Chapter 15: The Seventeenth Century Flashcards
Counter-Reformation
The effort of the Catholic Church to counter the popularity of Protestantism by reaffirming basic values but also supporting a proliferation of highly ornamented Baroque churches.
Society of Jesus
an order—founded in 1534 by Ignatius Loyola (1491–1556)—of priests and brothers called Jesuits who dedicated themselves to the defense of the faith. Loyola was a Spanish nobleman and a career soldier who embraced a life of religious devotion after suffering a serious wound. His Spiritual Exercises (begun 1522–1523) express a mystical, even morbid spirit of introspection, inspired by visions of Satan, Jesus, and the Trinity.
Loyola’s Jesuits soon became the most militant of the religious movements to appear during the 16th century. The members were organized on the model of a military company, led by a general as their chief commander and required to exercise iron discipline. The Jesuits led their charge, not with swords or guns, but with eloquence and the power of persuasion. Their duty was simple: to promote the teachings of the church unquestioningly. Loyola taught that if the church ruled that black was white, its followers were obliged to believe it. They reinforced this position by their vigorous missionary work throughout Europe, the Americas, and Asia, while improving educational institutions throughout Catholic Europe.
The Church of Most Holy Name of Jesus in Rome, called il Gesù
Jesuits’ church, The architect of il Gesù was Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola. After da Vignola’s death, the project was continued by Giacomo della Porta, who designed many features of the church, including the façade. (Della Porta also completed the dome of Saint Peter’s during the late years of the Renaissance (1568–1584.) The ceiling frescoes, including the Triumph of the Sacred Name of Jesus by Giovanni Battista Gaulli, were painted 100 years later, during the Baroque era. The Jesuit church is synonymous with the spirit of the Counter-Reformation, but the artistic style of the interior is wholly Baroque.
17th century art (baroque)
artists working all over Europe whose art would be described as anything but uniform. Yet their work reveals some common characteristics: complexity, spontaneity, drama, theatricality, virtuosity, opulence, and monumentality.
primacy of emotion. Renaissance art, for example, revisited the perfect balance between emotion and restraint that was central to Classical philosophy and art; Baroque artists, on the other hand, placed extremes of human behavior and emotion front and center. The dramatic nature of their often violent subjects was reinforced by theatrical spotlighting, sanguine palettes, and exaggerated gestures; artists gravitated to such subjects because they provided an opportune vehicle for the artists’ edgy, unrestrained styles.
This concern with emotion produced in its turn an interest in what came to be called psychology. Baroque artists attempted to analyze how and why their subjects felt as strongly as they did by representing emotional states as vividly as possible. This psychological exploration is also evident in 17th-century opera and drama, in which musical or spoken passages convey the precise frame of mind of the characters. Baroque writers often used elaborate imagery and complicated grammatical structure to express intense emotional states.
The Baroque era was born in Rome
where a series of powerful popes—Paul V, Gregory XV, Urban VIII, Innocent X, and Alexander VII—wielded power and influence in the realms of religion, politics, and art. This is perhaps nowhere more evident than in the expansion and renovation of Saint Peter’s in Vatican City, Rome
Urban VIII
the first of the Baroque builder-popes. He was also the grand patron of the era’s most prolific and accomplished sculptor—Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
baldacchino
An ornamental canopy for an altar, supported by four columns and often decorated with statuary.
Tenebrism (Caravaggio)
A style of painting in which the artist goes rapidly from highlighting to deep shadow, using very little modeling.
chiaroscuro (Rubens)
From the Italian for “light–dark”; an artistic technique in which subtle gradations of value create the illusion of rounded, three-dimensional forms in space; also called modeling.
Peter Paul Rubens
One of the most sought-after artists of his time, Rubens was an ambassador, diplomat, and court painter to dukes and kings. He ran a bustling workshop with numerous assistants to help him complete commissions. Rubens’s style combined the sculptural qualities of Michelangelo’s figures with the painterliness and coloration of the Venetians.
opera
A dramatic performance in which the text is sung rather than spoken. Began in Florence
monody
From the Greek monoidia, meaning an ode for one voice or one actor; in early opera, a single declamatory vocal line with accompaniment.
recitative
The free declaration of a vocal line, with only a simple instrumental accompaniment for support.
Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo
considered by many critics to be the first great opera, was first performed in 1607
arias
A solo song in an opera, oratorio, or cantata, which often gives the singer a chance to display technical skill.
