Renaissance (1400-1520)

Mannerism (1520-1590)

Baroque (1560-1774)

rinascita = rebirth

manierismo, maniera = manner, style

1.order: symmetry, proportion, balance

1.Reaction to classicism and naturalism

of High Renaissance

2. Rebirth of humanism (paganism)

[the impact of Reformation)

baroco
[Portuguese=
irregular]
baroqueFren
ch->English]

(Reintegration of Classicism and

Christianity)

2. Artists learn from the model of High 1.Generally as a

Renaissance masters, esp. Michelangelo Counterreformation
3. Artists observe Nature from the model of and Raphael.
reaction to
classical antiquity
Reformation
and
Mannerism.
2. Artists have a
new interest in
Nature.

Normal, supernormal, ideal;

Abnormal or anormal;

1. Grandeur

Appeal to the universal

Exploits strangeness of subject,

1. Harmony, consonance

uncontrolled emotion,

2. Balance and proportion: centralized

1. Dissonance

2. Extreme and
diverse
emotional states
(religious
fervor)
3. Tension

3. Frozen moment--idealized space-time

2. Disturbed balance and proportion

4. Rest and certainty

3. Zigzag or spiral moveme1nt-restlessness

between
contrasting
forces
4. Movement

4. Restless, ambiguous
5. Perception of
the infinite
6. Domestic
intimacy

1. Religious concept of earth-universe is still 1. The concept of Earth-center world was

dominant.
broken by scientists, such as Copernicus,
Galileo, Kepler. Solar-center, eccentric,
2. Harmonious relation between microcosm elliptical.
and macrocosm.
2. Disintegration of universe: religion,
humanity
3. Skeptical, witty

1. Reintegration
of belief (the
material fact
and empirical
observation as
foundation of
the
spiritual)--"acce
pt secular pomp
and the
efficiency of
the flesh."
2. Resettle the
skeptic
uncertainties in
M. through

spectacles.

Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (1591)

Milton, Comus
Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spencer, Sonnets
Machiavelli, The Prince (1513)
Erasmus, Praise of Folly (1509)
Thomas More, Utopia (1516)

Shakespeare, Hamlet.(1601-2)
Milton, Lycidas
Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress"
Montaigne, Essays
Luther, The Small Catechism

1. Central, Controlled; measured,

harmonious

1. dis-centered, disjointed, ambiguous,

2. Pushed to the foreground

2. "Tectonic", close space
3. Vortex-like, tunnel-like

Shakespeare,
King Lear
(1605-6)
Milton,
Paradise Lost,
(1667)
*Donne,
"Canonization"
Hobbes,
Leviathan
(materialism)
Locke,
empirical
philosophy
Gracian, The
Oracle (1647)
Bacon, Atlantis,
(1629)

1. Oblique,
emphasizes on
contrast and
depth, and
movement,
2.

"Recessional"
3. "Folding"

1. Harmonious, integrated, centralized,

1. conflicting with frame and parts,

2 "tectonic", and closed

dis-central,

3. Fixed, linear perspective

2. Zigzag, spiral composition,

3. Oblique or mobile perspective

1. Contrasting
bi-polarity as
constructing
unit: synthesis
2. Zigzag,
diagonal
composition
3. Oblique,
intimate
perspective

Normative, idealized

Distorted, extended, twisted

Normative, use
proportion to
highlight
contrast of
importance,
esp. class status

Natural, balanced, controlled, harmonious

Contrasting, strange combination

Strong contrast
of light and
dark=

chiaroscuro,
tonal color

1.

Renaissance

Linear

1. clarity of contour; sharp edge and boundaries;

Mannerism

Baroque

Painterly

1.Bluring the contours (), boundaries of

visual forms;

2. Separating details in isolating way

2. Merging objects and images;
3. Obscuring the subordinate parts;

Searching for the ambiguous,

2

Plane

1. Use horizontal perspective (linear perspective).

Recession

1. Use oblique angles (zigzag composition)

2. Arranging objects or designs on wall-defined

plane

2. The plane is broken or disappears

3. Creating the illusion of depth and distance

3. Influenced by "low-relief", flat background

Searching for the infinite depth

Raphael's ideal, monumental space
Botticelli's flat background

Michelangelo, Last Judgment

El Greco's folding space

Tintorettos funnel space

Borromini's church facade

Parmigianino's ambiguous space

Bernini's painterly sculpture

Milton, Paradise Lost

Flat facades

Closed Form

1. Bound by a apparent limit (theme, theses) and

"frame" --"tectonic"

Open From

1. Conflicting with the frame,

Open Form

1. The subject extends or flows out of the

frame--"atectonic"

2. The frame help to create ambiguity

2. Balance between vertical and horizontal

2. Limitless, flowing

3. Geometry and proportion

3. merge into space

 Renaissance sonnets,
Boccaccio's Decameron
Machiavelli, The Prince
Castiglione, The Courtier
Luther, The Small Catechism
Erasmus, The Praises of Folly
Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

*Metaphysical Poet

*Metaphysical Poet: favor of conceit,

paradox, irony, ambiguity

Shakespeare, Hamlet,
Cervantes' Don Quixote (picaresque,
episodic)
Gracian, The Arts of Worldly Wisdoms
La Rochefoucauld, Maxims
Shakespeare, Othello, King Lear

4.

Multiple details

1. individual details maintain their identity and

independence

Multiple but ambiguous details

Unified by obliterating details

1. Organic: in a unified composition, the

details are submerged in a tonal rhythm or
direction, or merged into the dark
2. Unification of detail within one dominant

Raphael's School of Athens

Tintoretto's Last Supper

Caravaggio, Carracci, Rubens, Rembrandt

Leonardo's Last Supper

Milton's Paradise Lost

Bosch, Garden of Earthly Delights

Cervantes's Don Quixote: the episodic

adventures are centered on the Quixote-Panza

bipolarity.

Absolute Clarity

Ambiguity

1.The design, color, and light serve to define the

structure of individual forms.

Relative Clarity

1. The color and light have their own value.

2. Conflict between form and lighting, or
between light and line
3. The accent of color and light may distort or
obliterate objects.

Rest

Renaissance Sonnet
French Baroque:
Versailles chapel
Poussin, Lorrain

Motion (Multiple Direction)

Tintoretto

Motion (Unified Direction)

El Greco, Rubens,
Metaphysical poets,

Johnson, " Drink to Me Only with Thine Eye"

Why is Michealangelo's statue of David universally known, while Bernini's statue of David doesn't receive the
same level of recognition?
Putting aside personal preference of course. I think both statues have their merits, but is there an artistic or historical reason
why one became so famous and the other didn't?

3 Answers

Huzefa Bangdiwala
229 Views
I believe the answer also lies in their different eras....
While Michaelangelo considered as the best sculptor of the renaissance, Bernini is known as father of Baroque. Michaelangelo
had Medicis and Bernini had Popes(Pope Urban VIII, Pope Innocent X).While renaissance brought Europe out of the middle
ages, Baroque is its further progression. Renaissance has its own respect in the history and also is well written and credited in
documentation while Baroque is not so well spread in terms of popularity among common people. Both artists are extremely
talented in their own styles and respect however since we are discussing these particular work of art, the visual differences
matters.
Like pointed out by Belinda, size is one aspect. Contours, movement, visibility, current placement etc are others.
Borrowing a table from the below website to explain the basic difference in both styles:@What's the difference between
Renaissance and Baroque art?