Baroque Period
Visual Arts
Defining Characterisitcs
- Images were direct dramatic, and obvious
- Emotionally Intense
- Tries to draw the viewer in to participate in the scene
- Vitality, granduer, and emotional exuberance
- Depictions felt psychologically and physically real
- Dramatic use of colors
- Extravagant settings
- Dramatic contrast between dark and light color
- A common theme for this period for the artists was the miraculous moment where the divine met the earthly the sacred intruded upon the profane.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (Milan, 28 September 1571 - Porto Ercole, 18 July 1610)
Most Famous Pieces
- David with the Head of Goliath
- The Conversion of St.Paul
- Narcissus, c. 1597-99
- Judith Beheading Holofernes c. 1598
Annibale Carracci (November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609)
Most Famous Pieces
- Pieta between 1599-1600
- Virgin on the throne with St. John and St. Catherine
- Resurrection of Christ
- Assumption
Rembrandt Van Rijn (Leiden 1606- Amsterdam 1669)
Most Famous Pieces
- Self Portrait as a Young man c, 1628
- Self Portrait, Open-Mouthed c, 1629
- Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jeruselem. 1630
- Rembrandts Mother as the Profetess Hannah 1631
- The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
Relevant Time Frame 1600's - 1700's (Originated in Italy)
How Society Was Invovled
As the Baroque style spread to the North, it became popular at royal courts, where it symbolized the emerging power if the New Monarchies. Whenever it showed itself, the Baroque approach was likely to exhibit a combination of massiveness, power, dramatics, intensity, with pageantry, color, and theatrical adventure. This movement was encouraged by the Catholic Church, which was the most important patron of the arts at the time, being seen as a return of tradition and spirituality.