Chapter 21 Absolute Power and the Aristocratic Style
Dec 22, 2015
Chapter 21
Absolute Power and the Aristocratic Style
The Catholic Baroque
Italy and elsewhere
The Aristocratic Baroque
France
The Protestant Baroque
Northern Europe
Baroque Art• Emotionalism
• Illusionism
• Splendor
• Light and Shade
• Movement
• Religious Fervor
• Domestic Intimacy
(Cunningham 354)
Bernini, David, ca.1623
Bernini, David,
ca. 1623
http://www.artexpertswebsite.com/artists/bernini.shtml
Bernini, Pluto and Proserpine, 1620-22
http://emp.byui.edu/DavisR/202/202C21.html
http://www.students.sbc.edu/mckinney03/gmm/girardon.htm
Girardon, The Rape of Proserpine, 1677-99, Versaille
http://www.students.sbc.edu/mckinney03/gmm/girardon.htm
• “Like Bernini, Girardon chose to represent the figures at the height of the story, right at the moment when Pluto grabs Proserpine and a struggle ensues. However, when comparing the two sculptures it is clear that Girardon is abiding by the rules of French classicism and restrains his figures. His figures are graceful and fluid. In the face of Proserpine, we notice a lack of emotion.” http://www.students.sbc.edu/mckinney03/gmm/girardon.htm
Absolutism• “A political theory that
encouraged rulers to claim complete sovereignty within their territories.”
(Norton 593)
Absolutist Monarchs• Possessed a large standing army
• Created a centralized bureaucracy to be in charge of taxation
• Kept the nobles under control
• adopted expansionist policies—wars, wars, and more wars
•Spain
Muslims in Spain, 711-1492, about 800 years
Ferdinand + Isabella
Hapsburg Spain
• “Hapsburg” means “hawk’s castle,” now ruins
• Under Charles V (1500-58) of Spain, the Hapsburg reached the peak of their power.
• Charles V’ “universal monarchy” was a constant menace to France.
(Portrait of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V Seated. 1548 Oil on canvas, 205 x 122 cmAlte Pinakothek, Munich)
Hapsburg Spain• When Charles abdicated (1558), the empire was divided
between the Spanish and Austrian lines. The Spanish branch ceased to rule after 1700 and the Austrian branch after 1918.
• Philip II (1556-98) of Spain was a dominant emperor in the second half of the 16th century
• 1588 the Armada, England won• 1648 Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), signing the Peac
e of Westphalia afterwards. The Dutch became independent.
France
France vs. England• England: Constitutional
Monarchy
• France: Absolutism, advocating the divine right of kings
The 17th Century • The Bourbons
– Henry IV (1589-1610)• Edict of Nantes (religious tolerance)
– Louis XIII (1610-1643)• Cardinal Richelieu (1624-42)• Raison d’état • Centralized government
– Louis XIV (1661-1715 )• Cardinal Mazarin
Louis IV• Known as the Sun King
• Represented the height of absolutism: “L’état, c’est moi”
• Maintained an extravagant court at Versailles
Rigaud, Louis XIV, 1701, Louvre, Parishttp://www.nd.edu/~artslide/europeanart/htmls/euro12.html
Versailles
http://web.mit.edu/sdey/www/pictures/paris/versailles/ver.htm
http://web.mit.edu/sdey/www/pictures/paris/versailles/ver.htm
Bernini, bust of Louis XIV,1665,Versailles
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/b/bernini/gianlore/sculptur/1660/louis14b.html
Versailles• Architect: Louis Le Vau (1612-1670)
• Features of the classical baroque style:
1. spatial grandeur
2. dramatic contrast
3. theatrical display
The Louvre
England
England• 1066 the Norman Conquest; origin of
the nation state
• 1485 Tudor dynasty
– Henry VII (1485-1509)
– Henry VIII (1509-1547)
– Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
England• The Stuart Dynasty
• Charles I (1625-1649): an absolutist king, advocating the divine rights of king, having clashes with the parliament
• The Puritan Revolution (1642-51): civil war – Oliver Cromwell (1599-1685)
Van Dyck, Charles I of England, c.1635,
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/dyck/i/charles-i.jpg
England• the Restoration
– Charles II (1660-85): the Merry Monarch
Tories: those who supported the king
Whigs: those who opposed the king– James II (1685-1688)– Admired French absolutism
Attempted to restore Roman Catholicism
England• The Glorious Revolution (1688-1689) : A
peaceful coup of Mary and William
• Bill of Rights (1689):Parliament became much stronger than before. Britain turned into a constitutional monarchy.
• 1707 the United Kingdom of Great Britain: Scotland + England
The Academic Style•Restraint
•Moderation
•Decorum (Fiero 535)
The Academic Style• Girardon (1628-1715)
• Poussin (1594-1665)
• Lorrain (1600-1682)
Girardon, Apollo Attended by the Nymphs, ca. 1666-7
2, Versailles, http://www.wga.hu/art/g/girardon/apollon.jpg
Poussin, Et in Arcadia Ego, 1637-39http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/p/poussin/2a/23arcadi.html
Poussin: Arcadian Shepherds
•Et in Arcadia Ego.
→ “I [death] also dwell in Arcadia”
Poussin: Arcadian Shepherds
• Moral allegory
• Pastoral elegy
• Memento mori
(Fiero 537)
Baroque Neoclassical
Caravaggio Poussin
Spontaneity Order
Senses Mind
Emotional Intellectual
Ideal Landscape• Poussin; Lorrain
• a view of nature more beautiful and harmonious than nature itself.
• Based on the classical ideals of balance and clarity
• often contains classical ruins and pastoral figures in classical dress.
Lorrain, Italian Coastal Landscape, 1642http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/c/claude/biograph.html
Lorrain, Landscape with Dancing Figures (The Mill), 1648http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/c/claude/biograph.html
Lorrain, Harbour Scene at Sunset, 1643http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/c/claude/biograph.html
Poussin, Funeral of Phocion, 1648.
http://www.ariadne.org/studio/michelli/stccl.html
Compare & Contrast
•Ideal landscape (537)
•Dutch landscape (589)
The Aristocratic Style• Velázquez (1599-1660)
• Rubens (1577-1640)
• Van Dyck (1599-1641)
Velázquez
•The Maids of Honor
Velazquez, Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor), 1656, http://mil.ccc.cccd.edu/classes/art101/images/S0099186.jpg
http://multimedia.american.edu/courses/mmdd296_fa07/2007/10/media_appropriation_collage_1.html
Portrait of Pope Innocent X, 1650
Rubens
•Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus
Rubens, Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus, 1618
http://faculty.evansville.edu/rl29/art105/img/rubens_rape.jpg
• (1) to commemorate the double marriage of Louis XIII of France to a Spanish princess and Philip IV of Spain to a French princess
• (2) a message of (male) power over (female) privilege
• (Fiero 539)
The End