Baroque Art

Before the purity of Neoclassicism, even before the carefree artists of the Rococo era, there was the dramatic and emotive Baroque. The term "baroque" is said to have been derived from the Portuguese word for an irregular pearl, and is certainly an adequate description. In the wake of what has become known as the Protest Reformation, the Catholic Church held the infamous Council of Trent. This eighteen year deliberation addressed several aspects of Catholicism under scrutiny and led to the requirements that new art depicting religious notions should reach the illiterate masses. Up until this point most religious forms of art were designated for the highly educated and sophisticated. This led to the

The work of art that I have chosen to write about, is the Three Miracles of Saint Zenobius (1500-10). This painting is part of a bigger collection that depicts scenes from the life of Saint Zenobius. It’s sister pieces are spread out in different parts of the world, such places as, London, Dresden and New York itself. The painter of this entire collection is Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) and he belongs to the Early part of the Renaissance. It is worth to note, that Botticelli was taught by Filippo Lippi. Fra Filippo Lippi was a prominent artist of his time and he painted his work with great color and as well with a narrative quality. Botticelli himself made a name for himself by his artistic style and to his contribution to painting the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel and even though his most notable work of art was the Birth of Venus that was created eighteen years prior to the Three Miracles, this piece of work takes a different approach than his other paintings. The painting itself resembles the Scenes from the life of Saint John the Baptist (1490/95) and it could be said that Botticelli was inspired by it.

This essay will analyze, The Calling of St Matthews, an oil on canvas painting made between the years of 1599-1600 by the artist, Caravaggio. Descriptive details of this painting will follow, which will allow an in-depth look into the elements and principles of design that are evident in this Caravaggio’s work. The Calling of St Matthew illustrates a religious scene where Jesus initially encounters Saint Matthew.

This paper will analyze the iconography of two medieval works from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Both of them depict the appearance of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his follower Mary Magdalene (Gospel of John 20:11-17). According to the Bible, three days after Christ died by crucifixion and was buried, he was resurrected. On that day, Mary Magdalene came to his tomb early in the morning, alone, and found the tomb empty. As she was weeping in the garden outside the tomb, she recognized a man she thought was a gardener, and asked him what had become of Jesus’ body. When the man spoke her name, Mary Magdalene recognized that he was Jesus Christ, who had been resurrected. As she reached out to embrace Jesus, he motioned for her to stay back, saying “Do not touch me,” because he had not yet ascended into heaven.

It is interesting how an advance in scientific knowledge can contribute to the world of arts. I was just looking today at a book of computer icons, clip art, I believe they were called that gave me a viewing impression not common to daily routine. Here in sunny Southern California, United States, there are many people who wear less in clothing than in other places, revealing body arts such as tattoos, varying piercings and such, leaving room to ponder if art is advancing or not. Having looked at technical manuals in the past it is interesting consider what certain diagrams such as at http://www.vinetastings.us/electrical/electrical-schematic-symbols may look like to someone, perhaps in some post technological world may view them.

The great thing about art, is that there are multiple portrayals of one idea but, the artist’s own personal style allows one to feel something that another may not. Early Renaissance painters, Giotto di Bondone and Duccio di Buoninsegna established their own unique style to depict a biblical scene known as, The Betrayal of Christ. Through a close analysis of each artist’s representation of, The Betrayal of Christ, one is able to compare and contrast the artists own understanding of the scene through their attention to detail, character, and space throughout the painting. When examining these two works, one will have a stronger emotional response towards Giotto’s interpretation rather Duccio’s, due to his methods of handling organization, figures, and space.

The Annunciation is a Christian celebration of the iconic moment that the archangel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother to the Son of God, Jesus. The story of the Annunciation derives chiefly from the biblical Gospel of Luke, and has been portrayed abundantly and variously in many visual art forms from the earliest centuries of Christianity and Christian iconography. This essay will explore the depiction of the Annunciation and symbolism in the period of the Italian Renaissance and pay particular attention towards the development of the focus on spiritualism towards naturalism through the refined language of expression and gesture from the 14th century to the late 15th century.

The Reformation was a religious movement that divided the church between the Catholics and Protestants. The Counter-Reformation was a reaction movement that followed this originally crusade, and was lead by the Catholics as a response to the wide spread of Protestantism. The purpose of the Counter-Reformation was to spawn internal reforms. This movement was focused on the renewal of the church in the form of the use of images, focus on the church as the house of God, and the veneration of the Virgin Mary and Saints. The Counter-Reformation was responsible for the start of major change in the Catholic Church and with regard to the role of art; the importance of art was heightened and the movement sought out to restore Catholicism and make is more attractive, thus emerged the Baroque style.

After the idealism of the Renaissance (c.1400-1530), Baroque art above all reflected the religious tensions of the age - notably the desire of the Catholic Church in Rome (as annunciated at the Council of Trent, 1545-63) to reassert itself in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. Thus it is almost synonymous with Catholic Counter-Reformation Art of the period. This period is often thought of as a period of artistic style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, architecture, literature, dance, theater, and music. The style began around 1600 in Rome, Italy, and spread to most of

The Baroque era began in the year 1600, at the end of the Renaissance period (Kamien 99). The word Baroque has had several different meanings. Back in its time, the word Baroque has meant: Bizarre, Flamboyant, and Elaborately ornamented. Historians, however, used this word to indicate the particular style in all different forms of art that fills space; which includes canvas, stone, or sound (Kamien 99). The Baroque Period is also known as “the age of absolutism” because so many different rulers of the time used and abused their royal power to control their subjects. For example, in Germany, the duke of Weimar imprisoned the famous Johann Sebastian Bach into prison for a month just because Bach asked to leave his job as the Duke’s musician (Kamien 99). This era in time was also home to scientific discoveries by Newton and Galileo. The Baroque era has shaped the world, as they knew it, to what the people of the twenty-first century all know and love.

Europe went through an era fueled by the search of truth and grand ambitions. This was a time period was characterized by much advancement in the sciences, politics, philosophy, and the arts.

Europe went through an era fueled by the search of truth and grand ambitions. This was a time period was characterized by much advancement in the sciences, politics, philosophy, and the arts.

The era known as the Baroque period includes the seventeenth and most of the eighteenth centuries in Europe. The Baroque style was a style in which the art and artists of the time focused upon details and intricate designs. Their art often appeals to the mind by way of the heart. During this time the portraits began to portray modern life, and artists turned their backs on classical tradition. Much of the art shows great energy and feeling, and a dramatic use of light, scale, and balance (Preble 302). Buildings were more elaborate and ornately decorated. These works of art created history and altered the progress of Western Civilization. Architecture such as the palace of Versailles, and artists like

     This paper will compare the themes found in the paintings “Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist and an Angel” by Domenico di Bartolomeo Ubaldini (Puligo) and “Madonna Enthroned” by Giotto. Both paintings deal with fables from the Christian faith but were executed during different periods in art. The Giotto painting was created around 1310 and the Puglio painting was executed between 1518 – 1520. Here, these two paintings have similar themes both at the extreme beginnings and endings of the Italian Renaissance, and as such they serve to present an exceptional example of the developments in art that occurred within that time. This paper shall compare

A number of modern artists have focused on reflecting personal perception of the world through a contemporary Baroque style in art. The increasing popularity of Baroque nowadays is due to the complex processes that took place in society and the solutions the modern culture has to offer to resolve them. Truly, through the history, the emergence of Baroque elements has always reflected the complexity of human life, followed by technological progress and cultural exchange. Eventually, Baroque, the style characterized by extravagance and drama, has been defined as anti-classical, innovative and experimental, intended to touch directly the beholder, individual of diverse and pluralistic society.