Culture in a TurbulentWorld

Art and Thought

Mannerism

Emergence of Mannerism

• The artistic Renaissance came to an end with a new movement called Mannerism.

• It emerged in Italy in the 1520s and 1530s.• The Reformation had brought a revival of

religious values accompanied by much political turmoil.

• Especially in Italy, the worldly enthusiasm of the Renaissance gave way to anxiety, uncertainty, suffering, and a yearning for spiritual experience.

Mannerism by Characteristics

• Mannerism reflected a deliberate attempt to break down the High Renaissance principles of balance, harmony, and moderation.

• Italian Mannerist painters deliberately distorted the rules of proportion by portraying elongated figures that conveyed a sense of suffering and a strong emotional atmosphere filled with anxiety and confusion.

Mannerism Artists• El Greco (The Greek)

• Real name: Domenikos Theotocopoulos

• Originally from Crete; studied in Greece and Rome

• Use elongated and contorted figures, portrayed in unusual shades of yellow and green

• Wanted to create a world of intense emotion

Baptism of Christ

Mannerism Artist• Parmigianino

Madonna with the Long Neck

Baroque

Beginnings of Baroque

• Mannerism was eventually replaced by a new movement – the Baroque – that dominated the artistic world for another century and a half.

• Began in Italy in the last quarter of the 16th century and spread to the rest of Europe

Baroque Characteristics

• Baroque artists sought to harmonize the classical traditions of Renaissance art with the intense religious feelings fostered by the revival of religion in the Reformation.

• Baroque art and architecture reflected the search for power that was characteristic of much of the 17th century.

• Architecture featured: richly ornamented facades, sweeping staircases, and an overall splendor that were meant to impress people.

• Baroque painting was known for its use of dramatic effects to heighten emotional intensity.

Baroque Painter• Peter Paul Rubens

• Prolific and important figure in spread of Baroque from Italy to other parts of Europe

• Artistic masterpieces had bodies in violent motion, heavily fleshed nudes, dramatic use of light and shadow, and rich pigments to show intense emotions

The Landing of Marie de Medici at Marseilles

Baroque Architecture• Glan Lorenzo Bernini –

architect and sculptor

• Finished St. Peter’s Basilica and the colonnade enclosing the piazza in front

• Inside St. Peter’s his Throne of Saint Peter hovers in mid-air, held by the hands of the four great doctors of the Catholic Church

St. Peter’s Basilica

ThoughtThe World of Montaigne

Michel de Montaigne• The crises between 1550 and 1650 produced

challenges to the optimistic moral and intellectual premises of the Renaissance.

• The humanist emphasis on the dignity of man and the role of education in producing moral virtue seemed questionable in view of the often violent passions of dynastic and religious warfare.

• Intellectuals and writers began to adopt new approaches in criticizing tradition and authority.

• The concept of positive skepticism is closely associated with the work of Michel de Montaigne.

Montaigne: Background

• Son of a prosperous merchant; received classical education advocated by Renaissance humanists.

• Served as a lawyer and magistrate in the Parlement of Bordeaux.

• Religion so disgusted him that he withdrew to his country estate to think and write his Essays.

Essays• His first two books which were published in 1580.• Aim: to “disclose himself,” or to use self-knowledge

as an instrument to understand the world.• Montaigne questioned tradition and authority and

attacked moral absolutists.• He was especially critical of the Huguenot and ultra-

Catholic fanatics of the French Wars of Religion who deluded themselves and took the easy way out of life’s complexities by trying to kill each other.

Essay on Experience• Montaigne preached moderation and

toleration to counteract fanaticism.• “It is much easier to go along the sides,

where the outer edge serves as a liit and guide, than by the middle way, wide and open, and to go by art than by nature, but it is also much less noble and less commendable. Greatness of soul is not so much pressing upward and forward as knowing how to set oneself in order.”

• He was secular minded and discussed moral issues without reference to Christian truths.

- He wondered, for example, whether “civilized” Europeans were superior to the “savages” of the New World.• He was out of step with his own age of

passionate religious truths and hatreds, but his ideas would be welcomed by many Europeans once Europe passed through this stage of intense intolerance.