Baroque painting in the context of "Altarpiece"

The Capitoline Museums (Italian: Musei Capitolini) are a group of art and archaeological museums located on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. Their principal buildings are the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the Palazzo Nuovo, which face each other across Piazza del Campidoglio, the square designed by Michelangelo in 1536 and completed over the course of the following centuries.

The museums are primarily dedicated to the art and history of ancient Rome, with a particular emphasis on Roman sculpture. The collection include celebrated works such as the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, the Capitoline Wolf and the Dying Gaul, alongside inscriptions, coins, and other artifacts illustrating the civic and religious life of the city. The museums also include Renaissance and Baroque paintings, as well as the richly frescoed walls of the Conservators' Apartment in the Palazzo dei Conservatori, which depict scenes from Rome's early history.

The Baroque (UK: /bəˈrɒk/ bə-ROK, US: /bəˈroʊk/ bə-ROHK, French: [baʁɔk]) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (in the past often referred to as "late Baroque") and Neoclassical styles. It was encouraged by the Catholic Church as a means to counter the simplicity and austerity of Protestant architecture, art, and music, though Lutheran Baroque art developed in parts of Europe as well.

The Baroque style used contrast, movement, exuberant detail, deep color, grandeur, and surprise to achieve a sense of awe. The style began at the start of the 17th century in Rome, then spread rapidly to the rest of Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal, then to Austria, southern Germany, Poland and Russia. By the 1730s, it had evolved into an even more flamboyant style, called rocaille or Rococo, which appeared in France and Central Europe until the mid to late 18th century. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires including the Iberian Peninsula it continued, together with new styles, until the first decade of the 19th century.

The National Gallery of Ireland (Irish: Gailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann) houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on Clare Street. It was founded in 1854 and opened its doors ten years later. The gallery has an extensive, representative collection of Irish paintings and is also notable for its Italian Baroque and Dutch masters painting. The current director is Caroline Campbell.

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (/mjʊəˈrɪloʊ, m(j)ʊˈriːoʊ/ mure-IL-oh, m(y)uu-REE-oh, Spanish: [baɾtoloˈme esˈteβam muˈɾiʎo]; late December 1617, baptised 1 January 1618 – 3 April 1682) was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contemporary women and children. These lively realistic portraits of flower girls, street urchins, and beggars constitute an extensive record of the everyday life of his times. He also painted two self-portraits, one in the Frick Collection portraying him in his 30s, and one in London's National Gallery portraying him about 20 years later. In 2017–18, the two museums held an exhibition of them.

Panagiotis Doxaras (Greek: Παναγιώτης Δοξαράς; 1662–1729), also known as Panayiotis Doxaras, was an author and painter. He was a prolific member of the Heptanese school. He was influenced by early members of the movement namely: Elias Moskos, Theodoros Poulakis, Stephanos Tzangarolas, Spyridon Sperantzas and Victor. The Heptanese school evolved during the Baroque period and continued into the Late Baroque or Rococo. Doxaras's son Nikolaos Doxaras continued the artistic movement into the Neoclassical era. Both Panagiotis and his son Nikolaos refined the school. The school was heavily influenced by the Venetian style. The Heptanese school also influenced Italian painting. Other artists Doxaras influenced were Nikolaos Kantounis. Panagioti's teacher was the famous painter Leos Moskos. whom he studied with while he was in Venice. Doxaras painted notable portraits of Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg. He introduced Maniera Italiana to the Heptanese school, drastically changing the style from the Maniera Greca. He is considered the father of the Greek Rococo and the Modern Greek Enlightenment in art.

Nicolas Poussin (UK: /ˈpuːsæ̃/, US: /puːˈsæ̃/, French: [nikɔla pusɛ̃]; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a small group of Italian and French collectors. He returned to Paris for a brief period to serve as First Painter to the King under Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu, but soon returned to Rome and resumed his more traditional themes. In his later years he gave growing prominence to the landscape in his paintings. His work is characterized by clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color. Until the 20th century he remained a major inspiration for such classically-oriented artists as Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Paul Cézanne.

Details of Poussin's artistic training are somewhat obscure. Around 1612 he traveled to Paris, where he studied under minor masters and completed his earliest surviving works. His enthusiasm for the Italian works he saw in the royal collections in Paris motivated him to travel to Rome in 1624, where he studied the works of Renaissance and Baroque painters—especially Raphael, who had a powerful influence on his style. He befriended a number of artists who shared his classicizing tendencies, and met important patrons, such as Cardinal Francesco Barberini and the antiquarian Cassiano dal Pozzo. The commissions Poussin received for modestly scaled paintings of religious, mythological, and historical subjects allowed him to develop his individual style in works such as The Death of Germanicus, The Massacre of the Innocents, and the first of his two series of the Seven Sacraments.