Baroque art
This style of art was initiated in Italy but later adopted in France and across the European continent in general. It is presumed that the style of painting began as early as 16th century and existed up to about the 19th century. It is characterized by different pieces of arts (huntfor.com/arthistory/c17th-mid19th/baroque.htm).
Baroque style of arts is depicted by three main elements namely color contrast, motion and emotion. In all baroque arts be it a piece of music, play or even painting, all these elements are depicted. The reasons behind incorporation of these elements are discussed alongside the elements (huntfor.com/arthistory/c17th-mid19th/baroque.htm).
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Looking at color contrast, the paintings were done using sharply contrasting colors which is presumed to have been caused by realization of beauty. Taking Italy as one of the places where art began, it is clear that the Italian painters had a great sense of using colors to depict emotions and beauty. It also led to use of light and shadow in architecture (Kitson, 1966).
In most baroque paintings and music, tension is evident. This is depicted using the color scheme in paintings and musical notes and signs in music. The tension can be attributed to the splitting of the church into Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. The religious tension led to incorporation of emotions in pieces of art (Kitson, 1966).
Most of the baroque arts are religious. This is mainly because they were done in Italy where it is presumed that most of the widely accepted faiths cropped. The religious tension also facilitated this style of artistic works.
The paintings done during this era used color in a way suggesting emotion, space and movement. This made the paintings outstanding and highly attractive to the eye. The music composed around this time depicted a great deal of emotions and religious themes that they communicated (Claude, 1991). It is believed that these artistic works were done to communicate religious themes to the illiterate and less literate in the society (Claude, 1991).
Claude, V. 1991. Baroque Music. Prentice Hall Inc
Kitson, M. 1966. The Age of Baroque: Landmarks of the World's Art. London: Hamlyn
