Baroque

Baroque art began in Italy around 1600 and spread across Europe. It speaks to the senses and the emotions, with movement, drama and figures caught as if in mid-action, often on a grand scale. Churches, kings and nobles used it to persuade and impress. Rubens in Flanders is often taken as its model. A turning body, a sweeping arrangement or a contrast between light and darkness can make a Baroque picture feel immediate. Yet the term covers quieter still lifes and landscapes as well as grand religious or mythological scenes. Different patrons and settings encouraged different approaches across seventeenth-century Europe. Compare how artists draw you toward a gesture, a face or a material surface; theatrical drama is one possibility within this broad grouping, not a rule for every work. Connected places: Rome · Antwerp · Seville and Madrid.

• The Capture of SamsonPeter Paul Rubens, 1609–10
• Saint FrancisPeter Paul Rubens, c. 1615
• St. Albert of LouvainPeter Paul Rubens, 1620
• The Wedding of Peleus and ThetisPeter Paul Rubens, 1636
• Breakfast Still LifeWillem Claesz. Heda, 1647
• Jan Brueghel the ElderAnthony van Dyck, 1630/33
• Saint John the Baptist in the WildernessDiego Velázquez, c. 1622
• Kitchen SceneDiego Velázquez, 1618–20
• Ecce Agnus DeiBartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1655
• The CrucifixionFrancisco de Zurbarán, 1627
• Saint Romanus of Antioch and Saint BarulasFrancisco de Zurbarán, 1638
• Study of Hercules Resting, with Separate Studies of His Head and Foot (recto); Rectangular grid design (verso)Annibale Carracci, 1595/97
• Drunken Silenus (the "Tazza Farnese")Annibale Carracci, c. 1597
• Landscape with Saint John on PatmosNicolas Poussin, 1640
• View of Delphi with a ProcessionClaude Lorrain, 1673
• Panorama from the SassoClaude Lorrain, 1649/1655
• A Wooded River Landscape with Jacob, Laban, and His DaughtersClaude Lorrain, 1661
• Virgin and Child with Saints Dominic and HyacinthGiovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1730–35
• Rinaldo and Armida in Her GardenGiovanni Battista Tiepolo, c. 1742–45
• Armida Encounters the Sleeping RinaldoGiovanni Battista Tiepolo, c. 1742–45
• Armida Abandoned by RinaldoGiovanni Battista Tiepolo, c. 1742–45
• Rinaldo and the Magus of AscalonGiovanni Battista Tiepolo, c. 1742–45
• The Holy Family with Saints Elizabeth and John the BaptistPeter Paul Rubens, c. 1615
• The Adoration of the EucharistPeter Paul Rubens, c. 1626
• A Sheet of Anatomical StudiesPeter Paul Rubens, 1600/10
• Studies of a Roman SarcophagusPeter Paul Rubens, 1602/03
• Nude Youth in the Pose of the SpinarioPeter Paul Rubens, 1610/16
• The Last SupperPeter Paul Rubens, late 1613 or early 1614
• Portrait of the Artist's Son, Antonio CarracciAgostino Carracci, 1592/95
• Saint Jerome in PenitenceAgostino Carracci, c. 1602
• Boy DrinkingAnnibale Carracci, 1582–83
• A Genoese Lady with Her ChildAnthony van Dyck, c. 1623–25
• Jan SnellinxAnthony van Dyck, 1630/33
• Self-PortraitAnthony van Dyck, 1630/33
• Frans SnydersAnthony van Dyck, 1630/33
• Philippe Le RoyAnthony van Dyck, 1630/40
• Esther before AhasuerusArtemisia Gentileschi, 1620s
• Laban Searching for His Stolen Household GodsBartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1665–70
• The Immaculate ConceptionBartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1680
• Italian LandscapeClaude Lorrain, c. 1630
• Rest on the Flight into EgyptClaude Lorrain, early 1640s
• Pastoral Scene with Classical FiguresClaude Lorrain, c. 1640–45
• Portrait of the Jester CalabazasDiego Velázquez, c. 1631–32
• Christ and the Virgin in the House at NazarethFrancisco de Zurbarán, c. 1640
• Diogenes Seeking an Honest ManGiovanni Benedetto Castiglione, 1645–47
• Satyr Resting beneath a HermGiovanni Benedetto Castiglione, 1645–47
• The Creation of AdamGiovanni Benedetto Castiglione, c. 1645/50
• A Pagan SacrificeGiovanni Benedetto Castiglione, c. 1645–50