Baroque paintings used an array of vibrant colors to convey emotion.
Baroque describes the classification of artwork that came out of Europe and its respective colonies from 1600 to 1700, or the 17th century. Though Italy is most commonly associated with the Baroque era, as many great works came from this country at the time, other nations developed paintings that would be studied for ages as well, such as Spain. Baroque paintings have vibrant colors which are used to depict scenes of great emotion, many of which still focus on the religious themes that became popular in the 16th century.
Subject
The subjects of most of the paintings of the Baroque era were highly religious in nature. The previous century saw the production of paintings focused around religious icons of Christianity such as Jesus' life and crucifixion as well as Jesus' virgin mother Mary. The Baroque period continued this tradition, but the 17th century also saw many paintings depicting historical events and even courtroom scenes.
Space
Unlike scenes painted in the 16th century, the Baroque period saw images that were able to capture the concept of vast space in a 2-dimensional painting. Images of the night sky seemed to go on endlessly, for example. This was mostly done through the contrast of light verses shadow. Contrasts like these were becoming more common in the styles of Baroque painters like Caravaggio and Gentileschi as the century progressed.
Movement
Baroque painters strove to convey the idea of movement within their paintings by using scenes to convey an idea. Previously still lifes, portraits and other stoic images had been the focus of fine art production. In the Baroque era, painters drew animals in various positions to show action, rather than just a standing pose. Emotions on the faces of humans were also more important than before.
Realism
Realism is a type of artwork that has its roots grounded in the Baroque era. Realist painters are trying to convince the audience that the image they are seeing was not created in the minds of the painter himself, but rather it actually happened. Though photographs at the time did not exist, the idea behind realist paintings is the hope that the audience will believe they are seeing a snapshot of what actually occurred at one time. To achieve this, painters had to pay particular attention to the personalities of every character they crafted and every animal they drew. Even textures of materials in the painting like wood or cloth had more significance than ever before.
