The Baroque period
International University of Sarajevo
History of Architecture II
19/12/2013
The Baroque Period
The historic period which came after Renaissance and changed the worldwide picture in all areas was Baroque. It started in Rome in 16th century (1550-1640) in time when people were exploring the world around them. Baroque, which comes from the French word “baroque” and the Portuguese word “barroco”, mean deformed and misshaped. In a sense baroque is an appropriate term to describe this new form of ideas in time. The greatest role in the various expressions of baroque art had a religion. The Reformation of the mid-1500 's divided Europe into Catholic countries and Protestant countries. In most Protestant countries, including Germany and England, art was considered as an unnecessary luxury and was suppressed. But in one Protestant country, Netherlands, an entirely new kind of art was created. It was based on the routines of everyday life, and it was still following the Calvinist doctrine of banning images that depicted religious subjects. In Catholic countries such as Italy, Spain, and France, it was different. Painters and sculptors continued the long-standing practice of using biblical stories as their primary subject matter. Some historians said that as a part of its campaign against the Protestant Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church demanded artists to create emotionally appealing paintings and sculptures that everyone could understand. The Roman Catholic Church wanted to produce new art that displayed intensity and greatness of scale, and it was meant to evoke passion and emotions. Baroque offered inspiration for artists who appeared a generation later; sculptors like Bernini and painters like Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer. The painters, sculptors and architects considered to work in the Baroque style displayed strong emotions in their work. Painters used rich color, intense light and dark shadows and they depicted scenes at the height of dramatic tension.
History of Architecture II
19/12/2013
The Baroque Period
The historic period which came after Renaissance and changed the worldwide picture in all areas was Baroque. It started in Rome in 16th century (1550-1640) in time when people were exploring the world around them. Baroque, which comes from the French word “baroque” and the Portuguese word “barroco”, mean deformed and misshaped. In a sense baroque is an appropriate term to describe this new form of ideas in time. The greatest role in the various expressions of baroque art had a religion. The Reformation of the mid-1500 's divided Europe into Catholic countries and Protestant countries. In most Protestant countries, including Germany and England, art was considered as an unnecessary luxury and was suppressed. But in one Protestant country, Netherlands, an entirely new kind of art was created. It was based on the routines of everyday life, and it was still following the Calvinist doctrine of banning images that depicted religious subjects. In Catholic countries such as Italy, Spain, and France, it was different. Painters and sculptors continued the long-standing practice of using biblical stories as their primary subject matter. Some historians said that as a part of its campaign against the Protestant Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church demanded artists to create emotionally appealing paintings and sculptures that everyone could understand. The Roman Catholic Church wanted to produce new art that displayed intensity and greatness of scale, and it was meant to evoke passion and emotions. Baroque offered inspiration for artists who appeared a generation later; sculptors like Bernini and painters like Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer. The painters, sculptors and architects considered to work in the Baroque style displayed strong emotions in their work. Painters used rich color, intense light and dark shadows and they depicted scenes at the height of dramatic tension.
References: 1. Anthony Blunt: Art and Architecture in France (1999) 2. A. Blunt, Art and Architecture in France, (1953) 3. R. Wittkower, Art and Architecture in Italy, (1958) 4. http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/baroque-france.html 5. http://www.learn.columbia.edu/ha/html/baroque.html