1 Discussion Questions Due 2/7/2019
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DQ5.docx· The Counter Reformation in Art and Society in Italy
We will now begin our study of the Baroque in Western European culture. The term Baroque was originally coined in the late 1700s as a derogative term to describe certain types of artwork emerging in the rough period of 1600-1750. In the last 100 years, the world Baroque has lost its pejorative meaning and has been expanded to designate all works of art created during this period. Thus, the term Baroque for our purposes refers to a historical period and a multiplicity of styles. Furthermore, Baroque art is in some ways a continuation of Renaissance interests that respond to new historical circumstance, such as the counter-reformation in Catholic areas and absolutism throughout the west.
As we have seen, the Reformation began in 1517 with Luther’s posting of his 95 theses. By 1545 much of Northern Europe had become Protestant, and in response the Catholic church sought to address the need for reform. This is not to suggest that there had not been impulses for reform before the Reformation. However, the Reformation created the opportunity and enough incentive to address issues of corruption. Catholic rulers held control in places like Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, and Belgium retained were; while Protestant powers had sway over England, Scotland, Scandinavia, and most of Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Today we will begin our look at the Baroque in Catholic countries where art supplemented the Counter-Reformation’s attempts to stamp out Protestant “heresy” through the Inquisition. In a positive campaign, Catholic artists sought to enlist and intensify personal conviction. Our first subject is Italian Baroque art, which became, as the ambitious Pope Alexander VII said, a “theatre.” The shapes of churches, sculptures, decorations, and lighting were all calculated to create maximal emotional. They often used a rationally contrived stage to create the experience of the irrational, spiritual experience. Catholic baroque artists focused on martyrdoms and spiritual ecstasies in dramatic and physical terms.
The greatest architectural project in Rome during the Baroque period was St. Peters Basilica and Carlo Maderno was commissioned to build the nave and façade of the church. Although St. Peters is not a Jesuit church, its Baroque additions relate to the goals of the Jesuit order, which was founded in 1534 and was an active player in the Counter Reformation.
Art was used as a means to counteract the Protestant reformation by serving as a powerful form of propaganda. The basic codes of the use of art in religious spaces were even codified in the Council of Trent in 1563. Architecture was utilized for propaganda by manipulating the church structure to allow the art inside of them to work their magic on the viewer. This was especially effective because Protestants did not use art in this way due to their ideas about the connection between religious images and idolatry.
Moderno’s façade emphasizes the door on St. Peters by making the pediment over the door jut out further into our space than its other arch elements. The vertical accents start as pilasters on the ends and then turn into columns in the center. This creates an effect which brings the door out into out space and welcomes the viewer. The architect uses this design to invite you into the space; encouraging you to come see what’s inside and see more pieces of artwork inside the church.
The main door of Moderno’s façade became the focal point for the next major building program at St. Peters- Bernini’s colonnade. The colonnade at St. Peters produces a psychological effect on the viewer by making it appear to reach out and embrace the viewer. Bernini himself related it to the “motherly arms of the church” which were ready to embrace believers and repentant heretics like former Protestants. The space is organized from the outside along a visual axis that is created by the obelisk in center of the square which leads you into the church. Bernini attached the colonnade to the façade with angled wings. The angle of the wings created a distorted image that makes the church appear closer to the viewer because of the oval shape of the piazza or square that it is in. It also emphasizes the height of the façade which was exceptionally wide.
Bernini’s colonnade transforms the church door’s outward movement and gesture of greeting into a maternal embrace. This also used an optical illusion that draws the viewer into the church when he is inside the colonnade by making it appear closer than it actually is. Inside the church there were also beautiful images used to draw in the viewer. The inside of these churches provided an almost theatrical setting for the processions that would take place here in the large church.
This type of interior was inspired by St. Ignatius Loyola who advocated the importance of the spiritual experience and the mysteries of the faith. He thought it was necessary for these subjects to be intensely imagined so that it could be made visible to the eye, allowing people to experience this sensation through their senses. A great example of this was Bernini’s baldacchino in the basilica. The St. Peters baldachin was a large bronze canopy that covered the high altar.
However, Bernini’s fame comes mostly from his work in figural sculpture. His David is probably his most famous work. To understand the shifting elements of Baroque, style lets compare this to the last two centuries of art by comparing and contrasting it with Michelangelo’s David.
The major differences of these works are the elements or parts of the story that the artists choose to focus on. Michelangelo focused on a moment of contemplative tension; you can see David scoping out Goliath on the horizon. Bernini portrays an instant of dramatic action that shows David beginning to pivot and launch the rock from the sling. These different themes are also shown through each artist’s depiction of facial features. Michelangelo uses a furrowed brow that shows his contemplation of action. Bernini’s David meanwhile bites his lip in a show of the physical exertion it takes to project the rock. Each figure also relates to the space of its construction differently. Michelangelo’s David has a body that stays within the confines of the block and is static. Bernini’s David breaks out of its block and twists into the open space of the viewer. Bernini uses the illusion of a time and space continuum between the statue and its environment to grab the viewer’s attention rather than portraying a sense of self-sufficiency.
However, art best served the Counter-Reformation’s goal of inspiring piety when it combined architecture, sculpture, and painting. The theatrical combination of these three media conformed perfectly to St. Ignatius Loyola’s advocacy of an intensely imagined spiritual experience, which was easily visible to the human eye.
For example, Bernini’s Ecstasy of St. Theresa in Cornaro Chapel (1644-47) portrayed St. Theresa in rapture while being stabbed by an angel with an arrow on a cloud. St. Theresa was one of the great saints of the Counter-Reformation. She had a vision in which an angel pierced her heart with a flaming golden arrow. She described the sensation as “a pain” “so great” that she “screamed aloud” that was combined with “such infinite sweetness that” she “wanted the pain to last forever.” She went on to explain that the pain was “not physical, but psychic” even though it “affected the body.” She described her vision as “the sweetest caressing of the soul by God.” She described the sensation as the Bernini’s sculpture captures this scene, showing both spiritual and physical joy as she reclines on a cloud and has a look of pleasure on her face. Bernini also portrays the otherworldly aspect of this experience by having her laying on a cloud with an angel. These symbols have connotations with heaven. Similarly, he used gold light streaming down from the heavens through a real window in the church which serves as a light source that creates the illusion of a heavenly atmosphere.
The subject corresponds perfectly the Counter-Reformations goal to inspire the faithful to piety with physical visons. Bernini connects the viewer to Theresa’s vision by making the chapel an extension of the scene through his use of white marble figures of the Cornaro family sitting in boxes looking at the scene. Having these spectators makes the audience feel like they too are watching the scene; they are simply spectators from a different angle watching the scene. In this way, one of God’s miracles is before our eyes.
Caravaggio’s The Conversion of St. Paul (1601) also shows many of the same interests in making the spiritual experience physically tangible through the cult of the saints. The subject is the Pharisee Saul being converted by a light and a voice from heaven. The picture is odd as it depicted the backside of a horse on the altarpiece of this church. This creates the impression that Saul fell off his horse in a stable and an old stable hand is trying to move the beast. The old man’s facial features are very realistic with wrinkles and other signs of aging like white hair. Caravaggio’s work differed from the realism used in northern art by making the scene true to contemporary life with no idealization or set of symbols to elevate the piece. It is truly a reflection of a stable scene. Caravaggio was criticized for his penchant for depicting holy scenes as images of everyday life, a technique critics lambasted as vulgarizing holy scenes.
Caravaggio tries to set up the visible world as a vehicle by using light to convey spiritual meanings. He gives stark light and dark contrasts to create drama. Caravaggio was well-known for his deliberate use of light and dark contrast for effect in his work. Light is particularly important in this scene because Paul was converted when he saw a blinding flash on light. The viewer’s point of view looking at the picture creates a horizon that is on our eye level. It was set up on the wall to make it appear that you are witnessing the scene as you walk into the chapel as it is on the same plane as your vision. Interior light also works with exterior light in the chapel to create the illusion of a continuous space between the painting and the chapel.
This use of light and dark was also utilized in the work of Artemisia Gentileschi, a female artist who was one of the most gifted followers of Carvaggio’s style of naturalism. Until the mid-19th century, female artists were generally restricted to painting genre scenes, landscapes, and portraits. This was due to obstacles they met in studying life drawing and anatomy. Many contemporaries thought it was inappropriate for women to study male nudes. Artemisia however was trained in her father’s studio and therefore learned the skills necessary to go beyond these works. We will look at her work, Judith and Maidservant (c. 1625) as an example of her painting.
The subject is of Judith, a Jewish widow, who has cut the head off of the lustful pagan general, Holofernes, whose army was occupying Palestine. Judith entered the camp and seduced Holofernes in order to get an opening to murder him. Without their general, the enemy was easily routed and Judith was therefore a hero to her people. This scene depicts the aftermath of the murder when Judith’s servant is wrapping up the head. Artemisia still creates a sense of drama in the scene by having Judith shield her eyes from the light to watch if anyone is coming. Artemisia also uses light in the painting to create light and dark contrasts which heighten the sense of drama.
Artemisia uses a recognizable likeness to her own likeness in portraying Judith, making the piece a self-portrait. So therefore connects herself with the Old Testament heroine. She casts herself as Judith as a way to portray the personal trauma she experienced when she was raped by a fellow student in her father’s painting studio. When trying to prosecute her attacker, Artemisia was forced to endure interrogation under thumb-screws for the trial. Her attacker suffered little damage to his reputation from this accusation, illustrating once again the impact of gender norms in patriarchy society. Artemisia lost in court but was able to work out her feelings by depicting herself as the vengeful heroine.
Lastly, Andrea Pozzo’s Apotheosis of St. Ignatius (1691) in Rome illustrates how the illusionism we saw in Bernini has been taken to new extremes. His work spreads all over the ceiling to make scene appear to show us dramatic action in the heavens. The subject is St. Ignatius being carried to heaven and glorified by a multitude of saints, angels, and cherubs who gaze in rapture at the light. This relates to the Counter-Reformation and Jesuits because art is being used as tool for propaganda to stimulate the faithful to piety. It was St. Ignatius that argued that art should make the spiritual as physical as possible.
This completes our study of the Baroque in Italy. We saw that artists employed their art to help the goals of the Counter-Reformation: to enlist and intensify personal devotion. We saw architects, sculptors, and painters employ all the formal elements at their disposal to create “theatre” in Pope Alexander VII’s words and in turn the maximum emotional effect.
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Class 14
Capitalism, Protestantism, and Art in the Netherlands
Today we will look at Flanders (modern day Belgium) and the United Provinces (modern day Netherlands). Flanders and the United Provinces were one united country that was ruled by Spain until 1581. The Northern provinces united and seceded from Spanish rule in 1581 after Phillip II began to more actively persecute Protestants and challenge local authorities in the Northern Provinces. Protestantism was the dominant religious domination in this area after the Reformation.
The Dutch United Provinces were mostly Calvinist but were tolerant of other religious communities such as the Mennonites, Jews, and even Catholics. Calvinists were particularly active in the struggle against idolatry and Calvinist churches were swept clear of any religious images. This movement of clearing churches of religious images was a Protestant protest against religious imagery in churches, which is known as iconoclasm. Protestants believed that these images were acts of idolatry or worshipping false images. Protestants not only refused to place religious images in their churches, they also led loots against Catholic churches, forming mobs and destroying images and altarpieces. In the chaos, some opportunists also took the opportunity to steal valuables from these churches, like gold and silver objects. The prevalence of Protestantism in this areas led to the development of different styles of art.
The 17th century was a period of flourishing for the Dutch. Peace in 1648 aided the success of Dutch banking, commerce, industry and agriculture. The Dutch also were successful due to their control over colonies in American and the East Indies. In art, the Dutch developed their own subjects and styles which were related to the new social, political, economic, and religious structures of their middle-class republic. We will first examine the diversity of artistic creation and its relation to the art market and then examine the diversity of artistic creation and its relation to the art market.
Without any patronage sources in Protestant churches, artists had to make a living from other areas of art. One of the major forms of art that endured was portraiture, as we saw in 16th century England and Germany. Frans Hals was an extremely popular portraitist who fell out of favor towards the end of his life and died in the almshouse. For an example of the rise of portrait art in the 17th century Netherlands, let’s look at Hals’ Laughing Cavalier (1624). We can see from the dress of this person who sat for the portrait that he is wealthy. He is most likely member of the middle class- probably a wealthy merchant or the son of a merchant. We can infer that the man is wealthy from the details on his clothes- exquisite lace and gold buttons. Dutch wealth was growing in the 16th and 17th century partly from trading and shipping goods created in Holland like lace and partly from raw materials acquired in the colonies like gold. The most important source of Dutch wealth was in the transport business as the Dutch shipped most of the world’s goods in this period.
Hals creates the effect of showing the sitter’s sense of life and worldly success by making the pose seem uncontrived. It is a natural movement that appears to be an organic motion by the individual rather than a staged action. He also uses brush strokes to create a sense of movement by handling the brush loosely. Despite appearances of instantaneity, this was actually the result of a careful and calculated technique that Hals used.
Still lives were also gaining popularity as a genre at this time. Willem Claesz Heda is famous for his still life paintings like Still Life with Oysters, a Rummer, a Lemon, and a Silver Bowl (1634). Artists usually specialized in a genre. Still lives were purchased by wealthy merchants and some works, such as those that were pieces that shows the trappings of a trade, were bought also by artisans of that craft. These types of paintings were usually showcased in rich family’s dining rooms. The artist focused on richness of detail and the play of light to make this painting appealing to the viewer. He also inscribed a deeper meaning into the image by having the class tipped over and the lemon peeled. These details provide a melancholy depiction that shows the fleeting nature of earthly pleasures.
Another famous still life artist, Rachel Ruysch, was renowned as the most famous painter of flowers of this period. She was the daughter of a professor of anatomy and biology. She worked in the Hague from 1701-08 and then was a court painter at Dusseldorf from 1708-13. She lived in Amsterdam from 1713 until her death in 1750.
Her piece, Flowers in a Vase (1698) illustrates Dutch interest in science and exploration as the Dutch imported flowers from all over the world, such as the tulip that originated in Turkey. They studied these flowers and created crossbreeds of species.
Another scene by Jacob Van Ruisdael focused on nature as a way to study and commemorate the lifestyles of one’s home. His View of Haarlem from the Dunes (c. 1670) depicted a landscape of fields with a view of the city. He expresses the idea of nature being harnessed by man in this piece to illustrate the achievements of the Dutch. His painting depicts people plowing the fields in the foreground. This scene is symbolic of the importance of their work which provides food for people in the city shown in the background. They plow the wheat, then it is milled in the windmills shown skirting the city. This idea that the Dutch were harnessing nature was important to the Dutch because much of their limited territory relied on engineering projects that drained water to clear more land for farming, which allowed them to produce more food.
However, Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-69) was the most famous Dutch painter of this period. Rembrandt painted many self-portraits over the course of his life. He was extremely wealthy and successful in his early career and bought a large house in Amsterdam. His fortune was mainly from his earnings from painting portraits. He also married a wealthy woman named Saskia. His painting Self-Portrait with Saskia on Lap (c. 1635) depicts his life as joyful, happy, and content. Rembrandt’s raised glass as if making a toast and the opulence of the rest of the scene suggest this theme.
Another self-portrait made in 1660 shows a different type of life. Unlike the opulence and splendor of the self-portrait with Saskia, the Self-Portrait of 1660 illustrates his loss of wealth and his loneliness. Rembrandt creates a sense of loneliness, poverty, and resignation in this self-portrait. His clothes are not fancy and those used for a party. Now, they are the humble clothes of a worker. His face also shows this as his eyes look tired and his face is weathered. Rembrandt also uses light to give this effect as his face emerges from darkness which creates a sense of gravity. The dramatic changes in these pictures are due to the changed circumstances in Rembrandt’s life. Rembrandt’s wife died in 1642 and 14 years later his creditors sold his house and art collection to pay off his debts. He was only kept from starving by the intervention of his son and his mistress. He became an employee in their art dealing firm and made his last pieces for them.
One such piece, the Return of the Prodigal Son (1665), illustrates that even if the Protestant church did serve as patrons for religious paintings, Rembrandt still created some of the most moving religious imagery of all time. Rembrandt’s work moved away from the dramatic supernatural qualities of Christianity stressed by the Catholic Church in the Counter-Reformation and focused instead on the examples humanity and humility in the scriptures.
The story of the prodigal son was an example of Christian behavior used in Christ’s teaching. It was a parable where a son asked for his part of the family wealth and then wasted it on a riotous living. He then comes back to his father, admitted his sins against heaven, and was forgiven by his father. This story stresses the central Christian concept of repentance and forgiveness.
Rembrandt stressed the humility and humanity of this story in his depiction by choosing a moment of human action: the father embracing the son. He also gives the whole scene a hushed spiritual essence through the use of light.
In the next class, we will continue our study of the Baroque by studying absolutism in France. We will observe how art, architecture, and the state were utilized to create a supreme authority in the monarchy.
