How Does Baroque Art Began as Catholic Counter Reformation Art?

Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1647-52)
By Giovanni Bernini.
Cornaro Chapel,

Santa Maria della Vittoria.

Evolution OF VISUAL Art
For details of art movements
and styles, see: History of Art.
For chronological details, run into:
History of Art Timeline.

What is Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation Fine art?

The term "Cosmic Counter-Reformation art" describes the more stringent, doctrinal manner of Christian fine art which was developed during the flow c.1560-1700, in response to Martin Luther's revolt confronting Rome (1517) and the Protestant Reformation art which followed. This stricter style of Cosmic Biblical art - launched by the Council of Trent (1545-63) - was designed to highlight the theological differences betwixt Catholicism and Protestantism, by focusing on the mysteries of the faith, likewise as the roles of the Virgin Mary and the Saints. Information technology was supposed to revitalize Cosmic congregations across Europe, thus minimizing the furnishings of the Protestant revolt. To inject momentum into its entrada, the Roman Church - aided by the newly-formed Jesuit club, too every bit wealthy pious individuals - began commissioning new architecture, works of altarpiece art (by and large large-scale oil paintings), inspirational church building fresco paintings, and major pieces of ecclesiastical sculpture and wood carving. Staunch supporters of the Catholic Counter-Reformation and its religious art included Italy, Kingdom of spain and its colonies of Flanders and Naples, as well as southern Germany. Its leading exponents were therefore Italian Bizarre artists like Caravaggio, Pietro da Cortona, Bernini, and Andrea Pozzo; the schoolhouse of Spanish Painting, such as El Greco, Ribera and Francisco de Zurbaran; and the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens.

History: The Reformation; The Decline in Spirituality of Fine art

Two of import factors shaped the fine art of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, during the 16th and 17th centuries. Showtime, a growth in the level of abuse within the Roman Cosmic Church, from the Pope downward. It was this corruption (specifically the sale of indulgences to finance the renovation of St Peter's in Rome), overseen by Pope Leo X (1513-21), that caused Luther to launch his Protestant rebellion.

The second factor was creative though it, also, reflected a similar spiritual turn down. During the 15th century, Early Renaissance painting commissioned by the Church or its Christian followers, gradually became less and less religious. The Tornabuoni Chapel frescoes (1485–90), for instance, by Domenico Ghirlandaio, seem to be more focused on the details of bourgeois city life than on their actual subjects, the Life of the Virgin and that of John the Baptist. Likewise, secular priorities began to intrude: the influential Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506), for instance, became increasingly involved with the rich Gonzaga family in Mantua, while even the devout Botticelli (1445-1510) spent fourth dimension painting a number of heathen works for the powerful Medici family in Florence: see, for example, Primavera 1482, and The Birth of Venus 1485, both marked by substantial nudity. The activeness of the fiery Dominican preacher Girolamo Savonarola (1452-98) - culminating in his Blaze of the Vanities in 1497 - was a clear indication of the lack of Christian devotion as well as the growing decadence of the time. The situation was further exacerbated during the era of High Renaissance painting, as Humanism (characteristically expressed in the male and female nude) became an of import feature of Renaissance aesthetics: as demonstrated in the marble statue of David by Michelangelo (1501-4), and the ignudi in the Genesis fresco (1508-12) on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, by the aforementioned artist. Worse was to follow, as the Loftier Renaissance gave manner to the optical pretensions of Mannerist painting, during the 1520s and 30s: as exemplified by works like the Deposition Altarpiece (1526-8) in the Capponi Chapel, Florence, past Pontormo (1494-1557). This not-traditional approach to fine art did not become down well with either Protestants or the more conservative factions in Rome. Another contentious piece of work was Wedding Feast at Cana (1563) by Veronese.

The Quango of Trent

To rebuild confidence in the say-so of the Roman Cosmic Church, after the twin shocks of the Protestant Reformation (1517) and the Sack of Rome (1527), a campaign of reform was necessary. The impetus for such reform emanated from the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), founded past S. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556), and from the 19th Ecumenical Council (the Council of Trent), initiated past Pope Paul Iii (1534–1549), which held 25 sessions between 1545 and 1563. Reformers believed strongly in the educational and inspirational power of visual art, and promoted a number of guidelines to be followed in the production of religious paintings and sculpture. These formed the ground for what became known as Catholic Counter-Reformation Art.

Characteristics of Cosmic Counter-Reformation Art

Reformers start stressed the need to distinguish the one true Church from the breakaway grouping of Protestant churches. Artists should therefore focus on the distinctive aspects of Catholic dogma, including: The Immaculate Formulation, The Annunciation of the Virgin, The Transfiguration of Christ, and others. Also, any explicit portrayal of Christ's suffering and agony on the Cantankerous was deemed to exist peculiarly uplifting, and also served to illustrate the atypical Catholic version of Transubstantiation in the Eucharist. The roles of the Virgin Mary, the Saints and the Sacraments were also a distinctive characteristic of Catholicism and were to be illustrated accordingly. Second, reformers stipulated that Biblical painting should be direct and compelling in its narrative presentation, and should exist rendered in a clear, authentic manner,without unnecessary or imaginary embellishments. 3rd, reformers - in item, pious individuals such as Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Francis de Sales and Philip Neri - insisted that Cosmic art should encourage piety: thus artists should paint and sculpt scenes of appropriate spiritual intensity. Fourth, as to how paintings and statues were to be executed, reformers stressed the importance of making them as understandable and as relevant to ordinary people, as possible. Using these techniques, Cosmic art was to combat the spread of Protestantism throughout Europe, especially in areas similar France, southern Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Bohemia and Republic of hungary. For an example of a 16th century Mannerist painter who changed his style of painting to comply with the Quango of Trent, see: Federico Barocci (1526-1612).

Note: After, major religious works like The Last Judgment fresco (1536-61) past Michelangelo, and The Concluding Supper (renamed Banquet in the House of Levi (1573) by Paolo Veronese, were censured past the Catholic authorities: the former for its nudity, for depicting Christ without a beard, and for including the infidel figure of Charon; the latter for its inclusion of drunken Germans, midgets and other inappropriate figures, also as over-improvident costumes.

The Bizarre Art Movement

Following the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church - along with its new religious orders, such as the Barnabites, Capuchins, Discalced Carmelites, Jesuits, Theatines, and Ursulines - increased its patronage of the arts beyond much of Europe. Out of this campaign of Counter-Reformation art emerged the anti-Mannerist Bolognese Schoolhouse (1590-1630) - led by Annibale Carracci forth with brother Agostino Carracci (1557-1602) and cousin Ludovico Carracci (1555-1619) - and then the international move we know as Bizarre art, a way which lasted until 1700 or subsequently. A typically powerful and dramatic style, it influenced all the arts, giving ascent to Baroque compages, too as Bizarre painting and sculpure: indeed, projects frequently involved a combination of all these disciplines.

Catholic Art in Italia

Bizarre architects in Italy produced numerous textbook examples of Catholic architecture, notably the Basilica and surround of Saint Peter's Basilica (c.1506-1667), and the Church of the Gesu (1568-84), in Rome; while Counter-Reformation painters became noted for their classical approach, as exemplified in the works of Annibale Carracci (1560-1609) and in late 16th century Venetian Altarpieces, notably those by Titian (c.1485/viii-1576) and Tintoretto (1518-94). The textbook instance of Counter-Reformation Bizarre sculpture was The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1647-52) by Bernini (1598-1680), in the Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome. After Bernini, Rome's greatest Catholic artist was Carlo Maratta (1625-1713).

The most 'existent' Catholic art, however, was created by the wayward genius Caravaggio (1571-1610), whose religious effigy painting was so natural and lifelike - and thus instantly understandable past ordinary churchgoers - that it served as the quintessential example of Catholic Counter-Reformation painting. (See, for instance, Supper at Emmaus 1601-two, National Gallery, London.) In fact, Caravaggio'due south use of street people equally models for his sacred figures, led to such realism that he was criticised by conservatives for showing insufficient respect to the Virgin Mary.

See likewise: Classicism and Naturalism in Italian 17th Century Painting.

The masters of spiritual inspiration were the artists who produced the awesome illusionist landscape paintings - known as quadratura - on the walls and ceilings of Baroque churches. The finest of these trompe 50'oeil paintings include: Assumption of the Virgin (Parma Cathedral) (1526-30) by Correggio - see the Parma School of painting; The Triumph of the Proper noun of Jesus (1584, Church of the Gesu) by Giovanni Battista Gaulli; Allegory of Divine Providence (1633-9, Palazzo Barberini) by Pietro da Cortona; and The Apotheosis of St Ignatius (1691-iv, San Ignazio, Rome) by Andrea Pozzo. Compare these inspirational works with the muted, even austere, church building interiors created by Protestant artists similar Pieter Saenredam (1597-1665) and Emanuel de Witte (1615-92).

Catholic Art in Espana and Naples

If Italia was the brain of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, its heart was Spain, the most pious country in Europe. Nether the ultra-devout Male monarch Philip II (1527-98), painters and sculptors of the Spanish Bizarre produced some of the nigh spiritually intense illustrations of Catholic doctrine. The greatest of them was El Greco (1541-1614), whose masterpieces include The Disrobing of Christ (1577, Toledo Cathedral); The Burial of the Count of Orgaz (1586, Church of San Tome, Toledo); Christ driving the Traders from the Temple (1600, National Gallery, London); The Ascension of the Virgin Mary (1607-xiii, Southward Cruz Museum, Toledo); and The Adoration of the Shepherds (1613, Prado, Madrid). Other Spanish Bizarre artists included: Velazquez (1599-1660) - if only for his masterpiece Christ on the Cross (c.1632, Prado) - Zurbaran (1598-1664); Bartolome Esteban Murillo (1618-1682) and Juan de Valdes Leal (1622-1690).

In the Castilian colony of Naples, the Catholic Neapolitan School of Painting (1600-56) was led by a series of devout artists such as: Battistello Caracciolo (1578-1635), Jusepe Ribera (1591-1652), Guido Reni (1575-1642) and Lanfranco (1582-1647). Later on the plague of 1654-55, the Neapolitan Baroque was represented by masters similar Mattia Preti (1613-99) and Luca Giordano (1634-1705); both had studied Caravaggio in Naples and both had absorbed the legacy of Venetian painting from the cinquecento, notably the work of Paolo Veronese (1528-88).

Castilian sculptors who contributed to the Catholic Counter-Reformation included: Juan de Juni (1506-77); Jeronimo Hernandez (1540-86); Pablo de Rojas (1549-1611); Andres de Ocampo (1555-1623); Juan Martinez Montanes (1568-1649); Gregorio Fernandez (1576-1636); Alonso Cano (1601-67); and Pedro Roldan (1624-99).

Catholic Art in Flanders

Unlike their Dutch rivals to the northward, the Cosmic Flemish painters of the Spanish Netherlands (Flanders was a Spanish colony) connected to paint large-calibration religious canvases, for ecclesiastical clients. Flemish painting of the late 16th and 17th centuries was dominated by Rubens (1577-1640) and his leading pupil Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641). Amid Rubens' many masterpieces of Catholic art are: Samson and Delilah (1610, National Gallery, London); Massacre of the Innocents (1611, Private Collection); Descent from the Cross (Rubens) (1612-fourteen, Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp); Christ Risen (1616, Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina, Florence); Christ on the Cross (1620, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp); and The Assumption of the Virgin (1626, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC).

Counter-Reformation art spread throughout Catholic Europe then into the overseas Spanish Catholic colonies of Asia and the Americas. Championed past the Jesuits and Franciscans, it inspired overseas groups such equally the Cuzco Schoolhouse, the Quito Schoolhouse, and Chilote School of Catholic imagery.

Catholic Counter-Reformation paintings and sculpture can be seen in some of the best fine art museums in the world.

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Source: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/catholic.htm

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