FREE ESSAY ON BAROQUE PERIOD

BAROQUE PERIOD

The Baroque Period
The Baroque Art began in Italy between the sixteen hundreds and the seventeen hundreds.
Classicism of the High Renaissance has been replenished during the Baroque period. During
the Baroque period of art, the exploration of the fundamental components of the human
nature and the realm of senses and emotions were very crucial. The Baroque era was very
vast and dynamic, radiant and colorful, dramatic and intense, passionate and ardent, and
sensual and overpowered by emotions. The superficial form of light was fascinated during
this period due to the thoughts of godlike sun or the truth of the Holy Spirit. The
Baroque naturalism maintains the religious themes in content. The elements of perception
in the Baroque art are how we perceived the natural human figures are in motion through
space, time, and light. We present and analyze the extent of human actions and passions
in all its degrees of lightness, darkness, and intensity.
One of the most well known Italian painters from the Baroque period was Annibale
Carracci. One of his famous works was from the Gallery of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome.
The Farnese ceiling had a big impact in the modification of High Renaissance painting. It
revives the Renaissance in human themes and emotions and the concentration of human
nature and anatomy; therefore, forming a connection between the Renaissance and the
Baroque. It creates the naturalistic and classical art and form in the paintings. He
greatly influenced another Italian painter named Carlo Dolci, who painted Virgin and
Child with Saint John the Baptist. In this painting, strong feelings and emotions are
being greatly expressed without words. We see that Carracci's painting of the Farnese
ceiling was painted in rich, brilliant colors, just like the Virgin and the Child's
clothing in Dolci's painting. The emphasis of the human body and emotions are greatly
displayed. Human nudity and beauty was also an important factor. The nudity of the Child
embodies spiritual and abstract meaning of nature. Human nudity symbolizes purity, truth
and innocence. We can comprehend that in the paintings of Carracci and Dolci that human
nature and love are complement of each other and also determines the theme of the story
throughout the paintings. This is some of the ways that Dolci kept Carracci's traditions
of naturalism. In my opinion, I feel that the symbolic meaning of the delicate and
fragile Child in Dolci's painting represents the birth of Christ. The facial expressions
of the Virgin and the Child had a great sense of joy and love. We can actually feel the
love and the unbreakable bond between the Virgin and the Child. The tilting of the
Virgin's head demonstrates the closeness and inseparable connection of the Virgin and the
Child. The Virgin's zealous expression and long devoted thoughts tells me that she
treasures the Child as he was brought to this new world. The significance of the Child's
finger crossing and pointing upward gives a metaphorical meaning. As Saint John the
Baptist is kneeling and praying to the Christ Child, in return, the Christ Child blessed
him. The rich, radiant colors play an important role in the intensity of the light and
movement of the painting. The intensity of the colors drew our attention first to the
painting even before the solid figure forms. The ripples of the satin give a feeling of
movement in the painting. And the colors give us the feeling of warmth. The blue and red
satin was very rich and bright, reflecting the light off of it. The process of
chiaroscuro is also being used among the red and blue satin. The use of modeling of light
and shade gives a better three-dimensional effect and depth to the painting. There was
also a hidden glowing light surrounding the Child's head, hinting the importance of the
Child. And yet, there is also a hidden ring of gold light around the Virgin's head. The
significance of light symbolizes the presence of the Divine or God. Therefore, it makes
the Dolci's painting more iconic than Stomer's painting.
During the Baroque period, another fascinating Italian painter introduced his dark and
dramatic view of religious themes. He converts both religion and the classics into a
gloomy, harsh drama in a dark setting of time and place. Many of his great works were
Conversion of St. Paul, Calling of St. Matthew, and Death of the Virgin. Well-known for
his talent in the art industry, his name was Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio.
One of his disciples that still kept his traditional view and stylistic techniques was
Mathias Stomers, who painted The Judgement of Solomon. Many details in this painting were
similar to Caravaggio's works. For instance, the use of artificial light is being
understood. Although the light form is from a candle, the effects of the material light
throw precise shadows on the surface, giving religious intentions. The setting of the
scene always seems to be taken in a mundane environment, and the time appears to be taken
at nighttime. The sharp contrast of light and dark creates a naturally dramatic feature
of the settings and the figures. This famous technique called tenebrism was greatly use.
A keen ray of light illuminating and shattering a world of darkness and bearing a
spiritual message was the central religious themes. It forces the eyes to see the figures
and the scenes in greater details. Many figures cast a shadow due to the light causing
the atmosphere to be more dark and mysterious. This painting is very theatrical and
narrative. A smooth, swimming feeling of motion also catches the eye to move to
illustrate a story or to invite the viewer to acknowledge the feelings and emotions that
have been taken place. The lady in gold garnishes seems to be in a panic-stricken state.
It appears that she was breast feeding the baby that was still living, and all of sudden,
the man with the sword harshly snatched one of his legs, holding the baby upside-down.
The great definitions of the muscular body and sturdy stance of the man with the sword
gives the impression of strength. The use of modeling in light and shade and use of
chiaroscuro gives a better effect of three-dimensional form. The man behind the woman in
gold seems to be in shock and appears to me also that he took one abrupt inhalation due
to the impression of his hand on his chest. Solomon appears to have power and control
over others due to the monarchial and over-ornately appearance. He seems to be irrational
and ordered the babies to be slaughtered. His right hand waving in the air tells me that
he doesn't want to see it, while his left hand with the wand seems to order the man with
the sword to act his command. The lady in blue seems to be pleading and explaining things
to Solomon, but appears that she is not being listened to. The man standing right of the
lady in blue is pointing his finger upward. This significance of the finger gesture gives
us the idea of Gods is being present or understood to be present although our eyes does
not see it. The symbolic and biblical meaning of the death and slaughtering of the babies
is the sacrifice of Christ. And the light forms in this painting draws attention to our
eyes that mainly concentrates the center of the painting, leaving our eyes to strained to
see what is happening in the shadows. The clothing of the two ladies and Solomon is very
gaudy. As the artificial light of the candle reflects off the clothing, it gives a great
intensity in the painting. Strong modeling in dark and light and use of chiaroscuro
heightens the drama in the painting, giving it a black, dark feel and mood. But our minds
are still wondering and left unsaid of what was the last judgement of Solomon. 
Although Carlo Dolci's painting of the Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist and
Mathias Stomer's painting of The Judgement of Solomon is different between one is more
iconic or narrative than the other, they both still had kept the traditions of the
Baroque art. The religious content and interest in human nature and emotions is greatly
portrayed. The communication of emotions in each painting is very clear, understood, and
felt. The use of perspective of forms and chiaroscuro designed to bring the viewers to
feel the painting. And also the use of tenebrism causes the scene to be more dramatic due
to the harsh contrast of dark next to light. They both used bright and radiant colors;
therefore, the intensity of the colors stands out of the painting. The biblical and
symbolic meaning of both babies from each painting represents a religious theme in the
Bible. And the expressions of each figure are left to lead us to predict the feelings and
emotions among the scenes.