The Main Artists of the Baroque

Talking about the main artists of the baroque period is talking about great characters that developed an artistic style using clear details and some exaggerated movements that were performed in order to produce drama, magnificence, exuberance, tension; as well as perform the characteristics of the baroque period such as the painting, sculpture, theatre, dance, music and literature originated in the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

I’ll mention which were the artists of the baroque period from the different disciplines, and also, if you’re interested in knowing which the most popular phrases were in the baroque period, visit the former link.

Painters of the Baroque Period

The baroque painters were some of the most interesting characters in the history of baroque art. The style, just like the personality of the artist, was usually dark, powerful and dramatic. The baroque style it’s characterized by the emotional effect of the color and harmony of the whole painting.

For inspiring their viewers, the baroque style used complex effects for shaking the religious passions. In some of their most characteristic works – such as Caravaggio’s “Isaac’s sacrifice” (1601-1602) – the painting, sculpture, decoration and architecture were designed for creating a solo effect, with a big reaching. Plenty master pieces of the baroque period appeared in Roman churches and palaces, but the style soon spread among all Europe, and it changed the character the way it did.

1. Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio: One of the best painters of the baroque period. From Italian origins, he was active in Rome, Sicily, Naples and Malt between 1592 and 1610. His paintings combined a realistic observation of the human state, both emotional and physical.
2. Peter Paul Rubens: A prolific baroque painter, and possibly the most famous one. His style reflects closely Caravaggio’s and his works tends to represent religious figures. The main differencing element in Rubens’ art for expressing the extreme emotion was the minimalistic fashion with which it was made. Needless to say, he had a certain preference towards the painting of curvy women.
3. Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn: He was a huge rival of the famous Rubens and Holland’s main artist. He was sharp artist that started himself in the drawing, the oil painting and the inset. Rembrandt’s baroque paintings represent biblical and historical scenes, and also self-portraits – a deviation from the sceneries and, mostly, from the life of his contemporary fellow artists.
4. Annibale Carracci: Another of the best painters of the Italian baroque. Annibale Carracci was born in Bologna and certainly was the first apprentice inside her family.
5. Frans Hals “The Old Man”: A Dutch man that finds himself between the best painters of the baroque period from the Golden Century. He is notorious for his pictorial, loose brushing, and he helped to introduce this animated style of painting to the Dutch art. Hals also played a decisive part in the evolution of the portrait by the group of the 17^th

Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio Famous composers of baroque period

Best Sculptors of the baroque art

The baroque was a cultural awakening in the art world, due to why it isn’t a surprise that it produced some of the world’s most famous sculptures. The popular sculptures from the baroque era are exhibited in museums around the entire world.

1. Gian Lorenzo Bernini: He was an Italian artist, the main architect and sculptor of his age, and the successor of the great Michelangelo. His work is defined by its capacity to combine the intense emotion, the naturalism and the dynamism (the characteristics that define the baroque art itself) in his marble master pieces. This pieces marked a clear difference with the classic, sober sculptures that lacked fluidity. He is considered one of the best sculptors of the baroque art.
2. Alessandro Algardi: One of the most important Roman sculptors of the 17^th century, he worked in the baroque style of sculpture known as high baroque classicism, and this term precisely characterizes its position half the way between Bernini and the classicist Francois Duquesnoy.
3. Nicholas Coustou: A French sculptor whose style was based in the great academic character of the sculptors who decorated the Palace of Versailles, although with some liberty in the Rococo style. He worked in a variety of mediums and he produced infinity of works, some of them in collaboration with his brother, Guillaume.
4. Francois Anguier: He was a French sculptor that produced planes and decorations for graves, palaces and public monuments. Anguir started his formation in France and, in 1641, he traveled to Rome, where it’s believed that he studied in the workshop of the baroque sculptor Alessandro Algardi up until 1643. Anguier’s most characteristic work was the funereal statue of Gasparde de la Chatre.
5. Francesco Borromini: A Swiss-Italian architect and lifelong rival of Bernini (1599-1667). He’s considered one of the maximum exponents of the Roman baroque, creator of countless works.
6. Pietro da Cortona: It is said that he is the maximum representative of the overall decorative baroque art, primarily known for his works in the field of the fresh decorates in the period of Urbano the 8^th to whom he made a portrait. He was one of the established artists inside Rome.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini Baroque composers

Who were the main composers of the baroque music and from where were they?

Plenty of the known characters of the first part of the baroque period in Italia, including Monteverdi, Corelli and Vivaldi. (Up until half of the 18^th century, our attention drives towards the German composers Bach and Handel). Plenty of the ways identified with the baroque music were originated in Italy, including the cantata, concerto, sonata, oratory and opera. Nevertheless, despite Italy playing a vital part in the development of this genres, the new concepts of what it meant to be a nation grew bigger in the dominant “national style”. The differences between nations were frequently audible in the music of the time, not only in the form in which music was composed, but also in the arrangements for its progress. The contrast between Italy and France was a particularly evident one.

Although some of the countries can appear for reclaiming a bigger piece of our experience of the baroque music nowadays, nevertheless, each nation developed a role. As musicians and composers travelling around all Europe and listened to each other’s music, the new adjusts that were made had slight impressions on them. Some of the composers from the baroque are:

• Germany: Praetorius, Schein, Scheidt, Schutz, Telemann, Handel and Bach.
• France: Couperin, Lully, Charpentier and Rameau.
• Italy: Monteverdi, Frescobaldi, Corelli, Vivaldi, Domenico and Alessandro Scarlatti.
• England: Purcell.

Georg Friedrich Haendel The baroque music artists

Authors of the literary baroque

The literary baroque had place in Spain during the Golden Age of the Spanish literature. It has plenty of common aspects among the Works of different authors from the baroque, as it normally occurs with the artistic movements.

1. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra: A complete author from the baroque; a Spanish poet, novelist and playwright. Currently, he is considered as the maximum figure of the Spanish literature.
2. Francisco de Quevedo: Poet and satiric master from Spain in the Golden Age, a virtuous of the language. There’s no one that can compare to him in the Spanish literature.
3. Lope de Vega: One of the most important playwrights and poets of the Spanish Golden Century, and due to the magnitude of his work, he’s one of the most prolific writers of the universal literature.
4. Pedro Calderón de la Barca: A writer, poet and playwright of the Golden Age in Spain. During some time he was a Roman soldier and priest. His works have as parting point the theatrical style of Lope de Vega, leading to him be considered the best one from the Spanish baroque theatre. The works of this character represent the pessimism for life.

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Famous composers of the baroque period

Conclusion

As you can see, the artists of the baroque gave huge benefits to that era and for that reason they are cataloged as the best characters from their time.