Baroque, Age of Contrasts
After the exhibition titled "Europa in the Renaissance. Metamorphoses 1400 – 1600" in 2016, the Landesmuseum Zürich is moving ahead chronologically to dedicate an exhibition to Baroque.
In 2016, when the extension and renovation of the Landesmuseum were completed, the inaugural exhibition was dedicated to the Renaissance. And more widely how the Renaissance gave birth to prominent research and development in science, art, nature, geography, etc.
Six years later and a new curator team are leading the visitor into the next big art movement, the Baroque, from 1580 to 1780. During those two centuries, the world evolved, the taste had and will forever change, the trend will follow new rules and kings and queens will be more and more important due to their wealth, their power and their residences.
To start off the exhibition, the curatorial team of the Landesmuseum have decided to cut the show into four parts: architecture and urban planning, garden and nature, interiors and fashion and knowledge and art.
Thus, when you enter the extension of the Landesmuseum designed by Christ & Gantenbein (the same architects who made the extension of the Kunstmuseum Basel), the exhibition start off by an historic context of the period. The end of the 16th century and the start of the 17th century was a strange and perturbed time between the important of religion (and battle between the Christian and the Protestant), social evolution and political strategies made by the royals.
This story will become even more complex after the Counter-Reformation, the Thirty Years’ War and the start of a trade routs and relations all over Europe and the world. We can all agree that Baroque's start will not be easy...
1. Architecture and urban planning
Apparently, the team of curators have decided to take us to Rome to discover the birth of Baroque, because all the roads took you to this Italian city in the 16th and 17th century. The home of the pape, the Vatican, the Catholic and the home of the artists and their patrons.
In Rome, numerous building we're produced during the Baroque era. It's also the start of the revival of Catholic constructions thanks to new technical skills, new constructions methods and architects. All of those construction, renovation and expansion of Catholic church came at the start of the Catholic reform, when numerous changes where made and accepted at the council of Trent between 1545 and 1563.
The architects, most of them Italian or coming from Ticino played an important role to shape a new style. Thus, Swiss architects such as Carlo Maderno who worked on the design of St Peter’s Basilica, Francesco Borromini who built the church of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza and Domenico Fontana had a hand in Rome’s urban planning. The three of them established that this style should be built abroad to expand the influence of the Catholic in Europe.
Beside the architecture, the inside of the church contributed to the spread of a new artistic style commissioned by the church. Thus, Andrea Sacchi depicted a scene in the interior of “Il Gesù” in Rome, the mother church of the Jesuit order and an important model for Baroque sacred architecture. Many artists will do the same, but many of the biggest commissions will be made in Italy.
2. Garden and nature
The second section of the exhibition is dedicated to the art of gardening and the culture of festivities. Thus, the gardens of the chateau of Versailles will become an icon of French style gardening and the importance of landscaper such as André Le Nôtre.
André Le Nôtre will create the architecture and the layout of the garden of the chateau of Versailles, with an emphasis on order, symmetry and centralization. This geometric style will lead to the French garden style which will be adapted to numerous gardens and future gardens in Europe such as in Basel, Bern, Solothurn, Rome, Milan, Berlin, etc.
The Swiss made some key adaptations to the French garden style by adding a real garden full of vegetables and fruits to the design of André Le Nôtre. The garden will also be transformed into a place of relaxation and recreation for numerous festivities such as opera, dance, musical performances and fireworks.
Thus, painters and engravers will depict those scenes. Some of them will be Swiss artists going to the court such as Albrecht Kauw and Felix Meyer.
3. Interiors and fashion
The third part of the exhibition is dedicated to fashion, and how it evolves during those two centuries. In this section, the curators have made two juxtapositions, the first one being between two painted self-portrait and a shroud, while the second one was between a tapestry (4) and a beautiful parting made by Diego Velázquez. In the second juxtaposition, the main personage is Mariana of Austria, Queen of Spain, who's been depicted into a beautiful and rich dress made in the tapestry made by the Manufacture des Gobelins in Paris, exemplifying the rule of Louis XIV, not just politically, but also in the areas of interior decoration, handicrafts and fashion.
At the start of the 17th century, fashion became quite exuberant in the court. Most of this influence came from France, thus ladies from across Europe started wearing "robe à la française", generally made out of cotton of silk, due to the important silk industry of the city of Lyon. The city of Lyon was chosen by Louis 14 due to its geographical position, its proximities to the river and Italy and Switzerland creating trade route of fabric.
4. Knowledge and art
At the end of the Baroque period, the world was way bigger due to the colonisation of North and South America and the expansion of the global trade network. On the other hand, this glorious new world was full of exploitation, crosses, new knowledges and war.
In Europe, numerous important instrument we're developed such as the telescope and the microscope and important studies of nature were made by Swiss scholars such as Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, Maria Sibylla Merian and Jost Bürgi, thus traveling all across the world and finding new botanic species.
Thus, the last room of the exhibition is mostly dedicated to botanical studies, instrument and numerous still life.
Informations about the exhibition
Place: Landesmuseum
Date: 16.9.2022 - 15.1.2023
Curator: Joya Indermühle
Ticket: Available on the website of the Landesmuseum OR at the front desk of the museum
Informations about the Landesmuseum
Swiss National Museum
Landesmuseum Zürich
Museumstrasse 2
CH-8021 Zürich
Phone: +41 44 218 65 11
Mail: info@nationalmuseum.ch