The document provides background information on the Baroque period in Western music history. It explains that the term "Baroque" derives from the Portuguese word for "oddly shaped pearl" and was originally used in the 19th century to describe the period from around 1600 to 1750 as having music that seemed overly ornamented. It notes that critics of the time felt the music of composers like Bach and Handel was exaggerated. However, the term is now simply used to refer to one of the richest periods of music history.

1. BAROQUE
Rodrigo Lagarde D. 3ºC
Fernanda Pedret. 3ºC
Thursday, September 19, 2013

2. What’s Baroque?
Derived from the Portuguese barroco, or “oddly
shaped pearl,” the term “baroque” has been widely
used since the nineteenth century to describe the
period in Western European art music from about
1600 to 1750. Comparing some of music history’s
greatest masterpieces to a misshapen pearl might
seem strange to us today, but to the nineteenth
century critics who applied the term, the music of
Bach and Handel’s era sounded overly
ornamented and exaggerated. Having long since
shed its derogatory connotations, “baroque” is now
simply a convenient catch-all for one of the
richest and most diverse periods in music history.
Thursday, September 19, 2013

3. The Taking of Christ
Thursday, September 19, 2013

4. Text
The Taking of Christ (Italian:
Cattura di Cristo) is a
painting by the Italian
Baroque master Michelangelo
Merisi da Caravaggio,
originally commissioned by
the Roman nobleman Ciriaco
Mattei in 1602. It is housed in
the National Gallery of
Ireland, Dublin.
The origin of “The taking of Christ”
Thursday, September 19, 2013