This period followed the Renaissance and was characterized by stylistic complexity and a desire to evoke emotions by appealing to the senses. Artists of the period utilized drama, grandeur, vitality, movement and a richness of texture to gain an intense emotional response from the viewer of the work. And this, of course, furthered the use of Modern Male Nude Art.

The movement began in Rome as an artistic expression of the vigor of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. The proselytizing self-confidence and emotional commitment of the religious movement soon was echoed in the passion of the Baroque artists.

Hendrick Goltzius was one of the earliest of the Baroque artists and in Italy Annibale Carracci soon departed from the Renaissance style. The latter was soon followed by Caravaggio, Giovanni Baglioni and Guido Reni. Peter Paul Rubens in the Netherlands took on the intense emotionality of the Baroque. In France the Baroque was exemplified by the works of Nicolas Poussin, and in Germany the movement continued in the works of Johan Liss. Gianlorenzo Bernini kept the Baroque alive in Italy, as did Andrea Sacchi, Mattia Preti and Luca Giordano.