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The Baroque style is characterized by exaggerated motion and clear detail used to produce drama, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture , painting, architecture, literature, dance, and music. The Baroque flourished in Europe from the early 17th until the late 18th century. It followed the Renaissance style and preceded the Neoclassical style.
The Baroque style is characterized by exaggerated motion and clear detail used to produce drama, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture , painting, architecture, literature, dance, and music. The Baroque flourished in Europe from the early 17th until the late 18th century. It followed the Renaissance style and preceded the Neoclassical style.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio,
The Supper at Emmaus, 1601
oil on canvas, 55 x 77 inches, 141 x 196.2 cm
(National Gallery, London) Speakers: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker.Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.
The art of persuasion: instruct, delight, move
The art of persuasion: instruct, delight, move
While the Protestants harshly criticized the cult of images, the Catholic Church ardently embraced the religious power of art. The visual arts, the Church argued, played a key role in guiding the faithful. They were certainly as important as the written and spoken word, and perhaps even more important since they were accessible to the learned and the unlearned alike. In order to be effective in its pastoral role, religious art had to be clear, persuasive, and powerful. Not only did it have to instruct, it had to inspire. It had to move the faithful to feel the reality of Christ’s sacrifice, the suffering of the martyrs, the visions of the saints.
The Church’s emphasis on art’s pastoral role prompted artists to experiment with new and more direct means of engaging the viewer. Artists like Caravaggio turned to a powerful and dramatic realism, accentuated by bold contrasts of light and dark, and tightly-cropped compositions that enhanced the physical and emotional immediacy of the depicted narrative.
Other artists, like Annibale Carracci—who also experimented with realism—ultimately settled on a more classical visual language, inspired by the vibrant palette, idealized forms, and balanced compositions of the High Renaissance, see image above. Still others, like Giovanni Battista Gaulli, turned to daring feats of illusionism that blurred not only the boundaries between painting, sculpture, and architecture, but also those between the real and depicted worlds. In so doing, the divine was made physically present and palpable. Whether through shocking realism, dynamic movement, or exuberant ornamentation, 17th-century art was meant to impress. It aimed to convince the viewer of the truth of its message by impacting the senses, awakening the emotions, and activating—even sharing—the viewer’s space.
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