What is the intersection of Baroque, Rococo and Academics (1)?

Baroque refers to the main artistic style popular in Europe from the beginning of17th century to the first half of18th century. The word comes from Portuguese barroco, which means irregular pearl. Renaissance humanist writers used this word to criticize works of art that were not made according to classical norms. Although Baroque style inherited the tradition of illusion reappearance established in the Renaissance, it abandoned the simple, harmonious and steady classical style and pursued a complex, magnificent, magnificent and dynamic artistic realm. The main representative of Baroque style in painting is Flanders painter Rubens, and the main representative in architecture and sculpture is Italian bernini.

Since18th century, art historians and archaeologists have paid special attention to the study of style. The so-called style means that a work is composed in a certain way, which is internally harmonious and consistent, but it is obviously different from other styles, so it can give people a deep impression. The formation of style is the expression of a certain era and the author's artistic maturity.

However, Baroque, as a style, has always been a controversial issue among art historians. The original meaning of Baroque, which contains irregular, distorted and grotesque meanings, is a title given by classicists in the18th century to art that their predecessors did not quite agree with. In terms of time, baroque pop is from17th century to18th century. Therefore, some people put the art of all countries in the whole17th century-Italy, Spain, Flanders, Holland, France ... in the Baroque period.

Rococo style came into being in France in the 1920s of 18 and became popular in Europe. It is developed on the basis of baroque architecture, mainly reflected in interior decoration. The basic characteristics of Rococo style are delicate, gorgeous, exquisite, sweet, gentle and complicated. Against the background of the decline of European feudal aristocratic culture, it shows the decadent and flashy aesthetic ideals and thoughts of the declining aristocratic class. They can't stand the seriousness and rationality of classicism and the noise of baroque, and pursue beauty and leisure. The word rococo evolved from French ro-caille (shell craft), which originally meant shell-like patterns in architectural decoration. 1699, architect and decorative artist Marley adopted this curved shell pattern in a large number of decorative designs of the king's residence, hence the name. Rococo style first appeared in the interior decoration of buildings, and later extended to painting, sculpture, handicrafts, music and literature.

Rococo's artistic style, in the works of musicians Mozart and Haydn, writers Pope, Edison, Voltaire, painters Waldo and Consboro, runs through a common theme, that is, to combine rational and beautiful tastes with relaxed, clear and orderly materials.

Louis XIV often held various dances in Versailles, tortured the nobles with tedious etiquette and meaningless duties, and then created a leisurely environment with gorgeous court decorations, deliberately making ambiguous remarks, so as to consume the nobles' energy and make them have no time to plan rebellion. Therefore, artists are entrusted to fabricate a blissful ideal life with the sole purpose of creating a leisurely and actually lazy happy society. Rococo is relative to Louis XIV's magnificent classical art. This change is related to the decline of the French aristocracy, the spirit of free exploration in the Enlightenment (almost replacing religious belief) and the growing prosperity of the middle class.

Generally speaking, academic painting refers to a kind of conservative painting that has been strictly trained, passed down from master to apprentice and passed down from layer to layer. As an academic school in the history of art, it originated in Italy in the16th century, then became popular in Europe, and reached various art colleges in the18th and19th centuries. The earliest Academy of Fine Arts was founded by the Karachi brothers in Italy. That's Bologna College established by 1590. Its merit lies in ending the ancient manual workshop-style education and greatly promoting the whole art education. Later, the Academy of Fine Arts emphasized the need to inherit the classical art of the Renaissance and pursue the perfection of form and elegance of content. The important representative painters are Karachi, Lenny, LeBron, bouguereau, David and Angel.

Statue of Pope Innocent X

Velazquez of Spain is another world-class Spanish painting master after greco. At the same time, as a close friend of Rubens, he became a representative painter of Baroque art because of his influence.

Velazquez was born in Seville in southern Spain, and his father was a ruined aristocrat. Parents don't want their son to study art, but they want him to be a judge or a lawyer when he grows up. But velazquez was obsessed with painting since he was a child, so he had to send him to the realistic painter Herrera to study. Although velazquez likes his teacher's realistic works, Herrera's moody temper is unbearable. Soon after, he transferred to Francisco Pacheco's studio to study.

Although Pacheco is not outstanding as a painter, he is a profound scholar with classical painting accomplishment. Velazquez respected his teacher very much, and under his influence, he acquired superb painting skills and was influenced by the spirit of humanism. And his teacher also appreciated this promising and talented young pupil and betrothed his daughter Fiona to him. In his later years, he often mentioned his high feet in On Painting.

After six years as a teacher, velazquez became an outstanding local independent painter under the painstaking cultivation of his father-in-law. 1623, velazquez, who was only 24 years old, came to Madrid, soon became a court painter of King Philip IV, lived in the palace, and established a deep friendship with King Philip IV, who was only 19 years old at that time, and devoted the rest of his life to the court. In the court, velazquez, who was deeply loved by the king, was not only a court painter, but also reused in many other aspects and was awarded the title of "Knight of San Diego".

Shortly after velazquez's court life began, he met Rubens, who came to Madrid as a diplomatic envoy, and became good friends. The communication with this baroque master and the careful study of his works have greatly benefited velazquez and greatly improved his painting skills. Rubens also appreciated velazquez's talent and suggested that he go to Italy to study.

Velazquez visited Italy twice in his youth and prime of life. The first time was 1629. With the permission of the king, he accompanied Spanish Commander-in-Chief Spinola to visit Italy, a country of art, where painters observed and studied the works of Tintoretto, Raphael and Michelangelo, which improved their artistic attainments and broadened their artistic horizons. The second time, the 50-year-old painter went to buy paintings.

After returning from his second visit, velazquez became the etiquette officer in Philip IV, running for the wedding of Princess Maria Teresa and French King Louis XIV. The wedding was held on 1659, and the elderly etiquette officer died soon because of the overwork of this marriage.

On his second trip to Italy in 1649, velazquez completed a famous portrait, The Portrait of Pope Innocent X. In this portrait, the painter not only shows the ferocity and cunning of the man, but also shows the mental weakness of the 76-year-old man. The Pope in the picture, although a strong expression appeared on his face for an instant, his two hands on the chair were particularly weak. The painter skillfully grasped this point, making the characters more personalized, thus adding a lot of associative space to the audience. The oil painting skills of this work are also excellent. On the screen, fiery red shows the solemn atmosphere of a unique religion; The white cassock and the red shawl form a strong color contrast. The brushwork is very smooth and free, which shows the artist's superb skills.

Because of familiarity, famous paintings have been held too high, and many famous paintings are difficult to surprise or even boring the audience's visual experience. However, the portrait of Pope Innocent X in velazquez (1649) seems to be an exception. Although it has been published for more than 300 years, it can still strongly shock the sensory perception of contemporary audiences. From the painting form, it is no different from other portraits in Europe at that time. The posture and composition of the characters conform to the tradition of portrait painting, which is in sharp contrast with the unusual realism in painting. Reminds people of the comments of contemporary audiences in velazquez: all other works are paintings, and only this one is true. This painting was painted by velazquez during his second visit to Italy.

As the court painter of Spanish King Philip IV, velazquez attended the 1650 celebration hosted by Pope Innocent X in Rome. At that time, he also met with contemporary painters, such as Pu Sang and sculptor bernini. It was there, at the request of Innocent X, that velazquez painted this famous portrait. It is said that when the Pope himself saw the painting for the first time, he was almost surprised and uneasy and said, "It's so alike!"

This truth obviously comes from the depth of the painter's observation of human nature. Velazquez and Goya, a Spanish court painter in the18th century, have similar life experiences and artistic prestige, and both have painted many portraits for the royal family and nobles. But Goya made no secret of his contempt for court nobles. He emphatically revealed the sharp contrast between the solemn and gorgeous appearance of the nobles and their dull minds and empty hearts. His brush is as sharp as a blade. Velazquez treats people of all identities equally, whether they are farmers and pawns, or princes and nobles, he can draw like individuals. The portrait of Pope Innocent X is a typical example. In this painting, he just regards the object as a person and draws his identity and character. You can't see the likes and dislikes of the author from such works, because he doesn't intervene, he just observes. Because of this, in that era when photography was not invented, velazquez's Portrait of the Pope was almost an objective realistic painting. There is no exaggeration in the picture, and everything faithfully shows what the painter saw.

When this painting was created, the painter was just over 50 years old and was in the heyday of his creation. If there is still a trace of Caravaggio's style in Caravaggio's early works, then velazquez has created his own art kingdom. His grasp of anatomy, modeling and color is vividly reflected in this painting, so that it is difficult for people to realize that it is just a painting before such a work. All people's attention is attracted by the depth and breadth of the painter's description of human nature, which is one of the miracles in the history of painting. No wonder the Pope was surprised. He never imagined that the Spanish painter could truly show the inner world of a powerful man who is famous for his intrigue and cunning under the disguise. The power of velazquez is here.