Baroque

by John Rupert Martin

This is a nonchronological introduction to Baroque, one of the great periods of European art. John Martin's descriptions of the essential characteristics of the Baroque help one to gain an understanding of the style. His illustrations are informative and he has clearly looked with a fresh eye at the works of art themselves. In addition to the more than 200 illustrations, the volume contains an appendix of translated documents.

Genres: Art, Art History, History, Nonfiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

John Rupert Martin (Sept. 27, 1916 - July 28, 2000) was an academic & art historian.

Professor Martin received his B.A. degree in 1938 from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario & earned the degree of Master of Fine Arts at Princeton in 1941. He taught for a year at the State University of Iowa before enlisting in the Canadian Army in 1942.

In 1947, from Princeton University, Martin received his Ph.D. in History of Art. He taught at Princeton & was named Marquand Professor of Art and Archaeology.

During the 1970's he served as a consultant to Canada's National Heritage & in 1976 McMaster University presented him with the honorary degree Doctor of Letters.
Dr. Martin has published many books and articles on the Baroque era in art. He is considered an eminent authority on Rubens, Rembrandt and van Dyck.

Reviews

[AC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mannerism:


Francesco Salviati (1510-1563), La deposizione (1550)



Baroque:


Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), Descent From the Cross (c. 1612-14)




That said, this particular volume of the Penguin Style and Civilization series is dry and uninspired and, apparently, revisionist. The attempt to subsume all of the 17th cen. under the rubric Baroque, forces Martin to include Caravaggio, Rubens, Cortona, Poussin, and Vermeer, Classicism and Baroque, under a single heading -- and it is questionable how much analytic value such a synthesis provides. In this case, one may well rather identify with the 'splitters' rather than the 'smooshers'...

I'll spend a little more time with this, scanning the photos (fairly high-quality, glossy B&W's), and then move on to another volume.

[Mary-Therese P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging an comprehensive introduction to the baroque art from. Numerous illustrations of some of the most famous works. Would recommend to anyone interested in the art form, especially beginners!

[Michael Belcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A richness of visual and descriptive exemplification is paired with clarity and thoroughness to deliver a top-notch primer on the period. Martin manages to wrangle vast differences into a coherent analytical model that doesn't make easy elisions to obfuscate that complexity. For instance, here is how he helpfully breaks down the Baroque into periods: “The first or ‘Early Baroque’ phase, essentially a naturalistic one, originated in Italy, and its pioneering figure was beyond doubt Caravaggio...‘High Baroque’ found its fullest realization in the sensuousness and colourism of Rubens...The third or classicist phase, in which the opulent and emotional qualities of the ‘High Baroque’ were supplanted by a more rigorous order, clarity and composure, had its beginnings in Rome in the early 1630s...‘Late Baroque’ [equates to the] later Louis XIV style, with its decorative reworking of the classic vocabulary.” From there he goes on to analyze works through the lenses of space, light, time, etc., which gives the reader a grasp of those concepts in art, in general, while also underscoring their importance to the 17th century. A highly recommended resource, even if just for the wealth of wonderful images alone.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had this book in college in 1988. I reread it as I really had no appreciation of the subject in college. A good overall review of Baroque (17th century) painting, sculpture, and architecture. It is even good for those relatively new to Art History. Society has changed since it was written (1977) as there is almost no mention of female artists from this period. There were not many, but there were some. The book uses the following characteristics to organize the study:

Style
Naturalism
Passions of the soul
Transcendental and Allegorical
Space
Time
Light
Antiquities

[Batgrl (Book Data Kept Elsewhere)]

Contents:
Introduction
1. The Question of Style
2. Naturalism
3. The Passions of the Soul.
4. The Transcendental View of Reality
5. Space
6. Time
7. Light
8. Attitudes to Antiquity
Appendix A. Peter Paul Rubens, On the Imitation of Statues
Appendix B. Paul Freart de Chantelou, Bernini in France
Appendix C. Arnold Houbraken, Life of Rembrandt
Appendix D. Francisco Pacheco, On the Aim of Painting
Appendix E. Philippe de Champaigne, On Poussin's Rebecca and Eliezer
Notes
Books for Further Reading
Catalogue of Illustrations
Index
____________


Book was required reading for a lovely course on the art and architecture of the Gothic and the Baroque.

Cover photograph: Detail of the statue The Blessed Ludovica Albertoni

[Lazarus P Badpenny Esq · Rating 4 out of 5]

''The word 'Baroque', as I shall use it in this book, denotes, first of all, the predominant artistic trends of the period that is roughly comprehended by the seventeenth century... The period offers, it is true, a spectacle of works of art of quite astonishing variety, and it may seem futile to maintain that these products of different countries, different economic and political institutions and different forms of religious belief can have anything in common beyond mere contemporaneousness. If unity is to be discovered within this diversity, it is evident that what we must look for is not any well-defined uniformity of style, but the embodiment of certain widely held ideas, attitudes and assumptions.'' p.12

[J.I.]

Well laid out with mostly interesting descriptions that are occasionally marred by the author's love for Baroque at the expense of other art (which comes off as condescension). On the one hand, this book is stuffed FULL of pictures of the work it is describing, which is marvelous, but on the other hand the pictures are low dpi black and white copies that lose nearly all of the details. Best read next to a web browser for actual pictures.

[James Webster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good treatment of a varied movement in art. Manages to draw together major themes and artists of the Baroque (sadly only the visual arts) in such a way as to support an understanding of the Baroque as something with more coherence than it can sometimes seem to have. Pictures of works generous and sensibly arranged and referenced.

[₵oincidental Ðandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Masterly.

[Madeline W · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the primary sources in the appendices to be more interesting than most of the text, but I suppose this was a decent overview of the period. Though it felt like there were some significant gaps in the variety of artists and works covered, using a thematic review of the era/style does seem to be the sensible approach. Overall, I think I wanted more content and fewer redundancies and speculative descriptions.

[Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

for Baroque art

lots of great primary source documents in the appendices. Organized thematically instead of regionally or chronologically, which is helpful for papers sometimes.