Art Guide · Art movements
Baroque
17th century
Baroque is the style that dominated 17th-century European painting, known for dramatic light and shadow, movement and emotional intensity. Rembrandt and Vermeer in the Dutch Golden Age and Velázquez in Spain are its masters.
Last updated: · Iconica Society editors
Characteristics
Baroque painting aims to pull the viewer into the scene: strong light bursting from dark grounds (chiaroscuro), diagonal compositions and movement caught at its climax are its features.
The Dutch Golden Age and Spain
In the newly independent and trade-rich Dutch Republic, paintings were made for middle-class homes rather than churches; portraits, landscapes, still lifes and scenes of daily life flourished. Rembrandt’s Night Watch (1642) and Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring are its emblems. In Spain, the court painter Velázquez created one of the most discussed compositions in art history, Las Meninas (1656).
Key works
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Girl with a Pearl EarringJohannes Vermeer, c. 1665 The MilkmaidJohannes Vermeer, c. 1660 
The Night WatchRembrandt van Rijn, 1642 
Las MeninasDiego Velázquez, 1656 
View of DelftJohannes Vermeer, c. 1660–61 
Ice Scene near a VillageHendrick Avercamp, c. 1610 
The Little StreetJohannes Vermeer, c. 1658 
The Jewish BrideRembrandt van Rijn, c. 1665–69