Category: Uncategorized (Page 30 of 48)

Today in class we continued our discussion of the Baroque period, looking at Italy and Spain. Starting in Italy, we looked at the art of Gianlorenzo Bernini, a sculptor but also painter, stage designer, etc. We started our discussion with his David sculpture. For this sculpture, Bernini chose to represent the split second before David releases his slingshot aimed at Goliath. This represents the Baroque ideals of motion and dynamic artwork. This frozen action really engages the viewer as if the slingshot could almost be thrown at them, which was a really cool effect. Another interesting aspect of this sculpture was the attention to detail and focus on David’s face. We then discussed Bernini’s Ecstasy of St. Teresa, a sculpture representing a vision she had. Interestingly, there are sculpted viewers on the side. A hidden window pane with yellow and gilded rays captivate the viewer with a strong sense of light, another Baroque idea. 

We then looked at a few paintings from Spain during this time, like The Club Footed Boy. The boy is depicted as a beggar with a note asking for alms for the poor as written in the Bible. His pose with his walking stick mirrors both those of Christ carrying his cross and a man with a weapon, alluding to the beggar boy as a soldier of God. However, the boy has a smile on his face.

Class today focused on a continued look at the Baroque period. Gianlorenzo Bernini was a famed sculptor from Italy in this time. His interpretation of the David for the Borghese family is a new representation of the work. While other sculptures or paintings have focused on his heroism after defeating Goliath, Bernini chose a different moment. Keeping with the themes of Baroque (dynamism, sense of motion), he portrays David as he’s about to release his slingshot. This frozen moment mid-action gives David position loaded with potential and has the appearance of springing to action any second. His concentrated human face is also sculpted with exquisite detail, with skill expertly portrayed in just seven months. Bernini’s The Ecstasy of St. Teresa is another sculpture deserving of attention. The dynamic floating position of Teresa and angel poised to strike the saint’s heart are captivating as the audience waits in anticipation of the action. The use of outside light from windows above the sculpture illuminate the stone with a contrast of light and shadow to give it a divine aura.

Transitioning to Spain, paintings like The Club Footed Boy continue the baroque style. Dedicated to the Counter Reformation and Inquisition, religious themes remained popular in art. The boy is depicted as a beggar with a notes asking for alms for the poor as written in the Bible. His pose with his walking stick mirrors both those of Christ carrying his cross and a man with a weapon, alluding to the beggar boy as a solider of God. But most importantly, the boy is painted with a smiling face. It’s a celebration of life for the boy.

Today in class we talked about Italian Baroque. We discussed Caravaggio and the things that made him stand out from the rest and perdure as an influence in the movement. He pioneered Tenebrism, which utilizes dramatic lighting to evoke a mood. He painted in a studio, which is what allowed him to reate such harsh contrasts and imitate them perfectly in his paintings. He didn’t draw, which is a hard thing to grasp especially if you are someone who paints. It is marvelous what he was able to create without the aid of pencil. We also talked about how he had a violent history and about how he was essentially a criminal.

A painting that we did not talk about in class was his original San Matteo E’lAngelo, one of my favorite works of his. We talked about The Calling of Saint Mathew, but not about the original painting that was supposed to hang beside him. San Matteo E’lAngelo depicts Saint Mathew not as this glorified Saint full of wisdom but rather as a fisherman, a simple man who can’t quite grab the pen in order to write the gospel. It is clear to me why the work would be rejected, but it also speaks to the genius of Caravaggio that it was his choice to give Saint Mathew humility and reality.

Class ten 3-11-2024

We started class ten by with Gian Lorenzo Bernini, a child prodigy sculptor who started sculpting at age ten (lots of ten in this write-up) and by 17 was receiving commissions for his sculpture work. He worked at fast speeds with stones which are words usually separate. He spent his career in Rome working for a total of eight popes over his lifetime. Bernini’s sculpture seems to capture a single moment in time, that still appears to be happening as you view his work. A baroque ideal is that the art involves the viewer, in a church interior, Bernini created the statue of St Herrera’s vision of ecstasy. From other points in the church, he made statues that tape rot be watching the statue in the center. This affirms the truth of the scene implying that people saw it happen. This idea is called a coextensive space. Aligning with this idea is the book of spiritual exercises that asks you to imagine a biblical scene and then step into it. Francesco Borromini creates a church with no strong wall planes, consisting of a pinched oval and concave/convex surfaces in stark contrast to St Peters’s Basilica. 

Class nine 

In our ninth class, we discussed an array of topics. Pieter Bruegel the elder who was known for producing for the open market posed for commission. He sometimes brought humor and statements into his work, making visual interpretations of proverbs and large landscapes showing daily peasant life. From the foreground to deep in the painting you can see the northern attention to detail in the work. To accrue interest on the open market he also would paint themes such as the four seasons or the five senses that people could buy a set of and have a set of decorations for their house. In Italy, the protestant reformation fueled baroque art. As the protestant religion veered away from visuals in their churches, the Catholics saw this as something to capitalize on to secure interest from people. It was also a movement in response to mannerisms lack of artistic rules and drawing. In Bologna, a school of art focused on drawing to give a solid foundation for artists. Within baroque art, lighting is an important feature, leading and illuminating the most important moments… that also appear to be instantaneous. 

In class today we covered Baroque Art in both Italy and Spain. We began with studying Gianlorenzo Bernini in Italy, an artist to whom we can apply the term “Renaissance man”, as he worked as a sculptor, architect, painter, as well as stage designer. I was really taken by his depiction of Teresa de Àvila in The Ecstacy of St Teresa. This sculptural work was created for a chapel. The sculpture itself is made of white marble, which is illuminated by a secret window placed above the sculpture. There are golden rays that come down from the hidden window, casting a golden radiation towards the sculpture, which against the bright white of the stone, gives the appearance of heavenly light. We can see how Bernini’s work as a stage designer impacted his work, as on either side of the central sculpture there are theatrical boxes with onlookers. This places the viewer in the interesting position of watching people who are watching the exchange between the angel and St Teresa.

We looked at another work at the end of class which also placed the viewer into an interesting dynamic with the subjects of the work. Las Meninas by Velàzquez, a Spanish painter, depicts the artist painting a large canvas in the royal palace. He is surrounded by many figures, including the royal family, their maids, and entertainers. The picture is complex because we are not quite able to place ourselves within the context of the painting, but we still feel as though we are being brought in. Additionally, the mirror on the back wall seems to suggest that the King and Queen are in the room as well, though we only see them as a reflection, not in physical form.

I was not in class today. However i did do the reading so i will share some thoughts on chapter 18.

The artwork that struck my interest the most from the chapter was Albrecht Durer’s self-portrait. The reading explains that this was not weird to paint in the likeness of Jesus Christ, but the resemblance goes beyond the way his hair is modeled. His frontality and the position of his hands really resembled the pose that Christ has in the Sacred Heart image. It is my instinct to believe that imitating Christ is idolatry. It makes sense that one of the points of the Protestant reformation was the sacrilege of icons. In the same sense, it reminds me for example “The Madonna with the Long Neck”, who was it modeled after? It seems to me that these contemporary depictions of biblical figures tread on thin ice when it comes to idolatry.

Today, we began by discussing Peter Bruegel the Elder’s The Blind Leading the Blind. I particularly enjoyed this work because I feel it is a great philosophy or saying to have in life. It is based on the bible from Matthew 15: 12-19. This work is set in a contemporary setting in the countryside. We see very elongated forms and a swooping diagonal into the scene. The church is also a dominant building in the background. It is important to note that ambiguity is part of mannerism. We then began to discuss Bruegel’s Harvesters/ Return of the Hunters. The scenes take place in expansive landscapes and have no story. We see scenes of the peasant life and some harmonious interactions of humans with nature. There is great attention to detail and it is cleverly put together. These were painted for the open market.

We then began our discussion on Italian Baroque Art. This consisted of a counter-reformation and the company of Jesus and the Jesuit’s order. We then dove into the drawings of Carraci and noted he focuses on people and does not base them on nature. Annibale Carracci’s, Love of the Gods, Ceiling Fresco is extraordinary. Overall, they are paintings that pretend or make the illusion that they are framed. They are within a gigantic barrel vault, so to obtain this illusion, you must have a certain perspective in which you look at it. This is called trome-l’aeil or trick of the eye. Another work we discussed that I found interesting was Caravaggio’s The Calling of Matthew. This was the first public commission and involved a scene in the gospels with Matthew and Luke. It is interesting that they are all dressed in all’antica or “stage clothes”. The setting is also contemporary, and we observe the same gesture of Christ to the Creation of Adam. Christ is the new “Adam” and reverses the original sin.

Continuing our conversation on Italian Baroque art, we spent a large portion of today’s class discussing the works of Bernini. Bernini is most famous for his sculptures, but he was also an architect, painter, playwright, and stage designer, and elements from all these fields are seen in his art. Bernini worked for several popes, cardinals, and bishops, but his most important papal project was aiding in the finishing of St. Peters Basilica, a construction project that had been going on since the Renaissance.

The Baldacchino is a structure built at the central point of the cross plan of the basilica. The structure serves as a decorative canopy over the altar where mass would be performed, but the structure not only serves as decoration but is also a grave marker. Undernether where this structure sits is where St. Peter was buried, so this structure serves to also honor the memory of St. Peter, to whom the church is dedicated. The previous monument to mark St. Peter’s tomb included twisted columns, so Bernini chose to include those in his new design as well. On the upper ledge of the canopy are two putti, one holding the papal tiara and the other holding a set of keys. The papal tiara is the symbol of the pope and the keys represent St. Peter, who is said to have been given the keys to heaven, so both these symbols reinforce the authority of the pope. Throughout the structure are images of bees which reference the coat of arms of the Barberini family which Pope Urban VIII, who commissioned this work, is from.

In our exploration of Italian Baroque art, we examined the origins and factors that molded this captivating style. Emerging as a reaction to Mannerism, Italian Baroque was a result of the Counter-Reformation movement and the Church Council of Trent (1545-63), coinciding with a turbulent period where nations aligned themselves with either the Catholic Church or Protestantism. The establishment of the Jesuits, a religious order combating Protestantism, further marked this era. 

Artworks created during the Counter-Reformation aimed to counter Protestant criticisms, addressing issues like hierarchy and iconography. Annibale Carracci, along with his brother and cousin, founded the Accademia degli Incamminati, emphasizing drawing and drawing inspiration from nature. Noteworthy Carracci artworks, such as Landscape with the Flight to Egypt and Love of the Gods, showcased compositional brilliance and techniques reminiscent of Michelangelo’s influence. Meanwhile, Caravaggio’s distinctive style, characterized by tenebrism and a realistic approach, was evident in masterpieces like The Calling of Matthew, where he portrayed Christ as the “light of the world.” Artemisia Gentileschi, a Caravaggist, overcame personal adversity to produce powerful artworks, one being Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting and Judith and her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes, expressing female empowerment and revenge, echoing Caravaggio’s profound impact on the era. Today’s exploration illuminated the dynamic interplay of religious, artistic, and societal influences that defined the captivating epoch of Italian Baroque art.