The Influence Of The Fine Arts

The Baroque era spans a period of 150 years. During this time, baroque art had four distinct styles. I plan to focus on the Italian Baroque and the Protestant Baroque styles. While these styles share some similarities, they are also very different. The Italian Baroque style is often ornate and focused on religion with an emphasis on the need for the church’s guidance. The Protestant Baroque style is plain with no obvious religious messages and less need for guidance from the church. Both styles contain many amazing pieces of artwork, but I plan to focus on Bernini’s Baldacchino and Vermeer’s Woman Holding a Balance.

In this essay, the difference between Northern Baroque and Italian Baroque styles of painting, the differences between a male and a female interpretation, the narrative differences, and the psychological dilemmas they present to the viewer will be discussed.

Italy can be looked at as the home of the renaissance and consequently the immergence of great art. Artists such as Michelangelo, Botticelli, Da Vinci, and Raphael are some of the greats and are looked at for standards. But what about the artists whose lives are mysteries, and their works that were influenced by the greats? These artists hold just as much importance in the history of art as do the artist’s whose names can be recalled off the top of an average person’s head. During the sixteenth century things began to change in the art world, and that change was the Baroque. This new style of art brought a revolution to how subject matter was painted, it brought upon “… a radical reconsideration of art and its purposes…” (249) and how artists of all ranks could learn to paint the up and coming style of Baroque.

The Ecstasy of St. Theresa was created by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and is found in the Cornaro Chapel. This sculpture illustrates many aspects of Counter Reformation architecture: different ecclesiastical orders, use of saint, intercession, and dramatic use of lighting. Since intercession was depicted in Bernini's work, it didn’t evade scrutiny of the actual Inquisition. The Counter Reformation Church used this so that they could monitor all of the religious art. They did this to make sure that it followed the correct guidelines of the Council. Another aspect that Bernini’s sculpture demonstrated was the Council's desire for emotions to be shown to the viewers.

The 16th and 17th century consisted of Baroque art, in everything from paintings, statues and architecture. The term was thought to have derived from the portugese word "barroco" which meant "irregularly shaped pearl." It was orginally used to criticise something, so anything that looked unusual or preposterous was considered Baroque. Baroque art was dynamic, emotionally intense, naturalistic

Given the many versions and accounts of famous artist’s lifetimes, we’re shown the vast underlying meaning, and situational ironies, to several of well- known pieces of work we still admire today. Donatello, Verrocchio, da Vinci, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Bernini; All of these artist left unique and controversial imprints on the timeline of art and life. Though many follow one right after the other, we see the changing of times through the midst of the creation of their works. Through the Renaissance and to the Reformation period, these artists help shape the nature of society. Coming to the end of the Renaissance era, an artist nicknamed “Caravaggio,” because of where he came from, pushed his world into the times of a more sound

Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation had really stirred the religious pot. In the early 1600’s, the Catholic Church responded with the Counter Reformation which propelled the Baroque movement and its artistic aim of making Catholic theology appeal to the masses. Biblical stories with drama and movement were some of the ways Baroque artists sought to engage the viewer. Baroque dominated most of the seventeenth century Europe and later developed into the Rococo style later during the eighteenth century. Begun in the 1700’s, the Rococo Era was art of the aristocracies for the aristocracies. It was technically flashy, but without deep thought or emotional drama, the Rococo celebrated the leisure activities of the upper class. The Rococo style is above all an expression of wit and frivolity. Rococo style signaled the shift from Rome to Paris as the new capital of culture and fashion in Europe. Both styles were influenced by political, social and religious factors, and there are profound differences between the two styles. For this essay, I chose to compare an Italian painting from the Baroque era with a French painting from the Rococo Era. The two paintings I chose to compare and analyze are Luca Giordano’s Martyrdom of St. Bartolomeo, and Jean-Marc Nattier’s Terpsichore, Muse of Music and Dance.

Focus Question: To what extent was the Italian Baroque art, specifically Bernini, a support for the Catholic-Counter Reformation compared to The Neoclassical era, not even a century later? A comparison of Bernini’s “The Throne of Saint Peter” and “Ecstasy of Saint Teresa”; and Antonio Canova’s “Amor and Psyche”.

     Throughout this research paper the topic is going to be along the lines of the Baroque Art in Europe and North America, which comes from chapter nineteen of our Art History book. The main purpose is to review major ideas and principles in this chapter by writing an analysis of certain points that were highlighted. For example, certain techniques that were used to define the Baroque Art, major sculptures, architectures, and paintings, and also just some general background information about this time period. I decided to write on this subject because when reading the chapters, the Baroque period seemed to catch my attention the most due to the amazing architecture that

Baroque is important in regards of European philosophical art history, generating identifiable and stylistic changes in: painting, sculpture and architecture throughout the periods of the late sixteenth century to the early eighteenth. Dominant particularly in the regions of southern Europe such as: Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria and southern Germany. Baroque is a stylistic movement that often exaggerated motion to: illustrate drama, tension and grandeur features such as exaggerated lighting, intense emotions, release from restraint, and even a kind of artistic sensationalism” through various art forms.

The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa is an architecture of the Baroque period in which light was used to convey spiritual meaning upon this sculpture. It was sculpted from 1647-52 by Gianlorenzo Bernini for the Santa Maria della Vittoria, in Rome, Italy. This architectural piece is made out of marble.

The Baroque era, in general, is the period from the late 16th century to the early 18th century in the history of Europe. Baroque is a term used in architecture and photography literally means a strange, asymmetrical, disjointed form. This art first appeared in Rome in the last years of the sixteenth century AD. Features a Baroque style voluminous and filled with interesting details. In the eighteenth century, Baroque art developed into a smoother and more special style called Rococo. Baroque artists were fined for the sensual aspect of things. They were described in detail in detail. Italy, with Rome as its capital in the 17th century, was the main center of great artistic activity and was the most important source of art in Europe, One of the works of this art is the painting of the Royal Society by Francis Bacon, who called for the establishment of an institution to promote the acquisition of knowledge gained from observation and was able to establish the first scientific journal through the Royal Society to promote the principles of Bacon from monitoring and measuring

In Bernini, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, the video explains how Bernini is a very religious man who is a sculptor and architect but also into theater, set design and he wrote his own plays. Around the era of Baroque Art, he sculpted a marble masterpiece called “The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa” which is located in the Cornaro Chapel of the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. The setting was some sort of vision of an angel based on what Saint Teresa has wrote.

Art is not just a picture on a wall or in a museum, art comes in many forms. It can be a song you just heard, a video you watched, or a painting you saw in a gallery. Also, art can be just text. All forms of art grasp you in different ways and make your thoughts evolve to new distances. Art can bring you feelings you did not think you had. You can perceive the art in many ways and the creator wants it to influence you. I believe that yes, at can truly influence society and inform human behavior. While it may seem to some that pictures, songs, and videos influence you the most, it is actually true that books are the most influential and informative because they get in touch with your mind and emotions.

With the continuous growth of paintings and artists, prestige for art increased dramatically to the point in which religious aspects were shown through landscapes, portraits, and temperas. This then allowed the creation of new styles and mathematical input that manifested everyday life with religious aspects. One such artist was Giovanni Bellini who introduced bright, rich, strong colors into his palette and landscapes that expressed the happiness, calmness, and prosperity that Italy carried throughout the Renaissance. These characteristics and styles of paintings subsequently became a popular Venetian cornerstone. Other important figures in the Italian Renaissance that demonstrated the movement?s ideas through their ingenious paintings and architectural methods were Pier Della Francesca and Leon Battista Alberti. Francesca, who was and expert in mathematics, developed the art form of perspective. Alberti, on the other hand, as an architect developed the pediment which became popular throughout the entire Renaissance. His monasteries and churches depicted many of the religious ideas, as evident in one of his famous works, the Santa Maria Novella. All in all, the use of the common religious themes such as the annunciation, adoration, Crucifixion, and the popular Madonna