Church and Baroque Art - Essay Example

Task: Impacts of the religious upheaval of the 16th century on Baroque art Introduction The protestant reformation and catholic counter-reformation were the main causes of the religious upheaval of the 16th century. This is because, during the 16th century, the Church of Rome was common in Europe; hence, influencing socio-political and economic activities of other countries. Consequently, this made both the church and the clergy to become corrupt. Most people in Europe shunned corruption since they considered the act irreligious (Johnson & Reath 141).. Therefore, people craved for change in their churches and the strong desire led to the religious upheaval of the 16th century, referred to as reformation. The main aim of the religious upheaval of the 16th century was to reform the entire church institution such as enhancing the morals of the church clergy and disclaiming the papal assertion to ecclesiastical supremacy. The reformation also transformed the Roman Catholic Popes because they ignored their role of spreading religion; hence, concentrating on irrelevant activities and the gratification of the world (Johnson & Reath 141). Impacts of the religious upheaval of the 16th century on Baroque art Baroque is an artistic word commonly used in the 17th century describing the art movement, which occurred in the 15th and 16th century. Baroque artwork mainly focused on classism and romanticism. This style of artwork originated in Italy then moved to Europe during the period of protestant reformation and religious upheaval. At that time, money and power was common in Europe; thus, influencing baroque. These resources elaborated and created social standing of prominent luminaries in Europe. Baroque artist specialized in oil painting, sculpture, architecture and music. The main theme of the baroque period was Catholic Church because it supported, permitted and encouraged artistic works that depicted religious imagery (Hodge 43). Before the religious upheaval of the 16th century spread across Western Europe, both music and art was common among the churches. However, religious upheaval of the 16th century had numerous impacts on the arts of the sixteenth and seventeenth century. This is because, during the Middle Ages, Christian art in Europe flourished. During the period, artworks dominated the churches making the popes to become the patrons of both art and architecture. After the 16th century religious upheaval, the Catholic popes continued to embrace art by encouraging most catholic churches around the world to imitate art forms. However, the protestant churches did not advocate for the cathedral buildings because they did not require huge structures for their simple religious purposes.Therefore, this made the Protestants to denounce and stop making ecclesiastical sculpture as well as paintings; hence, ignoring all “religious images, pictures, altars, crucifixes and stained glass windows”(Hodge 56). However, baroque art continued to develop in protestant countries because they were still using pictorial and plastic art. In addition, the protestant churches went on using baroque art outside the churches; thus, signifying secular uses rather than the normal religious functions. The religious upheaval of the 16th century negatively affected the baroque art. This is because the artworks and knowledge that was becoming common in the 16th century faced many threats originating from disconnect sown by the reformation. This increased the problems encountered within the Lutheran and Protestant sects. As a result, Martin Luther abandoned Catholic Church and started to spread Lutherism because the Catholic Church was shunning several things, which it valued before the religious upheaval in the 16th century. In addition, one of the church followers, Zwingli, opposed Luther; thus, getting rid of art works such as statues, paintings, altars and music from the church. Zwingli affected the baroque art because he destroyed works that existed within the church (Hodge 45). During that period, Luther supported the spread of artwork in the world because he had a friendlier attitude towards the work. As a result, Luther applied art works in glorifying God meaning that he did not burn the artworks. However, he supported the application of dissimilar art sculptures in both churches and homes, which was important in worshipping God. The Protestants negatively affected the baroque art during the 16th century religious upheaval. This is because a Christian by the name John Calvin burned all the art books within the church (Gardner, Kleiner & Mamiya 566). Even though most of the books that he burned were religious, they contained beautiful artworks, which could offer relevant information to other individuals interested in the work. There was an inquisition to all artists, which started in Spain and spread throughout the world. For example, an artist named, Veronese underwent questioning regarding his paintings on the last supper. This is because people believed that the paintings disobeyed the accepted traditional imagery. However, because Veronese was not interested in destroying his intelligence and artistry as the way other artist did, he opted to modify the denotation of his work to “feast at the house of Levi” (Gardner, Kleiner & Mamiya 566). The religious upheaval of the 16th century also had a positive impact on the baroque art because it led to the mobilization of the art, architecture and imagery within the service of Rome. The aim of the upheaval was to bring about decency and decorum but later resulted into triumphalist mode, which enabled the artists and architects to address emerging concerns. Bernini promoted art by ensuring that he infuses visual language with other artistic movement, emotion and drama. In the exhibition, Bernini also promoted art by increasing his production of sketches and terracotta; hence, influencing the protestant society of Eastern Europe. The baroque also positively gained from the religious upheaval of the 16th century because the world was full of religious drama. This is because the saints performed miracles and expressed their martyrdom; therefore, images were very important as they encouraged devotion (Johnson &Reath 141). The churches had images of Christ, Virgin Mary and other saints; therefore, as Christianity spread to other parts of the world, such images travelled to those parts hence spreading baroque art. The new images also assumed new forms as the artisans in those countries adopted them and fashioned them hence promoting baroque art.They exhibited their works for them to spread the baroque style in the world. This was beneficial to artwork because many people adopted the style. The 16th century religious upheaval led to the rise of capitalism, which increased the growth among the middle class individuals; thus, bringing about modern states. This was important to artists as they could innovate and perfect their oil paints in different countries around the globe. This enabled painters to spread the world with unprecedented precisions. At the end of the middle age, there was liveliest painting in countries such as Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. Art was common during this period making a famous artist in Netherlands by the name Jan Van to improve the artwork by replacing the used oil medium with tempera. This made his work to be on high demand among the merchants, churches and bankers. Consequently, this encouraged other artistes such as Robert Campin and Rogier Van to produce works full of details and representation, which made other artists around the world to gain interest of learning the introduced oil painting techniques (Hodge 46). This supported Antwerp in becoming the leading art center in the world; thus, enticing other talented artist such as Gerard David and Jan Gossamer who promoted baroque art. The conflicting religious ideas that existed during the religious upheaval of the 16th century between the Protestants and the Catholics made people to view artwork in a secular manner. The people considered artwork as characterized by religious patronage making them to reject the artistic products, which connected them with images. Therefore, this made the Protestants to promote landscape and images of people because they considered them as overtly religious content. Finally, during the middle age period, most of the art focused on religious content. Therefore, the religious upheaval of the 16th century prompted leaders such as John Calvin and Huldreich Zwingli to support the iconoclastic movement, which promoted artwork. Consequently, this led to regulation of the artwork in different places. For example, the Catholic Church only allowed the painting of religious symbols and depictions while the Protestants depicted all areas of their life in art (Gardner, Kleiner & Mamiya 566). Conclusion The impact that the religious upheaval of the 16th century on the baroque art is clear as seen in the concepts presented. It is clear that the religious upheaval of the 16th century was very important as it improved the relationship that existed between man and God by ensuring that the church clergy improved their moral values. The reformation also alerted the church leaders that their duty was to spread the gospel and not get involved in the worldly material. It also discusses the impact that the 16th century religious upheaval on baroque art, which were both constructive and negative. Works Cited Gardner, Helen., Kleiner, Fred. &Mamiya, Christin. Gardners Art Through the Ages. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2006. Print. Hodge, Sisie. 50 Art Ideas you really need to know. New York, NY: Quercus, 2011. Print Johnson, Oliver. & Reath, Andrew. Ethics: Selections from Classical and Contemporary Writers. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. Read More