Issues of Art in Service of Religion

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Course Objective(s): CO6: Analyze works of art within their social and historical contexts.

Description: Italian Renaissance and Baroque Masters

Fully answer 1 of the Following Topics.

Topic 1

-or-

Topic 2

Research, read your course materials, and locate an appropriate website for additional information to support your discussion. List the sources of your information at the end of your post, providing links to websites.

You are researching, looking, reading, analyzing, and synthesizing information. Consult websites for additional information. Keep your voice in your writing, always write in your own words. Be sure to do an internet search and include one or more reliable source of information for this topic. 

Please see these helpful art aids:

• Writing about Art
• Writing an Art Critique

Topic 2:

The great Italian Baroque artist, Caravaggio, did not follow all of the rules of proper Italian Baroque art. He chose to depict holy events with people as being rather ordinary, in ordinary settings. Believing that ordinary people could be called to holy service, he shunned using the obvious religious figures and bombastic theater in his works. He gives the viewer a dramatic quietude. The great Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens also worked in the same time period, but in a different country. His works are more like Italian Baroque art and its sense of grand theater. Conduct internet research, and carefully examine and discuss the following images from Caravaggio and Rubens: 

• Caravaggio, The Entombment of Christ 
• Peter Paul Rubens, The Raising of the Cross 
• In your post, answer the following questions:
• What are the similarities and differences between the two paintings? Consider subject matter, light, backgrounds, and figures.
• Where do these paintings reside/where are they located?
• How do they (or did they) function?
• What meaning does each one express? 
• What techniques did the artists use, and how did they fit into their respective cultures? 
• What is your personal reaction/response to these figures, and how (if at all) do they apply to your life and past experiences?

Topic 1:

Donatello is considered the finest of the early Italian Renaissance sculptors. He was known for advancing the ideas of naturalism in the sculpted human figure. Conduct internet research, then examine and discuss two of his works, such as “St. Mark” and “David.” Answer all of the following in your post:

• What does the word renaissance mean? 
• What does humanism mean?
• How might the term renaissance apply to these figures?
• What correlation is there between the figures based on what you researched about the artist? 
• What differences do you see between the figures?
• What is the function of each of these objects, and where were/are they found? 
• What do they each mean?
• What techniques did the artists use, and how did they fit into their respective cultures? 
• What is your personal reaction/response to these figures, and how (if at all) do they apply to your life and past experiences?