ArtHistorY 10 : Baroque Art
BAROQUE ART
In fine art, the term Baroque (derived from the Portuguese 'barocco' meaning, 'irregular pearl or stone') describes a fairly complex idiom, originating in Rome, which flowered during the period c.1590-1720, and which embraced painting, and sculpture as well as architecture. After the idealism of the Renaissance (c.1400-1530), and the slightly 'forced' nature of Mannerism (c.1530-1600), Baroque art above all reflected the religious tensions of the age - notably the desire of the Catholic Church in Rome (as annunciated at the Council of Trent, 1545-63) to reassert itself in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. Thus it is almost synonymous with Catholic Counter-Reformation Art of the period. This Counter-Reformation found its most important expression in the Council of Trent, called by Pope Paul III in 1545. While the Council took steps to reform internal abuses, it made no attempt to compromise with Protestants on matters of doctrine; instead, the Church strongly reaffirmed the truth of the positions the Protestants had attacked. This re-infused the Catholic faith with new vigor and confidence. Part of the Church’s reform effort was to educate its members, helping them to understand more about their faith. This was no easy task as most people were illiterate during this time. The Council of Trent declared that art should be used to explain the profound dogmas of the faith to everyone, not just the educated. To accomplish this, religious art was to be direct, emotionally persuasive, and powerful-designed to fire the spiritual imagination and inspire the viewer to greater piety.New denominations like the Calvinists believed that churches and church services should be simple, stripped-down affairs. But the Council argued that a God of greatness and power should be worshiped with the kinds of rituals, ceremonies, and churches befitting these divine qualities. This affirmation of the beauty and grandiosity of expressions of faith found its way into Baroque art.
The arts present an unusual diversity in the Baroque period, chiefly because currents of naturalism and classicism coexisted and intermingled with the typical Baroque style. Indeed, Annibale Carracci and Caravaggio, the two Italian painters who decisively broke with Mannerism in the 1590s and thus helped usher in the Baroque style, painted, respectively, in classicist and realist modes. A specifically Baroque style of painting arose in Rome in the 1620s and culminated in the monumental painted ceilings and other church decorations of Pietro da Cortona, Guido Reni, Il Guercino, Domenichino, and countless lesser artists. The greatest of the Baroque sculptor-architects was Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who designed both the baldachin with spiral columns above the altar of St. Peter’s in Rome and the vast colonnade fronting that church. Baroque architecture as developed by Bernini, Carlo Maderno, Francesco Borromini, and Guarino Guarini emphasized massiveness and monumentality, movement, dramatic spatial and lighting sequences, and a rich interior decoration using contrasting surface textures, vivid colours, and luxurious materials to heighten the structure’s physical immediacy and evoke sensual delight.
In fine art, the term Baroque (derived from the Portuguese 'barocco' meaning, 'irregular pearl or stone') describes a fairly complex idiom, originating in Rome, which flowered during the period c.1590-1720, and which embraced painting, and sculpture as well as architecture. After the idealism of the Renaissance (c.1400-1530), and the slightly 'forced' nature of Mannerism (c.1530-1600), Baroque art above all reflected the religious tensions of the age - notably the desire of the Catholic Church in Rome (as annunciated at the Council of Trent, 1545-63) to reassert itself in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. Thus it is almost synonymous with Catholic Counter-Reformation Art of the period. This Counter-Reformation found its most important expression in the Council of Trent, called by Pope Paul III in 1545. While the Council took steps to reform internal abuses, it made no attempt to compromise with Protestants on matters of doctrine; instead, the Church strongly reaffirmed the truth of the positions the Protestants had attacked. This re-infused the Catholic faith with new vigor and confidence. Part of the Church’s reform effort was to educate its members, helping them to understand more about their faith. This was no easy task as most people were illiterate during this time. The Council of Trent declared that art should be used to explain the profound dogmas of the faith to everyone, not just the educated. To accomplish this, religious art was to be direct, emotionally persuasive, and powerful-designed to fire the spiritual imagination and inspire the viewer to greater piety.New denominations like the Calvinists believed that churches and church services should be simple, stripped-down affairs. But the Council argued that a God of greatness and power should be worshiped with the kinds of rituals, ceremonies, and churches befitting these divine qualities. This affirmation of the beauty and grandiosity of expressions of faith found its way into Baroque art.
The arts present an unusual diversity in the Baroque period, chiefly because currents of naturalism and classicism coexisted and intermingled with the typical Baroque style. Indeed, Annibale Carracci and Caravaggio, the two Italian painters who decisively broke with Mannerism in the 1590s and thus helped usher in the Baroque style, painted, respectively, in classicist and realist modes. A specifically Baroque style of painting arose in Rome in the 1620s and culminated in the monumental painted ceilings and other church decorations of Pietro da Cortona, Guido Reni, Il Guercino, Domenichino, and countless lesser artists. The greatest of the Baroque sculptor-architects was Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who designed both the baldachin with spiral columns above the altar of St. Peter’s in Rome and the vast colonnade fronting that church. Baroque architecture as developed by Bernini, Carlo Maderno, Francesco Borromini, and Guarino Guarini emphasized massiveness and monumentality, movement, dramatic spatial and lighting sequences, and a rich interior decoration using contrasting surface textures, vivid colours, and luxurious materials to heighten the structure’s physical immediacy and evoke sensual delight.
 |
Paolo de Matteis (1662-1728). Italian painter. Triumph of the Immaculate, 1710-1715. Gemaldegalerie, Berlin, Germany
This is an example art of italian painter, Paolo de Matteis as we can see his art are more to reflected to religious tensions of the age. The art also characterized movement, energy and restless. Composition of the baroque painting employs diagonal and zigzag lines that express the vitality and movement quality of art.
.
.
Comments
Post a Comment