Baroque Art And Emotion

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Baroque Art and Emotion

Baroque is a period of the artistic style which initiated around 1600, in Italy Rom and spread across the majority of Europe. A prominent technique deployed is chiaroscuro which highlights the interplay between dark and light which was often used in paintings of dimly lit scenes to generate a dramatic atmosphere and an intense contrast. It is essential to discuss the work of prominent painters and the critical details illustrated in their work to cast a significant impact on the emotions of the viewers. The work of Rembrandt and Poussin is essential in the dimensions of Baroque art and ought to be discussed with reference to their paintings.

The Ashes of Phokion is a scintillating painting placed at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. Nicolas Poussin is the painter who was among the renowned French painters in the seventeenth century. He spent most of his days in Rome and pursued his career in true letter and spirits as reflected in the work. The Ashes of Phokion offers an intricate account of the historical context wherein Poussin discussed a famous Athenian general. In the painting, Phkoin represents the general of 4th-century B.C.E who was unjustly accused of treachery in the older age and sentenced to death. The burial of his remains or cremation were outlawed. His supporters and friends refrained from standing by his side even for giving him a proper burial. Only her widow arranged for his cremation who is displayed in the picture collecting ashes of her husband outside the walls of the city. The ancient Roman philosophers acclaimed the valiant act and termed her the lady accepting suffering and winning with passion. The response in the painting inspires the essential position which is far removed from the energy of Rubens or emotionalism of Caravaggio. In their active diagonals, horizontals and calm verticals dominate. However, the element marking the painting Baroque is the light mark. The trees are connected with the visual rhymes to the clouds and mountains in the distance stressing the courageous act of the widow. The painting advanced to trigger a significant emotional response as the widow was deemed to be answering to the higher authorities than those on the land: the natural law of instinct. Since the general died and the woman strived alone, the painting also evoked sentiments of empathy and pity among the viewers.

The other significant work is Sortie of Captain Banning Cocq’s Company of the Civic Guard also known as the Night Watch drawn by Rembrandt. The painting essentially portrays a type of private elite militia. These groups played an instrumental role in defending cities during the wars against the Spanish. The aim of Rembrandt was to paint the instances with the aim to paint specific portraits of specific individuals within the dimensions of a larger activity as a call to arms. The composition of the painting establishes a series of V-shapes pointing outward and upward. For several years, the painting was called the Night Watch but there exists no prominent reason for it to be called that way. The painting incited cultural and emotional responses from the viewers. It is essential to highlight the work has introduced innovations in rock and classical traditions. In the song The Night Watch from 1974, the song absorbs the number of views comprising the artist, primary subjects and the rise of the consumerist and modern upper-class culture. The bottom line is that the painting explicitly presents the traditional emblem of arquebusiers in a profound manner.