The era of Baroque Art is one of artistic freedom and innovation but also served as a way to achieve political and religious objectives. It was a response to the “battles of faith between Catholics and Protestants” . The counter reformation, or the catholic reformation, was a time of resurgence within the catholic faith in response to the Protestant reformation, beginning with the proclamation of the Council of Trent (1545-1563), throughout the 16th and 17th century. The catholic church responded to the Protestants opposition to “cult images” of saints and Christ by promoting religious imagery and holy pictures as never before . The counter reformation influenced the style of Baroque art as a tool to guide and implement the Catholic faith. …show more content…
This paper will examine the paintings of George De La Tours’s The Penitent Magdalene (1640-1645), Sebastiono Del Piombo’s Christ Carrying the Cross (1635-40), Santi di Tito’s Vision of St Thomas Aquinas (1593), and Caravaggio’s Madonna of Loreto 1603-1606). Mary Magdalene, a prominent biblical character, traditionally depicted as a repentant sinner turned saint, was a symbol of the sacrament of penance and reconciliation . She was a courtesan prior to being converted by her sister Martha to the doctrines of Jesus Christ, and eventually Mary would become one of Christ’s most devote followers and as a result was exonerated of her sins . During the Counter Reformation, the imagery of the cult of saints was revisited, and the cult of the Magdalene experienced a rebirth- it was used as an instrument of ecclesia propaganda. The fact that Mary Magdalene was a converted sinner, made her an approachable and relatable saint for everyday Catholics, especially women, to form a religious connection with- she served as a role model for women . Georges De …show more content…
Thomas of Aquinas, epitomizes the values of delectore, movere and docere in order to create a religious conversion from the audience. This can be summed up as a paintings purpose is “to teach, to delight and to move” in order to generate a reaction from the viewer . Di Tito has painted the Dominican St Thomas kneeling in a religious exuberance in front of a crucified Jesus, surrounded by St Catherine of Alexandra who is an emblem of faith, the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene and St John. The painting depicts the miracle which occurred when Christ spoke to the St Thomas from a painting, which parallels with the similar experience the viewer has when observing this work of art . The depth and intensity of St. Thomas’s faith, allows for the image to disappear to be replaced by the real event. The idea of illusions come into play as the other figures in the painting seem to move out of the altarpiece painting and into physical space, playing with the idea of perspective manipulation . Di Tito’s style creates “no boundar[ies] between the spectators reality” and that of the painting creating a blurred line between the real and the visionary . This paintings portrays the transparency of a narrative (delectare), “purity of feeling” (movere), and the
Barna da Siena’s Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine and Other Scenes from 1340 is vastly different in content, composition, and a number of other attributes from Fra Carnevale’s 1467 painting Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple. It is clear between the roughly hundred years between when the two were painted that advancements in realistic painting soared and a further appreciation for realism and humanism developed. The need to portray more than just the holy subjects, and to show how far painting had evolved is evident in the differences between Barna and Fra Carnevale’s works. Although, the emotion behind Barna’s work, and its significance are, in my eyes, far greater than that of Fra Carnevale’s.
Originating in Rome during the sixteenth century, Baroque art emerged during the Protestant Reformation. With the creation of Lutherism and Calvinism Europe was politically and religiously re-shaped. With the influence of new religions dominating various European nations, the Catholic Reformation was created as a response to the outburst of Luther’s actions. The Council of Trent in 1545-63 was a part in the rise of Baroque artistry in Europe. The Catholic Church created the Counter Reformation as means to reinstate their influence as well as persuade people to support the church. In Spain and Italy Baroque artists adapted the religious topics derived from the Catholic Reformation. With characteristics such as contrasting light and dark shades
For My Museum Essay, I have chosen Rogier van der Weyden’s “St. Luke drawing the Virgin” (c. 1435-40). First of all, this painting is an extraordinarily beautiful piece of art, with both meticulous details and true to life emotional state of the figures portrayed. And it intrigued me even more when I found out that there is a very compositionally similar painting by Jan Van Eyck (“Madonna with Chancellor Rolin”).
The painting The Holy Family with Saints Anne and John the Baptist, 1592 (oil on canvas) was created by Italian painter Sofonisba Anguissola (c.1532-1625). It is currently held at the Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, as a gift from Mrs. Forbes Hawkes and Bridgeman Images. This painting is among the unique pious narrative paintings by Anguissola. “The Holy Family” is the last dated painting by the artist. It was executed when she had just returned to Italy after spending 14 years working for King Philip II at the Spanish court. By this time, she had already married to a Genoese ship captain. Her various visits to court and her personal contacts with great painter at that time largely inspired herself. Through these contacts, she successfully stayed in touch with current developments in art. By closely observing this masterpiece, I argue that the artist perfectly sustain the beauty of counter-reformation arts in her work by use of light and shadow, delicate brushwork and accurate proportions of each subjects.
Caravaggio’s, however, was darker and more dramatic. Caravaggio started an intense style called tenebrism. Tenebrism is a more prominent form of chiaroscuro, where there are vehement contrasts between light and dark. Fred Kleiner best describes Caravaggio’s style, “In his art, Caravaggio injected naturalism into both religion and the classics, reducing them to human dramas played out in the harsh and dingy settings of his time and place” (Kleiner, 681). Caravaggio painted during the Italian Baroque in the 1600’s. Italian Baroque artists like Caravaggio embraced theatricality and extravagant ornamentation, while Renaissance artists focused more on precise classical models. Now Caravaggio wasn’t exactly an upstanding member of society, most of what the art world knows about him is through his police reports. Caravaggio’s Entombment was created in 1603 and, like Giotto’s Lamentation, depicts the death of Jesus. While they both depict the same religious scene and use styles that are new for their time, Caravaggio’s painting has some drastic differences from Giotto’s. Caravaggio’s painting is oil painted on canvas, which gives Caravaggio the opportunity to be more detailed in his painting than Giotto can with fresco. Caravaggio creates these intense dramatic scenes of diagonals and intense movement. Unlike Giotto, Caravaggio uses linear perspective to direct his viewer’s attention to the body of Jesus. Caravaggio does this by using a diagonal cascade of mourners descending towards Jesus’ body. Inclusively, Caravaggio started a darker, more dramatic movement that gave naturalism a new realistic element.
Most forms of Catholic Baroque art are assertive and, as intended, assault ones senses. The evolution of religious art from the uniform composition characteristic of the Italian Renaissance through the evolving Mannerism in to the bold and striking Baroque was striking to say the least. The stylistic changes from Da Vinci's The Last Supper to Tintoretto's version in the 1590's bear a perfect example of this transition. The point of view in Da Vinci's was central and allowed for a
A study was conducted to show a link between football and brain damage and to show the dangerous effects that football has on the brain. 111 NFL players but one had a brain disease referred to as chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. Further investigations have shown that American NFL players have a higher chance of developing neurological conditions such as CTE. CTE is a neurological disease that occurs when someone has had repeated brain trauma. Symptoms of CTE can effect one's behavior, memory, mood, and can cause dementia. 87 percent of NFL players had CTE, but the rate was 99 percent higher. Players with a mild case of CTE had played for 13 years, while others with a severe case of CTE had a career lasting 15 years. These brain injuries
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 subject of religion has captured the attention of artists for centuries, working its way throughout the years, in and out of various of styles and movements. The artists of this era often found themselves reliant on this subject matter due to Churches being a steady Patron throughout the Renaissance all the way to the Baroque period. Whether it was because of the rich cultural impact to society or the enforcement of strong divine beliefs, depicting biblical narratives have struck an everlasting cord within this medium. Two particular ones, in fact: The Deposition from the Cross (Entombment of Christ) by Jacopo Pontormo and The Entombment of Christ by Michelangelo Caravaggio. Both of which provide an excellent example of how culture and artistic style combined can alter the message of the same iconic scene and still evoke different emotions.
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.
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.
John the Baptist is also allowed to stand near the holy mother and child, and an angel is present. Because of this, the viewer contends with a literal story rather than a simple image as in “Madonna Enthroned”. Also in Puligo’s image, where the central figures are larger and better seen, there are religious symbols used. The same might be true in Giotto’s work but the details are harder to distinguish.
In this paper, I will describe, compare, and contrast two paintings of the same name, The Annunciation by Gerard David and Joos van Cleve. Beginning with Joos van Cleve’s work, we see the virgin Mary kneeling down before an opened book. An illuminated dove with its wings spread is suspended above Mary. An angel is standing beside her, making a gesture. Both figures are inside an ornately decorated, well lit bedroom.
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
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