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Module 11
The Reformation, Counter-Reformation, Northern Art and Baroque
The Reformation, Counter-Reformation, Northern Art and Baroque
As a reminder, although we are looking at Western Art History from a chronological point of view, there is a lot of overlap. The 16th century was rife with change, and innovation and was geographically diverse. Just keep that in mind, as we see the sweeping changes in art throughout Europe in this time period.
The Renaissance in Northern Europe
The Renaissance in Northern Europe
The Northern Renaissance was also closely linked to the Protestant Reformation with the resulting long series of internal and external conflicts between various Protestant groups and the Roman Catholic Church having lasting political, social, and economic effects.
In England and the northern Netherlands, the Reformation brought religious painting almost completely to an end
The Reformation and Counter Reformation
The Reformation and Counter Reformation
Martin Luther was the person who is generally thought of the one who started the Reformation through his criticism of the Roman Catholic Church's use of indulgences and other forms of corruption. Excommunicated by the Catholic Church, Luther started his own form of Christianity, Lutheranism, prompting other reformers, such as John Calvin to form their own churches, too.
This sudden shift in the religious landscape altered the political landscape, too; Catholic leaders who had previously allied with the Church for power faced the prospect of losing religious influence over many of their citizens. This led to a number of wars. These changes also caused the Counter-Reformation, a Catholic attempt to fix some of the problems Luther identified.
The Counter-Reformation movement was started by the Catholic Church in order to manage the discontent and opposition the church was facing. Martin Luther, having established himself as an authority in religious matters, had succeeded in convincing many to view the Catholic Church as one that was not teaching the ways of the Bible, but rather advancing its own course.
This was met by the formation of the movement which enticed many people with promises of reform in the Catholic Church. Various decrees were established by the Council of Trent, in which harsh penalties including torture would be meted out to anyone that dared oppose the church. Investigations, torture, and church rules enforcement were carried out by an agency of obedience named the Roman Inquisition.
The Index of Forbidden Books was published in 1559 and contained about 583 texts that the Catholic Church condemned. The texts, which included biblical translations and certain works of Luther, Calvin, and Erasmus, were branded as heresy.
Martin Luther (1528) by Lucas Cranach the Elder
What were indulgences? A pardon for certain types of sin. The Catholic Church sold indulgences in the late medieval period, and their sale motivated Martin Luther to present his "95 Theses."
Some Artists of the North: Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Vermeer and Rembrandt
Some Artists of the North: Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Vermeer and Rembrandt
This period was also considered Baroque art, but Baroque of the North. (Also called The Dutch Golden Age.) This included the opulence and drama of the Counter Reformation (Caravaggio, Bernini), but because the North was mainly Protestant, the Counter Reformation wasn't vying for attention in the art world. So, we get more still life's, genre painting, portraits (in costume too) and landscape paintings.
Please pay careful attention to the nuts and bolts of analyzing a painting in this way:
Jan van Eyck, Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?), 1433. National Gallery, London
Watch this video about Hieronymus Bosch a very different Dutch Artist!
Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, 1490-1500, oil on oak panel.
Genre painting is a style of art that depicts scenes of everyday life, often focusing on ordinary people engaged in common activities. These paintings can capture a variety of subjects, such as domestic scenes, social gatherings, work, and leisure.
Unlike historical or religious subjects, genre paintings provide a glimpse into the lives and cultures of people, showcasing their routines, emotions, and social interactions. Artists often use these scenes to convey deeper themes about society, morality, and human experience.
Examples of genre painting can be found in the works of artists like Jan Vermeer, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and later, in the 19th century, in the works of artists like Gustave Courbet.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder is the one of the most famous Flemish painters, best known for his detailed landscapes, colorful comical views of peasant life and extraordinary visionary paintings. Like many figures in Flemish painting, he was strongly influenced by Hieronymus Bosch, the extraordinary Dutch Gothic artist, as well as Protestant Reformation art, and was one of the last painters of the Northern Renaissance in the Netherlands.
Netherlandish Proverbs, 1559, oil on oak wood Pieter Bruegel The Elder
Watch this video:
Woman Holding a Balance , Vermeer 1664, Oil on Canvas
Vermeer specialized in interior domestic scenes....""Almost all his paintings," Hans Koningsberger (a Dutch author) wrote, "are apparently set in two smallish rooms in his house in Delft; they show the same furniture and decorations in various arrangements and they often portray the same people, mostly women."
The Milkmaid, Vermeer, 1660, Oil on Canvas
The Astronomer, Vermeer, 1668, Oil on canvas
The Baroque 1600 - 1725
The Baroque 1600 - 1725
The Baroque was a period in Western art that came after the Renaissance and continued until the mid-18th Century. The word ‘baroque’ means an ‘imperfect pearl’ and was initially used (like many artistic terms) pejoratively to describe an art that possessed an excessive amount of detail, ornament, and complexity. Think theater: lights, camera, action.
In essence, it was a gaudy, ostentatious reaction to the Reformation.
Baroque Architecture
Baroque Architecture
UNESCO World Heritage site, Kyiv Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv.
Kyiv Pechersk Lavra is a prime example of a monastery that was built simplistically and then was donned later with a lot of pizzazz. Pizzazz=Baroque!
Another example of Baroque Architecture is the Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary on the Holy Hill simply outside Olomouc, Czech Republic
Compare Leonardo's Last Supper to Tintoretto's. What are your immediate thoughts..?
Renaissance - The Last Supper (da Vinci) 1495-98
Baroque - The Last Supper (Tintoretto) 1592-94
Characteristics of Baroque style
•Uses chiaroscuro: contrast of light and dark
•Full of action
•Emotional
•Dramatic! Shows the climax of the story
•Brings the viewer in up close, as if he had a front row seat in the theater: foreshortening.
•Caravaggio uses tenebrism – a “spotlight” or intense light source coming from somewhere outside the painting
Compare Michelangelo's Renaissance David to Bernini's Baroque David: What do you notice? Very like Classical Greek Sculpture compared to Hellenistic Greek Sculpture..Do you remember? There seems to be a pattern throughout art history! First try to make it beautiful, and majestic but somewhat "stony", then go all out, with expression, movement etc.
Michelangelo's David 1501-04 Bernini's David 1623-24
And speaking of sculpture...THE baroque sculptor: Gian Lorenzo Bernini and his Ecstasy of Saint Teresa 1647-52 ... his undeniably powerful sculpture! Bernini was to sculpture what Caravaggio was to painting.
The Baroque painter...Caravaggio
The Baroque painter...Caravaggio
The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, Caravaggio 1601
The Inspiration of Saint Matthew, Caravaggio, 1602
Artist of the Week....Nina Katchadourian
Artist of the Week....Nina Katchadourian
Nina Katchadourian is an artist who brings a lightness to art. She is an interdisciplinary artist whose work includes video, performance, sound, sculpture, photography, and public projects. When I imagine her going into the lavatory on the airplane and 'playing' with the toilet seat covers in this way, I can't help but laugh! That's one way to pass the time on a long flight! Please look through her website.
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