Cave Painting to Neo-Classical
Cave Painting
Cave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest known European cave paintings date to 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the Paleolithic cave paintings is not known. The evidence suggests that they were not merely decorations of living areas, since the caves in which they have been found do not have signs of ongoing habitation. Also, they are often in areas of caves that are not easily accessed. Some theories hold that they may have been a way of transmitting information, while other theories ascribe them a religious or ceremonial purpose. Nearly 350 caves have now been discovered in France and Spain that contain art from prehistoric times. The age of the paintings in many sites has been a contentious issue, since methods like radiocarbon dating can be easily misled by contaminated samples of older or newer material and caves and rocky overhangs (parietal art) are typically littered with debris from many time periods. Recent advances make it possible to date the paintings by sampling the pigment itself. The choice of subject matter can also indicate date such as the reindeer at the Spanish cave of Cueva de las Monedas which imply the art is from the last Ice Age. The oldest cave is that of Chauvet, and its paintings are possibly 32,000 years old according to radiocarbon dating . Some researchers believe the drawings are too advanced for this era and question this age. Other examples may date as late as the Early Bronze Age, but the well known prolific and sophisticated style from Lascaux and Altamira died out about 10,000 years ago, coinciding with the advent of the Mesolithic period. The most common themes in cave paintings are large wild animals, such as bison, horses, aurochs, and deer, and tracings of human hands as well as abstract patterns, called finger flutings. Drawings of humans are rare and are usually schematic rather than the more naturalistic animal subjects. Cave art may have begun in the Aurignacian period (Hohle Fels, Germany), but reached its apogee in the late Magdalenian (Lascaux, France). The paintings were drawn with red and yellow ochre, hematite, manganese oxide and charcoal. Sometimes the silhouette of the animal was incised in the rock first Henri Breuil interpreted the paintings as being hunting magic, meant to increase the number of animals. As there are some clay sculptures that seem to have been the targets of spears, this may partly be true, but does not explain the pictures of predators such as the lion or the bear. An alternative theory, developed by David Lewis-Williams and broadly based on ethnographic studies of contemporary hunter-gatherer societies, is that the paintings were made by Cro-Magnon shamans. The shaman would retreat into the darkness of the caves, enter into a trance state and then paint images of their visions, perhaps with some notion of drawing power out of the cave walls themselves. This goes some way toward explaining the remoteness of some of the paintings (which often occur in deep or small caves) and the variety of subject matter (from prey animals to predators and human hand-prints).R. Dale Guthrie[2] has studied not only the most artistic and publicized paintings but also a variety of lower quality art and figurines, and he identifies a wide range of skill and ages among the artists. He also points that the main themes in the paintings and other artifacts (powerful beasts, risky hunting scenes and the over-sexual representation of women in the Venus figurines) are to be expected in the fantasies of adolescent males, who made a big part of the human population at the time.
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Ancient Egyptian Painting
Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted longer than any other in history—from 3000 B.C. to 50 B.C. The Nile River valley's rich resources allowed the ancient Egyptian culture to thrive for nearly 3000 years. Surrounding deserts helped keep Egypt safe from invasion until its fall under the ancient Greeks and Romans. The ancient Egyptians are best known for their pyramids and mummies. They also developed hieroglyphic writing, created beautiful sculptures and paintings, and made the first 365 day calender. By studying the human body, they learned about surgery, antiseptics and the circulatory system. Ancient Egyptian art refers to the style of painting, sculpture, crafts and architecture developed by the civilization in the lower Nile Valley from 5000 BC to 300 AD. Ancient Egyptian art as expression in painting and sculpture was both highly stylized and symbolic. Much of the surviving art comes from tombs and monuments and thus there is an emphasis on life after death and the preservation of knowledge of the past.
In a more narrow sense, Ancient Egyptian art refers to the canonical 2nd and 3rd Dynasty art developed in Egypt from 3000 BC and used until the 3rd century. Most elements of Egyptian art remained remarkably stable over that 3000 year period. There wasn't strong outside influence. The same basic conventions and quality of observation started at a high level and remained near that level over the period.
Ancient Egyptian paintings survived due to the extremely dry climate. The ancient Egyptians created paintings to make the afterlife of the deceased a pleasant place. Accordingly, beautiful paintings were created. The themes included journey through the afterworld or their protective deities introducing the deceased to the gods of the underworld. Some examples of such paintings are paintings of Osiris and warriors. Some tomb paintings show activities that the deceased were involved in when they were alive and wished to carry on doing for eternity.
In the New Kingdom and later, the Book of the Dead was buried with the entombed person. It was considered important for an introduction to the afterlife. However, no one found the book and it is still lost in a tomb of the Nile.
Egyptian paintings are painted in such a way to show a profile view and a side view of the animal or person. For example, the painting to the right shows the head from a profile view and the body from a frontal view.
Greek Painting
Much of Western European art has a strong link to ancient Greece. Greek artists used narratives, or stories, and made many portraits and other representational subjects.
Greek architecture is famous for its temples. These temples were often only big enough to house a cult statue and were not meant to be places for large gatherings of people. A typical Greek temple had a long, inner chamber surrounded by columns. There were three main types of columns: the simple Doric, the graceful Ionic and the ornate Corinthian.
Greek sculpture portrayed gods and goddesses as well as mortal humans. Over the centuries, Greek artists became better at showing their subjects in more active poses, and more lifelike as well. Most of what we know of Greek painting comes from the work we have on pottery. We also know it from writings and Roman copies of Greek artwork. The most common subjects for these artists were scenes from mythology and everyday life. There were several interconnected traditions of painting in ancient Greece. Due to their technical differences, they underwent somewhat differentiated developments. Not all painting techniques are equally well represented in the archaeological record.
Panel painting
The most respected form of art, according to authors like Pliny or Pausanias, were individual, mobile paintings on wooden boards, technically described as panel paintings. The techniques used were encaustic (wax) painting and tempera. Such paintings normally depicted figural scenes, including portraits and still-lifes; we have descriptions of many compositions. They were collected and often displayed in public spaces. Pausanias describes such exhibitions at Athens and Delphi. We know the names of many famous painters, mainly of the Classical and Hellenistic periods, from literature (see expandable list to the right).
Unfortunately, due to the perishable nature of the materials used and the major upheavals at the end of antiquity, not one of the famous works of Greek panel painting has survived, nor even any of the copies that doubtlessly existed, and which give us most of our knowledge of Greek sculpture. The most important surviving Greek examples are the fairly low-quality Pitsa panels from circa 530 BC, and a large group of much later Graeco-Roman archaeological survivals from the dry conditions of Egypt, the Fayum mummy portraits, together with the similar Severan Tondo. Byzantine icons are also derived from the encaustic panel painting tradition. The tradition of wall painting in Greece goes back at least to the Minoan and Mycenaean Bronze Age, with the lavish fresco decoration of sites like Knossos, Tiryns and Mycenae. It is not clear, whether there is any continuity between these antecedents and later Greek wall paintings.
Wall paintings are frequently described in Pausanias, and many appear to have been produced in the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Due to the lack of architecture surviving intact, not many are preserved. The most notable examples are a monumental Archaic 7th century BC scene of hoplite combat from inside a temple at Kalapodi (near Thebes), and the elaborate frescoes from the 4th century "Grave of Phillipp" and the "Tomb of Persephone" at Vergina in Macedonia[1], sometimes suggested to be closely linked to the high-quality panel paintings mentioned above.
Greek wall painting tradition is also reflected in contemporary grave decorations in the Greek colonies in Italy, eg the famous Tomb of the Diver at Paestum. Some scholars suggest that the celebrated Roman frescoes at sites like Pompeii are the direct descendants of Greek tradition, and that some of them copy famous panel paintings.
Much of the figural or architectural sculpture of ancient Greece was painted colourfully. This aspect of Greek stonework is described as polychrome (from Greek πολυχρωμία, πολύ = many and χρώμα = colour). Due to intensive weathering, polychromy on sculpture and architecture has substantially or totally faded in most cases.
Roman Painting
The Romans adopted much from Greek architecture, but they created their own style as well. The Romans created new types of structures, such as public baths and amphitheaters. Romans also developed two things that let them build larger structures than the Greeks had: the arch and the aqueduct. The arch eliminated the need for columns to support heavy roofs. Using arches, the Romans could build huge buildings (such as the Pantheon), long bridges, and long aqueducts that carried water to Roman cities. The Romans also invented concrete, a strong and cheap building material for their arches, walls and vaults. Roman painting and sculpture also borrowed from the Greeks. Greek art portrayed lifelike, though idealized, human subjects. Roman sculptures created works that reflected the subject’s individual personality. Roman artists also illustrated important events by carving scenes on large monuments, tall columns and other public spaces. The art of portraiture was very popular during this time. At first, only the rich had portraits painted of their important male ancestors. But as portrait painting became more accessible, modest citizens, as well as women and children, had their portraits made.
Many rich Romans had artists paint the walls of their homes with large depictions of landscapes, historical events, and everyday events. These wealthy Romans felt the paintings brightened their homes and made the rooms feel larger. Our knowledge of Ancient Roman painting relies in large part on the preservation of artifacts from Pompeii and Herculanum, and particularly the Pompeian mural painting, which was preserved after the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Nothing remains of the Greek paintings imported to Rome during the 4th and 5th centuries, or of the painting on wood done in Italy during that period.[4] In sum, the range of samples is confined to only about 200 years out of the about 900 years of Roman history.[13] Most of this wall painting was done using the secco (“dry”) method, but some fresco paintings also existed in Roman times. There is evidence from mosaics and a few inscriptions that some Roman paintings were adaptations or copies of earlier Greek works.[13] However, adding to the confusion is the fact that inscriptions may be recording the names of immigrant Greek artists from Roman times, not from Ancient Greek originals that were copied.[9]
Roman painting provides a wide variety of themes: animals, still life, scenes from everyday life, portraits, and some mythological subjects. During the Hellenistic period, it evoked the pleasures of the countryside and represented scenes of shepherds, herds, rustic temples, rural mountainous landscapes and country houses.[9] Erotic scenes are also relatively common. In the late empire, after 200AD, early Christian themes mixed with pagan imagery survive on catacomb walls.[1
Byzantine Painting
Byzantine art flourished from about 300 A.D to the 1400s. It grew out of the early Christian world. It took its name from the capital city of the Roman Empire: Byzantium (later renamed Constantinople, then Istanbul when the Ottomans captured the city in 1453). Byzantine art was very religious. Most Byzantine art was created for the Eastern Orthodox Church. Much Byzantine art was made by servants of the courts or members of religious orders. Most of these artists remained anonymous.
Mosaics and paintings covered the domes of many churches. They were often made of precious materials such as lapis lazuli, gold and silver. Byzantine artists had to follow many rules about subject matter, content, and form. Symbolic representation was very important in Byzantine art. The subjects appear flat and fairly abstract compared to the liveliness and individualism of Western art because Byzantine artists used little shading or other techniques that would have made their subjects more lifelike. BYZANTINE PAINTING: Constantinople was rebuilt and rechristened by Constantine, a Christian emperor, in the year 328 A.D. It became a stronghold of Christian traditions, manners, customs, art. But it was not quite the same civilization as that of Rome and the West. It was bordered on the south and east by oriental influences, and much of Eastern thought, method, and glamour found its way into the Christian community. The artists fought this influence, stickling a long time for the severer classicism of ancient Greece. For when Rome fell the traditions of the Old World centred around Constantinople. But classic form was ever being encroached upon by oriental richness of material and color. The struggle was a long but hopeless one. As in Italy, form failed century by century. When, in the eighth century, the Iconoclastic controversy cut away the little Greek existing in it, the oriental ornament was about all that remained.
There was no chance for painting to rise under the prevailing conditions. Free artistic creation was denied the artist. An advocate of painting at the Second Nicene Council declared that : "It is not the invention of the painter that creates the picture, but an inviolable law of the Catholic Church. It is not the painter but the holy fathers who have to invent and dictate. To them manifestly belongs the composition, to the painter only the execution." Painting was in a strait-jacket. It had to follow precedent and copy what had gone before in old Byzantine patterns. Both in Italy and in Byzantium the creative artist had passed away in favor of the skilled artisan — the repeater of time-honored forms or colors. The workmanship was good for the time, and the coloring and ornamental borders made a rich setting, but the real life of art had gone. A long period of heavy, morose, almost formless art, eloquent of mediaeval darkness and ignorance, followed.
It is strange that such an art should be adopted by foreign nations, and yet it was. Its bloody crucifixions and morbid madonnas were well fitted to the dark view of life held during the Middle Ages, and its influence was wide-spread and of long duration. It affected French and German art, it ruled at the North, and in the East it lives even to this day. That it strongly affected Italy is a very apparent fact. Just when it first began to show its influence there is matter of dispute. It probably gained a foothold at Ravenna in the sixth century, when that province became a part of the empire of Justinian. Later it permeated Rome, Sicily, and Naples at the south, and Venice at the north. With the decline of the early Christian art of Italy this richer, and in many ways more acceptable, Byzantine art came in, and, with Italian modifications, usurped the field. It did not literally crush out the native Italian art, but practically it superseded it, or held it in check, from the ninth to the twelfth century. After that the corrupted Italian art once more came to the front.
EARLY CHRISTIAN AND BYZANTINE REMAINS: The best examples of Early Christian painting are still to be seen in the Catacombs at Rome. Mosaics in the early churches of Rome, Ravenna, Naples, Venice, Constantinople. Sculptures, ivories, and glasses in the Lateran, Ravenna, and Vatican museums. Illuminations in Vatican and Paris libraries. Almost all the museums of Europe, those of the Vatican and Nagles particularly, have some examples of Byzantine work. The older altar-pieces of the early Italian churches date back to the mediaeval period and show Byzantine influence. The altar-pieces of the Greek and Russian churches show the same influence even in modern work.
Romanesque Painting
Romanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is increasingly known as the Pre-Romanesque. The term was invented by 19th century art historians, especially for Romanesque architecture, which retained many basic features of Roman architectural style - most notably round-headed arches, but also barrel vaults, apses, and acanthus-leaf decoration - but had also developed many very different characteristics. In Southern France, Iberia and Italy there was an architectural continuity with the Late Antique, but the Romanesque style was the first style to impact the whole of Catholic Europe, from Denmark to Sicily. Romanesque art was also greatly influenced by Byzantine art, especially in painting, and by the anti-classical energy of the decoration of the Insular art of the British Isles, and from these elements forged a highly innovative and coherent style.
The development of the Romanesque style is the tangible sign of a new interest in art, after the restless period followed to the fall of the Roman Empire. The Romanesque art served mainly religious and didactic purposes in a period in which most of the population was illiterate. To our eyes, bidimensional Romanesque paintings are naive; the characters have unrealistic features. This is due not only to the pictorial techniques of the time, but also to the fact that the artists wanted to convey the detachment .. Painting and Sculpture
Gothic Painting
Gothic Painting Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that lasted about 200 years. It began in France out of the Romanesque period in the mid-12th century, concurrent with Gothic architecture found in Cathedrals. By the late 14th century, it had evolved towards a more secular and natural style known as International Gothic, which continued until the late 15th century, where it evolved into Renaissance art. The primary Gothic art mediums were sculpture, panel painting, stained glass, fresco and illuminated manuscript.
Gothic art told a narrative story through pictures, both Christian and secular.
The earliest Gothic art was Christian sculptures, born on the walls of Cathedrals and abbeys. Christian art was often typological in nature (see Medieval allegory), showing the stories of the New Testament and the Old Testament side by side. Saints' lives were often depicted. Images of the Virgin Mary changed from the Byzantine iconic form to a more human and affectionate mother, cuddling her infant, swaying from her hip, and showing the refined manners of a well-born aristocratic courtly lady.
Secular art came in to its own during this period with the rise of cities, foundation of universities, increasing trade, a money-based economy and a bourgeois class who could afford to patronize the arts and commission works resulting in a proliferation of paintings and illuminated manuscripts. Increased literacy and a growing body of secular vernacular literature encouraged the representation of secular themes in art. With the growth of cities, trade guilds were formed and artists were often required to be members of a painters' guild—as a result, because of better record keeping, more artists are known to us by name in this period than any previous, some artists were even so bold as to sign their names.
Gothic art developed in the late Middle Ages. It lasted from about 1150 A.D. to 1400. Italian Renaissance scholars named this style "Gothic" because they thought it was barbaric and uncivilized—like the Goths who invaded Italy in the 400s. Painting in a style that can be called "Gothic" did not appear until about 1200, or nearly 50 years after the start of Gothic architecture and sculpture. The transition from Romanesque to Gothic is very imprecise and not at all a clear break, and Gothic ornamental detailing is often introduced before much change is seen in the style of figures or compositions themselves. Then figures become more animated in pose and facial expression, tend to be smaller in relation to the background of scenes, and are arranged more freely in the pictorial space, where there is room. This transition occurs first in England and France around 1200, in Germany around 1220 and Italy around 1300.
Painting (the representation of images on a surface) during the Gothic period was practiced in 4 primary crafts: frescos, panel paintings, manuscript illumination and stained glass. Frescoes continued to be used as the main pictorial narrative craft on church walls in southern Europe as a continuation of early Christian and Romanesque traditions. In the north stained glass was the art of choice until the 15th century. Panel paintings began in Italy in the 13th century and spread throughout Europe, so by the 15th century they had become the dominate form supplanting even stained glass. Illuminated manuscripts represent the most complete record of Gothic painting, providing a record of styles in places where no monumental works have otherwise survived. Painting with oil on canvas does not become popular until the 15th and 16th centuries and was a hallmark of Renaissance art.
In Northern Europe the important and innovative school of Early Netherlandish painting is in an essentially Gothic style, but can also be regarded as part of the Northern Renaissance, as there was a long delay before the Italian revival of interest in classicism had a great impact in the north. Painters like Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck, made use of the technique of oil painting to create minutely detailed works, correct in perspective, where apparent realism was combined with richly complex symbolism arising precisely from the realistic detail they could now include, even in small works.
Painting in the Gothic era was most known for the development of oil painting in Flanders. Some of the better known painters of this time are Jan van Eyck and Roger van der Weyden. Some of the best-known examples of Gothic art are Gothic cathedrals. Gothic architecture is known for its gigantic size and height. The invention of the flying buttresses in about 1175 made these large buildings possible. Flying buttresses reduced the amount of solid wall space needed for support and made it possible to have large stained glass windows. Gothic sculpture was mostly used to decorate the doorways of cathedrals. It often showed figures and scenes from the Bible's Old Testament. It differed from Romanesque sculpture in that it was grander, calmer and closer to human scale. In Spain the history of Gothic painting roughly coincides with the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. This span of two hundred years can be divided into periods which correspond to four distinct styles, linear, Italo-Gothic, International Gothic, and Hispano-Flemish. The linear style, which has certain affinities with the late Romanesque, lasted until the middle of the fourteenth century. Italo-Gothic, as its name suggests, was strongly influenced by the schools of Italy, particularly those of Florence and Siena. International Gothic, introduced toward the end of the fourteenth century, is more mature and naturalistic, drawing most of its inspiration from France. The Hispano-Flemish style, which emerged during the second half of the fifteenth century, flourished mainly in Andalusia and Castile.
A remarkable feature of the evolution of Gothic painting in Spain is the extraordinary continuity of the Catalan school. Throughout the fourteenth century and the first half of the fifteenth, the Catalan painters preserved an impressive unity of style, one master succeeding the other without interruption. We know the names of many of the artists and a good deal about their work. In northern, western, and central Spain, on the other hand, progress was intermittent, depending on the appearance of individuals distinguished enough to establish a school. Some of these artists were foreigners, but their history shows that they were soon assimilated into Spanish life, acquiring a full share of the national characteristics, both good and bad. They had a predilection for the emotional aspects of the scenes they painted and displayed more interest in narration than in seeking formal beauty or technical perfection. In their later stages of development some of these artists schematized their figures to the point of expressionism.
Whereas frescoes formed the backbone of Romanesque painting, most Gothic painters worked on wooden panels. Nevertheless, some churches have mural paintings in chapels or cloister galleries. The retables were large constructions built to support a series of vertical compositions. These retables were painted in tempera or in oils on a wooden panel prepared with a coat of gesso. The color scale is richer and more varied than that of the Romanesque, and commonly includes vermilion, cadmium, violet, green, lilac, ocher, white, gray, and yellow. The backgrounds of the retables and decorative elements, such as mullions, friezes, and canopies, are gilded, punched, or faced with ornamental plaster. Hence their sumptuous appearance and curious combination of elegance and unwordly idealism.
The Gothic era produced many triptychs, small paintings on wood and canvas, and articles of furniture with paintings on the inside. Miniaturists were also active, particularly during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In the fifteenth century, however, the discovery, first of the woodcut, and then of printing led to a gradual decline in the production of illuminated books.
Renaissance Painting
Period in Europe from the late fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries, characterised by a renewed interest in human-centred classical art, literature, and learning. See also humanism. The Renaissance was great rebirth of humanism, and a revival in cultural achievements for their own sake. The Renaissance began in Italy and then spread throughout northern Europe. Art, science and literature all grew tremendously during the Renaissance, led by artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, scientists like Galileo, and writers like Shakespeare. In art, the Renaissance renewed interest in naturalistic styles and formal rules of composition such as perspective. The Greek classical ideals of ideal proportions (for depicting the human body as well as for architecture and painting) also regained popularity. Important artists of the Italian Renaissance were Donetello, Piero, Raphael, Titian, along with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. In northern Europe, important Renaissance artists were Albrect Dürer, Hans Holbein, and Pieter Brueghel.
Early Renaissance Centered in Italy, 15th Century
The Renaissance was a period or great creative activity, in which artists broke away from the restrictions of Byzantine Art. Throughout the 15th century, artists studied the natural world, perfecting their understanding of such subjects as anatomy and perspective. Among the many great artists of this period were Paolo Uccello, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Piero della Francesca. During this period there was a parallel advancement of Gothic Art centered in Germany and the Netherlands, known as the Northern Renaissance.
The Early Renaissance was succeeded by the mature High Renaissance period, which began around 1500.
High Renaissance Centered in Italy, Early 16th Century
The High Renaissance was the culmination of the artistic revolution of the Early Renaissance, and one of the great explosions of creative genius in history. It is notable for three of the greatest artists in history: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, and Raphael. Also active at this time were such masters as Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione and Titian. By about the 1520's, High Renaissance art had become exaggerated into the style known as Mannerism.
The northern European tradition of Gothic Art was greatly affected by the technical and philosophical advancements of the Renaissance in Italy. While less concerned with studies of anatomy and linear perspective, northern artists were masters of technique, and their works are marvels of exquisite detail.
The great artists who inspired the Northern Renaissance included Jan van Eyck (and his brother Hubert, about whom little is known), Robert Campin and Rogier van der Weyden.
As Italy moved into the High Renaissance, the north retained a distinct Gothic influence. Yet masters like Albrecht Dürer, Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel and Hans Holbein were the equal of the greatest artists of the south.
In the 16th century, as in the south, the Northern Renaissance eventually gave way to highly stylized Mannerist art.
Europe, Mid to Late 16th Century
Mannerism, the artistic style which gained popularity in the period following the High Renaissance, takes as its ideals the work of Raphael and Michelangelo Buonarroti. It is considered to be a period of technical accomplishment but also of formulaic, theatrical and overly stylized work.
Mannerist Art is characterized by a complex composition, with muscular and elongated figures in complex poses. Discussing Michelangelo in his journal, Eugène Delacroix gives as good a description as any of the limitations of Mannerism:
"[A]ll that he has painted is muscles and poses, in which even science, contrary to general opinion, is by no means the dominant factor... He did not know a single one of the feelings of man, not one of his passions. When he was making an arm or a leg, it seems as if he were thinking only of that arm or leg and was not giving the slightest consideration to the way it relates with the action of the figure to which it belongs, much less to the action of the picture as a whole... Therein lies his great merit; he brings a sense of the grand and the terrible into even an isolated limb."
Prominent Members
In addition to Michelangelo, leading Mannerist artists included Rosso Fiorentino, Pontormo, and Parmigianino.
By the late 16th century, there were several anti-Mannerist attempts to reinvigorate art with greater naturalism and emotionalism. These developed into the Baroque style, which dominated the 17th century.
Mannerism
Mannerism is a period of European art which emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but continued into the seventeenth century throughout much of Europe.[1] Stylistically, Mannerism encompasses a variety of approaches influenced by, and reacting to, the harmonious ideals and restrained naturalism associated with artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and early Michelangelo. Mannerism is notable for its intellectual sophistication as well as its artificial (as opposed to naturalistic) qualities.
The definition of Mannerism, and the phases within it, continue to be the subject of debate among art historians. For example, some scholars have applied the label to certain early modern forms of literature (especially poetry) and music of the sixteenth and seventeen centuries. The term is also used to refer to some Late Gothic painters working in northern Europe from about 1500 to 1530, especially the Antwerp
Baroque
A dominant style of art in Europe in the seventeenth century characterised by its theatrical, or dramatic, use of light and colour, by its ornate forms, and by its disregard for classical principles of composition.
Baroque Art emerged in Europe around 1600, as a reaction against the intricate and formulaic Mannerist style, which dominated the Late Renaissance. Baroque Art is less complex, more realistic and more emotionally affecting than Mannerism. This movement was encouraged by the Catholic Church, the most important patron of the arts at that time, as a return to tradition and spirituality. One of the great periods of art history, Baroque Art was developed by Caravaggio, Annibale Carracci, and Gianlorenzo Bernini, among others. This was also the age of Rubens, Rembrandt, Velázquez, and Vermeer. In the 18th century, Baroque Art was replaced by the more elegant and elaborate Rococo style. This movement was encouraged by the Catholic Church, the most important patron of the arts at that time, being seen as a return to tradition and spirituality.
One of the great periods of art history, Baroque Art was developed by Caravaggio,Gianlorenzo Bernini and Annibale Carracci, among others. This was also the age of Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer and Velázquez.
In the 18th century, Baroque Art was replaced by the more elegant and elaborate Rococo art style. The Baroque period can be considered to have started around 1600 and to have overlapped with the Mannerists until its extinction around one hundred and fifty years later. In its earliest days the most notable exponent was Michelanglo Merisi da Caravaggio, a highly individual artist who is still noted for his strongly contrasting use of light and shadow to model his figures (the term for this is chiasroscuro).
The Baroque style found early favour in France, especially at the court of the Sun King Louis XIV, who encouraged its opulence to enhance his own splendour, and as he ruled for 72 years the style became deeply entrenched in the French psyche. His undisputed favourite artist, to whom he granted immense power over the arts, was Charles Lebrun, who painted maginifcent portraits of the king, his mistresses, and his entourage. His contemporary, the French artist Nicholas Poussin, was more interested in the intellectual and classical approach, and did not find favour in his homeland or with his monarch, whose interest in excessive over-elaboration was the rule of the day. Elsewhere, in Britain, Scandinavia, and the Protestant Netherlands, Baroque was not taken up to any degree as it was considered too Catholic and excessive.
Northern Baroque was a style favoured in Catholic countries like Germany, Austria, and the Catholic parts of the Netherlands. There one of the world's most important artists, Peter Paul Rubens, lived for much of his life after traveling in Italy and Spain. There he saw the work of High Renaissance and Baroque artists such as Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, and Titian for himself. He settled in Antwerp, and worked as court painter to the Spanish Governors of the Netherlands. His output was prolific: it had to be to meet the demands of the huge number of commissions, which rolled in. The sheer amount of work was far too huge for him to handle alone and he gathered a studio of apprentinces around him to do the bulk of the background, working from his sketches. He would then do the detail himself.
As Baroque played itself out with ever increasing profligacy, the excess finally began to stultify and people grew tired of it. Gradually a general toning down started and the style mutated gently into the more refined Rococo.
Rococo Painting
Rococo Art succeeded Baroque Art in Europe. It was most popular in France, and is generally associated with the reign of King Louis XV (1715-1774). It is a light, elaborate and decorative style of art.
This late Baroque (c. 1715-1775) style used in interior decoration and painting characterised by curvilinear forms, pastel colours, and light, often frivolous subject matter. This style of art was popular in the first three-quarters of the 18th century, particularly in France, but made an impact in southern Germany as well.
Though Rococo originated in the purely decorative arts, the style showed clearly in painting. These painters used delicate colors and curving forms, decorating their canvases with cherubs and myths of love. Portraiture was also popular among Rococo painters. Some works show a sort of naughtiness or impurity in the behavior of their subjects, showing the historical trend of departing away from the Baroque's church/state orientation. Landscapes were pastoral and often depicted the leisurely outings of aristocratic couples.
Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684–1721) is generally considered the first great Rococo painter. He had a great influence on later painters, including François Boucher (1703–1770) and Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806), two masters of the late period. Even Thomas Gainsborough's (1727–1788) delicate touch and sensitivity are reflective of the Rococo spirit. Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun's (1755-1842) style also shows a great deal of Rococo influence, particularly in her portraits of Marie Antoinette.
Quintessentially Rococo artists include Jean-Honore Fragonard, François Boucher, Jean-Antoine Watteau and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.
Neo-Classicism
Neoclassicism (sometimes rendered as Neo-Classicism or Neo-classicism) is the name given to quite distinct movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw upon Western classical art and culture (usually that of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome). These movements were dominant during the mid 18th to the end of the 19th century. This article addresses what these "neoclassicisms" have in common. What any "neo"-classicism depends on most fundamentally is a consensus about a body of work that has achieved canonic status (illustration, below). These are the "classics." Ideally—and neoclassicism is essentially an art of an ideal—an artist, well schooled and comfortably familiar with the canon, does not repeat it in lifeless reproductions, but synthesizes the tradition anew in each work. This sets a high standard, clearly; but though a neoclassical artist who fails to achieve it may create works that are inane, vacuous or even mediocre, gaffes of taste and failures of craftsmanship are not commonly neoclassical failings. Novelty, improvisation, self-expression, and blinding inspiration are not neoclassical virtues. "Make it new" was the modernist credo of the poet Ezra Pound; contrarily, neoclassicism does not seek to re-create art forms from the ground up with each new project. It instead exhibits perfect control of an idiom.
posted by Professor Groat at
7:32 AM
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