Languages of Baroque
Iconography
Among other means of the Propaganda Fide, art was the medium that was supposed to win over the faithful.
Baroque in religious art is associated with the activity of the Counter-Reformation Church. Among other means of the Propaganda Fide, art was the medium that was supposed to win over the faithful in order to further weaken the impact of the Reformation, Lutheranism and Calvinism. However, sacred artworks created immediately after the decree still do not belong to the Baroque style, but rather, are associated with Late Mannerism and the proto-Baroque styles. The most prominent roles were played by representations of martyrs, Christ’s Passion, Jesuit saints or saints of other religious Orders who experienced mystical revelations in their lifetime.
Annunciation

1584
Pinacoteca Nazionale
Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Ludovico Carracci
Oil on canvas
A symbol of the early Counter-Reformation in Bologna (more appropriately of the Catholic Reformation) for its authentic and direct religious feeling. It is one of several paintings from Lombardy and northern Italy that is seen as leading up to the style of Caravaggio thanks to its humble naturalism and its original experiments with light.