annibale carracci

1. Renaissance and Baroque

Renaissance emerged as a distinct style of art in the early fifteenth century in Italy, which is characterised by a revival of interest in classical antiquities of ancient Greece and Rome. Renaissance masters regarded mimesis, imitation of nature as a proper end of art, transforming classicism with modern knowledge and skills. About two hundred years later, baroque emerged as an opposition to a preceding mannerism, which insisted upon naturalism centred around movement, drama, and energy . Just as renaissance masters, baroque artists treated very highly of mimesis, and shared similar subject matters mostly from religion, mythology, and history. However, some new added a variety to its scope of coverage, namely genre, portraiture, landscape, and still-life.

In terms of iconography, renaissance artists tend to adopt a linear approach, defining forms with clear, distinct outlines. As opposed to this, baroque artists endorse a painterly treatment, expressing masses with strong light and dark, chiaroscuro. Secondly, two art movements very much differ in treatment of space. Taking consideration into recession of space, baroque artists are able to avoid flatness of the picture plane in comparison to renaissance artists. According to Wolfflin, renaissance and baroque art can be described as 'closed' and 'open', respectively . To elaborate, renaissance art is constructed in a way that viewers are able to identify exactly where objects and figures are located in the picture, which is not always for baroque art. Also, renaissance artists attempt to bring about a unified whole while each and every individual elements are made explicit, whereas baroque artists put less emphasis on integration of individual parts int...

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... is a relatively calm and stable scene located in the centre, uniting the vault frescoes as whole. All figures are balanced in an equivalent rhythm, which is easily attributed to Raphael’s Psyche Received on Olympus (Figure 6). However, they move and turn in different directions, creating a dynamic symmetry as regularity and variety are concurrently and simultaneously happening. Along with sense of space recession, figures flow on their will, rather than being juxtaposed. In terms of iconography, it is observed that his treatment of figures, idealised in muscular or voluptuous body shapes, is something of Michelangelo and Raphael. However, it is yet to conclude that he has put less emphasis on a baroque idea of naturalism. Annibale’s luminous, sunlit atmosphere tuning with pale blues and greens, blushing pinks and violets have no source in Michelangelo or Raphael.