, c. 1445, Domenico Veneziano, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy)
  49. In contrast, the men of the 16th century saw their world in violent motion. (Detail from Fall of the Damned, 1620, Peter Paul Rubens, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany)
  50. (Detail from number 49)
  51. (Whole of number 49)
  52. Baroque art expresses this feeling for the dynamic and the dramatic. (Aurora, ceiling fresco, 1621-23, Guercino, Villa Ludovisi, Rome, Italy)
  53. (Apollo and Daphne, marble sculpture, 1622-25, Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, Borghese Gallery, Rome, Italy)
  54. The poet John Donne, commenting on the spirit of the Baroque era, wrote, "And new philosophy calls all in doubt…'Tis all in pieces,…(Detail from A Perspective of Roman Arches, with Two Lions Carved in Relief on Stone Slabs in the Foreground, etching, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1720-78, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, gift of General Lawrason Riggs)
  55. "…all coherence gone…" (Detail from number 54)
  56. Clarity gave way to mystery and vagueness. (Whole of number 54)
  57. The deep shadows in Baroque paintings reflect a new awareness of the unknown, the mysterious. (The Repentant Magdalen, oil on canvas, Georges de la Tour, 1593-1652, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  58. This use of dramatic contrasts of light and shadow is called chiaroscuro. We can see it in the following examples. (Death of the Virgin, oil on canvas, 1605, Michelangelo da Caravaggio, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  59. (The Last Supper, 1576-81, Jacopo Tintoretto, Scuola di San Rocco, Venice, Italy)
  60. (The Descent from the Cross, oil on canvas, 1650s, Rembrandt van Rijn, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Widener Collection)
  61. (The Flagellation of Christ, late, Jacopo Tintoretto, 1518-94, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria)
  62. (St. John with Ram, oil on canvas, c. 1600, Michelangelo da Caravaggio, Doria-Pamphili Gallery, Rome, Italy)
  63. (Detail from Nativity,1576-81, Jacopo Tintoretto, Scuola di San Rocco, Venice, Italy)
  64. In this study of a philosopher, the painter Rembrandt achieves a theatrical effect by placing his figure in the window-lighted corner of a darkroom. (The Philosopher in Meditation, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1606-69, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  65. Michelangelo Buonarroti dominated the arts of the 16th century. (Portrait of Michelangelo, c. 1540, attributed to Jacopino del Conte, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy)
  66. (Detail from The Creation of Man, fresco, (Full view and close-up) 1508-12, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Rome, Italy)
  67. He stood with one foot in the Renaissance…(David, marble sculpture, 1501-04, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Academy, Florence, Italy)
  68. …and the other in the Baroque. (Youthful Captive, marble sculpture, 1530-34, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Academy, Florence, Italy)
  69. His early works were filled with subjects from classical Greek and Roman mythology…(Battle of Centaurs and Lapiths, marble sculpture, Casa Buonarroti, Florence, Italy)
  70. …or, like this early Pieta, were composed in an orderly, balanced form, like a triangle. (Pieta, marble sculpture, 1498-99, Michelangelo Buonarroti, St. Peter's, Vatican City, Rome, Italy)
  71. But Michelangelo's later works incorporate a new vision of the world: twisting, falling forms…(Figure of Dusk from the Tomb of Lorenzo de'Medici, 1522-34, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Medici Chapel, Florence, Italy)
  72. (Figure of Night, from the Tomb of Giuliano de'Medici, 1522-34, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Medici Chapel, Florence, Italy)
  73. (Detail of Dawn from number 71)
  74. (Figure of Day from number 72)
  75. …and rough, exciting surfaces. (Detail of head of Dusk from number 71)
  76. (Detail from Deposition, marble sculpture, 1547-55, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Cathedral, Florence, Italy)
  77. (Bearded Captive, marble sculpture, 1530-33, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Academy, Florence, Italy)
  78. Michelangelo's early Pieta on the left. A later carving of the same subject is on the right. (Left: Pieta, 1498-99, Michelangelo, St. Peter's; right: Palestrina Pieta, marble sculpture, c. 1556, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Academy, Florence, Italy)
  79. Here is a detail from the early work. (Detail from number 78, left)
  80. This one is from the later, Baroque example. (Detail from number 78, right)
  81. Let us make a more extreme comparison. On the left is Michelangelo's David- typical of High Renaissance. On the right is the same subject-David-by the Baroque sculptor Bernini. But look at the difference! (Left: David, 1501-04, Michelangelo, Academy, Florence, Italy; right: David, marble sculpture, 1623, Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, Borghese Gallery, Rome, Italy)
  82. Bernini's David unleashes anger and violence. (Detail of head from number 81, right)
  83. Ben Johnson, a 17th century dramatist, said: "That which is tortured is counted the more exquisite;…(Detail from number 81, right)
  84. "…nothing is fashionable 'til it is deformed." (Whole of number 81, right)
  85. Michelangelo carefully arranged the Sistine ceiling into a geometry of frames:…(Detail from frescoes (The creation of Eve) on Sistine ceiling, 1508-12, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Rome, Italy)
  86. …squares and triangles punctuated by prophets and classical figures. (Entire ceiling, frescoes, 1508-12, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Rome, Italy)
  87. It is in the spirit of the Renaissance. (Detail from The Delphic Sibyl, from number 86)
  88. However, when he completed the Last Judgement 30 years later,…(Detail of center, Last Judgement, fresco, 1534-41, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Rome, Italy)
  89. …Michelangelo had filled the wall with a vast and terrible panorama. (Whole of number 88)
  90. Everywhere, we see bewilderment, chaos, and despair. (Detail from number 88)
  91. (Detail from Resurrection of Dead Souls from number 88)
  92. (Different detail from Resurrection of Dead Souls from number 88)
  93. Rome, the city of Michelangelo's triumphs, was the birthplace of the Baroque. (Exterior view of dome of St. Peter's with statues on top of colonnade, Michelangelo and Bernini, Vatican City, Rome, Italy)
  94. Painters, sculptors, and architects from all over the world flocked there to study the monuments of the city…(Roman Picture Gallery, oil on canvas, 1749, Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut)
  95. …and to make their own special contributions to the sacred beauty of Rome. (Detail from number 94)
  96. There was Bernini, the sculptor,…(Self-portrait, 1620s, Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, Borghese Gallery, Rome, Italy)
  97. (Detail of angel from altar and ciborium, Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, 1598-1680, Chapel of SS. Sacramento, St. Peter's, Vatican City, Rome, Italy)
  98. …and Borromini, the disturbed and imaginative architect. (Self-portrait, Francesco Borromini, 1599-1667, Church of San Carlo alle Quatro Fontane, Rome, Italy)
  99. (Façade of Church of San Carlo alle Quatro Fontane, Rome, 1665-82, designed by Francesco Borromini)
  100. Caravaggio came from northern Italy…(Detail from Portrait of the artist, from The Martyrdom of St. Matthew, oil on canvas, c. 1595, Michelangelo de Caravaggio, Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, Italy)
  101. (Rest on the Flight into Egypt, oil on canvas, c. 1596, Michelangelo da Caravaggio, Doria-Pamphili Gallery, Rome, Italy)
  102. …and Peter Paul Rubens journeyed from Flanders. (Detail from Self-portrait with wife, oil on canvas, c. 1609, Peter Paul Rubens, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany)
  103. (Detail of two putti from The Presentation of the Portrait, oil on canvas, 1622-25, Peter Paul Rubens, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  104. There was Nicolas Pussin, a Frenchman,…(Self-portrait, oil on canvas, 1650, Nicolas Poussin, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  105. (Landscape with Orpheus and Eurydice, oil on canvas, 1650s, Nicolas Poussin, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  106. …El Greco, the Greek on his way to Spain. (Self-portrait?, oil on canvas, El Greco, 1541-1614, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest Fund, 1924)
  107. (Christ Cleansing the Temple, oil on wood, c. 1570, El Greco, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Samuel H. Kress Collection)
  108. The works of these artists made Rome into an inspiring and magnificent center for the new Catholic church-embarked on its campaign of Counter-Reformation. (Charles III before the Basilica of St. Peter's in Rome, Giovanni Paolo Pannini, 1761/1762-1778, National Museum, Naples, Italy)

The Baroque: Part Two

  1. (Detail from center, Paradise, fresco. 1588, Jacopo Tintoretto, Ducal Palace, Venice, Italy)
  2. (Detail from center of number 1)
  3. (Detail from center of number 1)
  4. (Detail from center of number 1)
  5. (Detail from center of number 1)
  6. (Detail from center of number 1)
  7. The Catholic church turned to art-Baroque art-as propaganda to counter the Reformation, to bring back its confused children. It appealed to the emotions and made its believers feel the power of God. (Detail from center of number 1)
  8. The painting called Christ Driving the Money-changers from the Temple shows an angry, militant Christ…(Detail from Christ Driving the Money-changers from the Temple, El Greco, 1541-1614, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota)
  9. …driving out the corruption from His Church. (Detail from number 8)
  10. The message of the painting was not lost on 16th century Catholics. (Whole of number 8)
  11. The mother-church, St. Peter's in Rome, was Michelangelo's greatest triumph. (Apse and dome of St. Peter's, Vatican City, Rome, Italy, seen from the west, 1546-64, Michelangelo Buonarroti and Giacomo della Porta)
  12. The church was built during the High Renaissance, according to Michelangelo's plans…(Plan of St. Peter's, Vatican City, Rome, Italy 1546-64, Michelangelo Buonarroti)
  13. …and was extended during the 16th century. (Plan of St. Peter's, Vatican City, Rome, Italy, 1546-64 by Michelangelo and 1607-15 by Carlo Maderno)
  14. (Façade of St. Peter's, Vatican City, Rome, Italy, 1607-15, Carlo Maderno)
  15. It was completed with the embracing arms of the great colonnade by Bernini. (St. Peter's with colonnade, 1657, Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, engraving from Roma Pintoresca, Antigua y Moderna, 1840, Hispanic Society of America, New York, New York)
  16. Inside St. Peter's, the twisting spiral columns of the canopy-called a baldachino-loom over the altar. (Baldachino, bronze, St. Peter's Vatican City, Rome, Italy, 1624-33, Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini)
  17. (View into apse showing statue of St. Peter and Bernini's baldachino, St. Peter's, Vatican City, Rome, Italy)
  18. The harmonious grandeur of the mother-church was to have its influence throughout Europe. (Façade with fountain, St. Peter's, Vatican City, Rome, Italy, 1607-15 by Carlo Maderno and 1657 by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini)
  19. New churches were built everywhere-with exciting, rippling facades,…(Façade, Church of Saint Nicolas, Prague, Czechoslovakia,, 1673-1752, Christopher Dientzenhofer)
  20. (Façade, Church of Santa Maria della Pace, Rome, Italy, 1656-57, Pietro da Cortona)
  21. (Façade, Cathedral of Murcia, Murcia, Spain, 1737-54, Sebastian Feringant y Cortes and Jaime Bort y Melia)
  22. (Façade, Sant'Andrea della Valle, Rome, Italy, 1665, Carlo Rainaldi)
  23. (Façade, Church of II Gesu, Rome, 1568-77, Giacomo Vignola and Giacomo della Porta)
  24. (Façade, Sant'Agnese in Piazza Navona, Rome, Italy, 1653-63, Francesco Borromini)
  25. …with brilliantly decorated interiors, like stage sets…(Interior, toward apse, Karlskirche, Vienna, Austria, 1716-37, Johann Fischer von Erlach)
  26. (Altarpiece of St. Ignatius, II Gesu, Rome, Italy, 1695-99, Padre Andrea Pozzo)
  27. (Altarpiece of the Annunciation, Church of St. Ignatius, Rome, Italy, 1607-15)
  28. (Interior toward altar, II Gesu, Rome, Italy, 1668-83)
  29. (Interior toward altar, Church of St. Ignatius, Rome, Italy, 17th century)
  30. (Altar and ciborium, Chapel of SS. Sacramento, St. Peter's, Vatican City, Rome, Italy, 1673-74, Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini)
  31. …and with dazzling domes. (Dome, Abbey Church, Kempten, Germany, 1652-66, Michael Beer?)
  32. (Dome, S. Johannes im Haug, Wurzburg, Germany, 1670-91, Petrini)
  33. (Perspective view of cupola, Church of St. Ignatius, Rome, Italy, Padre Andrea Pozzo, 1642-1709)
  34. (Dome, Chapel of the Holy Shroud, Turin, Italy, 1668-94, Guarino Guarini)
  35. (Interior of dome, Church of San Lorenzo, Turin, Italy, c. 1687, Guarino Guarini)
  36. Ceiling painters created breathtaking illusions of the church roof blasted away…(Detail from Triumph of the Cross, ceiling fresco, Chapel of the Pieta, St. Peter's, Vatican City, Rome, Italy, Giovanni Lanfranco, 1582-1647)
  37. …to reveal miracuous views of Paradise. (Whole of number 36)
  38. (Glory of St. Ignatius, ceiling fresco, Church of II Gesu, Rome, Italy, Baciccio, 1639-1709)
  39. (Detail from Assumption of the Virgin, ceiling fresco, c. 1525, Parma Cathedral, Parma, Italy, Correggio)
  40. (Glory of the Mystic Lamb, ceiling fresco, Church of II Gesu, Rome, Italy, Baciccio, 1639-1709)
  41. The Counter-Reformation painters of the Baroque aimed at the emotions, not the intellect. (Detail from Saint Francis, Jusepe de Ribera, 1591-1652, The Escorial, Spain)
  42. The eyes of their saints are filled with mystical visions and religious ecstasy. (Detail from St. Peter in Tears, c. 1605-10, El Greco, Hospital of St. John the Baptist Extra Muros, Toledo, Spain)
  43. (Detail from St. Francis's Vision of the Flaming Torch, 1600-05, El Greco, Hospital de Nuestra Senora del Carmen, Cadiz, Spain)
  44. (Detail of St. John from Crucifixion with St. John and the Virgin Mary, oil on canvas, c. 1600-95, El Greco, The Prado, Madrid, Spain)
  45. From their brushes flowed heart-rending images of martyrdom and suffering. (St. Sebastian, Jusepe de Ribera, 1591-1652, The Prado, Madrid, Spain)
  46. (The martyrdom of St. Bartholomew, c. 1630, Jusepe de Ribera, The Prado, Madrid, Spain)
  47. (The Flagellation of Christ, oil on canvas, 1607, Michelangelo da Caravaggio, Church of San Domenico, Naples, Italy)
  48. How calm and reasonable is this Renaissance crucifixion when compared…(Detail from Christ, Crucifixion with Saints, c. 1445/50-1523, Pietro Perugino, Church of St. Mary Magdalen, Florence, Italy)
  49. …with these, by artists of the Baroque era. (The Crucifixion with Virgin and St. John, oil on canvas, Hendrik Terbruggen, 1588-1629, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, purchased with funds from various donors, 1956)
  50. (Crucifixion, c. 1610-14, El Greco and school, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio)
  51. (The Small Crucifixion, oil on wood, c. 1510, Mathis Grunewald, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C, Samuel H. Kress Collection)
  52. (From left: detail from number 48; detail from number 49; detail from number 51; detail from number 50)
  53. The Baroque style had blossomed in the Rome of Michelangelo.
  54. (Detail from Monuments of Rome, Bernardo Bellotto, 1720-80, National Gallery, Parma, Italy)
  55. From there it spread to Venice, Queen of the Adriatic Sea. (Map of Europe, property of CLEARVUE/eav)
  56. (Piazza San Marco from the Grand Canal, Venice, Canaletto, 1697-1768)
  57. (Rio dei Mendicanti, Venice, Bernardo Bellotto, 1720-80, Academy, Venice, Italy)
  58. Let us visit 16th century Venice, a colorful and exciting city,…(The Feast of the Ascension, Venice, Canaletto, 1697-1768, Aldo Crespi, Milan, Italy)
  59. …floating on a sparkling sea, its streets a shimmer of canals. (View of the Grand Canal toward the Rialto Bridge, Venice, Francesco Guardi, 1712-1793, Brera Gallery, Milan, Italy)
  60. Tintoretto, who painted this Annunciation, and the other Venetian painters of the 16th century…(Detail from The Annunciation, 1583-87, Jacopo Tintoretto, Scuola di San Rocco, Venice, Italy)
  61. …break with the order and precision of the Renaissance. (The Annunciation, fresco, c. 1440-50, Fra Angelico, Monastery of St. Mark, Florence, Italy)
  62. (Left: detail from number 60; right: detail from number 61)
  63. Venetian painting in the 16th century is alive with rich brushwork and textures of paint. Let us make some comparisons. (Detail from The Nativity, 1576-81, Jacopo Tintoretto, Scuola di San Rocco, Venice, Italy)
  64. This Madonna by the Venetian painter Giorgione is in the Renaissance style. (Madonna with Child and Saints, Giorgione, 1478-1510, Church of San Liberale, Castelfranco, Italy)
  65. Like Michelangelo's early Pieta, its composition is based on a balanced triangle. (Same as number 64, with overlay)
  66. A later work by Giorgione has two figures mysteriously set back into a dark and stormy landscape. (The Tempest, c. 1505, Giorgione, Academy, Venice, Italy)
  67. The subject of the painting is unclear. (Detail from number 66)
  68. Renaissance paintings, on the other hand, always had clear and meaningful subjects. (The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, on wood, c. 1510, Gerard David, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Andrew Mellon Collection)
  69. But, for the later Giorgione, the mysterious and dramatic landscape is enough. (Same as number 67)
  70. In Titian's Presentation of the Virgin Mary at the Temple, the subject is in the foreground…(Detail from The Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple, oil on canvas, 1534-38, Titian, Academy, Venice, Italy)
  71. …and moves from left to right, parallel to the picture plane. (Whole of number 70)
  72. A generation later, Tintoretto painted the same subject-The Presentation-in a circular, swirling composition. Where is the principal subject-the young Virgin? She is not in the spotlighted foreground-but halfway up the winding stairs…a dramatic device which builds anticipation and creates tension in the viewer. (The Presentation of the Virgin, c. 1552, Jacopo Tintoretto, Madonna dell'Orto, Venice, Italy)
  73. The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci is balanced and symmetrical. Although the painting is nearly ruined today, one can still see that all lines converge and focus on the head of Christ. The composition is typical of the High Renaissance. (The Last Supper, mural, c. 1495-98, Leonardo da Vinci, Church of Santa Maria della Grazie, Milan, Italy)
  74. Tintoretto of Venice also painted a Last Supper, but now the sweeping diagonal lines lend an air of excitement. (The Last Supper, 1592-94, Jacopo Tintoretto, Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, Italy)
  75. The scene is dark, while a theatrical luminescence spot-lights the apostles…(Detail from number 74)
  76. …and radiant Christ. (Detail from number 74)
  77. The painting is in the new 16th century spirit. (Whole of number 74)
  78. The artistic creations of Venice and Rome dazzled the world. The Baroque style spread to Counter-Reformation Spain…(Map of Europe, property of CLEARVUE/eav)
  79. (View of Toledo, oil on canvas, El Greco, 1541-1614, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, bequest of Mrs. H.O. Havemeyer Collection, 1929, The H.O. Havemeyer Collection)
  80. …and northward in the 17th century to the aristocratic court at Versailles…(Map of Europe, property of CLEARVUE/eav)
  81. (Bosquets de Versailles: The Three Fountains, Jean Cotelle, 1642-1708, Museum of the Chateau de Versailles, Versailles, France)
  82. …and to the prosperous, bourgeois Netherlands,…(Map of Europe, property of CLEARVUE/eav)
  83. …where patrons of the arts were Protestants and seafarers. (View of Delft, oil on canvas, c. 1658, Jan Vermeer, Mauritshuis, The Hague, Holland)

The Baroque: Part Three
  1. (Detail from View and Plan of Toledo, c. 1610-14, El Greco, Museo del Greco, Toledo, Spain
  2. (Detail from number 1)
  3. (Detail from number 1)
  4. (Detail from number 1)
  5. (Detail from number 1)
  6. The Baroque in Spain. (Whole of number 1)
  7. The Spanish kings saw themselves as defenders of the new Church-militant and triumphant over the reformers. (Detail of Matyrdom of St. Maurice, oil on canvas, 1580-82, El Greco, Chapter Room, The Escorial, Spain)
  8. King Philip II had floated the mightiest of fleets-the Armada-hoping to conquer the Protestant protectress-Elizabeth I of England. (The Spanish Armada, design for a tapestry, by an unknown artist, late 16th century/early 17th century, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England)
  9. The palace of the kings-the Escorial-was their home,…(South façade and the kitchen-garden lake, The Escorial Palace, Spain, 1563-84, Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera)
  10. …but it was also a church and a monastery…(Detail from façade of number 9)
  11. (Façade of monastery of number 9)
  12. (Façade through archway of number 9)
  13. …and a symbol of the power and glory of Spain. (View of monastery roof of number 9)
  14. The life of the Spanish court is revealed to us by its official painter, Diego Velasquez. (Detail of the face of Velasquez from the The Maids of Honor, 1656, Diego Rodrigez de Silva y Velasquez, The Prado, Madrid, Spain)
  15. (Detail from number 14)
  16. (Detail from number 14)
  17. in The Maids of Honor, Velasquez manipulates light and shadow-revealing, in this way, a variety of textures and surfaces. (Whole of number 14)
  18. (Detail of princess from number 14)
  19. (Detail of lace cuff from number 14)
  20. (Detail of heads of two young ladies-in-waiting from number 14)
  21. The mystic zeal of Spanish Catholicism inspired paintings of dying saints…(St. Serapion, 1628, Francisco de Zurbaran, Wadsworth Atheneun, Hartford Connecticut)
  22. …and of saints experiencing visions. (Detail of torso from St. Francis Xavier, oil on canvas, c. 1642, Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Wadsworth Antheneum, Hartford, Connecticut)
  23. This religious passion characterized El Greco's figures…(Detail from The Resurrection, c. 1600-05, El Greco, The Prado, Madrid, Spain)
  24. ….who seem to be aflame with religious ecstasy. (Detail from number 23)
  25. (Detail from number 23)
  26. (Whole of number 23)
  27. A new religious order, the Society of Jesus, was enthusiastically supported by the Spinach kings. The Jesuits were dedicated teachers and answered the Church's need for committed men of action. (Detail of St. Francis Xavier teaching the savages from number 22)
  28. Spain and her kings were loyal disciples of the Church. In Spain, the Catholic reforms had their proving ground-for the benefit of all 16th century Catholics. (Façade of Granada Cathedral, Granada, Spain, begun 1639, Alonso Cano)
  29. The Baroque in Holland. (View of Haarlem, Jacob van Ruisdael, 1628/1629-82, Rijksmuseaum, Amsterdam, Holland)
  30. The religious upheavals of the 16th century triggered the political and social upheavals of the 17th century. The Protestant Dutch threw off the yoke of the Spanish, Catholic king. (Henry IV at the Battle of Ivory, oil on canvas, 1628-31, Peter Paul Rubens, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy)
  31. The Dutch were proud of their hard-won freedom and of their tiny, flat country. (Wheatfields, oil on canvas, Jacob van Ruisdael, 1628/9-82, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913)
  32. They delighted in its rich land,…(A Farm in the Sunlight oil on canvas, c. 1660-70, Meindert Hobbema, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Andrew Mellon Collection)
  33. …its surrounding ocean,…(The Thunderstorm, oil on canvas, 1641, Jan van Goyen, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, California)
  34. …and its vast skies. (The Mill, oil on canvas, c. 1650, Rembrandt van Rijn, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Widener Collection)
  35. The Dutch became merchants and shipbuilders to the world…(The Maas at Dordrecht, oil on canvas, c. 1660, Albert Cuyp, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Andrew Mellon Gallery)
  36. …and amassed fortunes through hard work and thrift. (The Syndics of the Amsterdam Goldsmith's Guild, oil on canvas, 1627, Thomas de Keyser, The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio)
  37. These new international businessmen wanted paintings to adorn their homes. (Canal in a Dutch town, Jan van der Heyden, 1637-1712, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  38. They ordered paintings of themselves…(Portrait of a Young Man, oil on canvas, c. 1645, Frans Hals, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Andrew Mellon Collection)
  39. (Portrait of an Elderly Lady, oil on canvas, 1633, Frans Hals, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Andrew Mellon Collection)
  40. (Portrait of an Officer, oil on canvas, c. 1640, Frans Hals, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Andrew Mellon Collection)
  41. (The Happy Child, oil on panel, c. 1655, Nicolaes Maes, The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio)
  42. …and of their homes and families..(Woman Making Lace, oil on canvas, Nicolaes Maes, 1634-93, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, The Michael Friedsam Collection, 1931)
  43. …in sunny rooms, busy at household chores. (The Bedroom, oil on canvas, c. 1660, Pieter de Hooch, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Widener Collection)
  44. (Young Girl Peeling Apples, oil on wood, Nicolaes Maes, 1634-93, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913)
  45. (A Dutch Courtyard, oil on canvas, c. 1660, Pieter de Hooch, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Andrew Mellon Collection)
  46. They were proud of their tables, laden with food…(Still Life, oil on canvas, c. 1665, Willem Kalf, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., gift of Chester Dale)
  47. (Still Life with Ham, oil on panel, Jan Jansz den Uyl, c. 1595-c. 1639, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut)
  48. …and with elaborate arrangements of flowers. (Flower Still Life, oil on canvas, 1663, William van Aelst, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, California, gift of Dr. Hermann Schulein)
  49. The Baroque in France. (Holy Family on the Steps, 1648, Nicolas Poussin, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Samuel H. Kress Collection)
  50. In France, the new King, Louis XIV, had his own answer to the political chaos which had plagued his country. (Louis XIV, bronze bust, after 1665, Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Samuel H. Kress Collection)
  51. He devised a plan to glorify his person and his position, thus gathering all the power in France to himself. (Detail from Inauguration of the Church of the Invalids by Louis XIV in 1706, Pierre Denis Martin, 1673-1742, Carnavelt Museum, Paris, France)
  52. His schemes for power included the building of a vast palace at Versailles,…(Perspective View of the Chateau de Versailles, oil on canvas, 1668, Pierre Patel the Elder, Museum of the Chateau de Versailles, Versailles, France)
  53. …with acres of carefully planned gardens. (Contemporary photograph of the gardens at Versailles, designed in the late 17th century by Andre Le Notre, Versailles, France)
  54. Louis developed a ritual revolving around his personal life. He exaggerated the importance of his every act…(Detail from Ceremony in the Chamber of the King, Francois Marot, 1666-1719, Museum of the Chateau at Versailles, Versailles, France)
  55. …thus drawing the attention of the French nobles away from the fact that he was usurping all their power. (Whole of number 54)
  56. Versailles and Paris became new centers of artistic life. (The Palace Royale on the Occasion of the Marriage of Louis XIII in 1612, 17th century, Polish School, Carnavalet Museum, Paris, France)
  57. The grand palaces of France,…(North front, Chateau at Chambord, begun 1519, finished c. 1559, Chambord, France)
  58. …with their enormous rooms and sumptuous furniture,…(Masked Ball in the Galerie des Glaces at the Chateau le Jeune, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  59. …their miles of garden walks, and elaborate fountains,..(Contemporary photograph of the gardens at Versailles, designed in the late 17th century by Andre Le Notre, Versailles, France)
  60. …provided a glorious setting for the new monarch and his court. (Louis XIV, oil on canvas, 1701, Hyacinthe Rigaud, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  61. What, then, are the elements of the Baroque style? (Detail from The Triumph of Truth, oil on canvas, 1622-25, Peter Paul Rubens, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  62. It is not an art of lines and edges, like Renaissance art,…(The Last Supper, fresco, c. 1445-50, Andrea del Castagno, San Apollonia, Florence, Italy)
  63. …but an art of color, light, and shadow. (The Last Supper, oil sketch, Peter Paul Rubens, 1577-1640, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, Samuel H. Kress Collection)
  64. The subject is not parallel to the picture plane and in the center foreground, as in this Renaissance flight into Egypt,…(The Flight into Egypt, on wood, c. 1500, Vittore Carpaccio, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Andrew Mellon Collection)
  65. …but is tucked away in once corner, like this Baroque Flight into Egypt. (Detail from The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, 1583-87, Jacopo Tintoretto, Scuola di San Rocco, Venice, Italy)
  66. (Detail from number 65)
  67. (Detail from number 65)
  68. (Whole of number 65)
  69. The space thrusts out one side and recedes deeply into the other. (Whole of number 65, with overlay)
  70. Mystery and drma set the mood. (Whole of number 65)
  71. This Renaissance portrait seems dignified and serene when compared…(Portrait of a Youth, on wood, c. 1485, Filippoino Lippi, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Andrew Mellon Collection)
  72. …to this gay, action-filled portrait by Baroque painter. The setting is a tavern, where a man and his sweetheart are laughing at a joke. (Portrait of Yonker Ramp and His Sweetheart, oil on canvas 1623, Frans Hals, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913)
  73. The light catches the flush of their faces…(Detail from number 72)
  74. …and creates a feeling of movement. (Detail from number 72)
  75. (Left: whole of number 71; right: whole of number 72)
  76. Baroque art is an art of motion, not repose,…(Detail from Marriage of Bacchus and Aradne, oil on canvas, 1577-88, Jacopo Tintoretto, Ducal Palace, Venice, Italy)
  77. (Detail from number 76)
  78. (Whole of number 76)
  79. …of restless imbalances,…(Detail from Laocoon, oil on canvas, c. 1610, El Greco, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Samuel H. Kress Collection)
  80. (Detail from number 79)
  81. (Whole of number 79)
  82. …of violence and spectacle. (Detail from The Slaughter of the Innocents, 1583-87, Jacopo Tintoretto, Scuola di San Rocco, Venice, Italy)
  83. (David with head of Goliath, oil on canvas, Bernardo Strozzi, 1581-1644, The Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio)
  84. (Moses Defends the Daughters of Jethro, on canvas, c. 1523, Rosso Fiorentino Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy)
  85. Baroque art is sensuous and sensual. (The Venus of Urbino, oil on canvas, 1530s, Titian, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy)
  86. (Vase of Flowers, oil on canvas, c. 1645, Jan Davidz de Heem, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Andrew Mellon Fund)
  87. (Venus with Organ Player and Cupid, oil on canvas, titian, 1488/90-1576, The Prado, Madrid, Spain)
  88. (Detail from The Feast of Achelous, oil on wood, Peter Paul Rubens, 1577-1640, Jan Brueghel the Elder, 1566-1625, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York, gift of Alvin Untermyer and Irwin Untermyer, 1945)
  89. Baroque art is aristocratic,…(The Garden of Love, c. 1632-34, Peter Paul Rubens, The Prado, Madrid, Spain)
  90. …but it is also the art of the common man. (A French Interior, oil on canvas, c. 1645, Louis Le Nain, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Samuel H. Kress Collection)
  91. It is the art of the Catholic church…(The Assumption of the Virgin, oil on canvas, 1648, Rembrandt van Rijn, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  92. …and of the new Protestant churches. (Supper at Emmaus, oil on canvas, 1648, Rembrandt van Rijn, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  93. While the Renaissance restores an emphasis on the physical world,…(Large Piece of Turf, water color and gouache, 1503, Albrecht Durer, Albertina, Vienna, Austria)
  94. …it was the 16th century which saw the full flowering of the arts of the senses. (Flowers, Fruits, and Insects, 1716, Rachel Ruysch, Pitti Palace, Florence, Italy)
  95. Baroque art reflects the love of feasts…(Adolescent Bacchus, oil on canvas, c. 1589, Michelangelo da Caravaggio, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy)
  96. (Still Life, oil on canvas, Abraham van Beyeren, 1620-75, Samuel H. Kress Collection, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington)
  97. (Fruit-seller, oil on canvas, 1589-90, Michelangelo da Caravaggio, Borghese Gallery, Rome, Italy)
  98. (Detail from number 88)
  99. ..the love of music,…(Detail from The Lute Player, on canvas, c. 1626, Orazio Gentileschi, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
  100. (Whole of number 99)
  101. (Detail of musicians from The Dancing Couple, on canvas, 1663, Jan Steen, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Widener Collection)
  102. (Whole of number 101)
  103. …and the enjoyment of the pleasures of the flesh. (The Golden Age, fresco, 1641-46, Petrol da Cortona, Pitti Palace, Florence, Italy)
  104. (Detail from Diana and Nymphs, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1696-1770, Academy, Venice, Italy)
  105. (Triumph of Flora, oil on canvas, c. 1627-28, Nicolas Poussin, The Louvre, Paris, France)
  106. (A Bacchanal, oil on canvas, c. 1518, Titian, The Prado, Madrid, Spain)
  107. At the height of the Baroque, the philosopher Leibnitz described the services of the Catholic church and captured, thereby, the entire spirit of the Baroque…(View into apse, Sant'Andrea della Valle, Rome, 1630s, Domenichino, died 1641)
  108. "…the sweet concord of voices,…the blaze of lights,…(Detail from St. Ignatius in Glory ceiling fresco, c. 1694-94, Padre Andrea Pozzo, Church of St. Ignatius, Rome, Italy)
  109. "…the fragrant perfumes,…the rich vestments,…the sacred vessels…(Detail from number 108)
  110. "…adorned with precious stones,…the statues and pictures which awaken holy thoughts,…(Detail from number 108)
  111. "…the glorious creations of architectural genius…(Detail from number 108)
  112. "with their effects of height and distance,…the music of the bells." (Detail from number 108)

*Vid. C 709 H629T Pt. 5 in Curriculum Resources Library