The Baroque Era - Essay Example

The Baroque Era It is with no doubt that Art and culture have existed for many centuries growing in tandem with one another. The one art style that I find interesting is the Baroque style. That is because of the combination of various techniques in communicating the cultures and activities going on the society artistically. That is interesting in that it helps in identifying or the societal norms and happenings without necessarily having to use a lot of resources as would be a normal research study.

In brief, Baroque era was witnessed between the 17th century and the 19th century and came about following the Italian Renaissance architecture that was led by architect Bernini and Borromini (Italian & Spanish Baroque Painting n.p.). The style was as a result of the architectures’’ interest in sculpture that was used in the Roman Church buildings (Baroque n.p.). It is worth a mention that during the Baroque period, there was a Pope lead campaign called the Catholic Counter-Reformation that targeted bringing people back to the Catholic Church (Baroque n.p). In particular, the various features of the Baroque style influenced my developing of interest in this type of art.

Firstly, my interest in the style is due to its use of drama through contrasting dark-light effects in painting or film. Specifically, the drama in baroque style is full of exaggerated motion and clear details in sculpture, painting, architecture, literature, dance, and music interesting thus explaining my choosing of the style. That, according to (Carl & Charles 9), refer to the application of tenebrism technique in artistic language as evident in the Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying of Holofernes painting.

In the painting, Judith has a sterling, broad and masculine face and physique in a fantastic way (Allen n.p). That can be construed to mean women are strong independent beings and as such the society should not view them as weak and fragile. Secondly, Baroque is interesting in that it uses direct, obvious, and dramatic iconography that intends to appeal above all to the senses and the emotions (Old Masters Society n.p.). That when put into use helps in producing a very high-contrast, dramatic atmosphere in dimly lit scenes in paintings as evident in various paintings, That, as (Carl, & Charles 3-6) contend, is evident in the use of different technique like "chiaroscuro," (interplay between light and darkness on paint portraits) as in the case of Paul Rubens’ painting, "The Massacre of the Innocents" (Allen n.p.).

Thirdly, the Baroque style is interesting in its description of the dark subject matter painting at hand symbolically. Such use of symbolism artistically aims at creating a richer and more vibrant color palette in the art piece to accentuate certain moods (Italian & Spanish Baroque Painting n.p.). That is evident in Gentileschi’s painting of Judith Slaying of Holofernes in which Judith puts on a blue dress to symbolize depression and femininity while the maid’s red dress is a sign of aggression (Old Masters Society n.p.).

Therefore baroque depicts human emotions in an interesting manner In summary, Baroque style comprise of carving and ornate decoration on buildings. It is evident in their use in various places and Churches to represent the emotions as well as wealth and symbol of power (Baroque n.p.). As a movement, Baroque mainly idealized Catholic saints and heroes in an artistic manner as applied by different artists including Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Bernini did (Baroque n.p.). Therefore, the Baroque era is interesting in that it depicts all the happenings in specific moment of time.

Works CitedAllen, Polly. "In the Frame: Artemisia Gentileschi, the Artist Who Broke the Mold." Bitch Magazine. 7 Nov 2011: 1. Web. 24 November 2015. https://bitchmedia.org/post/in-the-frame-artemisia-gentileschi-the-artist-who-broke-the-mouldBaroque. one big misshapen pearl: style artists and images vocab. Web. 24 November 2015. http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~fellows/hart206/baroque.htmCarl, K. H., & Charles, V. Baroque art. New York: Parkstone International. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?id=l8kUAJqTy5UC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Baroque+art&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Baroque%20art&f=false, 2009. Print. Italian and Spanish Baroque Painting." Radford. Radford University of Virginia. Web. 7 Aug 2013.

http://www.radford.edu/~rbarris/art216upd2012/Spanish%20and%20Italian%20baroque%20painting.htmlItalian Baroque. Academy of Art University, 11 Jul 2013. Web. 24 November 2015. Old Masters Society. Violence and Virtue: Artemisia Gentileschis "Judith Slaying Holofernes. The Art Institute of Chicago. Web, 24 Nov 2015. http://www.artic.edu/exhibition/violence-and-virtue-artemisia-gentileschi-s-judith-slaying-holofernes