Italian Baroque Painting: Caravaggio, Rubens, and Rembrandt
Italian Baroque painting is defined by the chiaroscuro and the expression of feelings of Caravaggio. Contributions from Caravaggio, chiaroscuro and naturalism in the grasp of reality, had already been used, but this singular artist of dramatic intensity endowed unprecedented.
Influenced by Michelangelo in the sculptural modeling of the bodies, Caravaggio created his own style, gloomy, based on the use of chiaroscuro to give expression to the feelings, in diagonal compositions, the austerity that rejects superfluous elements, the naturalism in the depiction of characters (usually common people) and irreverent treatment of religious themes as if they were scenes of everyday life.
Lack of understanding of his work was not new to Caravaggio at a time that Italian painting was under the strict religious precepts of the Counter Reformation. The direct and austere gaze of the painter did not meet the persuasive function and encouragement of religious sentiment demanded by the Church. You might think that the characters of Caravaggio come from humble, simple people, but even this idealized representations preferred, based on classical models of beauty, to the stark reality that the artist exhibited.
Despite having no direct disciples, Caravaggio obviously left its mark on leading figures in painting such as Rembrandt and Velazquez.
Rubens and Flemish Baroque
In the Netherlands, Peter Paul Rubens was one of the great artists of the Baroque, probably the most influential. In his workshop formed the most important painters of the next generation of Flemish painters.
The public works are generally recognized for its dynamism and female figures, reflecting the aesthetic ideal of the time.
Rubens’s painting stands out for its sensuality, the peculiar dynamic, warm colors and sumptuousness, learned from Titian and the Venetian school, for the Herculean and robust forms, inspired by Michelangelo, and the light treatment, based on Caravaggio. His art influenced artists from very different artistic periods.
Rubens tried all genres of painting: portraits, landscapes, religious art, mythology, history, allegorical… His tireless creative imagination served both to meet the demands of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, as the wishes of pomp and splendor of the kings and princes of Europe.
Rembrandt and Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro as an expressive medium. Rembrandt was born in Leiden (Netherlands), reaches its full stage in Amsterdam Baroque, under the influence of Rubens painting and international Baroque. To this period belongs the Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp.
The chiaroscuro of the Dutch painter (as opposed to Caravaggio) creates sharp contours of the figures from the light parts and shaded. Rembrandt uses chiaroscuro to give the atmosphere a visual and spiritual meaning, to the end of his career, chiaroscuro is the most powerful means of expression.
The Dutch prefer to draw on the reality that in the classics, to the point that in his youth, he would not travel to Italy to present their works.
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp is the most famous medicine painting in the world. Its importance lies in the topic, but even more in the originality of the approach: no hierarchy prevails portrayed, as usual, but it gives primacy to action.