The Calling Of St. Matthew: Baroque Art Analysis

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Bernini was given the task of finishing St. Peters after Maderno died in 1629 (676). Baroque style, as defined in the book, is a style of “persuasion” and seems to focus on appealing to the senses as well as being very dramatic in terms of sensuality, emotion, movement, and expressiveness. Everything about baroque art was splendor and opulent. Another change that was prevalent during this time that was not in the High Renaissance was the shift from the Catholic Church being the sponsor for most of the art to wealthy people. That was shown through the art because there were not as many religious themes or religious underlying tones unless the artist really wanted to include that in a piece. Bernini’s “Baldacchino” in St. Peters exemplifies basically …show more content…

He mostly painted ordinary people and sometimes even included religious figures as those ordinary people, which had never been seen before. He is also known for using tenebrism, which is a style that uses strong contrasts of light and dark. In his piece, “The Calling of St. Matthew” uses a beam of light coming through a window right above Jesus’ head to illuminate the other men sitting at a table. “Christ’s face and hand in the gloomy interior so that we see the precise moment of his calling to Matthew and witness a critical piece of religious history and personal conversion” (665). This aspect of his artwork impacted Artemisia Gentileschi the most. Gentileschi, one of the first woman artists to become well known, was known for painting biblical heroines, women, or her in a lead role. Her piece, “Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes” she uses tenebrism in a dramatic way. “The hushed, candlelit atmosphere-tenebrism made intimate-creates a mood of mystery that conveys Judith’s complex emotions with unsurpassed understanding”(669). The candlelight is used to highlight the facial expressions of the two women. The candlelight doesn’t show what is keeping the attention of the women, which adds to the drama created by the light because the viewer doesn’t know what is in the

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