Baroque Questions Flashcards
Describe Louis XIV
Hyacinthe Rigaud. 1701. Oil on canvas.
- proud of his legs
- idealized subject’s less attractive features
Describe Baldacchino
Gianlorenzo Bernini. 1624-33. Gilt bronze.
- twisted columns = union of OT and NT
- vine of Eucharist climbing columns of Temple of Solomon
- mark site of tomb of Saint Peter
Describe David
Bernini. 1623. Marble.
- intrudes in viewer’s space
- bends at waist and twists
- more mature, sinewy body
Describe Saint Teresa of Avila in Ecstasy
Bernini. 1545-52. Marble.
- vision in which angel pierced her body repeatedly with arrow, transporting her to state of indescribable pain, religious ecstasy, and sense of oneness with God.
- seem to float on stucco clouds
- angel’s clinging draperies contrast with Teresa’s heavy woolen robe
Describe Facade and Interior Dome of Church of San Carlo Alle Quattro Fontane
Borromini. 1665-67.
- one corner cut off for fountain
- elongated central plan interior space with undulating walls
- pairs of columns support massive entablature
- coffers decrease in size near apex
Describe Piazza Navona
engraving.
- popular site for festivals and celebrations
- church dominates urban space
Describe Fountain of the Four Rivers
Bernini and his shop. 1648-51. Travertine and marble.
- rocky hill seems to be suspended over an open grotto.
- four rives: Nile, Ganges, Danube, Rio de la Plata
- center soars towering ancient Roman imitation of Egyptian obelisk crowned with dove, peace and Trinity and pope’s family
- dual memorial to might and reach of papacy
Describe Ceiling of Gallery, Palazzo Farnese
Carracci. 1597-1601. Fresco.
- scenes of love based on Ovid’s Metamorphosis.
- celebrates wedding of Duke to the niece of pope
- primary image is The Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne, celebrating his love for Ariadne
- organized using illusionistic devices to create multiple levels of reality
Describe Landscape with the Flight into Egypt
Carracci. 1603-04. Oil on canvas.
- contemplative pastoral landscape filled with golden light (Venetian)
- trees in left foreground and right middle ground frame the scene
- collection of ancient buildings in center form stable and protective canopy for flight of family
- space gradually progresses in diagonal movements
Describe Bacchus
Caravaggio. 1595-96. Oil on canvas.
- highly realistic. painted what he saw.
- parts of skin that had been exposed to sun are darker than the rest
- can be allegory of sins of lust and gluttony
Describe The Calling of Saint Matthew
Caravaggio. 1599-1600. Oil on canvas.
- meant to suggest conversion
- depicts Jesus calling Levi, tax collector, to join his apostles.
- levi sits at table counting coins for boy at left
- jesus points and levi imitates by pointing to himself
- intense light enters from unseen source and spotlights faces of men.
- Jesus’s outstretched arm reminds of God giving life to Adam. Jesus calling Levi to start a new life
Describe Entombment
Caravaggio. 1603-4. Oil on canvas.
- perspective from burial pit into which Jesus’s body is being lowered
- figures form large off-center triangle
- Virgin and Mary Magdalen barely intrude on scene. sturdy-legged laborer carrying Jesus and John the Evangelist as triangle’s apex.
Describe Judith and Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes
Artemisia Gentileschi. 1625. Oil on canvas.
- naturalism and tenebrist effects
- Judith still holding bloody sword and hiding candle’s light as maid stuffs general’s head into sack
- dramatic use of light
Describe Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting
Gentileschi. 1630. Oil on canvas.
- richly dressed woman with palette and brushes.
- Iconologia’s influence is revealed in woman’s gold necklace with its mask pendant.
- mask imitates human face, as painting imitates nature, and gold chain symbolizes continuity and interlocking nature of painting
Describe Aurora
Guido Reni. 1613-14. Fresco.
- illusionistic mythological scenes in quadro riportato.
- Apollo, escorted by Cupid and Seasons, drives sun chariot. Flying figure of Aurora leads Apollo’s horses at sharp diagonal over dramatic Venetian sky.
Describe Barberini Palace and Square
1628-36. Ink and chalk on paper.
-palace, piazza, and city
Describe The Glorification of the Papacy of Urban VIII
Pietro da Cortona. 1632-39. Fresco.
- figures weave in and out of setting in active and complex profusion
- dramatic illumination fuses ceiling into dense but unified whole
- elaborate allegory of virtues of the pope.
- below center of vault, seated at the top of a pyramid of clouds and figures personifying Time and Fates, Divine Providence gestures toward three giant bees surrounded by huge laurel wreaths (Barberini emblems) carried by Faith, Hope, and Charity.
- Immortality offers crown of stars
- around figures are scenes of Roman gods and goddesses, who demonstrate pope’s wisdom and virtue by triumphing over the vices
Describe The Triumph of the Name of Jesus and the Fall of the Damned
Giovanni Battista Gaulli. 1672-85. Fresco with stucco figures.
- no sense of architectural division. cant tell if flat or has mass
- illusion of clouds and angels floating down
- subject is Last Judgment, with the elect rising joyfully toward name of God and damned plummeting through ceiling toward nave floor.
Describe Still Life with Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber
Juan Sanchez Cotan. 1602. Oil on canvas.
- irregular, curved shapes of fruits and vegetables against angular geometry of the ledge
- long arc
Describe Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew
Jusepe de Ribera. 1634. Oil on canvas.
- bound Bartholomew looks heavenward as executions tests knife.
- highlights intensely aged faces with dramatic light of tenebrism and depicts aging wrinkled flesh with painful naturalism (caravaggio)
Describe Saint Serapion
Francisco de Zurbaran. 1628. Oil on canvas.
- member of Mercedarians, Spanish order founded to rescue the christian prisoners of Moors. sacrificed himself in exchange for Christian captives
- dead man’s pallor, rough hands, and coarse ropes contrast with robe
- only colors are red and gold on insignia
- study of fabric and flesh
Describe Water Carrier of Seville
Diego Velazquez. 1619. Oil on canvas.
- study of surfaces and textures of ceramic pots
- display of light reacting to surfaces. glazed, matte, glass.
- water and its cultural role
Describe The Surrender at Breda
Diego Velazquez. 1634-35. Oil on canvas.
- theme of triumph and conquest
- dutch commander hands over keys of Breda to victorious spanish commander
- exchange seems gracious
- represents courtly ideal of gentlemanly conduct
- victors stand at attention. lances are upright
- defeated dutch stand out of order, pikes and banners drooping
- landscape is imaginary Netherlands
Describe Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor)
Diego Velazquez. 1656. Oil on canvas.
- King Philip and queen’s reflection can be seen from mirror in back
- central focus is on Margarita, surrounded by attendants most of whom are identifiable portraits
- used minimum of underdrawing, building up forms with layers of loosely applied paint and finishing off surfaces with dashing highlights
- self-portrait standing at easel