Introduction
Baroque art was a counter-Reformation launched by the Catholic Church in the 17th century against Protestantism (Gardner, Kleiner, & Mamiya, 2006; Cohen, 2002). Much of the Baroque Art aimed to revive the Catholicism’s predominance and centrality. The Renaissance artists revealed an orderly rationality through their art, Baroque artists revealed a more complex and dynamic aesthetics (Gardner, Kleiner, & Mamiya, 2006).
The baroque art was potent with realism. This essay studies three works of art of this period viz. Gianlorenzo Bernini’s The Ecstasy of St. Theresa (1645-1652), Caravaggio’s The Calling of St. Matthew (1599-1602), and Rembrandt van Rijn’s Resurrection of Christ (1635-1639).
Gianlorenzo Bernini’s The Ecstasy of St. Theresa
Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s sculpture, The Ecstasy of St. Theresa is a representation of the ecstasy St. Theresa experienced when her heart was pierced by the angel with an arrow of divine love. Bernini depicts the saint and the angel suspended on a cloud, which is considered to an innovation (Warma, 1984). An angel, representing divine love, is on the saint’s right side of the saint. He holds an arrow very loosely in his right hand and with the left holds the saint’s habit.
The stature of the saint is reclining which actually depicts the saint’s passivity (Warma, 1984). The drapery of the angel shows a backward recline indicating that he has struck Theresa at least once with his arrow and is about to do it again. The idea that is portrayed here by Bernini is death from the World, which is accompanied by nuptial ecstasy that one experiences when one is raised to live with God.
Bernini’s sculpture shows Theresa full of tension as he depicts her body moving forward and backward simultaneously. It appears in the sculpture as if her head has fallen back as she finds it difficult to hold it upright. Even though one of her hands hangs by her side it is not relaxed. Therefore, it is difficult to understand if she is trying to lift it up or if it is falling freely. Warma (1984) indicates that Bernini by depicting a vision as well as a feeling of ecstasy has portrayed a heightened representation of the religious experience.
Rembrandt’s Resurrection of Christ
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-69) was a painter known for his sympathetic and penetrating portrayal of human emotions and weaknesses (Fitzpatrick, 2006). Rembrandt’s Resurrection of Christ (1635-1639) is oil on canvas. It is a depiction of the biblical story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ after he had been crucified. The painting shows three women, which included Mother Mary and Mary Magdalena, arrived at the tomb of Jesus and found an angel instead of Jesus’ body.
The picture is a beautiful depiction of Rembrandt’s technique of using light to attract attention to certain parts of the painting. The usage of lighting is thoughtfully consistent and the darkness of the shadow is not very marked, but softer. The coloring is stronger and whole canvas is picturesquely filled which makes the picture appear bigger than the other pictures.
Caravaggio’s The Calling of St. Matthew
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1599-1600) became famous or infamous because of his work in decorating the Contarelli Chapel. This project made him famous as well as infamous. Caravaggio’s paintings reflected a dramatic style as well as realism, which was the hallmark of the Baroque period. His painting Calling of St. Matthews is marked for its naturalism and is considered a masterpiece of the Baroque period. It is oil on canvas. The painting’s most intriguing part is the natural light flowing out of the cellar, making slashes across the wall, which illuminates the faces of some of the men surrounding the table.
Christ’s head is emphasized by his extended arm and his figure pointing to St. Mathew. The angles of his legs suggest that he will stop counting change and follow Christ. The tension within St. Mathew is depicted in the painting. He is between light and dark, between figures pointing and gazing eyes staring is opposite directions, which makes the drama of the breaking point reach its climax. It must be noticed that Caravaggio shows that even though St. Mathews is reluctant to rise and follow, Christ’s gait is already directing towards the exit.
Conclusion
All the above-discussed works of art of the Baroque period are pregnant with realism and bring forth a new theme of tension and movement back and forth. The play with light and shadow to depict the two and fro movement in the two oil paintings and the movement of the drapes in the sculpture is depiction of the realism and the sense of movement.
Works Cited
Cohen, G. M. (2002). The Essentials of Art History. USA: Research & Education Assoc.
Fitzpatrick, A. (2006). The Baroque Period. Minnesota: The Creative Company.
Gardner, H., Kleiner, F. S., & Mamiya, C. J. (2006). Gardner’s art through the ages. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
Warma, S. (1984). Ecstasy and Vision: Two Concepts Connected with Bernini’s Teresa. The Art Bulletin (September) Vol. LXVI No. 3 , 508-511.