Lei Marie Danielle M.

Tolentino
CPAR - CC

Renaissance
The Renaissance art movement of knowledge and personal responsibility which took
primarily in Italy before it reached far and wide after the Medieval period. It heavily focused on
religion and its figures and since the church was one of the most powerful and wealthy institutions
in Italy, it was able to commission artists to create sculptures and architectures that adorned served
church iconography and function. Christians saints were painted and sculpted to replace Byzantine
mosaics and murals with Greek mythological imagery. Direct influence from antiquity on form
and technique was still visible. Antiquity was used as a backdrop. Artist's incorporated and fused
the Christian iconography with Greek and Roman symbols and imagery. In general, the
Renaissance period strongly focused on religion, philosophy and mythological subjects.
With the highly religion-based subjects taken into consideration, the art of the Renaissance
movement also made its viewers contemplate on similar ideas. For example, Raphael’s four rooms
which featured the school of Athens made viewers ponder on the relationship between religion
and philosophy.
The common media used in Renaissance art were bright and deep-colored paint, mostly on
concrete and canvas, and stone, which was used for sculptures. Perspective was also one
achievement the Renaissance period gained. It allowed new space to be configured in the paintings.
Flat and stacked spaced elements from the previous eras were replaced by mathematically accurate
images with dimension and depth. Masaccio’s The Holy Trinity is said to be the earliest art work
to show linear perspective. It accurately represented an architectural space. It repressed viewers at
the time that it is compared to how we would feel about 3D movies today.

Baroque
During the Baroque period, the church was becoming threatened by the increasing
population converting to Lutheranism. However, back then, most people were illiterate, and the
written word did nothing to help spread their teachings. So, they used art as an advertising
campaign without it being too noticeable, which is why most baroque works you see today show
notable biblical figures. Most of these captured the ultimate dramatic moments of events like the
Crucifixion of St. Peter by Caravaggio.
Baroque art was essentially meant to teach moral lessons to the masses and to persuade of
the importance of biblical and classic mythological events. These works were heavily focused on
Christian righteousness and sin. Caravaggio specifically showed how baroque used art to tell a
story as they evoked a spiritual response and reinstated faith in one fell swoop without any of it
being evident.
The Baroque art movement was and is still known for its extravagance, detail, exuberance,
drama, intensity, vividness and realism. Most works were painted using dramatic and strong colors
with remarkable detail. Because of this, the term “baroque” was initially derogatory. To call
something baroque meant that it was overly exaggerated and filled with unflattering details like
wrinkles. And unlike Renaissance, the elements and figures of composition in baroque were
overlapped instead of having one focal figure in the center of a work.

Rococo
The Rococo period, also called the late Baroque period, happened in the 1700s. It is said
to be the easiest art movement to identify as it has one common subject: the royal, the rich and the
elite. A popular figure featured in Rococo art is Marie Antoinette, the former queen of France, who
is now known for having refined the rococo style that marked the “reign” of Madame de
Pompadour, Louis XV’s most brilliant and influential mistress. Unlike the previous eras, rococo
was not religious or historic.
When King Louis XIV passed away, the French nobles were ecstatic to finally have
freedom again, which essentially helped form the playful and lighthearted nature of rococo. Unlike
baroque or neoclassical, rococo was not serious or stern. This is because the patrons (the people
who were spending money during the Rococo art movement) were the aristocracy. They wanted
pleasant artwork and decorations to adorn their homes and life was all about pleasure, especially
in France. Other words often used to associate with rococo are love, eroticism and sexuality. In
addition to that, a good number of works are also seen to feature scenes inspired by theatre and
Asian decorations, as the people of France then were highly fascinated by Eastern culture.
Rococo art is present in the form of paintings and structures. The works are known for their
lighter and pastel palette, curved lines, elaborate decorations and asymmetry. This choice of color
was used even in serious architecture like the prince-elector’s palace in Trier, Germany. Despite
the lighter palette, some rococo works can still be dark. This however can still be differentiated
from baroque by looking at the figures painted. People in rococo paintings tend to look like they
are glowing because of the lack of strong shadows.

Neoclassicism
The Neoclassical period looked back at classical elements of art. Although most
neoclassical art works might look cold and emotionless, some of the subjects were emotional. Most
neoclassical works promoted patriotism, sacrifice and courage.
In general, it was its physical style that made it different from baroque art.
Neoclassicism shunned the sensuality and shallow character of rococo. Instead, symmetry,
proportion, simplicity (from Renaissance) were brought back and patriotism, honor and human
rights were heavily focused on.
Because of the fascination with archaeology (being new at the time), people saw the
simplicity of ancient artworks from different cultures. With this rediscovery, older styles came
back into vogue. Artists competed amongst themselves to have the best imitation of these older
specifically Greco Roman styles. Sculptors even insisted that their subjects wear Roman style
clothing to capture the essence of Roman Style. However, although Romans valued ideal looks,
neoclassical artists were more flexible.
 People of this movement were more focused on following valued reason and individualism
rather than traditions of age-old practices. These ideas sparked revolution around the world,
specifically the French Revolution.
Most neoclassical art works are in the form of architecture, paintings and sculptures; all of
which featuring simple geometric forms while still being proportional.

While working on this research, one artist that captured my interest was Jacques-Louis
David, particularly from his work “The Oath of Horatii”. Seeing the painting immediately
reminded me of Juan Luna’s “Spoliarium” as both works feature Roman men and their armor.
Although both are rather dark in nature, the fact that Juan Luna used deeper shades with stronger
shadows made Spoliarium even more dramatic. The Oath of Horatii on the other hand used lighter
colors for a scenery that shows patriotism. I would say I like both works equally but if I were to
pick which made me feel more emotion, it would be Spoliarium, as it not only looks incredibly
dynamic and moving but it shows you the truth more; it shows you dead men being stripped of
their weapons and clothing.