Five Greatest Baroque Painters: Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Rubens, Velázquez, and Poussin
The Baroque era of the 17th century was marked by five prominent masters: Caravaggio, Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens, Diego Velázquez, and Nicolas Poussin. Caravaggio, whose real name was Michelangelo Merisi from Bergamo, is credited with pioneering tenebrism and passed away at the age of 38 in Porto Ercole. His work Bacchus (1595, Uffizi, Florence) was created while he resided in Rome. Born in the Netherlands in 1606, Rembrandt never ventured outside his homeland; his Self-Portrait with Two Circles (1665–1668, Kenwood House, London) represents a later mystical phase. Rubens, born in 1577, produced The Garden of Love (1630–1631, Museo del Prado, Madrid), while Velázquez, the court painter for King Philip IV, is known for The Rokeby Venus (1647–1651, National Gallery, London). Poussin's Landscape with a Calm (1650–1651, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles) conveys a sense of peace.
Key facts
- The five greatest Baroque painters are Caravaggio, Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens, Diego Velázquez, and Nicolas Poussin.
- Caravaggio, born Michelangelo Merisi in Bergamo, pioneered tenebrism and died at 38 in Porto Ercole, Tuscany.
- Caravaggio's Bacchus (1595) is in the Uffizi, Florence, and was painted during his 1595 stay in Rome with patron Francesco Maria del Monte.
- Rembrandt van Rijn was born in 1606 in the present Netherlands and never traveled abroad.
- Auguste Rodin, quoted by Sotheby’s, called Rembrandt 'the colossus of Art.'
- Peter Paul Rubens, born in 1577, was a Flemish master known as 'the prince of painters and the painter of princes.'
- Diego Velázquez was court painter to King Philip IV of Spain; his The Rokeby Venus is his only surviving female nude.
- Nicolas Poussin's Landscape with a Calm (1650–1651) is at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
Entities
Artists
- Caravaggio
- Michelangelo Merisi
- Rembrandt van Rijn
- Peter Paul Rubens
- Diego Velázquez
- Nicolas Poussin
- Auguste Rodin
- Francesco Maria del Monte
- Helena Fourment
- Raphael
- Michelangelo
- Jacques-Louis David
- Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
- Paul Cézanne
- King Philip IV
Institutions
- Uffizi
- Kenwood House
- Museo del Prado
- National Gallery
- J. Paul Getty Museum
- Sotheby’s
- Catholic Church
Locations
- Bergamo
- Italy
- Porto Ercole
- Tuscany
- Rome
- Netherlands
- London
- UK
- Madrid
- Spain
- Los Angeles
- CA
- USA
- Florence