Spanish and French Baroque Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Spanish and French Baroque - Research Paper Example Paintings of the Baroque style show a kind of dynamism, in contrast to the static mood of the Renaissance. They achieve a sense of movement by placing the composition along the diagonal, instead of the vertical. The paintings of the age were infused with the vitality and vigor, which had taken hold of Europe after the counterreformation. Landscape was treated as an adjunct to the primary figural subject and served as merely the background. In fresco decoration it appeared as an â€Å"ornamental interlude† in opposition to the main figures. The artists of the Baroque era took the landscape and â€Å"endowing it with a new grandeur† pushed the details and incidents to the realms of secondary objects. This style of painting was marked by Pastoral themes, and the artist tried to recreate Virgil’s Arcadia as the locus amoenus (pleasant place), where shepherds could lead the days in otium (leisurely) pursuits. Baroque works of art stressed upon the idea of creating ple asurable emotions but without any vulgarity, and keeping it â€Å"simple and natural’ based on the concept of les biensà ©ances (decorum). The Classical landscapes of the Baroque age painting, is marked by vast open spaces, with an architectural structure, usually a dilapidated fort or castle, which is placed there so as to â€Å"order the landscape through a symmetrical placement of geometricized forms.’ The Baroque style was practiced predominantly in Catholic countries of Europe, and so, many of the important pieces of art can be traced to Spain and France.