We spent this class finishing our discussion of the Baroque Period in Italy. The majority of the class was spent looking at the works of Gianlorenzo Bernini. We first looked at his sculpture of David. David works to combine art with the real space. Bernini chose to represent David between two moments and captures the split-second where he is slinging the rock. The intense forward focus seen in David’s face and the twisting motion of his body adds to the level of realism by making viewer feel like Goliath is behind them. We then looked at The Ecstasy of St. Theresa, a marble sculpture done by Bernini depicting the vision of St. Theresa. Bernini again embeds the viewer into the scene with a theater boxes on the side of the walls looking into the scene. Additionally, he created the illusion of St. Theresa being bathed in heavenly light by using a secret stained glass window reflected on golden metal to create the illusion.
We finished class by looking at a few Baroque paintings from Spain. Most notably Jusepe de Ribera’s The Club-Footed Boy. Ribera depicts the beggar in same way as important person, using a low horizon line to make the figure towering.
The beggar is also asking for money for love of God, highlighting the importance of works of mercy during the Counter-Reformation.