Baroque Art (For Midterm)

Annibale Carracci, Loves of the Gods, Palazzo Farnese gallery, Rome, 1597-1601, Fresco.

1597-1601, Commissioned by Cardinal Odoardo Farnese. Reflect a significant change in painting style away from 16th century Mannerism in anticipation of the development of Baroque and Classicism in Rome during the seventeenth century. Modeled after sistine chapel, transferred frame painting, "quadro riportato". Carracci arranged the mythological scenes in a quadro riportato format—a fresco resembling easel paintings on a wall. In the crown of the vault, a long panel representing the Triumph of Bacchus is an ingenious mixture of Raphael's drawing style and lighting and Titian's more sensuous and animated figures. It reflects Carracci's adroitness in adjusting their authoritative styles to create something of his own.

Mannersim

An artistic movement that emerged in Italy in the 1520s and 1530s; it marked the end of the Renaissance by breaking down the principles of balance, harmony, and moderation. Among the features most closely associated with Mannerism is artifice. Of course, all art involves artifice, in the sense that art is not "natural"—it is a representation of a scene or idea. But many artists, including High Renaissance painters such as Leonardo and Raphael, chose to conceal that artifice by using such devices as perspective and shading to make their art look natural. In contrast, Mannerist painters consciously revealed the constructed nature of their art. In other words, Renaissance artists generally strove to create art that appeared natural, whereas Mannerist artists were less inclined to disguise the contrived nature of art production. This is why artifice is a central feature of discussions about Mannerism, and why Mannerist works can seem, appropriately, "mannered." The conscious display of artifice in Mannerism often reveals itself in imbalanced compositions and unusual complexities, both visual and conceptual. Ambiguous space, departures from expected conventions, and unique presentations of traditional themes also surface frequently in Mannerist art.

Baldacchino - Bernini, St. Peter's Vatican City, 1624-33, gilded bronze

Both functional and symbolic purpose. Marks St. Peter's tomb and the high altar of the church, and visually bridges human scale to the lofty vaults and dome above. Canopy-like structure, 4 classical angels stand guard, 4 serpentine brackets, gives visual form to triumph of Christianity and papal claim to doctrinal supremacy. Uses "lost-wax process"

Royal Staircase, Bernini, 1663-66 (Scala Regia)

By gradually reducing distance between the columns and walls as the stairway ascends, Bernini created the illusion that the Scala Regia is of uniform width and that the aisles continue for its full length. Crowned by trumpeting angels and papal arms. Brightened lighting at top of stairs. (dark to light). Coat of arms of Chigi family. For Pope Alessandro VII Chigi 1655-1667.

David with the Head of Goliath, Caravaggio, 1610 (david con la testa di golia)

Cardinal Scipione Borghese The young Caravaggio (his own little Caravaggio) wistfully holds the head of the adult Caravaggio with a unique expression of contrition. The wild and riotous behavior of the young Caravaggio essentially had destroyed his life as a mature adult, and he reflects with a familiar hermeticism on his own condition in a painting of a related religious subject.

Canestro di frutta, Caravaggio, (basket of fruits), 1599. Oil on canvas.

Commissioned by Cardinal Borromeo. In line with the culture of the age, the general theme appears to revolve about the fading beauty, and the natural decaying of all things. Observation of the natural.

Bacchus adolescent, Caravaggio, 1596-97. Oil on canvas.

Commissioned by Cardinal Del Monte. Caravaggio is not only attempting to depict Bacchus, but also a boy dressed up as Bacchus. It Is a sensual scene inviting the viewer to succumb to their carnal desires. The boy is youthful and handsome, round yet muscular. He barely makes an attempt to keep his robes on as he coaxes the viewer to join him with a suggestive look in his eye. In the basket there is a bursting pomegranate as well as a rotting apple. Caravaggio uses these elements together to hint at the Vanitas theme. Youth and pleasure are fleeting. Everything must succumb to death and rot.

Ecstasy of St. Theresa, Bernini, Baroque, 1645-1652

Commissioned by Cardinal Federico Cornaro for Cornaro Chapel, Bernini also designed the setting of the Chapel in marble, stucco and paint. The effects are theatrical, the Cornaro family seeming to observe the scene from their boxes, and the chapel illustrates a moment where divinity intrudes on an earthly body. St. Theresa was the "posterchild for the counter-reformation" because her story speaks of her sway from Catholic Church toward Protestant and her return to Catholicism after she is speared with a fire-dipped arrow. Correlated with ideas of Loyola who argued that the re-creation of spiritual experience would do much to increase devotion and piety. Floating on a cloud, bronze rays, unseen window that gives off "heavenly" lighting. Passionate and dramatic/theatrical. Notable combining of spiritual and physical passion.

Facade of Santa Susanna, Maderno, 1597-1603

Commissioned by Cardinal Girolamo Rusticucci One of the earliest manifestations of Baroque spirit, rhythm of columns and pilasters mounts dramatically toward emphatically stressed vertical axis. Resembles Giacomo della Porta's Il Gesu, which was built in 1575. Scroll buttresses- narrow and set art sharper angle, connect 2 levels. Elimination of an arch framing the pediment over the doorway. Recessed niches, contain statues, create pockets of shadow. The dynamic rhythm of columns and pilasters, crowding centrally, and the protrusion and increased central decoration add further complexity to the structure.

David, Bernini, 1623

Commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese Expansive and theatrical, emotional. Sculpture is unique in representing the combat itself. Forces viewer to think of continuum and fraction of it. This suggested continuum imparts a dynamic quality to the statue that conveys a bursting forth of the energy seen confined in Michelangelo's David.

The Rape of Persephone, Bernini (Ratto di Proserpina), 1621-1622, Borghese Gallery

Commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese for Cardinal Ludovisi. Depicts Plutone and Proserpina.Others have remarked on the twisted contrapposto or figura serpentine pose of the group. While reminiscent of Mannerism, particularly Giambologna's The Rape of the Sabine Women, Bernini permits the viewer to absorb the scene from one single viewpoint. While other views provide further details, a spectator can see the desperation of Proserpina and the lumbering attempts of Pluto to grab her. This was in contrast to the Mannerist sculpture of Giambologna, which required the spectator to walk around the sculpture to gain a view of each character's expression

Boy Bitten by a Lizard - Caravaggio (ragazzo morso dal ramarro), 1595-96. Oil on canvas.

Commissioned by Cardinal del Monte. According to Leonard J. Slatkes, the painting's symbolism likely derives from the Apollo Sauroktonos theme in which a poisonous salamander triumphs over the god, while the arrangement of various fruits suggests The Four Temperaments, with the salamander being the symbol of fire in Caravaggio's time. Boy Bitten by a Lizard is an important work in the artist's early oeuvre precisely because it shows a way out from the airless stillness of very early works such as Boy Peeling a Fruit and Sick Bacchus, and even the implied violence but actual stasis of pieces such as Cardsharps.

Supper at Emmaus, Caravaggio, 1600. Oil on canvas.

Commissioned by Ciriaco Mattei The painting depicts the moment when the resurrected but incognito Jesus, reveals himself to two of his disciples. The painting is unusual for the life-sized figures, the dark and blank background. The table lays out a still-life meal. Like the world these apostles knew, the basket of food teeters perilously over the edge.

Pieta, Carracci, 1600. Oil on Canvas.

Commissioned by Odoardo Farnese. Inspired by Michelangelo's Pieta, depicts a very youthful Mary illustrating the purity of the virgin. original combination of the two Renaissance models: as in Michelangelo, in Annibale's Pietà we witness the compound and poignant pain of the Virgin, accentuated by Annibale both by placing the neck of Jesus in Mary's right hand, which she delicately holds up the head of his son. Pyramidal compositional scheme

Facade of St. Peter's, Carlo Maderno, Italian Baroque, 1606-1612

Commissioned by Pope Paul V. Travertine stone Corinthian columns. Elaborated on his design for Santa Susanna, but the 2 outer bays w/bell towers were not part of his plan and detract from the verticality he sought. Paul V commissioned Maderno to add 3 nave bays to the earlier nucleus because Church officials had decided the central plan was too closely associated w/pagan buildings.

Tomb of Pope Urban VIII, Bernini, 1627-1647

Commissioned by Pope Urban VIII. Pope Urban VIII continued the construction of San Pietro begun by Pope Julius II. Angel of death in the middle of sculpture, under the pope, writing the Pope's name. The Tomb of Urban VIII emphasized the pictorial aspects by employing a broad range of materials. The luminous effect of the bronze used to cast the figure of the pope and the sarcophagus surmounted by the image of Death recall the virtuosity of the Baldacchino columns. The design and colour of the gleaming marble surfaces that decorate the niches are reminiscent of those used in the crossing in St Peter's. It is almost as if in designing the pope's tomb, Bernini was concerned to point out the main contributions that Urban had made to St Peter's.

Fountain of the Triton, Bernini, 1624-1643, Piazza Barberini

Commissioned by his patron, Pope Urban VIII. The fountain is located in the Piazza Barberini, near the entrance to the Palazzo Barberini. Barberini coat of arms. Unique base for pool.

Abduction of the sabine women, Giovanni da Bologna, 1579-83

Commissioned by the Medicis. One of the first true Baroque sculptures, displays a baroque interest in full movement depictions. Mannerist. Giovanni didn't care about subject, created the group as a demonstration piece. Goal was to achieve a dynamic spiral figure composition. Interlock on vertical axis. Prominent open spaces. 1st large-scale group since classical antiquity to be in the round

Francesco Borromini, facade of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome, Italy, 1665-1667

Commissioned by the monks of the Trinitarian Order. Borromini rejected the traditional notion that a building's facade should be a flat frontispiece. He set San Carlo's facade in undulating motion, creating a dynamic counterpoint of concave and convex elements.

Madonna dei Pellegrini, 1604, Caravaggio. Oil on canvas.

Commissioned for the decoration of a Cavaelleti family chapel Depicts the apparition of the barefoot Virgin and naked child to two peasants on a pilgrimage; or as some say it is the quickening of the iconic statue of the Virgin. The scene is a moment where everyday common man (or woman) encounters the divine, whose appearance is also not unlike that of a common man (or woman).

Flight Into Egypt, Carracci, 1603-1604. Oil on canvas.

Commissioned in 1603 by Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini for the family chapel in his palace in Rome, later known as Palazzo Doria Pamphilj. Open landscape, in contrast with tradition, uses trees as frame and zig-zag pattern. Carracci's landscapes idealize antiquity and the idyllic life. Here, the pastoral setting takes precedence over the narrative of Mary, the Christ Child, and Saint Joseph wending their way slowly to Egypt. In contrast to many Renaissance artists, he did not create the sense of deep space by employing linear perspective but rather by varying light and shadow to suggest an expansive atmosphere.

St. Matthew and the Angel, Caravaggio, 1601

Completed for the Contarelli Chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi Symbol of St. Matthew is the angel. Matthew was a tax collector, not a scholar. Matthew's foot is jutting out to the viewer. Destroyed in WWII. Bright orange fabric

Baroque

Describes the distinctive new style that emerged during the 17th century—a style of complexity and drama seen especially in Italian art of this period. Whereas Renaissance artists reveled in the precise, orderly rationality of classical models, Baroque artists embraced dynamism, theatricality, and elaborate ornamentation, all used to spectacular effect, often on a grandiose scale.

St. Peter's colonnade, Bernini, 1656-1667

Dramatic gesture of embrace that Bernini's colonnade makes as worshippers enter St. Peter's piazza symbolizes the welcome the Roman Catholic Church extended its members during Counter-Reformation. Tuscan columns. Fulfilled desire of C.R. Catholic Church to present an awe-inspiring, authoritative version of itself.

Dome of St. Peter's Basilica, Michelangelo

Finished by Giacomo Della Porta, 1590 after Michelangelo died. Diametro 42 metri. Attezza 136,5 metri

Angels of sant' andrea delle fratte, Bernini, 1670

For Pope Clemente IX. One of the last works of Bernini.

Fiumi Fountain, Bernini, 1648-1651, Piazza Navona

For Pope Innocent X whose family palace, the Palazzo Pamphili, faced onto the piazza as did the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone of which Innocent was the sponsor. The base of the fountain is a basin from the centre of which travertine rocks rise to support four river gods and above them, a copy of an Egyptian obelisk surmounted with the Pamphili family emblem of a dove with an olive twig. Collectively, they represent four major rivers of the four continents through which papal authority had spread: the Nile representing Africa, the Danube representing Europe, the Ganges representing Asia, and the Río de la Plata representing the Americas.

The Calling of St. Matthew; Caravaggio, 1599-1600 (Vocazione di San Matteo)

For San Luigi dei Francesi. Jesus Christ recognized by only a touch of light on the halo- his face is lit, but his body covered in darkness. 3 figures at table (including Matthew) are looking up towards God/Jesus/the light) but 2 figures have heads down toward table. All figures dressed in contemporary clothing (God is in all times). The stark contrast of light and dark was a key feature of Caravaggio's style. Here, Christ, cloaked in mysterious shadow and almost unseen, summons Levi the tax collector (Saint Matthew) to a higher calling.

The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew, martirio di san matteo, Caravaggio, 1599-1600

For San Luigi dei Francesi. Lots of open space in the painting. According to tradition, the saint was killed on the orders of the king of Ethiopia while celebrating Mass at the altar. The king lusted after his own niece, and had been rebuked by Matthew, for the girl was a nun, and therefore the bride of Christ. Cardinal Contarelli, who had died several decades earlier, had laid down very explicitly what was to be shown: the saint being murdered by a soldier sent by the wicked king, some suitable architecture, and crowds of onlookers showing appropriate emotion.

Crucifixion of St. Peter, Caravaggio, 1600 (crocifissione di san pietro)

For the Cerasi Chapel of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. Strong diagonals leading toward painful expression of St. Peter. The most striking feature of the painting is its pronounced realism: the saint is "very much the poor fisherman from Bethsaida, and the executioners, their hands heavily veined and reddened, their feet dusty, are toiling workmen". This was the beginning of a new phase in Caravaggio's art where he concentrated on the Christian ethos of humility and salvation through suffering.

Madonna and Child with St. Anne, (madonna dei palafrenieri), Caravaggio, 1606

For the altar of the Archconfraternity of the Papal Grooms Atypical representation of the Virgin for its time, and must have been shocking to some contemporary viewers. The allegory, at its core, is simple. The Virgin with the aid of her son, whom she holds, tramples on a serpent, the emblem of evil or original sin. Saint Anne, whom the painting is intended to honor, is a wrinkled old grandmother, witnessing the event. Flimsy halos crown the upright; the snake recoils in anti-halos. Both Mary and Jesus are barefoot; Jesus is a fully naked uncircumcised child. All else is mainly shadow, and the figures gain monumentality in the light.

Entombment, Caravaggio, Baroque, 1603

For the chapel of Pietro Vittrice at Santa Maria in Vallicella. Dramatic lighting- bright colors, feet jutting out towards viewer. Plebian figure types. Gave visual form to the doctrine of transubstantiation. The jutting painted stone slab makes it seem as if Christ's body will be laid on the actual altar of the chapel. This serves to give visual form to the doctrine of transubstantiation (the transformation of the Eucharistic bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ)—a doctrine central to Catholicism that Protestants rejected. By depicting Christ's body as though it were physically present during the Mass, Caravaggio visually articulated an abstract theological precept.

Medusa Head Shield, Caravaggio, 1601-02 (testa di medusa)

It was commissioned by Italian diplomat Francesco Maria del Monte as a means of gifting it to the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Blood pouring from her decapitated head. depicting the exact moment she was executed by Perseus. He plays with the concept by replacing Medusa's face with his own, as an indication of his immunity to her dreadful gaze. Due to its bizarre and intricate design, the painting is said to complement Caravaggio's unique fascination with violence and realism.

Young man with basket of fruit, Caravaggio, 1593-94 (Giovane con canestro). Oil on canvas.

Nothing in the background. Strong contrast of light and dark in subject's white clothing- symbolic of purity. The analysis indicates that Caravaggio is being realistic. By capturing only what was in the fruit basket, he idealizes neither their ripeness nor their arrangement—yet almost miraculously, we are still drawn in to look at it, for the viewer it is very much a beautiful and exquisite subject.

Bacchino malato, Caravaggio, 1593-1594 (Young, sick Bacchus).

Oil on canvas. Apart from its assumed autobiographical content, this early painting was likely used by Caravaggio to market himself, demonstrating his virtuosity in painting genres such as still-life and portraits and hinting at the ability to paint the classical figures of antiquity. The three-quarters angle of the face was among those preferred for late renaissance portraiture, but what is striking is the grimace and tilt of the head, and the very real sense of the suffering; a feature that most Baroque art shares. The figure appears to have jaundice and malaria.

Assumption of the Virgin, Carracci, 1601

Oil on wood. Commissioned by Tiberio Cerasi, for the Cerasi Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo. Reflects Titian's Assumption of the Virgin. The rather crowded composition is organized around a triad of figures: the Virgin rising from the empty tomb (surrounded by a retinue of angels) and the two apostles gazing upwards in awe. All three wear robes in bright primary colors: blue over red (Mary), yellow over blue (Peter) and pink over green (Paul). "The stiffened forms and crowded composition have been interpreted as a conscious shift to a 'hyper-idealized' manner that rejects the warmth and painterly qualities of his Bolognese period for a style indebted to ancient sculpture and to Raphael. Still neither ancient reliefs nor Raphael crowded their pictorial fields in this way". The dynamism, the emotional charge and the integration of the painting into real space are strongly innovative elements which make the panel unequaled among the contemporary altarpieces produced in Rome.

Fresco

Painting applied directly to wet plaster on wall using specific technique involving humidity. Means "full of water"- humidity allows paint to be absorbed, not all colors can be used

Francesco Borromini, San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (view into dome), 1665-1667

The plan of San Carlo is a hybrid of a Greek cross and an oval. The side walls pulsate in a way that reverses the facade's movement. The molded, dramatically lit space appears to flow from entrance to altar. In place of a traditional round dome, Borromini capped the interior of San Carlo with a deeply coffered oval dome that seems to float on the light entering through windows hidden in its base.

Apollo and Daphne, Bernini, Baroque, 1622-1625

The sculpture was the last of a number of artworks commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese. Depicts Daphne changing into Laurel tree (a symbol sacred to Apollo), Borghese Gallery.

Judith Beheading Holofernes, Caravaggio (Giuditta Oloferne) 1597-1600. Oil on canvas.

Theatrical, imbalanced composition. The widow Judith first charms the Syrian general Holofernes, then decapitates him in his tent. Captures Judith's psychological ambivalence.

Conversion of St. Paul, Caravaggio, Baroque, 1601

Typical Roman dress on bottom figure under the horse. "Horse avoids stepping on Paul through divine intervention". Caravaggio used perspective, chiaroscuro, and dramatic lighting to bring viewers into this painting's space and action, almost as if they were participants in Saint Paul's conversion to Christianity. The dramatic spotlight shining down upon the fallen Paul is the light of divine revelation converting him to Christianity.

History of Baroque

With the Church in Rome as the leading art patron in 17th-century Italy, the aim of much of Italian Baroque art was to restore Catholicism's predominance and centrality. The Council of Trent, one 16th-century Counter-Reformation initiative, firmly resisted Protestant objections to using images in religious worship, insisting on their necessity for teaching the laity. Baroque art in Italy was therefore often overtly didactic.