Baroque Art Reflection Paper

The Baroque era and style of painting and sculpture has become one of my favorites within the art world. The dramatics on display in many of the works from that time make each and every art piece more engaging. This particular movement is significant to me in that it was the first movement of art which I found myself interested in. In fact, the first art exhibit I willingly attended was “Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome” at the Kimbell Art Museum a little over four years ago. I had gone to many museums in many cities before that – entirely out of familial obligation - but this exhibit contained the first works I found truly evocative and enjoyable to view. Therefore, I write about this period because it is to it I owe my overall interest …show more content…
This façade of perfection eventually imbued a sense of vapidity to the latter works of the Renaissance. In my opinion, at that point in time, the art world was desperate for evolution. Leading into the Baroque, there were two major stylistic changes occurring. First, a change from works with little to no implied movement to works with heavily accentuated movement, and the subjects within those works being caught at the height of action. The second is a major change in the utilization of light or the lack thereof. The majority of Renaissance paintings are bright and colorful. When shadows were used, such as can be seen in the works of Leonardo da Vinci, there was an apparent subtlety. Leonardo in particular utilized the technique of chiaroscuro, where there is a lengthy gradation between light and dark. In contrast, the Baroque is characterized by incredibly stark, deep, and heavy shadows – tenebrism. This development within the art world led to the trademark darkness that is easily visible within Baroque …show more content…
From the apparent roughness of the waves to the ominous clouds in the background, the painting oozes intensity and motion. We can see a few small boats in the middle-ground being blown around by the apparently gusting wind, and further in the distance, markedly larger ships that are seemingly less affected by the elements. As is typical of the Baroque, the painting is quite dark. The majority of the darkness is in the sea towards the bottom of the painting. As I previously stated, the painting is dramatic and intense, and the boats which are more greatly affected by the wind are at a diagonal, implying the vigorous motion and movement of them. This painting has a low horizon line as the majority of the action and depictions one is drawn to in the painting are taking place below the midline. The work is somewhat odd in the sense that the only figures on display are somewhat difficult to make out. Whether or not they are plebian is hard to say. Having been painted sometime within the 1650s, that puts this work squarely within the Baroque era. I would say that it would be somewhat difficult to discern the art movement this painting came from without the knowledge of when it was painted as that is perhaps its most easily and recognizably indicative