Painting and Theatre in 16th century Venice and Rome - Essay Example

The sixteenth century, known as the higher renaissance or the later renaissance, witnessed one of the greatest explosions of creative genius in history. Italy, which is said to be the birth place of renaissance, was highly active during this period with some of the finest artists of the millennium, producing classic examples of art herein. The arts like painting; sculpting and architecture reached its zenith with artists like Michelangelo, Bramante, Giovanni Bellini, Titian, and Georgione striving for perfection. In the later renaissance the major centers for growth were Milan, Florence, Venice and Rome. The art of painting and sculpting practiced during this period was characterized, by an acute interest in human beings and their surroundings and by a meticulous recording of detail, especially that of human anatomy. The classic art developed individually at different places with the center of activity being Rome. Venice was altogether active in its own manner and remained more or less unaffected and uninfluenced with the movements in rest of the Italy. The principle of perspective1 was a revolutionary finding in the fifteenth century which was to govern the progress of painting in the next century. With the help of these principles, making of technically correct three dimensional drawing on a two dimensional surface became possible. This gave a major direction for painting to progress as this added feature helped to draw technically correct and proportionate objects in foreground and background providing a new meaning and understanding to the art of painting. Proportion and size of the object in painting were given more importance and this precision and exactness was taken further by going in to detail of individual elements. This perfectionist approach came to be known as movement of classicism in the field of art. Venice was an important and prosperous centre during this period which had grown powerful financially and politically. The city being geographically separated from the mainland of Italy developed a distinct style of painting which came to be known as the Venetian school of painting2 with prominent artists like Giovanni Bellini, Titian and Giorgione shaping its course. Giovanni initiated the styles of painting which was later taken to new heights by his pupils, Titian and Giorgione. Venice being a city of lagoon, there was high shortage of land. Only the privileged could afford a garden in the house. People used to crave for a spreading view of land and this was reflected in the paintings of Venice. The theme of paintings was mainly based on the landscapes rich with natural beauty. Venetian school for painting is known for its rich and atmospheric quality. The paintings describe nature in details and play with colors and light to show emotion. The use of bright and luminous colors, perfect and minute detail of the landscape and natural elements and the use of indistinct brush strokes were the key characteristics of these paintings. The attempts where directed toward achieving an atmosphere with rich colors and luminous surroundings to fulfill the inner craving for a vast landscape to live in. The use of light filled colors like orange, yellow and blue are noticeable in these paintings. The knowledge of perspective was explored to greater depths and complex landscape paintings with distinct foreground and background were made. The techniques of two point and three point perspective were also utilized in many cases. The painting of 'the tempest' by Giorgione expresses nature in elaborate detail and 'the adoration of shepherds' shows the use colors and light to depict human emotions. 'The pastoral concert' by Giorgione also provides a good example of takes the Venetian landscape painting in detail. In Venice, a tradition of colorist painting reached its climax in the works of Titian, whose portraits demonstrate a profound understanding of human nature. Titian dominated Venetian painting of this period. In the spirit of the Renaissance, he created scenes of the Greek and Roman classical myths in landscapes showing the figures as part of the natural world. His figure paintings and portraits show individual flesh-and-blood people in keeping with the new Renaissance interest in humanism.3 The use of color and light is done to depict the tender emotions of the scene. In 'virgin and the child', Titian takes perspective to new heights by depicting perspective in human figures. On the other side, Rome was the center of activity in the later renaissance. The city witnessed development of some of the best examples of art created during this period. The artists like Michelangelo, Bramante and Raphael were the torch bearers in this period and the style developed by these artists came to be known as classical art. The use of light, shadow, foreshortening, and perspective had been perfected in this style. It left out the extraneous detail to go for the truth of the matter and emphasize the noble. This style of painting was the first to stress a balance and harmony in art and nature. It highly stressed the proportion and forms of various objects and especially the human body. The portrayal of anatomically correct human figures in any position was very important for this style. The paintings were to a high extent, a translation of the art of sculpting into two dimensional painting. There were clear and distinct bordering various objects and human figures which added precision to painting. Many of the paintings showed scientific developments and inventions as a reflection of that era. Huge task for painting were commissioned and accomplished during the sixteenth century, especially in form of large frescoes in churches. The Vatican's Sistine Chapel in Rome, with its ceiling frescoes and the vast wall fresco are the landmark achievements of this age and this attested Michelangelo as a genius. Other prominent example of the sixteenth century roman paintings is the 'Sybils' fresco in the church of Santa Maria Della Pace in Rome; a creation by Raphael. After the realistic depiction of the human form and the mastery of perspective achieved in Classicism, some artists started to deliberately distort proportions in disjointed, irrational space for emotional and artistic effect. The human figures were elongated and depicted tortured anatomy coupled with the irrational perspective and light with breathless and crowded composition, and obscure and troubling iconography. These paintings which created dramatic and dynamic effects by depicting figures with elongated forms and in exaggerated, out-of-balance poses in manipulated irrational space, lit with unrealistic lighting created a movement known as Mannerism. Complexity and distortion were emphasized in this style rather than harmony of line, color, or composition. The art of painting in Venice and in Rome had a few things in common which comprised of using the principles of perspectives and the importance given to the proportions of various subjects. However the Venetian painting had a peculiar style of expressing emotions with the use of luminous colors like yellow, orange and blue whereas the Romans stressed on making of anatomically correct human bodies with distinct lines. The paintings were much large in size and mostly in terms of frescoes in churches. Depiction of scientific innovations in the paintings was observed in the roman paintings whereas depiction of natural elements in detail was a characteristic of the Venetian painting. The art of theatre, which was almost latent since the fifth century A.D., gradually became active in the renaissance period. However no distinct development of this art in different cities could be traced. It was commonly practices in the entire region. Improvisational theatre, which is a form of theatre in which the actors perform spontaneously, without a script, was practiced during this period. The theatre dealt with various society related issues and the plays chiefly comprised of comedies and tragedies with a few examples of romantic stories. Commedia Dell'arte or the comedy of professional artists was a popular theatre in that era. In Rome, some theatres were also carried out in churches the stories from which were chiefly from the Bible in Latin language. Other stories in vernacular language were also played for providing morals and to emphasize the need of good deeds in order to enter heaven after death. The theatres stages widely used perspectives in form of backdrops in combination with lighting to enhance the effect of the stage. The sets were used for the basic plays like Tragedies and comedies. The backdrop that was hung in the centre of the stage comprised of scenery perspective that was in accordance with the mood of the play. Wings and borders of the stage were made of wood and covered with painted linen. These were used altogether on the sides and top of stage respectively. The proscenium of the stage was also inspired by the framing of paintings. This in combination resembled a picture frame with the performance area in between. The paintings on this area normally related to some scenery. 'Teatro Olimpico' an 'academic theatre,' is an example of Renaissance playhouse of the sixteenth century Rome. The backdrop of the stage comprises of a classical Roman facade designed and a perspective vista of the seven roads to Thebes. There are also examples of stages which were mobile and carried on wheels like the modern day float. These were used for performances in city squares and streets. Theatre as an art, did not flourish as much as painting did even in the higher renaissance period. Apart from the Commedia Dell'arte and the few theaters practiced in the church, no other typed of prominent theatres could be traced in the history of entire sixteenth century. The art of theatre had not even developed to a level where scripts needed to be made and the performance needed be systematized. Rather, in the case of Commedia Dell'arte, the plays depicted a situation in which all the artists spontaneously performed as guided by their own wit. However some relation in between painting and theater does seem to appear in the stage design and its ambiance. The element of lighting, was given great importance in stage design, in comparison to the importance of light in Rome and its high utilization in the case of the Venetian school. The costumes of performers and the elements of stage like the proscenium were decorated with vibrant colors. This use of colors and light seems to be inspierd from the Venetian school of painting. The academic theatre of Rome is the only example of a built theatre in the sixteenth century Italy and compared to the number of theatres that were constructed in the early Roman Empire under the Caesars. After a detailed study of the art of painting in the sixteenth century Venice and Rome, and the theatre in that era, if one attempts to perceive the relationship in between these allied arts, the results suggests that there has not been a bond strong enough during that period in between these arts for them to establish a relationship with each other and for these arts in individuality to provide any impact over each other. The chief reason being that theatre was not popular enough in Italy in the sixteenth century as it was in northern Europe. There was an array of genius painters in Italy during this period but not a single play or a playwright is recorded which can be compared with the potentials of these painters, as compared to Shakespeare in the north. The art of painting had reached its zenith with innovative styles like classicism and mannerism being explored but no explorations was done in the field of theater. Venice altogether does not seem to have any trace of indigenous theatre as compared to the indigenous Venetian school of painting. References The renaissance, (1996). 'Family Encyclopedia of World History.' (pp. 544-545) London. Readers Digest Family Encyclopedia of World History Barranger, Milly, (2003). Theater. 'Microsoft Encarta Reference Library' (electronic) Unknown author (n.d.) Renaissance. Retrieved 10.12.2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance Hill, Suzanne (n.d.) Sixteenh-century art; Venetian painting. Retrieved 11.12.2006 http://arthistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/sixteenth_century_art hood, sarah (n.d.) Visual and performing art. Retrieved 11.12.2006 http://www.suite101.com/visualperformingarts Read More