Italian, Dutch, Flemish, and Spanish Baroque Painting & Sculpture
Italian Baroque Painting
The most important Italian Baroque painter was Caravaggio. Caravaggio’s painting was based on direct observation of reality, with all its rawness. His characters were inspired by everyday people. Caravaggio was a master of chiaroscuro, a technique that was called tenebrism.
Dutch School
They had commercial influences. Rembrandt, who catered to the tastes of the bourgeoisie, was the most important painter of the Dutch school. Frans Hals was a great author of portraits, both individual and collective. Vermeer specialized in bourgeois interiors of homes.
Flemish School
In Flanders, the southern Low Countries, the art was heavily influenced by Italian painting. One of the main features was naturalism and realism. Another feature was meticulousness. The Flemish painter was Rubens. Van Dyck was a pupil of Rubens.
The Golden Age of Spanish Painting
It served largely as a propaganda weapon of the Spanish Baroque Counter-Reformation, marked by realism and great emotionality. Notable painters include:
- José Ribera (1591-1652): Followed the naturalism of Caravaggio.
- Francisco Zurbarán (1598-1664): Painted religious scenes to decorate monasteries.
- Bartolomé Esteban (1617-1682): Changed his style over time.
Diego Velázquez
He was born in Seville in 1599 and graduated from the studio of Francisco Pacheco, where he acquired a style characterized by realism and tenebrism. In 1623, he was called to court to paint a portrait of Philip IV. The king was so pleased that he was appointed painter to the chamber. In 1631, he made his first trip to Italy. He excelled at capturing the personality of his subjects through the masterly use of light and his ability to paint depth in his paintings. Velázquez fought his whole life to achieve recognition of painting as an art rather than manual labor.
Baroque Sculpture
It emphasized realism. Sculptures represented characters with very intense feelings. Figures acquired great mobility, energy, and vitality. It created luminous effects. Gian Lorenzo Bernini was the leading Baroque sculptor and one of the greatest sculptors.
Spanish Sculpture
The church held most of the commissions; therefore, most of the works were to adorn the altars of churches and images to decorate the temples and processions of Holy Week. Most images were of painted wood that reflected great emotion.
The Galician Baroque
The greatest artistic splendor occurred in the seventeenth and first half of the eighteenth centuries. Much of the Portuguese Baroque art and religious Baroque architecture transformed the city, including the cathedral. The most important Baroque in Compostela was in the eighteenth century, with Baroque facades. Notable examples include the backdrop of the monastery of Santa Clara, the work of Simón Rodríguez, and the chapter house in the Silver or Azabachería Square, by Clemente Fernández.
Sculpture and Urban Planning
This is very closely linked with architecture. Notable figures include Gregorio Fernández and Francisco de Moure. Baroque urbanism also envisioned the city as a theater. The lack of wide avenues meant the square was the point of interest.