WK10-Renaissance Art

            Renaissance art overall particularly the High Renaissance was very enjoyable. I was strongly drawn to, and intrigued by Historia paintings Baroque and Romanticism. In most instances, if not all I was intrigued visually by the details of art within any period with a few exceptions. Theodore Gericault’s piece The Raft of the “Medusa” intrigued me not only visually but historically. A piece with Romanticism characteristics all over it, the historical context caught my attention more than the painting itself because I had seen works equally striking. It was the story behind the painting that blew me away. The thought of something so tragic conveyed into a painting was unreal. It persuaded me to take a second glance at the image before me; “The Raft of the Medusa”, and examine it thoroughly. I endlessly compared the story to the depictions in the painting visualizing the event as it happened. In the painting, the back corner of the raft floats in the bottom middle foreground; while it’s other two visible side corners reach to the left and right bottom appearing to extend off the sides of the canvas. The composition is very visually striking, and it evokes great emotion.  The lifeless pale dead bodies lying about on the back edge of the raft is saddening. Some partially on the raft and partially in the water it is a very dramatic driven piece. It is a horrifying nightmare in which, one can only sympathize for the individuals. I felt like this piece emphasized the importance of each person upon the raft. This was very much a tragic Romanists work of art. It definitely stresses emotion, intuition not in the common since but just a characteristic of Romanticism, and reason. His painting looked inwardly and focused on an aspect of the past.

Baroque art is one of my favorite styles thus far simply because of the lighting. One of my most beloved pieces is by Joseph Wright the Blacksmiths Shop. It was very much in my opinion, a Baroque style with slight classical influence in subject matter but a strong diagonal composition. It possessed naturalism and illusion in a dramatic setting. I felt slightly involve with the painting myself because of the strong transition of lighting. My reaction was almost similarly to the blacksmiths, reacting to the light as if I was actually a part of the painting. Joseph’s “An Experiment on a Bird in the Air-pump” was also a fascinating piece. Quite similar in style to his Blacksmiths Shop, it’s a depiction of men, women and children gathered in the dark around a science experiment conducted under a small bright light. This light highlights the garments and faces of each individual, giving the viewer a visual detail. The man conducting the experience is actually the center of the piece along with the equipment he’s using. The light doesn’t highlight him as much. The piece is both calming and unsettling.

Historia Art are paintings with narrative that tell a story in which, instruct the viewer in a pleasurable sense. It contains a variety of colors and bodies in the composition that moves the viewers through the expressiveness of the figures represented. I feel like Baroque and Romanticism all have characteristics of historia to some degree. I enjoy a good story and if a painting is well painted, with all the above criteria such as Baroque style etc, it has my interest. Historia art is what drives my interest because I like to know the meaning or story behind a painting. But not just any story, a story that is dramatic, emotionally driven like Baroque art. It must be a painting that focuses on individuals and stress emotion like Romanticism.