The Baroque

Light, movement and emotion – art that set out to persuade, overwhelm and move.

The Baroque was born in Rome around 1600, where the Catholic Church wanted to win back the faithful with an art that spoke directly to the emotions. Caravaggio made holy figures emerge from darkness into sharp light. Bernini made marble move and created church interiors as theatre.

Kings used the Baroque to display power. Versailles became a model for palaces throughout Europe – including Drottningholm and the Royal Palace in Stockholm. Rubens painted full, swirling pictures for kings and churches.

In the Protestant Dutch Republic, art looked different. There, burghers bought paintings for their homes: portraits, landscapes, still lifes and everyday scenes. Rembrandt, Vermeer and Frans Hals worked during the Dutch Golden Age, when thousands of painters made a living on an open market.