Module 6 Exam 2

French Baroque Art Versailles and Poussin

- French art during the Baroque period was classical, controlled, and balanced. The art of this period can be summarized by the Palace of Versailles begun in 1669 and created by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Charles Le Brun, and André Le Nôtre. These artists designed the building (Mansart), the decorations (Le Brun) and the gardens (Le Nôtre). Built for Louis the XIV, the place shows that desire to control nature and its surroundings in its vast layout and landscape. After all, it was built for the Sun King who had the aristocracy under his control. Much ceremony and pomp was used in all palace activities, including the lavish balls held in the Hall of Mirrors. - The Royal French Academy was established in 1648 under Le Brun and it sought to control all art and make sure it served only to create propaganda for King. Poussin was one of the artists that worked with in the French Baroque style. He formulated a classical landscape that was very influential. It utilized shifting planes in a zig-zag pattern that recede in space, classical looking buildings and small figures framed within trees. He also preferred primary colors such as red, blue, and yellow.

Rembrandt and Vermeer Dutch Baroque Art

- Rembrandt and Vermeer are Dutch artists working in a protestant country that had an open art market, artists could sell their works and although patrons existed it was not the primary means of art production.

Rembrandt

- Rembrandt did many portraits of himself and others in the guise of other people as in the case of Hendrickje his lover as Bathsheba. Rembrandt is best known for his work, The Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq (Night Watch), the work fails as a group portrait of individual people, try to pin point all the men whose faces you cannot see. But as a group of people, a civic guard, working together in action it is a success! The work was paid by each of the men for a total received of 1600 guilders. The scene depicted is not at night but during the day, the girl carrying the chicken on her belt represents the militia company, she is a mascot of sorts. The painting is about ceremony and Dutch nationalism.

Classicism

- The Italian Baroque was driven by the forces of the Catholic Church that sought to bring back the faithful that had left in favor of Protestantism. - The ideas of classicism: balance, order and proportion are best expressed by the artist Bernini.

Naturalism

- The other vein in Italian Baroque - the infinite attention to details that appear in real life. - The master of naturalism is Caravaggio

Rubens

- a well educated and wealthy Flemish man; he spoke several languages and had been knighted on more than one occasion. - his work was characterized by golden light, soft textures, and the focus on color. Influenced by Venetian artists such as Titian and Giorgione, Rubens worked within the realm of colorito (color) as opposed to disegno (line). He did a series of paintings for Marie de' Medici, 24 to be exact (not 21 as mentioned in your book!), that served as propaganda for a woman that was not liked by the French people by illustrating important events of her life. - In the painting about her arrival to Marseille Rubens depicts pomp and circumstance in an exaggerated way to the point that ocean creatures such as mermaids stop to witness this event.

Bernini

- an architect, painter and most importantly a sculptor, he was not only prolific but at the height of his career patronized by Pope Urban VIII. - His work in sculpture shows advanced technical skill in demonstrating finished (finito) and non-finish (non-finito). Observe for example the different surface textures in his David, the rope versus his skin. We are again seeing a symbol of Florence that now is shown in the moment of action. This focus on time is a Baroque preoccupation - was interested in theater and design and created what is known as a bel composto or beautiful composition in his work The Ecstasy of St. Theresa. - In this work architecture, sculpture, and painting with the addition of light come together to show us the saint's vision. Curiously, St. Theresa had been canonized recently and had described in her autobiography the transverberation (a vision and ecstasy that takes place at the same time) depicted by Bernini. This work summarizes how art functioned in service of Church providing those on Earth a near religious experience.

Caravaggio

- created paintings that are theatrical, staged, and show dramatic use of diagonals and sharp contrast between light and dark known as tenebrism. - gathered models from the streets of Rome and was known for reusing canvases. He is concerned with the real world and blends the spiritual religious realm with the existence of the people of the seventeenth century. - The Calling of Saint Matthew is a great example of Caravaggio's style and skill. Here the patron, Mateo Contarelli, determines the subject since Matthew is his patron saint. The Contarelli chapel had two other paintings by Caravaggio, St. Matthew and the Angel and The Martyrdom of St. Matthew.

Vermeer

- like Rembrandt was known for his skill. Vermeer worked in a smaller scale and with minute detail that reminds us of Van Eyck. Vermeer depicted the interior of Dutch homes and their domestic setting. He is said to have used a camera obscura (is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen) to layout his works. He elevates mundane scenes of daily life to new heights.

The Baroque

- takes place during the seventeenth century, the term itself comes from a name given to an irregular pearl. - The preferred shape of the Baroque is the oval as opposed to the Renaissance emphasis on the circle. This period has different characteristics as we study each country - In Italy we see drama, dynamism and the two main veins of classicism and naturalism. - Spanish Baroque art is austere, and often religious in nature although there is a move towards landscapes, still life and on occasion myth. This is especially true of Dutch art and artists that live in protestant countries and have an open market not a patronage system. - Flemish Baroque art has a focus on texture and rich color while French Baroque is classicizing and controlled. It is during the Baroque that we see the Catholic Church's reaction to the Protestant Reformation, the Counter-Reformation. Here art is used in service of the Church as a tool for propaganda.

Velazquez Las Meninas

- the masterpiece of Spanish Baroque art - Here the artist steps away from the portraits, and history paintings he was known for creating to give us a glimpse into courtly life. The work is complicated and still not completely understood. - We know we are in one of the rooms of the palace that belonged to Philip IV and his wife Mariana of Austria. The artist shows himself, the king and queen reflected in a mirror and the Infanta (princess) Margarita with her ladies in waiting. In fact all the people in the painting are identifiable including the little boy playing with the dog, Nicolas, and the little person next to him, Mari Barbola.The question that remains is what is the artist painting on his canvas, is it this same scene we see?

is a period of artistic style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, architecture, literature, dance and music. The style began around 1600 in Rome, Italy and spread to most of Europe.

Baroque

Calling of Saint Matthew

Caravaggio from the Contarelli chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, ca. 1507-1601, oil on canvas. Patron: Mateo Contarelli

Las Meninas

Diego Velázquez 1656, Spain, oil on canvas. Patron: Philip IV.

David

Gianlorenzo Bernini Italy, marble. Patron: Cardinal Scipione Borghese.

Ecstasy of Saint Theresa

Gianlorenzo Bernini from the Coronaro chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome, Italy, 1645-1652, marble. Patron: Coronaro family.

Young Woman with a Water Pitcher

Jan Vermeer ca. 1662, Holland, oil on canvas.

Versailles

Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Charles Le Brun, and André Le Nôtre 1669, France. Patron: Louis XIV

Landscape with Saint John on Patmos

Nicolas Poussin 1640, France, oil on canvas.

Arrival of Marie de' Medici at Marseilles

Peter Paul Rubens 1622-1625, France, oil on canvas. Patron: Marie de'Medici.

Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq (Night Watch)

Rembrandt Van Rijn Holland, 1642, oil on canvas. Patron: Militia Company

is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen.

camera obscura

Painting in the "dark manner," using violent contrasts of light and dark, as in the work of Caravaggio.

tenebrism