LESSON: ARTS OF THE RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE PERIODS

I. EXPECTATIONS
The learner demonstrates understanding of salient features of Western arts from
different historical periods, through appreciation, analysis, and performance for self-
development, the celebration of Filipino cultural identity and diversity, and the
expansion of one’s world vision.

Specifically, this will help you to:

 reflect on and derive the mood, idea or message from selected artworks;

II. PRE-TEST

Directions: Analyze the following artworks. Afterwards, answer the given questions.

1. What mood, idea and message can you derive from the given artworks?
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III. LOOKING BACK TO YOUR LESSON

Directions: Who are some of the Renaissance and Baroque artists that you learned from your
previous lesson? Tell something about their works and their life history.
Artist 1:
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Artist 2:
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IV. BRIEF INTRODUCTION

Known as the Renaissance, the period immediately following the Middle Ages in Europe saw a
great revival of interest in the classical learning and values of ancient Greece and Rome. Against a
backdrop of political stability and growing prosperity, the development of new technologies–
including the printing press, a new system of astronomy and the discovery and exploration of new
continents–was accompanied by a flowering of philosophy, literature and especially art. The style of
painting, sculpture and decorative arts identified with the Renaissance emerged in Italy in the late
14th century; it reached its zenith in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, in the work of Italian
masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. In addition to its expression of classical
Greco-Roman traditions, Renaissance art sought to capture the experience of the individual and the
beauty and mystery of the natural world.
Many works of Renaissance art depicted religious images, including subjects such as the Virgin
Mary, or Madonna, and were encountered by contemporary audiences of the period in the context of
religious rituals. Today, they are viewed as great works of art, but at the time they were seen and used
mostly as devotional objects. Many Renaissance works were painted as altarpieces for incorporation
into rituals associated with Catholic Mass and donated by patrons who sponsored the Mass itself.
The Baroque is a period of artistic style that started around 1600 in Rome, Italy, and spread
throughout the majority of Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. In informal usage, the word
baroque describes something that is elaborate and highly detailed.
The Baroque style is characterized by exaggerated motion and clear detail used to produce
drama, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, architecture, literature, dance, and music.
Baroque iconography was direct, obvious, and dramatic, intending to appeal above all to the senses
and the emotions.
The use of the chiaroscuro technique is a well-known trait of Baroque art. This technique
refers to the interplay between light and dark and is often used in paintings of dimly lit scenes to
produce a very high-contrast, dramatic atmosphere. The chiaroscuro technique is visible in the
painting The Massacre of the Innocents by Peter Paul Rubens. Other important Baroque painters
include Caravaggio (who is thought to be a precursor to the movement and is known for work
characterized by close-up action and strong diagonals) and Rembrandt.
In the Baroque style of architecture, emphasis was placed on bold spaces, domes, and large
masses, as exemplified by the Queluz National Palace in Portugal. In music, the Baroque style makes
up a large part of the classical canon. Important composers include Johann Sebastian Bach, George
Handel, and Antonio Vivaldi. In the later part of the period, the Baroque style was termed Rococo, a
style characterized by increasingly decorative and elaborate works.

MOOD: (sometimes called atmosphere) the overall feeling of the work.

Mood is the emotion that you (the reader) feel while you look at the artwork. Sometimes it
makes you feel sad, others joyful, still others, angry.

Mood is the general atmosphere created by the artists through his works. It is the feeling the
observer gets from looking at those works. It may be the same, or it may change from situation to
situation.
 Words That Describe Mood
Fanciful Melancholy Gloomy Sentimental
Frightening Mysterious Happy Sorrowful
Frustrating Romantic Joyful Suspenseful

V. ACTIVITIES
Directions: Describe the following artworks using words that describe a mood. Explain why
you chose such mood for each artwork.

VI. REMEMBER

 The most important factors during the Baroque era were the Reformation and the Counter-
Reformation; the development of the Baroque style was considered to be closely linked with the
Catholic Church. The popularity of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Catholic Church,
which had decided at the Council of Trent that the arts should communicate religious themes and
direct emotional involvement in response to the Protestant Reformation.
 The Baroque style is characterized by exaggerated motion and clear detail used to produce drama,
exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, architecture, literature, dance, and music.
 The chiaroscuro technique refers to the interplay between light and dark that was often used in
Baroque paintings of dimly lit scenes to produce a very high-contrast, dramatic atmosphere.
 Famous painters of the Baroque era include Rubens, Caravaggio, and Rembrandt. In music, the
Baroque style makes up a large part of the classical canon, such as Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi.
 The later Baroque style was termed Rococo, a style characterized by increasingly decorative and
elaborate works.
 The Florence school of painting became the dominant style during the Renaissance. Renaissance
artworks depicted more secular subject matter than previous artistic movements.
 Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Rafael are among the best-known painters of the High Renaissance.
 The High Renaissance was followed by the Mannerist movement, known for elongated figures.
 fresco: A type of wall painting in which color pigments are mixed with water and applied to wet
plaster. As the plaster and pigments dry, they fuse together and the painting becomes a part of the
wall itself.
 Mannerism: A style of art developed at the end of the High Renaissance, characterized by the
deliberate distortion and exaggeration of perspective, especially the elongation of figures.

VII. CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING

Directions: Determine whether the statement is True or False. Write T if True and F if False.

_____ 1. The Baroque style is characterized by exaggerated motion and clear detail used.

_____ 2. Baroque iconography was indirect, obvious, and not dramatic, intending to appeal
above all to the senses and the emotions.
_____ 3. The High Renaissance was followed by the Mannerist movement, known for elongated
figures.
_____ 4. Collage: A type of wall painting in which color pigments are mixed with water and
applied to wet plaster.
_____ 5. Famous painters of the Baroque era include Rubens, Caravaggio, and Rembrandt.

VIII. POST-TEST

Directions: Paste two different artwork of your choice below. It may be from a newspaper or
magazine, then explain it using the given format.

Artwork What it makes me feel

 How does the artist impact your emotions and reactions?

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