This document provides an overview of Baroque and Rococo art between the 17th-18th centuries in Europe. It discusses the political and religious context during this period and profiles many prominent artists including Bernini, Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi, Velazquez, Rembrandt, Vermeer, and others. Their works reflected the dramatic and theatrical qualities of the Baroque style as well as the refined Rococo style that emerged later. Patronage came from the Catholic Church promoting the Counter-Reformation as well as wealthy urban classes and royal courts across Europe.

1. Baroque and Rococo Art
The questioning and
political upheavals
put in motion by the
Renaissance and the
Reformation
intensified in the 17th
century.
Religious wars
continued, gradually
the Protestant forces
gained control in the
north where Spain
acknowledged the
independence of the
Dutch Republic in
1648.

2. The Catholic Church
remained strong in southern
Europe, the Holy Empire,
and France.
The economic strength of
the secular rulers slipped
away, and the king of Spain
had to declare bankruptcy by
the end of the century. Other
rulers were not much better
off.
Phillip IV of Spain
1605-1665

3. Artists continued to find
patrons in the church and the
secular state and in the
newly prosperous and
confident prosperous urban
middle class.
Many Baroque artists used
naturalism, the true-to-life
depiction of the world that
led to the popularity of
portraiture, genre painting
(scenes from everyday life),
still life (paintings of food,
fruit or flowers), and
religious paintings featuring
ordinary people and settings.

4. Baroque art intends to
create an intense
emotional response from
the viewer.
Often dramatic and
theatrical…
often made of mixed
media…
often showing a
spectacular technical
artistic ability.

5. Late in the
century (the
1600’s) a
refined
Baroque style
known as the
Rococo
evolved.
Rococo and
Baroque
remained
popular until
the rise of
Neoclassicism
about 1775.

6. The patronage of the
church and its allies
supported the Counter-
Reformation art as
propaganda.
Churches with their
painting, statues, and
magnificent architecture
helped convince the
faithful of the power of
traditional religion.
The young Bernini was
hired by the pope to
design an enormous
baldachin (canopy) to
cover the main altar of
Saint Peter’s.

7. The resulting
Baldacchino, which
stands about 100 feet
high, is a true Baroque
grandiose display.
Winding bronze
grapevines decorate
columns modeled after
columns in the Temple of
Solomon.
Because Protestants
questioned the belief in
the authority of the pope
coming from Saint Peter,
the Counter-Reformation
art emphasized this idea.

8. During this time of embellishments and changes to Saint Peter’s, the
last change was the addition, by Bernini, of the colonnade.
The space he had to work with was irregular and already had an
obelisk and a fountain in it.

9. Bernini spoke of the colonnade as being the “motherly arms of the
church” reaching out to the world. The original plans would have
closed in the open side so that people walking into the space would
feel enclosed within the “arms”.

10. Bernini began his career as a sculptor, and he
continued to work in that medium throughout
his career for both the papacy and private
clients.
His sculpture of David, made for the nephew
of the pope, introduced a new kind of three-
dimensional composition that intrudes
forcefully into the viewers space.
Bent at the waist and twisting far to one side,
he is ready to launch the fatal rock at Goliath.

11. This mature David, with his lean sinewy body, is all tension and
determination. His clinched mouth and straining muscles echo his
frame of mind.

12. Self-Portrait of Bernini and the
face of his David.

13. Even after Bernini’s
appointment as Vatican
architect, his large
workshop enabled him to
accept outside
commissions.
One of these outside
commissions was a chapel
where he covered the walls
with marble and created the
sculptural group of Saint
Teresa of Ávila in Ecstasy
for a niche above the altar.

14. Although today viewers find
this sculpture of Saint
Teresa charged with
sexuality, the church
approved of depictions of
such supernatural mystical
visions.
In fact, to help worshipers
achieve the emotional state
of religious ecstasy,
religious art of the time
frequently depicted ecstatic
states, enhanced by light and
miraculous masses of
swirling clouds.

15. Not all Roman Baroque was
intended to overwhelm the
viewer with sheer spectacle.
Caravaggio introduces an
intense new realism and a
dramatic use of light and
gesture to Italian Baroque art.
Most of his commissions after
1600 were for religious art and
the reactions were mixed.
His powerful, brutal naturalism
was rejected by some patrons as
unsuitable to the subjects
dignity.

16. However, his realism was closely tied to Counter-Reformation ideas
of spirituality, and the effort to make Christian history and doctrine
meaningful to common people.

17. One of
Caravaggio’s
earliest
religious
paintings, The
Calling of
Saint
Matthew, tells
the story
recorded in
the Gospels of
Jesus calling
Levi the tax
collector to be
one of his
apostles.

18. Nearly hidden behind Saint Peter, Jesus dramatically points toward
Levi-who will become Saint Matthew.
The future Saint Matthew responds by pointing to himself in
surprise, the gesture emphasized by the light streaming in from an
unseen source at the right
Caravaggio invented this dramatic lighting style called tenebrism.

19. Emotional power combines
with a solemn, classical
monumentality in
Caravaggio’s painting,
Entombment.
Being almost 10 feet by 7 feet,
the size and immediacy of this
painting strikes the viewer
with almost physical force.
The figures form a large, off-
center triangle, with the young
John the Apostle at the apex.
The Virgin and Mary
Magdalene barely intrude due
to the careful placing of the
light on the body of Christ.

20. Caravaggio’s violent temper
kept him in trouble. He was
frequently arrested,
generally for minor
offences.
By 1606, he had to flee from
Rome…from then on he was
on the run, supporting
himself by painting.
He died of a fever in 1610,
just short of his 39th
birthday.
He inspired a generation of
artists with his tenebrist
technique and his intense
realism.

21. One of Caravaggio's most
successful Italian followers
was Artemisia Gentileschi,
whose international
reputation helped spread the
Caravaggesque style
beyond Rome.
Born in Rome, she studied
under her artist father, also
a follower of Caravaggio.
In 1616, she moved to
Florence where she was
elected to the Florentine
Academy of Design.

22. In one of several versions
of Judith triumphant over
the Assyrian General
Holofernes, Artemisia
brilliantly uses Baroque
naturalism and tenebrism.
Judith still holds the bloody
sword as her maid stuffs
the generals head into a
sack.
Throughout her life,
Artemisia painted images
of heroic and abused
women.

23. Artemisia or Caravaggio??

24. Leaders of the Church lived like
princes, but they were not the only
patrons of art. The growth of
nation-states and absolute
monarchies realized that
impressive buildings and splendid
portraits could enhance their
status with an aura of power.
The fortunes of Spain
dramatically declined, but you
couldn’t tell it from the art that
was produced there.
Spanish artists and writers created a “Golden Age” which included a
brilliant artist named Velázquez. He entered the painters guild in
1617.
At the beginning of his career he was profoundly influenced by

25. Working “from life”,
Velázquez painted scenes of
ordinary people amid still
lifes of various foods and
kitchen utensils.
The model for Water Carrier
of Seville was a well known
character in that city.
The objects and figures gave
the artist the chance to show
his skill at representing
volumes and textures such as
glass, pottery, skin, and
fabrics.

26. In 1623, the young artist
moved to Madrid and
became the court painter
for the young Hapsburg
ruler, Phillip IV.
Velázquez kept this
position until his death
in 1660.
Two visits to Italy,
where he studied
complex figurative
composition, influenced
the evolution of the
artist’s style.

27. Velázquez most
striking work is the
multiple portrait
known as Las Meninas
(The Maids of Honor),
painted near the end of
the artists life.
The viewer seems to
be standing in the
space occupied by the
Queen and King,
reflected in the mirror
on the back wall of the
room.

28. The center of attention is
the five year old Princess
Margarita surrounded by
her attendants, all
recognizable portraits.
The mature style of
Velázquez fascinated the
later Impressionists.
He would build up layers of
loosely applied paint to
build forms, finishing with
highlights of white, lemon,
and pale orange.
This technique captured
the effect of light on
surfaces…while, up
close, forms dissolve into
a complex maze of
individual brush strokes.

29. Murillo, one of the most
popular painters of his
day, was known for his
rich colors and skillful
technique.
His paintings of Mary
followed the Counter-
Reformation “rules” for
representing her…dressed
in blue and white, hands
folded, standing on a
crescent moon as she was
carried upward by angels,
surrounded by an
unearthly light.

30. Murillo’s home, Seville was the
center of trade with the Spanish
colonies, and the church exported
many paintings to the new world.
When the natives started to
visualize the Christian story,
paintings such as Murillo’s
provided the imagry.
By 1519, Cortez had taken over
the Aztec capitol (now Mexico
City) and established Mexico as a
colony of Spain.
Local beliefs and practices were
suppressed, and Roman Catholic
beliefs were imposed throughout
Spanish America.

31. Mexico gained its own patron
saint when the Virgin Mary
appeared to an Indian, Juan
Diego, in 1531. Mary is said to
have asked that a church be built
on a hill where the goddess
Coatlicue had once been
worshiped.
As proof of this vision, Juan
Diego brought the archbishop
flowers that the Virgin had caused
to bloom. When he opened the
cloak he had carried the flowers
in, there was an image of a dark
skinned Mary on the cloak.

32. The painter Sebastian
Salcedo depicted Mary
and the story of Juan
Diego in the 18th
century.
The sight of the vision
was named Guadalupe
after Our Lady of
Guadalupe in Spain.
In 1754, the pope
declared the Virgin of
Guadalupe to be the
patron saint of the
Americas.
New Spain
(Mexico)
pope

33. The Spanish held Flanders during
most of the Baroque period, often
under direct and oppressive rule.
In spite of this, the arts flourished.
Antwerp was a major arts center
where the Spanish were
enthusiastic patrons of the arts.
Peter Paul Rubens was accepted
into the Antwerp painters Guild at
the age of 21…he soon left for
Italy and worked for the Duke of
Mantua where he was paid to
copy famous paintings all over
Italy, gaining a fine education at
the same time!

34. In 1608, Rubens went back to Antwerp, and worked for the Spanish
Hapsburgs. His first major commission was a large canvas triptych.
Unlike most other triptychs of the time, the wings of the triptychs
extended the story of the center panel across all three panels.

35. The cross is being raised in the center panel, with mourners to the
right of Jesus, and indifferent soldiers to the left of Jesus.

36. Rubens became the first
international superstar of the art
world. He worked for Philip IV of
Spain, Marie de’Medici of France
and Charles I of England.
Maria de’Medici asked him to do a
series of paintings about her life.
He did 21 paintings showing the life
of Maria and Henry IV as one
continuous triumph overseen by the
Roman gods.
In the painting of the royal
engagement, Henry IV falls in love
with Marie as he looks at her portrait
presented to him by Cupid and the
god of marriage, Hymen.

37. A personification of France is
urging Henry to abandon war
for love…putti are playing
with his armor, and the smoke
of battle is in the background.
These kinds of huge paintings
(this one 10 feet by 9 feet)
were political propaganda of
the highest sort.
Rubens ran a workshop with
many assistants to help him.
Two of his assistants became
important painters in their
own right, Jan Bruegel and
Anthony van Dyck.

38. In this painting of Charles I
of England, van Dyck has
managed to make the small
king look even larger than
his horse!
He is in casual clothes for
hunting, and stands on a
bluff looking out to the
water.
Contrary to the appearance
suggested by this portrait,
Charles was not to rule his
country successfully.

39. Elizabeth I died in 1603 and the crown of England went to James VI
of Scotland who became James I of England and united those two
countries. His son was Charles I.
James I hired Indigo Jones as his architect. Jones’s style was based
on the works of Palladio, and Jones introduced Renaissance
classicism to England.

40. Jones designed a house for the
queen in Greenwich and a
banqueting house at the royal
palace of Whitehall in London.
In 1630, Charles I
commissioned Rubens to
decorate the ceiling. He loved
the paintings so much that he
moved the evening
entertainment to another room
to save the paintings from the
smoke of candles.

41. The Queen’s House, London,
England, designed by Indigo
Jones
The White
House,
Washington, DC,
designed by
James Hoban.

42. In 1648, Spain recognized the Dutch Republic. The Netherlands prospered, and
Dutch artists found many patrons among the prosperous middle class of the larger
cities of the Netherlands.
Group portraiture became very popular, and Frans Hals developed a style
influenced by realism of Caravaggio and the Velázquez treatment of light.

43. Hals could turn the group portrait into a lively social event with a
strong underlying geometry.

44. The most important
painter working in the
Netherlands in the 17th
century was Rembrandt
van Rijn. After
completing his formal
study, he opened a busy
studio in Amsterdam.
His art included paintings
and etchings of
mythological subjects,
religious scenes, and
landscapes. But, like
most Dutch artists, his
primary source of income
was portraiture.

45. In The Night Watch, the complex interactions of the figures and the
vivid, individualized likenesses of the militiamen make this painting
one of the greatest group portraits in European art.

46. Rembrandts
etchings and
drypoints (see
page 404) were
widely collected
and brought high
prices in his
lifetime.
In The Three
Crosses, he tries
to capture the
moment that
Jesus says
“Father, into
your hands I
commend my
spirit”.

47. Rembrandt painted many
self portraits that became
more personal and
internalized as he got
older…something new
in the history of art.
Mercilessly analytical,
the portrait depicts the
furrowed brow, sagging
flesh, and prematurely
aged face (he was only
53) of one who has
suffered deeply but
retained his dignity.

48. Perhaps the greatest Dutch painter of
contemporary life was Jan Vermeer.
He produced few works, and most of
them are enigmatic scenes of women
in a domestic setting.
There are objects in his paintings
that carry underlying or hidden
meanings.

49. When Vermeer, a
Catholic in a
Protestant country,
painted Woman
Holding a Balance, he
placed every detail in
the painting to achieve
an overall balance.
However, the painting
on the wall behind the
woman is a Last
Judgment painting,
suggesting that the
balance in the
woman's hand is more
than a casual
inclusion.

50. Louis XIV was an absolute
monarch whose reign was the
longest in European history. He
became known as “the Sun
King.”
In art, he was often shown with
some of the attributes of
Apollo.
Here he is shown framed in a
billowing curtain, showing off
his legs and the high heels he
invented because he was so
short.
The directness of the kings
gaze and the realism of his
sagging face make him
movingly human and testify to
the artist’s genius for

51. The French court under Louis XIV was the envy of every ruler in
Europe. The Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture maintained
strict control over the arts, and membership ensured an artist
lucrative royal and civic commissions.

52. The ceiling of the Hall of Mirrors glorifies the reign of Louis XIV as
the sun god Apollo…a reference to the influence of classical art
(Neoclassical history painting was the favorite of the king, the
Academy, and it’s patrons)

53. The Rococo style was a reaction, on all levels of society, against the
Grand Manner of Baroque art. Rococo art is characterized by pastel
colors, delicate curving forms, dainty figures, and a lighthearted
mood.
Rococo involved architecture and art. In painting, the Rococo style
emerged in the paintings of Jean-Antoine Watteau.

54. The work that gained Watteau fame was The Pilgrimage to Cythera.
The painting depicts a dream world in which beautifully dressed
people depart for or take their leave of the mythical island of love.

55. The earth would never spoil their clothes nor a summer shower
threaten them. This vision with its overtones of wistful melancholy,
had a powerful attraction in early 18th
century Paris, and soon charmed
the rest of Europe.

56. Jean-Honoré Fragonard
carried Rococo fantasies
into the second half of the
18th
century.
He painted a series of
works for Madam du
Berry, Louis XV’s
mistress, in 1771.
The Pursuit 
Love Letters 
 The Meeting
The Lover
is Crowned

57. When the paintings were
presented to Madam du
Berry, she rejected them,
ordering a new set of
paintings in the new
Neoclassical style.
The era of Rococo was at
an end.

58. Before the invention of
photography, scientists
relied on painters to
illustrate their work.
Anna Maria Merian was
sent by the Dutch
government to South
America where, for two
years, she studied and
recorded her observations.
She published the results
of her travels in a book
with 72 large plates of
engravings made from her
watercolors.

59. One of the most sought after
and highest paid still life
painters in Europe was
Rachel Ruysch, in the
Netherlands.
Her works were sought after
for their sensitive, free form
arrangements and the
beautiful color harmonies.
Every flower in her
paintings was a botanical
study.
Although married with ten
children, she never stopped
painting, and had a 70 year
career.

60. She achieved such fame in
her lifetime that she got
higher prices for her work
than Rembrandt got for
his.
She often added reptiles or
insects to her paintings
In the Protestant
Netherlands, even art
informed by science
carried a moral message in
the Baroque and Rococo
periods.