How did Baroque Art influence the appearance of art? What kinds of Baroque Art did Flemish, Dutch, Spanish, French, English arti
sts specialize in? What struck you as the most interesting example of Baroque Art and why? Use what you learned in this unit to explain your reasoning.
There are many things that inspired the Baroque artists. This period was man’s first “modern age” of art, so there was a certain freedom that these artists had to express themselves, and this freedom had really never existed prior to this time. Artists were now able to express their emotions, and their reality. This period was a turning point for humanity. It was a time when there was more awareness of people, surrounding, nature and the world. The world was expanding and scientific discoveries were influencing the art and the times. Galileo’s investigations of the planets accounted for the painting of many astronomical motifs of the time. Landscapes began to become popular as people realized that there was more to the world than just the church and themselves. World trade began to be portrayed in the exotic themes that many artists of the time chose.
At the time the Roman Catholic Church greatly influenced art and influenced the movement in its attempts to combat the spread of the protestant movement. Even politics influenced the baroque movement. The greatness of the Spanish and French kingdom influenced the grandeur of the movement. As mentioned before there were many influences in the Baroque period and it was an awakening for many societies and many artists.
