BAROQUE

ERA
 The Baroque or Baroquism is a Western style of architecture,
music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished
from the early 17th century until the 1750s. The term Baroque, derived
from the Portuguese ‘barocco’ meaning ‘irregular pearl or stone’,
refers to a cultural and art movement that characterized Europe from the
early seventeenth to mid-eighteenth century. 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. The main purpose was to appeal to the human
emotions, through drama and exaggeration.

Baroque art is characterized by great drama, rich color, and

intense light and dark shadows. As opposed to Renaissance art, which
usually showed the moment before an event took place, Baroque artists
chose the most dramatic point, the moment when the action was
occurring: Michelangelo, working in the High Renaissance, shows his
David composed and still before he battles Goliath; Bernini's baroque
David is caught in the act of hurling the stone at the giant. Baroque art
was meant to evoke emotion and passion instead of the calm rationality
that had been prized during the Renaissance.

Baroque painting stemmed from the styles of High-Renaissance

painters such as Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, and Correggio. Walter
Friedlaender refers to such "elements as interest in verisimilitude and
naturalism (often with a strong allegorical content), representations of
extreme states of feeling, a desire to suggest extensions into space,
dynamic movement, an intense engagement with light (in its physical and
spiritual connotations) and a sensitivity to the impact of Classical
civilizations, as representing some of the salient features of Baroque art."
Although the era of the seventeenth century is said to be quite
ambivalent toward any one style, the Baroque painters exhibited several
characteristics in their painting that made it clear that the work was
Baroque: 1) painterly brushstrokes, 2) recession of the plane, 3) open
form, 4) unity, and 5) unclearness of subject.

The Baroque style contained images that played with the

interaction between light and dark to create dimly lit scenes that
produced a dramatic atmosphere with high-contrast between the focal
points of the art vs the background. This referred to as
the “chiaroscuro” technique.

Baroque brought images for religious worship back into the public
eye after being banned for their glorification of the ethereal and ideal.
The movement's leaders professed that art should be easily understood
and strongly felt by common people with the effect of encouraging piety
and an awe for the church.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Considered the father of the Baroque movement in art and
architecture, Gian Lorenzo Bernini was a 17th-century sculptor and
architect.
JUDITH SLAYING HOLOFERNES, C.
1612–1613 by ARTEMESIA
GENTILESCHI
In an art world dominated by men, Artemisia
Gentileschi carved a place for herself as a
dominant female painter. Paintings characterize
her oeuvre with an emphasis on female subjects,
the most famous of which is her masterpiece,
Judith Slaying Holofernes. This large
tenebrous canvas portrays an Old Testament
story in which a widow and her maid overpower
—and eventually behead—a lustful, threatening
man. Artemisia composes the work so that the
violence is at the forefront of the scene to make
the biggest impact. After dressing in her best
garments, Judith set out for Holofernes’ camp,
pretending to be interested in forming a
partnership with the ruthless general. The
Assyrian general was so taken by her beauty
that he threw her a magnificent party in his tent.

Holofernes, who had overindulged on food and

wine, passed out on his bed, leaving Judith the
opportunity to draw her cutlass and deliver the
fatal strike. The whole effect is striking and
terrifying: the booze-swollen general is lying on
the bed, his hair wrapped around his head and
the sword buried deep into his neck. Artemisia
also did not hold back in including the horrific
detail of Judith’s bosom being stained by the
gushing blood. As a result, this picture has come
to symbolize the story of a woman who chose to
be an artist during a time when the field was
controlled by men.

PORTIA WOUNDING HER THIGH

(1664) by ELISABETTA SIRANI

Portia Wounding Her Thigh by Elisabetta

Sirani depicts a historical event from Roman
times. According to some historians, Brutus’ wife
Portia Catonis was either directly engaged in the
Julius Caesar assassination conspiracy or was
the only other woman who knew about it first.
According to Plutarch’s account, she found her
husband contemplating the execution but
refused to tell him about it for fear that he would
expose the plot if she was put to death. Portia
sliced her leg to prove she could endure physical
discomfort for a day (despite running a high
fever). She then went back to her spouse with
proof that she was able to preserve her secrets.
There are bold brushstrokes but rather vibrant
colors in this painting, making it a striking piece
of art. A powerful Portia is depicted; her posture
communicates her willpower and determination.
Her pale complexion and bloody thigh contrast
her crimson dress. To enter the world of men,
Portia drew blood from her veins, which set her
apart from other women. The painting tells us a
lot about Portia and Sirani’s personalities, such
as their will to succeed and intelligence.
Sirani intended this painting to make a political
statement about the extent to which women
would go to be taken seriously.

THE ANATOMY LESSON 0F DR.

NICHOLAES TULP (1632) by
REMBRANDT VAN RIJN

This 1632 masterpiece by Rembrandt van Rijn

is one of the artist’s earliest known works and
one of the most famous Baroque paintings in
history. The painting illustrates Dr. Nicolaes
Tulp, who was the mayor of Amsterdam and a
Dutch surgeon, explaining a lesson on the
anatomy of the human arm to a group of doctors.
Some of the figures in the painting are
individuals who paid a commission price to be
included in the work.
The painting is also unique in that it may have
been the first painting that Rembrandt signed
with his forename, prior to his latter use of
initials indicating that this was before he
attained confidence as an artist.
 The scene portrayed is dated to 31 January
1632 at the Amsterdam Guild of Surgeons where
Tulp held the title of being the official City
Anatomist and was allowed one public dissection
each year. The corpse in the painting is said to
be of an executed criminal. These public
dissections were known to be a common 17th-
century event that occurred in lecture rooms
surrounded by members of the public, scholars,
and colleagues who had to pay an entrance fee
to spectate the event. The scene also negates the
presence of any cutting tools since Tulp’s stature
would have meant that there was already a
preparator who prepared the body before the
session. The bottom right corner shows a large
textbook lying open, which is presumed to be a
copy of Fabric of the Human Body (1543) by
Andreas Vesalius.

GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING (1664-

6) By JAN VERMEER

Nicknamed the "Mona Lisa of the North",

this beautiful painting - one of the most famous
Baroque portraits. Girl with a Pearl Earring is
Vermeer’s most famous painting. This
represents a young woman in a dark shallow
space, an intimate setting that draws the
viewer’s attention exclusively on her. She wears
a blue and gold turban, the titular pearl earring,
and a gold jacket with a visible white collar
beneath. Unlike many of Vermeer’s subjects, she
is not concentrating on a daily chore and
unaware of her viewer. Instead, caught in a
fleeting moment, she turns her head over her
shoulder, meeting the viewer’s gaze with her
eyes wide and lips parted as if about to speak.
Her enigmatic expression coupled with the
mystery of her identity has led some to compare
her to the equivocal subject in Leonardo da
Vinci’s Mona Lisa, unlike the Mona Lisa,
however, Girl with a Pearl Earring is not a
portrait but a ‘tronie’ – a painting of an
imaginary figure. Tronies depict a certain type
or character; in this case a girl in exotic dress,
wearing an oriental turban and an improbably
large pearl in her ear.