First and foremost the table is not situated in the centre of the painting, nor is Jesus. In a symbolical manner this transmits the idea that God is no longer in the centre of man's world and this accounts for the chaos that seems to be omnipresent. The lower side of the painting is dominated by human figures and an atmosphere of panic and confusion seems to be dominating. The upper side of the painting is filled with angels. There is a clear separation lien between the scared world of the divine and the one of the people. The dark colours, as well as the composition succeeded into transmitting the desired message, managing to appeal to the viewer's emotions.
The Baroque
As opposed to the simplicity that the Protestants supported, a new style emerges, that is the Baroque. This new artistic movement has its origins in Vatican where sculptors such as Bernini and Borromini begin to change the face of the town. But the Baroque style does not stop at architecture, it is embraced both by painting an sculpture. The churches as worship location are given a theatrical dimension. They become a stage for the public adoration of Christ, where the facades act as curtains. Geometrical shapes, a frenzy of colours, a multitude of details, they all wish to transmit the way in which people acknowledge God's almightiness.
For example, in the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome, Bernini used a series of elements such as sculpture and lighting in order to turn a chapel into a theatrical representation of the scene in which saint Teresa of Avila receives the visit of an angel holding an arrow which represents divine love. The saint is sculpted in white marble, while the objects framing her are polychromatic. The expression on the saint's face is one of ecstasy. This renders the sculpture even more touching and intense. The entire scene is a metaphor meant to describe a passage from the Teresa of Avilla's writings where she describes God's love penetrating her heart like an arrow.
In three paintings illustrating the life of Saint Matthew, Caravaggio made the light represented within each picture consistent with the actual illumination of the chapel where the pictures were to hang. In the 1640s and 1650s, Pietro da Cortona adorned the vaults of Santa Maria in Vallicella with spectacular portrayals of the Trinity in Glory and the Assumption of the Virgin, in which monumental groups of figures seen from below enact heavenly events as though occurring in the viewer's own experience" (Sorabella 2003).
The Baroque style was to be found even in the field of music. The focus in baroque music is in the "ornaments" just like in sculpture. Claudio Monteverdi who composed "Vespers" and Heinrich Schutz, the author of "Symphoniae Sacrae" are some of the famous baroque composers who were born in the sixteenth century. As far as the decrees of the Council of Trent are concerned, according to them, music was to be done not in a manner that would cause pleasure by hearing it. What was important were the words which had to be easily recognizable and heard. One of the composers who managed to prove that polyphony could be acceptable even under the Catholic reform terms was Palestrina. Jacobus de Kerle and Vincenzo Ruffo were other composers who succeeded into creating sacred music which was good enough as to remain a good example of polyphony.
Controversies
One of Michelangelo's works which created quite a controversy when created is represented by the "Last Judgement." It was...
Church Discuss the Conciliar Movement. What was it and why did it arise? Give an overview of the major councils, key issues, and outcomes. In what ways was it successful? Why did it ultimately fail. The Conciliar Movement began in the 14th century and included the Council of Pisa (1409), the Council of Constance (1414-1418) where the Conciliarists ruled that they as a collective had more authority than the Pope as
A Critical Analysis of Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist by Carlo Dolci Carlo Dolci’s Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist (Illus. 1) is an oil on canvas painting housed in the Phoenix Art Museum. Completed in Florence, Italy, by Dolci in 1670, the painting reflects the style of the Baroque and the typical religious-historical type of subject associated with the Counter-Reformation underway throughout Europe
Art History: The Impressionists Baroque The word baroque has no clear origin. Some says that it came from a medieval philosophical word connoting the strange or the ridiculous, some consider it as derived from the Spanish barueco or Portuguese referring to an irregular shaped pearl. As 18th century was coming to an end baroque find its way to art criticism terminology in form of epithet leveled against art of the 17th century,
Art through the Ages 1. (Ch. 27) What is the interpretation of Goya's Saturn Devouring his Children? The interpretation of Goya’s Saturn Devouring his Children is based on the myth of Saturn who feared that his children would overthrow him, so he devoured them one by one to avoid that risk. Goya lived many centuries after this ancient myth of antiquity originated. However, his own contemporary situation reflected the old myth in
Art Impressionism in art developed in the 19th century. Impressionist paintings were characterized by visible brush strokes, and subject was drawn from ordinary life and outdoors, rather than being confined to still life, or portraits and landscapes drawn in studios. Emphasis was laid on the effect of light changing its qualities as well as movement. These characteristics of impression can be well observed in the works of art by Gustave Caillebotte,
Upon the altar of which this piece would have been a part, the priests of the medieval age would have offered the sacrifice of the Mass -- in which the Body and Blood of the Christ would be offered in an unbloody manner through an act called Transubstantiation. This was a central portion of the Mass and was part of the belief system of the "age of faith" in
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