Baroque Vs. Baroque Renaissance - 2004 Words

The style that followed the Renaissance is usually called ‘Baroque’. ‘But, while it is easy to identify the earlier style by definite marks of recognition, this is not so simple in the case of Baroque.’ Baroque is considered to be ‘one of the great periods of art history’, and it is generally identified as being developed by Caravaggio, Gianlorenzo Bernini and Annibale Carracci. The Baroque period developed in Europe in around 1600, and it can be seen partly as a reaction against the intricate and formulaic Mannerism that dominated the Late Renaissance. Nevertheless, to see Baroque as simply being a reaction against Renaissance ideals and norms is simplistic. Modern scholarship has identified within the Baroque clear signs of a return to†¦show more content†¦By synthesising these elements, I will establish how the Baroque can be distinguished from its precursors. The term ‘Baroque’, like many period designations, is not a complementary one. It had the connotation of meaning ‘bizarre taste’ that does not follow the rules of the classical. This provides one basic definition of the Baroque; its contrast to classicism, despite the fact that Baroque was a reaction to, and an adaption of, the classical tradition. ‘The word ‘Baroque’ was a term employed by critics of a later period who fought against the tendencies of the seventeenth century, and wanted to hold them up to ridicule. Baroque really means†¦ grotesque, and it was used by men who insisted that the forms of classical building should never have been used or combined except in the ways adopted by the Greeks and Romans†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ After the idealism of the Renaissance, and the slightly ‘forced’ nature of Mannerism, Baroque above all reflected the religious tensions of the age- notably the desire of the Catholic Church in Rome (as annunciated at the Council of Trent) to reassert itself in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. Thus, Baroque art became synonymous with the Catholic Counter-Reformation. Baroque art in Catholic nations reflected the desire of Emperors and monarchs to strengthen their political position and glorify their own divine grandeur. By comparison, Baroque art in