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Caravaggio. The Calling of St. Matthew. Oil on canvas, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, 1600.
Caravaggio established an interplay of light and dark called tenebrism, where bold contrasts highlight certain figures in the painting and drown others in darkness. But in tenebrism, the important subject in the work often remains in the dark. In The Calling of St. Matthew, the represented light and characters in the piece direct our eyes to the comparatively recessive Matthew, while Christ is depicted almost in complete darkness. -
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Baroque Art
The Baroque period was comprised of both works of formal and thematic contrasts and grandeur, reflecting the complicated world in Europe after the idealized Italian Renaissance. Religion was at odds with itself after Protestant reformations and Catholic anti-reformations arose, science was gaining a foothold, and art became a commodity, leaving these conflicts to appear in the highly expressive and dramatic work of fine art through painting, sculpture, architecture, and music. -
Caravaggio. The Incredulity of Saint Thomas. Oil on Canvas, 1602.
Theatricality played a major role in Baroque art. Carravagio and other painters capture this with dramatic chiaroscuro contrasts of light and dark. The expressive lighting in this painting adds to the fantastical subject matter in which St. Thomas inspects Christ’s wound after the Resurrection. The effect is made even more impactful by the realistic, tangible quality of the represented figures. -
Miguel de Cervantes. Don Quixote. Novel, 1605.
Considered to be one of the first modern novels, Don Quixote is a fantastical and dreamy text that resists typical storytelling about heroes and quests. Instead, it follows a crazed and delusional hero who embarks on an inward journey. A reflection of its times, the book today reads like something far more post-modern and multi-textual than a straightforward story from this era. -
Maderno, Carlo. Façade of St. Peter’s Basilica. Vatican City, Rome, Italy, 1606.
Pope Paul V commissioned Carlo Moderno to restore an imposing splendor to the façade of Saint Peter's Basilica. Although Maderno’s plan was never fully executed, his work added a sense of spectacle and awe to the façade. Christ, John the Baptist, and the eleven Apostles stand above huge Corinthian columns. The columns recall venerable Greek and Roman traditions, while the newly added sculptures invoke the prevailing religious force: Christ and his followers. -
Gentileschi, Artemesia. Judith Slaying Holofernes. Oil on canvas, Galleria delgi Uffizi, Florence, 1614.
Painting when women artists were not commonplace, Gentileschi was an early feminist who used bold, dramatic scenes, often depicting the sexes as equals. In this painting, she uses the chiaroscuro style to depict a gruesome beheading from the Old Testament’s Book of Judith. Gentileschi painted Judith many times, and art historians associate that to the artist's highly documented rape in 1611. The contrast of personal and historical subject matter is a recurring motif among Baroque painters. -
Rubens, Peter Paul. The Arrival of Marie de’ Medici at Marseilles. Oil on canvas, Louvre, Paris, 1622.
From royalty to the church, the privileged enjoyed their spectacle during the Baroque period. Rubens was a court painter who celebrated this spectacle with a depiction of Marie de’ Medici, his picture filled with delicate, airy figures professing their wealth and circumstance with their decorative dress and rotund bodies. Even the gods above and below appear in awe of the royalty, whose opulence is represented with lavish adoration. Rubens delights optimistically in the authority of his patrons. -
Schütz, Heinrich. Magnificat. Composed and developed 1628–1671.
This “Song of Mary” exists in various forms written by Heinrich Schütz, a pre-Bach Baroque composer who captures in his music the highly dramatic sentiments of the period’s art. Listening to the piece, it sounds less like a psalm or hymn and more like a piece from an opera, which had first emerged just a few decades before. The expressiveness and theatricality of the music are meant to evoke a profound reaction. Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdNUmL7qjpo -
Duquesnoy, François. Saint Andrew. Sculpture, St Peter's Basilica, Rome, 1629.
Duquesnoy wanted to contrast his sculpture against the other, more classical sculptures on display at St Peter's Basilica in Rome. He chose to attempt a massive sculpture of St. Andrew in a dramatic pose. The sculpture’s theatricality seems to burst out of its structural surroundings, boasting a defiant contrast of styles. Theater was becoming a major influence on artists during this era, as evidenced in the increasingly dramatic poses of figures in painting and sculpture. -
Allegri, Gregorio. Miserere mei, Deus. 1630s.
Gregorio Allegri composed “Miserere mei, Deus” (Have mercy on me, O God) in the 1630s, based on Psalm 51. It was specifically written to be performed in the Sistine Chapel. Despite this connection to the Renaissance, Allegri’s music has a loose formal structure and revels in expression, as though two choirs were having a dramatic conversation. Its association with the Self and the personal relationship with God remain very Baroque ideas. Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Y_ztEW1NE -
Leyster, Judith. Self-Portrait. Oil on canvas, 1633.
The Baroque period was home to a community of painters that became the subject of the paintings themselves. Painting became a commodity enjoyed by more than kings and the church; business and well-to-do bourgeois could commission paintings. This community of artists shared secrets and frequently painted one another. Female painters were uncommon but, though her work was often attributed to Frans Hals, Judith Leyster remains a rare exception. -
Rembrandt. The Night Watch. Oil on canvas, 1642.
Rembrandt saw through the theatricality of the Baroque period and instead sought to capture the human flaws of his figures. He often painted grand religious or noble figures but depicted them with failings. Rembrandt enjoyed imperfections and, often to the dismay of his patrons, painted them in detail. The Night Watch shows a disorganized militia group under looming shadows as they go in every which direction under a hapless leader. The company that commissioned it was not happy. -
Van Utrecht, Adriaen. Vanitas. Oil on canvas, 1642.
In the Baroque period, still life painting frequently contains symbols through then-common metaphors. A series of works known as “vanitas” suggested that all things in the earthly realm, from plants and animals to human beings, would soon die and enter a spiritual realm. Van Utrecht’s painting captures a reminder of death with the human skull, as well as wilting tulips, which suggest the fad of “Tulip Mania” popular among the Dutch and throughout the Netherlands was fleeting. -
Bernini, Gian Lorenzo. Ecstacy of Saint Teresa. Conaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Vatican City, 1645.
Bernini combines interior architecture and sculpture to create a suggestive view of faith. St. Theresa was a nun who claimed to experience visions and pain attributed to a divine, phallic arrow. Bernini personifies that experience with an angel about to penetrate an orgasmic St. Theresa floating in a dream. Accented by divine golden rays all around the sculptures, the entire space creates a showcase for the viewer to look upon as though viewing an exalted stage. -
Teniers the Younger, David. The Archduke Leopold William in His Paintings Gallery in Brussels. Oil on copper, from 1647-51.
Paintings of paintings became a popular fad among a few European painters during this era. As paintings became commodities, collections became prominently featured in art circles. These collections became prized among many. However, paintings of the collections often sought to critique the collector for housing so much beauty in galleries where it could not be properly viewed. -
Rembrandt. The Three Crosses. Etching print, 1653.
Rembrandt’s etching looks like a theatrically staged drama of the crucifixion, complete with overhead lighting and actors evenly dispersed throughout the stage. It was also a frequently reprinted and collected piece, in part because Rembrandt captures the scene in swiftly etched details and personality, bringing a tangible humanness to a religious scene. -
Poussin, Nicholas. Et in Arcadia Ego. Oil on canvas, Louvre, Paris, 1655.
Embellishments of classical figures were popular during the Baroque period, but often to remind viewers of death. The inscription “I, too, am in Arcadia” in Poussin’s painting suggests that Death (or “I”) visits even the idyllic shepherd lives of Arcadians. The classical visual style and dark message captures the high contrasts of the era. -
Velázquez, Diego. Las Meninas. Oil on canvas, Museu del Prado, Madrid, 1656.
Spanish court painter Diego Velázquez puts himself into a portrait of a young princess and a group of servants. In the distant background is a portrait of Spain’s King Philip IV and Queen Mariana, but also the paintings above the door are by Rubens, depicting the godly origin of art. Though this is a court painting of royalty that hung in Philip IV’s office, it presents a contrast given its concern with the artist and the artist’s studio. -
Rembrandt. Self-Portrait with Two Circles. Oil on canvas, 1665-1669.
Whereas Baroque art largely sought theatricality and grand issues, Rembrandt painted dozens of self-portraits. Each of them concentrates on the face, specifically the eyes. His faces and eyes have more detail than the other parts of the painting. Many of his contemporaries deemed this style to be loose and incomplete, but Rembrandt sought to capture the essence of a person, located on the face. This late-career self-portrait shows Rembrandt looking somewhat regal in one of his shabby outfits. -
Vermeer, Jan. The Astronomer. Oil on canvas, 1668.
The Baroque era contains a number of monumental advancements in mathematics, chemistry, and astronomy, with figures like Sir Isaac Newton following in the footsteps of Copernicus and Galileo. Using natural light coming in the window to create bold shadows, Dutch painter Jan Vermeer captures enlightenment through the “natural science” studied in Adriaan Metius' “Institutiones Astronomicae Geographicae” on the subject’s table. -
Palace of Versaille. Versailles, France, 1669.
The Palace of Versaille is as ostentatious as the “Sun King” who commissioned it. Louis XIV ordered his predecessor’s “hunting lodge” into a larger-than-life grounds, all of which would be his private abode and attest to his absolute control over his realm. Elaborate gardens, fountains, sculptures, and decorative interiors were planned by architect Louis Le Vau, who died before its completion. Pictured is Le Vau’s ornate design for the marble courtyard. -
Bernini, Gian Lorenzo. Tomb of Pope Alexander VII. Sculpture, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, 1671.
Pope Alexander VII commissioned his own monument by the Baroque era’s finest sculptor, Bernini. Although the tomb was not completed until more than a decade after Pope Alexander VII’s death, the towering piece captures the theatricality often adopted in religious depictions of this time. -
Pachelbel, Johann. Canon in D. 1680-1706.
Although many of the most commonly known “Baroque Music” composers were active after 1700 (Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, etc.), Pachelbel delivers an early example with “Canon in D.” For the piece, he uses a polyphonic approach to present several sounds at once, creating a dramatic conversation with music. Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVn2YGvIv0w -
Rigaud, Hyacinthe. Louis XIV. Oil on canvas, Louvre, Paris, 1701.
Mirroring the same majesty and control as the Palace of Versaille is Rigaud’s portrait of King Louis XIV. The so-called “Sun King” seems to stand above the viewer, though the King himself was very short. The painter accentuates his subject’s grandeur, which the King believed was bestowed upon him by the will of God.
