...Baroque art and architecture is one of the major historical developments in Western art. Like other great styles, the baroque first found expression in architecture and spread from there to painting and sculpture and eventually even to music. It flourished from the latter half of the 16th century to the beginning of the 18th century, with its high-water mark probably being the decade from 1630 to 1640. In the past, some interpreters, especially in England and France, were inclined to consider the baroque as a mere perversion of the Renaissance style. This view, however, is now outdated, and in recent years there has been a widespread revival of interest in the baroque. The richness and variety of baroque forms make it difficult to characterize the style. All artistic styles contain certain contradictions, but the baroque is particularly full of them. The word baroque, of uncertain origin, was first used in the 17th century as a term of abuse to describe art that did not meet the "classical" rational standards. Some scholars believe the term "baroque" is derived from the Portuguese barroco (an irregularly shaped pearl), and indeed the essence of the baroque style is best described in a single word: irregular. The baroque, aptly called the art of the impossible, is characterized by movement. To some critics its main features are its ebullience, its ornateness, its somber pomp; to others, its dynamic character, its predilection for curves, its avoidance of clear outline and distinct...
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...The cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach are among his most significant and celebrated compositions. "Cantata", literally, "a piece to be sung", was used in the 17th century to mean a variety of vocal compositions, the common feature being the inclusion of at least one piece for solo voice. Bach fused two types of cantatas -- the solo cantata with recitatives and arias and the chorale cantata with two or more movements based on chorale text -- to develop a new prototype for the church cantata. Bach's tremendous musical achievement occupied much of his time during his years at Leipzig where he held his final position as municipal Kapellmeister. In addition to the church cantatas, he composed sacred cantatas for functions like weddings. Typically, his cantatas open with a short orchestral prelude which is followed by an extended chorus, then solo singing interlaced with the chorales, and finally closing with a hymn. Bach composed over 300 cantatas. These intimate works offer a very personal view of his spirituality, of his vision of life and death, and of his lifelong devotion to his Creator. Later vocal music owes much to these cantatas, from the exquisite, delicate miniatures of Romantic period song-cycles to the grandiose choral exaltation of the closing movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. In the 17th and 18th centuries composer wrote the music that their employers demanded of them. Unlike his close contemporary Handel, Bach never worked for an employer who was interested...
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...Baroque Period The Baroque period began 1600-1750 at the end of the Renaissance period and brought us into the Classical period. This era is known for its progress in knowledge. During this centu-ry the European culture came up with a musical language that is still known to us today. Com-posers of this era had their own personal styles of music. The baroque period brought us differ-ent styles and techniques along with great composers from the early, mid, and late baroque peri-ods. The baroque period saw many styles of music from Italy, France, England, and Germany. Composers from this era were thought of as craftsmen instead of artists. They wrote their music for certain events during this period. Composers of this era had their own personal styles of music. Music contrast is very important to the drama of baroque music. The different instruments, solos and ensembles, and the difference of soft and loud music all played major roles in baroque music. The baroque music period is described in three sections, early, mid, and late....
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...The Baroque Era from 1600 – 1750 is a significant time period where styles used in music, visual arts and literature, art, and music followed the Renaissance Era. Music expanded by way of more instruments invented and perfected as well as the addition of vocals to musical compositions. Lyrics were precise in meaning to communicate an underlying meaning or message. The focus of the church was still dominating, but musical styles continued to expand including secular compositions as the Baroque period continued. The historical development of the oratorio genre was significant to the Catholic and Protestant church throughout Europe during the Baroque period and grew as an influential style of music for many composers and churches today (Chapter...
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...The two art periods that I chose are Baroque and Impressionism. Baroque art refers to the style that would be found in Europe and North and South America during the 17th and 18th century. The Catholic Church heavily influenced their art, as well as the Protestant rising up during this time. There was an emphasis on unity and harmony in all of the visual arts that often had themes from the Bible or stories. There was realism and more attention was paid to physical details in portrait paintings, there was more light contrast, landscapes were more expansive and there was use of more deep, rich colors. In architecture there were structures that expressed humans longing for spirituality and there was extreme presentation and in the grand scale it was reflected theatrically (Mindedge, 2013). In the Baroque period the art would depict a play, that it was not just a picture but every figure would have meaning, the art was meant to be read just not looked at as decoration. Figures would be drawn with realism, they have depth in the art, and they are almost falling off the page. They used dark shades and lights to show realism in their paintings. This was brought on with the further discovery of how our universe was formed, how we are not the center of the universe and also with that discovery, we discovered that Europe is not the middle of the Earth as well. Each painting had a story, told about us, about real people and there was more realism than before. Sculptures were made to...
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...Fundamental Concepts, Methods and Modes In the Humanities Imagination, Values, and Emotions Renaissance versus Baroque February 2014 The Renaissance era has been considered a time of move into the modern day. The term Renaissance means rebirth, and came from the French. The Renaissance started in Italy and extended throughout Europe between the fourteenth and seventeenth century. It was throughout the Renaissance that Europe saw many large social, scholarly and economic changes. Old-fashioned values of the Church were lost which in turn permitted artists the freedom and liberty to discover the human mind and body. The Renaissance era allowed art to progress far past conventional and traditional religious focus to imitate human feeling and realism in art. Although faith continued to be the core guidance during the Renaissance, the beginning and acknowledgment of human form, expression and scientific study became very lively inspirations within the arts. Renaissance art saw the rebirth of nature and the human figure. Sculpting and painting practices advanced greatly throughout the Renaissance. Artists started using different methods like laws of portion, physical appearance, the linear perspective, balance, and physical appearance. Main characteristics of Renaissance art included admiration and tribute to the human body and nature, realistic linear perspective and importance on the association of light and shadow. Some of the world’s...
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...The Dutch Baroque period roughly spanned from 1610 to the 1700 hundreds, one factor that made this era stand out is its new use of lighting. Out of all the Dutch Baroque painters, the two that are most revered are Vermeer and Rembrandt. However, these two artisans paint in exceedingly different styles. For two reasons, both artists used different techniques to express emotion, in their subjects; as well as; their approach to their shading and attention to details. In the Dutch Baroque period shadows were used to express the tone of the painting. In Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch” the setting takes place during daylight, however because of its dark background and use of shadows, it appears to be nighttime. The tone of this painting is very dramatic in emotion and reinforced by the overall darkness. Where as Vermeer’s paintings display a lighter canvas, Vermeer used a new revolutionary technique called Camera Obscura, a dark box with only one hole to allow light to shine through. As evident in “the Kitchen Maid,” the light in the portrait does not come from the open window, but instead appears to be shining through a circular hole. Even though a majority of the painting is dark, it does not portray a grave tone much like “The Night Watch.”...
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...Mannerism and Baroque Western Governors University Literature, Arts and the Humanities: Analysis and Interpretation IWT1 May 8, 2013 Mannerism and Baroque If you study art history at any length, you will become aware of the many different periods and their individual characteristics. There are prime times throughout art history that the general populations can easily identify such as Renaissance or Impressionism. They might even be able to name a few of the artists or their artwork. As you delve further into the rich history of art, you start to notice many deviations in the style of artists who are transitioning into a new artistic period. At first look, you might not see the subtle difference in the art from the norm from that period. An overlooked period in art history is the period between the Renaissance and the Baroque periods, the Mannerism period. This period was actually a rejection of the High Renaissance era. Mannerism is the artistic period from 1520- 1600. The word mannerism is derived from the Italian word maneria, which means style or stylishness. “Art began to lose its momentum at the end of the High Renaissance, beginning of the Mannerism period because it coincided with a period of upheaval that was torn by the Reformation, plague, and the devastating Sack of Rome.” ("The National Gallery of Art," 2013, para. 2). One of the greatest reasons for the shift in artistic style is that the Catholic Church was in chaos. The Catholic Church...
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...Pondering the Art of the Baroque and Renaissance Period The Baroque and Renaissance periods. Two periods of time that stand out in history. Almost 500 years ago, these eras, of which legends of the arts arose, still captivate the specters of today. Renaissance Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo Davinci are all familiar names cemented in history as some of the greatest artists and inventors of all time..., but what do they have in common? They were all artists in the Renaissance period. Renaissance art is painting, sculpture and decorative arts developed in the period following medieval times, around 1400. While art was beginning to change in the renaissance period, philosophy, literature, music and science were also facing reform....
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...Outline of Movements in Art ART 101 Art Appreciation Submitted by: Na’Quisha Powell Submitted to: Instructor: Carrie Ann Wills Date: July 22, 2013 I. Baroque (began around 1600-1750) a. The Baroque era began as artistic revolt against the stylization of Mannerist art and as means of implementing the demands of the Counter-Reformation Church, which sought to restore its religious prominence in the western world in the face of the Protestant threat (Duckett, 2011). The Baroque movement began in ital where artists expressed the triumphs of the Catholic Church. b. Artwork significant to the movement * Merisi, M. (1601). “Caravaggio, Conversion of Saint Paul” [oil on canvas 7’ 6” x 5’ 9”]. Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome. In F. S. Kleiner (Ed.), Gardner’s art through the ages: The Western perspective (14 ed., Vol. II, p. 562). Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. * Merisi, M. (1603). “Caravaggio, Entombment” [oil on canvas 9’ 10 1/8 x 6’ 7 15/16”]. Pinacoteca, Musei Vaticani, Rome. In F. S. Kleiner (Ed.), Gardner’s art through the ages: The Western perspective (14 ed., Vol. II, p. 562). Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. II. Impressionism (began around the late 19th century) a. Impressionism, both in content and in style, was an art of industrialized, urbanized Paris, a reaction to the sometimes brutal and chaotic transformation of French life that occurred during the latter half of the 19th century (Kleiner, 2014). b....
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...chamber that is said to hold priceless treasures from the Renaissance and the Age of Baroque. In this chamber we hope to find several different items. The items in the chamber are said to represent the arts, music, architecture, philosophy and literature. We have done it, we have reached the chamber. It is amazing, it holds even more than we could have imagined. Upon entering the first item that I noticed was the statue of David. It is a work of genius by Renaissance area sculpture Michelangelo. Michelangelo created the statue of David between 1501 and 1504. It is a 17.0 foot marble statue of the biblical protagonist David standing fully nude. The statue is a true interpretation of the standing heroic man. Such poses were considered to be distinct feature of historic sculpture in the high Renaissance. Michelangelo’s sculpture of David has come to be one of the most renowned works of Renaissance sculpture, becoming a representation of both strength and youthful human beauty. The next item that I see is a large painting. Upon closer inspecting I see that it is The Hippopotamus and Crocodile Hunt by Peter Paul Rubens. Rubens painted The Hippopotamus and Crocodile Hunt in 1616. He was a true Baroque era artist. Rubens use of dramatics and visual diagonal to broaden the sense of immediacy and movement and redirected attention downward into the center of action truly represent the Baroque era style of art. As we search deeper into the chamber we continue to find more and more...
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...Miguel Graham May 1, 2015 Renaissance to Modern Art Dr. Dwight Smith What I’ve Learned in Renaissance to Modern Art I’ve learned so much information in the class titled “Renaissance to Modern Art” and I want to start off with my new found knowledge of Art History. According to Wikipedia, the history of art is “the history of any activity or product made by humans in a visual form for aesthetical or communicative purposes, expressing ideas, emotions or, in general, a worldview.” This field of "art history" was developed in the Western world, and originally was focused solely on European art history. Gradually, over the course of the 20th century, a wider vision of art history has developed. Thus, art history is now viewed to encompass all visual art, from the sculptures in Western Europe to the paintings in China. Also according to this source, the history of art is often told as a chronology of masterpieces created in each civilization. It is said that the Wonders of the World are the epitome of high culture through the stories that are conveyed. Art history spans the entire history of humankind, from prehistoric times to the twenty-first century. No matter what you choose to observe, you can find visual arts that challenge someone’s creative side and inspire them to find beauty in the things manmade. In modern times, art history has emerged as a discipline that specializes in teaching people how to evaluate and interpret works of art based on their...
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...1- CASE The ideology and culture of the Renaissance and Baroque Eras are reflected in artwork from the eras. Renaissance art seems to the moment before an event took place and the Baroque art is characterized by great drama, rich deep color, and intense light and dark shadows. Baroque artists chose the most dramatic point, the moment when the action was occurring. For example Michelangelo designed his David composed and still before he fights against Goliath. In Bernini's David in the Baroque era is caught in the motion of hurling the stone at Goliath. “Baroque art was meant to evoke emotion and passion instead of the calm rationality that had been prized during the Renaissance.” During the Renaissance Era, painters began to enhance the realism of their work by using new techniques in perspective. Their artwork represented three dimensions more realistically. Michelangelo's David was noted to be one of the greatest pieces of art to come from the Renaissance era. The 17 foot statue took Michelangelo almost five years to complete and now stands in the Galeria dell'Academia in Firenze, Italy. Michelangelo's five year of labor and hard work is now considered to be the "poster-child" of the Renaissance Art movement that started in the 14th century and lasted for a couple hundred years. The word Renaissance when used to describe the development of Western Civilization is defined as “rebirth or revival”. The era of Renaissance is considered to be when the European civilization...
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...The Baroque Period was the age of reason when minds and imaginations opened up new worlds of scientific knowledge as well as artistic creativity. (Fleming, 75) The Baroque era was a period of opulence and magnificence that gave off a powerful awe inspiring style that was full of flamboyant concepts and overall dramatic quality. From Venice, as well as from Rome and the centers where international mannerism flourished, the roads to Baroque art fanned out in all directions. The style of Baroque art was so diverse that it’s difficult to determine what classifies it as being art of the Baroque era. Although Baroque art has many diverse artistic manifestations there are certain general characteristics that appear in all three types of Baroque art. The Counter Reformation Baroque style focuses on astonishing and overpowering its audience. Art of this time was also enlisted in serving the purposes of the church militant. The Aristocratic Baroque style focuses on glorifying the position and asserting national power and prestige. The last style of the Baroque age, Bourgeois Baroque, was marked by the concentration on down-to-earth common people of the middle class. The individuality of each style of the Baroque period is visibly distinctive, yet similar in their own exclusive approaches. The Counter Reformation art, which focused on the command of the church, was created by the Jesuits in 154. It was also dynamic and religious due to the influence of the church. In Artemisia Gentileschi’s...
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...Style of Baroque Art In painting: * Peter Paul Rubens of Flanders was one of the great masters of the Baroque style. He used colors to paint highly emotional religious scenes. * Most brilliant of the dutch realists was Rembrandt van Rijn. Though he followed no particular faith, he was interested in particular values and often chose religious subject matters. Renaissance artists found ways to give a natural appearance to their subjects. Artists of the 1600s were often influenced by the rapid change in religion, politics, and trade. Their art reflected the dynamic confusion, unrest, and energy of their times. In this period, works of art became larger and technically complicated. Perspective was distorted. Artists showed extremes of movement, excitement, light, and shadow. The cool restraint of the renaissance changed into dynamic activity of the baroque. New style of operas and symphonies were composed in Italy. The Baroque style of Architecture prevailed in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries were characterized by elaborate and grotesque forms an ornamentations. In painting, this is characterized by movement, energy, and restlessness. The Baroque style in Architecture is marked by heavy sculptural, extravagantly ornamented facade. The giant twisted columns, broken sediments, and the variety of motifs such as scrolls, scallops, trellies, urns, and angels. Neoclassic started in 1764 in Europe, England, and America. Classicism was popular through the French...
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