Masterpieces of Art History: From Baroque to Neoclassicism
Bernini’s *Apollo and Daphne*
Bernini’s *Apollo and Daphne* is a Baroque work with a mythological theme. It is a crucial piece for the study of Hellenistic sculpture. Commissioned by Cardinal Borghese for the gardens of his villa, the theme is the metamorphosis of Daphne as told in Ovid’s work. It is a Baroque sculptural group, where Bernini shows the action of Daphne culminating in full metamorphosis, a moment stopped in unstable equilibrium. Here, we see not the balance of the Renaissance but the instability that best captures the movement. In this work, we see movement in power; it is very dramatic. Bernini shows the movement and the diagonal composition, which will also be typical of the dynamism in his work. The combination of open lines and curves approximates the curves of the bodies in a harmonious manner, transforming into a laurel tree. The technical mastery to represent marble skin and hair contrasts with the tree’s body.
Pedro de Mena’s *Penitent Magdalene*
Pedro de Mena’s *Penitent Magdalene* is a Baroque freestanding work of polychrome wood carving from 1664. The subject of repentance was an important issue for the church. It represents a young woman with Jewish traits, where the heart is on the right and the cross on the left. She is barefoot and wears a tunic that reveals her body. The work is inclined forward, making the viewer focus on the face that is looking up and presenting the cross of redemption. The composition of the work is closed, and the expression of the face transmits pain and repentance with dramatic content, enhanced by the realism of the glass eyes. The work conveys drama, not sensuality, and emotions. This resource is used to emphasize mysticism. The work is done with careful detail, observed in the hands and body, and the appeal of the cross. The color tones are sober, with dark tones and bright brown, removing the work from its original context. The style is measured within realistic drama. Function: Religious and symbolic of the repentance necessary to be a holy Christian. Commissioned within the Jesuit saint of Madrid, and Philip remarked on the repentance.
Caravaggio’s *Death of the Virgin*
Caravaggio’s *Death of the Virgin* (Louvre Museum, 1605) is a sample of the radicalization of Caravaggio’s naturalistic style, formally opposed to Mannerism. It was a pathetic representation of the Death of the Virgin, with vulgar characters, wrinkles, bare feet, and unkempt hair of humble condition, who externalize their pain. It is a scene of an everyday death. It is a work against the exquisiteness of Mannerism and the religiosity of the Counter-Reformation. The composition is cinematic: characters in the foreground, light illuminates the Virgin and the back of Mary Magdalene, leaving a dark space around them. There is no scenery, a characteristic of Caravaggio’s tenebrism, presenting a dark background highlighted with a spotlight of violent drama.
Gentileschi’s *Judith and Holofernes*
Gentileschi’s *Judith and Holofernes* (1612) is an oil on canvas technique work that is figurative. The composition of the work is a triangle, where the heads are the vertices, with Holofernes as the main point. The focus of light comes from the left. The color is defined by force and emphasizes the color contrast of red. There is an influence of Caravaggio in capturing the scene like a film where the viewer can see the actions and the contemporary dress. We also see a dramatic and sensationalist focus, with light illuminated from the left and a right diagonal showing the scene. The work captures the moment of maximum tension when the Jewish heroine, with the help of her maid Abra, slays Holofernes. No expression is seen on their faces; on the contrary, their expression is impassive, showing superiority as a physical act of revenge for the painter’s violation.
Vermeer’s *View of Delft*
Vermeer’s *View of Delft* is a landscape view of Delft after a storm. The most noteworthy elements are the plasticity and the light of the color. There is a predominance of two colors: solid yellow on the sides and sky blue in the water. The protagonist is light, achieved by adding white to the light areas instead of black to the dark areas. The composition is open and asymmetric. We appreciate basic features of Vermeer: interest in light, color palette, sense of composition, and balanced quietness regarding horizon lines and diagonals.
Rubens’ *The Three Graces*
Rubens’ *The Three Graces* demonstrates Rubens’ style: dynamism, movement, action, joy of living, warm and bright colors, Flemish light, and muscular male bodies. The compositions are arranged in a diagonal scheme. It is a classic theme that shows the three protagonists about to initiate a dance with intertwined arms, naked, with only a very transparent veil that unites them. In mythology, they were considered models of beauty and are always represented naked, as beauty should not be hidden. The composition is symmetrical and closed, and the vertical lines are sinuous in the form of an S. There is a predominance of color over line; the color of the flesh is very clear because of the incidence of light of unknown origin, raised in relation to the chiaroscuro environment. The perspective and the landscape give depth; it is an idyllic landscape where wild animals graze. The color is intense, especially the skin of the protagonists. There is a mix of yellow, blue, and red. There is already an influence of Titian in the work, which is an example of Flemish painting: colors, loose brushstrokes that remove the line, and religious themes. Iconology: The composition is the perfect excuse to explore the beauty of Rubens’ nudes, exuberant, filled with energy and vitality. The function is aesthetic. The religious reform and the division between the Catholic and aristocratic area determined a complete separation of the artistic ideals in painting.
Velázquez’s *Las Meninas*
Velázquez’s *Las Meninas* (1656) is an oil on canvas. It is a group portrait of the Infanta Margarita, who is being attended to by her maids of honor, Agustina, who offers her water, and Isabel, who curtsies. Maribarbola is on the right, and Nicolasito is next to her. It is an open book on the left, also to the mirror and the eyes of several characters. The lines are vertical and diagonal, enlivening the composition. The predominant color is over the line, thanks to loose touches. The play of light and shadow helps to create the illusion of space. The incidence of light through a first side window illuminates the right group. Another focus is the open door in the background, which helps reinforce this space, and it is the vanishing point of the composition. All the dimensions of the work, such as the conception of space and light, are a good example of aerial perspective. The exposed land integrates the viewer into the box. The work is clearly Baroque in style: the composition of the light, the way of conceiving space, and the loose touches are optical illusions. But the main element is the subtle visual game presented as an element in the look of a person. The function is decorative.
Murillo’s *Children Eating Grapes and Melon*
Murillo’s *Children Eating Grapes and Melon* (1640) is an oil painting on canvas or wood. Two children are sitting on a bench, one of them holding a melon. Plastic elements observed are the dominance of color over line, with a range of black, white, and ochre. Light causes an illuminating contrast between the foreground and the background, which tends towards tenebrism. The background is completely black, and only a building in ruins can be intuited at the bottom. This very dark background serves to emphasize even more the figures of the children. The composition is balanced, with one child on each half of the table. The legs of the three children mark diagonal lines, which, together with the arm of the child on the left, make a zigzag that gives dynamism. The gaze unifies the composition. There is great perfection in detail, especially in the fruit, which shows great naturalism. The perspective is divided into two levels: the foreground with the children and the second with a black background. It is a closed, dynamic work that captures the moment just when they are eating. The work presents the formal elements typical of the Baroque: strong contrast between the foreground bathed in light, spontaneous positions, representation of reality, even if it is not pretty, naturalistic painting, and Caravaggio’s influence in the use of chiaroscuro. The theme is popular, with loose brushwork and vaporousness, realism, detail, expressions of satisfaction, dirty clothes, and devouring anxiety.
Fragonard’s *The Swing*
Fragonard’s *The Swing* (1766) is an oil on canvas. A girl is being swung by an ecclesiastical man while a guy is lying down looking at her. The action takes place in a garden with sculptures of angels. The coquetry seen in the work is enhanced by the shoe that the protagonist has taken off with her foot. The composition is closed and triangular, with the apex being the girl. The composite lines intersect in the form of an X and place the girl at the center of the composition. The technique is fast and spontaneous brushstrokes, with bright, light colors contrasting with the penumbra area. The vegetation is treated with a wide range of greens and yellows. Light creates space and depth in the middle of a large space; it comes from a clearing on the path between the foliage of the trees and bursts fully on the girl. The Rococo forms are replaced by classical forms, and the theme is sensual and refined. This work is typical of the style, influenced by Rembrandt and Rubens. Function: Aesthetic and fun to decorate for the aristocracy. Iconology: The girl makes a subtle movement of her leg, leaving her lower body in view of her lover, who contemplates what he should not see. This is the cunning of the work, presented elegantly and not pornographically.
Canova’s *Eros and Psyche*
Canova’s *Eros and Psyche* is a work in marble. It is an exempt and monochrome sculptural group. The theme depicted is mythological: Eros, the god of love, was in love with a beautiful girl named Psyche. The work consists of two interlocking figures, forming an X, designed for the wings of Eros and the legs of the two figures. This creates a feeling of movement and makes the bodies appear closer. The positions of the arms and hands emphasize passion and eroticism. White marble is the preferred material in Neoclassicism, and Canova always used it. The bodies are perfect and polished; Canova did not give color to his works, following the neoclassical theorists who believed that Greek sculptures were monochrome. Canova is the most important sculptor of Neoclassicism, and his work will transmit the ideals of the new ruling classes after the revolution. He gives prominence to the pure line of well-defined contours, returning to the sober and serene set, escaping from the twisted Baroque ornamentation, and preferring the absence of cold, clear monochrome. It is the ideal beauty of the human, the interest in purity, clarity of composition, allegorical themes, portraits, and the influence of Bernini. Lord Cawdor commissioned it to decorate his villa.
David’s *Oath of the Horatii*
David’s *Oath of the Horatii* (1784) is an oil on canvas. It represents a historical theme: three Horatii brothers take an oath before their father to fight to the death. The theme represents the conflict between duty and feeling; it is the exaltation of duty to the fatherland, a moralizing work on the position of citizens, and the need to fight for freedom. The position of the brothers implies solidarity. We see in all this work the characteristics of Neoclassical paintings: the predominance of drawing over color, strong design, balanced and rational composition, serene composition, and an architectural framework that integrates the classical. The father occupies the center, and on each side of the composition, there is a group of characters: on the left, the masculine group with a martial and heroic position; on the right, the feminine group dominated by sensitivity. This contrast contributes to reinforcing duty and sentiment. The light enters from the left, focusing on the women and the focus, the swords, and the arms of the father, leaving the oath in penumbra. It is a cold and cutting light. The spectrum is small but warm. The use of linear perspective in the definition of space. There is no superfluous decoration, but rather an absence of decoration. The work is an example of the Neoclassical reaction against the frivolity of the Rococo.
Delacroix’s *Liberty Leading the People*
Delacroix’s *Liberty Leading the People* is an oil on canvas. It is made with Baroque techniques. There is a linear perspective, basically defined by the line of the horizon towards the buildings from which the city flees, but the general perspective is aerial, accomplished through light and color. It uses two levels of representation: a first set of figures and a second background space. Lighting is a basic element of the work, and this strip is expressed in two parts: one in the characters and another in the background. Color is another staple because of the chromatic richness and harmony of tones.
Borromini’s *San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane*
Borromini’s *San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane* (1638) is made of brick and stucco. The construction systems used are the arch and the architrave. It was commissioned by the Spanish Trinitarians. First, the cloister was built in 1634, and then the church. Borromini designed an elliptical and elongated building with an undulating facade to be built on a small, irregular oval plot. The floor plan is twisted and full of curves, showing mastery of the curved line. The wall is undulating and is the unifying element of the building. Inside, sixteen columns accentuate the continuous movement. The dynamism of the building is achieved by the use of bricks, a ductile material. The space is covered by an oval dome decorated with coffers of various shapes that are reduced in size towards the center to achieve a greater impression of height. It is divided into two levels, combining the traditional and the giant. The decorative elements are mobile, such as the entablatures and columns, and the curves give the range of light, creating chiaroscuro that changes at different hours of the day. The building is alive and changing.
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles is a Baroque work by Mansart, made of brick and stone, with arch and architrave systems. The first building dates from 1623 when Louis XIV commissioned Lemercier to construct a stone and brick palace forming a courtyard surrounded on three sides by wings. It is structured around two axes: the central courtyard in the form of a U marks the longitudinal axis, while the vertical axis is indicated by two wings of the U that leave the central courtyard. As support elements, the wall predominates, and as decorative elements, wide pillars. The dominance of ornamentation is accentuated in the arches, which will be semicircular or architraves in the windows and doors. Regarding the material, polychrome marbles or stones of the land are stressed, as well as wood and glass. Gold is used throughout the symposium, requiring high quality, as well as brown woods. The Palace of Versailles uses its own support elements of the period, with a profusion of columns and pilasters to release some of its walls from their load-bearing function. The roofs are mainly flat or vaulted, highlighting the beauty and comfort of the enclosure. The ceiling vault of the Royal Chapel, which culminates in a semicircular apse, stands out. The Hall of Mirrors is a gallery covered with barrel vaults, and when the sun shone on this gallery, it gave an effect of reverberation of light. It is 75 meters long, and the vault is decorated and painted by Charles Le Brun. The Royal Chapel was the last one made by Mansart. It is a large chapel with three naves ending in a semicircular apse and two floors. The first floor is supported by pillars and arches, and the second is supported by Doric columns and a continuous entablature all around. This is where the king heard mass daily; he did not stay below but above, and the ladies went to mass on the sides of the gallery. The structure of the building follows a C-shape, with a marble courtyard that promotes integration with the gardens outside. An axis runs through the halls, connecting the front and back courtyards, called the Cour d’Honneur, which gives an air of horizontality. This facade is austere in the classical style; French Baroque is characterized by sobriety, unlike Italian. The straight line predominates in French. The Palace of Versailles belongs to the French Baroque. As a central point, we can see the building that is oriented east-west from the king’s room, Louis XIV,”The Sun King” so he could see the journey of the sun. The context directly influences the work or its production. We are in an era of absolute monarchy, where the king occupied most of the 17th century. Louis XIV is king. France is established as a great power because that monarchy was very efficient. Louis XIV had a prime minister named Colbert, whose office achieved efficiency. Despite all the inconveniences involved, absolute monarchy believed in the future, unlike the Hispanic monarchy. France expanded to a level that would replace Spain in the 18th century.