Baroque Midterm

A detailed Summary of Baroque Midterm

1. Bernini was an Italian architect and sculptor who lived 1598-1680. During the reign of Urban VIII Bernini created several large-scale commissions around St. Peter's Basilica. His plan of the square and colonnades in front of the basilica was an amazing architectural achievement. Bernini was a man of intense faith, and the supreme artist during the Catholic Counter-Reformation (Read, p. 42-43).

He was selected as Vatican architect in 1629. In 1642, he began working on the ornamentation of the funerary chapel of Cardinal Federigo Cornaro in the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria. The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1645-52) is a masterful religious sculpture, and is a skillful example of Bernini's use of various materials (Read, p.43).

The sculpture represents a vision in which an angel pierces Saint Teresa of Avila's body with an arrow many times. The piercing sends Teresa into religious state of ecstasy. The angel and Teresa are depicted floating upon clouds. Bernini illustrates the emotions and movements of the figures as well as creating different colors and textures in the white marble. He carved the marble of Saint Teresa's habit into a thick material, but still manages to show he

2. Harmensz wan Rijn Rembrandt was a Dutch painter and etcher who lived from 1606-1669. He studied under two masters who were both from Italy. His background and training gave Rembrandt a familiarity with 17th century Italian art and society. Between 1632 and 1636, Rembrandt attracted many portrait commissions. His primary source for income was portraiture. From 1636 to 1642 he worked at a slower pace but created more elaborate paintings. The final years of his life, Rembrandt lived modestly and he spent his time around socially poorer people (read, p. 300-302).

I noticed two of Wolfflin's Principles in Calling of Saint Matthew. There is recession in Caravaggio's scene. The strong diagonals of the unseen light and Christ's arm act as a source to guide the viewer's eye to Levi, the pointing of Christ and Levi create movement, and the unseen light source creates drama. Caravaggio's dramatic tenebrism give his painting a relative quality by highlighting the faces and hands.

A similar work of Benin's is The Blessed Lodovica Albertoni (1674). The sculpture was created for a side altar in a private chapel. It was commissioned by Cardinal Paluzzi degli Albertoni to commemorate his ancestor Lodovica. He hoped to advance the canonization of Lodovica, which would advance his own status in the church (Minor, p. 131).

There are many baroque characteristics in Versailles. The building was three stories tall and the main floor was lined with large arcing windows separated by Ionic pilasters, the facade has broken pediments, cornices, and columns. The interior spaces were designed to hold large audiences, who came to honor Louis XIV.

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Approximate Word count = 1766
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Arts