style to around 1550 or extend the style to the middle of the 18th century
to the death of Tiepolo, the great Venetian painter. Although one historian
has written that a “dangerous use [of the term Baroque] is as a synonym for
17 th century,” that is how we will use it here. The art is more important than
the terminology because the stylistic variants in the period are much more
numerous than those in Mannerism, and the distinctions become distracting.
In addition, many people still use the word Baroque to mean “excessive” or
“fantastically over decorated,” descriptions which we would prefer to avoid.
Guido Reni (1575–1642) was a Bolognese artist who was inÀ uenced by and
worked in the Carracci Academy. He ¿ rst went to Rome in 1595, returned
to Bologna around 1600–1603, then returned to Rome and remained
there until 1614. He was trained in the Carracci Academy, absorbing both
Naturalism and Classicism. Our example is Reni’s Cruci¿ xion of St. Peter
(c. 1601–1603), which can be compared to Caravaggio’s depiction of the
same subject. Despite their differences, Reni used Caravaggio’s technique of
strong contrast between light and dark. Reni also combined an emphasis on
light with decorum, creating forms with a decorative idealism that tempers
stark realism. Instead of emphasizing the weight of raising the cross evident
in Caravaggio’s painting, Reni’s uses decorative ¿ gures that create a more
“attractive” picture.
Our next example is Massacre of the Innocents (c. 1611–1612). Reni’s
depiction of this subject inÀ uenced many subsequent artists. When compared
to Giotto’s depiction, Reni’s painting is “edited”; that is, there are fewer
people in the scene. Note the À eeing women, pictured at right and at left, that
create a dynamic balance. Reni returned to Bologna in 1614, and his style
changed back to Bolognese Classicism. Reni became the leading painter in
Bologna for more than 20 years with this style, which diverged from the
main style of the Roman Baroque.
Domenichino (1581–1641) was one of the most important Carracci pupils.
He worked ¿ rst with Ludovico, then joined Annibale in Rome to work on the
Farnese Gallery, where he had a major hand in the wall decorations. After
a brief visit to Bologna in 1619, he returned to Rome when a Bolognese
pope, Gregory XV, bestowed liberal patronage on all Bolognese artists.
Unfortunately, the pope died after only two years in of¿ ce. Bitter rivalry with