Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer 

The Spanish painter Diego Velasquez is in many ways characteristic of the radical naturalism of the Baroque period, which turned away from the idealized, classical figures of the Renaissance.  Read Gombrich’s description of the figures on Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling (pp. 307-310) and the figures in Diego Velasquez’s The Water Carrier (p. 406).  Gombrich describes both artists as geniuses, but their stylistic approaches are very different.  For the last several weeks we have studied the Renaissance and in many ways Michelangelo represents the climax to the story of the Italian Renaissance.  But for contemporary critics, Michelangelo also represented some of its potential criticisms.  How do Michelangelo and Velasquez characterize the changing artistic and cultural values between the Renaissance and Baroque periods?  Use specific examples from the images.  Please cite Gombrich in supporting your answer.