Baroque Art

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how the Baroque style dominated art and architecture throughout Europe in the 1600s. The paper defines this style as having a dramatic use of light. The paper compares the works of Caravaggio and Rubens and concludes that while both painters have succeeded--in the Baroque style--at depicting a portion of the passion of Christ, they have differences. Caravaggio is more firmly planted in the style of his time, evoking strong emotion with relatively simple, if dramatic, depictions whilst Rubens decorates the scene more than transporting the viewer into the emotion of the event depicted.

Contents:
Introduction
Caravaggio and Rubens
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The Baroque style dominated art and architecture throughout Europe in the 1600s, lasting in some places until about 1750 (Encarta, database online). The origin of the word is not certain. Some believe it was derived from the Portuguese word barocco or the Spanish word barueco, a word that referred to an irregularly shaped pearl (Encarta database online.) It should be remembered that pearls, baroque or otherwise, were only brought to Europe during the age of exploration, which slightly preceded what came to be called the baroque period of art. Baroque--or irregularly shaped--pearls would have been looked upon as doubly exotic and very dramatic, so it is not difficult to imagine the term being applied to art that was increasingly dramatic, even if the subject matter was not; the baroque painters had an affinity for Biblical subjects."

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