In the Europe of the XNUMXth century, a cultural movement of great importance entitled baroque arose. For the time, this movement meant a change in the way of perceiving the fine arts and the world in general. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the origin of the baroque painting, what are its main characteristics, works and much more. Do not hesitate to stay with us and enjoy all the content that we bring you today!
What is Baroque Painting?
When speaking of baroque painting, reference is made to artistic works produced in a historical period of the West known as The Baroque. During the mid-seventeenth century and early eighteenth century, this cultural movement had repercussions throughout society to the point that there was a considerable transformation in the different art forms of that time, such as; sculpture, architecture, literature, music, dance and, obviously, painting.
At first, the Baroque was linked to the counter-reformation, absolutism and the Catholic revival, but little by little it was also related to works belonging to other regions of the world that were Protestant and were far from the absolutist monarchical ideology.
However, it is quite common to see that its peak was reached in those nations with cultural values deeply rooted in the Catholic Church. For this reason, many historians reaffirm its scope and popularity within the historical context in which it was found. For that time, baroque painting managed to remarkably capture the influence of religion in Catholic countries, at the same time as the bourgeois liking in Protestants.
It was characterized by its extraordinary realism, the abundance and intensity of its colors and the energetic contrast that existed between the lights and shadows used. Although it was initially entrenched in the European continent, it was also spread throughout its colonies, especially those in Latin America.
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Starting in the XNUMXth century, human knowledge grew exponentially around the world, so it is understandable that countless scientific discoveries have had a great influence on art. In fact, the studies carried out by Galileo about the planets were the starting point for the realization of many works of the time that portrayed the field of astronomy.
In addition to the Italian Galileo Galilei, other astronomers such as Nicholas Copernicus were in charge of changing society's perspective of how they perceive the universe. The Pole, around the year 1530, was responsible for formulating the heliocentric theory of the solar system, in which it is asserted that the Earth and the rest of the planets revolve around the sun and not the other way around, as previously believed. Although the original publication date of his work was 1543, it was not until an era later that it was fully accepted.
This discovery, by which the whole society could realize that the Earth was not the center of the Universe, coincided in art with the victory of the landscape genre in painting, lacking human figures. In addition to this, there is the fact of the activation in trade and the colonization of America and other territories, which significantly promoted the description of many exotic places and cultures in the works.
The Catholic Church and all religion in general, were at the height of influence among societies, and with the help of the appearance of the Counter-Reformation, created with the aim of stopping the spread of Protestantism, resulted in the establishment of a much more emotional, tragic and, above all, naturalistic art, with a clear sense of spreading faith.
Inclusively, each of the political events that occurred in Europe in the XNUMXth century generated a small step to transform the way of seeing the artistic world. So what does this mean? The baroque arose in a Europe full of important social tensions between Christian movements, which due to the reform carried out by Martin Luther and his Mediterranean protest caused its creation.
The great turmoil that existed at the time in European nations gave rise to an innovative method of expressing oneself through art, in a clear contrast between the radical factions of the absolutists and the parliamentarians. Artists were simply looking for a way to demonstrate what their role was within their communities and what art was made for.
Baroque painting stages
Although many are not aware of it, Baroque painting could be divided into three different stages and with quite marked features:
- Early Baroque (1590 – 1625): It originated in Italy and its first artistic expression was painting, under the great impact of Orthodox Roman Catholicism, whose internal amendments led to the implementation of new criteria for creating art.
- Full Baroque (1625 – 1660): In this period, the Baroque managed to position itself as a mixed movement in many more fields of art and countries, in which new thoughts could be combined with traditional religious customs. Architecture began to consolidate magnificently in various locations in Spain and Italy, the extraordinary Golden Age of Spanish literature was created and painting managed to reach every corner of Europe.
- Late Baroque (1660 – 1725): for many the beginning of a new movement called Rococo, for others the end of the Baroque path. Here, most of the fine arts maintained their level of relevance and production, with the exception of painting, theater and music, which gained greater historical importance.
General characteristics
Baroque painting has a great variety of characteristics that define it, among all of these we were able to collect a few. These are:
- In this period innovative pictorial genres were developed, such as; still lifes, landscapes, vanitas, portraits and traditional paintings. Each one of them was commissioned in their own way to enrich the religious iconography that had been inherited in the Middle Ages.
- It was characterized by focusing thoroughly on the search for realism with the help of the use of sensationalism (resources used to impress or attract attention) and a certain theatricality in his works.
- Color and light became the main protagonists of the paintings. On the one hand, the color was used a lot on the line to establish depth, perspective and volume, giving much more contrasts and tonalities. On the other, the light was responsible for blurring the contours and defining the environment and atmosphere of the painting. So much was its use, that its representatives were able to perfect the technique of chiaroscuro in the Baroque.
- As a consequence of the desire that painters possessed to show movement in their paintings, Baroque compositions began to be a little more complex. The geometric forms used tended to be simple, symmetrical and very abundant, as time passed they were filled with more volume and accuracy.
- In relation to the dynamics of space, the focus of the scenes in depth, the structuring of the diagonal compositions and the diffusion of light and color, these had as their main function to configure the space in a dynamic way, in which the contours they were diluted and the figures lost importance in the face of the unity of the scene.
- The most relevant pictorial technique in the Baroque was oil painting on canvas. However, some artists also used, but to a lesser extent, fresco painting on ceilings, vaults, domes and interiors of churches and other buildings of the time.
- The exponents of the time managed to perfectly imitate the reality that was previously theorized by the precursors of the Renaissance, but without that conception and idealization so characteristic of the last century. To do this, they began to implement naturalism and photorealism in each of their works.
- In general, the topics covered were really diverse, only the most predominant were those of a religious nature. To counteract this, several artists launched the creation of paintings where pagan situations, everyday life, nature, etc. were represented.
Highest representatives and Baroque paintings
The Baroque had countless artists who managed to position it as a major cultural movement. Among the most recognized we find the following:
Caravaggio (1571-1610)
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, was a famous Italian painter born in 1571. He is one of the greatest representatives of the Baroque period in the pictorial field that was characterized by the execution of realism and naturalism techniques in his works. For this reason, he was attributed the title of the "Genius of Naturalism" at that time, coming to develop his own school with his impact, named "Caravaggism".
This painter avoided at all costs those creations that were idealized and, on the contrary, opted for the reproduction of individuals in the most realistic way possible. For this reason, in his works he used real models, an innovative practice for the XNUMXth century. In Italy, he is recognized as the most influential Roman painter of this period.
His most famous paintings were: "La Buenaventura" (1594), "Cardplayers" (1594), "Bacchus" (1595), "Fruit Basket" (1596), "Medusa's Head" (1597), "Judith and Holofernes” (1599), “The Calling of Saint Matthew” (1600), “The Capture of Christ” (1602), “The Incredulity of Saint Thomas” (1602), “Death of the Virgin” (1606), “ David with the head of Goliath” (1609), “Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence” (1609), etc.
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
Pedro Pablo Rubens, known in many countries as Pieter Paul, was a very prominent baroque painter of the Flemish school who was born in 1577. He is famous for his peculiar pictorial style in which color, dynamism and sensuality are emphasized. In fact, his methods marked a before and after in the world of art.
Among the 9 freehand drawings he made, these exceptional paintings stand out: "Samson and Delilah" (1610), "The Elevation of the Cross" (1610), "Prometheus Bound" (1611), "Descent of Christ" ( 1614), "The Garden of Love" (1633), "The Three Graces" (1635), "The Trial of Paris" (1639), "Self-Portrait" (1639), among others.
Diego Velazquez (1599 – 1660)
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez, was an extraordinary Spanish painter of the XNUMXth century, branded as one of the most acclaimed representatives of painting in his country and universal painting. His style is directly related to his personality, and by the use of the currents of nature and darkness.
The most famous works of art that he executed were; "Francisco Pacheco" (1622), "The Triumph of Bacchus" (1628), "The Forge of Vulcano" (1630), "The Surrender of Breda" (1635), "Venus of the Mirror" (1647), "Juan de Couple» (1650), «Las meninas» (1656) and «The fable of Arachne» (1657).
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669)
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, better known simply as Rembrandt*, was a prestigious painter and engraver, originally from Leiden, the Netherlands. His works appeared in the so-called "Golden Age", and were characterized by having great realism, through the use of light and shadow. The themes he touched on were usually linked to biblical, mythological and even historical events.
Many specialists in the field consider him to be the best Dutch painter in history who, despite his tragic life and financial ruin, managed to achieve great things. During the period of time that he developed as a painter, he made countless portraits and self-portraits thanks to his excellent ability to recreate faces and convey emotions.
Among his most important works we find; "Dr. Nicolaes Tulp's Anatomy Lesson" (1632), "Danae" (1636), "The Night Watch" (1642), "Bathsheba in her bath" (1654), "Jacob blessing the sons of Joseph" (1656), "The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis" (1661), "The Sampling Officers" (1662), "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee" (1663), "Self-Portrait with Two Circles" (1665), and " The return of the prodigal son» (1969).
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