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Italian art history of the 17th century. painting of italy

Italian art history of the 17th century. painting of italy

23.06.2020

Moscow State Regional University

Art History Essay

Italian art of the 17th century.

Performed:

correspondence student

33 groups of the Faculty of Fine Arts and HP

Minakova Evgenia Yurievna.

Checked:

Moscow 2009

Italy in the 17th century
Architecture. Baroque style in architecture.
Architecture. early baroque.
Architecture. High, or mature, baroque.
Architecture. Baroque architecture outside of Rome.
Art. General characteristics.
Art. early baroque.
Art. Realistic flow.
Art. The second generation of artists of the Bologna school.
Art. High, or mature, baroque.
Art. Late baroque.

Already from the middle of the 16th century, the historical development of Italy was characterized by the advance and victory of feudal Catholic reaction. Economically weak, fragmented into separate independent states, Italy is unable to resist the onslaught of more powerful countries - France and Spain. The long struggle of these states for dominance in Italy ended with the victory of Spain, secured by a peace treaty in Cato Cambresi (1559). Since that time, the fate of Italy is closely connected with Spain. With the exception of Venice, Genoa, Piedmont, and the Papal States, Italy for almost two centuries was in fact a Spanish province. Spain involved Italy in devastating wars, which often took place on the territory of Italian states, contributed to the spread and strengthening of feudal reaction in Italy, both in the economy and in cultural life.

The dominant position in the public life of Italy was occupied by the aristocracy and the higher Catholic clergy. In the conditions of the deep economic decline of the country, only large secular and church feudal lords still had significant material wealth. The Italian people - peasants and townspeople - were in an extremely difficult situation, were doomed to poverty and even to extinction. Protest against feudal and foreign oppression finds expression in numerous popular uprisings that broke out throughout the 17th century and sometimes assumed formidable proportions, such as the uprising of Masaniello in Naples.

The general character of the culture and art of Italy in the 17th century was due to all the features of its historical development. It is in Italy that the art of the Baroque originates and receives the greatest development. However, being dominant in the Italian art of the 17th century, this direction was not the only one. In addition to it and in parallel with it, realistic movements are developing, associated with the ideology of the democratic strata of Italian society and receiving significant development in many art centers in Italy.

The monumental architecture of Italy in the 17th century satisfied almost exclusively the needs of the Catholic Church and the highest secular aristocracy. During this period, mainly church buildings, palaces and villas were built.

The difficult economic situation in Italy made it impossible to build very large structures. At the same time, the church and the highest aristocracy needed to strengthen their prestige, their influence. Hence - the desire for unusual, extravagant, ceremonial and sharp architectural solutions, the desire for increased decorativeness and sonority of forms.

The construction of imposing, although not so large structures contributed to the creation of the illusion of the social and political well-being of the state.

Baroque reaches its greatest tension and expression in religious, church buildings; its architectural forms perfectly corresponded to the religious principles and ritual side of militant Catholicism. By building numerous churches, the Catholic Church sought to strengthen and strengthen its prestige and influence in the country.

The Baroque style developed in the architecture of that time is characterized, on the one hand, by the desire for monumentality, and, on the other hand, by the predominance of the decorative and pictorial beginning over the tectonic.

Like works of fine art, baroque architectural monuments (especially church buildings) were designed to enhance the emotional impact on the viewer. The rational principle, which underlay the art and architecture of the Renaissance, gave way to the irrational principle, static, calm - dynamics, tension.

Baroque is a style of contrasts and uneven distribution of compositional elements. Of particular importance in it are large and juicy curvilinear, arched forms. Baroque structures are characterized by frontality, façade construction. Buildings are perceived in many cases from one side - from the side of the main facade, often obscuring the volume of the structure.

Baroque pays great attention to architectural ensembles - urban and park, but the ensembles of this time are based on other principles than the ensembles of the Renaissance. Baroque ensembles in Italy are built on decorative principles. They are characterized by isolation, comparative independence from the general system of planning the urban area. An example is the largest ensemble of Rome - the square in front of the Cathedral of St. Peter.

The colonnades and decorative walls that closed the space in front of the entrance to the cathedral covered the disorderly, random buildings behind them. There is no connection between the square and the complex network of lanes and random houses adjoining it. Separate buildings that are part of the Baroque ensembles, as it were, lose their independence, completely submitting to the general compositional design.

Baroque posed the problem of art synthesis in a new way. Sculpture and painting, which played a very important role in the buildings of that time, intertwined with each other and often obscured or illusoryly deformed architectural forms, contributed to the creation of that impression of richness, splendor and splendor that Baroque monuments invariably produce.

Of great importance for the formation of a new style was the work of Michelangelo. In his works, he developed a number of forms and techniques that were later used in Baroque architecture. The architect Vignola can also be described as one of the immediate forerunners of the Baroque; in his works one can note a number of early signs of this style.

A new style - the Baroque style in Italian architecture - replaces the Renaissance in the 80s of the 16th century and develops throughout the 17th and the first half of the 18th century.

Conventionally, within the architecture of this time, three stages can be distinguished: early baroque - from the 1580s to the end of the 1620s, high, or mature, baroque - until the end of the 17th century and later - the first half of the 18th century.

The architects Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana are considered to be the first Baroque masters. They belonged to the next generation in relation to Vignola, Alessi, Ammanati, Vasari and ended their activity at the beginning of the 17th century. At the same time, as noted earlier, the traditions of the late Renaissance continued to live in the work of these masters.

Giacomo della Porta. Giacomo della Porta (1541-1608) was a student of Vignola. Its early construction - the church of Site Katarina in Funari (1564) - in its style belongs to the Renaissance. However, the facade of the church del Gesu, which this architect completed after the death of Vignola (since 1573), is much more baroque than the original project of his teacher. The facade of this church with a characteristic division into two tiers and side volutes, the plan of construction was a model for a number of Catholic churches in Italy and other countries. Giacomo della Porta completed after the death of Michelangelo the construction of the large dome of the Cathedral of St. Peter. This master was also the author of the famous villa Aldobrandini in Frascati near Rome (1598-1603). As usual, the main building of the villa is located on the side of the mountain; a double-sided rounding ramp leads to the main entrance. On the opposite side of the building adjoins the garden. At the foot of the mountain there is a semicircular grotto with arches, above it there is a water cascade framed by stairs. The building itself is of a very simple prismatic form, completed by a huge torn pediment.

In the composition of the villa, in the park structures that make it up and in the nature of the plastic details, the desire for deliberate beauty, the refinement of architecture, so characteristic of the Baroque in Italy, is clearly manifested.

At the time under consideration, the system of the Italian park is finally taking shape. It is characterized by the presence of a single axis of the park, located on the slope of the mountain with numerous slopes and terraces. The main building is located on the same axis. A typical example of such a complex is Villa Aldobrandini.

Domenico Fontana. Another major architect of the early Baroque was Domenico Fontana (1543-1607), who belonged to the Roman successors of Michelangelo and Vignola. His most important work is the Lateran Palace in Rome. The palace, in the form that Fontana gave it, is an almost regular square with a square courtyard enclosed inside. The facade solution of the palace is completely based on the architecture of the Palazzo Farnese by Antonio Sangallo the Younger. In general, the palace construction of Italy in the 17th century is based on the further development of the compositional type of the palace-palazzo, which was developed by the architecture of the Renaissance.

Together with his brother Giovanni Fontana, Domenico built in Rome in 1585-1590 the Aqua Paolo fountain (without the attic, later made by Carlo Maderna). Its architecture is based on the reworking of antique triumphal arches.

Carlo Maderna. The student and nephew of Domenico Fontana - Carlo Maderna (1556-1629) finally strengthened the new style. His work is transitional to the period of developed baroque.

An early work by Maderno is the facade of the early Christian basilica of Susanna in Rome (c. 1601). Created on the basis of the scheme of the facade of the Church of the Gesù, the facade of the Church of Susanna is clearly divided into orders, decorated with statues in niches and numerous ornamental decorations.

In 1604, Maderna was appointed chief architect of the Cathedral of St. Peter. By order of Pope Paul V, Maderna drew up a project for expanding the cathedral by adding a front, entrance part. The clergy insisted on lengthening the Greek cross to the Latin form, which was in line with the tradition of church architecture. In addition, the dimensions of the Michelangelo Cathedral did not fully cover the place where the ancient basilica was located, which was unacceptable from the point of view of the ministers of the church.

As a result, when building a new front facade of the cathedral, Maderna completely changed the original plan of Michelangelo. The latter conceived the cathedral as standing in the center of a large square, which would allow one to walk around the building and see it from all sides. Maderna, with his extension, closed the sides of the cathedral from the viewer: the width of the facade exceeds the width of the longitudinal part of the temple. The lengthening of the building led to the fact that the dome of the Cathedral of St. Petra is perceived completely only at a very great distance, as he approaches the building, he gradually disappears behind the facade wall.

The second period of baroque architecture - the period of maturity and flourishing of style - is associated with the work of major masters: L. Bernini, F. Borromini, C. Rainaldi - in Rome, B. Longhena - in Venice, F. Ricchini - in Milan, Guarino Guarini - in Turin.

Lorenzo Bernini. The central figure of the mature Baroque is Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). He was not only an architect, but also the largest sculptor of the 17th century in Italy.

Since 1629, Bernini, after the death of Maderna, continued the construction of the Cathedral of St. Peter. In 1633, he built a large bronze canopy in the cathedral above the main dome, supported by four twisted, essentially deconstructive columns. According to tradition, this canopy is conventionally considered the first work of the mature Baroque. Bernini's interior decoration of the cathedral was suggested to him by Michelangelo's project. This decoration is a wonderful example of the baroque church interior.

The largest architectural work of Bernini was the design of the square in front of the Cathedral of St. Peter (1655-1667). The architect created two squares - a large elliptical one, framed by columns, and a trapezoid-shaped square directly adjacent to it, bounded on the opposite side by the main facade of the cathedral. An obelisk and two symmetrically located fountains were installed within the oval square.

Bernini continued and developed Maderna's idea: the colonnades make it impossible to approach the cathedral from the sides. Only the main facade remains accessible to the viewer.

The majestic architecture of Piazza Bernini was a worthy backdrop for the ceremony of the congress of the nobility for the solemn service, which took place in the cathedral. In the 17th and 18th centuries, this congress was a magnificent and solemn spectacle. Square of the Cathedral of St. Petra is the largest Italian Baroque ensemble.

In the Vatican, Bernini created the main Royal Staircase - "Scala Reggia" ("Rock of the Site"), in which he used the technique of artificially strengthening the perspective reduction. Due to the gradual narrowing of the march and the reduction of the columns, the impression of a greater depth of the room and an increase in the size of the staircase itself is created.

Among the most characteristic works of Bernini is the small church of San Andrea in Quirinale (1678), the main facade of which has the form of a portal with pilasters and a triangular pediment. This portal is, as it were, mechanically attached to the main volume of the building, which is oval in plan.

The main work of Bernini in the field of civil architecture is the Palazzo Odescalchi in Rome (1665), decided according to the usual Renaissance scheme. The compositional center of the building is, as usual, the courtyard, bounded on the first floor by arcades. The distribution of windows on the facades and their decorative decoration also resembles a 16th-century palazzo. Only the central part of the main façade was designed in a new way: the two upper floors are covered by a large order in the form of Corinthian pilasters, the first floor in relation to this order plays the role of a pedestal. Such a breakdown of the facade wall will later, in the architecture of classicism, become widespread.

Bernini also continued the construction of the Palazzo Barberini begun by Maderna. The structure does not have a closed courtyard, common for Italian palaces. The main building is bounded on both sides by outbuildings protruding forward. The central part of the main façade is perceived as an appliqué superimposed, for decorative purposes, on the surface of the wall. The central risalit has very wide and high arched windows, with semi-columns placed between them; on the first floor there is a deep loggia. All this sharply distinguishes the central part of the facade from the more massive side parts, decorated in the traditions of 16th century architecture. A similar technique was also very widespread in Italian baroque architecture.

Of interest is the oval staircase of the Palazzo Barberini with spiral marches supported by double Tuscan columns.

Francesca Borromsh. No less important for the Italian Baroque is the work of Francesco Borromini (1599-1667), an employee of Bernini, and later his rival and enemy. The works of Borromini are particularly pompous and "dynamic" forms. Borromini brought the Baroque style to its maximum intensity.

The main work of Borromini in the field of temple architecture is the church of San Carlo "at the four fountains" (1638-1667). Its facade is perceived as an independent architectural composition, independent of the building. It is given curving, wavy forms. Within this façade, one can see the whole arsenal of baroque forms - torn arcuate cornices, oval cartouches and other decorative details. The church itself has a complex shape in plan, resembling two bells stacked together with their bases. The ceiling is an oval dome. As in many other buildings of that time, the composition of the church is based on the contrast of external and internal architectural volumes, on the unexpectedness of the effect that occurs when entering the building.

One of the most significant works of the architect is the Roman church of San Ivo, included in the building of the Sapiencia (university, 1642-1660). It should be noted the complex outlines of the plan of the church and the complete discrepancy between the outer and inner shells of the dome. From the outside, one gets the impression of a high drum and a flat dome covering this drum. Entering inside, you are convinced that the fifth parts of the dome cover are located directly at the base of the drum.

Borromini designed the Villa Falconieri in Frascati. In addition, he rebuilt the Palazzo Spada and worked before Bernini on the Palazzo Barberini (see above).

Carlo Reinaldi. Carlo Rainaldi (1611-1691) is one of the main builders of the heyday of the Baroque. The most important works of Rainaldi are the churches of San Agnese and Site Maria in Campitelli.

The church of San Agnese (begun in 1651) is located on the axis of Piazza Navona, which has preserved the outlines of the ancient circus of Domitian that was located here earlier. The square is decorated with Bernini's Baroque fountains typical of this time. The church has a centric plan and is completed with a large dome; its arcuate, concave façade is bounded on both sides by bell towers. Unlike most Roman churches of that time, the dome is not hidden by the plane of the facade, but acts as the main compositional center of the entire area.

The church of Site Maria in Campitelli was built later, in 1665-1675. Its two-tiered façade, designed according to the system of the church del Gesù, and the interior design are a typical example of mature baroque architecture.

Rainaldi also owns the rear facade of the Roman church of Santa Maria Maggiore (1673).

In the 17th century, Roman architecture was enriched by several new villas located in the vicinity of the city. In addition to the Villa Doria Pamphili, built by the architects Algardi and Grimaldi (c. 1620), among others, Villa Mandragone and Villa Torlonia were created - both are located in Frascati, as well as Villa d "Este in Tivoli. These ceremonial estates are beautiful swimming pools, rows of cypresses, evergreen shrubs, variously decorated terraces with balustrades, grottoes, numerous sculptures... The refinement and splendor of decorative decoration were often combined with elements of wildlife introduced into the artificially created landscape.

Baroque outside Rome brought forward a number of major architects. Bartolomeo Bianco worked in Genoa in the 17th century. His main work is the building of the University of Genoa (since 1623) with a wonderful courtyard bounded by two-story arcades and beautiful staircases adjoining them. Due to the fact that Genoa is located on a mountain slope, like an amphitheater descending to the sea, and some buildings were built on plots with a large slope, the latter are dominated by the placement of buildings and courtyards at various levels. In the building of the University, the front vestibule, the central courtyard and, finally, the stairs leading to the garden, located behind the openwork two-tier arcade, are strung in ascending order on one compositional horizontally located axis.

The architect Baltassare Longena (1598-1682) worked in Venice. His main work is the largest, along with the Cathedral of St. Mark, Church of Venice Santa Maria delle Salute (1631-1682); it is on the arrow between the Giudecca Canal and the Grande Canal. This church has two domes. Behind the main, octahedral volume, topped with a dome, there is a second volume containing an altar; it is also endowed with a dome, but already smaller in size. The entrance to the temple is decorated in the form of a triumphal arch. The drum of the main dome is connected with the main walls of the church by 16 spiral volutes with sculptures installed on them. They enrich the silhouette of the building, give it a special character. Despite the splendor of decoration, the external appearance of the church shows a certain fragmentation of architecture and dryness of details. Inside, the church, lined with light gray marble, is spacious, but cold and formal.

On the Grand Canal of Venice are both the most significant palazzo built by Longena - Palazzo Pesaro (c. 1650) and Palazzo Rezzonico (1680). In terms of the structure of their facades, the latter are in many ways similar to the palaces of Venice during the Renaissance, in particular with the Palazzo Corner Sanso Vino, but at the same time they differ from them incomparably greater saturation and decorative forms.

The architect Gvarino Guarini (1624-1683), who was a monk of the order of the Theatines, worked in Turin. Guarino Guarini - "the most baroque of all baroque architects" - can be compared in his creative temperament only with Francesco Borromini. In his works, he often used for decorative purposes, in addition to the usual forms, reworked motifs of Moorish and Gothic architecture. He erected many buildings in Turin, including the Palazzo Carignano (1680), grand and majestic, but purely decorative in design. The decision of the main building of the palazzo is typical. In its main rectangular volume, as it were, the central part is inserted with the front staircase intricately conceived. The walls that bound it, and marches have an arcuate shape in plan. All this is reflected in the facade accordingly. If its lateral sections retain rectangular outlines, then the center is a plane bending in opposite directions with a slot in the middle, where a completely different motif is inserted in the form of an appliqué - a two-tiered loggia also of a curved shape. Window casings on the facades have a broken cartilaginous configuration. The pilasters are dotted with small, graphic forms.

Among the churches built by Guarini, the church of the Madonna della Consolata with an oval nave, behind which there is a hexagonal altar, should be highlighted. The churches built by Gvarini are even more whimsical and complex in form than his civil buildings.

In the visual arts, as in the architecture of Italy, in the 17th century, the Baroque style becomes dominant. It arises as a reaction against "mannerism", the far-fetched and complex forms of which are opposed, first of all, by the great simplicity of images, drawn both from the creations of the masters of the High Renaissance, and due to an independent study of nature. Vigilantly peering into the classical heritage, often borrowing individual elements from it, the new direction strives for the greatest possible expressiveness of forms in their turbulent dynamics. New pictorial techniques also correspond to the new searches of art: the calmness and clarity of the composition are replaced by their freedom and, as it were, by chance. The figures are displaced from their central position and are built in groups mainly along diagonal lines. This construction is of great importance for the Baroque. It enhances the impression of movement and contributes to a new transfer of space. Instead of dividing it into separate layers, which is usual for the art of the Renaissance, it is covered by a single glance, creating the impression of a random fragment of an immense whole. This new understanding of space belongs to the most valuable achievements of the Baroque, which played a certain role in the further development of realistic art. The desire for expressiveness and dynamics of forms gives rise to another feature, no less typical of the Baroque - the use of all kinds of contrasts: contrasts of images, movements, contrasts of illuminated and shadow plans, contrasts of color. All this is complemented by a pronounced craving for decorativeness. At the same time, the pictorial texture is also changing, moving from a linear-plastic interpretation of forms to an ever wider picturesque vision.

The noted features of the new style acquired more and more definite features over time. This justifies the division of Italian art of the 17th century into three unevenly lasting stages: "early", "mature", or "high", and "late" baroque, whose dominance lasts much longer than the others. These features, as well as chronological limits, will be noted later.

The baroque art of Italy mainly serves the dominant and established after the Council of Trent Catholic Church, princely courts and numerous nobility. The tasks set before the artists were as much ideological as decorative. The decoration of churches, as well as the palaces of the nobility, monumental paintings of domes, plafonds, walls in the fresco technique are developing unprecedentedly. This type of painting becomes a specialty of Italian artists who worked both in their homeland and in Germany, Spain, France, and England. They retain an undeniable priority in this area of creativity until the end of the 18th century. The themes of church paintings are magnificent scenes of glorification of religion, its dogmas or saints and their deeds. On the plafonds of the palaces, allegorical and mythological plots dominate, serving as the glorification of the sovereign families and their representatives.

Large altar paintings are still extremely common. In them, along with the solemnly majestic images of Christ and the Madonna, images that had the strongest impact on the viewer are especially common. These are scenes of executions and torments of saints, as well as their states of ecstasy.

Secular easel painting most willingly took on themes from the Bible, mythology and antiquity. As its independent types, the landscape, the battle genre, and the still life develop.

On the verge of the 16th and 17th centuries, two trends arose as a reaction against mannerism, from which all subsequent Italian painting developed: Bolognese academicism and caravaggism.

Balance School. The Carracci brothers. Bologna academicism is formed into a coherent artistic system already in the mid-1580s. Three Bolognese artists - Ludovico Carracci (1555-1609) and his cousins Agostino (1557-1602) and Annibale (1560-1609), who occupies the first place among the brothers - are developing the foundations of a new style, based mainly on the study of the classical heritage of the 16th century . The influence of the Venetian school, the work of Correggio and later Roman art of the 16th century causes a decisive turn from mannerism towards simplicity, and at the same time the majesty of the images.

The first works of the Carracci brothers on the painting of the palaces of Bologna (Palazzo Fava, Palazzo Magnani) do not yet allow us to clearly differentiate their stylistic features. But the easel paintings by Annibale Carracci, in which reminiscences of the Parma school are initially strong, point to an emerging bright artistic individuality. In 1587 and 1588, he creates two altarpieces, which are, as it were, the first works of the new style: The Ascension of the Madonna and The Madonna with St. Matthew" (both in the Dresden Gallery). If in the first there is still a lot of mannerism in the movement of figures and in their expression, then “Madonna with St. Matthew" is characterized by a calm majesty of images, indicative of the beginning of a new stage in Italian painting.

In the 1580s, the Carracci brothers opened an Academy in Bologna, which they called the Accademia dei Incominati (Academy on a New Path). Instead of the former training of future artists, which provided for the acquisition of the necessary skills during auxiliary work in the workshops of painters, the Carracci spoke in favor of the systematic teaching of subjects required in the practice of the artist. Along with teaching drawing and painting, anatomy, perspective, as well as such disciplines as history, mythology, and literature were taught at the aforementioned Academy. The new method was destined to play a major role in the history of European art, and the Bologna Academy was the prototype for all subsequent academies that opened from the 17th century.

In 1595, the Carracci brothers, who had already gained great fame, were invited to Rome by Cardinal Farnese to paint his palace. Only Annibale responded to the invitation, leaving Bologna forever. In Rome, close contact with the traditions of the local school and the influence of antiquity opened a new phase in the art of the master. After a relatively insignificant painting of one of the halls of the Palazzo Farnese (“Camerino”, mid-1590s), Annibale Carracci creates the famous gallery ceiling there, which was, as it were, the crown of his work and the starting point for most decorative paintings of the 17th century. The gallery space (about 20 × 6 m), covered by a low duct vault, Annibale divides into a number of independent segments. The compositional structure of the plafond is reminiscent of the painting of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, from which, in addition to laying out the plane, it also borrows the illusionistic nature of the interpretation of sculpture, living human figures and paintings. The general theme is the love stories of the gods of Olympus. In the center of the ceiling is the crowded and noisy "Triumphal Procession of Bacchus and Ariadne". On the sides are two other mythological compositions, and below is a strip dissected by marbled herms and Atlanteans, at the feet of which sit, as it were, living young men. These figures are framed either by round medallions, imitating bronze ones, with antique scenes, or by purely pictorial narrative compositions. At the corners, this frieze seems to be torn apart by the image of balustrades, above which cupids are written against the background of the sky. This detail is important as an early, still timid attempt to break the real space, a technique that later became especially characteristic of baroque plafonds. The plastic power of the figures, the variety of decorative forms and colorful richness created an ensemble of extraordinary splendor.

The easel paintings created by Annibale Carracci in the Roman period of creativity are devoted mainly to religious subjects. The cold perfection of forms leaves little room for feeling in them. Lamentation of Christ (1599, Naples, National Gallery), where both are equally high, belongs to the exceptions. In the manner of painting most of the paintings, the desire for a clear linear-plastic identification of figures prevails. The Myrrh-Bearing Women at the Tomb of Christ (c. 1605, Hermitage) are among the most characteristic examples of this type of artist's work.

Often turning to the landscape genre, Annibale Carracci becomes the ancestor of the so-called "classical" landscape, which was widespread in the future. The essence of the latter lies in the fact that its representatives, using sometimes very subtly observed motives of nature, strive primarily to "ennoble" its forms. Landscapes are built in the artist's studio using elaborate schemes, in which the balancing of masses, smooth lines of contours and the use of groups of trees or ruins as scenes play the most important role. "Landscape with the Adoration of the Magi" by Annibale Carracci in the Doria Gallery in Rome can be called one of the first stylistically finished examples of this type.

Caravaggism. A few years later, after the formation of Bologna academism, another artistic movement, even more opposed to mannerism, was put forward, distinguished by a pronounced search for realism in images and bearing a largely democratic character. This trend, which is exceptionally important in the general history of the development of realism, is usually designated by the term "caravaggism", derived from the name of its head, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1574-1610). Widely known by the name of the place of his homeland, Caravaggio developed as a painter under the influence of the art of Northern Italy. As a young man, he ends up in Rome, where he attracts attention with a number of genre paintings. The depicted half-figures of girls and boys, gypsies and cheaters are endowed with hitherto unknown materiality. The details of the compositions are depicted in the same material way: baskets of flowers and fruits, musical instruments. The painting The Lute Player (1594-1595, Hermitage), which belongs to the best works of this circle, gives an idea of the type of such works. It is characteristic of the early Caravaggio and a clear linear manner of painting.

A simple image, devoid of any idealization, decisively different from the ennobled images of Carracci, is given by Caravaggio in his Bacchus (1596-1597, Florence, Uffizi),

In the late 1590s, Caravaggio received the first major commission to create three paintings for the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. In the altar painting “The Writing Apostle Matthew, whose hand is directed by an angel” (1597-1598, the painting was lost during the Second World War), Caravaggio abandoned any idealization of the apostle, depicting him with unvarnished truthfulness in the form of a man from the people. This image caused a sharp condemnation of the customers, who demanded that the painting be replaced with another, more acceptable option for them. In one of the following compositions of the same order, representing "The Calling of the Apostle Matthew" (1598-1599), Caravaggio gave the first example of the so-called "cellar" painting. A dark tone prevails in this picture, contrasted with sharply illuminated details, especially important for the composition: heads, outlines of figures, hand gestures. This technique had a particularly definite influence on European painting in the first third of the 17th century.

The first years of the 17th century (1601-1603) date back to one of the most famous masterpieces of Caravaggio's painting - "The Entombment" (Rome, Vatican Pinacoteca). Built diagonally in height, this composition is distinguished by extreme expressiveness and vitality of images; in particular, the figure of a leaning disciple supporting the legs of the dead Christ is conveyed with the utmost realism. The same realism, which does not allow any idealization, distinguishes the “Assumption of Mary” (1605-1606, Louvre) executed a few years later. Above the lying body of the Madonna, slightly touched by decay, the disciples of Christ stand in deep sadness. The genre and everyday nature of the painting, in which the artist resolutely departed from the traditional transmission of the theme, again caused criticism from the church.

The rebellious temperament of Caravaggio constantly brought him into collision with the environment. It so happened that during a quarrel he killed his opponent in the ball game and was forced to flee from Rome. In the biography of the master, a new stage was opened, marked by a constant change of place. After a short stay in Naples, he finds himself on the island of Malta, where he has great success in the service of the Grand Master of the Order of Malta, is elevated to the rank of nobleman, but soon, after a new quarrel, he ends up in prison. He then appears again in Naples, after which he receives permission to return to Rome, but due to the mistake of the authorities, mistaking him for another, he is deprived of his property, falls on a deserted seashore and dies of a fever.

During this late period of creativity, the master created several wonderful works. Among the most outstanding are the image “Portrait of the Grand Master of the Order of Malta Alof de Wignacour” (1608), which strikes with the power of realism, as well as the “Adoration of the Shepherds” (1609, Messina), exceptional in its simplicity of story and deep humanity.

The work of the master, distinguished by the novelty of the reflection of life and the originality of painting techniques, had a strong influence on many artists, both Italians and foreigners who worked in Rome. Thus, it was the most important stimulus for the development of realism in the pan-European painting of the 17th century. Among the Italians, Orazio Dsentileschi (1565-before 1647) belongs to the most prominent followers of Caravaggio.

Domenichino. As for the closest students and successors of the art of Carracci, among them Domenichino is especially outstanding. Domenico Zampieri, nicknamed Domenichino (1582-1641), is known as the largest exponent of monumental narrative fresco painting in the 17th century. He combines in it the majesty of idealized, but preserving natural forms with the seriousness of conveying content. These features are most fully expressed in the painting of the Roman church of Sant'Andrea della Valle (1624-1628), where at the end of the apse, among the stucco, white and gold ornament, Domenichino depicted scenes of the gospel narrative from the life of the apostles Andrew and Peter, and on the sails of the dome - four evangelists surrounded by angels. Of the master's easel paintings, the most famous is The Last Communion of St. Jerome (1614, Rome, Vatican). The classicism of forms, partly caused by passion for Raphael, is combined in the interpretation of faces with a deep religious feeling. Domenichino's work is often marked by the lyrical nature of the images. Indicative in this regard is his early "Girl with a Unicorn", written above the front door of the Palazzo Farnese gallery, and especially the painting, conventionally called "Diana's Hunt" (1620, Rome, Borghese Gallery). The picture depicts the competition of Diana's companions in archery and the episode of the appearance of Actaeon among them. The naturalness of the staging is enhanced by the freshness of the interpretation of the images.

Francesca Albany. Francesco Albani (1578-1660) was mainly an easel painter and is interesting, among other things, for the introduction of a new type of canvas - small, so-called "cabinet" paintings, designed to decorate rooms of limited volume. In them, Albani depicted usually idyllic landscapes, against which figures of cupids frolic and dance.

Guado Reni. Guido Reni (1575-1642), who appeared after Carracci as the head of the Bolognese school, in the early period of his work was influenced by the art of Caravaggio. It manifests itself in the absence of idealization of images and the sharp contrast of chiaroscuro (“The Crucifixion of the Apostle Peter”, ca. 1605, Rome, Vatican). Soon, however, Reni develops his own style, which is the most striking expression of one of the trends observed in the art of Italy in the 17th century. This so-called "classic" direction of the early baroque is characterized by restraint of the artistic language, as well as the rigor of idealized forms. Guido Reni's style is fully revealed for the first time in the famous Aurora (1613-1614, Palazzo Rospigliosi), painted in the fresco technique on the ceiling of the Roman Palazzo Rospigliosi. Against the background of a golden-yellow sky, surrounded by a dance of graces, Apollo rushes on a chariot. Aurora, flying in front of him, sprinkles flowers on the earth and the leaden sea, which the rays of the sun have not yet touched. The linear-plastic interpretation of forms, a balanced composition built like an easel painting, as well as the opposition of different, but muted colors, make this fresco exceptionally indicative of an early stage in the development of Baroque decorative painting. The same features, but with more contrived poses, are also manifested in the later easel painting - "Atalanta and Hippomene" (c. 1625, Naples). Reni often introduces features of sentimentalism and sugariness into his religious paintings. The Hermitage painting The Youth of the Madonna (1610s) attracts with the intimacy of the transmission of pretty girls busy with sewing. In a number of other works, the idealization of images does not preclude their naturalness and depth of feeling (Lamentation of Christ, Bologna, Pinacoteca, 1613-1614; Madonna and Child, New York, private collection, late 1620s).

The third decade of the 17th century opens a new stage of baroque art, covered by the concept of "high, or mature, baroque". Its essential features are the increased dynamism and expressiveness of forms, the picturesqueness of their transmission and the extraordinary enhancement of decorativeness. In painting, intense colorfulness joins the marked features.

Giovanni Lanfranco. One of the masters who asserted the dominance of the new style, Giovanni Lanfranco (1580-1641), relying mainly on the monumental art of Correggio, already by 1625 created his painting of the dome of Sant'Andrea della Valle, depicting "Paradise". Arranging innumerable figures in concentric circles - the Madonna, saints, angels, he leads the viewer's eye into an endless space, in the center of which is a luminous figure of Christ. This artist is also characterized by the association of figures into broad masses, forming picturesque streams of light and shadow. The same painting techniques are repeated in Lanfranco's easel paintings, among which one of the most indicative is the "Vision of St. Margaret of Corton" (Florence, Palazzo Pitti). The state of ecstasy and the construction of groups along the diagonal are extremely characteristic of Baroque art.

Gverchino. The illusion of a space bursting above the heads of the spectators, common to the developed phase of the monumental art of the Baroque, is even more definite than in Lanfranco's, expressed by his contemporary Francesco Barbieri, nicknamed Guercino (1591-1666). In the ceiling of the Palazzo Ludovisi in Rome (1621-1623), as well as in the ceiling of Guido Reni mentioned above, Aurora is depicted, this time rushing in a chariot through a cloudy sky. The tops of the walls and towering cypresses depicted along the edge of the composition, when viewed from a certain point of view, create the illusion of continuing the real architecture of the room. Guercino, who is, as it were, a link between the artistic manners of Carracci and Caravaggio, borrows the character of his figures from the former, and the techniques of his chiaroscuro painting from the latter. "The Burial of St. Petronilla" (1621, Rome, Capitol Gallery) is one of the clear examples of early Guercino's painting, in which the naturalness of the images is combined with the breadth and energy of pictorial performance. In "Execution of St. Catherine" (1653, Hermitage), as in other later works of the master, the veracity of the images is replaced by the elegance of the composition.

Domenico Fetti. Of the other artists of this time, Domenico Fetti (1589-1624) should also be mentioned. In his compositions, elements of a realistic everyday genre coexist with a rich colorful palette, which was influenced by the art of Rubens. His paintings "Madonna" and "Healing of Tobit" (1620s, Hermitage). distinguished by the sonority and softness of color, allow you to get a certain idea of the artist's coloristic quest.

Lorenzo Bernini. The central figure of High Baroque art is the brilliant architect and sculptor Lorenzo Bernini (1599-1680). The sculpture of the master represents a unique combination of all the most characteristic features of the Baroque style. It organically merged the ultimate sharpness of a realistic image with an immense breadth of decorative vision. To this is added an unsurpassed mastery of the technique of processing marble, bronze, terracotta.

The son of a sculptor, Lorenzo Bernini belongs to the masters who find their artistic language very early and reach maturity almost from the first steps. Already around 1620, Bernini creates several marble sculptures that belong to the undisputed masterpieces. His statue "David" dates back to 1623 (Rome, Galleria Borghese). She is distinguished by her extraordinary mastery of realistic transmission of the tension of the spiritual and physical forces of the biblical hero, depicted at the moment of throwing a stone with a sling. Two years later, the Apollo Pursuing Daphne group is performed (1620s, Rome, Galleria Borghese). The picturesque forms of running figures and the exceptional perfection of surface treatment are complemented by the rare subtlety of expression on the faces of Daphne, who still does not feel the ongoing metamorphosis (turning her into a laurel tree), and Apollo, who understands that the victim he has overtaken is irretrievably lost.

The twenties and thirties of the 17th century - the time of the pontificate of Urban VIII - strengthened Bernini's position as the leading painter of Rome. In addition to numerous architectural works, he creates in the same period a number of monumental sculptures, portraits, as well as works of a purely decorative nature. Of the latter, the “Triton Fountain” (1637) towering on one of the squares of Rome belongs to the most perfect. The bizarre outlines of a huge shell supported by dolphins and a triton towering above it are in harmony with the jets of falling waters.

The strongly pronounced decorativeness of most of the master’s works can be contrasted with the portraits of Constance Buonarelli (Florence, National Museum) and Cardinal Scipione Borghese (Rome, Borghese Gallery), related to the same stage of Bernini’s activity, amazing in terms of realistic sharpness of characteristics dating back to the 1630s.

The accession in 1640 to the papal throne of Innocent X entailed the temporary removal of Bernini from a leading role in the construction and decoration of Rome. In the short period separating him from the then coming official recognition, Bernini performs a number of new wonderful works. Bearing in mind the temporary non-recognition of his artistic merits, he creates the allegorical group "The Truth Revealed by Time". The figure of time remained unfulfilled, but the seated allegorical female figure strikes with the extraordinary expressiveness of realistic forms.

The famous group “The Ecstasy of St. Teresa, which adorns the Cornaro chapel of the Roman church of Santa Maria della Vittoria (1645-1652), An angel with an arrow in his hand appears above the saint, leaning in a state of ecstasy. Teresa's feelings are expressed with all the inexorability of a realistic transmission. The interpretation of her wide attire and the figure of an angel contains decorative features. The white color of the marble group, placed against the background of golden rays, merges with the colorful shades of the colored marble of the architectural environment into an elegant color ensemble. The theme and performance are very characteristic of the Italian Baroque style.

1628-1647 dates back to one of the most important creations of Bernini - the tombstone of Pope Urban VIII in the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome. By the majestic expressiveness of the idea and the mastery of the plastic solution, this monument belongs to the most remarkable works of tomb sculpture. Against the background of a niche lined with colored marble, a white pedestal with an expressive bronze figure of the pope rises. His raised hand in blessing conveys a formidable majesty to the figure. Below, on the sides of the green marble sarcophagus are white figures, personifying the virtues of Urban VIII - wise Justice and Mercy. A bronze half-figure of a winged skeleton growing out from behind the sarcophagus attaches to the pedestal a board with the inscribed name of the deceased.

The period of temporary non-recognition of Bernini is soon replaced by the same Innocent X by his recognition as the official head of the Roman school, and almost with more glory than before. Of the sculptural works of the second half of Bernini's activity, one can note the grandiose bronze pulpit of the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome, the figure of Emperor Constantine galloping on a horse (ibid.), and in particular the creation of a new type of portrait, the best image of which is the marble bust of Louis XIV, executed by the master during his stay in 1665 (at the invitation of the French court) in Paris. While maintaining the expressiveness of facial features, the main attention is now focused on the decorativeness of the whole, achieved by a picturesque interpretation of the flowing curls of a huge wig and, as it were, caught up in the wind, fluttering draperies.

Endowed with exceptional expressiveness, originality of visual style and perfection of technical skill, the art of Bernini found countless admirers and imitators who influenced the plastic art of Italy and other countries.

Pietro da Norton. Of the painters, the most indicative of the High Baroque style is Pietro Berrettini da Norton (1596-1669). He initially came to the fore with his multi-figure easel paintings (“The Victory of Alexander the Great over Darius”, “The Rape of the Sabine Women” - 1620s, both - Capitoline Museum, Rome), in which he discovered a deep knowledge of the material culture of Ancient Rome, acquired as a result of studying the monuments of antiquity . But the main achievements of Nortons belong to the field of monumental and decorative paintings. Between 1633 and 1639, he executed a grandiose plafond in the Palazzo Barberini (Rome), which is a striking example of Baroque decorative painting. The plafond glorifies the head of the Barberini house, Pope Urban VIII. In the space covered by a heavy rectangular frame, the figure of Divine Wisdom surrounded by many allegorical characters is depicted. To the left above her, a slender girl with a crown of stars in raised hands, personifying Immortality, flies up to the heavens. Still higher, the powerful figures of the Muses, serving as a reminder of the poetic activity of Urban VIII, carry a huge wreath in the center of which three bees of the Barberini coat of arms fly. On the sides of the frame, on the rounding of the transition to the walls, mythological scenes are depicted, telling in an allegorical form about the activities of the pope. The richness of the pictorial motifs, the diversity and vitality of the images corresponds to the sonorous brilliance of the whole.

The organic fusion, characteristic of the monumental style of Nortona, into a single decorative system of architectonics of compositions, painting and plastic ornamentation found its most complete expression in the painting of a number of halls of the Palazzo Pitti in Florence (1640s), designated by the names of the gods of Olympus. This time the glorification of the Medici house is distinguished by an extraordinary variety of compositions. The most interesting is the plafond that adorns the "Hall of Mars" and speaks of the military virtues of the owners of the Palazzo. The dynamics inherent in this image, the asymmetry of construction, as well as the irrationality of the composition, expressed in the fact that light figures of cupids support the massive stone coat of arms of the Medici, belong to the extreme expressions of the Baroque style, which has reached its full development.

At the same time, realistic tendencies find their development in the work of a number of Italian masters, who mainly worked outside of Rome.

Salvator Rosa. Among the most original artists of the mid-17th century is Salvator Rosa (1615-1673), who was not only a painter, but also a poet, pamphleteer and actor. A native of Naples, where the influence of the Caravaggio school was especially persistent, Rosa is close to the latter in the reality of the images and in the manner of painting with dark shadows. The themes of this artist's work are extremely diverse, but the most important for the history of art are his many battle scenes and landscapes. In battle compositions, the stormy temperament of the artist manifested itself in full force. Such a battle genre, picked up by imitators, will become widespread throughout European art. The landscapes of the master, depicting rocky sea coasts, due to the motifs of the depicted nature, the dynamics of the composition, the sharp contrast of lighting and the emotionality of the overall solution, can be called romantic. Thus, they can be contrasted with the classical landscapes of the Carrachi school and the highly realistic landscapes of the northern schools. Among the large-figure paintings of Rosa, Odysseus and Nausicaa (1650s) and Democrat Surprising at the Agility of Protagoras (the same time) are kept in the Hermitage. They serve as excellent examples of the master's narrative style and pictorial technique.

From the sixties of the 17th century, the last, longest phase in the development of baroque art in Italy, the so-called "late baroque", opens. It is characterized by less rigor in the construction of compositions, greater lightness of figures, especially noticeable in female images, increasing subtleties of color, and, finally, a further increase in decorativeness.

Giovanni Battista Gauli. The main exponent of the new trends in painting is Giovanni Battista Gauli (1639-1709), known both as an easel painter and as an artist who created a number of frescoes. His art is closely related to the art of the late Bernini. Gauli's best works include his early, light-coloured painting of the sails of the church of Sant'Agnese in Piazza Navona in Rome (c. 1665). Instead of the evangelists, the most common church architecture in these places, Gauli depicted allegorical scenes of Christian virtues, distinguished by their lightness of form. Particularly attractive is the one in which two young girls are represented, one of whom lays a wreath of flowers on the other. The works of the mature style of Gauli are the paintings of the plafond, dome and conch of the apse of the main church of the Jesuit order, Il Gesu in Rome (1670s-early 1680s). This plafond, known as the Adoration of the Name of Jesus, is very indicative of the late Baroque style. Among the written architecture, which continues the real forms of the church, there is a celestial space that goes into the depths, filled with innumerable figures, like waves shimmering from dark to lighter groups. Another type of painting by the master is his unadorned, psychologically superbly characterized portraits of his contemporaries (Pope Clement IX, Rome, Gallery of St. Luke; Portrait of Bernini, Rome, Corsini Gallery).

Andrea Pozzo. The search for the illusory nature of architectonic constructions reaches its highest development in the work of Andrea Pozzo (1642-1709). His most important work is the plafond fresco of the church of Saint Ignazio in Rome, viewed from the central nave, depicted on it with tiers of terraces, arcades, colonnades of towering walls, above which Ignatius Loyola stands out among the many figures, creates the illusion of architectural space. Like other similar plafonds, the harmony and correctness of construction are immediately violated as soon as the viewer moves away from the point at which it was designed.

The Neapolitan Luca Giordano (1632-1705) also belongs to the most famous masters of decorative painting. A talented and extremely prolific master, he was nevertheless devoid of inner strength and originality and often imitated other artists. Among his best works is the plafond of the Florentine Palazzo Riccardi, glorifying the Medici family.

In the field of easel painting, Carlo Maratta (1625-1713), belonging to the Roman school of the late 17th century, stands out among the contemporaries of the named artists. He took the place of the largest representative of the late Baroque. His altar paintings are distinguished by smooth lines and majestic calmness of compositions. As a strong artist, he found himself in the field of portraiture. Among his works, the Hermitage's Portrait of Pope Clement IX (1669), sharp in characterization and magnificent in painting, stands out. Francesco Solimena (1657-1749), who worked in Naples, in his biblical and allegorical paintings, recalls Caravaggio's techniques with sharp contrasts of light and shadow, but uses them in purely decorative compositions. The late Bolognese Giuseppe Maria Crespi (1664-1747), who is one of the most gifted artists of the period under review, had a strong influence on the painting of the 18th century. The master is characterized by a strongly pronounced realistic orientation. It manifests itself both in religious compositions and even more clearly in his everyday paintings (“Death of St. Joseph”, ca. 1712, Hermitage; “Series of Sacraments”, 1710s, Dresden Gallery).

Moscow State Regional University

Art History Essay

Italian art of the 17th century.

Performed:

correspondence student

33 groups of the Faculty of Fine Arts and HP

Minakova Evgenia Yurievna.

Checked:

Moscow 2009

Italy in the 17th century

· Architecture. Baroque style in architecture.

· Architecture. early baroque.

· Architecture. High, or mature, baroque.

· Architecture. Baroque architecture outside of Rome.

· Art. General characteristics.

· Art. early baroque.

· Art. Realistic flow.

· Art. The second generation of artists of the Bologna school.

· Art. High, or mature, baroque.

· Art. Late baroque.

Already from the middle of the 16th century, the historical development of Italy was characterized by the advance and victory of feudal Catholic reaction. Economically weak, fragmented into separate independent states, Italy is unable to withstand the onslaught of more powerful countries - France and Spain. The long struggle of these states for dominance in Italy ended with the victory of Spain, secured by a peace treaty in Cato Cambresi (1559). Since that time, the fate of Italy is closely connected with Spain. With the exception of Venice, Genoa, Piedmont, and the Papal States, Italy for almost two centuries was in fact a Spanish province. Spain involved Italy in devastating wars, which often took place on the territory of Italian states, contributed to the spread and strengthening of feudal reaction in Italy, both in the economy and in cultural life.

The dominant position in the public life of Italy was occupied by the aristocracy and the higher Catholic clergy. In the conditions of the deep economic decline of the country, only large secular and church feudal lords still had significant material wealth. The Italian people - peasants and townspeople - were in an extremely difficult situation, were doomed to poverty and even extinction. Protest against feudal and foreign oppression finds expression in numerous popular uprisings that broke out throughout the 17th century and sometimes assumed formidable proportions, such as the uprising of Masaniello in Naples.

The construction of imposing, although not so large structures contributed to the creation of the illusion of the social and political well-being of the state.

A new style - the Baroque style in Italian architecture - replaces the Renaissance in the 80s of the 16th century and develops throughout the 17th and the first half of the 18th century.

Giacomo della Porta. Giacomo della Porta (1541-1608) was a student of Vignola. Its earliest construction - the church of Site Katarina in Funari (1564) - belongs to the Renaissance in its style. However, the facade of the church del Gesu, which this architect completed after the death of Vignola (since 1573), is much more baroque than the original project of his teacher. The facade of this church with a characteristic division into two tiers and side volutes, the plan of construction was a model for a number of Catholic churches in Italy and other countries. Giacomo della Porta completed after the death of Michelangelo the construction of the large dome of the Cathedral of St. Peter. This master was also the author of the famous villa Aldobrandini in Frascati near Rome (1598-1603). As usual, the main building of the villa is located on the side of the mountain; a double-sided rounding ramp leads to the main entrance. On the opposite side of the building adjoins the garden. At the foot of the mountain there is a semicircular grotto with arches, above it there is a water cascade framed by stairs. The building itself is of a very simple prismatic form, completed by a huge torn pediment.

Domenico Fontana. Another major architect of the early Baroque was Domenico Fontana (1543-1607), who was one of the Roman successors of Michelangelo and Vignola. His most important work is the Lateran Palace in Rome. The palace, in the form that Fontana gave it, is an almost regular square with a square courtyard enclosed inside. The facade solution of the palace is completely based on the architecture of the Palazzo Farnese - Antonio Sangallo the Younger. In general, the palace construction of Italy in the 17th century is based on the further development of the compositional type of the palace-palazzo, which was developed by the architecture of the Renaissance.

Baroque(pretentious, bizarre) - a style that was developed in the 17th and 1st half of the 18th centuries. In the art of a number of European countries, mainly in Italy, as well as in Spain, Germany, France.

The art of B. is characterized by grandiosity, pomp and dynamics, pathetic elation, intensity of feelings, addiction to spectacular spectacles, strong contrasts of scales and rhythms, materials and textures, light and shadow. The palaces and churches of B., thanks to the luxurious, bizarre plasticity of the facades, the restless play of chiaroscuro, complex curvilinear plans and outlines, acquired picturesqueness and dynamism, poured into the surrounding space.

The domes acquire complex forms, often they are multi-tiered, as in St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. The characteristic details of the Baroque are Atlantes, caryatids, mascarons. The ceremonial interiors of buildings were decorated with multi-color molding and carvings; mirrors and wall paintings and plafonds illusoryly expanded the space. The combination of contrasting colors, rich color palettes (from emerald to burgundy). A popular combination is white with gold. Lines - convex-concave asymmetric pattern; in the forms of a semicircle, rectangle, oval; vertical lines of columns; pronounced horizontal division. General symmetry. Exaggerated luxury, an abundance of paintings, artsy furniture, decorated with stucco, inlay. Every corner of the interior is richly decorated.

In the visual arts, decorative compositions of a religious, mythological and allegorical nature predominate. In painting - emotions, the unconstrained freedom of the stroke, in sculpture - the picturesque fluidity of form, a sense of variability. The famous master is the architect and sculptor Bernini. In painting, the features of the Baroque appeared in the work of Tiepolo, Rubens.

Russian Baroque developed in the first half of the 18th century, mainly in the architecture of Rastrelli and masters close to him. Brilliant examples are the ensembles of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, the Catherine's Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, the sculptural works of Rastrelli the father (Monument to Peter I, portrait of Menshikov, "Anna Ioannovna with a black child").

Baroque architecture

Carlo Maderna- one of the founders of the Italian Baroque, a prominent representative of the Baroque in Italy. The main creation is the façade of the Roman church of Santa Susanna (1603).

Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini- the great Italian architect and sculptor, the largest representative of the Roman and all Italian baroque. His work is considered to be the standard of baroque aesthetics. The most famous work of Bernini is the square and the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome. The square is framed by semicircular colonnades of the Tuscan order, designed by Bernini, which, in combination with the cathedral, form the symbolic form of the “key of St. Peter”. In the middle is an Egyptian obelisk.

St. Peter's Square in Rome

Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli- the famous Russian architect of Italian origin, academician of architecture. Two of his most famous works: the ensemble of the Smolny Monastery and the Winter Palace with its famous Jordan Stairs. Rastrelli's famous Kyiv projects are the Mariinsky Palace and St. Andrew's Church in Kyiv. Built by order of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna under the direction of I. F. Michurin.

Baroque was the dominant style of Italian art in the 17th century, and above all in architecture and sculpture. But along with it there was a realistic trend, which found its most complete expression in the works of the artist Caravaggio, who had a tremendous impact on the development of all realistic painting in Europe.

Baroque painting.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio ( 1573-1610)

"Young man with a lute". In front of him on the table are a violin, notes, fruits. All these objects are painted with perfect skill in their dense roundness, materiality, tangibility. The face and figure are sculpted with chiaroscuro, the dark background emphasizes the saturation of the light tones protruding forward, the objectivity of everything presented. Caravaggio asserts the superiority of the direct reproduction of life. To the sickly elegance of the still widespread Mannerism and the pathos of the developing Baroque, he contrasts the simplicity and naturalness of everyday life. Summarizing the forms, revealing the essential, he endows the most simple objects with significance and monumentality. The compositions of Caravaggio with figures cut to the waist are precisely constructed, they have a strict regularity, integrity, isolation, bringing Caravaggio closer to the masters of the Renaissance. This gives monumentality and significance not only to his everyday life, but also to religious scenes, such as, for example, “The Unbelief of Thomas”.

"Young man with a lute"

Caravaggio boldly interprets religious images, not being afraid of rudeness and harshness, giving them similarities with the common people. He finds his heroes among fishermen, artisans, soldiers - whole people, endowed with strength of character. With sharp contrasts of chiaroscuro, he enhances the powerful, almost plastic modeling of forms, bringing the figures closer to the foreground of the picture, showing them from complex angles, emphasizing their significance, monumentality.

As a genre scene, the composition "The Calling of the Apostle Matthew" is solved - which depicts two young men in costumes fashionable for those times, looking with curiosity at the incoming Christ. Matthew turned his gaze to Christ, while the third young man, without raising his head, continues to count the money. A bright ray of light, penetrating through the open door, pulls out of the darkness of the room living, sharp-character figures. The light and shade solution contributes not only to the identification of volumes of forms, but also enhances the dramatic effectiveness and emotionality of the image.

In the works of Caravaggio, saints and great martyrs appear as strong, full-blooded people: the simple-minded, rude Matthew, the harsh, inspired Peter and Paul. There is nothing unusual in their plastic-tangible figures. Most of the composition "Paul's Conversion" is occupied by the image of a horse, under whose hooves one can see the figure of a prostrate young Paul illuminated by a bright light, presented in an unusually complex foreshortening. Using optical effects, the artist achieves the monumentality and strength of the overall solution.

In the later works of Caravaggio, the dramatic nature of the worldview is enhanced. The unity and intensity of action, mood, completeness and originality of compositional constructions, the amazing power of light and shade modeling give them the character of real scenes, full of great feelings and thoughts. From picture to picture, the tragic power of Caravaggio's images grows. In the painting “The Entombment”, against a deep dark background, a closely knit group of people close to Christ, lowering his body into the grave, stands out with bright light. They are rude and restrained in their feelings, but the movement of each is marked by a special composure. And only the hands of Mary raised in a pathetic outburst of despair set off the severe grief of the other characters, contrasting with the oppressive weight of the lifeless body of Christ. The tombstone, at the edge of which the carrying bodies stopped, emphasizes the solidity of the entire group. The view from below enhances the impression of majesty.

The artist achieves great emotionality in the composition “The Assumption of Mary”, the breathtaking sincerity of experiences that are expressed in the poses, gestures, faces of the mournful disciples of Christ, who surrounded the bed of the deceased. Everything here is subordinated to the expression of the sorrowful consciousness of the tragedy of life, the inevitability of its end. In essence, these are images of courageous people from the people, endowed with depth of perception, significance and, at the same time, the immediacy of expression of complex spiritual movements. The sharpness of observations in the characterization of each character is combined with monumental brevity and tragic grandeur.

The impact of Caravaggio's work on the development of realism in European art was enormous. In Italy itself, there were many of his followers, who were called caravagists. But even more significant was his influence outside Italy. Not a single major painter of that time passed by the passion for caravagism, which was an important stage on the path of European realistic art.

Moscow State Regional University

Art History Essay

Italian art of the 17th century.

Performed:

correspondence student

33 groups of the Faculty of Fine Arts and HP

Minakova Evgenia Yurievna.

Checked:

Moscow 2009

Italy in the 17th century

Architecture. Baroque style in architecture.

Architecture. early baroque.

Architecture. High, or mature, baroque.

Architecture. Baroque architecture outside of Rome.

Art. General characteristics.

Art. early baroque.

Art. Realistic flow.

Art. The second generation of artists of the Bologna school.

Art. High, or mature, baroque.

Art. Late baroque.

Already from the middle of the 16th century, the historical development of Italy was characterized by the advance and victory of feudal Catholic reaction. Economically weak, fragmented into separate independent states, Italy is unable to withstand the onslaught of more powerful countries - France and Spain. The long struggle of these states for dominance in Italy ended with the victory of Spain, secured by a peace treaty in Cato Cambresi (1559). Since that time, the fate of Italy is closely connected with Spain. With the exception of Venice, Genoa, Piedmont, and the Papal States, Italy for almost two centuries was in fact a Spanish province. Spain involved Italy in devastating wars, which often took place on the territory of Italian states, contributed to the spread and strengthening of feudal reaction in Italy, both in the economy and in cultural life.

The dominant position in the public life of Italy was occupied by the aristocracy and the higher Catholic clergy. In the conditions of the deep economic decline of the country, only large secular and church feudal lords still had significant material wealth. The Italian people - peasants and townspeople - were in an extremely difficult situation, were doomed to poverty and even extinction. Protest against feudal and foreign oppression finds expression in numerous popular uprisings that broke out throughout the 17th century and sometimes assumed formidable proportions, such as the uprising of Masaniello in Naples.

The construction of imposing, although not so large structures contributed to the creation of the illusion of the social and political well-being of the state.

A new style - the Baroque style in Italian architecture - replaces the Renaissance in the 80s of the 16th century and develops throughout the 17th and the first half of the 18th century.

Carlo Maderna. The student and nephew of Domenico Fontana - Carlo Maderna (1556-1629) finally strengthened the new style. His work is transitional to the period of developed baroque.

Maderno's early work is the façade of the early Christian basilica of Susanna in Rome (c. 1601). Created on the basis of the scheme of the facade of the Church of the Gesù, the facade of the Church of Susanna is clearly divided into orders, decorated with statues in niches and numerous ornamental decorations.

Lorenzo Bernini. The central figure of the mature Baroque is Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). He was not only an architect, but also the largest sculptor of the 17th century in Italy.

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AND art" Subject: Sculpture of France 17 century. Contents: Introduction. 1. Culture of France 17 century. 2. Sculptors of France 17

In the 17th century, Italy was no longer the advanced country that it was in the Renaissance. The country was fragmented into small principalities, covered by constant civil strife, captured by foreign domination. Left aside from the main economic centers as a result of the great geographical discoveries, Italy in the 17th century was going through a deep crisis. However, the level, one might say degree, of the artistic life, the intense spiritual work of the nation, the tone of culture does not always depend on the level of economic and political development. Often, in some inexplicable way, in the cruelest, most unsuitable conditions, on the most stony, unfavorable soil, a beautiful flower of high culture and amazing height of art blooms. This happened in Italy at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century, when Rome, relying on a centuries-old cultural tradition, reacted 30-40 years earlier than other European countries to the changes in the historical era, to the new problems that the new era posed to European culture. For a short period of time, Italy revives its influence on the artistic life of the continent, it is here that the first works of the new baroque style appear. Here his character and spirit are formed. Baroque in Italy was a logical continuation of the achievements of the art of previous eras, such as the late work of Michelangelo or Italian architecture of the last quarter of the 16th century. The principles of baroque art were first formed in the architecture of Rome, which was the center of the development of architectural thought at the turn of the century and attracted a huge number of masters from different countries.

The image of the Il-Gesu church turned out to be so relevant, close to the spirit of the era, and reflecting new features of the worldview, that it became the prototype for many Catholic churches in Italy, as well as throughout Europe.

Church of Il Gesu

An example is the church in Santa Susanna, built at the very turn of the century by the architect Karl Modern. Its facade is somewhat more compact than in Il Gesu, all forms and details are united by a common upward rhythm, which is not interrupted by the entablature separating the tiers. On the contrary, the front of the first floor seems to be repeated in the energetic rise of the main pediment. The rhythm, which begins at the foot of the columns of the first tier, is actively picked up by the rhythm of the pilasters of the second floor. This unification of the entire façade in a single energetic rhythm is emphasized by the repetition of the elements of the order in different scales, as well as by two volutes, which have become iconic details of the era. The richness of the facade is enhanced by the active plasticity of the Corinthian capitals, blooming with lush acanthus leaves and flowers. Thanks to the voluminous cartouches and reliefs, as well as thanks to the statues placed in the niches of the facade, its plasticity is enhanced.

Santa Susanna

All these details, their complex dynamic interplay, the tension of the surfaces and the contrasts of chiaroscuro enhance the decorative expressiveness of the facade. The wall turns into a single architectural mass endowed with plasticity and dynamics, and as if subject to the laws of organic existence. It is no coincidence that we now dwell in such detail on the analysis of the architecture of these monuments of baroque architecture. They already crystallize in their entirety the characteristic features, details that will develop in the European architecture of the 17th century, manifesting themselves to a greater or lesser extent in various national schools. The key monument of this era, on the one hand, summing up the results of the previous development, and on the other hand, opening the beginning of a new post-Renaissance stage, is the Church of Il Gesu, built according to the design of Vignola in 1568. The brightest part of the church - the facade was completed 10 years later according to the project of the architect Giacom della Porta (Fig. 1). The basilica plan of the church has been somewhat modified in accordance with the needs and requirements of Catholic worship. The central nave with a semi-dome space dominating it and an accentuated altar part is framed on the sides by small chapels, into which the side aisles are turned. Such divisions of the internal space are not reflected in any way on the exterior of the temple, on the organization of its facade, on which all the means of architectural design and decoration are concentrated. The two tiers of the facade are united by huge volutes, one of the favorite elements of Baroque architecture. The order on the facade is not a reflection of the internal articulation of the interior. Rather, he simply rhythmically organizes the wall - he is saturated with its rhythms and internal energy. This restrained saturated energy is also imparted by the semicircular pediment above the central portal, resembling in its outlines a curved bow, ready for a shot, for straightening, and also semicircles framed by windows.

We will see the characteristic plasticity, activity, dynamism of the facade examined by us in the temple in an even more pronounced version in other works of Italian baroque temple architecture of the 17th century, for example, in the church of Sant'Ignazio, built in the middle of the 17th century by the architect Allegradi, in the church of Sant'Agnese of the middle of the century and Church of Santa Maria in Compitelli, architects Carlo Rainaldi and Borromini. I would especially like to note the spatial activity of baroque architecture and its connection with the surrounding space of the square, street, city.

Santa Maria in Compitelli

In addition to the expressiveness of the plasticity of the facade itself, a staircase plays an important role in the communication of the building with the environment, such as the stairs of the eastern facade of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, built in 1673 by the architect Carlo Rainaldi, already mentioned by us. This famous staircase, rising in three ledges to the walls of the temple, seems to continue the semicircular ledge of the eastern apse to the outside, connecting the building with the space surrounding it.

Santa Maria Maggiore

Detailed semicircular, curved, elastic forms were loved by baroque architecture, close to its actively translating itself outward rhythm, as, for example, in the church of Santa Maria della Pace, mid-17th century architect Pietro de Cortona, where the lower tier of the facade curves into the outer with an elastic arc. the space of the street, the portico acquires a semicircular shape in terms of shape.

Santa Maria de la Pace.

This energetic arc is repeated both in the large central window of the second floor and in the semicircular pediment inscribed in the triangular pediment crowning the building. Another famous staircase in baroque architecture is the royal staircase or the so-called "Rock of the Reggia" built by Lorenzo Bernini in 1663-1666, it connects the Cathedral of St. Petra and the Vatican Palace. In this building, Bernini resorts to a trick of perspective, to the play on the whole of the characteristic Baroque architecture. As you move away from the lower platform, the staircase narrows, and the columns placed on its steps approach each other and decrease in height. The steps themselves received different heights. All this creates a special effect. The stairs seem much higher than they really are.

It creates the impression of a huge scale and great length, which, in turn, makes the pope's exit, his appearance in the cathedral during the service, especially spectacular.

Built in form in its most extreme expression, Baroque principles were embodied in the work of the architect Francesco Borromini. In the works of this master, the expression of forms reaches its maximum strength, and the plasticity of the wall acquires an almost sculptural activity. An excellent illustration of these words can be the facade of the church of San Carlo alle Cuatro Fontane in Rome, built in 1634-1667. This temple is located on the corner of two streets converging to the square of four fountains, and at the same time Borromini does not take out the main facade of the church to the square, but turns it onto one of the narrow streets.

San Carlo alle Cuatro Fontane

This technique creates a very interesting point of view on the church, diagonally, from the side, with an enhanced play of chiaroscuro. In addition, such an arrangement of the facade in relation to the internal space of the building completely confuses the viewer. The exterior does not say anything about the interior; it exists, as it were, on its own, regardless of the organization of the internal space. This is a significant change in the architecture of the 17th century. In contrast to the architecture of the Renaissance, where the design of the building was always clearly and distinctly read. The order ceases to play a constructive role in baroque architecture. It becomes only a decorative detail that serves to express the architectural appearance of the building. This is clearly seen in the example of the facade of the church of San Carlo alle Cuatro Fontane, where the order loses the logic of architectonics. And in the first and second tiers of the facade, we see round columns, instead of the traditional pilasters in the second floor. In this facade, we actually do not see the wall, it is all filled with various decorative elements. The wall dissolves, as if everything is playing with waves, now protruding in round columns-ledges, then curving, as if deepening inwards with semi-circular, rectangular niches-windows. The entablature bends inward and outward, divisions are not complete, the entablature of the second floor is torn in the center, where an oval cartouche is placed, which is supported by two flying angels. The complex dynamics of the facades and the intense plasticity of the exteriors of Borromini's churches are continued in the interiors of his churches, for example, in the church of Sant'Ivo 1642-1660. In plan, it is a rectangle, where niches of various shapes alternate between the triangular ledges of the walls. It seems that the interior is devoid of internal logic, it is not symmetrical, impulsive and directed upwards, where it is crowned with a complex star-shaped dome.

The domes of baroque churches usually had a complex architectural and decorative elaboration, combining caissons of various shapes and sizes, sculptural decoration, which enhanced the impression of movement and takeoff of forms. Such a synthesis of the arts, characteristic of the Baroque, where architecture, sculpture and painting serve the common goal of expressiveness of the work, we will see in the best works of Baroque architecture. Remarkable monuments of secular architecture - palazzos, palaces of the nobility, city and country residences, villas were created in Italy by Baroque architects.

Perhaps the most striking example of such a structure can be the Palazzo Barberini in Rome in 1625-1663, in the construction of which the best architects of Italy of the 17th century Carlo Moderno, Lorenzo Bernini, Francesco Borromini, Pietro de Cortona took part. The external and internal layout of the palace is baroque-spatial. From the side of the street, the extended wings form the main courtyard in front of the main facade of the palazzo, which is designed in the best restrained traditions of baroque architecture. In the interior, due to the enfilade construction of space, it gradually opens up before the viewer, like solemn scenes in a theatrical performance. Baroque inherits from previous eras the typology of a country villa, the residence of the nobility, which turns into an integral Baroque ensemble with a terraced park on a hillside connected by stairs and ramps. Favorite baroque dynamics is also expressed in the frequent use of flowing water surfaces in ensembles - cascades, reservoirs, grottoes, fountains, in combination with sculptural small architectural forms, with natural and clipped greenery. For example, this is the Villa Aldobrandini in Foscatti, architects Giacoma dela Porta and Carlo Moderno.

Villa Borghese

Villa Pamphili, built in the middle of the 17th century by the architect Alegardi, and Villa Borghese, built in the first half of the 17th century by the architect Vasanzio Frimi. Such an ensemble character of Baroque architecture proved to be very popular and necessary in the 17th century, when medieval cities began to be rebuilt, when projects for the redevelopment of individual parts of urban spaces arose. For example, according to the plan of Domenico Fontano, the main entrance to Rome from the north was connected with the most significant ensembles of the city. From Piazza del Popollo, three straight streets diverged radially, and the space of the square was united by two identical domed churches of the architect Rainaldi, symmetrically placed at the corners, as well as obelisks and fountains. First appeared in Italy, a detailed three-beam city planning system would become popular in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. We can see its embodiment even in the planning of St. Petersburg.

It is no coincidence that St. Peter's Square in Rome, designed by Lorenzo Bernini in 1657–1663, is recognized as the best architectural ensemble of Italy of the 17th century.

Square of St. Petra

In this project, the architect solved several problems at once. Firstly, this is the creation of a solemn approach to the cathedral - the main temple of the Catholic world, as well as the design of the space in front of it, intended for religious ceremonies and celebrations. Secondly, this is the achievement of the impression of the compositional unity of the cathedral, a building built over two centuries by different architects of different styles. And Bernini brilliantly copes with both tasks. From the facade, built at the beginning of the 17th century by the architect Carlo Moderna, two galleries depart and then turn into a colonnade, which, according to Bernini, “encloses the square as if with open arms”. The colonnade becomes like a continuation of the Modern facade, developing its motives. An obelisk stands in the center of a huge square, and fountains on either side of it fix its transverse axis. When moving through the square, the viewer perceives the cathedral as a changing series of views and angles in a complex movement and development of impressions. The facade rises in front of the viewer at the moment of direct approach to him, when he finds himself in front of a trapezoidal square in front of the very facade of the cathedral. Thus, the overwhelming grandiosity of the cathedral is prepared by the gradual increase in the dynamics of movement when moving through the square.

Late Baroque architecture in Italy did not give similar monuments equivalent to the works of the early and mature Baroque in terms of their artistic quality and height of style. The architects of the last third of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century varied in many ways the methods of baroque architecture, often exaggerating forms, overloading, overly complicating plasticity and rhythms. One of the best examples of late Baroque architecture is the work of the architect Gvarino Guarini, who worked mainly in northern Italy. The Church of San Lorenzo in Turin, which strikes with the pretentiousness and redundancy of its forms, is one of his most typical works.

Sant Lorenzo in Turin.

Baroque architecture in Italy created stunning works that had a huge impact on the entire European culture of the 17th century.

Italian art history of the 17th century. painting of italy

Art France 17 century

General characteristics of Flemish painting in 17 century

Sculpture of France 17 century