WEBVTT

00:00:01.806 --> 00:00:08.581
(bouncy piano music)

00:00:08.581 --> 00:00:11.608
Female voiceover: I know that there are
a lot of these illusionistic ceilings

00:00:11.608 --> 00:00:14.880
that were made during the
Baroque period in the 1600s.

00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:18.749
This looks like a really beautiful
one, and an early example, right?

00:00:18.749 --> 00:00:20.379
Male voiceover: It is an early example.

00:00:20.379 --> 00:00:23.860
This was begun in the late 1590s,
and finished in the very early 1600s.

00:00:23.860 --> 00:00:30.437
It's the Farnese Gallery ceiling by
Annibale Carracci, a Bolognese painter.

00:00:30.451 --> 00:00:32.706
Female voiceover: I said "illusionistic,"
because that's really what it is.

00:00:32.706 --> 00:00:34.829
It's entirely an illusion.

00:00:34.829 --> 00:00:38.940
Male voiceover: Everything that you see
above the moldings on the walls is fresco.

00:00:38.940 --> 00:00:40.079
It's all paint.

00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:42.798
There's nothing three-dimensional.

00:00:42.798 --> 00:00:44.773
Female voiceover: Everything
that looks like sculpture,

00:00:44.773 --> 00:00:45.773
everything that looks like a frame,

00:00:45.773 --> 00:00:48.072
all of that is just paint.

00:00:48.072 --> 00:00:49.035
Male voicover: It's all fresco.

00:00:49.035 --> 00:00:51.896
We'll see some good details
that show you that in a minute.

00:00:51.896 --> 00:00:53.284
Before we start talking about details,

00:00:53.284 --> 00:00:56.238
we should situate this within
Annibale Carracci's career

00:00:56.238 --> 00:00:58.361
and in the development
of Baroque painting.

00:00:58.361 --> 00:01:02.876
The Carracci, by the end of the 1500s,

00:01:02.876 --> 00:01:04.614
had established themselves in Bologna

00:01:04.614 --> 00:01:07.466
as the leaders of this
new style of painting

00:01:07.466 --> 00:01:10.569
that was a rejection of mannerism
and for various reasons,

00:01:10.569 --> 00:01:13.039
was pointing towards a style
that was more naturalistic,

00:01:13.039 --> 00:01:15.414
as well as being more straightforward,

00:01:15.414 --> 00:01:17.962
and dramatic, and clear,
and very, very legible.

00:01:17.962 --> 00:01:20.792
This was the Baroque style that's
going to dominate European art ...

00:01:20.792 --> 00:01:20.949
Female voicover: In the 1600s.

00:01:20.949 --> 00:01:22.295
Male voiceover: For centuries to come.

00:01:22.295 --> 00:01:23.786
They had established
themselves in Bologna,

00:01:23.786 --> 00:01:26.540
but when Annibale Carracci
gets called to Rome

00:01:26.540 --> 00:01:28.837
in the 1590s to work
for the Farnese family,

00:01:28.837 --> 00:01:32.298
this was really his moment
to step on to a major stage,

00:01:32.298 --> 00:01:33.953
and to bring his revolution of painting

00:01:33.953 --> 00:01:36.617
to the center of the
art world at the time.

00:01:36.617 --> 00:01:39.618
Female voiceover: He's sort of
gone from doing off-Broadway play

00:01:39.618 --> 00:01:41.924
to now being a big star
on Broadway, in Rome.

00:01:41.924 --> 00:01:47.788
Male voiceover: Exactly.
Right, in Rome for the Farnese
family in their main palace.

00:01:47.788 --> 00:01:51.859
This is a family of dukes and
cardinals, incredibly important patrons.

00:01:51.859 --> 00:01:56.537
All of these things make this commission
particularly important for him.

00:01:56.537 --> 00:01:58.416
Female voiceover: Can you get
in to see this today in Rome?

00:01:58.416 --> 00:02:01.028
Male voiceover: You can
sometimes, but not all the time,

00:02:01.028 --> 00:02:03.998
because today the Fernese
Palace is the French Embassy.

00:02:03.998 --> 00:02:06.038
Female voiceover: Those
lucky French ambassadors.

00:02:06.038 --> 00:02:08.732
Male voiceover: Although it may be
inconvenient, we might also be thankful

00:02:08.732 --> 00:02:12.532
because, undoubtedly, it being
secluded has kept it in good condition.

00:02:12.532 --> 00:02:14.192
Female voiceover: That's true.

00:02:14.192 --> 00:02:15.867
What is the subject of the ceiling?

00:02:15.867 --> 00:02:18.616
Male voiceover: The subject of the
ceiling is several different scenes

00:02:18.616 --> 00:02:21.898
of the loves of the gods
from classical mythology.

00:02:21.898 --> 00:02:24.278
Those are the scenes that
we see in the paintings,

00:02:24.278 --> 00:02:26.777
and it's as if these paintings are framed

00:02:26.777 --> 00:02:32.676
in either wood gilded frames or
in stone architectural details,

00:02:32.676 --> 00:02:34.927
and then inserted among real
people and real sculptures.

00:02:34.927 --> 00:02:36.661
But of course, like we
said, it's all paint.

00:02:36.661 --> 00:02:38.115
Female voiceover: This is the subject

00:02:38.115 --> 00:02:38.999
because it celebrated a
marriage and a family.

00:02:38.999 --> 00:02:40.780
Male voiceover: Right.

00:02:40.780 --> 00:02:41.487
Female voiceover: This is all about love.

00:02:41.487 --> 00:02:43.251
Male voiceover: Right,
and even though we're

00:02:43.251 --> 00:02:45.270
following the Counter-Reformation here,

00:02:45.270 --> 00:02:48.259
we should keep in mind that this
is a very private viewing context,

00:02:48.259 --> 00:02:50.219
and it's also to celebrate a wedding.

00:02:50.219 --> 00:02:53.349
So, the stories of love
and eroticism that we see,

00:02:53.349 --> 00:02:55.677
we shouldn't think of as being
out of place at this time.

00:02:55.677 --> 00:02:58.623
Female voiceover: Let's
have a look at one of them.

00:02:58.623 --> 00:03:02.314
Male voiceover: Here we again
see the ceiling in a full view,

00:03:02.314 --> 00:03:04.499
and as we said, it's as
if there are paintings

00:03:04.499 --> 00:03:07.837
of these love scenes inserted
among people and sculptures

00:03:07.837 --> 00:03:12.098
who are not necessarily related
exactly to the subject of the painting.

00:03:12.098 --> 00:03:13.451
Female voiceover: It's hard to
believe that those are not paintings

00:03:13.451 --> 00:03:16.208
leaning up against the molding.

00:03:16.208 --> 00:03:18.280
Male voiceover: Right, especially
the one at the far end.

00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:21.031
It looks like it's leaning up against
the wall, but it's all fresco.

00:03:21.031 --> 00:03:24.228
The ceiling is curved, but
it's flat to the touch.

00:03:24.228 --> 00:03:25.617
Female voiceover: Amazing.

00:03:25.617 --> 00:03:27.164
So, artists are really building

00:03:27.164 --> 00:03:29.723
on what perspective had given them,

00:03:29.723 --> 00:03:31.448
what Brunelleschi had
given them, and being able

00:03:31.448 --> 00:03:35.035
to do all sorts of kind of
tricks with perspective.

00:03:35.035 --> 00:03:37.232
That becomes a big thing
during this period.

00:03:37.232 --> 00:03:40.673
Male voiceover: Very much so, but
it starts out initially as an effort

00:03:40.673 --> 00:03:45.449
on reclaiming naturalistic skills,
and studying carefully from life,

00:03:45.449 --> 00:03:48.547
and then making your art look
as life-like as possible.

00:03:48.547 --> 00:03:50.777
The illusionism that we see here,

00:03:50.777 --> 00:03:52.793
the fooling you into
thinking that you're looking

00:03:52.793 --> 00:03:55.237
at real three-dimensional
things perspectively,

00:03:55.237 --> 00:03:59.098
sometimes has very serious weight as well,

00:03:59.098 --> 00:04:01.737
in terms of the revolution that
the Carracci are trying to bring.

00:04:01.737 --> 00:04:03.530
Female voaiceover: Don't you
think it's also a little bit

00:04:03.530 --> 00:04:08.067
of a desire to involve you
emotionally, to bring you into it?

00:04:08.067 --> 00:04:11.625
Male voiceover: It is very engaging
in that sense, as well, absolutely.

00:04:11.625 --> 00:04:14.838
In the center of the ceiling
is the main subject matter.

00:04:14.838 --> 00:04:18.241
This is the triumphal chariot
with Bacchus and Ariadne,

00:04:18.241 --> 00:04:21.562
two of the most famous lovers
in classical mythology.

00:04:21.562 --> 00:04:24.399
Female voiceover: Wait a second.

00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:27.737
This whole thing along the
bottom, that's all paint, right?

00:04:27.737 --> 00:04:29.963
Male voiceover: Everything is paint,
and you can see that it's curved.

00:04:29.963 --> 00:04:33.660
Again, it's a barrel vaulted
ceiling, but there's nothing

00:04:33.660 --> 00:04:35.961
three dimensional on the
surface of the ceiling.

00:04:35.961 --> 00:04:37.456
Female voiceover: Wow. Amazing.

00:04:37.456 --> 00:04:40.626
Male voiceover: You can see here,
it's a very celebratory tone.

00:04:40.626 --> 00:04:43.216
It's very fitting towards the
celebration of a marriage.

00:04:43.216 --> 00:04:45.991
You can see, also, the
incredible claccisism

00:04:45.991 --> 00:04:48.514
that Annibale Carracci has
brought to his painting,

00:04:48.514 --> 00:04:52.356
much more in these works than
in his earlier work in Bologna.

00:04:52.356 --> 00:04:54.569
Of course, that makes
sense, not only because

00:04:54.569 --> 00:04:56.165
of the classical subject matter,

00:04:56.165 --> 00:04:58.004
but also because now he's in Rome,

00:04:58.004 --> 00:04:59.665
the heart of classical [antiquity].

00:04:59.665 --> 00:05:01.552
Here's a really good example to look at,

00:05:01.552 --> 00:05:04.383
where we can see our
different levels of reality.

00:05:04.383 --> 00:05:07.076
This particular scene in the middle,

00:05:07.122 --> 00:05:10.733
the painting that's [unintelligible]
inserted in the ceiling,

00:05:10.733 --> 00:05:13.909
is the story of Diana and Endymion.

00:05:13.909 --> 00:05:16.055
There are several versions of the story,

00:05:16.055 --> 00:05:19.705
but basically, the story is
that Endymion is a hunter

00:05:19.705 --> 00:05:23.589
who is incredibly
beautiful, and he is asleep.

00:05:23.589 --> 00:05:26.752
The goddess Diana, the
goddess of the moom,

00:05:26.752 --> 00:05:30.037
is to taken with his beauty that
she seduces him while he's sleeping.

00:05:30.037 --> 00:05:33.480
This is one of the love stories
that we see in the Farnese ceiling.

00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:34.662
Female voiceover: It's very sweet.

00:05:34.662 --> 00:05:36.984
Male voiceover: It's very
sweet, and the sweetness of it,

00:05:36.984 --> 00:05:38.380
and the seductiveness of it is,

00:05:38.380 --> 00:05:41.056
as in all Baroque paintings no
matter what their subject matter,

00:05:41.056 --> 00:05:44.036
communicated through gestures
and facial expressions.

00:05:44.036 --> 00:05:46.369
The way she tenderly caresses his face,

00:05:46.369 --> 00:05:49.577
the way that the figure
of the Cupid in the back

00:05:49.577 --> 00:05:52.075
is saying, "Shh," because he's sleeping.

00:05:52.075 --> 00:05:54.290
All of these things, when
we say that Baroque art

00:05:54.290 --> 00:05:57.503
uses gestures and dramatic expressions,

00:05:57.503 --> 00:05:58.870
and so on, to tell a story,

00:05:58.870 --> 00:06:01.531
we're not always talking
about religious art.

00:06:01.531 --> 00:06:03.127
Sometimes, it can be something like this.

00:06:03.127 --> 00:06:05.635
Female voiceover: I notice, still,
too, that use of the diagonal line.

00:06:05.635 --> 00:06:07.186
Male voiceover: That strong
use of the diagonal line.

00:06:07.186 --> 00:06:10.783
Actually, we have two
intersecting diagonal lines,

00:06:10.814 --> 00:06:13.668
almost like an X-shape to the composition;

00:06:13.668 --> 00:06:15.549
everything, again, very close to us.

00:06:15.549 --> 00:06:17.832
Male voiceover: Close to the
viewer; also very, very simplified.

00:06:17.832 --> 00:06:21.119
The whole composition is
boiled down to its essentials,

00:06:21.119 --> 00:06:23.434
nothing confusing, nothing enigmatic,

00:06:23.434 --> 00:06:25.837
which had been the hallmarks
of the mannerist style,

00:06:25.837 --> 00:06:27.372
which had been rejected.

00:06:27.372 --> 00:06:28.758
Female voiceover: And that's Diana, the
goddess of the moon [unintelligible].

00:06:28.758 --> 00:06:30.207
Male voiceover: Right,
and you know it's her

00:06:30.207 --> 00:06:32.418
because she has her little
moon on her headband,

00:06:32.418 --> 00:06:34.044
and you know that she's a goddess,

00:06:34.044 --> 00:06:36.576
not just some seductive
woman lurking in the bushes,

00:06:36.576 --> 00:06:38.730
because you can see she's
floating in on a cloud.

00:06:38.730 --> 00:06:39.755
Female voiceover: She's
floating on a cloud, right.

00:06:39.755 --> 00:06:43.001
I'm amazed by the illusion.

00:06:43.001 --> 00:06:46.833
It looks as though these
are stucco or sculptures

00:06:46.833 --> 00:06:48.114
that are lit from below.

00:06:48.114 --> 00:06:50.434
Male voiceover: Because, of course,
that's where the windows are.

00:06:50.434 --> 00:06:53.251
Annabile Carracci has carefully
studied the light sources,

00:06:53.251 --> 00:06:56.493
the real light sources in
the room, to then paint

00:06:56.493 --> 00:06:59.037
these fictive sculptures and people

00:06:59.037 --> 00:07:01.429
as if they're being lit by the real light

00:07:01.429 --> 00:07:03.955
entering the space, and
that enhances the illusion.

00:07:03.955 --> 00:07:06.561
This is especially good detail to look at.

00:07:06.561 --> 00:07:08.570
Female voiceover: The shadows
- the shadows are so dark

00:07:08.570 --> 00:07:12.138
around the shoulders of
these sort of figures

00:07:12.138 --> 00:07:14.090
that frame them, so that it really looks

00:07:14.090 --> 00:07:16.167
like they're kind of in high-relief there.

00:07:16.167 --> 00:07:18.265
Male voiceover: That's exactly
what they're supposed to look like.

00:07:18.265 --> 00:07:21.610
I'll draw your attention to
the sculpture on the right.

00:07:21.610 --> 00:07:25.963
The arm on the left,
which is his right arm,

00:07:25.963 --> 00:07:27.483
is broken off ...

00:07:27.483 --> 00:07:29.951
Female voiceover: It looks exactly
like an ancient Greek sculpture.

00:07:29.951 --> 00:07:31.629
Male voiceover: It looks like a
real, three-dimensional sculpture

00:07:31.629 --> 00:07:32.916
that would be broken, but the joke is,

00:07:32.916 --> 00:07:35.065
there's nothing there to break,
because it's flat and fresco.

00:07:35.065 --> 00:07:36.242
Female voiceover: It's paint.

00:07:36.242 --> 00:07:37.923
It's tricky.

00:07:37.923 --> 00:07:39.872
Male voiceover: It is tricky.

00:07:39.872 --> 00:07:41.296
Female voiceover: And fun.

00:07:41.296 --> 00:07:43.176
There's something really
playful about it, I think.

00:07:43.176 --> 00:07:44.927
Male voiceover: Which is
appropriate for the subject matter,

00:07:44.927 --> 00:07:46.569
again because it's love stories and

00:07:46.569 --> 00:07:48.138
because it's about
celebrating [unintelligible].

00:07:48.138 --> 00:07:49.530
Female voiceover: How long
did it take him to paint?

00:07:49.530 --> 00:07:50.855
Male voiceover: Several years.

00:07:50.855 --> 00:07:51.786
Female voiceover: I bet.

00:07:51.786 --> 00:07:54.173
Male voiceover: Beginning in the
1590s, and finished [unintelligible].

00:07:54.173 --> 00:07:55.506
Female voiceover: And he
worked with a workshop,

00:07:55.506 --> 00:07:56.919
as most artists did then, right?

00:07:56.919 --> 00:07:58.761
Male voiceover: Most artists
had workshops working for them,

00:07:58.761 --> 00:08:00.385
mixing paints, and getting things ready.

00:08:00.385 --> 00:08:03.487
Female voiceover: Obviously, the
example that he must be looking at

00:08:03.487 --> 00:08:04.918
is Michaelangelo's ceiling.

00:08:04.918 --> 00:08:06.321
Male voiceover: Of course.

00:08:06.321 --> 00:08:09.273
The Carracci had been interested
in all the major artists

00:08:09.273 --> 00:08:12.940
from the High Renaissance
as inspiration and resources

00:08:12.940 --> 00:08:16.652
which which to reject what they saw

00:08:16.652 --> 00:08:19.051
as the convolutions, and the
strangeness of mannerism.

00:08:19.051 --> 00:08:21.175
Michaelangelo becomes
particularly important

00:08:21.175 --> 00:08:23.724
when Annibale Carracci goes to Rome,

00:08:23.724 --> 00:08:26.106
because Michaelangelo's Sistine ceiling,

00:08:26.106 --> 00:08:27.944
that we're looking at
a section of here ...

00:08:27.944 --> 00:08:29.116
Female voiceover: That's exactly this.

00:08:29.116 --> 00:08:30.608
Male voiceover: Does
exactly the same, and if you

00:08:30.608 --> 00:08:32.751
think about it, the format
is very much the same,

00:08:32.751 --> 00:08:34.558
even though the subject
matter is very different.

00:08:34.558 --> 00:08:39.051
Female voiceover: Inserted paintings,
painted sculpture and architecture

00:08:39.051 --> 00:08:41.686
around those painted scenes in the center,

00:08:41.686 --> 00:08:46.478
mixing of that sort of
painted images in color

00:08:46.478 --> 00:08:49.241
with figures that look like sculpture.

00:08:49.241 --> 00:08:51.143
Male voiceover: Yes, so this
is a very good illustration

00:08:51.143 --> 00:08:54.505
of the idea that, in some
ways Baroque art is a

00:08:54.505 --> 00:08:56.742
return to the principles
of the High Renaissance,

00:08:56.742 --> 00:09:01.173
but also going even further
than what had been done

00:09:01.173 --> 00:09:03.284
in the High Renaissance,
increasing the drama,

00:09:03.284 --> 00:09:04.957
increasing the playfulness,

00:09:04.957 --> 00:09:07.737
increasing even the illusion that we see,

00:09:07.737 --> 00:09:11.539
Female voiceover: Increasing the
emotion, and the accessibility.

00:09:11.539 --> 00:09:13.407
Male voiceover: Absolutely,
and don't forget,

00:09:13.407 --> 00:09:16.533
like we said before, Annibale
Carracci really needs

00:09:16.533 --> 00:09:19.377
to pull out all the stops
here, because he needs

00:09:19.377 --> 00:09:21.662
to bring this new style and his skill

00:09:21.662 --> 00:09:23.117
to Rome [unintelligible].

00:09:23.117 --> 00:09:24.572
Female voiceover: So,
he's really showing off.

00:09:24.572 --> 00:09:26.239
Male voiceover: Right, exactly.

00:09:26.239 --> 00:09:27.570
Female voiceover: That's obvious.

00:09:27.570 --> 00:09:31.570
(lively piano music)