The term “high baroque” refers to the art, architecture, and music that were popular from about 1625 to 1675 and were marked extreme emotion, detail, and complexity. The movement started in Italy and quickly spread across Europe, particularly in Catholic countries. Painting, sculpture, and architecture were frequently combined Baroque artists to create a single, overwhelming experience.
Around 1600, the baroque period began in Italy. Since the Council of Trent decreed that art should directly depict biblical events and scenes from the lives of saints with emotion, baroque art was initially primarily propaganda for the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The High Baroque period lasted roughly from 1625 to 1675, and it was a time when work was at its most emotional, sensual, and dynamic. Although the Catholic church pioneered this style, many secular leaders followed suit.
High baroque works frequently combine several different mediums to create a single cohesive emotional experience. The Santa Bibiana Church in Rome, for example, uses architecture, sculpture, and painted frescoes to emphasize the church’s namesake’s life. Santa Bibiana’s façade and marble sculpture were designed Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and a series of frescoes depicting scenes from the saint’s life were painted Pietro da Cortona. Music would be played during services to enhance the religious experience of churchgoers.
The paintings of the high baroque period are characterized movement, exaggerated lighting, detail, and sensational emotions. Furthermore, most paintings dealt with religious themes, such as Dutch painter Peter Paul Rubens’ “The Assumption of the Virgin Mary.” During the Baroque period, Greek and Roman mythology was a popular subject, resulting in works like Luca Giordano’s fresco in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi.
During the high baroque period, sculture was a very popular art form. The most famous of these sculptures is “The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa,” which can be found in Rome’s Santa Maria della Vittoria. Bernini finished the figure in 1652 and was also in charge of the sculpture’s placement within the chapel.
The architecture of the high baroque period was dominated impressive displays of wealth and power. King Louis XIV of France commissioned architect Louis Le Vau to transform Versailles into a baroque palace. Andre Le Notre’s design for Versailles’ complex, balanced gardens was equally important.
The high baroque period’s music is distinguished its complexity and emotions, as well as its technical restraint. With a prelude and a fugue in every key, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier exemplifies this type of music. Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Friedrich Handel, and Johann Pachelbel are among the most famous Baroque composers.