Hello there,
This is the first time I have used this service, and I am looking for
some information that I just can't seem to find either in print or on
the web. I will first describe the information I am looking for and
then go into more depth after, so that I don?t waste anyone?s time
pursuing information that I already have.
I am looking for information on the cultural influences in the Baroque
art movement. Specifically how the historical period influenced the
artistic tastes of the day in painting/sculpture/architecture and how
those influences were realized in the corresponding artistic medium.
Now I have found countless articles that describe the Baroque period
as a time when art was characterized by dynamicism, drama, motion
(implied or otherwise), flamboyance, and the dramatic use of light and
shading. I know that the main consumers and directors of this
movement were the Catholic church as involved in the
Counter-Reformation and the absolute monarchies that were emerging
(particularly in France). But though this might be true this
information is too shallow for my needs. I need to know MORE about
how the historic setting influenced the art of the age, and also the
artistic techniques used to create such qualities. For example HOW
exactly DID a Baroque artist make a painting or a bit of architecture
convey the notion of movement, and WHY did art that seemed in motion
become fashionable for the time? I have read lots about how artists
were interested in conveying great or infinite space, but nothing on
WHY this was done or HOW it was done. Vivid colours were also a
hallmark of the day, but again, WHY were they so fashionable, and HOW
were they rendered (there must have been some new technique, or new
trend that accounted for their prominence in this movement and their
comparative rarity in others).
As another example of the information I am looking for, consider the
Renaissance ? one way of interpreting the prominence of scientific
perspective in paintings and individualism of the painted subjects was
to point out that there was a great interest in the whole ?Human
Experience?, and hence paintings were painted from this perspective
rather than the ?God?s Eye? Perspective of the Middle Ages.
Michelangelo?s Neo-Platonic philosophy accounts for much of his
manneristic leanings, and his fascination with nudes. Da Vinci?s
scientific philosophy accounts for his uncompromising realism, his use
of sfumato as well as the curious drawing of the Vintruvian Man.
These are the kinds of gems I am looking for, but applied to the
Baroque period.
Please don't misunderstand me, I am not expecting an answer to all of
the raised questions. I am only raising them so you can better
appreciate the KIND of information that I am looking for. So I guess
to sum up, I am looking for the WHYS (i.e. a
cultural/sociological/psychological/historical answer) for the general
characters of the Baroque movement and the HOWS (The artistic
tricks/techniques) on how these characters were realized. Actually I
would probably get up and dance a jig if I could lay my hands on this
kind of information on ANY of the European art movements before the
20th century, but right now my key interest is in the Baroque.
Fingers Crossed
Dan |