400 - 700 words (not including references) Points Possible…

Introduction:

The latter part of the sixteenth century marked the beginning emergence of the scientific revolution. The impact of sharp philosophical and economic change on the conventions of art is significant. This relationship between paradigmatic social change and art production is explored by focusing on the artifacts of the Baroque Period, the Enlightenment, and Romantic Age.

The Baroque Period:

The baroque style is easily identifiable. For example, “aristocratic baroque” reflected the visions and purposes of an aristocracy increasingly threatened by the emergent power of the petty bourgeoisie. Consider the work of Rubens, which is noted for vast, overwhelming paintings and fleshy female nudes that he created while under commission from Maria de’ Medici. Art, however, also reflected the visions and objectives of the new and wealthy middle class as exemplified most clearly by the works of Rembrandt. For Rembrandt, the quality of art could be gauged not only on its own merits but by its value on the open market. The splendor of Baroque art, however, was not limited to two-dimensional form. Baroque architecture, for example, was as ornamental as two-dimensional forms, but because of its scale, the effect was one of dramatic spectacle, as exemplified by the Palace of Versailles and the Taj Mahal. The performing arts were no exception to the rule of change and expressive articulation during the Baroque Period. This era witnessed the emergence of masterworks by Bach and Vivaldi, the emergence of the concerto, the sonata, the cantata, and significantly, opera.

The Enlightenment:

The eighteenth century has often been called the “Age of the Enlightenment,” although historical boundaries are often arbitrary and meaningless in that production and life do not radically change from one century marker to another. Given these limitations, the eighteenth century is highlighted by certain philosophical tenets and artistic tendencies. In fact, faith in science, in human rights arising from natural law, in human reason and progress were touchstones of eighteenth century thought. Additionally, the death of Louis XIV in 1715 brought to a close a courtly tradition that had championed baroque art and marked the emergence of “sociability”, a return to antiquity and the simplicity of nature highlighted in the “Rococo style.” The aristocratic frivolity of rococo style was heavily counterbalanced by the biting satire and social comment of humanitarian painters such as William Hogarth and ballad opera musicians such as John Gay.

The Romantic Age:

Many painters willingly championed the cause of Romanticism. The Romantic style had, after all, an emotional appeal, and its subjects tended towards the picturesque, including nature, Gothic images, and often, the macabre. In seeking to break the geometric principles of classical composition, Romantic compositions moved towards fragmentation of images.

Romantic architecture featured a style now referred to as “picturesque.” Eastern influence, for example, abounded in John Nash’s Royal Pavilion, but the term picturesque also applies to the “Houses of Parliament” which can only be described as strikingly modern.

Finally, music in the Romantic age provided the medium in which many found an unrivaled opportunity to express emotion. In many ways, the “art song,” or Lied, characterizes Romantic music which linked music directly to literature and emphasized organized accompaniments by piano, ultimately leading to compositions written exclusively for the piano as a solo instrument. In fact, the Romantic era is accentuated by the masterworks of Shubert, Liszt, Chopin, Strauss, and Tchaikovsky. Perhaps the crowning musical force of the Romantic Era, however, is the production of “Grand Opera” and the far-reaching contributions of Verdi and Wagner to the world of operatic artistic form.

Baroque art appealed to the emotions and to a desire for magnificence, but at the same time spoke to systematic and rational composition. Music, on the other hand, appears to have been more led by the needs of the churches, which used its emotional and theatrical qualities to make worship more appealing. It was during the Enlightenment, however, that dramatic shifts in art once again occurred. The splendor of the Baroque gave way to a sharp contrast between rococo style and social commentary art. Finally, the Romantic period gave rise to a focus on subjectivity rather than objectivity and intense emotional expression in the arts. Let’s look at some representative pieces of this time period.

Painting:

Charles I at the Hunt, Anthony Van Dyck. Musee du Louvre, Paris, France.

Date: 1635

Sculpture:

David, Gianlorenzo Bernini. Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy.

Date: 1623

Architecture:

Saint Paul's Cathedral, Christopher Wren. London, England

Date: 1675-1710

Literature:

Renes Descartes. After the sixteenth century, the mood darkened considerably and literature seemed to move away from love and frivolity to inner angst. The period did, however, see the rise of the novel. By the Enlightenment, literature had shifted from inner angst to biting sarcasm and social commentary. The focus transitioned yet again in the Romantic age to transcendentalism and the ordinary life.

Theatre:

Despite the shift to the novel, the eighteenth century also saw a commitment to the theatre. Production style remained refined, however, until the onset of the Romantic Era which, unfortunately, was its own worst enemy in terms of theatre.

Dance:

Baroque dance featured symmetrical and harmonious gestures, but the theatrical trappings of dance were incredibly opulent. The Enlightenment, however, gave way almost unwittingly to less formality with the emergence of Marie Anne Cupis de Camargo, a brilliant ballerina. By the Romantic Age, Gautier was exclusively focused on ballerinas placing sensual enjoyment and eroticism squarely at the center of aesthetics.

Music:

Renaissance music differed from the late medieval style particularly in features such as greater melodic and rhythmic integration, a more extended range, broader texture, and subjection to harmonic principles of order.

The Baroque Age:

The Enlightenment:

The Romantic Age:

For any given time period there are multiple artists producing crafts, fine arts, architecture, and musical or written masterpieces. While history has recorded the contributions of certain artists, others have remained unknown or unnamed. In this section, resources for some representative artists are provided.

Middle Ages:

One of the most prominent names in the Baroque era is certainly that of Rembrandt, although Rubens, El Greco, Poussin, and Puget were significant artists in their own rights. The Baroque also saw the emergence of significant philosophers such as Rene DesCartes, Francis Bacon, John Locke, and Thomas Hobbes. Not surprisingly, master composers and writers were also associated with this age including John Sebastian Bach and John Donne. The Enlightenment, with a different focus gave rise to different artists including Hogarth, Gainsborough, Jacques-Louis David, different composers such as Mozart and Beethoven, opera writer John Gay, ballerina Marie Anne Cupis de Camargo, writers Alexander Pope and Oliver Goldsmith. Finally, the Romantic Era witnessed the emergence of artists such as Goya, Turner and Delacroix; architects Nash and Paxton, musical composers
Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, opera greats Wagner and Verdi; and the writings of Hegel, Wordsworth, Coleridge Austen, Byron, Keats, Shelley, Balzac, Dickens, Poe, and Charles Darwin.

Baroque:

Rubens: http://www.artchive.com/artchive/R/rubens.html

El Greco: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/greco_el.html

Poussin: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/poussin_nicolas.html

Puget: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/puget_pierre.html

DesCartes: http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/d/descarte.htm

Francis Bacon: http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/bacon/

John Locke: http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/l/locke.htm

Thomas Hobbes: http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/h/hobbes.htm

Bach: http://www.islandnet.com/~arton/bqxjsbach.html

John Donne: http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/

The Enlightenment:

Hogarth: http://www.lamp.ac.uk/hogarth/

Gainsborough: http://www.abcgallery.com/G/gainsborough/gainsborough.html

Jacques-Louis David: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/david_jacques-louis.html

Mozart: http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/mozart.html

Beethoven: http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/beethoven.html

John Gay: http://www.uoregon.edu/~rbear/beggar.html

Marie Anne Cupis de Camargo: http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/100import/camargo.html

Alexander Pope: http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poet263.html

Oliver Goldsmith: http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/goldsmith001.html

The Romantic Age:

Goya: http://www.imageone.com/goya/

Turner: http://www.j-m-w-turner.co.uk/

Delacroix: http://www.artchive.com/artchive/D/delacroix.html

John Nash: http://www.britainexpress.com/History/nash.htm

Sir Joseph Paxton: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/paxton_joseph.shtml

Schubert: http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/schubert.html

Mendelssohn: http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/mendelssohn.html

Chopin: http://www.classicalarchives.com/chopin.html

Tchaikovsky: http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/5648/Tchaikovsky.htm

Brahms: http://www.johannesbrahms.org/

Wagner: http://opera.stanford.edu/Wagner/

Verdi: http://opera.stanford.edu/Verdi/main.html

Hegel: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hegel/

Wordsworth: http://members.aol.com/wordspage/home.htm

Coleridge: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/stc/Coleridge/stc.html

Jane Austen: http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/janeinfo.html

Lord Byron: http://www.englishhistory.net/byron.html

Keats: http://www.john-keats.com/

Shelley: http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poet296.html

Balzac: http://members.aol.com/balssa/balzac/balzac.html

Dickens: http://www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/Dickens.html

Poe: http://www.pambytes.com/poe/poe.html

Charles Darwin: http://www.aboutdarwin.com/

There are rich and robust internet resources available for viewing and absorbing a variety of art forms. For this era check out some of the following websites:

www.artcyclopedia.com/history/baroque.html

http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHbaroque.html#Baroque

The Enlightenment:

Rococo Style: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/history/rococo.html

Neoclassicism: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/history/neoclassicism.html

18^th Century Art: http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTH18thcentury.html#18century

Romanticism:

The Arts of Romanticism: http://www.artcyclopedia.com/history/romanticism.html

19^th Century Art: http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks5.html#19century