· The Counter Reformation in Art and Society in Italy             We will now begin our study of the Baroque in Western European culture. The term Baroque was originally coined in the late 1700s as a derogative term to describe certain types of artwork emerging in the rough period of 1600-1750. In the last 100 years, the world Baroque has lost its pejorative meaning and has been expanded to designate all works of art created during this period. Thus, the term Baroque for our purposes refers to a historical period and a multiplicity of styles. Furthermore, Baroque art is in some ways a continuation of Renaissance interests that respond to new historical circumstance, such as the counter-reformation in Catholic areas and absolutism throughout the west.             As we have seen, the Reformation began in 1517 with Luther’s posting of his 95 theses. By 1545 much of Northern Europe had become Protestant, and in response the Catholic church sought to address the need for reform. This is not to suggest that there had not been impulses for reform before the Reformation. However, the Reformation created the opportunity and enough incentive to address issues of corruption. Catholic rulers held control in places like Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, and Belgium retained were; while Protestant powers had sway over England, Scotland, Scandinavia, and most of Switzerland and the Netherlands.             Today we will begin our look at the Baroque in Catholic countries where art supplemented the Counter-Reformation’s attempts to stamp out Protestant “heresy” through the Inquisition. In a positive campaign, Catholic artists sought to enlist and intensify personal conviction. Our first subject is Italian Baroque art, which became, as the ambitious Pope Alexander VII said, a “theatre.” The shapes of churches, sculptures, decorations, and lighting were all calculated to create maximal emotional. They often used a rationally contrived stage to create the experience of the irrational, spiritual experience. Catholic baroque artists focused on martyrdoms and spiritual ecstasies in dramatic and physical terms.             The greatest architectural project in Rome during the Baroque period was St. Peters Basilica and Carlo Maderno was commissioned to build the nave and façade of the church. Although St. Peters is not a Jesuit church, its Baroque additions relate to the goals of the Jesuit order, which was founded in 1534 and was an active player in the Counter Reformation.             Art was used as a means to counteract the Protestant reformation by serving as a powerful form of propaganda. The basic codes of the use of art in religious spaces were even codified in the Council of Trent in 1563. Architecture was utilized for propaganda by manipulating the church structure to allow the art inside of them to work their magic on the viewer. This was especially effective because Protestants did not use art in this way due to their ideas about the connection between re.

1. · The Counter Reformation in Art and Society in Italy
We will now begin our study of the Baroque in Western
European culture. The term Baroque was originally coined in
the late 1700s as a derogative term to describe certain types of
artwork emerging in the rough period of 1600-1750. In the last
100 years, the world Baroque has lost its pejorative meaning
and has been expanded to designate all works of art created
during this period. Thus, the term Baroque for our purposes
refers to a historical period and a multiplicity of styles.
Furthermore, Baroque art is in some ways a continuation of
Renaissance interests that respond to new historical
circumstance, such as the counter-reformation in Catholic areas
and absolutism throughout the west.
As we have seen, the Reformation began in 1517 with
Luther’s posting of his 95 theses. By 1545 much of Northern
Europe had become Protestant, and in response the Catholic
church sought to address the need for reform. This is not to
suggest that there had not been impulses for reform before the
Reformation. However, the Reformation created the opportunity
and enough incentive to address issues of corruption. Catholic
rulers held control in places like Spain, Portugal, France, Italy,
and Belgium retained were; while Protestant powers had sway
over England, Scotland, Scandinavia, and most of Switzerland
and the Netherlands.
Today we will begin our look at the Baroque in Catholic
countries where art supplemented the Counter-Reformation’s
attempts to stamp out Protestant “heresy” through the
Inquisition. In a positive campaign, Catholic artists sought to
enlist and intensify personal conviction. Our first subject is
Italian Baroque art, which became, as the ambitious Pope
Alexander VII said, a “theatre.” The shapes of churches,
sculptures, decorations, and lighting were all calculated to
create maximal emotional. They often used a rationally
contrived stage to create the experience of the irrational,

2. spiritual experience. Catholic baroque artists focused on
martyrdoms and spiritual ecstasies in dramatic and physical
terms.
The greatest architectural project in Rome during the
Baroque period was St. Peters Basilica and Carlo Maderno was
commissioned to build the nave and façade of the church.
Although St. Peters is not a Jesuit church, its Baroque additions
relate to the goals of the Jesuit order, which was founded in
1534 and was an active player in the Counter Reformation.
Art was used as a means to counteract the Protestant
reformation by serving as a powerful form of propaganda. The
basic codes of the use of art in religious spaces were even
codified in the Council of Trent in 1563. Architecture was
utilized for propaganda by manipulating the church structure to
allow the art inside of them to work their magic on the viewer.
This was especially effective because Protestants did not use art
in this way due to their ideas about the connection between
religious images and idolatry.
Moderno’s façade emphasizes the door on St. Peters by
making the pediment over the door jut out further into our space
than its other arch elements. The vertical accents start
as pilasters on the ends and then turn into columns in the center.
This creates an effect which brings the door out into out space
and welcomes the viewer. The architect uses this design to
invite you into the space; encouraging you to come see what’s
inside and see more pieces of artwork inside the church.
The main door of Moderno’s façade became the focal
point for the next major building program at St. Peters-
Bernini’s colonnade. The colonnade at St. Peters produces a
psychological effect on the viewer by making it appear to reach
out and embrace the viewer. Bernini himself related it to the
“motherly arms of the church” which were ready to embrace
believers and repentant heretics like former Protestants. The
space is organized from the outside along a visual axis that is
created by the obelisk in center of the square which leads you
into the church. Bernini attached the colonnade to the façade

3. with angled wings. The angle of the wings created a distorted
image that makes the church appear closer to the viewer because
of the oval shape of the piazza or square that it is in. It also
emphasizes the height of the façade which was exceptionally
wide.
Bernini’s colonnade transforms the church door’s
outward movement and gesture of greeting into a maternal
embrace. This also used an optical illusion that draws the
viewer into the church when he is inside the colonnade by
making it appear closer than it actually is. Inside the church
there were also beautiful images used to draw in the viewer.
The inside of these churches provided an almost theatrical
setting for the processions that would take place here in the
large church.
This type of interior was inspired by St. Ignatius Loyola
who advocated the importance of the spiritual experience and
the mysteries of the faith. He thought it was necessary for these
subjects to be intensely imagined so that it could be made
visible to the eye, allowing people to experience this sensation
through their senses. A great example of this was
Bernini’s baldacchino in the basilica. The St. Peters baldachin
was a large bronze canopy that covered the high altar.
However, Bernini’s fame comes mostly from his work
in figural sculpture. His David is probably his most famous
work. To understand the shifting elements of Baroque, style lets
compare this to the last two centuries of art by comparing and
contrasting it with Michelangelo’s David.
The major differences of these works are the elements
or parts of the story that the artists choose to focus on.
Michelangelo focused on a moment of contemplative tension;
you can see David scoping out Goliath on the horizon. Bernini
portrays an instant of dramatic action that shows David
beginning to pivot and launch the rock from the sling. These
different themes are also shown through each artist’s depiction
of facial features. Michelangelo uses a furrowed brow that
shows his contemplation of action. Bernini’s David meanwhile

4. bites his lip in a show of the physical exertion it takes to project
the rock. Each figure also relates to the space of its construction
differently. Michelangelo’s David has a body that stays within
the confines of the block and is static. Bernini’s David breaks
out of its block and twists into the open space of the viewer.
Bernini uses the illusion of a time and space continuum between
the statue and its environment to grab the viewer’s attention
rather than portraying a sense of self-sufficiency.
However, art best served the Counter-Reformation’s
goal of inspiring piety when it combined architecture, sculpture,
and painting. The theatrical combination of these three media
conformed perfectly to St. Ignatius Loyola’s advocacy of an
intensely imagined spiritual experience, which was easily
visible to the human eye.
For example, Bernini’s Ecstasy of St. Theresa in
Cornaro Chapel (1644-47) portrayed St. Theresa in rapture
while being stabbed by an angel with an arrow on a cloud. St.
Theresa was one of the great saints of the Counter-Reformation.
She had a vision in which an angel pierced her heart with a
flaming golden arrow. She described the sensation as “a pain”
“so great” that she “screamed aloud” that was combined with
“such infinite sweetness that” she “wanted the pain to last
forever.” She went on to explain that the pain was “not
physical, but psychic” even though it “affected the body.” She
described her vision as “the sweetest caressing of the soul by
God.” She described the sensation as the Bernini’s sculpture
captures this scene, showing both spiritual and physical joy as
she reclines on a cloud and has a look of pleasure on her face.
Bernini also portrays the otherworldly aspect of this experience
by having her laying on a cloud with an angel. These symbols
have connotations with heaven. Similarly, he used gold light
streaming down from the heavens through a real window in the
church which serves as a light source that creates the illusion of
a heavenly atmosphere.
The subject corresponds perfectly the Counter-
Reformations goal to inspire the faithful to piety with physical

5. visons. Bernini connects the viewer to Theresa’s vision by
making the chapel an extension of the scene through his use of
white marble figures of the Cornaro family sitting in boxes
looking at the scene. Having these spectators makes the
audience feel like they too are watching the scene; they are
simply spectators from a different angle watching the scene. In
this way, one of God’s miracles is before our eyes.
Caravaggio’s The Conversion of St. Paul (1601) also
shows many of the same interests in making the spiritual
experience physically tangible through the cult of the saints.
The subject is the Pharisee Saul being converted by a light and
a voice from heaven. The picture is odd as it depicted the
backside of a horse on the altarpiece of this church. This creates
the impression that Saul fell off his horse in a stable and an old
stable hand is trying to move the beast. The old man’s facial
features are very realistic with wrinkles and other signs of aging
like white hair. Caravaggio’s work differed from the realism
used in northern art by making the scene true to contemporary
life with no idealization or set of symbols to elevate the piece.
It is truly a reflection of a stable scene. Caravaggio was
criticized for his penchant for depicting holy scenes as images
of everyday life, a technique critics lambasted as vulgarizing
holy scenes.
Caravaggio tries to set up the visible world as a vehicle
by using light to convey spiritual meanings. He gives stark light
and dark contrasts to create drama. Caravaggio was well-known
for his deliberate use of light and dark contrast for effect in his
work. Light is particularly important in this scene because Paul
was converted when he saw a blinding flash on light. The
viewer’s point of view looking at the picture creates a horizon
that is on our eye level. It was set up on the wall to make it
appear that you are witnessing the scene as you walk into the
chapel as it is on the same plane as your vision. Interior light
also works with exterior light in the chapel to create the illusion
of a continuous space between the painting and the chapel.
This use of light and dark was also utilized in the work

6. of Artemisia Gentileschi, a female artist who was one of the
most gifted followers of Carvaggio’s style of naturalism. Until
the mid-19th century, female artists were generally restricted to
painting genre scenes, landscapes, and portraits. This was due
to obstacles they met in studying life drawing and anatomy.
Many contemporaries thought it was inappropriate for women to
study male nudes. Artemisia however was trained in her father’s
studio and therefore learned the skills necessary to go beyond
these works. We will look at her work, Judith and
Maidservant (c. 1625) as an example of her painting.
The subject is of Judith, a Jewish widow, who has cut
the head off of the lustful pagan general, Holofernes, whose
army was occupying Palestine. Judith entered the camp and
seduced Holofernes in order to get an opening to murder him.
Without their general, the enemy was easily routed and Judith
was therefore a hero to her people. This scene depicts the
aftermath of the murder when Judith’s servant is wrapping up
the head. Artemisia still creates a sense of drama in the scene
by having Judith shield her eyes from the light to watch if
anyone is coming. Artemisia also uses light in the painting to
create light and dark contrasts which heighten the sense of
drama.
Artemisia uses a recognizable likeness to her own
likeness in portraying Judith, making the piece a self-portrait.
So therefore connects herself with the Old Testament heroine.
She casts herself as Judith as a way to portray the personal
trauma she experienced when she was raped by a fellow student
in her father’s painting studio. When trying to prosecute her
attacker, Artemisia was forced to endure interrogation under
thumb-screws for the trial. Her attacker suffered little damage
to his reputation from this accusation, illustrating once again
the impact of gender norms in patriarchy society. Artemisia lost
in court but was able to work out her feelings by depicting
herself as the vengeful heroine.
Lastly, Andrea Pozzo’s Apotheosis of St.
Ignatius (1691) in Rome illustrates how the illusionism we saw

7. in Bernini has been taken to new extremes. His work spreads all
over the ceiling to make scene appear to show us dramatic
action in the heavens. The subject is St. Ignatius being carried
to heaven and glorified by a multitude of saints, angels, and
cherubs who gaze in rapture at the light. This relates to the
Counter-Reformation and Jesuits because art is being used as
tool for propaganda to stimulate the faithful to piety. It was St.
Ignatius that argued that art should make the spiritual as
physical as possible.
This completes our study of the Baroque in Italy. We saw that
artists employed their art to help the goals of the Counter-
Reformation: to enlist and intensify personal devotion. We saw
architects, sculptors, and painters employ all the formal
elements at their disposal to create “theatre” in Pope Alexander
VII’s words and in turn the maximum emotional effect.
·
Class 14
Capitalism, Protestantism, and Art in the Netherlands
Today we will look at Flanders (modern day Belgium)
and the United Provinces (modern day Netherlands). Flanders
and the United Provinces were one united country that was ruled
by Spain until 1581. The Northern provinces united and seceded
from Spanish rule in 1581 after Phillip II began to more actively
persecute Protestants and challenge local authorities in the
Northern Provinces. Protestantism was the dominant religious
domination in this area after the Reformation.
The Dutch United Provinces were mostly Calvinist but
were tolerant of other religious communities such as the
Mennonites, Jews, and even Catholics. Calvinists were
particularly active in the struggle against idolatry and Calvinist
churches were swept clear of any religious images. This

8. movement of clearing churches of religious images was a
Protestant protest against religious imagery in churches, which
is known as iconoclasm. Protestants believed that these images
were acts of idolatry or worshipping false images. Protestants
not only refused to place religious images in their churches,
they also led loots against Catholic churches, forming mobs and
destroying images and altarpieces. In the chaos, some
opportunists also took the opportunity to steal valuables from
these churches, like gold and silver objects. The prevalence of
Protestantism in this areas led to the development of different
styles of art.
The 17th century was a period of flourishing for the
Dutch. Peace in 1648 aided the success of Dutch banking,
commerce, industry and agriculture. The Dutch also were
successful due to their control over colonies in American and
the East Indies. In art, the Dutch developed their own subjects
and styles which were related to the new social, political,
economic, and religious structures of their middle-class
republic. We will first examine the diversity of artistic creation
and its relation to the art market and then examine the diversity
of artistic creation and its relation to the art market.
Without any patronage sources in Protestant churches,
artists had to make a living from other areas of art. One of the
major forms of art that endured was portraiture, as we saw in
16th century England and Germany. Frans Hals was an
extremely popular portraitist who fell out of favor towards the
end of his life and died in the almshouse. For an example of the
rise of portrait art in the 17th century Netherlands, let’s look at
Hals’ Laughing Cavalier (1624). We can see from the dress of
this person who sat for the portrait that he is wealthy. He is
most likely member of the middle class- probably a wealthy
merchant or the son of a merchant. We can infer that the man is
wealthy from the details on his clothes- exquisite lace and gold
buttons. Dutch wealth was growing in the 16th and 17th century
partly from trading and shipping goods created in Holland like
lace and partly from raw materials acquired in the colonies like

9. gold. The most important source of Dutch wealth was in the
transport business as the Dutch shipped most of the world’s
goods in this period.
Hals creates the effect of showing the sitter’s sense of
life and worldly success by making the pose seem uncontrived.
It is a natural movement that appears to be an organic motion by
the individual rather than a staged action. He also uses brush
strokes to create a sense of movement by handling the brush
loosely. Despite appearances of instantaneity, this was actually
the result of a careful and calculated technique that Hals used.
Still lives were also gaining popularity as a genre at
this time. Willem Claesz Heda is famous for his still life
paintings like Still Life with Oysters, a Rummer, a Lemon, and
a Silver Bowl (1634). Artists usually specialized in a genre.
Still lives were purchased by wealthy merchants and some
works, such as those that were pieces that shows the trappings
of a trade, were bought also by artisans of that craft. These
types of paintings were usually showcased in rich family’s
dining rooms. The artist focused on richness of detail and the
play of light to make this painting appealing to the viewer. He
also inscribed a deeper meaning into the image by having the
class tipped over and the lemon peeled. These details provide a
melancholy depiction that shows the fleeting nature of earthly
pleasures.
Another famous still life artist, Rachel Ruysch, was
renowned as the most famous painter of flowers of this period.
She was the daughter of a professor of anatomy and biology.
She worked in the Hague from 1701-08 and then was a court
painter at Dusseldorf from 1708-13. She lived in Amsterdam
from 1713 until her death in 1750.
Her piece, Flowers in a Vase (1698) illustrates Dutch
interest in science and exploration as the Dutch imported
flowers from all over the world, such as the tulip that originated
in Turkey. They studied these flowers and created crossbreeds
of species.
Another scene by Jacob Van Ruisdael focused on nature

10. as a way to study and commemorate the lifestyles of one’s
home. His View of Haarlem from the Dunes (c. 1670) depicted a
landscape of fields with a view of the city. He expresses the
idea of nature being harnessed by man in this piece to illustrate
the achievements of the Dutch. His painting depicts people
plowing the fields in the foreground. This scene is symbolic of
the importance of their work which provides food for people in
the city shown in the background. They plow the wheat, then it
is milled in the windmills shown skirting the city. This idea that
the Dutch were harnessing nature was important to the Dutch
because much of their limited territory relied on engineering
projects that drained water to clear more land for farming,
which allowed them to produce more food.
However, Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-69) was the most
famous Dutch painter of this period. Rembrandt painted many
self-portraits over the course of his life. He was extremely
wealthy and successful in his early career and bought a large
house in Amsterdam. His fortune was mainly from his earnings
from painting portraits. He also married a wealthy woman
named Saskia. His painting Self-Portrait with Saskia on Lap (c.
1635) depicts his life as joyful, happy, and content.
Rembrandt’s raised glass as if making a toast and the opulence
of the rest of the scene suggest this theme.
Another self-portrait made in 1660 shows a different
type of life. Unlike the opulence and splendor of the self-
portrait with Saskia, the Self-Portrait of 1660 illustrates his loss
of wealth and his loneliness. Rembrandt creates a sense of
loneliness, poverty, and resignation in this self-portrait. His
clothes are not fancy and those used for a party. Now, they are
the humble clothes of a worker. His face also shows this as his
eyes look tired and his face is weathered. Rembrandt also uses
light to give this effect as his face emerges from darkness which
creates a sense of gravity. The dramatic changes in these
pictures are due to the changed circumstances in Rembrandt’s
life. Rembrandt’s wife died in 1642 and 14 years later his
creditors sold his house and art collection to pay off his debts.

11. He was only kept from starving by the intervention of his son
and his mistress. He became an employee in their art dealing
firm and made his last pieces for them.
One such piece, the Return of the Prodigal Son (1665),
illustrates that even if the Protestant church did serve as patrons
for religious paintings, Rembrandt still created some of the
most moving religious imagery of all time. Rembrandt’s work
moved away from the dramatic supernatural qualities of
Christianity stressed by the Catholic Church in the Counter-
Reformation and focused instead on the examples humanity and
humility in the scriptures.
The story of the prodigal son was an example of
Christian behavior used in Christ’s teaching. It was a parable
where a son asked for his part of the family wealth and then
wasted it on a riotous living. He then comes back to his father,
admitted his sins against heaven, and was forgiven by his
father. This story stresses the central Christian concept of
repentance and forgiveness.
Rembrandt stressed the humility and humanity of this
story in his depiction by choosing a moment of human action:
the father embracing the son. He also gives the whole scene a
hushed spiritual essence through the use of light.
In the next class, we will continue our study of the Baroque by
studying absolutism in France. We will observe how art,
architecture, and the state were utilized to create a supreme
authority in the monarchy.
1. Discussion: Compare and contrast the role of art in the
Counter-Reformation in Italy and the rise of capitalism in the
Netherlands. Choose one painting from each and demonstrate
how they show different focuses, audiences, and techniques. Be
sure to provide concrete examples from the lectures and video
to support your argument.

12. Project Case Study: A New Direction for Delta Pacific
Introduction
In a global business environment where organizations can no
longer rely on traditional factors that historically lead to a
competitive advantage such as access to proprietary technology,
exclusive rights to raw materials, or proximity to customers and
markets, many organizations have re-structured to capitalize on
new success factors. In the United States that has resulted in a
shift in many cases from product or service-based businesses to
knowledge-based businesses (OECD, 1996; Powell & Snellman,
2004). Powell & Snellman (2004) define the key components of
a knowledge economy as. .a greater reliance on intellectual
capabilities than on physical inputs or natural resources." (p.
201). This case presents the challenges facing an organization
as it transitions from its traditional business model to one that
incorporates greater reliance on the knowledge of its workforce.
The focus of this case is on the role of the organizational
behavioral system in facilitating a successful transition to the
new corporate strategy.
The Case Scenario
The Delta Pacific Company (DPC) has a long history of success.
The company has been at the fore front in the development of
information technology since the 1970s and led the market in
technology development, manufacturing and sales throughout
the 1980s to the mid-1990s. DPC was a success story. They
consistently met or exceeded their profit targets, successfully
integrated new technology into their products, and they were
considered one of the best employers in the country. With
generous benefit packages, a high quality of work life, industry
leading salaries, and a corporate culture that considered its
employees to be part of a family, potential employees were
lined up for opportunities to join DPC.
However, with the advent of globalization, freer trade, and low

13. cost overseas labor, DPC found itself slowly losing market
share for its primary product: computer hardware. DPC had
prided itself on producing and selling the best products and
training its sales force to develop long term relationships with
clients that brought them back year in and year out for DPC's
technology. Along with hardware, DPC also sold service
contracts and training classes for the end users of their
products. By the late 1990s it became clear to the leadership at
DPC that they could no longer compete with less expensive
products being produced overseas. At one time they could sell
their higher priced goods on the premise that they were of
higher quality, but that was no longer the case. Foreign-made
products were now being produced to match or even surpass the
quality standards set by DPC. However, conversations between
sales representatives and their clients did indicate one thing: the
clients valued the personal interaction they had with the sales
reps and the personalized advice that they could provide to their
clients to help them to reach their goals. DPC recognized that
they needed to make a change and they believed they had a new
vision for their company.
As they entered the 21st century DPC moved away from
hardware solutions to business challenges and shifted instead
towards knowledge-based solutions. Rather than selling
equipment, DPC began to market the extensive knowledge of
their workforce. DPC would no longer sell the equipment; they
would instead provide integrated knowledge-based solutions to
information management problems. Essentially they would
become a consulting firm that would assist their clients to set
up systems that would facilitate information management. But
now their solutions would go beyond hardware and encompass
software, organizational design, data collection management,
work flow and overall information management re-engineering.
Sales reps underwent significant training to prepare them for
their new roles. However, the redesigned jobs were not a good
fit for all of the sales reps. some moved on to other types of

14. positions within the company, but others left to pursue
opportunities elsewhere.
As expected, profitability declined during the initial
introduction of this new organization mission as employees
became accustomed to their new roles. Due to the time taken to
train employees, they were spending less time in the field with
their clients generating revenue and more time in the classroom
being oriented to their new roles. However, the decline
persisted much longer than anticipated and the company's
leadership team, board of directors and the shareholders were
growing impatient with the slow returns. It became increasingly
apparent that while the training, resources, and equipment were
in place, significant changes in the organizational behavior
system at DPC were necessary to ensure long term success.