Italian Baroque 1630 - 1730. Major themes: growing importance of active space –sculpt out urban spaces propaganda of the Church –counter reformation synthesis.

Italian Baroque

1630 - 1730

Major themes:

• growing importance of active space– sculpt out urban spaces

• propaganda of the Church– counter reformation

• synthesis of the arts– Concetto

Piazza Navonapride of Baroque Roman art history

defined as a public space in the last years of 15th century, when the city market was transferred to it—

follows the plan of an ancient Roman circus

Palladio’s Villa Rotunda Guarini’s San Lorenzo

ceiling of the Royal Church at

San Lorenzo in Turin, Italy

Allegory of the Missionary Work of the Jesuits

Padre Andrea Pozzo, 1691-94

Nave of S. Ignazio

Sotto in su: in ceiling paintings, extreme foreshortening of figures

synthesis of the arts

architecture

painting

sculpture

textiles

Pazzi Chapel,

Florence, 1429-42 by Brunellesch

i

Cornaro Chapel

Sante Maria della Vittoria

Rome

Bernini, 1650s

designed entire chapel, a subsidiary space along the side of the church, for the

Cornaro family

Cornaro Chapel

Sante Maria della Vittoria

Rome

Bernini, 1650s

Saint Theresa, the focal point of the chapel, is a soft white marble statue

surrounded by a polychromatic marble architectural framing

Ecstasy of Sta. Theresa

described the love of God as piercing her heart

like a burning arrow

Bernini literalizes this image by placing St.

Theresa on a cloud while a cupid holds a golden

arrow and smiles down at her

St. Theresa's face reflects not the

anticipation of ecstasy, but her current

fulfillment

structure works to conceal a window which

lights the statue from above

places viewer as spectator in front of statue with Cornaro family leaning out of their box seats, craning forward to see

St. Peter’s, Vatican, Rome

new emphasis was placed on bold massing, colonnades, domes, light-and-shade (chiaroscuro), 'painterly' color

effects, and the bold play of volume and void

Bernini's ingenious solution was to

create a piazza in

two sections

•part nearest basilica is trapezoid—rather than fanning out from the façade, it narrows, gives the effect of countering the visual perspective•second section of the piazza is a huge elliptical circus which gently slopes downwards to the obelisk

symbolic of the arms of "the symbolic of the arms of "the Roman Catholic Church Roman Catholic Church

reaching out to welcome its reaching out to welcome its communicants communicants

Bernini made the whole complex expansively relate to its environment

Scala Regia Vatican, Rome, Bernini, 1663-67

a flight of steps designed by to connect the Vatican Palace to St. Peter's Basilica

Scala Regia, (popes’ royal Scala Regia, (popes’ royal staircase), Vatican, Rome, staircase), Vatican, Rome,

by Bernini, 1663-67. by Bernini, 1663-67.

site is awkwardly shaped with irregular converging walls on a narrow piece of land between church and palace

Scala Regia

(Popes’ Royal Staircase)

Vatican, Rome

Bernini, 1663-67

Bernini used a number of typically theatrical, baroque effects in order to

exalt this entry point into Vatican

In interiors, Baroque movement around and through a void

informed monumental

staircases that had no parallel in

previous architecture

staircase proper takes the form of a

barrel-vaulted colonnade that

becomes narrower at the end of the vista,

exaggerating the distance

above the arch at the beginning of this vista is the coat of arms of Alexander VII, flanked by two

sculpted angels

The Conversion of Constantine

Vatican, Rome

Bernini, 1663-67

Constantine sees a vision of the cross with the words “In this sign,

you will conquer”

Emperors and other monarchs, having paid respects to the Pope, descended the Scala

Regia, and would observe the light shining down

through the window, with the motto, reminiscent of Constantine's vision, and be reminded to follow the

Cross

In Bernini's statue of Constantine, he

is awed and his horse rears, as

Constantine realizes that he

will win only with the power of the

Christ

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane

Rome

Borromini

1634-41

built as part of a complex of monastic buildings on the

Quirinal Hill for the Spanish Trinitarians

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane

Rome, Borromini, 1634-41

concave-convex facade of San Carlo undulates in a non-

classic way

the layout of the cramped and difficult site—arrangement seems to refer to a

cross plan

light floods in from windows in the lower dome that are hidden by the oval opening

and from windows in the side of the lantern

hierarchical structuring of light: •illuminated lantern with its symbol of the Holy Trinity is the most brightly lit •coffering of the dome is thrown into sharp and deep relief •light gradually filters downwards to the darker lower body of the church

oval entablature to the dome has a 'crown' of foliage and frames a view of deep set interlocking coffering of octagons, crosses and hexagons which diminish in size the higher they

rise

Royal Hunting Lodge(Palazzina di caccia di Stupinigi)

Stupinigi, near Turin, by Filippo Juvarra, c 1729+ (for

Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy and King of Piedmont-

Sardinia)

Royal Hunting Lodge of Stupinigi

near Turin

Filippo Juvarra

c 1729+

works started in 1729—within two years

construction was far enough advanced for

the first formal hunt to take place

building has a saltire plan: four

angled wings project from the

oval-shaped main hall

Royal Hunting Lodge of Stupinigi, near Turin, by Filippo Juvarra, c 1729+

original purpose of the hunting lodge is symbolized by the bronze stag perched at the apex of the stepped roof of its

central dome, and the hounds' heads that decorate the vases on the roofline

new emphasis

was placed on bold

massing, colonnades, domes, light-

and-shade (chiaroscuro), 'painterly'

color effects, and the bold

play of volume and

void

detail of the central salone

•light-and-shade (chiaroscuro) •'painterly' color effects

Royal Hunting Lodge of Stupinigi, near Turin, by Filippo

Juvarra, c 1729+

the other Baroque innovation in worldly

interiors was the state apartment, a processional sequence of increasingly

rich interiors that culminated in a presence chamber or throne room

or a state bedroom

Italian Baroque Furniture

1640s-1700

Throne Chair, 1640s-1700

Miscellaneous Italian Baroque furniture,

1640s-1700

Miscellaneous Italian Baroque furniture,

1640s-1700