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BAROQUE
INTRODUCCION

The baroque was born in Italy, at the end of the 16th century, spreading and

dominating all of Europe, as an artistic-literary current against the pagan tendencies of

the Renaissance, coalescing in the religious movement known as Counter-

Reformation. These concerns transcended and were reflected in literature and art. For

all of which, the Baroque has been considered as a united movement and used by the

Counter-Reformation. It spread and reached a great strength in America in the 17th

century, led by the Jesuits.

The deep realism of the works, which seeks to capture life in its entirety, without

neglecting pain, sadness, old age or ugliness. The idealism of the Renaissance is left

behind.

New themes make their way:

Landscapes can become the main theme of the works and not a simple complement.

Still lifes, which serve to show virtuosity in everyday objects.

Baroque painting contributed important formal and technical modifications that break

with some aspects of the Renaissance:

Predominance of color over drawing: the great masters such as Velázquez or

Rembrandt were able to define the forms with spots of color.

Depth: during the Baroque, mastery of the third dimension was achieved through

convergent lines, foreshortenings, games of light ...

Protagonism of light: Baroque painters sought to capture light in their works to which

forms are subordinated1, giving a new role to shadows that reached its best expression

in the tenebrism of Caravaggio or Ribera.

Asymmetric and atectonic compositions: the main figure does not have to be in the

center creating symmetry around it; diagonals and spirals are reinforced. There are

even elements outside the fabric, behind doors or openings.

Movement: twisted, diagonal, atectonic shapes, foreshortenings… reinforce the sense

of life in the works.

Its spirit and its significance is linked to the prevailing powers of that time: the Church

and the Absolute Monarchies. It is a majestic, dynamic, dramatic and theatrical style.

Each art, painting, sculpture, architecture, etc., will follow a series of stylistic canons

according to its nature in order to highlight those ideas or formulas that power wanted

to transmit.

The name baroque was used, and on some occasions it is still used, as a synonym for

extravagance or bad taste.

The term baroque, according to some scholars, derives from the Portuguese word

"baroque", which designates an irregular pearl of little value, according to others,

baroque, it comes from the scholastic syllogism called "baroco". It is a movement

opposed to the classicism of the Renaissance.

The Baroque appears in Italy and dominated in Europe during the end of the 16th

century and throughout the 17th century manifesting itself in

Literature under two tendencies the "culteranismo" and the "Conceptismo"

in art, by the predominance of the curved line over the straight

in architecture, a decorative element takes precedence over the constructive one,

giving more importance to decoration than to structure.

In painting and sculpture for the exaggerated and pathetic expression.

Baroque architecture in Europe

It has been a style, not only ignored but also despised by the historiography of some

eras. This style will be especially interesting in our country, in which the seventeenth

century manifests itself as a waste of genius in all areas of culture. The Baroque is

fascinating and mysterious due to the great difficulties that it entails. In the first place

because we do not know with certainty the origin of the term itself and also because

specialists have not quite agreed on the stylistic aspects that characterize it. The

resources are, in general lines, the same that had been used during the Renaissance,

but the criteria have varied substantially since, in many ways, this style represents an

irreverent challenge to classical architecture, so often revered throughout the ages.

Story. Baroque is synonymous with transgression, nonconformity and instability whose

origin should be sought in the crisis that shook most of the European countries during

the seventeenth century.

Main characteristics in baroque

architecture
• Maintained the symmetry of Renaissance architecture.

• Crooked columns, often only decorative and not supportive as in ancient Greece and

Rome.

• Curved lines abound more than straight lines.

• Highly ornate decoration details.

• Sensation of movement in the forms.

• Towers and domes or domes.

9 essential Baroque artists and authors

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)

Lope de Vega (1562-1635)

Caravaggio (1571-1610)

Rubens (1577-1640)

Bernini (1598-1680)

Van Dyck (1599-1641)

Velázquez (1599-1660)

Calderón de la Barca (1600-1681)

PAINTING
CHARACTERISTICS

The deep realism of the works, which seeks to capture life in its entirety, without
neglecting pain, sadness, old age or ugliness. The idealism of the Renaissance is left
behind.
-New themes make their way:
Landscapes can become the main theme of the works and not a simple complement.

-Still lifes or still lifes, which serve to show virtuosity in everyday objects.

-Baroque painting contributed important formal and technical modifications that break
with some aspects of the Renaissance:

-Predominance of color over drawing: the great masters such as Velázquez or

Rembrandt were able to define the forms with spots of color.
-Depth: during the Baroque, mastery of the third dimension was achieved through
convergent lines, foreshortenings, games of light ...
-Protagonism of light: Baroque painters sought to capture light in their works to which
forms are subordinated1, giving a new role to shadows that reached its best expression
in the tenebrism of Caravaggio or Ribera.
-Asymmetric and atectonic compositions: the main figure does not have to be in the
center creating symmetry around it; diagonals and spirals are reinforced. There are
even elements outside the fabric, behind doors or openings.
-Movement: twisted, diagonal, atectonic shapes, foreshortenings… reinforce the sense
of life in the works.

MAIN AUTHORS AND WORKS OF THE PAINTING

AUTHORS
-Caravaggio (1571-1610)
-Pedro Pablo Rubens (1577-1640)
-Diego Velazquez (1599-1660)
-José de Ribera (1591-1652)
-Francisco de Zurbarán (1598-1664)
-Bartolomé Esteban (1617-1682)