On Baroque
On BaroqueThe Baroque is a style of art that embraces both formal and theatrical themes. It is a style that attempts to capture strong emotions from the viewer. Whether it is the striking contrast of light and dark, the strong diagonals used, or the story being told, Baroque has a way with the viewer where every emotion is heightened and pulled to the fullest. However, although the concept of Baroque pieces are generally similar, in Holland and Italy there are striking dissimilarities due to economical, political, and religious differences.
In Holland during the seventeenth century, there was no monarchy or aristocracy. The middle class was started to become very prevalent and started to want pictures and paintings. But it wasn’t just the middle class; it was everyone—everyone right down to lower class social levels. It was almost a way of showing your status, and your ability to buy extraordinary pieces, and your ability to choose.
Dutch painters during this time generally focused on images of everyday life. There were no longer paintings of the biblical divinities of life, and there were no longer paintings of mythological creatures. Everyday living and everyday people were now the focus, and these were the paintings that were admired.
In seventeenth century Italy, Baroque artists tended to see their work like scientists saw things. The vision of man began to spread outside of the World to larger spaces. The three most prevalent trends in paintings included classicism, where artists followed the hands of Michelangelo, Tission, Rapheal, and all the great artists of the Renaissance; Naturalism, where artists based their pieces on observations of nature and real life; and the last one, where exuberance, drama, and brilliance was emphasized.
A good example of a Classicist during this period is Annibale Carraci. Carraci often used mythical and biblical subject matter. But he did not use imitate Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian. He took their influences and emulated them into his own style of idealized nature. However, he also was known well for his landscapes with figures. He painted the land as if you are looking into it—not a birdseye view. Nature is domesticated and non-threatening. This view of nature is best demonstrated in the piece, “Landscape with the Flight into Egypt”. In this piece the view is not one where viewers are just viewing it, it is a view where viewers feel as if they are a part of the story and a part of time. Viewers also get a sense of realness. Everything in the painting seems as if it still exists and looks exactly the way Carraci has painted it.
During the Baroque period, religious divisions of Western Europe began to effect everything during that time. Italy along with other provinces remained Roman Catholic and Holland and its area was entirely Protestant. And along with this...
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