This introduction to the arts and architecture of 17th-century Italy addresses one of the core paradoxes of the period: that startling innovation and creativity were not inconsistent with serving the purposes of patrons and ideologies that at first appear rigid and authoritarian. Supported by popes, cardinals, new religious orders, and private collectors, artists and architects such as Caravaggio, Artemisia, Gentileschi, Pietro da Cortona, Gianlorenzo Bernini, and Francesco Borromini depicted saintly bodies in moments of divine rapture, opened up painted ceilings to elaborate illusionistic visions, and subjected the classical language of architecture to unprecedented levels of movement. Through lectures and discussions of key primary and secondary sources, we will explore the emotive and ideological power of baroque art, considering the multitude of ways in which it shaped the visual, political, and religious worlds of its day. |