Wednesday, February 24, 1999

Announcements:

• none

• Versailles (built by Louis XIV of France) is a symbol of the power yielded by absolute monarchs during this era.

• Caravaggio (1571-1610) led a difficult life and this fact was reflected in his art
• arrested, prison sentence

• created at the end of his life
• used his own face for Goliath's head
• evidence of his personality in David
• perplexed
• not like Donatello's "David"

• both the characters and the setting (a tavern) appear to be rough
• depicts scene of salvation
• Christ's gesture is taken from that on the Sistine Ceiling
• Matthew is at center counting money (tax collector)
• a story is unfolding
• it is being shown at its most dramatic moment
• conveys a concrete contemporary Christian message: salvation is available to everyone (even a tax collector)
• blends realism with significance
• draws on Caravaggio's own experiences
• tenebrismo or chiaroscuro: extreme contrast between light and dark

• conversion was a key goal of the counterreformation
• based on incident in Acts (of the Apostles) in the New Testament
• on his way to Damascus, God speaks to Paul and he is converted to Christianity
• composition
• circular: lines of Paul's arms join with the lines of the horse's body
• noticeable chiaroscuro (shadows/light)
• natural light can be construed as divine light
• monumental, yet delicate horse
• practical study of factual dimensions
• message: shows that even criminals have access to salvation
• not just the rich, aristocracy
• COMPARE:
• Michelangelo's "Conversion of St. Paul"
• indicates divine event with figures in sky
• Paul is difficult to locate in painting
• conversion is conveyed by ray of light extending from God
• COMPARE
• Paramigianino's "Conversion of St. Paul"
• stylized
• fantasy horse, landscape, sky
• all of nature is caught up in the conversion

• Artemesia Gentileschi (1593-1653)
• one of only a few female's allowed to work as painters at the time
• tended to choose heroic/virtuous women as her subjects
• influenced by Caravaggio

• self-portrait

• evidence of Caravaggio's influence
• chiaroscuro (light)
• composition: lines of fabric draw eyes in circle from one figure to the other
• more emphasis on psychological implications of death
• COMPARE:
• Caravaggio's "Sacrifice of Isaac"
• much emphasis put on the physical ability necessary for a sacrifice

• Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680)

• focuses on union between physical and psychological
• David shown in maximum torque position
• facial expression to convey sense of the moment
• body interacts with the space around it
• viewer appears to be in the middle ot the conflict

• St. Therese
• teacher, administrator, reformer
• Spanish
• Christian mystic
• recounting St. Therese's experience of angel visitation as described in her auto-biography
• contrast between divine crucifixion
• stabbed Christ in an act of mercy
• converted immediately after
• still holding the spear in this image

much movement

open pose

tremendous size

light/dark

• undercutting in fabric
• the changing natural light from the dome changes the effect of the contrast

COMPARE:

• Michelangelo's "David"
• static