|
|
|
|
|
|
The Renaissance
The term "Renaissance" means rebirth, and refers to an intellectual, literary,
and artistic movement that began in Italy in the fourteenth century following
the Middle Ages and culminated in the sixteenth century. During this time,
scholars, writers and artists rediscovered and reinterpreted the great classical
heritage of the Roman Empire - its architecture, sculpture, philosophy, art and
literature.
In the visual arts, the revival of the antique can be seen most clearly in architecture where the Gothic style was consciously rejected in favor of a classical, Roman style. In sculpture, classical reliefs and sculptures were collected and copied. The nude human figure became the most important element in art - classical proportions were based upon it and even religious images of Christ and the saints were idealized within the norms of the human form. In painting, artists strove to depict figures in a believable space - an illusion they created by using linear perspective, a Renaissance innovation.
Despite this new interest in depicting the natural world, subject matter remained predominantly religious, with works commissioned primarily by the Catholic Church or by wealthy families for their palaces and private chapels. But as the wealth of princes, bankers and merchants flourished, so did the demand for secular art. Artists therefore also created works with mythological subjects, a logical conclusion of the Renaissance interest in Classical antiquity. Ultimately, Classical mythological and allegorical works existed side-by-side with Christian religious works.
The Late Renaissance: Mannerism
The High Renaissance in Italy coincided with the lives and art of three great
artists, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Later artists studied and
emulated the idealized beauty of Leonardo and Raphael, and the dynamism and
grandeur of Michelangelo. However, faced with the perfection of the High
Renaissance, a younger generation of painters began to explore different
artistic possibilities.
This late period of the Renaissance, which lasted approximately from 1520 to 1600, is called Mannerism from the Italian maniera meaning "style" or "stylishness." To some extent, Mannerism mirrors the religious anxiety and political confusion resulting from the Protestant Reformation and the weakened authority of the Roman Catholic Church. Where High Renaissance art had been concerned with the harmonious balance of naturalism, composition, and color, art now found delight in exaggeration, artificiality, odd perspective, and jarring color.
Although Mannerism began in Florence and Rome by Italian artists, painters from Northern Europe (France, Flanders, and Germany) frequently studied in Italy where they adopted the fashionable Mannerist style. Upon returning to their native countries, they carried this style with them. Prints (such as etchings and engravings) were another important way that the Mannerist style was spread throughout Europe.
The Italian Baroque
Italy in the seventeenth century was very different from the unified country
we know today. Cities like Florence, Venice, Genoa, Bologna, and Naples
formed small individual states with distinct local customs, traditions,
dialects, and even artistic traditions. Binding these different cities and
their territories together was the Roman Catholic Church, centrally located
in Rome at the Vatican and ruled both temporally and spiritually by the Pope.
While most of Northern Europe had been violently affected by the Protestant Reformation, Italy remained staunchly Catholic. Recognizing the need for change and reform, the Catholic Church answered the Protestant Reformation with its own Counter-Reformation. Some Protestant sects protested the use of art in the church setting. The Catholic Church, however, which had been the greatest patron of the arts for centuries, affirmed the importance of the visual arts in propagating personal faith by depicting the lives of Christ and the saints. As a result, artistic commissions for churches and private patrons blossomed in 17th century Italy and nowhere more so than in Rome. Here and throughout Italy, Baroque artists created work that was realistic and yet believably illusionistic, personal, and intensely dramatic.
Seventeenth Century Dutch Painting
Holland (or the Low Lands) had succeeded in breaking away from Catholic
Spain’s domination in the late sixteenth century. One important result was
that most of Holland embraced Protestantism, and with the exception of a
few cities like Utrecht, the effect in Dutch art was the elimination of most
religious and mythological themes. Dutch seventeenth century painting tends
to be more conservative than that of other European countries, focusing on the
land and the pastimes of the Dutch people who were an increasingly prosperous
merchant middle class.
Dutch artists depicted their world in direct portraits, realistic still lifes, landscapes, marine scapes, and genre paintings showing scenes of everyday life. However, some Dutch artists like Gerrit van Honthorst and Hendrick Terbrugghen came under the strong influence of the Italian painter Caravaggio. These painters favored dramatic, emotion-filled or colorful subjects and used Caravaggio’s theatrical lighting. Other artists followed the example set by the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn whose psychological explorations of the human spirit and emotion brought new depths of expression to painting.
Seventeenth Century Flemish Painting
While neighboring Holland broke away from the political control of Catholic
Spain in the late 16th century, Flanders (Belgium) remained under Spanish
domination. Thus, the Catholic Church, which was a significant patron of the
arts, continued to influence Flemish art throughout the seventeenth century.
Italy also continued to exert its artistic dominance, drawing artists to study
the works of its leading painters. One such visitor was Peter Paul Rubens, who
traveled to Italy as a young man and was drawn to Caravaggio’s dramatic style
and the brilliant colors used by Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese. One his
return to Flanders, Rubens synthesized these various artistic traditions,
creating an exuberant, dramatic and colorful style that set the tone for all
Flemish Baroque painting.
Rubens led a cosmopolitan life and enjoyed phenomenal success, serving among other things as court painter to the Archduke of Austria. His vast output was made possible by a large studio of assistants, many of whom - like Jacob Jordeans and Sir Anthony van Dyck - became famous in their own right. As a result, Rubens' Flemish Baroque style continued to influence the course of art far beyond the borders of Flanders and long after he died in 1640.
Web LINKS
National Gallery of Art
Dutch and Flemish Painting of the 16th - 17th Centuries
http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/dutch-2.html
Italian Painting in the 16th Century
http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/ita16-2.html
Web Gallery of Art
Painting in the Low Countries (1400 – 1800)
http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/tours/lowcount/
Thomas Tallis School History of Art Online
Caravaggesque Artists
http://www.thomastallis.greenwich.sch.uk/tallis/departments/hoa/caragg.html
Tapestries
A Timeless History of Tapestry and Wall Hangings
http://www.io.com/~tapestry/
Access ART
