During the Counter Reformation, the Council of Trent (1545–63), in which the Roman Catholic Church answered many questions of internal reform raised by both Protestants and … See more

Two of the leading figures in the emergence of Baroque painting in Italy were Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio and Annibale Carracci.
Caravaggio (1571–1610), born and … See more

The principal painter of the Roman High Baroque, a period that spanned several papal reigns from 1623 to 1667, was Pietro da Cortona. His baroque manner is clearly evident in paintings that he executed for the Sacchetti family in the 1620s and the vault fresco in the See more

Monumental ceiling frescoes mainly date to the latter part of the seventeenth century. Some were dramatically illusionistic such as Gaulli's nave fresco (1674-9) in the church of the Gesu and Andrea Pozzo's nave vault (1691-4) in Sant'Ignazio, … See more

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) was the leading sculptor of his day and the favorite artist of several popes and their relatives, who gave him important commissions. His ‘Apollo and Daphne’ in the Villa Borghese in Rome illustrates how he could precisely capture in white … See more