Chapter 21

Absolute Power and the Aristocratic Style

The Catholic Baroque

Italy and elsewhere

The Aristocratic Baroque

France

The Protestant Baroque

Northern Europe

Baroque Art• Emotionalism

• Illusionism

• Splendor

• Light and Shade

• Movement

• Religious Fervor

• Domestic Intimacy

(Cunningham 354)

Bernini, David, ca.1623

Bernini, David,

ca. 1623

http://www.artexpertswebsite.com/artists/bernini.shtml

Bernini, Pluto and Proserpine, 1620-22

http://emp.byui.edu/DavisR/202/202C21.html

http://www.students.sbc.edu/mckinney03/gmm/girardon.htm

Girardon, The Rape of Proserpine, 1677-99, Versaille

http://www.students.sbc.edu/mckinney03/gmm/girardon.htm

• “Like Bernini, Girardon chose to represent the figures at the height of the story, right at the moment when Pluto grabs Proserpine and a struggle ensues.  However, when comparing the two sculptures it is clear that Girardon is abiding by the rules of French classicism and restrains his figures.  His figures are graceful and fluid.  In the face of Proserpine, we notice a lack of emotion.” http://www.students.sbc.edu/mckinney03/gmm/girardon.htm

Absolutism• “A political theory that

encouraged rulers to claim complete sovereignty within their territories.”

(Norton 593)

Absolutist Monarchs• Possessed a large standing army

• Created a centralized bureaucracy to be in charge of taxation

• Kept the nobles under control

• adopted expansionist policies—wars, wars, and more wars

•Spain

Muslims in Spain, 711-1492, about 800 years

Ferdinand + Isabella

Hapsburg Spain

• “Hapsburg” means “hawk’s castle,” now ruins

• Under Charles V (1500-58) of Spain, the Hapsburg reached the peak of their power.

• Charles V’ “universal monarchy” was a constant menace to France.

(Portrait of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V Seated.  1548 Oil on canvas, 205 x 122 cmAlte Pinakothek, Munich)

Hapsburg Spain• When Charles abdicated (1558), the empire was divided

between the Spanish and Austrian lines. The Spanish branch ceased to rule after 1700 and the Austrian branch after 1918.

• Philip II (1556-98) of Spain was a dominant emperor in the second half of the 16th century

• 1588 the Armada, England won• 1648 Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), signing the Peac

e of Westphalia afterwards. The Dutch became independent.

France

France vs. England• England: Constitutional

Monarchy

• France: Absolutism, advocating the divine right of kings

The 17th Century • The Bourbons

– Henry IV (1589-1610)• Edict of Nantes (religious tolerance)

– Louis XIII (1610-1643)• Cardinal Richelieu (1624-42)• Raison d’état • Centralized government

– Louis XIV (1661-1715 )• Cardinal Mazarin

Louis IV• Known as the Sun King

• Represented the height of absolutism: “L’état, c’est moi”

• Maintained an extravagant court at Versailles

Rigaud, Louis XIV, 1701, Louvre, Parishttp://www.nd.edu/~artslide/europeanart/htmls/euro12.html

Versailles

http://web.mit.edu/sdey/www/pictures/paris/versailles/ver.htm

http://web.mit.edu/sdey/www/pictures/paris/versailles/ver.htm

Bernini, bust of Louis XIV,1665,Versailles

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/b/bernini/gianlore/sculptur/1660/louis14b.html

Versailles• Architect: Louis Le Vau (1612-1670)

• Features of the classical baroque style:

1. spatial grandeur

2. dramatic contrast

3. theatrical display

The Louvre

England

England• 1066 the Norman Conquest; origin of

the nation state

• 1485 Tudor dynasty

– Henry VII (1485-1509)

– Henry VIII (1509-1547)

– Elizabeth I (1558-1603)

England• The Stuart Dynasty

• Charles I (1625-1649): an absolutist king, advocating the divine rights of king, having clashes with the parliament

• The Puritan Revolution (1642-51): civil war – Oliver Cromwell (1599-1685)

Van Dyck, Charles I of England, c.1635,

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/dyck/i/charles-i.jpg

England• the Restoration

– Charles II (1660-85): the Merry Monarch

Tories: those who supported the king

Whigs: those who opposed the king– James II (1685-1688)– Admired French absolutism

Attempted to restore Roman Catholicism

England• The Glorious Revolution (1688-1689) : A

peaceful coup of Mary and William

• Bill of Rights (1689):Parliament became much stronger than before. Britain turned into a constitutional monarchy.

• 1707 the United Kingdom of Great Britain: Scotland + England

The Academic Style•Restraint

•Moderation

•Decorum (Fiero 535)

The Academic Style• Girardon (1628-1715)

• Poussin (1594-1665)

• Lorrain (1600-1682)

Girardon, Apollo Attended by the Nymphs, ca. 1666-7

2, Versailles, http://www.wga.hu/art/g/girardon/apollon.jpg

Poussin, Et in Arcadia Ego, 1637-39http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/p/poussin/2a/23arcadi.html

Poussin: Arcadian Shepherds

•Et in Arcadia Ego.

→ “I [death] also dwell in Arcadia”

Poussin: Arcadian Shepherds

• Moral allegory

• Pastoral elegy

• Memento mori

(Fiero 537)

Baroque Neoclassical

Caravaggio Poussin

Spontaneity Order

Senses Mind

Emotional Intellectual

Ideal Landscape• Poussin; Lorrain

• a view of nature more beautiful and harmonious than nature itself.

• Based on the classical ideals of balance and clarity

• often contains classical ruins and pastoral figures in classical dress.

Lorrain, Italian Coastal Landscape, 1642http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/c/claude/biograph.html

Lorrain, Landscape with Dancing Figures (The Mill), 1648http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/c/claude/biograph.html

Lorrain, Harbour Scene at Sunset, 1643http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/c/claude/biograph.html

Poussin, Funeral of Phocion, 1648.

http://www.ariadne.org/studio/michelli/stccl.html

Compare & Contrast

•Ideal landscape (537)

•Dutch landscape (589)

The Aristocratic Style• Velázquez (1599-1660)

• Rubens (1577-1640)

• Van Dyck (1599-1641)

Velázquez

•The Maids of Honor

Velazquez, Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor), 1656, http://mil.ccc.cccd.edu/classes/art101/images/S0099186.jpg

http://multimedia.american.edu/courses/mmdd296_fa07/2007/10/media_appropriation_collage_1.html

Portrait of Pope Innocent X, 1650

Rubens

•Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus

Rubens, Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus, 1618

http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/rubens_rape.jpg

• (1) to commemorate the double marriage of Louis XIII of France to a Spanish princess and Philip IV of Spain to a French princess

• (2) a message of (male) power over (female) privilege

• (Fiero 539)

The End