Art and Theory in Baroque Europe: Naturalism

NATURALISM
(Chapter 2 from John Rupert Martin)

"The whole art of the Baroque expresses an acceptance of the material world, through the realistic representation of man and nature, through the affirmation of the senses and the emotions and through a new perception of space and inifinity" (Martin, 39)

Forms of Naturalism

"The naturalism of Caravaggio, which was to have momentous consequences for the whole of European painting, was the first great liberating force in Baroque art." (Martin, 41)

Caravaggio, Death of the Virgin, 1605-06

"The peasant pictures of Louis Le Nain are among the most remarkable documents of Baroque naturlaism in that they combine unidealized observation of simple humanity with an almost classical gravity and calm." (Martin, 53)

Louis Le Nain, The Peasants' Meal, 1642

Velázquez, The Drinkers (or The Triumph of Bacchus), 1628-29

Annibale Carracci, Man with a Monkey, 1590-91

Caravaggio, The Calling of St. Matthew, 1597-1601

Jan Vermeer, The Milkmaid, 1658-60