Episode 80: French Baroque

This is our third installment in our series “Baroque the Basics”.  Under the “Episodes” tab above you will find the links for #61 Italian Baroque and #64 Northern Baroque.

The French Academy was chartered in 1648.  In 1961 Jean-Baptiste Colbert selected painter Charles Le Brun to be the director of the academy. Modeled after Italian academies, the French Academy sought to train artists in the classical style preferred by the monarchy.  French Baroque painters such as Charles Le Brun, Nicolas Poussin, and Claude Lorrain followed the classical style of Carracci rather than his contemporary Caravaggio.

Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba, 1648

Claude Lorrain

While landscapes were not popular at the time, Lorrain loved them and he pulled his viewers in with themes of heroes, demigods,and saints.

Apollon and the Nymphs,1666-73, marble

François Girardon

Girardon was inspired by Hellenistic sculpture.

Unlike Italy and Spain, where the Catholic Church was the major patron, in France the top patron was Louis XIV, aka the “Sun King”.  

Portrait of Louis XIV, 1661

Charles Le Brun

Louis XIV called Charles Le Brun “the greatest French artist of all time”.

In 1682 the King and his entire court moved 14 miles from Paris to the village of Versailles.  At Versailles life revolved around the king just as the earth revolves around the sun.  He expanded the existing chateau and hunting lodge into a magnificent palace.

"There is nothing that indicates more clearly the magnificence of great princes than their superb palaces and their precious furniture." -- Louis XIV

The baroque style fit the needs of the king perfectly.

Hall of Mirrors

The king’s bedchamber.  Fabulous vases of feathers!

Much of the art at Versailles featured Apollo, alluding to the connection between the god and the Sun King.

Join us next week as our newest podcast member, Zach, joins Julia in talking about graphic designer Milton Glaser!

Episode 61: Italian Baroque: The Basics

Today we are really excited to start what is going to be a really great mini series all about Baroque art. We have divided up the period by region and are starting off today with Italian Baroque with Julia and Chloe! 

It would be impossible to talk about Baroque art with out mentioning the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation. The art from the period, especially the art produced in Italy, was heavily influenced by the Council of Trent.

There were two branches of Italian Baroque: the Carraci brothers and the students of their academy, and Caravaggio and the Caravaggisti who were the stylistic followers of Caravaggio. Caravaggisti, isn't that a great word! To learn more about Caravaggio listen to Episode 15. 

Bargellini Madonna, 1588 Lodovico Carraci

Farnese Ceiling, Triumph of Bacchus, 1597-1600, Annibale Carracci

Massacre of the Innocents, 1611, Guido Reni

Santa Maria della Pace, 1657, Pietro de Cortona

Rape of the Sabine Women, 1627-29, Pietro da Cortona

The Calling of St. Matthew, 1599, Caravaggio

Doubting Thomas, 1601, Caravaggio

Besides all of the wonderful painters, there were also some amazing sculptors and architects like Bernini and Borromini. Episode 41 is all about them and the rivalry that build Rome.  

Ecstasy of St. Theresa, 1652, Bernini

Apollo and Daphne, 1621, Bernini

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, 1630, Borromini

Come back next week, Jo and Chloe will be discussing Monet.

If you have any topics in art history you are interested in hearing more about, please email us at uvu.artsandfacts@gmail.com.

All of our previous episodes can be found on iTunes U. 

Episode 55: Johannes Vermeer

Julia and Jo talk about Johannes Vermeer, the Dutch Baroque painter who is famous for his domestic interiors of the middle class and in particular his painting called,  Girl with a Pearl Earring , painted in 1665. 

Vermeer was an art dealer, an inn keeper, the head of the guild of St. Luke, the father of fifteen children and a well respected painter. He was by all accounts a very busy man and so perhaps it is not altogether surprising that there are only thirty-four works that are attributed to him today.

Listen to the podcast to learn more about this fascinating man.

The Love Letter, ca. 1668

The Art of Painting or Allegory of Painting, 1668

Girl with a Pearl Earring, ca. 1665

The Kitchen Maid, 1657-58

Next week Julia and Megan will be talking about Romanesque Architecture! Should be an interesting podcast.

Also, we would like to apologize for not having our new Sort but Sweet episodes up yet. We've run into some issues and will be postponing those for some time.

If you have any topics in art history you are interested in hearing more about, please email us at uvu.artsandfacts@gmail.com. Thank you.

Episode 36: Poussin

Nicolas Poussin (15 June 1594 – 19 November 1665)

Poussin’s work embodies French art during the Baroque period in France, even though he lived and worked in Rome for most of his career. He never did well in a workshop, which was popular at this time, and always kept his work fairly small in scale. He would use wax figurines in shadow boxes to set up the composition of his paintings which were meticulous in their design.

He studied anatomy by speaking to doctors, was well versed in painting theory and believed that outward gestures showed inner emotion, which is why there is a lot of movement in his paintings.

Today we have major and minor scales, but Poussin was interested in modes, which are an ancient version of scales. For instance, Dorian mode is somber, Phrygian mode is sad or oriental sounding and Lydian mode has a comical quality and can be serious and tragic as well.  Poussin attempted to paint in modes in an effort to convey emotion.

Poussin worked for Cassiano de Potzo sketching ancient Roman ruins, this work really influenced Poussin’s classical taste and abilities in painting but his primary patron in Rome was Cardinal Francesco Barberini.

Up until the 20th century Poussin was a major inspiration for classically oriented artists like David, Ingres, and Cézanne.

Poussin, Self Portrait, 1650

Poussin, The Four Seasons, 1660-1664

Spring (The Earthly Paradise)  

Summer (Ruth and Boaz)  

Autumn (The Spies with the Grapes of the Promised Land)  

Winter (The Flood)  

Poussin, Et in Arcadia ego, 1637-1638

Poussin, Rape of the Sabine Women, 1634-35

The above painting is an excellent example of Poussin's use of color and movement. The colors are used to tell a story within the story. The Roman's have invited the Sabines to dine with them, instead of dinner they find themselves under attack and their women kidnapped. The man in the pink on the right side of the painting is attempting to save the woman in blue on the left side of the painting. The color pink may signify the mans weakness against the Roman's, who's leader is dressed in red. The story ends when the Sabines try to rescue their women from the Roman's but they're now happy with their lives in Rome and choose to stay. The term 'rape' in this instance means 'abduction'.