Baroque Research
Characteristics and
key influences of the movement:
Baroque work typically consists of paintings, sculptures and
architecture. The work also has a clear colour scheme, ranging from warm tones
of reds and oranges and deep, dark blacks and greys. However, it can also be
described as emotional due to the fact that the work is aimed to being out
certain emotions within the audience, for example loyalty and love towards a
king at the time. The composition of Baroque work shows the main focus or
problem in a spotlight, highlighting the main part with lighter and warmer
colours and the background and surrounding in deeper dark colours. Using strong
light and dark is called Chiaroscuro.
Baroque work all have the same themes in common, ranging
from religion and the church to historical events. They all seem to include
people too, be it Monarchs, the rich or Popes. The work is grouped together
based on the fact that they all have the same themes and also usually depict
historical or religious events.
The artwork can be described as immaculate, exaggerated,
luxurious, realism, extravagant and curvaceous.
Baroque work originated in Italy and travelled around
through trade and travel around Europe. Books were printed and ornaments were
made, which were sent to Britain, also sending the Baroque style with them. The
work sent messages of religious events and historical events to other places
and the fact that each piece was handmade made everything more special.
Artists were inspired by historical and religious events and
people at the time, also monarchs and the rich. The artists would only be able
to convey the opinions of the people who they would paint for, as they tended
to have a higher authority than them and controlled them, propaganda. The most significant artists at the time were
people such as: - Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Rubens, Bernini.
Cultural contexts of
the movement:
“Baroque was the dominant style in art and architecture of
the 17th Century, characterised by self-confidence, dynamism and a
realistic approach to depiction” – TATE
As the artist are working, there are events happening in the
world that effected their pieces, for example, portraiture of King Charles I,
as he wanted to be painted how he wished to be seem by his people. This was
also the same with King Louis XIV. Artists were also influenced by the church,
as the church was very highly influential and at the time art was used as
propaganda and to depict important and historical/religious events.
The society at the time was very dependent on the church and
people were interested in the stories and seeing what there king was like, as
it was very rare to ever see him, other than in paintings. This meant that most
artwork that they would see would be of those themes. However, the audience
would mainly be the rich as they could afford the paintings and artwork, so the
other pieces would mainly be to please them. The reign of King Charles I in
1625 and Louis XIV in 1643, had an impact because art was catered to how they
wanted people to see it. But also, the church highly impacted because they
still had a large control over people and opinions at the time. Nothing that
the church or the monarchs weren’t happy with, or didn’t agree with would be
seen by the audiences.
Galileo was also a key event during the time as he was the
start of the transition from natural philosophy to modern science, this lead to
more people experimenting to different things and understood the world a bit
more.
Vermeer is a Dutch artist who specialized in domestic
interior scenes of middle class life. He wasn’t wealthy and didn’t work for
royalty or the rich like most painters at the time, he worked for himself, thus
leaving his wife and children in depts as he passed. Vermeer worked slowly and
used expensive pigments where he probably shouldn’t have. He painted mostly
domestic interior scenes containing a darker background and a focus on the main
subject. For example, mostly famous for ‘The Girl with The Pearl Earring’ which
left people with a lot of questions about the girl as it was so unique and well
made.
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