Final Exam ARTH 206 Maddox - Baroque Art study guide questions

Characteristics associated with Baroque art. Several are mentioned in your text - what are they?

The new way in which light is used in art is an important feature of this period.Evokes intense emotional responses. Dramatic movement. Strong contrast of light/dark. Fascination with dramatizing space. New concept of time in regards to nature - infinite

The role of the spectator changed in the Baroque period. As one feature of this change, the very space surrounding the painting, sculpture, and architecture became psychologically charged, engaged the viewer in a new way. Explain.

The viewers were treated as participants in the artwork as the work drew them visually and emotionally into its orbit. The space of the work included the world beyond the frame.

Considering the role of the viewer, in what general way are some subjects in Catholic and Protestant countries alike.

In both countries, the viewers felt an attachment with the art and inspired them to a reinvigorated faith by making them feel what was going on. They concentrated on genre paintings and compositions tended to have more open space. Objects and scenes were in a state of motion to help create emotion created through circular or diagonal compositions.

Compare Michelangelo's David with the David by Bernini. One should very readily perceive what remarkable new direction Baroque artists have taken in their work. David is an example of a new type of composition. Explain.

Michelangelo's David is contemplating the task ahead while Bernini's David is more mature with his lean body, tightly clenched mouth, and staining muscles. The facial expression of passion and fury in Bernini's David engages the viewers to feel apart of the action while Michelangelo's David makes the viewer more detached. By creating a twisting figure movement, Bernini incorporates the surrounding space within his composition, implying the presence of an unseen adversary somewhere behind the viewer.

What is the source for the iconography of Bernini's Saint Teresa of Ávila in Ecstasy?

It represents a vision described by the Spanish mystic in which an angel pierced her body repeatedly with an arrow, transporting her to a state of indescribable paint and religious ecstasy and a sense of union with God.

What characteristics of the Baroque are to be seen in Saint Teresa of Ávila in Ecstasy?

Emotional and moving. Diagonal movement.

What features of the gallery ceiling of the Palazzo Farnese are derived from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling and what features recall the work of the Venetians Titian and Veronese?

Sistine Chapel: the figure types are heroic, muscular, and drawn to precise anatomical accuracy.

Venetians Titian and Veronese: rich colors, dramatic lighting, and depiction of rich fabrics and textiles.

What are the general characteristics of Caravaggio's religious paintings?

Dramatic scene, tenebrism, diagonals, and poses & expressions of subjects with strongly contrasting light and color.

The hand of Christ in the Calling of Saint Matthew was derived from what Renaissance source?

From the right hand of God in the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo.

Although the subjects are very different, Saint Serapion by Francisco de Zurbáran and Still Life with Quince, Cabbage, Melon, and Cucumber by Juan Sánchez Cotán share certain formal characteristics and convey a similar mood. Explain what these have in common.

They both incorporate the use of extreme lights and darks. Black background with a strong emphasis on the subject matter. Careful rhythmic space. "Quiet" work of art. Few colors are used.

Zubáran's St. Serapion is a deeply moving, evocative, and beautiful painting. What Baroque characteristics are found in it?

Chiaroscuro, tenebrism, emotional, diagonals.

Las Meninas is one of the best known paintings of Diego Velázquez. In what way did he utilize the representation of light that was contrary to the classical manner?

He tried to depict the optical properties of light reflecting from surfaces instead of using light to model volume in the time-honored manner.

In addition to the lively brushwork, what other formal features contribute to making las Meninas a painting that is full of vitality and one that engages the viewer in an active dialogue?

Velázquez draws viewers directly into the scene. The viewer stands in the space occupied by King Phillip and his queen, whose reflections can be seen in the mirror on the back wall. Use of highlights/loosely applied paint of white, lemon yellow, and pale orange. Tried to depict optical properties of light reflecting from surfaces. Motions of people's gazes.

The painting Still Life with Flowers, Goblet, Dried Fruit, and Pretzels by Clara Peeters is a still life of what type?

"breakfast pieces"

Dark, neutral backgrounds serve what function in still lifes?

Emphasizes the fall of light over the contrasting surface textures

The Dutch "taste for art" and "demand for art" had certain consequences for the production fo art. Explain

Artists had to compete to capture the interests of the public by painting on speculation. The demand gave rise to an active market for the graphic arts both for original comparisons and for copies of paintings since one copper plate produce hundreds of impressions.

Study the formal structure of The Night Watch. How has he unified the work psychologically? How has he composed the scene so that it is full of life and vitality?

All of the figures are unified as a collective group because of their focus on this single, important, dramatic even. He uses a palette of rich colors to provide a sense of exuberance. He also arranges the figures in a way that they are reinforced by the striking use of light and shade.

Rembrandt explored the expressive possibilities of what two printing techniques?

Etching and drypoint

In what ways do etching and drypoint employed by Rembrandt resemble t he character of drawing?

In both techniques, the artist has to essentially 'draw' out the designs/outlines making them similar to drawing.

Jan Vermeer's Woman Holding a Balance may be considered a metaphor for eternal judgement and as a vanitas on what ground?

Evokes the vanitas theme of the transience of earthly life. Allows the painter to comment on the ephemeral quality of material things.

The artistic portrayal of a landscape is always an act of selection. For what purpose would the artists portray nature as different from the observed reality?

In order to give their compositions formal organization or a desired mood.

By what means has Ruisdael represented the interplay of hope and transience in his Jewish Cemetery?

The image portrayed is one of death and destruction contrasted with a rainbow and new foliage. This symbolizes nature's capacity for growth and regeneration while the decaying of nature symbolizes the effects of weather and change just as people experience change and life-altering events. The human spirit can triumph and renew even after a rough storm.

Still-lifes can commonly represent what moral concept? What features might represent this concept?

Transience of life and material possessions represented by skulls, rotten fruit, smoke, watches, and hourglasses.

Why can it be said that Dutch still-lifes are "almost never straightforward depictions of actual flowers"?

Artists decide to make color sketches of fresh samples of each type of flower and studied scientifically accurate color illustrations in botanical publications.

A firm understanding of the issues that divide the rubénistes from the poussinistes is very important for this course. What are the issues?

Poussinistes: believed in the perfect classical principles of subject and design over color; drawing appeals to the mind

Rubénistes: art should deceive the eye, application of color is more important than drawing; color appeals to the senses

What is the true subject of Poussin's paintings?

The balance and order of nature

What is Claude Lorrain's "favorite and much imitated device"?

To place one or two large objects in the foreground past which the viewer's eye enters the scene and proceeds into the distance, often by diagonal paths