ART (1550AD)
“The journey within”
Art has always been a mirror of culture. It is no surprise that the process of internalization is reflected in the history or art. In this overview we bypass the mighty and their achievements because power is seeking glory rather than accountability. We follow the journey within, illustrated by examples of the Renaissance and Baroque.
Perhaps you remember that the cave paintings served a magical purpose, namely gaining control over nature and life. Animals, not man are being painted because animals were important to survive. In classical antiquity one paints more often man. The Greeks represented the ideal – god or hero. Roman art is more personal with typical, individual features. During the Middle Ages this trend is interrupted. Art is serving religion. Sculptures and paintings should convey the gospel to people who cannot read. But during the Renaissance, focus on the human aspect is back again. Less and less the eternal, sacred, heavenly- and more and more the temporary, every day, earthly life including landscapes and domestic scenes. Around 1650 Rembrandt painted people with all their peculiarities and weaknesses. Two centuries later Van Gogh used strange colors and shapes to express pure emotion or experience. Nowadays modern art usually represents human feelings or purely abstract ideas.
During the Renaissance and Baroque two Italian artists gained wide following. Michelangelo is sometimes called the athlete of imagination – endlessly fascinated by people as he perceived them! Although the context is religious, only people and their emotions were his subject. He painted the Sistine Chapel and the ‘Day of Judgement’ with human faces distorted by hatred, remorse or disgust. You will find every facial expression in this work. He sculpted the Pieta with beauty and mourning, youth and death. The only work that he signed with his name on Maria’s belt.
And a century later Bernini, the sculptor who was said to bring marble to life. Bernini’s sculptures are not statues. His figures break free from gravity: running, screaming, writhing or bending in great turmoil. Santa Teresa’s extasy, catching a glimpse of heavenly presence. A fat cardinal so tightly packed in his chasuble that one of the buttons won’t go all the way through the buttonhole. With eyes so refined that they seem to twinkle. All his works are laden with emotions.
People on their way to the concrete, temporary, earthly and ultimately to themselves. It would be a long journey of discovery. One that can never completely end. Michelangelo once said:” He who follows others can never surpass them.” Perhaps we can say with a nod to his motto: “those who follow others never become themselves.”