Baroque, Part 2

Question 1: Define the following terms: apotheosis, illusionism, and theatricality.

Answer 1: Apotheosis was a common seventeenth-century artistic device in which a subject was given divine or mythic status. It was most often applied to portraits of noble families. Illusionism is a technique of changing or altering a subject so that it appears differently in the artistic medium than it does in reality. For instance, artists can create the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional surface or make figures appear more grandiose than they actually are. Illusionism is also a technique in which one medium is made to look like another medium, such as making a sculpture appear and act like a painting or vice versa. Illusionism was a common element of Baroque paintings, sculpture, and architecture. Theatricality increases the level of drama in any artwork, usually by employing light and contrasting colors and changing the composition.

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Question 2: Define the following terms: Baroque, Caravaggism, Counter-Reformation, decorum, discalced, Gesamtkunstwerk, and transverberation.

Answer 2: Baroque describes seventeenth-century art, which is normally characterized by the expression of multiple and opposing ideas in one composition. These dynamic oppositions include light and dark, realism and subjectivism, and convex and concave shapes. Caravaggism is dramatic impact created by the contrasting use of light and shadow. It was popularized by Caravaggio. The Counter-Reformation was the attempt of the Roman Catholic Church to counteract the Protestant Reformation. It promoted Catholic doctrine, saints, and faith affirmation. Decorum indicates appropriate conduct and appearance, and was often a source of debate among Roman Catholic officials concerning their behaviors and artistic tastes. Discalced means unshod or barefoot. Gesamtkunstwerk is a German word indicating that a work of art is complete, meaning that it combines architecture, painting, sculpture, and music. Bernini’s Cornaro Chapel is an example of Baroque Gesamtkunstwerk. Transverberation is a rapturous transformation experience by someone having a vision.

Question 3: Define the following terms: easel pictures, equestrian portrait, genre, realism, and subjectivity.

Answer 3: Equestrian portraits were very popular in the seventeenth century. They depicted a figure sitting on a horse. Genre is a type of painting that depicts realistic scenes from a person’s day-to-day life. Realism describes art that attempts to emulate nature. Different works of art possess varying degrees of realism, and Baroque art often combined realism and abstraction in the same composition. Subjectivity describes an approach to composition that comes from a person’s intuitive feelings rather than objective reality. Subjective art focuses not only on the artist’s interpretation of his subject but also the viewer’s reaction to it. It attempts to engage the viewer’s emotions rather than her rational faculties.

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