Baroque and Rococo Art Periods
Introduction
Mankind from time immemorial has been known to have a liking of art. Historically art has been described as the study of objects of art according to their historical developments and their characteristics. There are different art periods in the world each of which depict unique genre, design, format and appearance. In this essay we are going to discuss two art periods, namely Baroque and Rococo art periods, where both traded styles in geometrical composure of the renaissance drama that involved the viewer.
Baroque Art Period
The art of Baroque started in Italy and it was later adopted in Spain, Germany, France and Netherlands. It was during the late nineteen century that critics applied the word “baroque” to the art of period from the late 1500s to the late 1700s (Fargis, 1998). This art covers quite a wide range of artists and styles as well.
There are three forms of Baroque that are recognized in painting and sculpture; there was that form was fundamentally associated with western Christianity and was associated with religious tension within the same Christianity. This was the division between the Protestants and Catholics. It was the Roman Catholic Church, in response to the protestant reformation of early sixteen century, who embarked o n a program that was known as the Counter-Reformation in the 1550s.
The Roman Catholic Church used the art of the magnificent to display as part of the program in the campaign. The intention was to be appealing emotionally and to be doctrinally right as well as visually so as influence the n targeted audience. With time this style made inroads to Protestant countries. Bernini and Rubens are the two good examples of this form of Baroque. There is also Baroque that realistically presents models from streets; this form was mainly done by Caravaggio (Fargis, 1998). This form uses revolutionary technique of dramatic, with the hallmark of Baroque painting being done with selective illumination of figures out of deep shadow. This was far from the religious subjects. In the works of Rembrandt and Vermeer there is a different form of Baroque that was born in Flemish countries with the theme being realism of day to day life.
New knowledge in astronomy, that was brought about by scientific advances and exploration coupled with development of press changed the view of the world by Europeans. It was in the eighteen century that scientific information became so accessible that even the period was referred to as the “age of enlightenment”.
This new kind of Baroque style was so dynamic and it represented the growth of absolutist monarchies and widely used to manifest power. In this Baroque style the architects, painters and sculptors showed movement, emotion and variety in their works. Baroque is well known to favour higher volumes, huge furniture, exaggerates decorations and so many more. It’s also adds energy, sense of movement as well as tensions which are dominant impressions. A good example of work of Baroque is “Adoration”, by Peter Paul Rubens (Fargis, 1998).
Rococo Art Period
The word Rococo was derived from “rocaille” referring to small stones and shells used in adorning the grottoes interiors. Baroque’s formality and stuffiness is what made Rococo to be born as a backlash (Wilder, 2007). Rococo is a very highly decorative art which began in the early 1700s in Paris, France. The style is sometimes referred “the style of Louis XV (15th).Rococo style symbolically represents the hedonism of the European upper-class. This style is highly characterized by light-hearted themes of flirting and unrequited, graceful, enchanting, and melancholic love among aristocracy (Fargis, 1998). Sentiments were expressed over reasons and emotionalism was expressed over intellect. In this style paintings are animated and wise, reflecting an impishly sensual broad daylight dream.
This style normally features very cleverly decorated paintings in aristocrats decked out in velvet, with very rich golden embroideries and elegant laces. It’s normal to find Rococo paintings being willowy and tall, charming and stylish. The faces of the paintings are depicted as rosy, soft, eternally young and effeminate. The Rococo style in paintings presents noblemen with rouged lips and cheeks, and in most cases wearing high heels and feminine coiffeurs (Wilder, 2007). When it comes to family portraits they are normally depicted as light hearted and dreamy in character. In the family portraits servants are seen serving their masters happily.
The style of Rococo in the beginning was just restricted in France, when it later spread to the larger Europe. The movement of Rococo went on to develop up to when Neoclassicism attempted to make a comeback. The themes in this style more often than not concentrated on less caring aristocrats at play in make-believe settings. Delightful whimsy touch was achieved by using cherubs in the mix (Wilder, 2007). A good example of a Rococo painter is Jean Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), undoubtedly one of the greatest French painters of his time, with his work “The Embarkation for Cythera” (1717).
The Baroque style was highly influenced by the Counter-reformation and hence the interest in dramatic scenes of saints and historical paintings. On the other hand Rococo was born in a response to due to heaviness and darkness of Baroque Art (Wilder, 2007). Artists like Carracci and Caravaggio focuses on the importance of drawing from real life experiences, as well as honing specific skills such as optics and perspective. Rococo art was more into decorative shapes as well as the natural and organic. Baroque art of the 1600s was mainly concentrated in Italy, whereas Rococo of the 1700s originated in Paris, France.
It was during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that there was development both in scientific and philosophy (Wilder, 2007). These styles have a common similarity in that they both represent the changing times with Rococo style being less religious than its counterpart Baroque. Both Styles are both also characterized by use of more colours as well as emotions more than any previous styles. This can be depicted in Baroque where there is less use of violent scenes.
The Rococo style had a great impact on the world’s, for instance in Great Britain, Rococo was always viewed as having a strong "French taste" and this made it not to be used in architectural designs. Despite this the style was highly applied on silks, porcelain and silverwork, it was Thomas Chippendale who changed English furniture designs by adoption of the Rococo style and refining it (Wilder, 2007). The theoretical foundation of Rococo beauty was developed by an English gentle man by the name William Hogarth. He indicated that the S-curves and the undulating lines in Rococo Style were the foundation for beauty and grace in art nature. The growth of Rococo style in Great Britain is widely viewed as the revival of Gothic architectural designs in the beginning the eighteenth century.
The end of Rococo art period began in the early 1760s with artists like Jacques-Francois Blondel criticizing the superficiality and degeneracy of the art. The order and seriousness of neoclassical artist for example Jacques Louis David replaced the fashion of Rococo style in France. Rococo only remained vital in some provinces of Germany and Italy in the late 18th century up to the second phase of neoclassicism when the famous empire style swept it away.
However, there was some renewed interest in the Rococo style between 1820 and 1870.This was especially revived in Great Britain especially the “Louis XIV style" as it was known initially, and bought at exorbitant prices for second-hand Rococo luxury goods that could scarcely be sold in Paris, France (Wilder, 2007). It can be well concluded that both art period were instrumental in the growth of art in the world by their influences because there has been a steady growth from Baroque to Rococo.
References
Fargis, P. (1998). The New York Public Library Desk Reference (third ed.). New York:
Monique.
Wilder, J. (2007). Art History for dummies. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
