Baroque Art : The Baroque Period

The history of art has been broken up into different time periods, each unique due to the influences of the time. The Baroque period began in the 1600s where artists such as Caravaggio and Bernini began experimenting with dramatic colors, light and darkness, and dramatics to tell stories. Michelangelo, while contributing to the art scene during the Renaissance period, was a large influence in the creation of the Baroque style. The ever-changing styles of art invent new periods with distinct artists that challenge each other to create stunning works that eventually influence a news style to be born. Michelangelo, a Renaissance artist, was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese, Italy to a governor of a Florentine outpost and his wife.

The Baroque period can be described by many events including the American Revolution. However, what distinguishes the period is the work or art that was done during that time. The Baroque was a period of a particular artistic style that exaggerated emotions. The art of that time produced grandeur, drama, tension, and exuberance. The forms of art included painting, sculpture, architecture, theatre, and music. The style began in Italy, and it eventually spread to other parts of Europe . Nonetheless, it was mostly practiced in Rome. The baroque style of art made popular by the Roman Catholic Church. The church employed the style during the Protestant Reformation to stop the religious group from spreading their reach. There was a deliberate intention

The baroque period contributed to the early history of the United States of America. Artists that came to America were influenced by the works of Baroque, and implemented it in the forming of the U.S, whether if it was for religious purposes, or for other purposes, such as

After the idealism of the Renaissance (c.1400-1530), Baroque art above all reflected the religious tensions of the age - notably the desire of the Catholic Church in Rome (as annunciated at the Council of Trent, 1545-63) to reassert itself in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. Thus it is almost synonymous with Catholic Counter-Reformation Art of the period. This period is often thought of as 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, theater, and music. The style began around 1600 in Rome, Italy, and spread to most of

Renaissance art created standards and principles that every painting and artist had to utilize in order to even be considered good, let alone great. Characteristics such as the phenomenon of natural light, one-point and linear perspective, and highly idealized religious or mythological figures changed into the Baroque techniques of manipulating light to create emphasis, dramatizing the illustrated allegory, and unidealized realism. Additionally, “… the Baroque trend dominated and gave its name to the age… [but it was the presence of both styles] that give the Italian seventeenth century its richness and diversity.” (4) Italy, and Rome especially, is home to what can

The Baroque and Classical periods are where we see the emergence of renowned composers like Handel, Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart and Beethoven. The music from these famous composers are some of the world’s most recognizable and beautiful classics of all time. Music of these eras are still being used in many of today’s movies and commercials. Musical characteristics developed from these eras are still used and heard presently in popular music.

Europe went through an era fueled by the search of truth and grand ambitions. This was a time period was characterized by much advancement in the sciences, politics, philosophy, and the arts.

Baroque style of art was not always popular it has had a bad reputation since 18th century Neoclassicism as irregular, strange, or otherwise departing from conventional rules and sizes. Baroque come form the Portuguese word barroco which means imperfectly shaped pearl. It implemented a propagandistic stance in which art was to serve as a means of prolonging and rousing the public’s trust in the Catholic Counter Reformation Church; it quickly became the official art of the Church. The artworks produced in the Baroque era were both sensuous and spiritual, while the true to life treatment made the religious image more available to the average churchgoer. Baroque artworks have seven elements, Classicism,

The era known as the Baroque period includes the seventeenth and most of the eighteenth centuries in Europe. The Baroque style was a style in which the art and artists of the time focused upon details and intricate designs. Their art often appeals to the mind by way of the heart. During this time the portraits began to portray modern life, and artists turned their backs on classical tradition. Much of the art shows great energy and feeling, and a dramatic use of light, scale, and balance (Preble 302). Buildings were more elaborate and ornately decorated. These works of art created history and altered the progress of Western Civilization. Architecture such as the palace of Versailles, and artists like

Beginning with the Baroque period, the Baroque was an art movement in the 17th and early 18th century which comes after the Renaissance before the Enlightenment, Neoclassicism. It’s origins, like renaissance art, were in Italy and the historical context really have is two historical movements that are associated with the Baroque. First, the Counter Reformation and second, Absolutism. As far as the Baroque tradition it represents a rejection of renaissance restraint. When looking at the School of Athens by Raphael, we can see this very technically perfect painting from the Renaissance where it looks like it could’ve been posed for which is what renaissance art is, restraint, that you are supposed to think about balance in the composition, and you’re supposed to hold something back. Renaissance art was not very emotional. One thing we should note is this painting of Aneas Fleeing Burning Troy by Federico Baroccci, is not restraint. We see a bunch of running around, burning fires, it’s not balanced, and there’s more action, but at the same time we still see this framework of classical themes. When looking at Baroque art, we’ll still be able to see themes that are very religious or grounded in the Greco Roman classical traditions. More characteristics of Baroque art we can see are motion, emotion, grandeur, and contrast. A piece of work where we can see almost all of these characteristics would be St. Michael the Archangel by Guido Reni. We see St. Michael trampling the devil,

Understanding the various forms of baroque art requires knowledge of its historical context. The 17th century could be called the first modern age. Human awareness of the world was continuously expanding. Many scientific discoveries influenced art; Galileo's investigations of the planets, for example, account for astronomical accuracy in many paintings of the time. BAROQUE STYLE--emphasized movement, contrast and variety as with the painter Caravaggio who used dark' s in background in contrast to lights in the foreground As in his picture " The Three Musicians". The center figure tunes a stringed instrument while the musician on the right sets down his violin to study some sheet music. The assistant on the left is reaching for grapes and the third player in the background holds a flute. All of this dipicts movement in the entire picture and a variety of different figures doing different things. In the 1700's, rulers were anxious to show off their power and wealth. The most powerful of these was Louis XIV of France. Beginning in Louis's court, the Baroque style under went a transformation. First , it changed from bold and dramic to festive and decorative and eventually, to a new, lighter and more graceful art style know as the Rococo Style.

•The creation of the baroque style—an art style full of emotion, flamboyancy, symbolism, vigor, and subtlety—largely as a product of the Catholic Church patronage of the arts

Italian Renaissance was a period of great cultural changes in Europe that started in Italy in the 14th century and continued until the 16th century. Renaissance marked the evolution between Medieval and the early modern Europe. The era of rebirth is known for the renewed interests in the culture of traditional antique after the Dark Ages. In the renaissance, art was very important as people expected it to have a significant effect on their lives. People anticipated art to delight and entice them into holding and maintaining their beliefs. Art was also expected to guide people of that time to engage in certain behaviors. Therefore, it was

It is hard to believe that what began during the Renaissance would be followed by what we refer to as the Baroque period beginning in the 1600’s and later the Rococo. The term Baroque was first used in the eighteenth-century by critics in a negative way. “To the eyes of these critics, who favored the restraint and order of Neoclassicism, the works of Bernini, Borromini, and Pietro da Cortona appeared bizarre, absurd, even diseased—in other words, misshapen, like an imperfect pearl” (Camara, E., n.d. para. 12). Stylistic style differs in the Baroque period with the use of interrupted contours, dynamism, and instability. In addition, artists were moving toward a more realistic subject matter and not the idealized portrayals we saw in the Renaissance period.

The painting by Caravaggio that the paper will discuss is "Medusa." He painted it in 1595 making this painting early Baroque. Baroque painting is characterized by serious drama, rich and deep colors. Baroque paintings also have intense lighting and contrast due to the very dark shadows. Baroque art typically captures the most action packed point. Baroque artists paint the most dramatic point of the stories they choose to tell or retell. Baroque art seeks to evoke human emotions, specifically passion and not the calm feelings sought by Renaissance art. Medusa was a Gorgon who was so hideous that she turned whomever looked directly at her into stone on the spot. Medusa was decapitated by Perseus who then used her head as a weapon. He ultimately gave Medusa's head to Athena for her to mount onto her shield.