Chapter 24 & 25

Historical Context

1. 17th century (1600s) = first modern age (human awareness of the world was expanding) 2. Many scientific discoveries influenced art (Galileo's investigations of the planets account for the astronomical accuracy in many paintings of the time) 3. The assertion of the Polish astronomer Copernicus that the planets did not revolve around the earth was written by 1530, published in 1543, and only fully accepted after 1600. 4. The realization that the earth was not at the center of the universe coincided in art with the rise of pure landscape devoid of human figures. 5. The active trade and colonization policies of many European nations accounted for numerous portrayals of places and peoples that were exotic to Europeans.

Stylistic Characteristics

1. Baroque buildings, with their undulating walls and decorative surface elements, imply motion. 2. In painting: A sense of movement, energy, and tension (whether real or implied) - dramatic theatricality, and a preoccupation with the dramatic potential of light. - Strong contrasts of light and shadow enhance the dramatic effects. 3. Intense spirituality - in the Roman Catholic countries scenes of ecstasies, martyrdoms, or miraculous apparitions are common. 4. Realism is an integral feature; the figures in paintings are not types but individuals with their own personalities. Artists of this time were concerned with the inner workings of the mind and attempted to portray the passions of the soul on the faces they painted and sculpted. 5. Intensity, immediacy, individualism, detail - observed in such things as the convincing rendering of cloth and skin textures

Gianlorenzo Bernini, Ecstasy of Saint Theresa

1. Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittori, Rome, Italy 2. 1645-1652 3. Marble 4. height of group 11' 6" 5. Bernini is praised for his synthesis of sculpture, painting, and architecture. 6. The church was extended so that a hidden window could be added to cast light upon the sculpture, as if from the Holy Spirit. 7. Cherubs painted on the entrance arch bear a banner inscribed with the words Jesus spoke in one of Teresa's visions: "If I had not created heaven, I would create it for you alone." 8. The Angel - "He was not tall, but short, and very beautiful," related Teresa of her vision, "his face so aflame that he appeared to be one of the highest types of angel who seem to be all afire." 9. Bernini brings all the passion and rapture of Teresa's story to represent the now-immortalized image of a swoon: head thrown back, eyelids half-closed, mouth slightly open as she moans in ecstasy. 10. Teresa is covered in a monastic habit, yet through Bernini's genius, the heavy garments reveal rather than conceal Teresa's internal state. 11. In translating Teresa's mystical vision into stone, Bernini first captured Teresa's reports of levitation by having her borne on a bank of marble clouds. (The clouds are hollow, to decrease the weight of the wall-mounted sculpture.) 12. As inspiration for his 1652 sculpture Saint Theresa in Ecstasy, Gianlorenzo Bernini kept returning to one passage in the autobiography of Saint Theresa of Avila: "It pleased our Lord that I would sometimes see this vision: very close to me, on my left, an angel appeared in human form... In his hands I saw a golden spear and at the end of the iron tip I seemed to see a point of fire. With this he seemed to pierce my heart several times so that it penetrated to my entrails. When he drew it out, I thought he was drawing them out with it, and he left me utterly consumed by the great love of God." "The pain was so sharp that it made me utter several moans; and so excessive was the sweetness caused by this intense pain that one can never wish it to cease, nor will one's soul be content with anything less than God."

Francesco Borromini, San Carlo alle Quattro

1. Fontane, Rome, Italy 2. 1665-1676 3. The church is dedicated to the Trinity and to San Carlo Borromeo, the Counter-Reformation Archbishop of Milan. 4. The plan for San Carlos alle Quattro Fontane demonstrates Baroque aesthetic sensibility because of its innovative spatial geometry. 5. The oblong or "pinched oval" plan deviates from the Classical geometry that is characteristic of previous High Renaissance architectural plans. 6. The main altar is situated in direct sight line of the main entrance to the church. 7. Two side altars form a squeezed cross-plan, while the columns and entablatures of the wall decoration offer undulating and rhythmic lines throughout the interior space. 8. Instead of a rounded dome, Borromini stretched the church's dome to heighten the tension of the space. The interior decoration of the dome contributed to this tension by exaggerating the implied perspective of the coffers as they move toward the central lantern at its apex. 9. Hidden windows, a characteristic feature of Baroque architectural and sculptural complexes, are fitted into the base of the dome to illuminate its interior. 10. Borromini chose distinctly curvilinear forms that contribute to the dramatic visual vocabulary of the Catholic Church during the Baroque period. (Notably, Borromini's facade for San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane is distinguished by its alternating concave and convex bays, which ebb and flow in sculptural rhythm and suggest a greater continuity between exterior and interior space than High Renaissance flat facades.)

Religious Influences

1. Roman Catholic Church = highly influential patron 2. Counter Reformation = a movement to combat the spread of Protestantism, employed emotional, realistic, and dramatic art as a means of propagating the faith and trying to restore it to predominance, centrality 3. The simplicity sought by Protestantism in countries such as the Netherlands and northern Germany likewise explains the severity of the architectural styles in those areas.

The story of Judith

Judith was a pious young widow from the Jewish city of Bethulia. She beheaded Holofernes: a general of the Assyrian army that had besieged her city. She donned her finest garments and coifed her hair before entering the enemy camp under the pretense of giving Holofernes information that would ensure his victory. He was struck by her beauty, so he invited her to dinner and planned to seduce her. Holofernes was so enchanted that he drank a lot of wine, which gave Judith an opportunity to slice off his head with the help of her maidservant.

Political Influences

Political situations also influenced art. The absolute monarchies of France and Spain prompted the creation of works that reflected in their size and splendor the majesty of their kings, Louis XIV and Philip IV.

Other paintings by Gentileschi

Portrait of the Artist - she depicts herself as a muscular, dynamic, forceful character, like the women who hold down Holofernes in her painting, armed with a brush instead of a sword Susannah and the Elders - biblical story of older men peering at younger woman

Second draft changes to Judith beheading Holofernes

anatomy/proportion, colors + textures of fabrics, Judith's hair is more elaborately curled, emphasizes blood (violently spurts from the neck of Holofernes), modified sword (marks painting's central axis)

Caravaggio vs. Artemisia

Caravaggio = delicate Judith who recoils from her gruesome task and haggard attendant Artemisia = two strong woman working in unison/ Judith does not flinch