1. Baroque Slides You Must Know

2. Bernini The Baldacchino 1624 bronze, partly gilt St. Peter’s, Vatican

3. Bernini Saint Teresa of Avila in Ecstasy marble Cappella Cornaro, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome
This sculpture represents Saint Teresa as she has a vision.

4. Portal of the Hospicio de San Fernando Perdo de Ribera 1722 Madrid

5. David Bernini marble
Bernini’s David is considered an excellent example of Baroque sculpture, because the extremely energized figure of David seems to be about to attack Goliath, thereby drawing the viewer into the action of the “frame.”
Bernini’s David is considered an excellent example of Baroque sculpture, because David’s pose seems to press into the viewer’s space and forces the viewer to be an actual spectator in David battle against Goliath.

6. Louis XIV 1701 Hyacinthe Rigaud
the Sun King, age 63—he succeeded to the crown at age five; he died when he was 77. He was king for seventy-two years.
How has power been constructed through this image?
Hints: ermine, sword, classical architecture, crwon, fluer-de-lis, gaze of the subject...
How has the subject’s gender been constructed—emphasized? What seems contradictory to our contemporary eye?
Hints: high-heeled shoes, stockings, long luxuriant locks, femininized pose of the lower-half of his body...

7. Palais de Versailles Louis Le Vau Jules Hardouin-Mansart 1668-85
Andre Le Notre designed the gardens.
See the official website: en.chateauversailles.fr
Palais de Versailles
Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart
Andre Le Notre designed the gardens.

8. Palais de Versailles
Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart
Andre Le Notre designed the gardens.
Hall of Mirrors
Do you remember the Treaty of Versailles that formally ended WWI? The treaty was signed in this room on 29 June Think of that moment as the beginning of WWII.

9. Plan of Palais de Versailles
Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart
Andre Le Notre designed the gardens.
Plan of Palais de Versailles
Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart
Andre Le Notre designed the gardens.

10. Sick Bacchus Caravaggio 1593 oil on canvas
This early work breaks all the rules. Who is Bacchus?

11. Boy Bitten by a Lizard Caravaggio 1594 oil on canvas
This early work is a demonstration of virtuosity. What is Caravaggio proving that he can “do” as a painter? What do you notice?

12. David Caravaggio 1609-10 oil on canvas
The head of Goliath is a self-portrait of Caravaggio.
Simon Schama argues that “n Caravaggio's time it was believed that artists were given their talent by God to bring beauty to the world and to put mortal creatures in touch with their higher selves or souls. Caravaggio never did anything the way it was supposed to be done. In this painting of the victory of virtue over evil it's supposed to be David who is the centre of attention, but have you ever seen a less jubilant victory? On his sword is inscribed "Humilitus Occideit Superbium", that is, humility conquers pride. This is the battle that has been fought out inside Caravaggio's head between the two sides of the painter that are portrayed here. For me the power of Caravaggio's art is the power of truth, not least about ourselves. If we are ever to hope for redemption we have to begin with the recognition that in all of us the Goliath competes with the David."

13. The Calling of St. Matthew Caravaggio oil on canvas Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome

14. The Incredulity of Saint Thomas Caravaggio 1601-02 oil on canvas

15. Magdalen with the Smoking Flame George de La Tour c. 1640 oil on canvas
Magdalen with the Smoking Flame George de La Tour c oil on canvas, 117 x 92 cm Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles

16. Christ in the Carpenter's Shop George de La Tour 1645 oil on canvas
Christ in the Carpenter's Shop George de La Tour 1645 Oil on canvas, 137 x 101 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris

17. The Water Seller of Seville Diego Velázquez 1623 oil on canvas

18. The most important fortress in the southern Netherlands was Breda in Brabant. Velázquez represents Spinola (Philip IV’s Spanish commander) as having dismounted from his horse to meet the Dutch commander, Justinus of Nassau, on equal footing. Instead of accepting the token of surrender, he places a hand on the Dutchman's shoulder, offering a consolation of one soldier to another.
The Surrender at Breda (The Lances) Diego Velázquez oil on canvas

19. Las Meninas or The Family of Philip IV Diego Velázquez 1656-1657 oil on canvas

20. The Rokeby Venus or The Toliet of Venus ca. 1650

21. Jan Vermeer Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window 1657

22. Jan Vermeer Woman Holding a Balance c. 1664

23. Jan Vermeer The Milkmaid ca. 1658

24. Jan Vermeer A Woman Asleep at Table 1657

25. Jan Vermeer Girl with Pearl Earring ca. 1665

26. Jan Vermeer View of Delft 1659-1660

27. Jan Vermeer The Little Street 1657-58

28. Jan Vermeer The Art of Painting ca. 1665-1667

29. Self-Portrait Rembrandt 1659 oil on canvas

30. Portrait of Saskia with Flower Rembrandt 1641 oil on canvas

31. Bathsheba at Her Bath Rembrandt 1654 oil on canvas
The story of David's seduction of Bathsheba, (Mother of Solomon) told in 2:11 Samuel. David, while walking on the roof of his palace, saw Bathsheba, who was then the wife of Uriah, bathing. He immediately desired her and later made her pregnant.

32. The Jewish Bride Rembrandt c. 1665 oil on canvas

33. Rembrandt
Self-Portrait 1639

34. Rembrandt
The Sacrifice of Isaac 1655

35. Rembrandt The Three Crosses (first state) 1653
drypoint and burrin on vellum

36. Rembrandt The Three Crosses (second state) 1653
drypoint and burrin on vellum

37. Baroque Art: Types of Paintings
religious images
portraits
history paintings
still lifes
genre* (scenes from every day life)
* Genre painting is a fairly new development at the end of the 16th century (1580’s).

38. Religious Images Entombment Caravaggio 1603-1604 oil on canvas
What makes this image a “Baroque” work?
This is an open composition in which elements are seem to move diagonally in space.
Caravaggio has used rich colors and dramatic contrasts of light and dark.
This work demonstrates tenebrism: a technique in which forms emerge from a dark background into a strong light that often falls from a single source outside the painting.
Caravaggio has attempted to depict this scene with as much realism as possible.

39. Portraits Catharina Hooft and Her Nurse Frans Hals 1620 oil on canvas
What makes this portrait a “Baroque” work?
Hals has used a loose, free technique; the viewer can see the evidence of his brushwork—of the movement of the brush as it constructs the image on the two-dimensional plane of the canvas.
Hals has used a dramatic contrast of light and dark; the two figures emerge from a dark background into a strong light.
Hals has attempted to portray the two individuals as realistically as possible; note the careful depiction of textures.

40. History Paintings
The most important fortress in the southern Netherlands was Breda in Brabant. Velázquez represents Spinola (Philip IV’s Spanish commander) as having dismounted from his horse to meet the Dutch commander, Justinus of Nassau, on equal footing. Instead of accepting the token of surrender, he places a hand on the Dutchman's shoulder, offering a consolation of one soldier to another.
In this painting Velázquez makes a fundamental statement about humane conduct amidst the horrors of war. Many contemporary witnesses felt sure that the long struggle for the Netherlands would determine the future position of Spain as a world power. The most important fortress in the southern Netherlands was Breda in Brabant, and the strategic significance of the place was correctly assessed by Philip IV's best commander in the Thirty Years' War, Ambrosio Spinola. The commander of the fortress on the opposite side, Justinus of Nassau, was another military man famous throughout Europe. After a four-month siege and when all the provisions in the fortress had run out, he was forced to petition for an honourable surrender. Spinola allowed him to leave under conditions that were extremely generous for the period. Velázquez represents Spinola as having dismounted from his horse to meet the Dutch commander on equal footing. Instead of accepting the token of surrender, he places a hand on the Dutchman's shoulder, offering a consolation of one soldier to another.
The Surrender at Breda (The Lances) Diego Velázquez oil on canvas

41. Still Lifes Still Life with Flowers Rachel Ruysch 1716 oil on canvas
Nota bene: While the artist is extremely invested in created a naturalistic representation of the flowers, this image was not made from “life”—Ruysch has created a composite of different flowers. She would make sketches of different flowers and fruits and then “assemble” the individual images in one still life.
Notice the tulip at the upper center of the image. Tulip mania or tulipomania was a period in the Dutch Golden Age—which roughly speaking spanned the 17th century—during which contract prices for bulbs of the recently introduced tulip reached extraordinarily high levels and then suddenly collapsed. At the peak of tulip mania, in February 1637, some single tulip bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman. It is generally considered the first recorded speculative bubble. Tulips were imported first from the Ottoman Empire during the reign of our friend Suleyman the Magnificent—remember his tughra?

42. Genre Woman Holding a Balance Jan Vermeer c. 1664 oil on canvas
Vanitas Theme: the transitory nature of life (life is brief); the woman is weighing the value of “something;” notice the Last Judgment painting behind her?; notice the light that illuminates her hands and forehead?

43. Arnolfini Portrait Jan van Eyck 1434
portrait, of course… genre too? even a still life?

44. Merode Altarpiece Robert Campin 1425-1428
a religious image of course… portrait of the patrons on the left and even the artist…right? genre as well? even a still life, perhaps?