The Concepts of The Baldacchino Sculpture in Relation to Art and History - Coursework Example

The Baldacchino Name Institution Date Introduction The Baldacchino sculpture is one of the most popular historical sculptures in the world. This is due to its nature and the message that it portrays. The sculpture has attracted different interpretations among different scholars. The origin of the sculpture can be traced in the seventeenth century. The sculpture was developed for the Catholic Church and hence the controversy that art attracted due to the message that it was trying to put across. The endorsement of the sculpture by the church was for the purpose of honoring Saint Peter who played an active role in the foundation of the Christianity (Bassett, 2011). However, the sculpture has a lot of elements of art and history and hence its importance. The paper thus discusses the concepts of the sculpture in relation to art and history. Identity information The name of the sculpture is the Baldacchino. It was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini at St Peters in Rome between 1624 and 1633. The sculpture is about one hundred feet high. The sculpture is made of bronze. The sculpture was intended to Mark the tomb of saint peter in a monumental way. It was commission by Pope urban VIII. The sculpture is currently located in the Vatican City in Rome. Description The sculpture shows a tall structure which looks slightly glittery as it is evident that is made if metal. The shiny looking metal appears to be bronze that has slightly been affected due to time. The sculpture is tall and it has a symbol of the cross on top of it. It is also four beam like structure which acts as the foot of the sculpture. The height of the sculpture is an indication of the importance of the sculpture in terms of its objectives. The beams are made in a twisted manner and it supports at roof at the top. The twisted manner of the beams is more of decoration and a means of strengthening the beams. The sculpture is a combination of architecture and art. The evidence of architecture is in terms of the dimensions of the sculpture and its appearance. The roof of the sculpture is in form of a canopy that is supported by the columns which rests upon the marble pitches. The use of architecture is also evident in the roof which has the canopy like appearance. The volutes also support the corners and it has four large angels which is a symbol of Christianity. The cast of the four buildings columns were done separately before they were erected. The bronze comics also hang from the building as a form of description. The sculpture is also highly decorated with motifs and emblems. Shapes of insect like creatures and bees are also seen in the sculpture. The position of the sculpture is also strategic as the beams of light are also seen to below the canopy (Levy, 2011). Description from research The sculpture was for a religious purpose and it was commissioned by a pope. The design of the sculpture was done by Bernini with the help of his father who was also an artist. His brother and other artists also contributed in the design of the sculpture that was to serve a religious purpose. It is also important to note that the sculpture required a lot of bronze for the purpose of constructing the sculpture. This brought another issue in regard to the source of the bronze. It is believed that most of the bronze that was used for the sculpture was from Venice. The location of the sculpture is also an issue of contention among the artists. This led to a misunderstanding between the original artists who participated in the design of the sculpture. However, Bernini came up with a solution after consulting several people including the church leaders. It is after the consultations that the sculpture was build at the tomb of Saint Peter. This however led to another issues in relation to the religion and traditional. The sculpture therefore led to the combination of traditions and religion at the same time. However, this did not affect the final outcome of the sculpture. The design of the sculpture was thus instrument in terms of the final outcome of the sculpture. The sculpture was also accepted by most of the people who including the church leaders. It is also for this reason tat the Bernini received credit for his work in terms of developing the sculpture. The sculpture is also composed of coat of arms and a figure of a pregnant woman which also has interpretations (Mormando, 2011). Design elements The elements of design are also evident in the sculpture. One of the main elements of design that is evident in the sculpture is shape. The shape of the sculpture was unique and it enabled the design of the sculpture. During the architectural design of the sculpture, shape played an important role. This is because of the requirements of the sculpture in terms of shape. A specific and unique shape was required for the purpose of designing the sculpture as well as constructing it. Mechanical shapes are evident in the sculpture. It is also important to note that the mechanical shapes are also comprised of geometric (Deterding, et al, 2011) shapes which plays an important role during the architectural designs. Architectural designs require the use of measurement tools during the design. This is evident in the sculpture as it has dimensions that can be measured. This means that the design element of shape was important in the design of the sculpture. The technique used during the design was also complex. This is because the canopy is a complex design and it is evident in the sculpture. The shapes also play an important role in the interpretation of a sculpture. The shapes also have different meanings in the sculptures. Shapes are used by artists to convey their messages relating to their sculptures. It is for this reason that the canopy shape was used during the design of the sculpture. The canopy shape has a religious meaning in the sculpture. It is thus evident in the sculpture that shape is an important design element used. The elements of texture are also evident in the sculpture. This is considering that texture plays an important role in the three dimensions of a sculpture (Mirkia, et al, 2013). In the sculpture, the several elements have been displayed. In some parts of the sculpture, the area is smooth while in other areas it is rough. The beams appear twisted and the texture is rough in some areas. This is also evident in some parts of the canopy. Although the sculpture is made of bronze which is smooth, some of the parts are rough. This is an indication that the elements of texture play an important role in the sculpture. It is also evident that some parts of the sculpture are smooth. This is especially at the footing of the sculpture where it is smooth despite the material used. The element of texture also played an important role in terms of enhancing the design of the sculpture. Through the repetition of the motifs in the texture has created a pattern in the canopy and also at the beams. This is also an indication that the artists used the principles of motifs intentionally for the purpose of enhancing the sculpture. The elements of tactile elements of texture also play an important role in the design of the sculpture. This has also played an important role in ensuring that the sculpture is unique. The uniqueness of the sculpture has also been contributed by the proper use of the texture. The use of form is also an important design element that is portrayed in the sculpture. Form mainly deals with the three dimensional objects. The sculpture is a three dimensional object and hence utilizing the element of design. Form is also concerned on whether the object can be measured in terms of height, width and depth. The geometric form is based on the man made objects. The sculpture is man made and hence utilizing the geometric concept. On the other hand, the sculpture has actual measurement in terms of the height, width and depth. This means that form was utilized by the design and construction of the sculpture. The principles of design have also been utilized in the design of the sculpture. The use of symmetry has played a significant role in terms of ensuring that the sculpture was balanced. This was through the use of proper design in order to come up with a three dimensional sculpture. On the other hand, it is also important to note that the use of scale played an important role in terms of designing the sculpture. The process of contrasting the shape and size was also used in the sculpture for the purpose of ensuring that the sculpture is successful. The similarity and contrast is also an important element of principle of design. Through the concepts of similarity and design, the different shapes were manipulated and hence coming up with the sculpture. It is thus evident that the sculpture was able to utilize the elements of design as well as the principles of design (Johnson, 2009). Intent and interpretation The intent of the sculpture was to honor Saint Peter for the works that he did in spreading the gospel. It is for this reason that it was build on top of his grave. However, the involvement of the artist attracted the use of different symbols in the sculpture that was linked to different interpretations. The oat of arms in the sculpture has attracted different interpretations. However the most common interpretation for the coat of arms is the family symbol that was used by one of the artist who was involved in the decoration of the sculpture. The family used bees as a form of coat of arms and hence its presence. However, the image of the pregnant woman has led to different interpretation by different people. Some people suggest that it represents the birth of the papacy and hence honoring peter who was actively involved in it (Webber, 2012). The other interpretation is that it symbolizes the birth of Christianity and the church and hence honoring Saint Peter who was instrumental in the process. However, the last interpretation of different as it has been suggested that it was revenge against the pope who had disowned a child illegally born to his nephew. It is thus evident that the sculpture attracted different interpretations. Art historical style The sculpture has several elements of history as well as art. The Baroque style is the one that was used by the artist in the development of the sculpture. The use of this style mainly involves the use of simpler o9bjects that can easily be interpreted. The sculpture that has been made through the use of the baroque style is also closely associated with power. The sculpture by Bernini displays a lot of style of the Baroque art. This is because it is intended to show how powerful saint Peter was in his actions towards spreading the gospel. The focus on power is thus an indication that the works used the Baroque style. It is also evident that the works had some hidden meanings which are associated with the style. The diverse interpretation of some of the images that appeared in the sculpture is an indication that the sculpture had hidden meaning. Other artists have also used the same style and it has always been controversial due to the use of female figures which is also found in the sculpture. However, the Baroque style has played an important role in the history of art. This is because of its emergence in the 1600s and it was widely endorsed by the Catholic Church which was powerful at the time. The style has influenced most of the sculptures and it played an important role in decorating most of the buildings in Rome during the seventeenth century (Eade, 2010). Personal assessment The assessment of the sculpture has led to the change in attitude towards the sculpture. Initially the sculpture portrayed little meaning in terms of its history and the message conveyed. This is because the sculpture was only viewed as an object that represented the Catholic Church as it ids found in the Vatican. Its location also contributed to the poor interpretation of the sculpture. However, after the analysis and assessment, it is evident that the sculpture has a lot of information. The analysis revealed that the elements of design as well as production have been in use over a long period of time. It is also evident from the sculpture that the historical information can be obtained regarding the Catholic Church. The images in the sculpture also have different meanings in relation to the early church due to its interpretation. The sculpture also shows the opinions of early artists with regard to the work of art. It is thus evident that the personal assessment of the sculpture played an important role in terms of learning more about the sculpture as well as the message that it has. References Bassett, J. (2011). Visual evidence: notes on four bronze portrait busts by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Sculpture Journal, 20(2), 129-134. Levy, E. (2011). Bernini Double-Take. Sculpture Journal, 20(2), 197-206. Mormando, F. (2011). Bernini: His Life and His Rome. University of Chicago Press. Webber, M. (2012). Monstrosity and the Judgment of Architecture in Seicento and Settecento Rome. Fabrications, 22(2), 257-274. Deterding, S. et al. (2011). From game design elements to gamefulness: defining gamification. In Proceedings of the 15th International Academic MindTrek Conference: Envisioning Future Media Environments (pp. 9-15). ACM. Mirkia, H. et al. (2013, March). Quantifying patterns of dynamics in eye movement to measure goodness in organization of design elements in interior architecture. In IS&T/SPIE Electronic Imaging (pp. 86511D-86511D). International Society for Optics and Photonics. Johnson, K. (2009). Materials and design: the art and science of material selection in product design. Butterworth-Heinemann. Eade, J. (2010). The sacred and the profane: sight and spiritual vision in the arts of the Baroque 1650-1700 (Doctoral dissertation, University of Sussex). Read More