The Gathering of Manna by Poussin differs a lot from the drama and the violence of the Italian and the realism and precision of the Dutch manner of the time. His work rejects the seductive attractions of Baroque paintings which include the use of lustrous colors alongside vibrant brush works. Instead, his works adopt a style that was cerebral and that delineated. With this portrait, Poussin took an intellectual approach that aimed at capturing a complex sequence of events into one static image. He abandoned the Baroque style that was much prevalent in Europe at that time and turned to the Classical style. The scene painted is based on biblical events that took place when God provided food to the Israelites in the wilderness. Poussin synthesizes the classical worldview and the Christian morality in paintings by accepting the rules and norms that defined the classical period. The painting manages to be a true representation of what happened in the provision of manna in the wilderness while at the same time respects the proper sequence of narrative moments.
The irony in Watteau’s Pilgrimage to Cythera can be detected from how the painting idealizes courtship. In the painting, courtship is illustrated as a game that seems to be mutual, convectional, and where both parties find pleasure. Watteau’s idealization of the process of courtship can be seen through his use of symbols to include flowers, music, and statues as well as through the use of non-verbal communication signaling in which the subjects of the painting engage in. This painting is ironic and does not serve as a representation of courtship and marriage in the 18th century where marriage in most instances was attached to economic purposes instead of love. Most of the marriages during this time were arranged marriages and there was no time to lure each other in the courtship period. The painting is an illustration of growing intimacy seems as the characters proceed women hold on to the men to show that they are not being forced into anything but are doing so on their own free will. However, intimacy was not a consideration in this period. The satirical thrust expressed in Marriage A-la-Mode is about patronage, marriage morals, and aesthetics. Also, Hogarth satirizes the skewering of the 18th-century society through the illustration of disastrous results in an ill-considered marriage.
Works Cited
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6IlhxxOdGI
https://smarthistory.org/antoine-watteau-pilgrimage-to-cythera/
https://smarthistory.org/william-hogarth-marriage-a-la-mode/
