Guided Art Tour: Baroque and Rococo, Essay Example

Artwork and other cultural artifacts have always reflected various social, economic, political, and cultural contingencies and values from epoch in which they were produced. Between the Renaissance and mid seventeenth century, literature and art sustained herculean stylistic changes that were intrinsically linked to political, religious, and intellectual developments that defined the epoch (Spielvogel 418). The Protestant Reformation cultivated a revival of religious and spiritual values in conjunction with diffuse political turmoil. Worldly enthusiasm so ubiquitous during the Renaissance transformed into trepidation, anxiety, suffering, and fervent desire for a spiritual experience. Mannerism mirrored such a tense environment by deliberately deconstructing and dismantling the values of harmony, moderation, and balance that typified High Renaissance art (Spielvogel 418). Mannerism was shortly replaced by the Baroque movement, which dominated the artistic world for over a century. The etiology of the Baroque movement stems from Italy during the latter half of the sixteenth century and quickly diffuses to the rest of Europe. Baroque artists such as Rubens wanted to fuse the classical traditions so evident in Renaissance art with ardent religious feelings fomented by the religious Reformation (418). Ultimately, Baroque art conveyed the search for power that took place throughout the seventeenth century. During the 1730s, a new style of art known as Rococo became one of the first truly international art styles, profoundly impacting architecture and decoration throughout the western world. It burgeoned as the antithesis of Baroque conventions both in techniques and subject matter. Cultural artifacts and artwork produced during the Baroque and Rococo periods all reflect epochal concerns and idiosyncrasies as well socio-cultural developments despite the diversity of artistic and design principles deployed therein. These works further reflect how artists navigated through a murky and turbulent cultural terrain as processes of modernity wrought vast changes on the western world.

Baroque painting was renowned for its emotionality, as artists used dramatic effects to amplify intense emotions and movement (Spielvogel 419). Such a style was unequivocally evident in the words of Peter Paul Rubens whose David Slaying Goliath depicts various bodies in violent motion, and he used shadow and light and vivid pigments in order to capture the famous biblical scene. Painted in Flanders with oil on canvas circa 1616, David Slaying Goliath depicts the much-anticipated moment when David, the little shepherd boy, prepares to behead Goliath, his formidable nemesis. It captures a poignant moment in time, functioning in the same was that a camera does when it takes a snapshot of a seminal or scintillating event. Goliath’s head–which is soon to be severed from his body–lies head first in the direction of the viewer. Meanwhile, David firmly grips his sword over his head, prepared to slice down towards Goliath’s head. The two figures dominate the composition and occupy the entire foreground, although it is clear that David is central and shown in large proportions here despite the fact that he is much smaller than his nemesis. Such technique intimates that David’s power lies beyond his corporeality. The suggestion of movement indicates that if Goliath is beheaded, his head would encroach on the space of the viewer, a stylistic technique that was highly innovative. The representation of the sky intimates a circular yet strong motion, and the circle will be complete one David completes his swing of the sword. As such, violent motion–a marquee Baroque characteristic–is implied, which infuses life into the composition by amplifying the drama and tension of the anticipated act. The textures and size of Rubens’ brushstrokes evince lengthy brush swipes against the large canvas, which further assists in conveying momentum and movement. Rubens deftly balances the images in his composition by limning David as outright attacking a prostrate Goliath. Reflecting art conventions of the Baroque movement, Rubens includes a landscape in the background using a faint blue hue, which the low line of the horizon underscores. The stark contrast of the faint background and those hues used in the foreground help highlight the foreground against the sky. Movement, power, and majesty are all stressed in this composition.

David Slaying Goliath was created intended for an audience composed of commoners who, during that period, were dubious of the church because of the Church’s widespread corruption. During the sixteenth century, commoners began to voice various grievances against the Catholic Church and its corrupt endeavors through the selling of indulgences in order for adherents to gain entry into heaven for themselves and their loved ones (Tracy 39). The religious subject matter and the dramatic content of this painting conveys the fierce devotion of the Church to restore the people’s faith in the Church. The implied violence, religious subject matter, and brilliant hues all function as mechanisms to convey the desire of the church to restore the faith of the masses in them once again. The subject matter itself functions as a trope where David represents the masses, thereby suggesting that the masses are much more powerful than they believe or appear to be against hegemonic institutions.

Unlike the Baroque style–which stressed violent motion and power–Rococo artists sought to portray subjects with gentle action and grace. Curves rather than geometrical patterns were favored in order to depict secular subject matter. The secular subject matter and lightness evinced in Rococo works suggest that it was an artistic movement catered to the elites by propagating the pursuit of happiness, love, and pleasure (Jackson 500). One interesting Rococo paintings is entitled Seated Woman by Antoine Watteau, which is a drawing done by three different colors of chalk circa 1716. The mastery of the trois crayons technique is apparent, as  he freely mixes the different color crayons in order to capture one moment in time of this woman. The interplay of the various colored chalk poignantly captures her lush skin tones, her hair loosely pinned up,  and her dress sheen. The subject has a broad forehead, high cheekbones, and a pointed chin, all of which were characteristics of elite women during the eighteenth century. Although her gesture is a bit confounding, the curves used to depict her convey a charm and elegance about her in addition to her eschewing any self-consciousness. Such a lyrical perception of aristocratic life–sensual, elegant, and refined–elucidates a world of elites demarked by pleasure and love. Such an airy and ornate style achieved through the three chalk technique revolutionized the early modern art world, as it came to be perceived as quite a feminine style. This notion insinuates that female tastes and initiatives dominated the Rococo movement. Indeed, women occupied some high positions throughout the western world, so feminine influence was inescapable and ubiquitous. Ultimately, the deemphasizing of heavy and serious political and religious themes in favor of more secular subject matter such as sensuality and refinement came to the fore of the Rococo movement.

The original artwork is inspired by the Rococo movement in France and depicts a semi-nude, reclining lady playing with her dog. French Rococo artists eschewed heavy religious subject matter because the Reformation had ended while the Age of Enlightenment commenced. The Age of Enlightenment privileged the secular over the religious. Rococo artists opted to depict more mundane activities that the elites engaged in. Women were often the subject matter of paintings in French Rococo because of the ascendance of women as art patrons. Rococo art focused on secular subject matter that underscored love, happiness and pleasure. In France, the Baroque art style germinated in reactions to the extravagance typified by the Palace at Versailles. Many perceived tha palace as the representation of corruption in French religion and politics. However, Rococo developed in reaction to the Baroque, thereby lauding courtly life and elite extravagance. It was the elite rather than the commoners who retained the capacity to lie around in bed and play with their pets.

Works Cited

Shearman, John, Mannerism. United States: Penguin Books, 1967. Print.

Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization: Comprehensive Volume. 3rd ed. Minneapolis/St.    Paul: West Pub., 1997. Print.

Tracy, James D. Europe’s Reformation: Doctrine, Politics, and Community. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2006. Print.