The Holy Family with Saints Anne and John the Baptist as an Example of Italian Baroque - Essay Example

“The Holy Family with Saints Anne and John the Baptist” as an example of Italian Baroque Baroque makes an important and significant part of the entire art, and the works of art created in the time of its blossoming make the viewers admire to their seeing. Italy was a center of this direction originating, and this was because of the influence of local life realities. Italy was also residence to the Roman Catholic Church which in certain periods of time, including the one described, determined country’s life, and this determination could not remain the art uncovered. The results of such influence may be considered as contradictory or even negative by some critics, but the fact is that this influence imparted a special essence and meaning of the works of art created by the Italian Baroque representatives. The starting point of the development of Italian Baroque is considered to be the Council of Trent, a very significant event in life of not only Italy, but also the whole Europe of that time. This council was aimed at finding a response to the increasing power of the movement of the XVI century Reformation of the Protestants, and many important directives and solutions were adopted and found at the end of this event. The council was important to Baroque because the participants of this council decided to use the art as a means of regaining of the traditional faith, and the influence of the arts was timely admitted and wisely used by religious figures. (Stokstad, 2005). The purpose that the church want to reach by means of Baroque art determined its main features. First of all, the new direction was different from the previous one, the Renaissance, because the Baroque works of art did not idealize the objects, depicted them the way they were (all the features of the characters were appropriate – expression, type, gestures, gender and dress). The Baroque works of art were recognizable for their simplicity in conveying the ideas, clarity of the images created and overall intelligibility, and all the factors mentioned contributed to successful completion of the church objective – inspiration of the worshippers and formulating piety in them. (Stokstad, 2005). Sofonisba Anguissola was an Italian artist representing the Baroque direction of art, and the features her works possess prove this fact. A good example to make sure about this is her painting “The Holy Family with Saints Anne and John the Baptist”, 1592, a work from the Lowe Art Museum collection in Miami. The picture realistically describes the characters from its title, the Saints Anne and John the Baptist and the Holy family. All the characters depicted are of appropriate age, they have relevant face expressions, and there is no trace of idealization of the figures, on the contrary, the realistic tendencies in the Italian Baroque found their reflection in this work as well. The techniques the author used contribute to the overall proper depicting of the characters. The composition of the picture is rather realistic: the characters are described in their natural heights and constitutions, and they properly occupy the part of the room space depicted. This is a means of equalizing of the importance of the religious figures: no character’s height, for example, is increased in order to impart bigger importance on his image and inspire the feeling of admiration in the viewer. On the contrary, real depicting contributes to the equal perception of the characters and realization their religious importance. This was the thing the church also needed – in its battle against the reformation of the Protestants, any means of returning the worshippers back to the traditional religion were more than welcomed. The colors of the picture may also be referred to as properly chosen and realistic. They convey the image of the characters created in their natural environment: the color tone of the distant corner of the room is dark, and black color is predominant; the candle-lit piece of the room is not that dark, but not very light as well; finally, the color of the characters’ clothes, skin color make it possible to suggest that these persons were as real as they were depicted and the author should have had seen them herself when painting her picture. The use of light and shadow in this picture is more than just a technique of painting. The room described may be conditionally divided into two light zones: the dark one – a distant corner where John the Baptist sits, and the light one, with the baby Jesus, Maria and Saint Anne. This technique reveals the significance of the characters for the religious tradition related to the moment described: the time of John the Baptist has not come yet, and this is why he is in a dark corner of the room and is distant so that not to distract the viewer from the focus on the front stage characters, while the baby Jesus, a prospective messiah, is painted in the light beams symbolizing human hope for salvation. This game of light and shadow also reveals the theme of the three generations: the old one conveyed by the image of John the Baptist is yielding its positions to the next generation, the character of Maria, the generation which would take care of the first generation and would be responsible for the new one coming – the baby Jesus is a representative of a new generation, and all the new people are as a clean sheet of paper which it is possible to shape properly. The perspective in the picture complements the previous technique: John’s being distant emphasizes that he is still waiting for his time to appear, and the characters of the first scene are similarly closer to the viewer creating an image of the main characters of not only the picture itself, but also of the entire religious tradition. The figures of the characters depicted are typical of the traditions of the Italian Baroque: they are painted in a realistic way depicting human body from the painter’s point of view and perception. The figures are also proof of the idea of the three generations mentioned above: Saint Anne’s figure is typical of an old woman – she sits crooked, her cheeks are sunken, and the palms also show some signs of getting old; Maria’s young body is depicted as a usual one for its age: a sound skin color, no wrinkles on her face, the hair is thick and not damaged; and, finally, the baby’s figure is typical of a child of such age: curious about the surrounding, willing to play with the people nearby, and the body tells about the endless power inside. The poses the characters have on the picture are typical of the situation depicted: women sit on a bench playing with a child because of the child’s low height, and the child leans on the mother to make his standing on the floor easier and more pleasant. John the Baptist also uses a traditional pose of sitting as he is supposedly writing or reading something, and it is a pose of a calm sitter not interfered with anyone or anything focused on his activity. Maria’s pose is a proof of her being a mother: her left hand embraces her child symbolizing maternal support, care and defense, and her legs are a bit aside to let the child lean against the mother and to use all the benefits of her maternal protection. The characters’ gestures complement the realism of the painting. They are calm, usual, not very expressive, but sincere enough to show good relationships of the persons depicted. Conclusion Italian Baroque is a specific kind of art not only because of the country’s local and national traditions, but also because of the influence of the religion it was subjected to historically. This influence had both positive and negative results, but they cannot limit beauty and completeness of the works of art created by the Baroque masters. Sofonisba Anguissola’s picture analyzed proves the influence of the church, obviously, at the first sight at its religious setting and depicting of religious characters, and also because it follows the Baroque traditions: realistic presentation of the characters, absence of idealization typical of the art of the previous age, strict and definite vision of what is depicted. The Picture Source: Lowe Art Museum Works Cited Stokstad, M. Art History. 2005. Web. 30 April 2015. Lowe Art Museum. The Holy Family with Saints Anne and John the Baptist. Visual image. 30 April 2015. Read More