8 characteristics of Italian BAROQUE painting and works

Italy is the country where the Baroque arose, extending throughout Europe and, already from Spain and Portugal, to the American colonies. Its origin in Italian lands is not accidental since it was there, in the Vatican City, where the politics of the Counter-Reformation as well as the cultural propaganda necessary to counterattack and stop the action of the Protestant Reformation. In the case of Baroque painting, it was also born under the auspices of the Counter-Reformation, becoming the form of expression of faith and religion in Catholic countries.

In this unTeacher.com article we offer you a selection of the main characteristics of Italian baroque painting and the most famous works.

The italian baroque painting it developed from the end of the 16th century and throughout the 17th century and much of the 18th century. An artistic style that, after inheriting the great masters of the Renaissance, innovated to create an innovative style that was rejected in later centuries for its anti-classical character.

To find out what Italian Baroque painting consisted of, we offer you a list below. The most important characteristics of Italian Baroque painting are:

1. HE abandon idealism of Renaissance painting and is committed to naturalism and realism. Thus, the ugly or unpleasant is not rejected and all kinds of realities are represented.
2. He motion becomes the protagonist and seeks action and tension.
3. He color It acquires more importance than the drawing and the line, being a fundamental element.
4. The use of color evolved into two different phases: A first phase in which color is represented in homogeneous and compact masses. And a second phase in which the brushwork becomes looser and the glazing technique is used.
5. The light acquires great importance, especially the search for contrasts. An objective that will lead painters towards the tenebrism. On the other hand, light is used to represent the air or the space between the figures represented or between the different planes. This appeals and raises the call aerial perspective. The game of light and shadow will help to achieve this by drawing the outline and the different planes.
6. The figures are represented fused with the environment, creating that sensation of continuous perspective.
7. The compositions are arranged around a diagonal, being asymmetric and without an order. A characteristic that has its antecedents in mannerism.
8. Between the main trends that are appreciated within the Italian baroque painting stand out: tenebrism, classicism, decorative painting and landscape painting.

Here we leave you a generic overview of the characteristics of baroque painting.