Renaissance and Baroque
An Analysis of Two Davids
The humanism, nobility, and power of the Renaissance are reflected in Michelangelo's David (1504). The emphasis on drama, movement, and action is demonstrated in Bernini's David (1624). Both emphasize the heroic and favorite themes of the High Renaissance, but it is Vasari who gives the greatest compliment to Michelangelo's David, calling it more excellent than all sculpture of ancient Greece and Rome and even contemporary works (Vasari, 1998, p. 424). This paper will analyze the two works and the eras of art that produced them.
Differences between Renaissance and Baroque
The most important thing to remember about the difference between the Renaissance and the Baroque is that the former rose to glory prior to the feverish pitch of Protestantism, which to some extent put out its flame; the latter was a kind of rejuvenation of the themes posed by the Renaissance -- only now they were being undertaken in a vastly altered world -- one which (at the time of Bernini's work on David) was embroiled in the Thirty Years' War, a war that ultimately yielded to the idea of religious liberty as established by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The Baroque period of art, therefore, was both Catholic and modern: it was excessive, sweeping, visceral, concerned with scale and scope, action and heroism. Michelangelo -- the humanist Renaissance artist -- was completely "man-centered" (Johnson, 2003, p. 281).
Bernini's...
The compositional structure here is actually quite daring. Even though a viewer tends to "read" a painting left-to-right, as with a book, here the left side of the canvas seems to fade away into nothingness. It is not just the empty seascape on the left as compared with the dark richness of the forest on the right. The left half of the painting contains the subject of the painting after
In terms of Renaissance philosophy, Galileo Galilei is an example of a humanist who strongly defended the gradual flourishing and subsistence to the scientific revolution happening in his society during the Renaissance period. Galileo was a strong advocate for the usage of science in discovering truth and new knowledge, using the principles of mathematics and philosophy in strengthening the study of astronomy and physics in the society. Through Galileo,
Baroque vs. Rococo The Baroque style in art dates its earliest manifestations to the later years of the 16th century, when the Catholic Church launched the Counter-Reformation. Faced with the growing wave of simple, unsophisticated art style promoted by Protestantism and the Reform, the Catholic Church opposed an opulent style, full of richness and grandeur. In architecture, for example, the constructions dating from the Baroque period are richly decorated, statues, sculptures,
In contrast, English baroque has been described as being more secular, with a higher degree of classical inspiration. However, as Daniells states, this form of the Baroque style is not easy to categorize with finality (Daniells). Wellek uses the term 'restraint' to characterize English baroque (Wellek). With regard to the period of the Scientific Revolution, English Baroque drew inspiration from renaissance geometry. As in the Italian or Roman Baroque, there
art are closely enmeshed in the social and political culture of any given time. Hence the significant differences in different periods of art, and also the ability to differentiate between these periods. While changes between adjacent time periods may seem minor, they eventually accumulate to form wide differentialities between periods. Because human beings change, politics and society change, and therefore art will also be subject to change accordingly. As
Bernini and Caravaggio Baroque art was a style that appeared in response to the 16th century Mannerist period and was characterized by religious iconography and figures but with a focus on the pre-Christian religions such as Greek and Roman mythology. The characteristics of Baroque art can be seen in many branches of the art world such as in sculptures, paintings, literature and architecture. The movement started around 1600 in Italy where
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