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Baroque Art Essay

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Baroque art can be described as a “distinctive new style” in which artists embraced “dynamism, theatricality, and elaborate ornamentation, all used to spectacular effect, often on a grandiose scale”. Baroque art encompasses a vast range of art from the dramatic and theatrical Italian pieces, as the quote suggests, to the more simple and every-day life but still fabulous Dutch pieces. Baroque art can hardly be contained in one description because it describes so many types of art, in great part due to the religious, socio-economic, and political scenes of the time. Religiously, the Catholic Church was responding to the Reformation by creating dramatic pieces to invoke piety and devotion. Politically, monarchies and rulers were using …show more content…

Bernini embodied the quintessential Baroque architect, and artist in general for that matter because of his “inventiveness, technical skill, sensitivity to his patrons’ needs, and energy”. The “embracing” colonnades of the temple front to those who enter symbolize the welcome the Catholic Church extended toward its members during the Counter-Reformation. The colonnades additionally emphasized the height of the façade and seemingly brought it closer to the viewer. By using the central designs of Bramante and Michelangelo, Bernini constructed a masterpiece that fully accomplished the Catholic Church’s goal of exhibiting their extreme authority through architecture in order to inspire the awe of its members. Inside of the cathedral, Bernini designed a huge baldacchino to mark the altar and tomb of St. Peter. Symbolically, the ornate elements again reinforce the history of supremacy by the Catholic Church and the papal authority. St. Peter’s fully illustrates one extreme of the Baroque style spectrum – an elaborate, theatrical, dramatic architectural piece designed to motivate devotion and piety. Bernini himself was a devoted Catholic so he understood what the church was trying to accomplish and dedicated himself to their ideals. Forced to recognize that they must fight for their members and position, the Catholic Church used religious art to “bring all Heaven before their eyes” in an attempt to bring members back to their church, leading to one extreme of

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