Baroque
1600-1750
Background Information
Famous Baroque Artists
With all his fondness for pretty things, Rembrandt never allowed his fancy to carry him beyond the limits of fitness in sacred art. The Venetian masters had represented the most solemn scenes of the New Testament with a pomp and magnificence entirely at variance with their meaning. Rembrandt understood better the real significance of Christianity, and made no such mistake
Velasquez painted religious pictures like the Adoration of the Shepard's and an Adoration of the Kings, a Christ Crucified and a Coronation of the Virgin. He painted landscapes, historical pictures, like the Surrender of Breda and ancient subjects like Los Borrachos and Smithy of Vulcan, Mars and Venus.
Vermeer was a master at capturing the moods of his subjects, from his atmospheric effects, the glory of his light, the sumptuous warmth of his domestic interior scenes, and the inexplicable sensuality of so many of his works in every genre. Vermeer is best known for the portrait of his maid, 'Girl with a Pearl Earring'.