Baroque and Rococo

78 Pages·1980·7.136 MB·English

by  Ian Barras Hill

PAINTING OFTHE WESTERN WiHD
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Baroque and
Rococo
In this popular account the author
shows the reader how the uses of
vivid color, dramatic light, line
and illusion were achieved and
helped to transform two centuries
ofEuropean painting.
We
begin with Caravaggio in 17th
century Italy and see how his dark
drama influenced the court
painting ofVelasquez and Goya in
Spain, Rembrandt and Rubens in
the North, and Poussin and
Le Brun in France. Rococo
emerged from late Baroque as a
French phenomenon. Its curving,
playful eroticism and gay color can
be seen here in the works of
Boucher and Watteau, and later in
the work ofHogarth in England.
Baroque to Rococo A Golden
:
Period is sumptuously illustrated
with 40 color plates and many
black and white drawings. A book
for art enthusiasts to share among
themselves or with their whole
family
Fromcoverillustration
Jean-Honore Fragonard
The swing, 1767
Back coverillustration
Alexander Roslin
Lady with a fan : MarieSuzanne Roslin
^4.95

PAINTING OFTHEWESTERNWORLD
MROQUE
ANDIK)(X)CO
by Ian Barras Hill
Galley Press
Copyright 1980 by Roto Smeets B.V.,
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
AH rights reserved underInternational
and Pan American Copyright
Convention. First published in the
World English Language Edition by
Galley Press, 575 Lexington Avenue,
New York City 10022.
No part ofthis publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or
by any means, without prior written
permission ot the publishers. Inquiries
should be addressed to Galley Press.
Library ofCongress Catalog Card No.
79-5368
ISBN 0-8317 0690 2
Manufactured in theNetherlands
2
Contents
page 6 List ofcolor illustrations
page 7 ChapterI
A
time for change
page 9 ChapterII
Early Baroque
page 1 ChapterIII
The High Baroque in Italy and Holland
page 18 ChapterIV
The High Baroque in France and Spain
page 21 Color illustrations
V
page 62 Chapter
Late Baroque and Rococo in Italy
page 65 Chapter VI
Late Baroque and Rococo in France and England
page 71 Chapter VII
Rococo decoration
page 72 Bibliography
Color illustrations
Cristofano AUori 25 Judith with the head of Holofernes, I6l3
Cosnias Damian Asam 49 Glorification of Mary, 1736
Francois Boucher 16 Miss Louise O'Murphy, 1745-48
Canaletto 27 The Doge returning to Venice, 1729
Caravaggio 22 The vocation of St. Matthew, c. 1600
Annibale Carracci 23 Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne, 1595-1605
Jean Baptiste Chardin 12 Auguste-Gabriel Godefroy, c. 1738
14 Lady sealing a letter, 1733
Pietro da Cortona 26 Allegory of Peace, 1633-39
Sir Anthony van Dyck 40 Portrait of Charles I, King of England, 1635-38
Jean Honorc Fragonard 17 Invocation a 1'Amour, 1780-88
18 Small cascade at Tivoli, c. 1760
Thomas Gainsborough 37 The morning walk, 1785
Orazio Gentiieschi 20 The luteplayer, c. 1626
Goya 33 Blindman's buff, c. 1787
Frans Hals 41 Portrait of Catharina Hoeft and her nurse, 1619-20
William Hogarth 34 Marriage a la Mode, Nr. 2, 1743
Nicolas de Largilli^re 10 The family of Louis XIV, 1709
Georges de La Tour 2 The Newborn Child, 1646-48
M. Quentin de La Tour 15 Self portrait, c. 1760
Charles Le Brun 11 Chancellor Seguier, 1660
Sir Peter Lely 36 Two ladies of the Lake family, c. 1660
Antoine Le Nain, attr. 3 Family reunion, 1642
Mathieu Le Nain 4 The gardener, 1655-60
Jean-Etienne Liotard 50 Portrait of a woman in Turkish costume, c. 1749
Pietro Longhi 29 The rhinoceros, 1751
Louis Michel van Loo 19 Denis Diderot, 1767
Franz Anton Maulpertsch 48 The Holy Family, 1752-53
Jean Marc Nattier 13 Madame Bouret as Diana, 1745
Adriaen van Ostade 42 The violinist, 1673
Giovanni Batt. Piazzetta 24 Rebecca at the well, c. 1740
Nicolas Poussin 1 The poet's inspiration, c. 1630
Rembrandt van Rijn 44 Danae, 1636
45 The Night Watch, 1642
SirJoshua Reynolds 35 Age of Innocence, 1788
Jusepe de Ribera 30 Boy with a club-foot, 1652
Hyacinth Rigaud 6 The artist's mother in two poses, 1695
Hubert Robert 21 Garden of Versailles, 1775
Peter Paul Rubens 38 Rubens and Isabella Brant in the honeysuckle bower, 1609
39 The litde fur, c. 1638
Jan Steen 43 Prince's Day, l4th November 1660, c. 1668
Gerard Ter Borch 47 The letter, c. 1660
Giovanni Batt. Tiepolo 28 America (Continental allegory), 1750-53
Moise Valentin 5 Concert at the bas-relief, 1620-22
Diego Velasquez 31 The Infanta Dona Margarita of Austria, c. 1660
32 The Rokeby Venus, 1649-50
Jan Vermeer 46 The glass of wine, 1660-61
Simon Vouet 7 Psyche and Amor, 1626
Antoine Watteau 8 The embarkation for Cythera, 1718
9 Gilles, 1719-21
CHAPTER
I
A
time for change
Great art; afusion ofclassicaland romantic impulses tempered
byperspective design and harmony - The atrophy ofRenaissance
styles andthe advent ofMannerism (1520-1600) - The Counter
Reformation andthe spread ofCatholicism in Europe - The
influence ofVenetianpainters, Tintoretto andTitian andthe
newfeelingfor colour.
We
learn from the history ofthe arts that the soul ofman is in
competition with itself For each generation ofartists one oftwo
impulses is in ascendency: it rises up and colours man's creative
vision. Will it be toward a formal, classical style (the design full of
conventional realism), or will it be personal, passionate and
expressive (full ofthe eccentricities ofits creator) ? The best art is
often produced in times ofequilibrium. The High Renaissance,
the years 1495-1520, was such a time. The great painters, Leonardo
da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael balanced their genius against
the formal Renaissance techniques ofperspective, design and
harmony which they had learned as apprentices in the Florentine
art workshops. Only Michelangelo in his later years lost his
balance and allowed personal, expressive feelings to override the
formal design.
Following the Renaissance decline the new generation developed a
style called Mannerism which flourished in the years 1520-1600,
and had international influence. The figures in Mannerist painting
became agitated, and were rendered in disturbingly bright colours.
The subject ofpainting became less important than the experimen-
Statues on the colonnades of
St Peter's Square, Rome tal way in which it was handled. It all seemed a chilling, logical
by Gianlorenzo Bernini conclusion to Michelangelo's last paintings in which realism was
rejected in favour ofdistortion. Perspective, balance and harmony
were deliberately flouted in favour ofostentation, drama and a
kind ofmelancholic savagery. Though it did produce a few master-
pieces, Mannerism was not a distinguished period ofpainting.
Throughout the Mannerist era all ofEurope was under the
pressure ofintense religious debates. The Catholic Church in
Rome was reasserting its authority over the Protestant ideas of
northern Europe. The Church looked in horror at the liberties
taken by the Renaissance artists. It ordered the nude pictures in
churches to have clothes painted on them, and it took a hard line
on the position and duties ofthe artist in society, insisting that art
should Decome religious propaganda once more.
In Rome, where this Counter Reformation pressure was the
strongest, there was a sharp decline in the quality ofart produced.
It is claimed by some that the changes in Church patronage gave
rise to Mannerism, and by others that they hastened the decline of
Mannerism and gave birth to Baroque styles.
Venetian art was little affected by Mannerism and by the Counter
Reformation. The workshops ot Veronese and Tintoretto
continued to produce characteristically Venetian works with a
feeling tor colour and light. Venice was often visited by German,
Flemish and Dutch painters who were so impressed by the
Venetian feel for atmospheric lighting and colouring that they
copied the style most successfully. A conscious revolt against
Mannerism began in Florence and was growing stronger towards
the final decade of the l6th century, but it was in Rome that the
new style was to develop, a style that came to be known as
Baroque.
Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio (c. 1571-1610) was born
in Milan but travelled through northern Italy to settle in Rome.
He was first employed by a cardinal at the Vatican who recognized
his precocious talent. His harshly realistic work was a move away
from the self-indulgent expressive style ofthe Mannerist school, it
was a move toward classicism, toward the feeling that a deeper
truth lies behind the appearance of things. Using a dramatic
contrast between light and dark (characteristically, streams of
Deposition, 1602-04 bright sunlight cut diagonally through a dark room lighting up the
painting by Caravaggio
Rome, PinacotecaVaticana faces and figures in action), Caravaggio drew upon the styles of
the Renaissance, and began a whole new era ofpainting.
A
family ofpainters from Bologna, the brothers Agostino and
Annibale Carracci and their cousin, Lodovico (born 1557, 1560 and
1555) formed the other corner stone ofthe Baroque. The two
brothers went on tours throughout northern Italy, and gained a
Venetian feeling for colour and light from Veronese and
Tintoretto and a sense ofaction struggling out ofan atmosphere
ofgloom fromJacopo Bassano.
It is sometimes argued that Caravaggio and Annibale Carracci (the
Portrait ofthe lute-player, most important ofthe family) founded just another briefera of
Mascheroni
Classicism which quickly developed into the Baroque, and that
drawing by AnnibaleCarracci
Vienna, Graphische Sammiung Mannerism tempered by Classicism is the essence ofthe Baroque
Albertina style. During the 17th and 18th centuries the national styles of
painting showed great contradiction, some moving toward a classi-
cal approach and others toward personal expression. Most
currents, however, had something ofthe Baroque, with each
country and each painter adapting the Baroque inspiration to his
own personal style.
Baroque emerged as a vigorous new style in painting, architecture
and sculpture, as all three were often gathered together and
integrated to strive towards "thegrand effect" - majestic, imagina-
tive and daring. Painting kept to the ground rules ofaccurate
perspective, balanced design and realistic colour, but the
astonishing use oflight and internal illumination became the start-
ling and expressive factor in each picture. Light was used to
achieve illusions. The flicker or broadside oflight suggested move-
ment; the portrait, coming out ofthe gloom into light, added
mood and character to the features ofthe subject. These changes
•^^^x^
happened over a period we can conveniently divide into Early
Baroque (1585-1625), High Baroque (1625-1675) and Late Baroque
(1675-1715).