Baroque is an artistic movement that developed in Italy, in Rome, in the 17th century in reaction to Mannerism that dominated the late Italian Renaissance. This movement was encouraged by the Catholic Churchthat sought to return to the tradition and spirituality the Churchpromoted with the CounterReformation. In order to do that, the Catholic Church decided that the arts should communicate religious themes as a response to the Protestant Reformation. The richness, attention to detail,exuberance and theatricality of the style of Baroque,with itsabundance ofdramatic effects, was used by the Catholic Church tostimulate piety and devotion and convey the impression of the divine splendor.As a result many Baroque painters started to portray religious subjects and to emphasize the contentwith a play of light and shadow.
In addition to the Catholic Church, the European monarchies pomoted the spread of this new artistic style and a large number of architectural projects, paintings and sculptures were commissioned by the Royal Courts of Italy,Spain, France and others. The main objective of theseabsolute monarchies of Europewas to glorify their own divine greatnessand process to strengthen their political position. The aristocracy saw, therefore, the dramatic andexuberant style ofBaroque as a means to impress people and express their wealth, power and control.
After the idealism of the Renaissance and the forced nature of MannerismBaroque art intended to reflect the religious tensions of the time, however in Protestant countries such as theNetherlands, the movementdeveloped differently. In some paintings ofRembrandt and Rubensit is ti possible to seethe desire toreplace thereligious subjects withmore naturalistic and realisticthemes. Within these different strands Baroque developed all around Europe in the 17th century until it was replaced by another style,Rococo, in the 18th century.
Text byCristina Motta
