Baroque art prints
Around 1600, painters in Rome began to light their figures like actors on a dark stage. Caravaggio led the way, and painters across Italy followed him into the shadows.
This room holds Caravaggio's Saint John the Baptist, Federico Barocci's Saint Francis, Bartolomeo Manfredi's Cupid Chastised and a Saint Sebastian by an unnamed North Italian painter. Hang one in a study, bedroom or hallway where the light changes through the day.
Questions about baroque
What is Baroque art?
Baroque art is the style that spread across Europe from about 1600 to the mid 1700s. In painting it means strong contrasts of light and dark, real-looking bodies and moments of high drama.
What is chiaroscuro?
Chiaroscuro is Italian for "light-dark". Painters use it to model figures with strong light against deep shadow. Caravaggio pushed it so far that his figures seem to step out of the dark.