Through the centuries Materials Themes and function

Echoes of the Middle Ages leading up to the time of the Enlightenment

During the 16th century, the Catholic Church initiated its own Reformation as a reaction to the Reformation and its iconoclastic attacks. In a time characterised by religious battles and social conflict, the art of the Baroque era evolved into a material display of splendour that spread throughout the Catholic countries. Ecclesiastical and secular rulers emerged as patrons of representative artworks, which not only served to convey the contents of the Christian faith but were also a platform for self promotion. Baroque artworks – the construction and furnishing of churches and palaces – make a lasting impression through the sumptuousness and diversity of materials used, their dynamics and their often dramatic expression of emotion. They thus appeal directly to the senses of the observer.
These characteristics are not only evident in monumental artworks of the Baroque period, but also in miniatures. Royal art collections tried to reproduce the divine world order – the macrocosm – in miniature. These included priceless works made of gold, silver, coral and precious woods, small ivory sculptures, skeletons and skulls that were intended as a reminder of the transcience of life.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, insights in the fields of philosophy and the natural sciences called religious contents and the feudal system into question. The Enlightenment would also lead to far-reaching changes in the Fine Arts.

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