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Essay on baroque art
Essay on baroque art
Importance of baroque on modern art and fashion
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Baroque style conveyed the dynamic spirit of the entire age. Derived from the Portuguese word barocco, which describes the irregularly shaped pearls commonly featured in the ornamental European decoration. Asymmetric compositions, strong contrast of light, dark, and bold illusion effects characterize baroque style. This style originated from Italy and came to dominate artistic production in the years between 16th and middle of 17th century. The artist worked to increase the dramatic expressiveness of religious subject matter in order to give viewers the sense that they are participating in the action.
There are well known painters of the Baroque style paintings, which represent not only the era of that period but also the rich and flamboyant culture that once was. Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) Portrait of a young woman. In Rembrandt's portrait the emphasis is placed on the white accessories such as gloves, lacy cuffs, coifs, and the quite large millstone ruff. In another painting from the same era, which describes the details of a woman costumes, it is quite visible that importance was given to the overall appearance and portrayal of rich heritage. Another painting by Portrait of Marchese Spinola. Female fashion changed tremendously from the 1630s towards the 1660s. The entire silhouette changed completely, from the high waisted gowns of the 1630s to the slender and long waisted ones of the 1660s. The paintings that I have viewed from the Baroque period clearly represent a lot more detail if observed more in detail they not only represent the painter but also the message that is being conveyed by each art that I have viewed from that period.
The painting of this period are distinguished not only by their rare presentation of surrounding, but also by their message, which the painter's have successfully presented. Surveys painting, sculpture, and architecture in the "Age of Grandeur" as they reflect the spiritual, political, and national undercurrents of emerging Europe in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Baroque period, era in the history of the Western arts roughly, coinciding with the 17th century. Its earliest manifestations, which occurred in Italy, date from the latter decades of the 16th century, while in some regions, notably Germany and colonial South America, certain of its culminating achievements did not occur until the 18th century.
The Baroque era was born out of the Roman Catholic Church’s Counter Reformation, during which the church made considerable efforts to strengthen the relationship between the secular world and the religious order. In an effort to engage the common people and create piety, the Catholic Church wanted art to appeal to human emotions. Gentileschi successfully accomplishes this in her painting, Judith Slaying Holofernes. By infusing the Apocryphal tale of Judith with dramatic techniques such as chiaroscuro and foreshortening, she created a deeply moving and realistic piece of art that engages the viewer physically and emotionally, which is quintessential to the Baroque style.
Classicism of the Renaissance has been replenished during the Baroque period. During the Baroque artistic period, the exploration of the fundamental components of human nature and the realm of senses and emotions were very crucial. The Baroque era was a very dynamic time that showed an abundance of radiance and color. Artists of this time are passionate and sensual. Their works were many times considered to have an overpowering emotional effect.
The ladies dresses of the early Middle Ages were influenced by the classical styles of the Greek and Roman women. Their dresses were tight to display the elegance of their figure. Dresses were embroidered and luxuriously decorated. Some dresses consisted of two tunics and of a veil or drapery. The veil was thrown...
...ic landscapes. The baroque marked the time in which painters considered using subjects other than scenes from the Bible and from classical traditions. The baroque period also was the period in which artists painted portraits, and everyday life scenes. Baroque artist broke away from trying to make the calm balance known to the renaissance artists. Artists from the baroque era were interested in no longer tried in the extreme. They wanted to paint subjects possessing strong emotions; they wanted to capture those emotions and feelings in their work. Instead of just extremes of feeling sometimes, these strong emotions were personal. More often artists tried to portray intense religious emotions. Baroque art attempted to explain how and why their subjects fit as strongly as they did by representing their emotional states as vividly and analytically as possible.
As the seventeenth century began the Catholic Church was having a hard time bringing back the people who were swept away by the protestant reformation. The conflict between the protestant had a big influence on art. (Baroque Art) The church decided to appeal to the human emotion and feeling. They did so by introducing a style called Baroque. Baroque was first developed in Rome and it was dedicated to furthering the aims of Counter Reformation. Baroque was first used in Italy than later spread to the north. In this paper I will argue that the Italian Baroque pieces were more detailed and captured the personality of the figure, in contrast and comparison to Northern Baroque pieces that aimed to produce a sense of excitement and to move viewers in an emotional sense leaving them in awe. I will prove this by talking about the different artwork and pieces of Italian Baroque art versus Northern Baroque Art.
During the period of Renaissance, human’s thought and intelligence has reached its highest and its effect on the architectural form, it became clear and its engagement of rational aspect on the building. Mainly geometrical forms are the characteristics which can be identified. Not so long after Renaissance period of Baroque architecture was introduced, rather than logic and reasoning they wanted to capture the emotional atmosphere by using the architectural elements such as light, height, crafted art, costly materials and so on as being mentioned by(Scotti 2007, 5-10).
During the late sixteenth century a new style of art, known as Mannerist, emerged through out Italy as a result of the Protestant Reformation. Mannerist distorted art was justified because it served mid way between the ideal, natural, symmetrical and the real, artificial, and unbalanced. The religious and political upheaval lead to the distinct Mannerist style know for being stylish, cultured, and elegant. Mannerist art is thought provoking, asking the viewer to ponder and respond to the spatial challenges and meaning found in the painting, sculpture, and architectural work. Mannerist painting and sculpture are characterized by complicated compositions, distorted figure styles, and complex allegorical interpretations. Meanwhile Mannerist architecture often employs classical elements in a new and unusual way that defies traditional formulas.
The Italian Renaissance and the Baroque era are two major periods in art history, some of the types of art in those periods were painting, sculpting, and architecture. During these periods, many artist gained enormous fame from creating wonderful pieces of work that represented their beliefs and artistic thinking. This essay will analyze and evaluate two pieces from those major art periods. Rembrandt 's painting The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp and the sculpture David, by Michelangelo. These two masterpieces shed light of their significance in art history. David represents the Italian Renaissance for it being a strong symbol of the new republic, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp depicts the focus on human progression.
The baroque period was during the 1600’s that started in Rome, before spreading quickly throughout Europe. It can be considered a time where a new Art movement flourished as people were expressing themselves in the most creative ways possible. Baroque comes from the Portuguese word Barroco, which means something irregular or strange. At this time, art was being changed. Most of the art of this period is complex, to the point that it evoked feelings towards the “audience”, usually in dramatic ways. Baroque Art wasn’t meant to depict the life style of people at that time, however it is usually noticeable that most of the art have some ties with the catholic religion. While Baroque art is almost its own style, one can compare it to the styles of Renaissance and Neoclassicism. In terms of music, it is believed that Baroque brought about new music styles, including Cantatas, Operas, Canons and Concertos. It is said that the Baroque period end...
Peter Paul Ruben’s art is a combination of the traditional Flemish realism with the classicizing tendencies of the Italian Renaissance style. Peter Paul Rubens had the cunning ability to infuse his own incredible vigor into a potent and extravagant style that came to define Baroque art movement of the 17th century. “Baroque art characterized by violent movement, strong emotion, and dramatic lighting and coloring.” The figures in his paintings create a permeating sense of kinetic lifelike movement, while maintaining the appearance of being grand in stature yet composed.
One of the characteristics of the Italian Baroque is the realistic depiction of human figures, vivid use of color and foreshadowing techniques, especially in the paintings. In addition, the figures of the paintings seem to emerge from the background, giving huge differences between light and dark. The Italian baroque structure has a sense of movement and that of energy when in static form. The sculptures make the observers to have multiple viewpoints. The Baroque architecture has characteristic domes, colonnades, giving an impression of volume and void.
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 commissioned art to emphasize their authority and their given right to rule. Socio-economically, the middle class was rising and therefore wanting to buy and commission pieces of art to boost their reputation and validate their status in the social scene. These three changes were extremely significant but can by no means generalize the entire historical context of Baroque art. Instead, they stand as specific examples of important reasons for the range and breadth of Baroque art.
The earlier period between the two, the Baroque era, took place roughly during the seventeenth century and lasted into the early eighteenth century. Characteristically, the Baroque period with respect to its style is widely known for its typical shape being more complex than compared to earlier times. A Baroque era building may have a shape that more so represents an oval or an ellipse, compared to the square, circle, or cross depicted in the Renaissance era, for example. (Visual-Arts-Cork.com, 2014) It is also known for being built more on a grandiose and dramatic appearance. Another characteristic that is known about the Baroque era buildings is that the planners of that era tended to build entire cities to fit a sort of preset arrangement around its most magnificent or important buildings and structures. The builders and architects would have the tendency to place grand parks and gardens around important city focal points. It really was a modern day equivalent of city or town planning. (Visual-Arts-Cork.com, 2014)
The Baroque era was the age of magic. Flat surfaces became three-dimensional and paint on plaster became alive. It was the age of masterful illusion. Nothing exhibits this mastery better than Baroque ceiling paintings.
Medieval and Renaissance paintings of the 15th and 16th centuries are a great example of how art gradually changes over time. Although the paintings and artists will reiterate certain aspects in later art, they also change many aspects of the same styling. One can notice differences in the hues of color, tone, layout or arrangement of the design & subject matter, perspective, and even the concept and symbolism in the paintings will also change over time.