Europe, 1600-1700

The baroque uses the same system of forms, but in place of the perfect, the completed, gives the restless, the becoming, in place of the limited the conceivable, gives the limitless, the colossal. The ideal of beautiful proportion vanishes, interest concentrates not on being, but on happening. The masses, heavy and thickset, come into movement…The relationship of the individual to the world has changed, a new domain of feeling has opened, the soul aspires to dissolution in the sublimity of the huge, the infinite. "Emotion and movement at all costs."

-from The Principles of Art History by Heinrich Wolfflin, 1915

Europe in the 17th Century• Period of unrest &

uncertainty - prosperity and decline

• Widespread warfare (Thirty Years War)

• Continued conflict between Catholics and Protestants

• Expanded worldwide markets for goods (coffee, tea, sugar)

• Colonialism & the slave trade

• Oil on canvas• Art as propaganda for

patrons, church & state

Europe in 1648 after the Treaty Of Westphalia, fig.10-1

Dates and Places: • 1600 to 1700• Italy (Rome), Spain, Dutch

Republic (Holland), FrancePeople & Events:• Catholic church & Counter

Reformation• Protestantism (Dutch Republic)• Powerful leaders: Pope Urban VIII

(Rome), Philip III & IV (Spain), Louis XIV (France)

• Imperialism & colonialism (Spanish rule of Netherlands & New World; Dutch in Africa, China, Japan)

• Merchant & upper middle class (Holland)

• More successful female artists (Gentileschi, Leyster, Ruysch)

• French Royal Academy

Saint Peter’s, 1506–1666. Fig. 10-3.

“the motherly arms of the church” by Bernini

Europe in the 17th Century

Themes:• Life of Christ, Virgin Mary, Saints• Mythology (Classical forms)• Allegory• Portraiture• Genre scenes (landscape, still life)Forms:• Baroque • Unity of arts for dramatic/theatrical

effect (mixed media)• Large scale (Italy, Spain, France)

vs. small scale (Dutch Republic)• Dynamic illusionism• Dramatic chiaroscuro, tenebrism• Painterly (loose brushwork)• Elaborate ornamentation• Realism (everyday life)

Hiroshi Sugimoto, from his Theaters series, 1970-present

Europe in the 17th Century

David Matures…

Donatello, 15th century Michelangelo, 16th Century Bernini, 17th Century

Italy

Bernini, Cornaro ChapelSta Maria della Vittoria, Rome1645-52

Italy• 16th cent. Spanish mystic• Unity of arts to achieve

dramatic effect (theatrical)• Virtuoso treatment of marble

(wool, gauze, feathers)• Hidden window• Animated & ecstatic poses• Jesuit ideas (Ignatius Loyola

– 16th cent. founder of order)

BERNINI, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, 1645–1652.

Fig. 10-6.

I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron's point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it... -St. Teresa of Avila

Italy

CARAVAGGIO, Conversion of Saint Paul, ca. 1601.

Fig. 10-10.

“the anti-Christ of painting”(detail from David)

Caravaggio:

Italy• Brutal realism (publicly

denounced classical masters)• Despised by critics, beloved

by artists• Dramatic chiaroscuro &

tenebrism (shadowy background cut by harsh light) - symbolic

• Strong diagonals & foreshortening

• Humanity of characters• Sacred scenes set on the

rough streets of contemporary Rome

• Counter-Reformation strategy CARAVAGGIO, Conversion of Saint Paul, ca. 1601. Fig. 10-10.

Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi, ca.1614-20, oil on canvas

The Caravaggisti

(followers ofCaravaggio)

• Gentileschi• Velazquez• Rubens• Rembrandt

Class Activity

Principles of Art History*Heinrich Wolfflin, 1915

1) Linear vs. painterly

2) Planar vs. recession

3) Closed form vs. open form

4) Multiplicity vs. unity

5) Absolute vs. relative clarity

* Applied to Renaissance vs. Baroque art

(also classical vs. non-classical art)

Example – Renaissance vs. Baroque

MASACCIO, Holy Trinity, ca. 1424–1427

PETER PAUL RUBENS, Elevation of the Cross, 1610. Fig. 10-17.

FRANCESCO BORROMINI, San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, 1665–1676. Fig. 10-7.

#1 – Italian Architecture 15th vs. 17th Century

LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI, Santa Maria Novella, Florence, 1456–1470. Fig. 8-33.

Italy

Italy• Sculptural treatment of

architecture • Projection and recession of

façade (2) and interior, undulating motion (concave and convex)

• Oval: dynamic shape vs. static circle

• Dramatic effects of light and shadow

BORROMINI, San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, 1665–1676.

Fig. 10-7.

MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI, ceiling,

Sistine Chapel, 1508–1512. FRA ANDREA POZZO, Glorification of Saint Ignatius, 1691-94

Italy – #2 ceiling fresco 16th vs. 17th century

Italy

• Illusionistic ceiling fresco (painter wrote treatise on perspective)

• Single viewpoint for correct perspective (marked by disc in nave floor)

• Seems to extend and

open church architecture• Allegory of triumph of

Society of Jesus; theatrical• Christ receives St. Ignatius,

figures around them symbolize 4 corners of world

FRA ANDREA POZZO, Glorification of Saint Ignatius, Sant’Ignazio, Rome 1691–1694.

Fig. 10-13.

DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ, Las Meninas, 1656. Fig. 10-16.

#3 – 16th vs. 17th Century Painting Italy vs. Spain

RAPHAEL, Philosophy (School of Athens), 1509–1511. Fig.9-7.

Spain

Spain• Royal portrait without

definitive subject (Philip IV)• Enigmatic image of

absolute monarchy• Artist’s noble status as

member of court (in artist’s studio, Order of Santiago)

• Natural light & loose brushwork

• Large scale• Earthy palette (grey, brown)• Vision, space, reflection

(viewer occupies same space as king & queen)

• Art of painting as subject(the gaze & visual complexity)

DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ, Las Meninas, 1656. Fig. 10-16.. 10’ x 9’

Copies of paintings by Rubens

Las Meninas and Contemporary Art

Las Meninas, Pablo Picasso, 1957

89 Seconds at Alcazar, Eve Sussman, 2004, video

REMBRANDT VAN RIJN, The Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq (Night Watch), 1642, oil on canvas, Fig. 10-22.

#4 – 15th Century Italian vs. 17th Century Dutch Painting

Perugino, Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter, 1481Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome, Italy

Dutch Republic

Dutch Republic• Civic militia group portrait for

assembly hall (Musketeers) in Amsterdam

• Acquired shortened title later after varnish had darkened

• Cropped in 18th cent. – arch, balustrade, steps in front gone

• Challenge to represent participants (each (16) paid fee)

• Selection of spontaneous moment (in act of organizing, arming themselves)

• Light as dramatic device • Subtle modulation of light

and shadow for mood

Peter Greenaway’s Rembrandt’s J’Accusehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSAg5EqgiMI

REMBRANDT VAN RIJN, The Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq (Night Watch), 1642. Fig. 10-22., 11’ x 14’

Captain Cocq and lieutenant

14’

12’

Girl is allegory of group – dead chicken symbol of guns used, arquebusiers, and victory over adversary

Dutch Republic

JAN VERMEER, Allegory of the Art of Painting,

1670–1675. Fig. 10-26.

Dutch Republic• Quiet, peaceful domestic scenes

of Dutch middle-class life• Women are primary subjects• Smaller scale• Careful rendering of objects

(tapestries, clothing, jewelry)• Study of natural light (usually

from one window on the left) • Pearly, light dabs of paint for

shimmering, soft surface texture • Optical devices (camera obscura)• Allegory of the art of painting• History as muse: model’s laurel

wreath, book, artist’s costume

JAN VERMEER, Allegory of the Art of Painting, 1670–1675.

Fig. 10-26.

3’

4’

self-portraitin costume

Map of DutchRepublic

Clio

Girl with a Pearl Earring, 2003

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5ljByvlDP4

“Camera Obscura” scene

France

HYACINTHE RIGAUD, Louis XIV, 1701. Fig. 10-31.

“The Sun King”

I am the state!

France• Theatrical approach to

absolute monarch (red curtain)• Propaganda and surrogate for

king (aged 63)• Attributes: ermine coronation

robe, scepter, curtain, crown, fleur-de-lis

• Showing off legs, platform shoes for extra height (was ballet dance as youth)

• Establishes Royal Academy which serves king’s artistic needs & champions classical tradition

• Courtiers not allowed to turn back on painting

HYACINTHE RIGAUD, Louis XIV, 1701. Fig. 10-31.

5’4”(without heels)

France

JULES HARDOUIN-MANSART, CHARLES LE BRUN, and ANDRÉ LE NÔTRE, Versailles Palace, begun 1669. Fig. 10-32.

France• Louis XIV moves court • Proper setting for absolute

monarch• Axes meet at bedroom• Outfitted by Royal

Academy• Symbolic vocabulary of

mythology, Apollo (god of light and sun)

• Windows, chandeliers, Venetian mirrors bathe room in light

• Controlled nature: fountains, grounds

JULES HARDOUIN MANSART and CHARLES LE BRUN, Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors), ca. 1680. Fig. 10-33.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1C0vXtqcnUMarie Antoinette, Sofia Coppola, director, 2006