Baroque

The Baroque period began in Rome in the late 1500s. At this time, the Catholic Church was very focused on spreading their beliefs to others because the Protestants were working hard to spread their beliefs. The Catholic Church decided that art was a great way to do this. Even people who couldn’t read (which was most people at the time) could understand pictures. The Church wanted a lot of paintings of biblical scenes that average people could relate to.

The Baroque style continued where the Renaissance left off. You may remember that Renaissance painters created a lot of portraits and religious paintings. Baroque painters did the same, as you read about last week. In order to make their biblical scenes familiar to people, artists such as Ribera used real people as models for their religious figures.

Baroque artists wanted to show life the way it really it was. In my opinion, there is no better example of this than Velazquez’s Old Woman Frying Eggs (below).
Finally, Baroque painters often painted scenes that took place in bright light against dark backgrounds. This is especially noticeable in Cotan’s bodegones you saw yesterday. To refresh your memory, Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber is shown below.
The Baroque period ended in the late 1700s.

And now I would like to ask a question of you readers who have been following this series of posts. Do you like it better when I write about artists and then tell you about the period during which they painted (like this past week) or do you prefer when I tell you about the period first and then about the artists? I would love to hear your opinions!

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Juan Sanchez Cotan

Juan Sanchez Cotan, as I told you yesterday, is remembered for his bodegones (still lifes). He was born in Spain in 1560 and painted during the Baroque period.

Cotan worked as an apprentice and then opened his own workshop. He painted in Toledo for about twenty years.
Like most Spanish painters of the time, Cotan painted many religious paintings. Religious paintings make up the bulk of his work. Critics agree, though, that his religious paintings are not special. His bodegones, however, were unlike anything that had been painted before and unlike anything else being created at the time.
In his bodegones, Cotan painted fruits and vegetables against black backgrounds. The food was always very well lighted which allowed Cotan to paint every detail. This helped the fruits and vegetables look real. You’ll notice that some of the food is hanging on strings. This is because people used to hang their produce so it wouldn’t go bad as quickly.

In 1603, Cotan decided to become a Carthusian monk. He stopped painting bodegones, preferring to paint religious scenes instead. He was still a popular artist when he died in 1627.

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Bodegones

The last couple of days we have been looking at painters of the Spanish Baroque period. On Wednesday, I’ll write more about the Baroque period but today I wanted to tell you about a specific type (genre) of painting that was popular in Spain during this time: bodegones.

Bodegones are a certain type of still life painting. They show food, drink, and animals that have not yet been prepared as food. In Spanish bodegones the food is usually not cooked. The paintings are often dark and serious. They do not include people and they do not hint at a celebration to come.
I did not show you any examples of bodegones last week but Zurbaran painted some. For example, look at the painting above.

Velazquez often combined bodegones with another genre. He liked to paint peasants in kitchens or taverns like in Old Woman Frying Eggs, shown below.
The painter I’ll tell you about tomorrow is known for his realistic bodegones. His name was Juan Sanchez Cotan and he painted Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber, shown below.
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Francisco de Zurbaran

Francisco de Zurbaran was extremely talented but far less popular than Velazquez. Zurbaran was born in Spain in 1598. His parents were peasants and supported him in art as much as they could.

He worked as an apprentice in Seville in 1616 and 1617. There, he met Velazquez. The two were leading painters of the city.

When Zurbaran finished his apprenticeship, he began to paint religious scenes for churches in his area. He was a great portrait painter and his serious paintings of religious figures were well liked in the churches. Especially impressive was the way Zurbaran painted fabric draping around bodies or hanging from windows. For example, look at the painting below.
Many churches asked Zurbaran to paint for him and he did well for awhile. Around 1630, Zurbaran was even named a “Painter to the King.” After 1640 though, his solemn style fell out of popularity and he received fewer and fewer requests for paintings.
In 1658, Zurbaran moved to Madrid in search of work. Velazquez, his old friend from Seville, helped Zurbaran find work.
When Zurbaran died in 1664 he did not have much money and his popularity had passed. He was unknown outside of Spain. Today, collectors around the world seek his work, but Zurbaran’s paintings are not found in many museums outside of Spain.

The paintings above, in order, are St. Francis, a painting of a Carthusian monk (I don't know the title in English), The Apostle St. Andrew, and St. Francis in Meditation.

Enjoy your weekend!

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Day Off

I'm taking the day off. Enjoy your Thursday and be sure to check back tomorrow to learn about Francisco Zurbaran.