{Baroque Sculpture}[8th May 1991]

[Redbook9:296-297][19910508:0903]{Baroque Sculpture}[8th May 1991]

19910508:0903

‘ITALY – Early and High Baroque. At the beginning of the 17th century [ce],* sculpture in all of Italy, with the exception of Florence, was at a low ebb; and the dry, frankly propagandist nature of the decoration of the Borghese Sistine chapels in Sta. Maria Maggiore, Rome, reveals this only too clearly.

With Stefano Maderno and Camillo Mariani a slightly more imaginative interpretation of the demands of the Council of Trent is to be found, while certain aspects of the work of Pietro Bernini (1562-1629[ce]) were to have considerable influence on his son Gian Lorenzo.

The first breath of the new Baroque spirit, however, is to be found in the immense vitality of the equestrian monuments in Piacenza (1612-25[ce])** by Francesco Mochi; and a comparable frenzy of vigour is the keynote of the fresco “Aurora” by Guercino in the Casino Ludovisi, Rome (1621-23[ce]). The forms are pierced & opened up, and the momentary, unstable poses, with draperies fluttering and tails lashing, give a vivid movement that releases the figures from the Mannerist spell.

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*64C1600|S~1608|M~1616[ce]

**{??64g~\M~1616[ce]

(but see X: [] 3:

– the Baroque lasted c[irca] 128 years

c[irca]1600-c[irca]1715[ce])}

[!?]

*** – [From] Encyclopaedia Britannica 27:98-100

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