1. http://www.erasofelegance.com/history/baroque.html
http://www.uib.no/ped/baroque.html
Baroque
Definition: strange, bizarre, and irregular. Applied to the period of time where the style
of art, architecture, music, and literature had dynamic and undisciplined artistic creativity
A. History
1. Began in Italy
i. Michelangelo da Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, Diego
Velasquez- early Italian baroque artists
2. Scientific Discoveries
i. Galileo Galilei’s discoveries and inventions regarding planets and
natural laws
a. Influenced art with new ideas about exotic or strange places
and people
ii. Copernicus’ discovery that the Earth was not the center of the
Universe
a. Influenced a rise of pure landscape paintings without
human figures
3. Religion
i. Roman-Catholic Church
a. Counter Reformation invoked emotional and dramatic art
b. Catholic's confidence and grandeur in the Counter
Reformation portrayed in art
B. Art
1. Characteristics
i. Sense of movement, energy, and tension
ii. Strong contrasts of light and shadow
iii. Intense spirituality – i.e. scenes of ecstasies,
martyrdoms, or miraculous apparitions
iv. Infinite space
v. Realism – people aren’t just type, they are
individuals
vi. It blended elements from the naturalist and
classicist styles.
vii. Grandeur, vitality, and emotional exuberance
2. Famous Painters
i. Michelangelo da Caravaggio (1565-1609)

2. ii. Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669)
iii. Frans Hals (1580-1666)
C. Architecture
1. Has basically the same characteristics as baroque art
i. Emphasized monumentality, and rich interior decoration
2. Bernini – most famous architect
i. He designed the canopy above the
altar at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome
ii. He did many works for popes in the
Vatican.
D. Music
1. Full of confidence, very complicated, and
often improvised
2. Beginning of the orchestra
i. instrumental music played an
written for it's own sake, not for dancing or singing
3. Have polyphonic texture
i. has many “voices” playing at the time
4. Fugues
i. resemble rounds
a. different parts enter at different pitches
b. play new material as different parts are still entering
5. Instrumental Suites
i. set of instrumental dances where each piece
sounds different, but are still part of the same
set
6. Appearance of operas, oratorio, and cantata
i. a singing play with solo singers, choirs, and an
orchestra
ii. often very serious and dramatic
iii.
7. Johann Sebastian Bach
i. German composer (1685-1750)
ii. excelled at composing instrumental fugues
and counterpoint (two or more lines of
equal importance
8. George Frideric Handel
i. German composer (1685-1759)
ii. excelled in vocal and choral works,
including the “Messiah”
9. Antonio Vivaldi
i. Italian composer (1687-1741)
ii. music had strong rhythms and contrasts, most famous for “The
Four Seasons”