Baroque, the Portuguese phrase for “irregular stone or peal”, was a religious propagandist art movement which originated in Rome and spanned from the years 1590 to 1720. This movement “reflected the religious tensions of the age” as it was using “art as a weapon in the religious wars.” At the time, the Catholic Church in Rome wished to reassert itself in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. Due to this, it is not surprising that Baroque is so often noted for its religious grandeur. These tended to be huge works of art, illustrated with Catholic biblical elements and mythology, iconography, and aimed to invoke intense emotion. Baroque would often aim to be very theatrical, and techniques such as tenebrism (dramatic illumination) and chiaroscuro (also contrasting light and dark) were developed for its purpose.
Popular artists of this time and movement famously included Rembrandt (1606-1669)andGuercino (1591-1666), and female artists, Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) and Judith Leyster (1609-1660). Some artists were involved with different “categories” similar of the Baroque nature, such as the Dutch Golden Age painting, which has little religious art and focused more on landscape or still life painting.
Eventually Baroque would be replaced by the more superficial movement, Rococo.
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