ARC1401 Student Code: 24213160

Essay 1

In Scopic regimes of modernity (in Hal Foster, ed., Vision and Visuality, Bay Press, 1988) Martin Jay contrasts the scopic regimes of the Renaissance and Baroque. Critically explore his argument and the concept of the scopic regime in response to two of the following artworks.
In the article, Visual and visuality, Martin Jay explicitly depicts the differences in the types of scopic regimes between the period of the Renaissance and the Baroque. He describes the Renaissance period to be normally considered resolutely occularcentric as he refers to people during the Renaissance to have placed more faith in the sense of sight. He also illustrates the dramatic change in history as art moved into the Baroque period, where paintings were filled with life and depth as opposed to the static and detached Renaissance works. The scopic regimes of these design periods conflicted. Many artists and philosophers have debated over which period was superior. Debates over the Renaissance focused on its occularcentric approach to many artworks. Pieces such as The Arnolfini Portrait , although not completely accurate, showcases Cartesian Perspectivalism. The idea of using perspective was to dictate the meaning of the illustration with the centre figure becoming the main idea. In The Arnolfini Portrait, the painting shows a married couple holding hands in the middle of a bedroom. The focal point is focused onto their hands, drawing great attention from the viewer to the couples relationship, implying that they are a married couple. The weight of the painting has also shifted onto the centre of the painting, conveying an overall static and isolated emotion from the viewer. The colours used by Jan van Eyck seem to be somewhat desaturated, creating a naturalistic, idealistic impression of the married couple. This approach of naturalism was a predominant characteristic in the scopic regime of the Renaissance, crafting many idealized figures in artworks such as Michelangelos sculpture of David , where the physique of David had been depicted as a colossal, masculine man, whereas the tale of David described him as a young adolescent boy. The period of the Renaissance had an abstract coldness of the perspectival gaze which often left the viewer feeling detached, similar to looking at the image through a window as a spectator, rather than being involved with the story of the painting. This technique was the Albertian window, a key part of the master model in Renaissance, where the painting is evenly framed, emphasizing on the idealistic approach of naturalism, where everything is aligned. In contrast to the Renaissances cold and conformed nature, the Baroque period began a time of expression and dramaticism. Early Baroque was not particularly accepted by society, and the name Baroque, in
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ARC1401 Student Code: 24213160

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Portuguese meaning abnormally shaped pearl, was birthed as an insult. Artworks breaching the classical model were disdained by champions of clarity and transparency of form. The major shift in design styles required some time for the public to comprehend and adapt. One of the significant differences in paintings when compared to the Renaissance was the use of dramatic lighting, or Chiaroscuro. In the gory depiction of Judith Slaying Holofernes , Artemisia Gentileschi employs the use of light and dark as the foreground of the painting is shrouded in shadow and the three figures of the painting are placed in a strong light, capturing the attention of the viewer. Through this usage of light, the contours from the objects of the painting are more clearly defined, granting it a tactile or haptic quality . The strong light source adds another dimension into Baroque paintings, adding life and a connection with the viewer as the paintings now seem in reach and interactive, whereas the classical model had little life nor emotion. The dynamic movement in Baroque paintings, similar to freeze-frame photos, gave life to the painting. In this image of Judith slaying Holofernes, it encapsulates the gushing of blood from Holofernes neck as the fair maiden struggles to behead the Assyrian general as he struggles to escape. The painting is a cathartic expression of the artists private, and perhaps repressed rage , a materialization of Artemisia Gentileschis frustration onto a canvas. The Baroque was the period of expression and the manifestation of emotion, encapsulated in artworks. The body returns to dethrone the disinterested gaze of the disincarnated Cartesian spectator. Jay remarks, suggesting the Baroque was a period which boldly confronted and challenged the Renaissance. While comparing the design periods, Martin Jay comments the radical dethroning of Cartesian perspectivalism may have gone a bit too far. Jay contends that not one of the design periods were more superior to the other. We may be tempted to forget that the other scopic regimes I have quickly sketched are themselves no more natural or closer to a true vision. We can agree with Jay that at times, we forget that all art is subjective and there is no true perfection in art. All works are prone to our own respective subjectivity. We can have our own view of perfection, but it does not define the universal true vision. The Baroque and the Renaissance were both periods of great importance to the development of design and culture in the modern day era. With the Renaissance being the dawn of perspective, artworks became filled with science and mathematics, conforming all artists during the period to the classical model. The Baroque period enabled many artists to release their repressed emotions and to create artworks with great expression and movement through the use of dynamic lighting. Being so different from the Renaissance, the Baroque
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ARC1401 Student Code: 24213160

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soon attempted to dethrone the Renaissances Cartesian perspectivalism. However, Jay leaves us with a message reminding that there is no superior scopic regime. Ultimately, what we must constantly remind ourselves is that over time, the views of art will change and conflict. Thus, there are no set of rules which are correct to define what art truly is.

Martin Jay and Hal Foster, ed., Vision and Visuality, Bay Press, 1988, 3 Jan van Eyck, The Amolfini Portrait, 1434 iii Michelangelo, David, 1504 iv Martin Jay and Hal Foster, Op Cit, 8 v Martin Jay and Hal Foster, Op Cit, 16 vi Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes, 1612-1613 vii Martin Jay and Hal Foster, Op Cit, 17 viii Mary Garrard, quoted in Painting Women: Cosmetics, canvases, and early modern culture, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989, 75 ix Martin Jay and Hal Foster, Op Cit, 18 x Martin Jay and Hal Foster, Op Cit, 19 xi Martin Jay and Hal Foster, Op Cit, 19
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ARC1401 Student Code: 24213160 Bibliography

Essay 1

Garden Fountains, Michelangelos Statue of David, http://www.garden-fountains.com/famousstatues/david.htm (accessed 24/03/2012) The Life and Art of Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes, http://www.artemisiagentileschi.com/judith1.html (accessed 24/03/2012)

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