Article by Vince
As the central pillar of the Drawing Academy is the promotion and teaching of the traditions and values of Classical Fine Arts and Old Masters, it would not be absurd to dedicate some time to the meaning of classicism and its various representations in the history of art. I will try to do so in the present article.
Classicism usually refers to works of art highly inspired both aesthetically and intellectually by the culture, art and literature of Ancient Greece and Rome. Of course, I could use lots of words on this subject, but as we often say: a picture worth a thousand words. As such, it appears to me that mainly two cultural movements correspond to that category: Renaissance and Baroque. I could have included Neoclassicism, but I didn’t want to be redundant, since this movement shares a lot of similarities with the others and emerged in reaction to other cultural movements. Therefore, it could be the subject of an ulterior article.
The Renaissance
The Birth of Venus, Botticelli
The Birth of Venus, painted in the mid 1480s by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), artist of the Early Renaissance, is one of the first depictions of a classical mythology scene in great format as well as one of the first nude females on such a large scale. The scene depicts the arrival of Venus on the shore by the combined action of the god Zephyrus’s blow and the escort Hora of Spring. Although some natural elements are out of proportions, it already prefigures the naturalistic component of the Renaissance by the presence of a nude character and the sublimation of nature by the personification of diverse elements of nature in divinities and nymphs.
The School of Athens, Raphael
Another characteristic work of the Italian High Renaissance this time is The School of Athens (1509-1511) by Raphael (1483-1520). It depicts a congregation of philosophers and scientists of the Classical period: Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Archimedes, Averroes, Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Zarathustra, Euclid, and others. Already, we note that the composition is very symmetrical with a clear one-point perspective with the vanishing point between the ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle at the center of the composition. This element, as well as the presence of Greek sculptures, a series of arches, all revolving around the philosophers Plato and Aristotle make this painting a celebration of classicism characteristic of the Renaissance.
Notable Renaissance artworks:
The Arnolfini Portrait (1434), Jan van Eyck
The Marriage of the Virgin (1504), Raphael
Adam and Eve (1507), Albrecht Dürer
The Creation of Adam (1508-1512), Michelangelo
The Baroque
The Seven Works of Mercy, Caravaggio
Regarding the Baroque movement, I selected a painting which I think concentrates on its essential components: The Seven Works of Mercy. It was painted in 1606–1607 by the Italian artist Caravaggio (1571-1610). It depicts the seven corporeal works of mercy from the Catholic tradition, making this scene very rich and dense in detail. One can clearly see intense contrasts of Baroque’s chiaroscuro. It makes the enlightened bodies as if emerging from obscurity. The background seems very secondary compared to these emerging bodies. This is again very common in Baroque paintings as opposed to Renaissance works whose backgrounds are of equal importance to the subjects painted in order to reinforce the stability of the composition. In opposition to this stability, we note the dramatization of events often depicted in their paroxysm with emphasis on exaggerated body movements while the bodies are very still and composed in Renaissance works — remember the stood still Venus that hasn’t yet reached the shore.
Notable Baroque artworks:
The Feast of Venus (1635-1636), Peter Paul Rubens
Magdalene with Two Flames (1640), Georges de La Tour
The Night Watch (1642), Rembrandt van Rijn
Las Meninas (1656), Diego Velásquez
As one can see, despite some dissimilarities, the Renaissance and the Baroque movements share major points: the use of Christian tradition and Greco-Roman mythology in clear/recognizable scenes which makes it relevant for a rich symbolism as mirrored in ancient literature, the high regard for naturalism, body/architectural proportions and perspective which are important in an attempt to depict a realistic scene, the perpetuation of ancient scientific and intellectual concepts such as the golden ratio and geometry which reveal love for beauty, precision and accuracy.
Such qualities make me want to integrate the Drawing Academy in order to learn this tradition as well as technical skills needed in order to make my own works and be able to transmit this wonderful heritage.
