The Baroque: music, painting, sculpture and architecture –

When and where did this artistic style proliferate, characterized by ostentation in its magnificent buildings and an important change in the way of representing the world? Who were its greatest exponents?

What do we call The Baroque?

The Golden age It was a time of cultural boom and in which there were several currents. One of the most important was the Baroque that encompassed all artistic manifestations from the beginning of the 1600stretching for approx. 150 years.

The name with which this cultural current was baptized was given time later by art critics, who took the French translation of the word of Portuguese origin, false jewel or r-shaped pearl; which was later used to describe those objects of exaggerated ostentation or in bad taste.

This period of artistic revolution manifested itself in the fields of sculpture, architecture, literature, art Y music in most European and American countries; Let’s not forget that at that time America it was recently colonized by the Spanish, Portuguese and English.
The The reasons for the emergence of this new manifestation were due to several factorsespecially related to the greatest exponent of the Catholic Church: the Vatican. He was under harsh criticism from various sectors that questioned his acts of corruption, the protestant reformation was making itself felt, questioning the Catholic Church with the existence of the virginity of Maria and the authority of Dad, factors that profoundly weakened the power of the clergy.

Secondly, Spain, Portugal and England were putting down roots in the new American countries, gaining land and spreading to the new world; leaving Italy under the shadows of corruption and oblivion.

This generated in Vatican a great vindication from which new guidelines emerged when making an artistic work, in order to generate a kind of marketing to the church, reminding directly or indirectly, what were the bases of the house of God, through an ideological control manifested by art .

That was how the reinforcement of the image of Mary and the mystery of the Trinity as protagonists of numerous artistic works. The themes of the canvases were no longer about allegories about ancient mythologies, the ostentation of saints and unattainable heavenly landscapes. The saints now dressed in tattered rags, the martyrs showed expressions of pain under a successful drama that moved the viewer, and the image of the sacred Familyand especially that of Mary, were delicately glorified.

In parallel, also the thematic art of still lifes is born, such as still lifes, landscapes, and even costumbristas (just by looking at the image of old woman frying eggsof Velazquez we can get an idea of ​​what this meant). A new pattern that differed from the Renaissance was that the faces of the beautiful models disappeared, giving way to natural expressions, resulting today even a little shocking.

Great Baroque Artists

This artistic period has witnessed great geniuses of art. In Spainwithin the Baroque period is the famous Golden age. There they stand out among the painters Diego de VelazquezY Francisco de Zurbaran. In literature, true geniuses stand out as Miguel de Cervantes, Luis de Gongora, Francisco de Quevedo, Lope de Vega, Turso de Molina and Calderón de la Barca.
The architecture had as its greatest exponent Gian Lorenzo Berninicreator of the oval shape of the Saint Peter’s Square, who was also an exquisite sculptor, author of the magnificent Tritone Fountain and the moving work “The Ecstasy of Santa Teresa”. In painting Rembrandt, Rubens, Caravaggio, Van Dyck and the aforementioned Velázquez.
To learn more about Baroque art, we invite you to read:

As for the technical points, the appearance of the chiaroscuroa resource that highlighted the detail that would take center stage in the painting through the game of lights and shadows. The main ambassadors of Baroque art were characters such as Caravaggio, Veermer, Rembrandt, Velazquez, Pacheco Rubens Y Murilloamong many others that manifested themselves during this period.

baroque sculpture

Refering to sculpture, it can be said that he followed the bases of the Renaissancefollowing a line of naturalistic character, but unlike this, baroque sculpture tried to remove idealism from the image, turning it purely and exclusively into reality.
The most renowned sculptor of this period was the Neapolitan Gian Lorenzo Bernini creator of the Fountain of the four rivers (located in Piazza Navona,Rome) and collaborator of the famous sculpture Rape of Proserpina, works composed of completely liberated bodies, which are no longer in a rigid and posed state, but rather show an intense dynamism, highlighting movement and action, giving more truth and nature to the image.

baroque music

in matter musical Two figures of great historical importance stood out: the German master Johann Sebastian Bach and the venetian Antonio Lucius Vivaldi known asthe prete rosso (the red priest) given that the musician was a priest and had red hair.
You may also like:

baroque literature

Refering to literature, satire, culteranismo, classicism and conceptism emerged, speaking mainly about vanity, human life and criticism. Its main representatives were Don Luis de Gongora Y Francis Quevedo, author of the famous satirical sonnet to one nose, in which the author refers to his deformed nose in a ridiculous and funny way.

baroque architecture

Finally, regarding the architecture, a completely new style was born in terms of ornamentation, in which curved details, moldings, columns, gilding and repeated forms are the protagonists of the buildings. The appearance of new elements such as the solomon column, which can be seen for example inside the Basilica of Saint Peter, and the stipe.

It generates a important independence between inside and outsideaccentuating the light as the main element when designing, and the ostentatious details, generally of low quality, simulating wealth and pomposity, playing a bit with falsehood. This occurred in most cases, which does not mean that high-quality elements were used, as was the case with Persian rugs, ceramics, Carrá glass, etc.

In general, the architecture was characterized by its colossal order, where its main and most used architectural element was the Dome. Its main precursors were Bernini, Borromini Y P. Pozzo.
It can be said that the Baroque concluded in 1750, but this is a generalization, since it varied according to the countries and the subject matter, with some arts lasting longer than others, to later be completely replaced by the neoclassicism.

Civil architecture and urbanism in the Baroque

However, although the baroque art with religious art, this artistic movement was also noted in various fields linked to the civil sphere. As with most religious manifestations, the examples that have come down to us of painting, sculpture and, above all, civil Baroque architecture were linked to the dominant power and had as their primary objective to communicate a very specific and specific message to the people who could contemplate them, taking advantage of the richness, the desire to capture movement, the masterful use of light and the spectacular nature of Baroque art.

Although, as we have said, there are also many Baroque paintings and sculptures of a non-religious nature, architecture and urban planning were the civil arts that experienced the greatest progress during the Baroque era. In the field of civil architecture, highlight the impressive palaces that were built in various European countries during this time and following the dramatic precepts of the Baroque. Probably the best known example is the construction of the impressive Palace of Versailles, ordered to be built by King Louis XIV of France between 1661 and 1692. Its impressive size, its careful decoration designed to express the power and magnificence of the king and its outstanding sensation both in its interior decoration and in its union with the gardens that surround it surround make this beautiful palace one of the great wonders of the History of Art. However, he was not the only one.

In other European countries, other palaces were also built following precepts very similar to those of the Sun King with the aim of showing the great power and dignity of those who commissioned him. Thus, in Vienna, we find the famous Belvedere Palacewhich was the residence of the famous imperial general Eugene of Savoy or the famous schonbrunn palace, built as a summer residence for the emperors and their families. They also highlight the Blenheim Palace in England, the Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso in Spain and the Winter Palace in Russia, to cite just a few examples that show how this type of civil architecture was widespread during the Baroque era. This type of architecture did not occur only in countries where there were absolute monarchies, but was also used to demonstrate the power of institutions in places where another type of government was practiced, as demonstrated by the impressive baroque town hall built in the city of Amsterdam .

As for the town planning, in the Baroque some precepts born in the Renaissance are continued that seek to create more functional and orderly cities that would enjoy spaces enabled to hold parties and various public functions, at the same time that it was about demonstrating the power of the different institutions through impressive public and private buildings. In Spain and in the big cities of Latin America these ideas linked to baroque urban planning were reflected in the construction of impressive main squares which, although they had been glimpsed in the previous period almost always as a place for holding markets, are now modified to give rise to large and luxurious meeting spaces, of exchange and celebration of public festivals of all kinds.

It is precisely from the Baroque period that the remodeling of the Plaza Mayor in Madridwhich then took on the appearance it has today, just as happened to the famous Main Square of Lima. However, the most outstanding example of baroque urbanism continues to be the city of Rome. At the end of the 16th century, the different popes began an ambitious remodeling of the city with the aim of showing it to be a true city of God, so that the Basilica of Saint Peter would remain in the center and the different urban layouts would flow into it for the greater glory of the See of Saint Peter. Thus, it was at this time that the famous balustrade of Saint Peter’s squaredesigned by Bernini and the great avenue that leads to…