Art Across the Ages 04

Part Four - Contains Lectures 25 - 32

25. The Reformation and the Mannerist Crisis
Mannerist works of art, especially paintings—with their defining attenuated or distorted physical details and often-shocking colors—seem to represent the tearing apart of Western Christendom by the Protestant Reformation. We look at several examples of the Mannerist crisis in art before coming to the more stable but equally dramatic Baroque style, represented by the Counter-Reformation-era works of Vasari and the Carracci family.

26. Baroque Shadows—Venice to Madrid to Rome
This lecture first continues the discussion of Venetian painting in the late 16th century, moving from late Titian to Tintoretto and then Veronese before moving to Spain and a discussion of El Greco and Velázquez, concluding in Rome for an examination of the dramatic work of Caravaggio and his unique mode of chiaroscuro called tenebrism.

27. Shadow and Light from Rome to the Lowlands
Caravaggio's use of light leads us into the further discussion of 17th-century Northern painting, beginning with Rembrandt. We are reminded of how much of that art, from Hals to Vermeer, is purely secular. Even in concluding with images of church interiors, we recognize that the emphasis is on light and symphonic architectural spaces, rather than on Christian spirituality.

28. Northern Landscapes and Life Sweeps
This lecture turns issues raised in the previous several lectures inside-out as we discuss both the growing artistic interest in representing nature as itself, as seen in the works of Van Goyen and Van Ruisdael, and in the inclusion of moral lessons in paintings of human activity, examples of which include the works of Steen and Van Dyck. We conclude with a study of the great Flemish painter, Rubens.

29. The Counter-Reformation from Italy Outward
This lecture begins with sculpture and architecture in continuing the discussion of the Counter-Reformation and its aftermath, including the continued shaping of St. Peter's Church by Bernini. That discussion brings us to a study of the dome as it arrives into the late 18th century and then to interior dome painting.

30. Revolutions in Spanish and English Painting
The intense, ongoing spirituality of 17th-century Spain is conveyed in works by a succession of painters from Zurbarán to Murillo and also by the distinct, flamboyant architectural style of the Churriguera family. By contrast, English painting in the 18th and early 19th centuries, from Hogarth to Turner, yields a range of secular moral messages, sensual landscapes, portraits, and a further interest in the role of light in reshaping the world that we see.

31. France's Gold and Silver Ages
The French ascension to primacy within the art world is symbolized by the rejection of Bernini's brilliant design for Louis XIV's contemplated extension of the new Louvre in favor of a more pedestrian proposal by French architects. As French architecture moves to and through lighter Rococo, Louis XV, and Neoclassical XVI styles, French painting continues to shift toward progressively lighter, love-obsessed fare, until the approaching revolution leads to nightmarish visions.

32. Politics and Romanticism
The degree to which the politics and the Romatic spirit of the onrushing 18th and early 19th centuries are reflected in art is made clear as we look at works by a range of artists including David, Ingres, Canova, Goya, Delacroix, Géricault, Friedrich, Daumier, and Millet.