Louvre Masterclass IX : Italian Baroque Painting

This ninth Louvre Masterclass examines the development of Italian Baroque painting in the seventeenth century through works by Caravaggio, the Carracci, Guercino, Guido Reni and their contemporaries.

At the turn of the seventeenth century, Italian painting underwent a profound transformation. In response to the elaborate refinement of Mannerism, new visual languages emerged, characterised by closer observation of the natural world, a renewed use of light, heightened emotion and fresh approaches to religious and historical narrative.

Through close analysis of individual works, the session will explore the main currents of seventeenth-century Italian painting and the exchanges, as well as tensions, between naturalism, classicism and Baroque drama.

Particular attention will be paid to Caravaggio, whose paintings marked a decisive departure through their naturalism, models drawn from everyday life, tightly framed compositions and dramatic use of chiaroscuro.

In parallel, works by the Carracci will illuminate the Bolognese response to Mannerism and the search for a new balance between observation of nature, the study of Renaissance masters and classical ideals.

Through Guido Reni and Guercino, the masterclass will examine the divergent directions of seventeenth-century painting: classical elegance, dramatic intensity, monumentality, expressive gestures, rich colour and the reinvention of religious and mythological subjects.

The session will place these works in the religious and cultural setting of the Catholic Reformation and consider French collectors’ enthusiasm for these painters, which helps explain the strength of the Louvre’s holdings. It will also offer ways of understanding naturalism, classicism, chiaroscuro, theatricality, the expression of the passions, movement and composition.

Through visual analysis and discussion, participants will develop practical approaches to interpreting Italian Baroque painting for different audiences and building a coherent narrative around the historical, iconographical and stylistic questions raised by the works.