An Age of Genius
6:00 PM
If you thought the Renaissance artworks were awesome, I bet you'll have new favourites when you get to read about the Baroque era. I like this era a lot because it upgraded the artistic style artists once had. This is art version 2.0 :)
Anatomyyy!
PLACE: Italy & Spain
NAME DERIVED FROM: Barocco, a misshapen pearl
UPGRADES: motion, space, time, use of light, drama
PRINCIPLE: "Good color is more important than perfect drawing.." See? That's why I love this!! Lol sabi nga nila, "Relate much?"
Those things up there practically tell everything about Baroque artworks. They are full of life, emotions, stories, and also colour. Here are my favourite ones:
#1: The Ecstasy of St. Theresa
St. Theresa is a nun who believed that a pain in her side was caused by an angel of God stabbing her repeatedly with a fire-tipped arrow (that's why her face here shows combined pain & pleasure). This sculpture depicts uncontrollable passion and definitely theatrical drama. Just look at her face!
#2: Juidth
Well, there are actually 2 artworks for this one. The first is Judith and Holofernes and the other is Judith Decapitating Holofernes. What I like here aren't really the paintings but the way they are different from each other.
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| by Caravaggio |
The story:
Judith was a Jewish widow of noble rank in Bethulia, a town besieged by the army of the Assyrian general Holofernes. She approached his tent as an emissary and captivated him with her beauty. He ordered a feast with much wine. After he passed out in his tent, Judith and her maid Abra saw their opportunity. Judith decapitated Holofernes with his sword and smuggled his head back to Bethulia. On seeing her trophy, the townsfolk routed the leaderless Assyrians. The story is an allegory picturing Judith as Judaism in triumph over its pagan enemy.
The first Judith is made by Caravaggio. It shows Judith killing the tyrant Holofernes who was said to have liked her. Here, she seems unsure and she is being "guided" (umm..if that's an appropriate term for teaching someone how to murder?) by an old woman. She even seems disgusted with the sight of the head being cut off.
The second Judith is by Artemisia Gentileschi. Her work is a more violent and a bloodier version. Her style bears some resemblance to that of her father, who was a follower of Caravaggio, but Artemisia’s paintings stand out for their theatricality—the raw emotional intensity of a few figures daringly arranged. This specific artwork shows a bolder Judith who seems to be very determined in killing Holofernes. She doesn't look like she's being guided by the other woman anymore but it seems like she's only being helped in killing the man.
Okay, here comes the interesting part...
The brutal depiction in the monumental Judith Slaying Holofernes is often interpreted as a painted revenge for the artist's experience. At the age of 18, Artemisia was raped by one of her father’s colleagues, Agostino Tassi. He was convicted in a trial a year later after Artemisia was tortured to “confirm” her testimony, but Tassi was never punished. Within months of the conclusion of the trial, Artemisia was quickly married and moved to Florence with her new husband.
When I found out about this, I was like, "Woah, so that's why her work was more *insert explosion sfx*!!" Artists really do paint better if their concept reflects their own experiences.
Moving on...
#3: Happy Accidents of the Swing
The interpretation of this artwork is as simple as its title. Here, Fragonard painted three people - the maiden, the Bishop pushing the swing, and the gentleman who's not actually gentle. Just look at the painting..
You still don't get it?
It's called the "Happy Accidents of the Swing" because the gentleman seems to be delighted with the view while the maiden is enjoying while swinging to and fro. :))
Well, I liked this the first time I saw it because of the way it was painted (the dress is just beautiful!). I didn't even know that the "gentleman" was being portrayed that way. Now, I find this both disgusting and funny, 'cause, guys..please, we are not objects and this isn't how you treat ladies! :p
But I still think the dress is pretty :)
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Okay, so there you have it..a taste of Baroque period!
I'm gonna wrap things up by saying that how Baroque gave justice to what the Renaissance era has started amazes me :)
This era is probably the one that influenced us the most since we are obviously huge fans of inserting motion, space, time, use of light, especially drama in our own artworks. Hooray, Baroque!
photos from Google
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