Baroque in European art of the 17th century. Baroque style in architecture
Baroque in culture XVII century
The difference in understanding the place, role and capabilities of man is what distinguishes art, first of all. XVII century from the Renaissance. This different attitude towards man is expressed with extraordinary clarity and precision by the great French thinker Pascal: “Man is just a reed, the weakest of nature’s creations, but he is a thinking reed.” This " thinking reed"created in the 17th century. the most powerful absolutist states in Europe, shaped the worldview of the bourgeoisie, who was to become one of the main customers and connoisseurs of art in subsequent times. The complexity and inconsistency of the era of intensive formation of absolutist nation states in Europe determined the character new culture, which is usually associated in history with the Baroque style, but which is not limited to this style.
So, at the turn of the XVI-XVII centuries. appears in European art a new style artistic exploration of reality - baroque. Originally the word “baroque” (port. “barocco” - pearl irregular shape) denoted an architectural style that arose in Rome at the beginning of the 17th century. and spread in the countries of the Old and New Worlds. Later, this term began to be applied to other arts: sculpture, painting, music and poetry of the 17th–18th centuries. But, despite differences of a temporary and regional nature, in art history literature the Baroque style is usually defined as the beginning of the 16th - mid-17th centuries. From mannerism through Baroque to Rococo or Rocaille, the style of the French king Louis XV - this is the path of Baroque art and the special form of worldview associated with it.
The Baroque style became predominantly widespread in Catholic countries affected by the processes of the Counter-Reformation. The Protestant Church that emerged during the Reformation was very undemanding about the external entertainment side of the cult. Entertainment was turned into the main attraction of Catholicism; religious piety itself was sacrificed to it. The Baroque style, with its grace, sometimes exaggerated expressiveness, pathos, attention to the sensual, bodily principle, which appears very clearly even when depicting miracles, visions, and religious ecstasies, responded perfectly to the goals of returning the flock to the bosom of the Catholic Church.
The essence of the Baroque is broader than the tastes of the Catholic Church and the feudal aristocracy, which sought to use the effects of the grandiose and dazzling, characteristic of the Baroque, to glorify the power, pomp and splendor of the state and the habitats of those close to the throne. The Baroque style expresses with particular acuteness the crisis of humanism, the feeling of disharmony in life, aimless impulses towards the unknown. In essence, he discovers a world in a state of becoming, and the world becoming was then the world of the bourgeoisie. And in this world that is being discovered, the bourgeois is looking for stability and order. For him, luxury and wealth are synonymous with the stability of his place in the world.
Reflecting the complex atmosphere of the time, the Baroque combined seemingly incompatible elements. The traits of mysticism, fantasticality, irrationality, and increased expression surprisingly coexist in him with sobriety and down-to-earthness, with truly burgher businesslike efficiency. For all its inconsistency, the Baroque at the same time has a quite pronounced system of visual means, certain specific features.
Baroque is characterized by pictorial illusoryness, the desire to deceive the eye, to move out of the depicted space into the real space. Baroque gravitates towards the ensemble, towards the organization of space: city squares, palaces, staircases, park terraces, parterres, swimming pools, bosquets; urban and country residences built on the principle of synthesis of architecture and sculpture, subordination to the general decorative design. The artistic culture of the Baroque allowed symbolism and mysticism, the fantastic and the grotesque, the ugly along with the beautiful, into the sphere of aesthetics. The new style was an ideological and aesthetic search for a holistic and harmonious worldview, lost due to the crisis of the Renaissance and Counter-Reformation. The Baroque artist sought to influence the feelings and imagination of the viewer, and not only convey a visual image through lines and colors.
The theorists of Baroque art did not emphasize clarity and rationality, but rather the ability of art to amaze, to connect, thanks to wit, the incompatible. In search of new representation, poetry is filled with neologism, architectural space merges with the picturesque, sculpture approaches painting, and poetry approaches music, giving rise to a genre such as opera. The greatest theoretician of the Italian Baroque, E. Tesauro, believed that it is not enough for an artist to just imitate nature, but, relying on wit, insight, and conjecture, one can create a kind of super-reality, from “immaterial” to create “existent”.
Baroque was the aesthetic reaction of European culture to the changes that occurred at the turn of the 16th–17th centuries. in ideas about nature, the structure of the Universe, about time and space, about the essence of man and his relationship with God. Discoveries in the natural sciences have shown that knowledge is infinite. Man no longer acts as the absolute measure of all things, and in order to understand his fate, artists and writers turn to the search for objective contradictions and patterns that rule the world. It is from here that such ideological features of the Baroque come as the likening of life to theater with the awareness of an inexorably current time ending in death, pessimism and disappointment in the world around us, and the feeling of its illusory nature. Theatricality is a special feature of the Baroque. Theater is a metaphor for life. Above the entrance to the city theater of Amsterdam, opened in 1683, the words of the Dutch poet Vondel were inscribed: “Our world is a stage, everyone here has their own role and everyone is given what they deserve.”
The architecture, inscribed in the landscape, created the image of a sacred landscape, everywhere reminding people of true faith. Clearly theatrical architecture Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini also serves as a frame for religious scenes depicted through painting and sculpture, in which illusionistic effects occupy a special place. Francesco Borromini imbues architectural space with wave-like movement.
The emergence of the Baroque should be associated with the last third of the 16th century, the period of implementation of the decisions of the Council of Trent, which divided Europe into the Catholic world and the Protestant world. It is no coincidence that Baroque art is also called the “art of the Counter-Reformation” or the “Jesuit style.” Baroque art was a religiously prescribed system; it was supposed to instruct post-Renaissance man in the faith. The resolution of the Council of Trent read: “Bishops should take into account that the depiction of the sacraments leading to salvation through the means of painting and other arts contributes to the education of the people and teaches them to remember and constantly reflect on the faith.” The Council of Triden strengthened the organizational, dogmatic and moral foundations of the Roman Catholic Church, condemned pagan images, approved the Eucharist, the worship of the Holy Virgin and the Pope, the veneration of saints, and established canons according to which saints had to be depicted either at the moment of martyrdom or in a state of religious ecstasy. Later, these decrees were supplemented by regulations in the field of iconography: for each saint, the degree of nudity of the body, age and pose in which he should be depicted were established.
The place where the Baroque developed was primarily those countries where feudal forces and the Catholic Church triumphed. This is first Italy, where Baroque found its brightest development in architecture, then Spain, Portugal, Flanders, which remained under the rule of Spain. Somewhat later - Germany, Austria, England, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, the New World. In the 18th century Baroque found a unique and brilliant development in Russia.
The Baroque masters break with many artistic traditions Renaissance, with its harmonious, balanced volumes. Baroque architects include in the holistic architectural ensemble not only individual buildings and squares, but also streets. The beginning and end of the streets are certainly marked with some kind of architectural or sculptural accents. For the first time in the history of urban planning, Domenico Fontana uses a three-ray system of streets diverging from Piazza del Popolo, thereby achieving a connection between the main entrance to the city and the main ensembles of Rome. The statue is replaced by an obelisk with its dynamic upward thrust, and even more often by a fountain, richly decorated with sculpture. Obelisks and fountains placed at the vanishing points of radial avenues and at their ends create an almost theatrical effect of a perspective receding into the distance. The Fontana principle was of great importance for all subsequent urban planning.
In the early Baroque era, not so much new types of palaces, villas, churches were created, but rather strengthened decorative element: the interior of many Renaissance palazzos turned into an enfilade of lush chambers, the decor of the portals became more complex, and Baroque masters began to pay a lot of attention to the courtyard and palace garden. The architecture of the villas with their rich garden and park ensemble reached a special scale. The same principles of axial construction as in urban planning developed here: the central access road, the front hall of the villa and the main alley of the park on the other side of the facade run along the same axis. Grottoes, balustrades, sculptures, and fountains abundantly decorate the park, and the decorative effect is further enhanced by the arrangement of the entire ensemble in terraces on a steep terrain.
The passion for ornamentation and decorativeness was fully manifested in the interiors of Catholic churches. Wood, plaster, metal, stone, and majolica tiles were used here. The decoration of the various gilded altars often extended to the walls and ceilings of the transept, nave and side chapels, creating a bright, multi-colored space full of movement. Matched the rhythm of the interior appearance buildings decorated with three-dimensional carvings, sculpture, niches, pilasters with volutes.
Polygons, ovals, and intersecting ovals are widely used in building plans, and the facades of churches are given a dynamic upward thrust. The architectural principles of the Borromini school became widespread not only in Italy, but also in Austria, Germany, Spain, Portugal and the New World. However, the dynamism architectural forms begins to gradually give way to a more static, classical concept space to mid-18th century V.
The illusory space in a church or palazzo as a continuation of the real space, with its “output” into the infinity of heavenly spheres filled with angels, saints and allegorical figures, was created by frescoes and lampshades by a number of artists. Illusionist artists combined architecture, sculpture and painting into a single theatrical and entertainment ensemble, transporting the viewer into the world of fantasy, symbols and allegories, simultaneously impressing and suppressing visual effects. The line between art and reality was blurred. The colorful baroque interior in churches and palaces with the refined and inventive decoration of rooms, objects, and furniture with colored marble, gilded bronze and wood carvings, trellises and mirrors immersed a person in a theatrical, objective world.
During the mature Baroque period, from the second third of the 17th century, architectural decor became more magnificent. Not only the main facade is decorated, but also the walls on the garden side; from the front lobby you can get directly into the garden, which is a magnificent park ensemble; from the side of the main facade, the side wings of the building extend and form the cour d'honneur (court of honor). During the same period, plastic expressiveness and dynamism intensified. Numerous openings and breaks of rods, cornices, pediments in sharp light and shadow contrast create an extraordinary painting of the facade. Straight planes are replaced by curved ones, the alternation of curved and concave planes also enhances the plastic effect. The interior of a Baroque church as a place for a magnificent theatrical ritual of the Catholic service is a synthesis of all types visual arts. The use of different materials, painting with its illusionistic effects - all this, together with the whimsical volumes, created a feeling of the unreal, expanding the space of the temple to infinity.
Sculpture is closely related to architecture. It decorates the facades and interiors of churches, villas, city palazzos, gardens and parks, altars, tombstones, fountains. In Baroque it is sometimes impossible to separate the work of the architect and the sculptor. The artist who combined the talent of both was Gian Lorenzo Bernini. As court architect and sculptor to the popes, Bernini carried out commissions and headed all major architectural, sculptural and decorative works, which were carried out to decorate the capital. Largely thanks to the churches built according to his design, the Catholic capital acquired a baroque character. In the Vatican Palace, Bernini designed the royal staircase that connected the papal palace with the cathedral. He owns the canopy in the Cathedral of St., which is dazzling with a wealth of various materials and unbridled artistic imagination. Peter's, as well as many of the cathedral's statues, reliefs and tombstones. Bernini's main creation is the grandiose colonnade of St. Petra and decoration gigantic area at this cathedral. The depth of the area is 280 m; in its center there is an obelisk; fountains on the sides emphasize the transverse axis, and the square itself is formed by a powerful colonnade of four rows of columns of the Tuscan order, 19 m high, forming a strict, open circle, “like open arms,” as Bernini himself said.
In Italian painting at the turn of the 16th–17th centuries. two main artistic directions: one is associated with the work of the Carracci brothers and is called “Bolognese academicism”, the other is with the art of one of the greatest artists Italy XVII V. Caravaggio.
Annibale and Agostino Carracci and their cousin Lodovico founded the Academy of the True Path in Bologna in 1585, in which artists studied according to a specific program. Hence the name – “Bolognese academicism”.
The principles of the Bologna Academy, which was the prototype of all European academies of the future, can be traced in the work of the most talented of the brothers - Annibale Carracci. Carracci carefully studied and studied nature. He believed that nature is imperfect and needs to be transformed, ennobled in order for it to become a worthy subject of depiction in accordance with classical norms. Hence the inevitable abstraction, rhetorical nature of Carracci’s images, pathos instead of genuine heroism and beauty. Carracci's art turned out to be very timely, consistent with the spirit of the official ideology, and received rapid recognition and dissemination. The Carracci brothers are masters of monumental and decorative painting. Their most famous work - the painting of the gallery of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome on the subjects of Ovid's "Metamorphoses" (1597-1604) - is typical of Baroque painting. Annibale Carracci was also the creator of the so-called heroic landscape, i.e. an idealized, fictitious landscape, because nature, like man (according to the Bolognese), is imperfect, rough and requires refinement in order to be represented in art. This is a landscape unfolded with the help of scenes in depth, with balanced masses of clumps of trees and almost obligatory ruins, with small figures of people serving only as staff to emphasize the greatness of nature. The coloring of the Bolognese is equally conventional: dark shadows, local, clearly arranged colors, light gliding through the volumes. Carracci's ideas were developed by a number of his students (Guido Reni, Domenichino, etc.), in whose work the principles of academicism were almost canonized and spread throughout Europe.
Michelangelo Merisi, nicknamed Caravaggio, is the artist who gave the name to the powerful realistic movement in art (“Caravaggism”), which gained followers throughout Western Europe.
Baroque realism, sanctioned by the decisions of the Council of Trent, found the most full expression in the artistic style of Michelangelo Caravaggio (1573–1610), in whose painting close-up and through contrasting light and shadow plasticity, religious and mythological characters acquire the features of a real person. Caravaggism, which spread in European art, had a significant impact on artistic style Rubens, Velazquez, Frans Hals, Rembrandt and Poussin. Naturalism and everydayization of religious themes became a step in further desacralization mythological images, their modernization and democratization. Caravaggism gives rise to the genre of “bodegones” (scenes of the everyday life of the lower classes), which in various variations spread in Europe from early bourgeois Holland to feudal-aristocratic Spain.
From the 20s to the 30s, the formation of the Baroque style began in Italy, which was based on the academic system of the Bolognese. Idealization and pathos were especially close to the official circles of Italian society - the main customer of works of art. But this style also took on something from Caravaggio: materiality of form, energy and drama, innovations in the understanding of light and shadow modeling. As a result of the fusion of two different artistic systems and the art of the Italian Baroque was born: the monumental and decorative painting of Guercino with its realistic types and Caravaggist chiaroscuro, Pietro di Cortona, Luca Giordano, easel painting of the closest Caravaggio Bernardo Strozzi, the excellent colorist Domenico Feti, who was strongly influenced by Rubens (as, indeed, by Strozzi); somewhat later, in the middle of the century, the darkly romantic compositions of Salvator Rosa, brilliant in their coloristic merits, appeared.
IN last third XVII century In the art of the Italian Baroque, certain changes are outlined: the decorativeness is intensifying, the angles of the figures are becoming more complicated, and the movements seem to be “accelerating.” Architecture and sculpture exist in synthesis with works created by the technique of pictorial illusionism. Perspective illusionism destroys the wall, which has always been contrary to the rules of classical art. In compositions, both monumental and decorative and easel, coldness, rhetoric, and false pathos are increasingly winning. However best artists still managed to overcome the harmful features of the late Baroque. Such are the romantic landscapes of Alessandro Magnasco, the monumental (plafonds, altarpieces) and easel (portraits) paintings of Giuseppe Crespi - artists standing at the turn of the new century.
In the architecture of Spain in the 17th century. originally national traits intertwined with elements of Moorish architecture and folk craft traditions. If built in the second half of the 16th century. El Escorial - a palace, half-fortress - half-monastery, a ponderous monument to Spanish absolutism, still faithful to traditions Italian Renaissance, That works XVII V. already full of the spirit of the Baroque era.
The frank everydayization of aesthetic interests, reflected in the Dutch pictorial style, at first favorably distinguished the “Dutch Baroque” from the Flemish with its pomp, pomp, exaggerated human forms, religious ideologization, fancifully combined with outright eroticism. By the second half of the 17th century. realism in Holland is losing its picturesqueness and naive rationalism: the baroque riot of forms, color, exotic aspects of life penetrate into still life, and the rich trade and financial oligarchy of the Republic of the United Provinces gives preference to idyllic Italian landscapes with nymphs and ancient ruins.
With Italian and Spanish Baroque Dutch painting brings together not only the perception of reality through biblical myth, compositional and coloristic techniques of Caravaggism, but also the desire for illusionism. A semblance of reality was created not under the dome of a Catholic cathedral, but on a small canvas with an illusory perspective and the appearance of plastically tangible objects. It is no coincidence that the poet Jan Vondel wrote: “Whoever deceives with paints deceives honestly.” Dutch realistic art opened not only new ways in mastering the image of the visible world of things and nature, but for the first time introduced in European artistic culture fixation of a numerous series of “small ideas” about the world of a “private” person. The surrounding world becomes multidimensional, which Leibniz also noted: “Just as the same city, viewed from different sides, seems different each time, so the whole world gives the impression of many worlds, although in reality there are only different points of view, different prospects for a united world."
Scenes from the Holy Scriptures, ancient mythological scenes, portraits of eminent customers, hunting scenes, huge still lifes are the main genres of art in Flanders in the 17th century. It mixed features of both Spanish and Italian Renaissance with the actual Dutch traditions. And as a result, Flemish Baroque art emerged, nationally cheerful, emotionally upbeat, materially sensual, lush in its abundant forms. The Flemish Baroque showed little of itself in architecture, but was bright and expressive in the decorative arts (wood carving, metal chasing), the art of engraving, and especially in painting.
The central figure of the Flemish art XVII V. there was Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640). The versatility of Rubens' talent and his amazing creative productivity make him similar to the masters of the Renaissance.
Rubens' art is a typical expression of the Baroque style, which finds its national characteristics. A huge life-affirming principle, the predominance of feeling over rationality are characteristic of even the most dramatic works of Rubens. They completely lack the mysticism and exaltation inherent in German and even Italian baroque. Physical strength, passion, sometimes even unbridledness, intoxication with nature replace the spiritualistic, veiled eroticism of Bernini's Teresa. Rubens glorifies national type beauty. The Virgin Mary, like Magdalene, appears as a fair-haired, blue-eyed Brabant woman with curvaceous figures. Christ even on the cross looks like an athlete. Sebastian remains full of strength under a hail of arrows.
Baroque art was meant to convince. Hence the mystical spaces of architectural forms and the illusionism of the endless space of paintings and lampshades, selfless attempts to achieve supernatural beauty, the desire for grace, dynamism, decorative elegance and tension in plastic and figurative forms.
Baroque art overcomes routine and everyday life with the expectation of a miracle and transforms the objective world, giving it unusual luxury and splendor. Theatricalization captured man not only in art, but also in his living space, and was accompanied by a holistic and dynamic reorganization of urban and garden space. Spiritual exaltation, expressed in painting, sculpture and architecture, gave rise to drama, tension, mannerist gigantism artistic forms.
A man of the Baroque era, who has known wealth and poverty, glory and dishonor, all kinds of ups and downs under the blows of fate, searches in vain for the lost harmony of the Renaissance time. In the artistic culture of the Baroque, “an attempt is made to reconstruct medieval Christian unity,” to combine impersonalism and subjectivism and... promote the individual to a superpersonal role.”
Literature
1. History of art. Western European art: Textbook/ T.V. Ilyina. – 3rd ed., revised. and additional – M.: Higher. school, 2002. – 368 p.: ill.
2. Culturology: A textbook for students of higher educational institutions / Ed. A.I. Shapovalova. – M.: Humanite. ed. VLADOS center, 2003. – 320 pp.: ill.
3. Culturology: A textbook for students of higher educational institutions. – Rostov n/d: Phoenix, 2003. – 576 p. (series " Higher education»)
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Baroque architecture flourished from the late 16th to the mid-18th century. The architectural style that appeared in Italy quickly spread throughout Europe. In the 17th century, Spanish Baroque spread throughout Latin America. Mainly used to express the triumph of the Roman Catholic Church over the Protestants, the architectural style was later used as a visual demonstration of the absolutist regime through the example of majestic palaces. Below we present 10 masterpieces of Baroque architecture, both religious and secular.
Karlskirche, Vienna
The beautiful Baroque church is one of Vienna's most stunning buildings. The temple was built under the patronage of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. The ruler vowed to build the church after a terrible outbreak of the plague at the beginning of the 18th century. The Karlskirche was built between 1716 and 1737. A competition would be announced for the right to build, won by the Austrian architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. But, unfortunately, without finishing his work, the architect died, and his creation was completed by his son Joseph.
Schönbrunn, Vienna
Schönbrunn is the former summer residence of the Habsburg dynasty, built in the late Baroque style. Just like the Karlskirche, this Austrian version of the Palace of Versailles is the work of architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, although the structure has undergone some changes later. After the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918, the palace became owned by the Republic of Austria and was eventually opened to the public as a museum.
St. Peter's Square, Vatican
St. Peter's Square and its columns with 140 statues of saints are the work of Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, who, together with Francesco Borromini, became one of the most famous architects of the Baroque era. He also created the fountain (on the left) in the likeness of the fountain on the right (built by Carlo Maderna) in order to achieve symmetry. In the center of the square is an ancient Egyptian obelisk, erected in 1586 by Domenico Fontana.
Cathedral in Zacatecas, Mexico
The Zacatecas Cathedral in Mexico is regarded as one of the finest examples of Mexican Baroque architecture. The cathedral basilica was created from 1730 to 1760 by an unknown architect on the territory of a 16th-century church. In 1993, the cathedral was included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
San Carlo alle Cuatro Fontane, Rome
Designed by one of the main exponents of the Baroque style, Francesco Borromini, San Carlo alle Quatro Fontane (also known as the Church of St. Charles of the Four Fountains) is one of the finest examples of the Baroque style. The Catholic church was built between 1638 and 1646, when it was consecrated. In the 70s of the 17th century, the facade of the building was slightly supplemented by Borromini’s nephew, Bernardo.
State House of Invalides, Paris
One of the most magnificent works French architecture baroque. Most of the complexes were built by the French architect Liberal Bruant. The amazing dome of the chapel was designed by Jules Hardouin Mansart. Conceived as a nursing home and veterans' hospital, state house The Invalides today is a museum of the French army, modern history. But it is also the resting place of France's national heroes, including Napoleon Bonaparte.
Cathedral of Saint James, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia
One of Spain's most famous cathedrals and a place of pilgrimage since the Middle Ages, St. James's Cathedral is a typical Romanesque structure. The façade was built in the 18th century by the architect Fernando de Casas Novoa.
St Paul's Cathedral, London
Founded on the site of an old church badly damaged in the Great Fire of London in 1666, St Paul's Cathedral is often regarded as one of the finest examples of English Baroque architecture. The design was carried out by the famous English architect, Sir Christopher Wren, who also restored more than 50 churches damaged by fire, and the architect also worked on many famous secular buildings throughout England. From 1710 to 1962 St Paul's Cathedral was the tallest building in London.
Palace of Versailles, Versailles
The Palace of Versailles is one of the greatest palaces ever built by man and is a fine example of secular baroque architecture. Built under the direction of Louis XIV in the 1660s, much of the palace, including the Gallery of Mirrors, was designed by the architect Jules Hardouin Mansart. The Sun King's successors modified the details somewhat, but the magnificent palace and its gardens remained as impressive as they were during the reign of Louis XIV. Since 1837, the Palace of Versailles has opened its doors to the public as a museum.
Winter Palace, St. Petersburg
Winter Palace was built during the reign of Peter the Great in St. Petersburg and served as the official residence for the Romanov family until the 1917 Revolution. The palace was originally designed by a Swiss architect Italian origin Domenico Trezzini. However, later the Winter Palace was significantly changed. Most of The building's current appearance dates back to the 1830s. Appearance had to be restored after a fire. Also, the Winter Palace suffered significant destruction during the Siege of Leningrad, but was restored in all its grandeur.
Baroque (Italian barocco - “bizarre”, “strange”, “prone to excess”, port. perola barroca - “pearl of irregular shape” - characteristic of European XVII-XVIII cultures centuries.
Baroque era
The Baroque era gives rise to great amount time for entertainment: instead of pilgrimages - a promenade (walks in the park); instead of knightly tournaments - “carousels” (horse rides) and card games; instead of mystery plays there is a theater and a masquerade ball. You can also add the appearance of swings and “fire fun” (fireworks). In the interiors, portraits and landscapes took the place of icons, and music turned from spiritual into a pleasant play of sound.
Baroque features
Baroque is characterized by contrast, tension, dynamic images, affectation, the desire for grandeur and splendor, for combining reality and illusion, for the fusion of arts (city and palace and park ensembles, opera, religious music, oratorio); at the same time - a tendency towards autonomy of individual genres (concerto grosso, sonata, suite in instrumental music).
Baroque man
Baroque man rejects naturalness, which is identified with savagery, unceremoniousness, tyranny, brutality and ignorance. The Baroque woman values her pale skin and wears an unnatural, elaborate hairstyle, a corset and an artificially widened skirt with a whalebone frame. She's wearing heels.
And the ideal man in the Baroque era becomes a cavalier, a gentleman - from the English. gentle: “soft”, “gentle”, “calm”. He prefers to shave his mustache and beard, wear perfume and wear powdered wigs. What is the use of force if now one kills by pressing the trigger of a musket.
Galileo first points a telescope to the stars and proves the rotation of the Earth around the Sun (1611), and Leeuwenhoek discovers tiny living organisms under a microscope (1675). Huge sailing ships plow the expanses of the world's oceans, erasing white spots on geographical maps of the world. Travelers and adventurers became the literary symbols of the era.
Baroque in sculpture
Sculpture is an integral part of the Baroque style. The greatest sculptor and the recognized architect of the 17th century was an Italian Lorenzo Bernini(1598-1680). Among his most famous sculptures are mythological scenes of the abduction of Proserpine by God underground kingdom Pluto and miraculous transformation in the tree of the nymph Daphne, pursued by the god of light Apollo, as well as the altar group "The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa" in one of the Roman churches. The last of them, with its clouds carved from marble and the clothes of the characters as if fluttering in the wind, with theatrically exaggerated feelings, very accurately expresses the aspirations of the sculptors of this era.
In Spain, the Baroque style was dominated by wooden sculptures, for greater credibility they were made with glass eyes and even a crystal tear; real clothes were often put on the statue.
Baroque in architecture
For Baroque architecture ( L. Bernini, F. Borromini in Italy, B. F. Rastrell and in Russia, Jan Christoph Glaubitz in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) are characterized by spatial scope, unity, and fluidity of complex, usually curvilinear forms. Often there are large-scale colonnades, an abundance of sculpture on the facades and in the interiors, volutes, big number braces, arched facades with bracing in the middle, rusticated columns and pilasters. Domes take on complex shapes, often multi-tiered, like those of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. Characteristic Baroque details - telamon (Atlas), caryatid, mascaron.
Baroque in the interior
The Baroque style is characterized by ostentatious luxury, although it retains such an important feature classic style like symmetry.
Wall painting (one of the types monumental painting) has been used in decorating European interiors since early Christian times. It became most widespread during the Baroque era. The interiors used a lot of color and large, richly decorated details: a ceiling decorated with frescoes, marble walls and parts of the decor, gilding. Color contrasts were typical - for example, a marble floor decorated with tiles in a checkerboard pattern. Extensive gilded decorations were a characteristic feature of this style.
Furniture was a piece of art, and was intended almost exclusively for interior decoration. Chairs, sofas and armchairs were upholstered in expensive, richly colored fabric. Huge beds with canopies and flowing bedspreads and giant wardrobes were widespread. The mirrors were decorated with sculptures and stucco with floral patterns. Southern walnut and Ceylon ebony were often used as furniture materials.
The Baroque style is not suitable for small spaces, as massive furniture and decorations take up large volume in space.
Baroque fashion
The fashion of the Baroque era corresponds in France to the period of the reign of Louis XIV, the second half of the 17th century. This is the time of absolutism. Strict etiquette and complex ceremonies reigned at court. The costume was subject to etiquette. France was a trendsetter in Europe, so other countries quickly adopted French fashion. This was the century when a general fashion was established in Europe, and national characteristics faded into the background or were preserved in folk peasant costume. Before Peter I, European costumes were also worn by some aristocrats in Russia, although not everywhere.
The costume was characterized by stiffness, splendor, and an abundance of decorations. The ideal man was Louis XIV, the “Sun King,” a skilled horseman, dancer, and marksman. He was short, so he wore high heels.
Baroque in painting
The Baroque style in painting is characterized by dynamism of compositions, “flatness” and splendor of forms, aristocracy and originality of subjects. The most characteristic features of Baroque are flashy floridity and dynamism; a striking example is creativity Rubens And Caravaggio.
Michelangelo Merisi (1571-1610), who was nicknamed after his birthplace near Milan Caravaggio, is considered the most significant master among Italian artists, who created at the end of the 16th century. new style in painting. His paintings, written in religious subjects, resemble realistic scenes of the author’s contemporary life, creating a contrast between late antiquity and modern times. The heroes are depicted in twilight, from which rays of light snatch out the expressive gestures of the characters, contrastingly outlining their characteristics. Followers and imitators of Caravaggio, who were initially called Caravaggists, and the movement itself was called Caravaggism, such as Annibale Carracci(1560-1609) or Guido Reni(1575-1642), adopted the riot of feelings and characteristic manner of Caravaggio, as well as his naturalism in depicting people and events.
Baroque is one of the significant styles in the cultural life of Europe. It achieved its greatest popularity in countries such as Germany, Spain, Russia, and France. Italy is considered its homeland. The Baroque era spans about two centuries - from the late 16th to the mid-18th century.
The distinctive features of this style include pomposity, solemnity and pomp. Moreover, Baroque embraces not only artistic creativity, literature and painting, but also the way of thinking of a person, his existence, and also, to some extent, science.
The works of this time are expressive and expressive, they are characterized by sophistication of forms, the creation of illusory space, as well as a bizarre play of shadow and light.
The Baroque era gave birth to science. It was at this time that biology, anatomy, physics and chemistry, and other disciplines began to develop. Previously, their study was cruelly punished by church ministers.
Wars, epidemics of various diseases, such as plague and smallpox, led to the fact that people felt unprotected and confused. His future was uncertain. More and more minds were engulfed by various superstitions and fears. At the same time, the church splits into two religious camps - Protestants and Catholics, which also gives rise to many squabbles and battles.
All this leads to a new understanding of the Lord as the Creator of the universe. God was considered only as the creator of daily things, while man controlled the living and inanimate.
The Baroque era is also characterized by active colonization - English settlements are formed in the Old and New Worlds.
The architecture of that time was rich in colonnades and an abundance of various decorations on the facades and in the interior. Multi-tiered domes of a complex, multi-level structure also predominate. The most famous architects of that time include Michelangelo Buonarroti, Carlo Maderna, Nikolai Sultanov.
The painting of this era is dominated by religious and mythological motives, as well as ceremonial portraits. Quite often the paintings depicted the Madonna surrounded by angels. Most of the Baroque era - Michelangelo Merisi, Iasento Rigo, Peter Paul Rubens.
It was at this time that such things as opera and fugue were born. The music becomes more expressive. Composers of the Baroque era - Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Giovanni Gabrieli. As you can see, a lot outstanding personalities was happening at that time.
The Baroque era is one of the most significant in the history of human development. It was at this time that new styles emerged in literature, music, painting, and architecture. New views on religion and man are being formed. New directions in science are emerging. Despite some pomposity, this period gave world culture many cultural monuments, which are highly valued in our time. The names of masters and artists of the Baroque era still resound throughout the world.
The logical continuation of this style was Rococo, which was formed in the first half of the 18th century. He managed to maintain his position until the end of the 18th century.
Temple icons Mother of God“Znamenie” at Sheremetev Yard is an Orthodox church in the Naryshkin Baroque style. 1680s Built at the expense of Lev Kirillovich Naryshkin, a relative of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.
Moscow Naryshkin Baroque- this was the name of the style direction of Russian architecture of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, which became the initial stage in the formation of Russian Baroque.
This direction in architecture owes its name to the boyar family of the Naryshkins, who built temple buildings with elements of European Baroque on their estates (a complex of architecture of the late 17th - early 18th centuries: include churches in Fili, Troitsky-Lykovo, Ubory, Dubrovitsy, Uspeniya on Maroseyka).
Heinrich Wölfflin (1864 - 1945) - Swiss writer, historian, art critic, theorist and art historian
Moscow Baroque- the name is very conditional, since in addition to Baroque, the buildings contained Renaissance and Gothic features, combined with the traditions of Russian architecture.
If we consider the system of definitions of architectural styles that he created G. Wölfflin,then the concept of “Baroque” cannot be applied to this architectural phenomenon.
However, Wölfflin's research dealt exclusively with the Italian Baroque, which differed from the Baroque in other countries. In addition, as the researcher himself stated, Baroque does not have clearly defined boundaries.
Moscow Baroque became a link between the architecture of patriarchal Moscow and St. Petersburg construction in European style. A distinctive feature of this style was the upward movement of buildings, their multi-tiered structure, and patterned facades.
Trinity Church in Trinity-Lykovo. In 1935 it was included in the list of the League of Nations outstanding monuments world architecture. Arch. Ya. Bukhvostov.
Yakov Grigoryevich Bukhvostov (late 17th - early 18th centuries) - architect, one of the founders of the Moscow Baroque. Bukhvostov's buildings are made of brick with a characteristic lush white stone decor.
Baroque in Moscow 17-18 centuries. preserved much of the centuries-old traditions of Russian architecture, to which new features were added.
This trend is characterized by multi-tiered architecture of churches, boyar chambers with white stone masonry, combined with elements of the order: columns, half-columns, etc., framing the spans and edges of buildings.
The following buildings can also serve as examples of Moscow Naryshkin baroque: Assumption Church on Pokrovka.
The Naryshkin Baroque was embodied in the work of a serf architect P. Potapova- thirteen-domed Assumption Church on Pokrovka. Academician Likhachev described it as a light “cloud of white and red lace.” The church was dismantled in 1935-1936.
Church of the Assumption Holy Mother of God on Pokrovka there is a parish church. 1696-1699 Arch. Serf P. Potapov. The church was built at the expense of the merchant I. Sverchkov.
Novodevichy Convent
In the 17th century, under Princess Sophia, an architectural ensemble with a cathedral in the center was built.
Novodevichy Convent (Novodevichy Bogoroditse-Smolensky Monastery) is a Moscow women's Orthodox monastery monastery.
Krutitskoye Compound
Osip Dmitrievich Startsev (? - 1714) - one of the Moscow architects of the late 17th - early 18th centuries.
Pyotr Dmitrievich Baranovsky (1892-1984) Soviet architect, restorer of ancient Russian architecture.
Built in the 18th century, originally as a monastery, and then this place became the residence of bishops. Architect O. Startsev built in 1700 the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Small Assumption Cathedral), the lower church of Peter and Paul (1667-1689).
The Metropolitan Chambers were created in 1655-1670 and restored P. Baranovsky.
The Krutitsky tower and the Resurrection passages (1693-1694) were built with the participation of O. Startsev. Tiles by S. Ivanov were used to decorate the tower and the Holy Gate.
Krutitsky courtyard.
Moscow Church of the Intercession in Fili (1690-1694)
Built at the expense of L.K. Naryshkin, the brother of Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna. The architect is not known (there is evidence that the author is Ya. Bukhvostov, but it is also possible that the church was built by P. Potapov).
The structure is decorated with columns and capitals. Its color scheme is typical of Russian traditions: a combination of red and white flowers in facade decoration.
Church of the Intercession in Fili. Moscow. 1690-1694
Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Kadashi. Moscow.
The first building was created in 1657. In 1687, at the expense of merchants K. Dobrynin and L. Dobrynin, construction of a five-domed temple began. In 1685, the portals of the lower church were created, and a six-tier bell tower (height 43 m) was added.
Window trims, portals, scallops and cornices are decorated with white stone patterns. Presumably, the author of the temple was Sergey Turchaninov(? - early 18th century) Russian architect who completed the construction of the Resurrection Cathedral in the New Jerusalem Monastery. In the 20th century, the temple was restored by the architect G. Alferova(1912 -1984)
Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Kadashi.
Baroque in Moscow was created mainly by Russian masters, which determined the features of the buildings and their aesthetics. The buildings had a design traditional for ancient Russian churches, combined with elements of European architecture, which were used mainly in decoration. Features of the style appeared in architecture more late period. For example, Moscow Baroque combined with the Italian style and manifested itself in the temple Saint Clement(1762-1769) (presumably, architect P. Trezzini or A. Evlashev).
Church of St. Clement. Moscow. (presumably, architect P. Trezzini or A. Evlashev). (1762-1769)
Naryshkin Baroque is a typically Russian phenomenon, easily recognizable and has become important milestone on the path to the formation of Russian Baroque.
