Renaissance & Baroque Art

1) WHAT IS HUMANISM ?  

One of the big changes in the Renaissance was in the basic way people thought about things. As you can see above this painting is Venus and the Lute Player by artist Titian and Workshop. 1565–70 Figures became more life like, scenes from common life were more often portrayed, and the themes portrayed became more liberal, a bit more humanistic. Artist Titian reveals the true nature of humanism.here. Actually during this time, men desired more heavy women. The bigger you were meant the richer you were. From this painting we can get a visual sense of humanism from the way her body was painted. 

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2) WHAT ARE SOME QUALITIES OF JAN VAN EYCK PAINTINGS?
 

     Jan Van Eyck is known to be one of the most significant Northern Renaissance artist of the 15th century and I can see why! Nevertheless this portrait "Jan de Leeuw" painted by Eyck during 1436 reveals some of the amazing qualities that he had. Van Eyck exploited the qualities of oil as never before and completely took it to another level. By looking at this portrait, we can see a sense of pure glazed colors which in some ways it feels kinda modern in a way. It's very detailed and it's super realism. His beautiful form of light and shadows create a really extraordinary atmosphere and  exudes their presence in a holy and earthly environment. Van Eyck really  allows us  to really get absorbed into the individual personality. 

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3) DESCRIBE THE QUALITIES OF BAROQUE ART IN AN ARTWORK OF YOUR CHOICE!

          Renaissance painters and sculptors were among the first to use perspective in their work. This allowed them to give more realism to their creations. However, this focus on adding depth to their work has made paintings and sculptures seem to lack emotions and failed to capture the emotions that it should depict. That wasn't until the 17th hundreds Baroque artist such as Caravaggio took art to a whole new level. This painting is "Medusa" which was painted by Caravaggio 1598. What's unique about this is he painted it on canvas that was applied to a wooden shield. Now you can definitely see a major difference on the dynamics compared to the qualities of Renaissance art. For example Caravaggio heightens this combination of life and death through Medusa’s intense expression. We see her wide-open mouth exudes a silent but dramatic scream and her shocked eyes which makes one really visualize, see more of an perspective. Caravaggio's Medusa comes across as very human, which is very interesting. From this painting we can get a sense of how Baroque art is compared to  Renaissance art was more dynamic, dark, and dramatic. More humanistic.