ART AND CULTURE
Visual art: Baroque architecture
Overview
Pietro da Cortona showed an interest in architecture while he was young, and later his passion was motivated by Pope Alexander VII and other architects. Even though he received inspiration from other architects, much of the knowledge and skills were gained through own effort since there were no formal training and his colleagues such as Bernini and Michelangelo had less architectural education (Merz & Blunt, 2008). However, in 16th and 17 the century, architecture education was developed and Cortona and his colleagues received exclusive training on architecture discipline. Cortona's architecture artwork focused on the Baroque Rome to reflect the Catholic Counter-Reformation art (Merz & Blunt, 2008). Martin Luther was against the Catholicism and he designed a movement to transform the European political and religious beliefs. Merz & Blunt (2008) affirm that religious and social factors influenced Cortona in his artwork since he was baptized in a Catholic church and grew up in a family where the male members worked in the architecture field.
Expert/Historian point of view
Camara (2015) asserts that the artist's intention in the creation of artwork was to respond to the crisis and defend the Catholic doctrines. The author says that the architecture work symbolizes the Catholic doctrines, the virtuous behaviors, and beliefs. The architect also wanted to rebuild the Rome's reputation and proclaim that Rome was not greed and corrupt as Martin Luther asserted, but it was a pure bride. In specific, the purpose of the Baroque architecture was to persuade and to instruct the people about the Catholic's pastoral role, Christ's sacrifice, the Catholic truth, and they also presented a way to celebrate Catholicism (Camara, 2015). The features as large open space, light, sculpted angles, quadrature, painted details and figures, polychrome sculpture, and other features presented the reclamation of Catholic identity, power, and status. The author finds that the Baroque architecture presents significant religious meaning since it reveals how the Roman Catholic Church regained confidence. The art differentiates between the Catholic and Protestant churches by making visible distinctive features such as Christ's suffering, the Virgin Mary, the Biblical painting and other important features that were against the Protestantism (Camara, 2015).
Reaction
According to my point of view, the Baroque art during the Roman Empire in the 17th century represents the Catholic majesty. Despite the remarkable changes that occurred during the Renaissance, the Roman Empire suffered from the Protestant Reformation-a period when the Protestant churches were against the Catholic churches (Merz & Blunt, 2008). My suggestions are influenced by the religious and political backgrounds that during the 16th century, Western Europe had only one church called the Roman Catholic Church that ruled the Papal States. However, other political power from the unified nation states and Italian city-states had more power that enabled them to overrule the Rome Catholic Church. Martin Luther supported the Protestant Reformation as he was against the Roman Church practices and doctrines. With respect to the political and religious context, the artwork message represents the Roman Catholic Church response to the Lutheran idea (Merz & Blunt, 2008). The Roman Catholic Church used images to communicate the religious doctrine, the Christ transfiguration, Christ's suffering, and the realism. Today, the Baroque art of the 17th century show that the Roman Catholic Church redefined its position and Catholic dominance (Merz & Blunt, 2008). The Baroque style has a significant role in the historical period since the Catholic Church triumphed and reformed its religious order.
References
Merz, J. M., & Blunt, A. (2008). Pietro da Cortona and Roman Baroque architecture. New
Haven [Conn.: Yale University Press.
Camara Esperanca. (2015). Baroque art, an introduction. smarthistory. Retrieved from:
https://smarthistory.org/a-beginners-guide-to-baroque-art/
