Overviews in Art: Baroque Art

Baroque Art

A brief explanation of the artistic trends in the Art Timeline

This article is one in an ongoing series. It is not intended to be scholarly, but a survey for those unfamiliar with various periods in art and those curious to learn more. Note CE and BCE, Common Era and Before Common Era are more standard when dating as they are less culturally biased than A.D. and B.C.

Baroque in the purest sense means anything that is ornate or extravagant ( It was and still is in some circles a derogatory term, originating from irregularly shaped pearls, thereby making a comparison to deride the artwork.) Therefore any period in art can have a "baroque" phase. In Roman art the Flavian period after the Julio-Claudian is often referred to as baroque. More recently, Baroque art has been used to designate style of art being produced in Western Europe between the years of 1600 and mid-eighteenth century depending on the country. Rates of diffusion from Italy to the northern countries varied mostly due to war.

Art is simply the expression of an idea in the visual. Baroque art arose out of the struggle between the Catholic Church and the new Protestant religion which was attracting many of their parishioners. Baroque art started out as the implimentation of the new guidelines set out by the Council of Trent which sought to make the Catholic Church more approachable to the faithful. This included changes in liturgical practices like removal of rood screens (these separate the priests from the congregation) to changes in the artwork.

Prior to Guttenberg printing press in 1530, which led to the proliferation of reading material, the populace was highly illiterate. Art or icons, which had been the crux of the battle between the iconoclasts and iconophiles during the Early Christian Church, provided the crucial function of illustrating the teachings in the bible. One does not need to be able to read to understand the imagery in church artwork. To battle the Counter-Reformation movement started by Martin Luther in Wittenberg, the Church instituted new measures to keep the parishioners they still had and try and win back those whom had left.

Art is not created in a vacuum. The artist is a reflection of the time and conditions in which they create; therefore it is valuable to know not only what is going on presently, but that which preceded the Baroque Period. Earlier art from the Renaissance was rational. Not only in learning, but also art- here we finally get perspective with a single vanishing point. Conversely, Baroque art is emotional. It is intended to make the viewer feel, to emphasize the idea of the Catholic Church as the "mother" Church. Perhaps an illustration will assist. In Renaissance art Michelangelo's David is poised and reflective, while Bernini's David is intense and active. This is the hallmark of Baroque art, it is highly charged and the figures are fairly bursting forth from their confines. Bernini's piece is an excellent example of figura serpentinata, a twisted "S" shaped figure denoting intense action. We first see this is in Greek Hellenistic art (Greek baroque phase) 323- 31 BCE, in works such as Lacoon, 1^st century BCE. This sculpture is meant to be viewed from all angles, one would never place this in a niche.

In summary, Baroque art was sanctioned by the Catholic Church to engage the congregation to fight the competition from Protestantism. Keep in mind though that Baroque art is as much a reaction against the rationalism set out during the Renaissance, like Romanticism in literature, as a tool of propaganda.