Baroque Sculpture and Painting in Rome 

1. Using the following questions as a guide, write a summary of , "Water Works: Bernini on Piazza Navona”

a. How did Bernini get the commission for the fountain?

b. What was the symbolism of the travertine base or grotto, the marble figures, the obelisk, and the dove?

c. What did Professor Marder and his colleague learn from the financial documents of the project?

d. Why were the wood and terracotta models so important to Bernini’s project?

How detailed were the models?

e. What makes Bernini's sculptures so lifelike? Give visual evidence from one the fountain figures or animals.

2. From the posted lecture on Caravaggio’s life and style,

a. What was daily life like for the young Caravaggio’s when he arrived in Rome?

b. Why would specializing in painting heads and still lifes be useful to him in his later paintings of religious narratives?

c. What are the important innovations in the lighting and viewpoint of Caravaggio's religious works? Give examples from either "Calling of St. Matthew"  or "The Supper at Emmaus" seen in the Caravaggio video.

d. How do these two innovations contribute to a more dramatic scene?

From the textbook discussion of Artemisia Gentileschi 

e. What did you learn about the status and the experience of women artists of the Baroque period from the discussion and excerpts of the Letters of Artemisia Gentileschi?

f. What was her solution to recording her unique pose in her self-portrait? How does this reflect the fascination with mirrors and optical phenomena by 17th-century artists?

Dutch Painting: from the textbook discussion,  AND Rachael Ruysch video

3. Landscape painting became a popular subject throughout 17th-Europe.

Compare and contrast Jacob van Ruisdael's View of Haarlem from the Dunes of Overveen,  with the “ideal or classical landscape” of Annibale Carracci, Flight into Egypt .

Compare : use bullet point phrases

a. the subject of the landscape painting

b. how each artist uses light

c. spatial organization: Where is the horizon line? and how does each artist organize the space of the foreground, middle ground, background (the 10 minute Video on Visual

Analysis is good for explaining these concepts)

4. Genre scenes or depictions of everyday life were another popular subject in the Baroque period.

a. What is the mood of Jan Steen's scene, Feast of St. Nicholas ?

b. How does the painter convey the mood through the different objects, gestures and

facial expressions? Give three examples.

c. What is the moral message of the painting?

5. Dutch Still life Painting

a. Where could the new patrons of art in 17th-century Holland buy art?

b. How do Dutch still life paintings such as Willem Kalf's Still Life with Late Ming Ginger Jar show the increased international trade and wealth of the Dutch Republic ?

Point out specific objects from the still life.

c. What objects in Pieter Claesz Vanitas Still life show the vanitas theme and the Calvinist attitude towards worldly goods? Give three examples.

d. From the video on Rachel Ruysch, why did women often specialize in flower paintings in the 17th century? What role did Rachel’s Ruysch’s father play in developing her career?

e. How truthful are Ruysch’s paintings of flowers? And why were her paintings in such high demand? Use Ruysch’s painting, "Flower Still-Life" as an example and point out specific visual evidence to support your statements.

Bonus point question: What aspect of Ruysch’s still-life shows the influence of Caravaggio’s style ?