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BAROQUE ART REVIEW

  1. ITALIAN BAROQUE
  1. Judith Beheading Holofernes
  2. Painted by Artemesia Gentileschi
  3. Powerful spot light, tenebrism, and focus on the most dramatic moment demonstrate the influence of Caravaggio
  4. Used self-portrait for Judith
  5. Gentileschi’s paintings often focus on heroic women
  6. Gentileschi received her early training from her father Orazio Gentileschi, who was a Caravaggisti, as well as the artist Agostino Tassi, the man who raped her
  1. David
  2. Sculpted by Bernini for Cardinal Borghese
  3. Other David statues had been sculpted by Donatello, Verrocchio, and Michelangelo
  4. Attention to dramatic action – similarity to Hellenistic Greek art
  5. Bernini also designed a baldacchino for Saint Peter’s Basilica
  1. Apollo and Daphne
  2. Sculpted by Bernini for Cardinal Borghese
  3. Shows the dramatic moment in which Daphne is turning into a tree as Apollo catches up to her
  4. Similarity to Hellenistic statues
  5. Bernini worked primarily for members of the church hierarchy.
  1. Pluto and Proserpina (aka Persephone)
  2. Based on the Greek myth for explaining the seasons
  3. Sculpted by Bernini for Cardinal Borghese’s villa
  4. Demonstrates the Baroque attention to the dramatic
  1. St. Peter’s Basilica
  2. A landmark church in the city of Rome
  3. Finally finished by Carlo Maderno – a 120 year long building project – Saint Peter’s was finally dedicated to God in 1626.
  4. Façade contains elements of Renaissance and Baroque architecture
  5. Stylistic features of the dome were developed by Michelangelo
  6. Maderno incorporated “giant” order columns in the façade of Saint Peter’s to heighten its dramatic impact.
  7. Saint Peter’s Square was designed by Bernini. Bernini designed the long colonnades that frame the sides of Saint Peter’s Square. Recall that Bernini said that the colonnades represent the welcoming arms of the “mother church.”
  8. Bronze baldacchino
  9. Cathedra Petri
  1. SPANISH BAROQUE
  2. Las Meninas
  3. Painted by Diego Velazquez
  4. A group portrait of members of the Spanish royal court
  5. Velazquez worked primarily for court of King Philip IV of Spain
  6. The painting is renowned for its complex spatial relationships.
  7. The painting demonstrated that Velazquez raised the statue of artists in Spain.
  8. Velazquez created a recumbent nude known as the Rokeby Venus, painted genre scenes such as Waterseller of Seville, and painted a portrait of Pope Innocent X.
  9. Surrender at Breda (Las Lanzas)
  1. DUTCH BAROQUE
  1. Rum Glass, Oysters, and Peeled Lemon Still-Life
  • Painted by Willem Heda
  • A vanitas still-life – objects in which a wealthy Dutch family could take pride
  • The painting is a reminder of the transience of life.
  1. Self-Portrait by Judith Leyster
  2. Self-portrait depicts the artist in the act of painting
  3. Only female member of painter’s guild of Haarlem
  4. Well-known portrait artist and genre scene painter
  5. Work shows similarities to portraits by Frans Hals
  6. Her instructor(s) is (are) not clear. She was married to an established genre scene painter.
  1. Laughing Cavalier
  2. Painted by Frans Hals in the 1600s
  3. Hals captured the personality of the subject at the time.
  4. Intricate details on his sleeve may contains symbols associated with love
  5. Hals is best known for portraiture, which thrived in Holland due to the influence of Protestantism. Great Dutch artists were NOT commissioned to create altarpieces and paintings for churches because Calvinism sought to purify churches of such images.
  1. View of Haarlem the Bleaching Grounds
  2. Painted by Jacob van Ruisdael
  3. Demonstrates the Dutch interest in landscape painting
  4. The Dutch Netherlands became an independent nation in the 17th century after winning a series of battles against Spain.
  5. Middle-class Dutch families commissioned such paintings to decorate their homes.
  6. Contains hallmark features of Ruisdael’s work: low vantage point, strong contrasts between light and dark, shifting cloud formations
  1. Aristotle Contemplating the Bust of Homer
  2. At the MET!
  3. Part of Rembrandt’s later, more introspective style
  4. Rembrandt uses tenebrism like many other Baroque artists. Recall that tenebrism is really an exaggerated form of chiaroscuro, which refers to modeling with light and shadow.
  5. Rembrandt is also well known for his numerous self-portaits and his use of etching.
  1. The Milkmaid
  2. A genre scene painted by Johannes Vermeer in the 17th century
  3. Shows Vermeer’s proclivity for painting quite domestic scenes with a light source coming from the left
  4. Details in Vermeer’s paintings may be due to the fact that he used a camera obscura
  5. Intended to decorate a middle-class Dutch home
  1. ROLLING REVIEW
  2. Patrons – people who commission art work
  3. Ecclesiastical patronage – patronage from the church, ie. Popes, cardinals, bishops
  4. Imperial patronage – patronage by emperors
  5. Private patronage – ordinary individuals who pay for artwork like in Northern Europe
  6. Middle-class patronage – same as private patronage only it states that these people are middle-class, a new group of patrons in places like the Dutch Netherlands who owned or operated businesses and had enough money to commission and buy artwork
  7. Civic patronage – when local governments and public groups commission works of art ex. The Archers of Saint Hadrian – a group portrait by Frans Hals
  1. Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride
  2. A wedding portrait by Jan van Eyck
  3. Painted in oil
  4. Van Eyck was a Flemish painter of the Northern Renaissance
  5. The mirror in the back of the room is believed to contain a tiny self-portrait of Van Eyck.
  6. Contains the typical Northern Renaissance features of intricate details, disguised symbols, and meticulous use of oil paint
  7. Van Eyck also painted the world famous Ghent Altarpiece.
  1. Merode Altarpiece
  2. Painted by Robert Campin, aka Master of Flemalle
  3. Oil painting
  4. The painting is a triptych.
  5. The central panel portrays an Annunciation.
  6. Campin used everyday objects such as candles, a wash basin, and a vase with flowers as religious symbols.
  1. Fall of Man
  2. Engraving by Durer
  3. Subject matter is taken from the Old Testament of the Bible
  4. Engraving are advantageous because artists can make multiple copies of the original image
  5. The detailed naturalism of the background reflects Northern Renaissance attention to detail seen in the work of Van Eyck.
  6. Durer is known as the first German artist to make extensive trips to Italy, which had a major impact on his art.
  7. Art historians view Durer as the first Northern Renaissance artist to synthesize classical body proportions of the Italian Renaissance with the Northern attention to detail and disguised symbols.
  8. Durer believed in his own genius, wanted to raise the statue of artists, and was a well-rounded humanist.
  1. Bosch
  2. 16th century Netherlandish painter famous for his fantastic visions of Paradise and Hell
  3. His visionary work was paralleled in the work of Surrealists during the 20th century.