Baroque Sacred Art
67 artworks found
Baroque religious painting was made with a job to do. After the Council of Trent, the Church wanted art that moved people rather than art that impressed them, and the painters answered with darkness, diagonals, and the decisive moment.
Adoration of the Shepherds by Juan Bautista Maíno - Framed Canvas
By: Juan Bautista Maíno
Adoration of the Shepherds by Gerrit van Honthorst - Framed Canvas
By: Gerrit van Honthorst
Annunciation by Francisco Rizi - Framed Canvas
By: Francisco Rizi
A Peasant Boy leaning on a Sill by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo - Framed Canvas
By: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
Christ Giving the Keys to Saint Peter by Giovanni Battista Pittoni - Framed Canvas
By: Giovanni Battista Pittoni
Christ Healing the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo - Framed Canvas
By: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
Annunciation by Nicolas Poussin - Framed Canvas
By: Nicolas Poussin
The Annunciation by Michel Dorigny - Framed Canvas
By: Michel Dorigny
Christ Crowned with Thorns by Hendrick ter Brugghen - Framed Canvas
By: Hendrick ter Brugghen
Carrying of the Cross by Jacob Jordaens - Framed Canvas
By: Jacob Jordaens
Chalice and Host in a Niche, within a Cartouche of Roses and Fruit by Jan Davidsz de Heem - Framed Canvas
By: Jan Davidsz de Heem
Childhood of Christ by Gerrit van Honthorst - Framed Canvas
By: Gerrit van Honthorst
Christ Embracing Saint John the Baptist by Guido Reni - Framed Canvas
By: Guido Reni
Crucifixion of Saint Andrew by Frans Francken the Younger - Matte Canvas
By: Frans Francken the Younger
Elijah fed by Ravens by Guercino - Framed Canvas
By: Guercino
Death of the Virgin by Bartolomé Bermejo - Framed Canvas
By: Bartolomé Bermejo
Entombment of Christ by Annibale Carracci - Framed Canvas
By: Annibale Carracci
Descent from the Cross by Pedro Machuca - Framed Canvas
By: Pedro Machuca
Judith in the Tent of Holofernes by Johann Liss - Framed Canvas
By: Johann Liss
Immaculate Conception by Francisco de Zurbarán - Framed Canvas
By: Francisco de Zurbarán
Madonna and Child with St Petronius and St John the Evangelist by Domenichino - Framed Canvas
By: Domenichino
Domine, quo vadis? by Annibale Carracci - Matte Canvas
By: Annibale Carracci
Doubting Thomas by Sebastián López de Arteaga - Framed Canvas
By: Sebastián López de Arteaga
Extreme Unction by Nicolas Poussin - Framed Canvas
By: Nicolas Poussin
Ecce Homo by Matthias Stom - Framed Canvas
By: Matthias Stom
Ecce Homo by Philippe de Champaigne - Framed Canvas
By: Philippe de Champaigne
Miracles of Saint Salvador of Horta by José Juárez - Framed Canvas
By: José Juárez
Liberation of Saint Peter by Battistello Caracciolo - Framed Canvas
By: Battistello Caracciolo
Presentation in the Temple by Simon Vouet - Framed Canvas
By: Simon Vouet
Presentation of Child Jesus in the Temple to Simeon by Sébastien Bourdon - Framed Canvas
By: Sébastien Bourdon
Sacrament of Confirmation by Nicolas Poussin - Framed Canvas
By: Nicolas Poussin
Saint James the Great's Vision of the Virgin Mary by Nicolas Poussin - Framed Canvas
By: Nicolas Poussin
Saint Augustine by Philippe de Champaigne - Framed Canvas
By: Philippe de Champaigne
Saint Bartholomew by José de Ribera - Framed Canvas
By: José de Ribera
Saint John the Baptist by Titian - Framed Canvas
By: Titian
Saint Jude Thaddeus by José de Ribera - Framed Canvas
By: José de Ribera
Saint Martin Dividing his Cloak by Anthony van Dyck - Framed Canvas
By: Anthony van Dyck
Saint Rose of Lima by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo - Framed Canvas
By: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
St. Lawrence by Juan Correa de Vivar - Framed Canvas
By: Juan Correa de Vivar
St. Luke Displaying a Painting of the Virgin by Guercino - Framed Canvas
By: Guercino
St. Bonaventure by Francisco de Zurbarán - Framed Canvas
By: Francisco de Zurbarán
Saint Paul the Hermit by José de Ribera - Framed Canvas
By: José de Ribera
The Annunciation by Matthias Stom - Framed Canvas
By: Matthias Stom
The Annunciation by Luca Giordano - Framed Canvas
By: Luca Giordano
St. Francis in Meditation by Francisco de Zurbarán - Framed Canvas
By: Francisco de Zurbarán
Moses defending the Daughters of Jethro by Carlo Saraceni - Matte Canvas
By: Carlo Saraceni
The Coronation of the Virgin by Diego Velázquez - Framed Canvas
By: Diego Velázquez
Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio - Framed Canvas
By: Caravaggio
The Finding of Moses by Charles de La Fosse - Framed Canvas
By: Charles de La Fosse
Susanna and the Elders by Artemisia Gentileschi - Framed Canvas
By: Artemisia Gentileschi
The Immaculate Conception by Claudio Coello - Framed Canvas
By: Claudio Coello
The Immaculate Conception by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo - Matte Canvas
By: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
The Immaculate Conception by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo - Matte Canvas
By: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
The Four Evangelists by Jacob Jordaens - Framed Canvas
By: Jacob Jordaens
The Entry of the Animals into Noah's Ark by Jan Brueghel the Elder - Matte Canvas
By: Jan Brueghel the Elder
The Last Communion of Saint Jerome by Domenichino - Framed Canvas
By: Domenichino
The Last Supper by Philippe de Champaigne - Framed Canvas
By: Philippe de Champaigne
The Port of Ostia with the embarkation of Saint Paula by Claude Lorrain - Framed Canvas
By: Claude Lorrain
The Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt - Framed Canvas
By: Rembrandt
The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio - Framed Canvas
By: Caravaggio
The Temptation of St Anthony Abbot by Annibale Carracci - Framed Canvas
By: Annibale Carracci
Virgin and Child with Angels and Saints by Felice Torelli - Matte Canvas
By: Felice Torelli
Virgin & Child Embracing by Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato - Framed Canvas
By: Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato
Madonna and Child with Saint Anne (Dei Palafrenieri) by Caravaggio - Framed Canvas
By: Caravaggio
The Calling of St. Matthew by Hendrick ter Brugghen - Framed Canvas
By: Hendrick ter Brugghen
The Chancellor Séguier by Charles Le Brun - Framed Canvas
By: Charles Le Brun
The Judgment of Solomon by Matthias Stom - Framed Canvas
By: Matthias Stom
The Baroque programme
Caravaggio is the hinge. He lit his scenes as if by a single hard source in a dark room, put unidealised models in them, and chose the instant of greatest tension — the moment Matthew realises he is being called, not the moment after. The method spread across Europe within a generation, to Ribera in Naples, Georges de La Tour in Lorraine, Rembrandt and his circle in the Dutch Republic.
The compositional signature is the diagonal. Where Renaissance altarpieces tend to balance around a vertical axis, Baroque ones drive across the picture — a body falling, an arm thrown up, a sweep of drapery — so the eye is moved rather than invited to rest. Ceiling paintings took this to its limit, dissolving the architecture into sky.
It is worth being clear that this was a Catholic programme in a specific argument. Protestant reformers had emptied churches of images; Trent replied that images teach and move the faithful, and should therefore be clear, decorous and affecting. Baroque painting is that instruction carried out by artists who took the "affecting" part very seriously indeed.