Throughout the17th and 18th centuries, European architects and artists adopted a more and more overall style. Known asBaroque, this approach is characterized by an over-the-top aesthetic that aims to inspire awe and evokes ethereality.
Nowadays, the Baroque period remains one of the most importantcultural movementsin the Western art history.
What Was the Baroque?
It is aPortuguese term for an irregularly-shaped pearl named after”Barroco”. The Baroque period is defined by the opulence of its art and architecture and the grandeur. The Baroque style is characterized by explicit detail and exaggerated motion used to produce drama, abundance, and glory in sculpture, painting, architecture, literature, dance, and music. Baroque iconography was direct, dramatic, and visible, intending to appeal above all to the emotions and the senses.
The chiaroscuro technique is a well-known trait of Baroque art. The technique refers to the interplay between dark and light and is usually used in paintings of dimly lit scenes to produce a professional atmosphere and high-contrast. The chiaroscuro technique is visible in Peter Paul Rubens's paintingThe Massacre of the Innocents. Other critical Baroque painters include Caravaggio is known for work characterized by close-up action and strong diagonals andRembrandt.
When Was the Baroque Period?
During the early 17th century in Italy, theBaroqueperiodbegan, and it lasted more than a century in some places in Europe. As a style,Baroque artworkcombines beautiful details, dramatic compositions, and charged subject matter to give viewers an intense visual experience.
Baroque murals and paintings are often appeared in cathedrals and churches throughout Italy and the rest of Europe, mainly because the Roman Catholic Church of the 17th century realized that this style of art could be used to boost the church and show an impression of power and authority.
Baroque Artistsfrom Different Countries
1. Caravaggio, Italy
The first painter could be called baroque might beCaravaggio. Caravaggio usually worked in Rome. In the painting like The Calling of St. Matthew (1599-1602), Caravaggio set the story in his own time instead of the time of Christ.The painting was divided into two parts. The right figure forms a vertical rectangle while those on the left create a horizontal block. Christ's hand and their clothing further distinguish both sides.
The figures that show inThe Calling of St Mattheware similar if not modeled by those persons in other works, such as Cardsharps. It seems that this painting caused problems for Caravaggio concerning the size and hence he used this painting to come up with a solution for painting from life grand, complex multi-figured compositions. The figures are engulfed by shadow, and it is the only bright light that shines across the wall but also highlights the fact ofSt Matthewand the seated group that brightens the canvas.
2. Diego Velázquez, Spain
During the 1600's, Spain also experienced a Golden Age. Both in art and in literature, a simple and straightforward realism emerged just after the turn of the century. The most celebrated Spanish artist of the period wasDiego Velázquez. Velázquez's Old Woman Cooking Eggs is stunning for its stunning depiction of various surfaces, unflinching naturalism, and textures, and most of all, its mysterious, contemplative atmosphere.
The ovular construction of the painting's composition opens to include the viewers, engaging them in the action of the painting. In a few of his works, Velázquez uses various techniques to blur the line between the space of the viewer and the space of the painting, such as by extending objects beyond the picture plane. This concept of coextensive space is familiar in the Baroque art, notably in the oeuvre of artists like Bernini or Caravaggio. The purpose of this painting and others like it was most probably to show off Velázquez's mastery of rendering surfaces and tensions. The human figures are maybe secondary to those masterful still-life passages. The painting is filled with a range of different materials: pottery, linen, oil, copper, brass, fruit, egg shells and more.
As in most of his early paintings, inOld Woman Cooking EggsVelázquez employs a limited palette of dirty, earthy colors: browns, dark reds, and yellows, off-white and black. The background is left in the inkiest, murkiest of shadows, creating a dramatic, theatrical effect.
3. Claude Lorrain, France
One of the great French painters in the baroque period wereClaude Lorrain. Claude Lorrain's painting The Enchanted Castle takes its story from ancient Roman author Apuleius' Golden Ass (books IV-VI).
There's a reason why a painting technically entitled Landscape with Psyche outside the Palace of Cupid has come to be known as The Enchanted Castle: the painting has an eerie, otherworldly quality that transports the viewer to other realms.
The eponymous castle in Claude's painting is just as ethereal and unusual as the castle described in Apuleius' tale, which the Roman author described as being"built by divine arts". The castle is a mix in styles, including Baroque opulence and refined, Renaissance classicism, an unusual touch of fancy for an artist whose other paintings are populated by classical antiquities.
4. Peter Paul Rubens, Belgium
Peter Paul Rubensexpressed the values of the art of Flanders in the Netherlands better than anyone. His painting Christ on the Cross depicts the death of Christ.
Rubens creates a unique compositional technique for this piece. The current placing always had the three crosses in which Christ was often situated either to the front or middle which made him the core focus. In this painting, the crosses are on a slant running from right to left and are twisted at different perspectives. Subjects like St John at the foot of the cross and the thief on the right with a contorted posture all serve to direct our gaze to Christ as the central focus. The figures are displayed on a variety of planes from right to left. Longinus' lance also leads the eye, as well as the lances in the background.
In the paintingChrist on the Cross, Rubens captures the light with the mastery of colors. He can be seen using great tones of reds, deep browns and highlighted flesh tones to accentuate his figures. Rubens still tried to define stark lighting with his color schemes in this work.
5. Johannes Vermeer, Netherlands
Johannes Vermeerspecialized in painting the interiors of simple middle-class households in his native town of Delft. Vermeer is famous for contributing to the art world and his technical talents and during the 17th century. He was a talent of chiaroscuro and realism painting, and he drew inspiration from the Italian Baroque era.
His painting,Girl with a Pearl Earring, wasn't until the second half of the twentieth century that the name was changed.His intense use of his signature ultramarine can be found in this work. It is not merely used in the top of the turban but used at the end of the fabric hanging down the sitter's back.
Vermeer adopts the Dutch custom of a dark background which allowed the artists to create a three-dimensional effect of the highlighted subject. Dark backgrounds helped the artist to be more flexible in their technique and gave them the freedom to use a variety of contrasts of lighting. Art historians have found out thatVermeerused a green ochre tone as an undercoat in the painting which helped emphasize the vibrant colors of the figure.
Baroque in Modern Times
The Baroque Style inspired the Beaux-Arts architecture style that developed in the 19th century and which was used in some modern buildings. The Baroque Style resulted in some majestic landmarks in modern Europe such as the St. Peters Square in Rome, Castellana in Malta, Queluz National Palace in Portugal, Royal Palace of La Granja in Spain, Parish Church of St. Anne in Budapest and St. George’s Cathedral in Romania.
