The Age of Baroque  (ca 1550-1570)

I.  Historical Context

A. Chronology of major events

B. Catholic Reformation

C. Absolutism

i. Louis XIV in France

ii. The English Exception

II. The Baroque Style

A. Roots in mannerism

B. Baroque Arts

i. Painting

                      ii. Sculpture

I. Historical Context:

A. Chronology

1450-1750  an era of European overseas exploration and expansion

1534  the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits, founded by Ignatius Loyola

1545-1563  the Council of Trent to reform the Catholic church

1562-1598  religious wars in France

1588  England defeated the Spanish Armada

1609  Holland and Flanders given virtual independence in truce with Spain

1618-1648  the Thirty Years’ War, which ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

1642-1649  the English Civil War

1649-1658  Oliver Cromwell ruled in England

1661  beginning of Louis XIV’s absolutism in France

1682  Louis XIV moved court to Versailles

1688  the Glorious Revolution in England; Declaration of Rights established English constitutional government

B. Catholic Reformation

Two Phases: before and after Martin Luther 

A.    Before Martin Luther: A Catholic Reformation beginning around 1490, “an internal program of papal and monastic reform” inspired by Christian humanists such as Erasmus and Thomas More. (Fiero 28)

B.     After Martin Luther: “A Counter-Reformation that responded to challenges posed by Protestantism. Under strong papal leadership, the Church launched an aggressive evangelical campaign to win back its lost congregation” (Lerner et al. 493).

1. Council of Trent

    --tightened discipline

2. the Jesuits

    --Ignatius Loyola

    --Missionary works abroad

         --Francis Xavier

         --Matteo Ricci

Council of Trent
1545-1563  the general council met at intervals to...

Tightened Discipline

The Jesuits

1. Ignatius Loyola

2. Missionary work abroad: Francis Xavier, Matteo Ricci

1. Ignatius Loyola (1491- 1556)

2. Missionary Work Abroad

(1) Far East:

a. China: Targeting the intellectual classes, Catholic missionaries succeeded in winning converts among the scholars.

b. Japan: By 1606, the Japanese outlawed Christianity for it was perceived to be potentially subversive. In 1624, all Western foreigners were expelled.

(2) Americas: Christian evangelism proved to be more successful in Spanish Americas (notably in Mexico and Peru) than elsewhere. Catholicism went hand in hand with colonization, however.

                                                                                                                        (Fiero 40)

Francis Xavier (1506-1552)

Matteo Ricci (1552-1610)

C. Absolutism

Definition:

17th Century absolute monarchs:

-Louis XIV of France  (prime example)

-Peter the Great of Russia

-Leopold I of Austria

-Frederick William of Brandenburg-Prussia

The English Exception

Absolutism: Definition

Time: dating from the beginning of Louis XIV’s rule in France (1661) to the French Revolution (1789).   

monarch + nation:  “A political theory that encouraged rulers to claim complete sovereignty within their territories.”     (Lerner et al. 593)

Absolutism: Theory

The divine right of kings: “God is holiness itself, goodness itself, and power itself. In these things lies the majesty of God. In the image of these things lies the majesty of the prince. ”  (Bishop Jacques Bossuet, Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Scripture, 1708; qtd. in Lerner et al. 596)

Absolutism: Main Features

Absolute Monarchy → Centralization

Possessing a large standing army

Creating a centralized bureaucracy to be in charge of taxation

Keeping the nobles under control

Adopting expansionist policies—wars, wars, and more wars

i. The Bourbons in France

ii. The English Exception

The Glorious Revolution

In the summer of 1688, seven English noblemen wrote to the Dutch leader, the Protestant William, Prince of Orange, requesting his assistance to depose James II, who had taken steps to reinstate Catholicism and given signs of doing without Parliament.

On 5 November 1688 William landed with a massive invasion force and within six weeks James had fled the country.

Three months later William and his English wife Mary, James II's Protestant daughter, were crowned joint monarchs, and accepted the 'Declaration of Rights', the document that affirmed Parliament's ancient rights and liberties.

II. The Baroque Style

A. Roots in Mannerism

Mannerism

(a) A pejorative term in the 17th century, referring to works associated with

1.      artificiality

2.      self-conscious virtuosity

3.      capricious elegance                                                              

(Lucie-Smith 222)

(b) Now applied to Italian painting and sculpture of the period between the climax of High Renaissance (1520, the year Raphael died) and the beginning of Baroque (1590-1610).

Mannerism: Definition

(a) An art more focused on style (derived from the Italian word “maniera”) than content.

(b) Brought a new level of psychological intensity to visual expression

(Fiero 43)

B. Baroque's Art

i. Painting

Main Features

   -figural distortions

    -irrational space,

    -bizarre colors,

    -general disregard of Renaissance “rules” (symmetry & geometric clarity)

A common technique

figura serpentinata: the serpentine line

The figure and all its parts should resemble the letter S. All the figures are characterized by athletic twists and turns.

Food for Thought

Compare and contrast the three pairs of images below. Specifically how do the mannerist art works deviate from rules of Renaissance art? Give concrete examples.

Renaissance vs. Mannerism

(left)  Leonardo da Vinci, “The Last Supper.” 1495-98. Wikipedia. Web. 27 July 2011.http://ilo.wikipedia.org/wiki/

(middle) Tintoretto, “The Last Supper.” 1592-1594. Wikipedia. Web. 27 July 2011.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Supper_(Tintoretto)

(right) Raphael, “Alba Madonna.” 1510. Smarthistory. Web. 27 July 2011. http://smarthistory.org/raphael.html

(left) Parmigianino, “The Madonna of the Long Neck.” c. 1535. Wikipedia. Web. 27 July 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_with_the_Long_Neck

(middle) Leonardo da Vinci, “Annunciation .” 1472-75. Web. 27 Jul7 2011.
http://www.lems.brown.edu/vision/people/leymarie/Refs/VisualArt/Figs/VinciAnnunciation.jpg

(right) El Greco, “The Annunciation” 1600. Olga’s Gallery. Web. 27 July 2011. http://www.abcgallery.com/E/elgreco/elgreco34.html

(left) Michelangelo, “Last Judgment.” 1537-41. Wikipedia. Web. 27 July 2011. http://wapedia.mobi/en/File:Michelangelo,_Giudizio_Universale_02.jpg

(middle) El Greco, “The Agony in the Garden.” ca. 1585-1586. Wikipedia. Web. 27 July 2011. http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/el-greco/the-agony-in-the-garden

(right) El Greco, “View of Toledo.” 1597. Metmuseum. Web. 27 July 2011. http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/european_paintings/
view_of_toledo_el_greco_domenikos_theotokopoulos/objectview.aspx?collID=11&OID=110001017

The Baroque Style

Origin

Originally 18-century classists used it to describe 17th-century painters’ defiance of classical rules intended as a term of abuse, meaning an oddly shaped pearl and growing to mean anything illogical, absurd, or bizarre.

(Gowing 696)

Main features

(Cunningham 354)

A.    Linked with the renewed power of the Roman Catholic Church and the increased centralization of political power.

B.     An art of persuasion or propaganda that appeals to the senses and emotions

C.    Common subject matters: the glory of martyrdom, saintly visions and ecstasies

D.    Use various illusionistic devices

                                                                  (Gowing 696)

Illusionistic Devices

Foreshortening: To shorten (as a design) by proportionately contracting in the direction of depth so that an illusion of projection or extension in space is obtained.

Trompe l’oeil: literally, to “fool the eye”

Geographic Distribution

“In Italy, it mirrored the religious fervor of the Catholic Reformation.”

Italy: Carracci, Caravaggio, Bernini

“In France and elsewhere among authoritarian regimes, it worked to glorify royal wealth and majesty.”

France: Poussin

Spain: Velazquez

“In Northern Europe, it conveyed the self-reflective spirit of Protestant devotionalism.”

Flanders: Rubens

Holland: Rembrandt, Vermeer                 

                                                    (Fiero 38)

Painting: Italy

Annibale Carracci (1560-1609)

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573-1609/10)

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653)

Painting: France

Nicolas Poussin (1593/4-1665)

--Baroque classism

--Works characterized by perfect clarity of form and structure

The Classical Baroque

Painting: Spain

Diego Velazquez (1509-1661)

--His career was closely linked to the Spanish court.

Painting: Flanders

Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)

Painting: Holland

Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606-69)

Jan Vermeer (1632-75)

ii. Sculpture

--“What is most typically and fundamentally Mannerist about Cellini’s statue is the way in which the artist distances himself from what is being shown, and makes a bloody deed playful and rather elegant. Even the blood spurting from Medusa’s trunk is treated in a decorative way” (Lucie-Smith 235-236)

--“a challenge to the artist’s virtuosity: three figures into a coherent spiral”  (Piper 169)

Source: (left) Benvenuto Cellini, “Perseus with the Head of Medusa.” 1554.
Wikipedia. Web. 27 July 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Firenze_perseo_cellini_1.jpg

(middle) Giovanni Bologna, “Rape of a Sabine.” 1583.
Bluffton. Web. 27 July 2011. http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/lanzi/lanzi2.html

(right) Giambologna, “Hercules Beating the Centaur Nessus.”1599.
Artcyclopedia. Web. 27 July 2011. http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/giambologna.html

Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680)

An Italian baroque architect and sculptor

Bernini, “David.” ca. 1623. Owensboro. Web. 27 July 2011.
http://legacy.owensboro.kctcs.edu/crunyon/Eng262/01-neoclassicism/01-intro/Enlightart.htm

Renaissance vs. Baroque

Source: Bernini, “Bust of Louis XIV.” 1665.  Bluffton. Web. 27 July 2011. http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/france/versailles/bernini/louisfourteen.html

Works Cited

Cunningham, Lawrence and John Reich. Culture and Values. 4th ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1998.

Fiero, Gloria. The Humanistic Tradition. Vol. 2. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011.

Gowing, Sir Lawrence, ed. A History of Art. Rev. ed. Oxfordshire, UK: Andromeda, 1995.

Lerner, Robert E., Standish Meacham, and Edward McNall Burns. Western Civilizations. 13th ed. New York: Norton, 1998.

Lucie-Smith, Edward. Art and Civilization. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992.

Perry, Marvin. Western Civilization: A Brief History. 4th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.

Piper, David. The Illustrated History of Art. London: Chancellor, 1981.