BAROQUE ART!

Baroque art is generally associated with the 17th century. Characterized by a focus on asymmetry, mass and space, Baroque art also uses light and color in a new, dramatic way. While in the 16th century there was a balance between the part and the whole, now there is a sense of unity, where the part is submerged in the whole. Art theory develops during this time, initially in Italy, and promotes ideas of order and organization as well as instinctive immediate emotions. The word "baroque" was first applied to the art of period from the late 1500s to the late 1700s, by critics in the late nineteen century. Baroque covers a wide range of styles and artists. Baroque could be the last stage of Renaissance art or it could be the beginning of a new period of painting. If it is a new style it must be distinguished from theRenaissance style having a clear set of stylistic principles. LIGHT, REALISM AND NATURALISM and LINES are some of the characteristics of Baroque art. Baroque art is characterized by great drama, rich color, and intense light and dark shadows. As opposed to Renaissance art, which usually showed the moment before an event took place, Baroque artists chose the most dramatic point, the moment when the action was occurring: Michelangelo, working in the High Renaissance, shows his David composed and still before he battles Goliath; Bernini's baroque David is caught in the act of hurling the stone at the giant. Baroque art was meant to evoke emotion and passion instead of the calm rationality that had been prized during the Renaissance. The Baroque style of art was a dramatic change from the Renaissance style that came before it. During the Renaissance, artists tried to show perfect people and classical themes. Renaissance artists liked the art of ancient Greece with its symmetry and grace. But by the 1500s, artists wanted to relax a little. Baroque artists painted real people with all of their warts, wrinkles, and bumps. They enjoyed the down-to-earth art of ancient Rome. Baroque art itself had a bumpy start, but after a while it gained the respect of the artistic world. People began to like the realistic detail and intense emotions they saw in Baroque drawings and paintings.