OSHER 336 - Italian Culture: Baroque Art, Culture, and Music

Italy was the cultural environment where Bernini, Caravaggio, and Vivaldi created the Baroque style to impress, entertain, and amuse people. Then Bach, Handel, Rubens, and Le Vau exported this style all over Europe, from Moscow to Madrid, from Paris to Berlin, from Amsterdam to London. We will immerse ourselves in the period by studying as if we were there. Imagine being in St. Peter's Square and witnessing the pope explaining to Bernini how to build the famous colonnade using Egyptian obelisks. A mile away Caravaggio paints the most scandalous artworks in Western culture. Two miles away a Swedish Queen hires musicians, philosophers, and scientists for her parties. Three miles away the Inquisition works.