Hidden Time Capsule from both the Renaissance and the Age of Baroque - Essay Example

? Hidden Time Capsule from both the Renaissance and the Age of Baroque The Baroque period’s artistic styles utilized motions that were exaggerated and clear though with ease of interpreting their details for the purposes of producing tension, drama, paintings, architecture, dance, music, literature and grandeurs in sculpture. This period began in Italy, Rome, at around the year 1600 and rapidly spread to other European regions (Fitzpatrick, 2008). Its popularity and success were however encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church which insisted that the arts produced at the time were to communicate various religious subjects through emotional or direct involvements. This was in response to the protestant reformation that was taking place at the time. The baroque architectural styles were perceived as means through which visitors would be entertained and triumphant control or power would be expressed (Buelow, 2004). On the other hand, the renaissance period began back in the 14th century and lasted through to the 17th century and was also started in Italy while spreading to other European regions in the course of time (Hinds, 2009). The period mainly encompassed the creative flowering of the vernacular and Latino literatures, the establishment of linear perspectives along with various rendering styles for bringing out the natural realities of painting (Mason, 2005). In writing this paper, I am imagining that I am a cultural anthropologist searching a hidden capsule from both periods with two items each from these periods’ art, music, architecture, philosophy and literature locked inside them. The paper therefore describes the each of the items that have been found in the capsules from these periods. Inside the first capsule, I found the first art from the Renaissance period which came from Giotto di Bondone who lived between the years 1267-1337 and treated paintings as windows in space. He made his break by using the Byzantine styles and made his first masterwork found were the decorations of Padua’s Scrovegni Chapel which were completed around the year 1305 (Hinds, 2009). I also found the sculptures of Pieta and David that were made by Michelangelo even before he turned thirty years were classical and herculean in structure in this capsule. Michelangelo was the most famous painter, sculptor and artist of the renaissance period (Mason, 2005). Inside the second capsule that came from the baroque period, Aleijadinho of Brazil creations of the statute called Santuario de bom jesus de matosinhos that is located in Congonhas was found. Most of his finest works were several soapstone structures of Old Testament prophets that were created on the terraces of the Brazilian temple (Fitzpatrick, 2008). The fountains of Bernini that were created between the years 1598 to 1680 also have high traits of the Baroque period were also found in the second capsule. Bernini was renowned for making sculptures that could combine the spiritual with the physical and created several busts for the powerful people who lived during his time (Buelow, 2004). In the first capsule, I found music from the renaissance period that had been produced by composers like Guillaume Dufay and Giovanni da Palestrina which included masses and motets (Mason, 2005). Masses were sacred compositions that mainly set the Eucharistic liturgies into music. On the other hand, motets were highly varied musical compositions that were choral (Hinds, 2009). In the second capsule, I found musical types like the concerto and the sinfonia which came into being during the baroque period. The sinfonia was an Italian form of symphony and comprised of an orchestral piece whereas the concertos were composed of three elements which were the solo instruments, movements and an orchestra that accompanied the two (Fitzpatrick, 2008). The cathedral of Morelia Michoacan that are situated in Mexico and the Basilica di San Sebastiano gardens in Sicily are the best examples of baroque period architecture that were found in this capsule. These two features were built in the 17th century with the Cathedral being designed by Vincenzo Barrochio and were also found in the second capsule (Buelow, 2004). The architectures of this period were mainly characterized by the use of ornaments, classical orders and the issues of space interpenetration (Fitzpatrick, 2008). In the first capsule, another example of architecture found and made during the renaissance period was the facade of the church of San Francesco located at Rimini that was created by Leon Battista Alberti who lived between the years 1404 to 1472 (Hinds, 2009). The other one was the St. Peter’s basilica church that is located in central Rome and is also another prominent feature of the Renaissance period that was designed by Julius II in the year 1506. It is currently the longest standing and the biggest church in the world in addition to it being the most widely visited church in the Vatican (Mason, 2005). On examining the first capsule for the renaissance period philosophies, I found works which included the works of Frans Titelmans titled Compendium philosophiae naturalis and had very strong religious flavors with influences from the Catholic Church (Hinds, 2009). I also found the retranslations by Leonardo Bruni that were created in the years between 1415 to 1418 in the capsule as being another example of the philosophies that were created during this period (Mason, 2005). Bruni translated Aristotle’s works into classical Latin that was flowing and idiomatic for the purposes of making the texts available for those who had no previous knowhow on philosophical education. His philosophies focused on the issue of secularism which gained popularity during the period (Hinds, 2009). The other philosophies that I found from the Baroque period included the philosophies of unity and the balancing of power that were written by philosophers like Aristotle (Buelow, 2004). In addition, I found other philosophical works from the Baroque period which included the philosophies of humanism and individualism written by Leon Battista Alberti (Fitzpatrick, 2008). The first capsule also contained various types of literature that were found in the renaissance period and included Dutch literatures written by Heinrich von Veldeke. The written poems focused on the romance that took place between his two main characters who were Aeneas and Dido (Mason, 2005). Another piece of literature that came from the Renaissance period and found in the capsule included the poems of Joachim du Bellay titled ‘The Defense and Illustration of the French Language.’ They were mainly manifestos that aimed at elevating the use of the French language to the status that the Romans, Greeks or the Italians had achieved with their languages (Hinds, 2009). Finally, on looking into the second capsule, I found different types of literature that were created by writers like Quevado from Spain who wrote poems like the Conceptista during the Baroque period. These poems spoke on naturalism and heavily criticized the Spanish society for a variety of reasons (Fitzpatrick, 2008). Another writer of the Baroque period literature whose literature was found in the second capsule was Antonio Vieira, a writer from Portugal who authored the poems titled Sermons. Currently, they have been translated into several languages which include French, German and Spanish (Buelow, 2004). References Buelow, G. J. (2004). A History of Baroque Music. Indiana: Indiana University Press. Fitzpatrick, A. (2008). The Baroque Period. London: The Creative Company. Hinds, K. (2009). Everyday Life in the Renaissance. New York: Marshall Cavendish. Mason, A. (2005). Everyday Life in Renaissance Times. New York: Black Rabbit Books. Read More