The Baroque Art Style

The Baroque Art Style

The era known as the Baroque period includes the seventeenth and most of the eighteenth centuries in Europe. The Baroque style was a style in which the art and artists of the time focused upon details and intricate designs. Their art often appeals to the mind by way of the heart. During this time the portraits began to portray modern life, and artists turned their backs on classical tradition. Much of the art shows great energy and feeling, and a dramatic use of light, scale, and balance (Preble 302). Buildings were more elaborate and ornately decorated. These works of art created history and altered the progress of Western Civilization. Architecture such as the palace of Versailles, and artists like Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and Goya symbolize these ideas.

The palace of Versailles is a grand building outside of Paris, which exhibits the characteristics of the Baroque style. It was elaborately decorated and the product took 20 years to create. “The architects’ task, both inside and out, was to create a building that would illustrate Louis XIV’s symbolic concept of himself as the Sun King” (Cunningham and Reich 175). The fence is covered with a sheet of gold; every room is filled with intricate carvings and elegant figurines. Each room reflects a certain time or king by the change in furniture and style. These rooms demonstrate this with items such as back-less chairs, which were created to accommodate the clothes of the period. The materials used to create each piece also distinguish the time period. First generation furniture was made of sterling silver, and the upholstery was changed with the seasons. Second generation furniture was very elaborate and made of wood. Versailles is a perfect example of progression in Western art. The entire house displays the transition from Medieval to Renaissance to the Baroque styling (Preble 308). The palace is like a museum, which shows the progress of society using art and architecture.

Caravaggio was an Italian painter whose revolutionary technique of tenebrism, or dramatic, selective illumination of form out of deep shadow, became a hallmark of Baroque painting. He tended to explore the darker aspects of life and death in his paintings. Rebelling against conventional ideas- divine intervention, Virgin Mary, and death- he came to create his own style, forcing civilization ahead, and forcing others to follow his path. His paintings show pleading through man's direct knowledge of God (Cunningham and Reich 1640). By revolting against the classical traditions, he created his own style, which other artists wished to portray also. Thus, he created a forward