The Age of the Baroque
I. The Baroque in Italy
A. Definitions
1.
“Baroque” from Portuguese barrocco (“misshapen pearl”)
2. Emphasis on
the emotion and theatricality of “the
moment” (compare to Hellenistic
sculpture)
3. Strong
contrasts of light and shadow (tenebrism)
4. Intense illusion (It. quadrattura, Fr. trompe l’oeil)
5. More than a
teaching tool, how is the subject matter "experienced?"
C. The
Counter-Reformation: the Roman response to the
Protestant reformers
1.
The Council of Trent (1545-1563)
2.
The Oratorians and Philip Neri
3.
The Jesuits and Ignatius Loyola: Spiritual Exercises
4.
The Mystics: Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross
D. Architecture
1.
Maderno: St. Peter’s Basilica Façade
2.
Bernini: St. Peter’s Basilica Colonnade and Baldacchino
3.
Borromini: San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
E. Sculpture
1.
Bernini: David, Ecstasy of St. Teresa, Conaro Family
in Theatre Box
F. Painting
1.
Carravaggio: Calling of St. Matthew, Entombment,
St.
John the Baptist (at the Nelson-AtkinsMuseum)
2.
Gentileschi: Judith Slaying Holofernes
3.
Carracci: Triumph of Bacchus
4.
Pozzo: Triumph of St. Ignatius of Loyola
G. Music
1.
Monteverdi and Opera
2.
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (concerto)
II. The Baroque Outside of Italy
A. Painting: Holland
1. Hooch: The Bedroom
2. Hals: Jolly Toper
3. Leyster: Boy Playing a Flute
4. Rembrandt: The Night Watch, Christ Preaching, The
Prodigal Son
5. Vermeer: The Love Letter; Compare: Woman with Water Pitcher, Woman with Scales (The Goldweigher), The Geographer
6. Rubens: Marie
de’Medici…, The Garden of Love
7. van Dyck: Portrait
of Charles I
8. Oosterwyck, et al: "the still life"
B. Painting: Spain
1. Velasquez: Maids
of Honor
C. Painting: France and the Academy (the poussinistes
and the rubenistes)
1. Lorrain: Mary Magdalene
2. Poussin: Rape of the Sabine Women
D. Architecture
1. The Louvre
2. The Palace of Versailles
3. St. Paul’s Cathedral
E. Music
1. Handel: Messiah (oratorio)
2. Bach: The Art of the Fugue
3. Pachelbel: Canon in D
F. Science
1.Leeuwenhoek: the microscope
2. Kepler: the science of vision
3. Galileo: the telescope
G. Philosophy
1. Descartes: I think, therefore I am (am I a thinking thing?)
2. Hobbes: a social contract with Leviathan
3. Locke: the tabula rasa
H. Literature
1. Moliere: Tartuffe,
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
(excerpt to be distributed in class)
2. Bradstreet: “domestic poetry”
3. Donne: “metaphysical poetry”
4. Milton: Paradise Lost
5. Cervantes: the heroic pathos of Don Quixote