Quiz 2 Flashcards
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680),
Apollo and Daphne,
1623–24.
Carrara marble, Galleria Borghese, Rome
The Miraculous and the Marvelous
Bernini and Daphene
it’s a statue, yet we get the sense of running
many aspects of the work that would have been described as marvelous
juxtapositions, a women turned into a tree, conveyed in stone (seems like it would be nearly impossible)
awe-inspiring
Gian Lorenzo Bernini,
Tomb of Urban VIII,
1628‒37.
Marble and bronze, Basilica of St. Peter’s, Vatican
Gian Lorenzo Bernini,
Baldacchino,
1624–33.
Bronze, St. Peter’s, Vatican
Gian Lorenzo Bernini,
The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa,
1647–52.
Marble, stucco and gilt bronze,
Cappella Cornaro, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome
Pope Innocent X 10th
makes effort to distance himels from urban VIII
he doesn’t commishion from Bernini as he is assoiciated with urban
Bernini gets comminshioned from others NOT the church
***Bernini - The ecstasy of Saint Teresa - 1647
Carmelite, very new saint
she was a famous mystic, deep spiritual connection with the devine
she was seen as an exemplar of this new and mysitical spirituality
****Beautiful synthesis (bel composto) - combination of different mediums to create a beautiful effect, to create a new artistic experience
mixing mediums was considered indecorous for some time, also there might have been issues with guilds
looks like a stage setting
bursting outward
the big problem, fredirico wanted Bernini to visualize the miraculous experience
many artist tried expressing the transverberation (the ecstacy!), from her writing, the burning arrow plunged into her… personal ad intimate experience
**Bernini tries to express it through marbel
angel holding the arrow of devine love about to pplunge it into st Theresa’s heart
there is natural light on it, from hidden window right above it
metal rods to portray flooding flood on the scene
on the side,, figures portrayed, fredirco only one making eye contact, illusinary relief of a trancept
the center pice!
he sculpted it
angel in tissue like fabric that gives the figure a flickering look almost like fire
she is wearing the thick robes of the Carmelite order, it doesn’t reveal her form but rather covers
Bernini trying to express interior feelings through exterior means
her face, back then the sacred and the secular was more intertwined, it was not supposed to be sexy
the carnal overtures were not a problem at that period
Gian Lorenzo Bernini,
Fountain of the Four Rivers,
1648–51.
Travertine and marble, Piazza Navona, Rome
Bernini - fountain
they weren’t just decorative, it was life giving, people would get their water from them
they wanted to advertise their civic virtues through the fountains
Panthelli family wanted to make their mark on the urban landscape (while they had the papcy of innocent X I control)
Bernini - fountain of the four rivers
they wanted a dynamic fountain
*the obelisk in rome (there are 8) are Egyptian spoils from roman times, they were Christianized in the middle ages, they would put a saint or cross or dove of peace on top.
creates a sense of a big cavern, you can look through the base and see the piazza
sense of the marvelous, seems like its floating weightless above the space
playing with the symbol of the river gods
river god representing the ganges
man with covered head represents Africa and the nile
source of the nile still unknown at that time
man representing the new world
pope wasn’t subtle, had coat of arms on it
**dove with olive branch = pamphelli commishion
Pope innocent X asked Borromini for a design for a fountain that incorporates the obselsik, very plain
Bernini found out about it, asked a friend to leave around his design so that the pope should see it, it worked! seems like the story is true
pope hired him for the job, finally
idea might have come from Athanasius Kircher, renaissance man, he belived that all water had one underlying source
kircher tried trabslating the hiegerglyphs (he got it wrong)
**dominating the church over the whole world
Bernini was the one who came up with the design and even carved some of the base himself (and the beastly slightly emaciated lion!)
drafts of clay to help his students make the figures
All of the rich associations would have been picked up by people at that time
awkward shape dominated the space of the piazza but doesn’t overwhelm it
Domenichino (1581–1641),
Last Communion of St. Jerome,
1614.
Oil on canvas, Vatican Museums
Domenichino took his inspiration from a painting with the same subject painted by his master Agostino Carracci ten years previously.
giambattista marino“how to steal”
- 3 ideas of imitation and emulation
translation - looking at past masters, and repainting them
imitation - ideas of studying the old masters, recreating but reinvents it and makes it ur own
outright stealing - its such beauty that people would just copy them
Guido Reni (1575–1642),
Aurora,
1614.
Ceiling fresco from the Casino dell’Aurora, Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi, Rome
Guercino (1591–1666) with Agostino Tassi (1578–1644),
Aurora,
1621.
Tempera on plaster, Casino di Villa Boncompagni Ludovisi, Rome
Pietro da Cortona (1597–1669),
The Triumph of Divine Providence or, The Glorification of the Papacy of Urban VIII,
1633–39.
Fresco, Palazzo Barberini, Rome
Il Baciccio (Giovanni Batista Gaulli) (1639–1709),
The Glorification of the Holy Name of Jesus,
1676–79.
Fresco and stucco, Il Gesù, Rome
Francesco Borromini (1599–1667),
San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome
1646
counter reformation church
Borromini - San Carlo Alle Quattro Fontane, Rome (1646)
made for the trinitariians
they would ransom Christian captives
during counter reformation period, there were a lot of new monastic orders, dedicated to fighting heresy and promoting the faith
church has the sense of devine presence, through the geometric shape and rythem and dynamism
it’s not logical,, idea of miraculous and marvelous comes into play, walls look like they are moving, ondulating
dome of heaven, of the devine, where the devine presense can be appreciate by man
disorientating but exciting
many people hated it, said it was not appropriated to celebaret the mass
others thought it was exciting
the renaissance church and “modular construction”
modular means that its all proportionate
like buiding with lego, rigiourous system of porportions
counter reformation and “geometric design”
tried reviving the idea of the Parthenon
how it shaped the viewers experience
of the devine and marvelous
counter reformation wanted emphasis on the mass, specific demands on architecture, big open space, reshaping liturgical experience
emphasis on side alters
**architecture to shape the viewers experience, and have an affect on the viewer
shaping, enhancing, leities experience of the devine, such as important aspect
**Interest in illusionism
Francesco Borromini,
Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza, Rome,
1642–60
The miraculous and the Marvelous
- works that transport the soul
**Borromini - sant’ivo alla Sapienza, Rome
onece again, very small and odd space to work with
introduces a counter curve, dome of the chapel
concave façade playes against the dome that bulges out, once again made to look ondulating
design: centralized, unified design, working with complex symbolic shapes
worked with the 6 pointed star of Solomon (seal of Solomon) was his basis
played with it, 3 points rounded and 3 pointed
dynamic room for students to gather for mass
all the decorative detail is from the architecture (except the painting at the high alter), plain painting as to high light the archtecture
there is an uninterrupted movement from the ground into the dome
in dome, sybomls of the pope who helped pay (8 pointed star), crown for martydom
exterior structure on top,
surmounted by something unusual
torches, symbol of knowledge
weird spiraling structure = mystifying
maybe when seen from the front it is the papel tiara ?? meh (why make it a spiral then?)
many of the details can be seen again from michelangelo
Themes
Illusion
Geometroc vs modular
marvelous and the miraculous
what is original
emulation and competition
*bel composto
glofying the papacy
beutyfying rome
immersive experience to presuede the viewer
*church as spectacle
opened up the spaces
new reformed orders want to make their mark
family powers, coat of arms
