Kari Forinash
Dwayne
Digital
April 9, 2012
Essay
#1
The Baroque
periods of Europe from the late 14th and well through the 16th
centuries were important because of the characteristics the Baroque period had
and how they changed art. One of the main characteristics of Baroque painting
is the use of tenebrism or the exaggeration of light and dark. Tenebrism along
with other qualities from the Baroque era changed art by how the painting told
the viewer a story using the light and dark for not only effect but composition
in paintings from all over Europe like Italy, Spain, and the Flemish area of northern
Europe.
Italian Baroque
was in every type of painting including still lives. A famous Painting known
today from the early Baroque period is Still Life With Quince, Cabbage, and
Melon by Juan Sanchez Cotan. Cotan used unusual composition of the objects to
create movement, which was an important trait of baroque. The Still life also
uses tenebrism to create that same effect of dramatic movement. The painting
also includes phallic symbols such as the melon to create a provocative and
interesting still life. The importance of this painting would probably show the
commissioners wealth of food that they had at leisure.
Peter Paul Rubens,
a Flemish Painter who is known for his work The Raising of the Cross also uses
Tenebrism to show the main subject matter who is Jesus being martyred on the
cross and other important figures. The use of diagonal lines also show stong
subject matter. Rebens uses diagonals and the use of triangular compostion to
create perspective and make some people in the painter larger and stand out
against the other people who are just providing subject matter. The painting is
shown as Jesus is being raised on the cross, which is another common feature of
Baroque, which is subject matter, being shown in the moment or in the midst of
the action right before it happens.
Another use of
Tenebrismused for strong composition is Rembrandt’s the Anatomy Lesson of Dr.
Nicoles Tulp from the Flemish Baroque in 1602. During this time paintings were
often commissioned by several people who were often workers together. This
painting is just that only the students of the doctor commissioned it for him
to as a commemorative piece. In many paintings such as this tenebrism would be
used to show the importance of the people in the painting. The main subject is well
lit, Dr Tulp, as well as Dr. Tulps work the dead body. Other commissioners
faces appear more or less due to how much they paid for the work or even the
status of the person.
French Baroque
took subject matter and tenebrism to another level in the late 1600’s. An
important work of art from that time was Magdalene With a Smoking Flame by
Georges de La Tour. The painting uses light and dark or tenebrism to contrast
light from the candle with magdalenes face and the skull under it. The strong
use of tenebrism in the three subjects draws the eye to all three and creates a
dramatic compilation of symbolic references. The candle often is seen as the holy
spirit or the smoke being a flame put out with the skull as a reminder of
Magdalene’s mortality which she is often associated with.
Tenenbrism is a
quality in Baroque that makes it dramtic, the strong light and dark creates a
strong use of composition along with other characteristics from that time such
as composition, subject, dramatic lines, and the use of action or being in the
moment. By looking at all of the qualities, one can see how the painter meant
for the painting to be viewed and how it told a story.
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