The Most Iconic Artists of the Baroque, from Caravaggio to Rembrandt | Artsy (2024)

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Who are the 3 famous Baroque artists? ›

Among the greatest painters of the Baroque period are Velázquez, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Rubens, Poussin, and Vermeer.

Michelangelo da Merisi, better known as Caravaggio, was one of the most influential, and notorious, artists of the Baroque period.

Baroque painting

The most well-known Baroque composers are Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Händel, and Antonio Vivaldi. It's worth adding to this list Arcangelo Corelli who was the first Baroque composer to gain international fame for his music.

Rembrandt van Rijn, the eminent Dutch painter, was born in 1606 in the present Netherlands, and even though he never went abroad his pieces were inspired by foreign influences. When most people think of the most significant Baroque painters and the Dutch Golden Age, Rembrandt almost universally comes to mind.

Rembrandt, in full Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Rembrandt originally spelled Rembrant, (born July 15, 1606, Leiden, Netherlands—died October 4, 1669, Amsterdam), Dutch Baroque painter and printmaker, one of the greatest storytellers in the history of art, possessing an exceptional ability to render people in their ...

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Baroque music – and all music, as far as we're concerned – can start and end with Bach if forced to pick one composer.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist, arguably the greatest sculptor of the 17th century, known for having developed the Baroque style of sculpture.

Who is an iconic artist during the Baroque period known for his supreme intensity? ›

Baroque ushered in a new era for European sculpture, led largely by the work of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, which emphasized sensual richness, dramatic realism, intense emotion, and movement.

The Famous Renaissance Artist Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Leonardo da Vinci is arguably one of the most influential figures not only of the Renaissance but of art history itself.

Two of the leading figures in the emergence of Baroque painting in Italy were Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio and Annibale Carracci.

Baroque Period Musical Forms

Popular Baroque musical forms include the prelude and fugue, the cantata, the concerto, the oratorio, the sonata, and even opera.

The dramatists of the era explored the predominant themes of art imitating life and the world as a stage. Some of these playwrights, who hailed from England, France, and Spain, included Shakespeare, Behn, Corneille, Racine, Molière, Lopa De Vega, and Calderón.

Here's how Caravaggio significantly influenced Baroque painting: He inspired other painters to incorporate diagonals. In paintings like the Martyrdom of St. Peter, the artist creates a series of sharp compositional diagonals that amplify the drama of the biblical subject matter.

Rembrandt never visited Italy4,5 , and his adoption of Italian baroque color palettes and compositional schemes has been widely regarded as an adaptation of their use by Dutch Caravaggisti6,7. Nonetheless, many of Rembrandt's paintings use compositions and poses familiar to those who study Caravaggio.

Rembrandt not only never met Caravaggio, but, amazingly, never saw a Caravaggio painting. The show sports an amusing preamble, therefore, that reveals how Caravaggio's revolutionary message was transported from Rome to Amsterdam in shaky fashion by a wonky bunch of Dutch groupies.

Among the foremost Baroque Old Masters of portraiture were: the Dutch Realist Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, whose masterpieces included: The Night Watch or The Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq (1642) and The Syndics of the Cloth-Makers Guild (The Staalmeesters) (1662); the genre-painter and portraitist Jan ...

Who invented baroque art? ›

Annibale Carracci and Caravaggio were the two Italian painters who helped usher in the Baroque and whose styles represent, respectively, the classicist and realist modes.

The leading figure of Baroque sculpture was certainly Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

The opera, oratorio, and cantata were the most important new vocal forms, while the sonata, concerto, and overture were created for instrumental music.

Apollo and Daphne by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Apollo and Daphne, completed in 1625, represents the moment in Ovid's Metamorphoses when Daphne changes into a tree. The action and psychological distress depicted in this work make it a significant example of Baroque sculpture.

Three great masters–Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael–dominated the period known as the High Renaissance, which lasted roughly from the early 1490s until the sack of Rome by the troops of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Spain in 1527.

The four main Renaissance artists were: Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci. Donatello lived during the last decades of the Middle Ages and the first decades of the Renaissance. He was primarily known as a sculptor. Raphael was both a painter and architect.

The most famous Renaissance period artist, and perhaps the most well-known artist ever, is Leonardo da Vinci. Seen as the embodiment of the Renaissance humanist ideals, da Vinci was incredibly innovative in all areas of art and completely transformed the study of subjects.

The best-known exponents of painting, sculpture and architecture of the High Renaissance include Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Bramante.

Three great masters–Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael–dominated the period known as the High Renaissance, which lasted roughly from the early 1490s until the sack of Rome by the troops of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Spain in 1527.

The Baroque period is divided into three major phases: early, middle, and late. Overlapping in time, they are conventionally dated from 1580 to 1650, from 1630 to 1700, and from 1680 to 1750.

Who is the first Baroque artist known as? ›

Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist, arguably the greatest sculptor of the 17th century, known for having developed the Baroque style of sculpture.

The best-known exponents of painting, sculpture and architecture of the High Renaissance include Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Bramante.

The term Baroque probably ultimately derived from the Italian word barocco, which philosophers used during the Middle Ages to describe an obstacle in schematic logic. Subsequently the word came to denote any contorted idea or involuted process of thought.

Baroque emphasizes dramatic, exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted, detail. Due to its exuberant irregularities, Baroque art has often been defined as being bizarre, or uneven.

Baroque came to English from the French word barroque, meaning "irregularly shaped." At first, the word in French was used mostly to refer to pearls. Eventually, it came to describe an extravagant style of art characterized by curving lines, gilt, and gold.

They embodied three vital aspects of the period – Leonardo was the ultimate “Renaissance man” with his intellect and vast and diverse interests and talents, Michelangelo drew inspiration from the human body for his brilliant projects and Raphael created works which were harmonious, beautiful, and serene, thereby ...