Humanities Assignment 3
Baroque 151 Baroque 151
BAROQUE10 The Baroque Period roughtly stretched from 1650 to 1750. Loosely speaking, the art and music were elaborate and ornate. In some areas during this period, espe- cially in Northern Europe, the Protestant Reformation enabled the emergence of the middle class. Also during this time, the Catholic Church had to deal with unrest within itself, from a movement known as the Counter-Reformation.
The Baroque style can be seen at St. Peters at Vatican City. The architect Mad- erno added the balcony and the new facade to St. Peter’s. Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) designed the large square and the colonnade. Bernini was an architect as well as a sculptor. Bernini represents the hero at the moment that he threw the stone against the giant Goliath (Parrott 155).
Baroque paintings made use of dramatic lighting, to intensify emotion, and sharp contrasts between light and dark, which seemed to make many of the forms move. The use of curves and swirls can also be noticed in the typical Baroque painting.
Some of the leading painters of this time period are discussed in this section.
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669), Dutch artist
Rembrandt was a portrait painter, landscape artist, and printmaker who perfected the art of etching. He also did many self-portraits at various ages throughout his life. These have given us a glimpse into his life from when he was a young man on the threshold of his career, through his later years, when he was alone and bankrupt. To appreciate his use of light/dark and chiaroscuro, and to see the textures and colors, you need to visit a museum and view his work with your own eyes—a photograph does not do justice to his paintings. Seeing a Rembrandt portrait is a life-changing experience, which will make one less tolerant of inferior art.
Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), Flemish artist
Rubens lived in Flanders (modern-day Belgium). He painted commissions for royalty such as Maria de Medici (Louis XIII’s mother), Philip IV of Spain, and
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Charles I of England. He painted huge canvases and covered them with swirling, brightly covered figures in the Baroque flavor.
Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675), Dutch artist
Johannes Vermeer is said to have “composed his pictures with a camera obscura which was a popular 17th century” optical device. To see this feature of his style, look at some of his paintings and note that some areas seem to be blurred in the background, similar to how snapshot photos appear when taken (Bishop 289).
Vermeer exemplifies painting of the period of art known as Baroque. Much of the subject matter of his art concerned the middle-class household and daily tasks of women in their homes of individuals taking and giving music lessons. Vermeer did not create as many paintings as other famous master painters throughout history; however, the work that he left behind has given us an idea about what everyday life may have been like for some individuals in the middle class during his lifetime.
Source: Lawrence S. Cunningham, John J. Reich, and Lois Fichner-Rathus, Culture and Values, Volume 1.
Diego Velasquez (1599–1660), Spain artist
Velasquez was a court painter of Philip IV of Spain. His paintings are considered to be some of the best of the period and can be studied to understand his time period in the history in Spain. They are representative of and show vivid details of the Baroque style. His portraits, which capture the character of the individuals he painted, are extremely telling. The Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University has a couple examples of his work, but his most famous works are in Spain. Once you have seen a Velasquez portrait in person, you will never again be satisfied with mediocre portrait painting. No painting can be truly captured by a photograph. To appreciate the textures, colors, and brush strokes you must see the work for yourself. In one of his most famous paintings, in which he painted the king and queen posing in a standing position, he places himself in the background, painting a canvas. This work, known as The Maids of Honor, resides in a famous museum called the Prado in Madrid, Spain ( Van de Bogart 165–167).
When a Flemish artist, Peter Paul Rubens, visited Spain and met Diego Velasquez, he obtained a leave of absence for Velasquez to study in Rome. Velasquez had only seen copies and reproductions of Italian painters such as work by Caravaggio painted by imitators. These works had an impact on Velasquez’s work; however, having the actual firsthand experience to see the art of the great Italian masters helped Velasquez under- stand how to transform his portraits into paintings that became his unique style. These works are ranked as some of the best portraits ever painted by any artist.
Velasquez lived from 1599 to 1660 and spent most of his life in Madrid, Spain, as a court painter for King Philip IV. Many of the subjects of his paintings were portraits of the king’s family, the children of the king and queen, and other members of the royal family.
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Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680), Italian sculptor
In contrast to the Renaissance, Baroque period sculpture looked like it forgot to use straight lines and instead subsituted curves. An example of this is Bernini’s sculpture of David. Bernini chose a subject that Michelangelo had already sculpted—David killing the Philistine giant Goliath—but with a completely different interpretation. Bernini’s David is depicted in the middle of throwing a stone at the giant. In contrast to Michelangelo’s statute, Bernini’s David is twisted and in the process of swinging and hurling a stone. The facial expression is also much more troubled in Bernini’s David. The Greek influence characterizes Michelangelo’s David, and comparing the two Davids is quite interesting.
Bernini lived in Rome and another of his masterpieces was the baldacchino (canopy) which was placed directly under the dome of St. Peter’s that had been designed by Michelangelo in the last years of his life. The baldacchino stands nearly 100 feet high and carved into it on the top is an ornate crown. The purpose of this canopy is to shelter the altar in St. Peter’s. That entire work is very detailed and can be seen in person or when Vatican ceremonies at the Basilica of St. Peter are televised.
Another of Bernini’s famous, swirling, moving Baroque works of sculpture is the Ecstasy of St. Theresa, where an angel is sculpted piercing the heart of St. Theresa. This statute is in the Cornaro Chapel in Rome.
El Greco (1541–1614), Greek artist
El Greco is considered Spanish, although he was born on the island of Crete which was part of Greece. He moved to Spain and remained there and was loved by the King of Spain and the people so he is an exception to the rule. Most of the time in art the rule is if you are born in the country and even if you move to another country you are called the name of where you were born. So he would be called Cretan but he is not. He is Spanish. El Greco, however, means “the Greek.”
El Greco’s use of elongated figures shows his idea of spiritualism. His paintings of the Madonna are striking and some are very different in style from what was then the norm, as they are elongated and very unique. Sometimes they are referred to as Man- nerist in style. Mannerism was a rebellion against the Renaissance that did not fit into the Baroque style. Once, so goes the story, El Greco visited the Sistine Chapel and he said that he did not like The Last Judgement of Michelangelo. The statement made the Pope so angry that he was not allowed to work in Rome. For that reason El Greco had to look for work elsewhere and he found it in Toledo, Spain, where he became a well- known altar-piece painter. El Greco was commissioned by King Philip IV to work on the palace that was being built called the Escorial, but El Greco never painted on that structure. He painted for churches instead.
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El Greco’s given name was Domenikos Theotokopoulos. His canvas and altar pieces were bold works that had distorted images of holy fi gures. The fi gures were decorated with symbols and halos. The imagery and symbolism were represented by means of mysterious lighting using light and dark shadows. He had a unique style that was revitalized and renewed many years later by another Spanish artist by the name of Pablo Picasso.
Baroque Period Painters Baroque Period Musicians
Rembrandt van Rijn George Frederic Handel Peter Paul Rubens Johann Sebastian Bach Diego Velasquez Antonio Vivaldi Johannes Vermeer Lorenzo Bernini
Mannerist Period Artists
El Greco
Classical Period Artists Classical Composers of Music
Jacque-Louis David Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Architect of Monticello (his home) Ludwig Van Beethoven Thomas Jefferson Franz Joseph Haydn
Opera began during the Baroque Period
George Frederic Handel (1685–1759), German composer
George Frederic Handel was a violinist and wrote many harpsichord suites, cantatas, and ceremonial orchestral music for royal performances. A famous work still performed today is The Messiah, which includes the renown Hallelujah Chorus as part of that oratorio.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), German composer
Handel, along with Johann Sebastian Bach, infl uenced European music more than any other Baroque composers. Bach was born to a Lutheran family of musicians and was deeply religious. He wrote over 600 chorale preludes. Famous works include the St. Matthew Passion (1727) and the Brandenburg Concertos (1721) (Parrott 157).
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As a result of the Counter-Reformation (or, the cleansing of the church) the art commissioned for the churches in Spain was different from art works commissioned by the church in other areas of Europe and Italy during the seventeenth century. There was a new spiritual movement of praying within the church, which was refl ected in the art forms that involved a mystical and mysterious look, with saints and holy fi gures fi ll- ing the altar walls. The mother of Christ, for example, was depicted with a long body and a small head and a fl owing gown rising towards heaven (Parrott 157).
“During the 1660s, King Louis XIV moved his court from the Louvre in Paris, France to the small town of Versailles, France. That building was built and is considered Baroque in style. There were 4,000 servants and an army of 9,000 men. The palace ground at Versailles included around 1,400 fountains in the formal garden. King Louis XIV was interested in the arts, and during his reign, Jean-Baptiste Lully established the distinct style of opera that utilized a continuous melodic fl ow and a style that included short arias” (Parrott 156).
QUESTIONS
Questions to Contemplate
What similarities and contrasts can be noted about the “Davids” of Michelangelo and Bernini?
What factors infl uenced the lives of these artists (Michelangelo and Bernini)?
What factors infl uenced Rembrandt’s life?
What is an oratorio?
What was the style of the palace at Versailles, France?
Why was Mannerism a form of art in Spain that was painted by El Greco?
Opera Music during the Baroque Period brought to the fore the organ, the harpsichord, the violin, and opera. “During the Baroque period the type of modern tonality of major and minor keys emerged. Standard three-note chords became common. The baroque era has been given the dates from 1600 to 1750. Composers began to modulate and a new form of texture became popular. The musical genre of opera also emerged dur- ing the Baroque era. Typical subjects for operas were taken from Greek myths. The fi rst great opera composer was the Italian Claudio Monteverdi. Antonio Vivaldi wrote about 80 concerti grossi and composed hundreds of solo concertos. Vivaldi was known for illustrating a sonnet. The most famous piece still performed today is ‘Spring’ from The Four Seasons. He wrote one section in The Four Seasons to represent each season” (Parrott 156).
The fi rst opera house was built in Venice, Italy in 1637. By the end of the seventeenth century, there were many other theaters built around Italy. Opera began as an attempt to revive Greek theater and recreate the way in which plays were performed. Early on it was thought (by a group of men known as the Camerata) that Greek plays had been sung. Despite the fact that this was not correct, opera was nevertheless created as a new art form by artists who thought that they were recreating Greek drama (Fiero 286).
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John Milton (1608–1674) John Milton wrote Paradise Lost, an epic poem about Satan’s rebellion against God that goes into detail about the fall of man. “He became Latin secretary in Crom- well’s government and, in several important tracts, one of its defenders” (Lamm and Cross 320). Paradise Lost represented the grandeur of the Baroque Period and showed that the power that was deep within an individual is actually a paradise.
Terms and Important Individuals to Consider
Polyphonic texture—two or more melodies sounding together simultaneously
Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini—a great Baroque sculptor who created sculptures such as the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa and the Baroque sculpture of the David. He also sculpted the large circular Colonnade symbolizing the outstretched arms in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica and the Baldachin (altar), which is inside the basilica, and many other sculptures on the exterior of the basilica.
Vivaldi—a Baroque composer known for a famous composition, “The Four Seasons,” which uses a small Baroque orchestra playing the four seasons, Summer, Winter, Spring, and Autumn. Winter feels cold. You can hear the birds sing in Spring and hear the leaves fall in the Autumn portion.
Johann Sebastian Bach—a great teacher of the Boys Choir and the Boys School, writer of music for all the Lutheran churches in his town, organist, and composer. He has been said to have left and still influences musicians today about how to write music and understand harmony, composition, and music theory.
Rembrandt van Rijn—a great Baroque portrait painter who did many self-portraits and is known for his important portrait paintings and creative arrangement of space and use of diagonal space and composition. He captured the psychological aspects, deep emotions, and personality of the subjects he painted. He not only painted a representational work of each person, but also much more. He was interested in a deep meaning.
John Milton—a Baroque writer who felt that individuals can find a paradise inside themselves if they search for it. He wrote Paradise Lost.
El Greco—a great artist (painter) who was originally from Crete. His real name was Dome- nikos Theotokopoulous. In his spiritual (religious) work, El Greco created elongated figures for the purpose of showing which individuals were saints or the mother of Jesus Christ (the Madonna), Jesus Christ, or the disciples (followers of Jesus).
Exception to the rule: El Greco was born in Crete (part of Greece) and textbooks like to consider him a Greek painter. In art history, artists are considered to be an artist from whichever country they were born; however, El Greco is called Spanish in many books even though he was born on the island of Crete. He is an exception to the rule.
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King Louis XIV—a well-known king of France who had the Palace of Versailles built. This is also the time when he and his court lived in luxury, a factor which led to financial problems and eventually caused the French Revolution. During his reign he did support the arts as well as the artists and writers of his day. In 1660, he mar- ried the famous Maria Theresa from Spain.
Source: World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 12 (New York: Scott Fetzer Publisher, 1992), 478
Hallelujah Chorus—a musical composition called an oratorio. The four-part har- mony, sung by vocalists, begins with either an organ playing (accompaniment) or a Baroque orchestra. The orchestra and vocals create a polyphonic texture in many portions of the work. The words, “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah” are repeated over and over. Then other words come in and the texture becomes more complicated (texture is the overlapping of the soprano, alto, tenor, and basses each singing “Hallelujah”). The portion entitled the “Hallelujah Chorus” is only a small portion of the entire length oratorio which contains many sections, but this one is the most well known.
Baldacchino—an altar inside a cathedral. A famous one with twisted columns (with decoration) (not straight) is inside St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican and was carved by Bernini; it is named St. Peter’s Baldachino.
Mannerism in painting—a style that displays some figures longer than others. The figures that are long and out of proportion are sacred individuals, including Jesus Christ, His mother, and His disciples.
Accomplishments of the Baroque Period The architecture of the Baroque Period was more dramatic than the previous period. The previous period was the Renaissance Period. The Baroque visual arts may seem to utilize more swirls and curves than Renaissance designs. One may notice that the visual art from the Baroque Period used more curved lines and decorative and ornate shapes than the artists did during the Renaissance Period. The Renaissance Period may seem more emotionally restrained than the Baroque Period’s architecture and paintings. Notice this when you look at the art from the Baroque Period. The Baroque Period’s architecture and paintings utilized rounded forms and elaborate decorations. Many Ba- roque paintings painted during the Baroque Period show a lot of contrast. High or low contrast can show a look as if there are areas of contrast between light and dark.
Baroque music was both secular and sacred. When it is called secular, it means that it was used for entertainment or it may be for everyday use. Sacred music is considered to be religious music. This type is many times used in spiritual ceremonies. Musicians wrote for the royalty and for religious leaders. We are fortunate that music was written down by musicians so that the music can be performed even today. There was music created for both the Catholic Church and the Protestant Churches during the Baroque Period that has remained for us to see because those manuscripts are still around today. This helps us understand what that music may have sounded like. Much of this music is still performed today if the manuscripts have been found or remain available for musi- cians to use to play and or perform. Some of the great Baroque composers that we have time to study in this class are Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederick Handel and Antonio Vivaldi.