{The Baroque Period [continued (16)]}[7th May 1991]

[Redbook9:292][19910507:0915p]{The Baroque Period [continued (16)]}[7th May 1991]

19910507:0915

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‘The essential characteristics of late Baroque art can be identified first in the frescoes of Mattia Preti at the Palazzo Pamphili, Valmontone (1661[ce]);* but the transition between the High Baroque and the late Baroque was a continuous process and occurred at different dates with different artists. At Valmontone the sense of dynamic structure characteristic of the High Baroque frescoes of Pietro de Cortona give away to a more decorative scheme in which the figures are scattered across the ceiling, giving an overall unity but without any focal point. Francesco Cozza used this scheme in the Pamphili Library, Rome (1667-73[ce]),** but among the finest late Baroque decorations of the type are ceilings painted in Genoa by Gregorio de’Ferrari and Domenico Piola. while Luca Giordano took the style to Spain.

The breakdown of the directionality of the composition is paralleled by the loosening in design of the individual figures and once again the unity is decorative rather than structural.’

***

*2048G~R~|64C1664[ce]

**64S1672[ce]

*** – ibid [Encyclopaedia Britannica 25: 354]

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