THE 3 STAGES OF BAROQUE: EARLY, FULL AND LATE - ART - 2025

The stages of the Baroque are the different characteristic periods of this artistic and cultural movement with so much presence in the history of the arts. The Baroque was born in Europe, developing mainly in Italy at the beginning of the 17th century, extending until the middle of the 18th century. Although of European origin, this movement had great influence in the existing American colonies at the time.

The Baroque movement encompasses practices and expressions such as architecture, music, painting, sculpture, literature, dance and theater. It is considered that its influence for the time went far beyond being an artistic style or current, with determined social and political implications. It was considered by the aristocracy as a means to surprise.

The Baroque was promoted by the Catholic Church, in Europe, mainly. The main artistic manifestations began to adopt religious and opulent themes in their contents, with victories and the presence of divine characters.

This movement was divided into three main stages throughout its existence: early or primitive Baroque, between the years 1590 and 1625; Full Baroque, between 1625 and 1660; and late Baroque, between 1660 and 1725, the last stage that gave way to another movement: the rococo.

Today you can still see baroque manifestations or versions influenced by more modern currents.

You may be interested The 10 Main Representatives of the Baroque.

Different stages of the Baroque and their characteristics

Early Baroque (1590 - 1625)

The Baroque originates from Italy, and one of the first expressive forms to adopt its elements was painting. It arises under the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, whose internal reforms allowed the implementation of new guidelines towards the contents of the arts and their function.

By then, the most renowned painters were constantly competing for the commissions assigned by the Church, so they were the first to adopt these new aesthetic changes.

Among those changes, a much more direct, obvious and theatrical iconography that exalted ecclesiastical values ​​and that was capable of reaching not only the intellectuals, but the illiterate.

According to experts, the Baroque began as a reaction of the Church against revolutionary cultural movements and with more liberal ideas.

However, Rome was the epicenter of its successful development, where architecture took a greater role in public spaces and marked the urban identity of the moment, preserved until today.

In the first plastic manifestations of the Baroque, asymmetry, centralization, rather than composition, dominated.

The intensity and importance of the color gave it a distinctive feature compared to other works of the time. Caravaggio is one of the representatives of this first stage.

The theater would take some timid first steps at the beginning of the Baroque, without knowing that it would be heading towards its consolidation during the following stages, to the point of becoming a multisensory experience.

Full Baroque (1625 - 1660)

During this period, the Baroque was consolidated as a movement in a greater number of arts, as well as countries.

Baroque architecture began to manifest itself in all its splendor in different cities of Italy and Spain. The painting proliferated throughout Europe; Diego Velázquez was one of the most prominent painters of this period and of the Baroque in general.

Baroque architecture set the trend for a large number of European and even Latin American buildings.

It focused on grand ornaments, as well as highly ornate domes and interiors, with successions of spacious rooms ending in a master bedroom.

Literature brought new possibilities to this current. Some of the top European representatives came from England, Spain and France, such as William Shakespeare, Pedro Calderón de la Barca and Jean Racine. Among the most popular literary genres were drama and poetry.

The case of Spain is particular, since it is considered that during the Baroque era what would be known as the Golden Age of Spanish literature developed, with the appearance of, among other authors, Miguel de Cervantes, the first novelist.

The full period of the Baroque not only focused on the expressive arts; its elements were taken as an object of study and reflection by a generation of philosophers such as René Descartes, John Locke, Francis Bacon.

It was a stage in which mixed thinking developed: the combination of new ideas with old religious traditions.

Late Baroque (1660 - 1725)

According to some historians, the third and last stage of the Baroque is sometimes not considered as such, but as the beginning of the next movement: the Rococo.

However, there are those who claim that there were demonstrations during this period considered essentially baroque. Certain characteristics have been found in the works of this transitional stage.

Almost all the arts maintained their level of importance and production during this stage, with a greater historical importance for painting, music and theater.

The first kept its epicenter in cities like Rome and Venice, with painters like Luca Giordano and Sebastiano Ricci. Much of the frescoes in the main regional churches were made in this period.

In the case of music, it is considered that most of the compositions made during the Baroque were made during this stage and even a little later.

Contrary to other arts, it is debated whether baroque music shares the same aesthetic and conceptual concepts that other artistic manifestations pursued.

The main musical forms that emerged, or became popular, during the Baroque, and more specifically this last period, were the concert and the symphony, as well as the sonata and the cantata. Musical experimentation during this stage was closely related to theater.

The performing arts were consolidated in this stage, and would take on more and more importance on the international stage.

Following the religious conceptions that gave rise to the Baroque, the theater brought the gods and divinities down to the stage, and the technology offered the possibility of a much more intimate experience, without the presence of the machinery used.

Although the Baroque ended as an artistic movement, today the term is still used to describe the physical attributes or stages of development of other artistic or expressive pieces.

References

1. Bonds, ME (2013). A History of Music in Western Culture. Pearson.
2. Bury, JB (1956). Late Baroque and Rococo in North Portugal. The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 7-15.
3. Gilmore, E. (1982). A Documentary History of Art, Volume 2: Michelangelo and the Mannerists, The Baroque and the Eighteenth Century. Princeton University Press.
4. Maravall, JA (1986). Culture of the Baroque: Analysis of a Historical Structure. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
5. Price, C. (1993). The Early Baroque Era: From the late 16th century to the 1660s. London: Macmillan.