Baroque Art: Bernini

Jeff Gross
Art History 103B
July 17, 2001
Professor Kenney Mencher
High Drama in Baroque Rome: Bernini's David There have been several variations on the biblical theme of David versus Goliath portrayed in both painting and sculpture before Gianlorenzo Bernini produced his version for the nephew of Pope Paul V in 1623. True to Baroque style, Bernini captured the character of David so full of energy and motion, the viewer is immediately drawn into the action. David is shown so involved in the movement of battle that the viewer feels compelled to get out of David's way, lest they themselves might be felled by the fatal stone about to be unleashed (Stokstad 758). This type of extreme motion is common to Bernini's, and most all Baroque sculpture.
Carved entirely in smoothly polished white marble and standing a life size 5 foot seven inches tall, Bernini's David is currently housed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome, Italy. It portrays a male figure, mostly nude, except for some loosely draped robes that appear to be falling from the figures body, a sling used as a weapon being drawn from the rear-side of the figure, and a small pouch slung over the left shoulder. The figure is wearing no armor, helmet, shoes or other materials suggesting he is a professional soldier. The figure is standing over what seems to be a warrior's armor & robes. A look of steely determination is portrayed on the character's face, and every muscle looks tautly drawn in the middle of strenuous physical action.
Though the symbolism may not be obvious to some, Bernini's portrayal of the heroic David is every bit as iconographic as many other Italian works, such as Giotto's Last Judgement (Arena Chapel, Padua. 1305) or Augustus of Prima Porta (Musei Vaticani, Rome. 100 C.E.). The fact that David is shown barefoot and nearly naked while standing over the finery of a warrior may suggest that the armor is not what makes David strong, but his unswerving faith in both God and himself. The falling drapery modestly hiding David's nakedness might lead the viewer to believe that since this work was produced for the nephew of Pope Paul V, that this sculpture was truly intended for the depiction of a well known biblical story. It was likely not intended as a beard for titillation or an excuse to look at nudes under the guise of fine art. The fact that Bernini himself looked remarkably like the work he created is likely no mistake or coincidence. Many artists of this period would put themselves in their work, and Bernini was no exception. This may signify that he felt empowered by portraying himself as an underdog triumphing over a particularly difficult work of art in it's completion. This work is considered a breakthrough in its composition and form, as it directly engages the viewer by its powerful depiction of humanistic motion. The depiction of actual muscle strain in the figure as well as the strain shown on the face may also portray the intensity of the artist's exhausting input into the sculpture itself.
Compared to other sculptures of David portrayed by Donatello and Michelangelo, Bernini shows a far more natural depiction of David in form and structure. Bernini does, however, portray David as a much older person than the other artists, as well as how the character is described in the Bible. David's actual age is estimated at around thirteen years of age at the time of his triumph over Goliath. Donatello portrays David as a young teen of about the age of thirteen, and Michelangelo portrays him a little older at maybe seventeen to twenty years old. Bernini shows a more mature David that appears to be somewhere between twenty and thirty years old. This was likely no accident, as Bernini seems to be adding his own features to the figure. As he was far older than a young teen when the sculpture was produced, if he portrayed himself as thirteen years old on his David, nobody would likely recognize the informal self portrait included on the work. Donatello puts his David (Museo Nazionale del Borgello, Florence. 1428) in a fanciful garden hat, slouching almost playfully and Michelangelo shows his David (Galleria dell'Accademia - originally in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. 1504) merely standing still and gazing into the distance in the nude. Bernini portrays David as a man of action with robes flying off his body from the extreme nature of his movement, expressing the strength, power and fury of his action in every part of his body and face.
Most Baroque artworks that emerged at the time of Bernini's David show far more action, drama and movement that most previous works. This was a time of extreme social change, and works such as this were merely a reflection of the struggle and social anxiety of the times. Bernini would come to produce many other dramatic sculptures that helped define the Baroque era. As this was one of the most recognized and famous, it likely set the stage for him as well as others to take sculptural art to a new level of 'high drama' during the Baroque period in Europe.

 
Works cited:
Web Gallery of Art. http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/
Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History 2 volumes. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc. 1999
Mencher, Kenney. Art History 103B lectures, Ohlone Community College. California 2001
New Advent Org. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11581b.htm
JesusAnswers.com. http://www.jesusanswers.com/
The 'Troy McClure Pretty-Much-Everything' Site. http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6055/

Document converted to HTML by Jeff Gross on July 27, 2001


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DeeAnn Kennedy
Art103B
Essay Due: 04/23/02
The Ecstasy of St. Theresa
 
 

Gianlorenzo Bernini,  The Ecstasy of St. Theresa,  created between 1645-1652,  Cornaro Chapel, Rome Italy (For more details of the sculpture  and it's environment click here.)

As a reaction to the Manneristic style that consumed the Late Renaissance in Europe, Baroque art began to surface around 1600.  The Baroque style has many distinguishing characteristics, such as the use of different colors, materials, and irregular shapes; however, the hallmark of Baroque art is that it depicts the most climactic point in a story.  The Ecstasy of St. Theresa, created between 1645-1652, is housed inside of the Cornaro Chapel, and is heralded as "one of Bernini's most brilliant and suggestive sculptural and architectural compositions" (The New York Times, 42).  In terms of its form, the sculpture is made of different materials and puts a spin on classicism. The iconography of The Ecstasy of St. Theresa is very Baroque because it depicts the most dramatic point in the saint's life and caters to the notion that God equals light.  In terms of context, The Ecstasy of St. Theresa is one of Gianlorenzo Bernini's most controversial and beautiful works of art. Gianlorenzo Bernini's stunning masterpiece, The Ecstasy of St. Theresa, epitomizes the high drama of 17th century Baroque art.    The form of The Ecstasy of St. Theresa typifies Baroque art because the sculpture is made of different materials and the artist uses classicism irregularly.  Gianlorenzo Bernini uses several different materials to create an awe-inspiring focal point within the Cornaro Chapel.  The wall that houses The Ecstasy of St. Theresa is laden with colored marble.  Like many other works of Baroque sculpture, this piece is "set within an elaborate architectural setting, and seems to be spilling out of its assigned niche or floating upward toward heaven" (The Columbia Encyclopedia).  The Saint and angel are cut from the same mass of solid marble, yet Gianlorenzo Bernini is able to replicate different textures and colors.  The angel's drapery clings to the body, giving it a silk-like quality; however, St. Theresa appears to be clothed in a woolen robe.  Gianlorenzo Bernini also puts a spin on classicism by using irregular shapes and non-traditional architecture. Framing the sculpture are double columns, which serve as adornment rather than architectural support.  The pediment above, typically flat, protrudes and indents, and is supported by marble pilasters.  Gianlorenzo Bernini uses different materials and irregular classicism to create the epitome of Baroque art.

 

The iconography of The Ecstasy of St. Theresa embodies the Baroque style of art because the sculpture depicts the most dramatic point in the saint's life and caters to the notion that God equals light.  In her autobiography, St. Theresa describes a dream where an angel appears before her in a halo of light.  The angel takes a fiery arrow and stabs her repeatedly in the breast, filling her with the love of God.  "To quote St. Theresa herself, "The pain was so great that I screamed aloud, but simultaneously I felt such infinite sweetness that I wished the pain to last eternally." This was interpreted at the time and ever since as a spiritual transport sexually expressed" (The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer).  Gianlorenzo Bernini portrays St. Theresa's dream in this sculpture at the moment when her body has been consumed with the love of God, the climax of her life.  "Wrapped in swirling draperies, her passionate gaze directed to heaven, [Gianlorenzo] Bernini's Saint epitomizes the age of the Baroque" (Christian Science Monitor, 12).  The Ecstasy of St. Theresa also feeds into the notion that God equals light.  Gianlorenzo Bernini capitalized on this notion that God and light were one in the same by placing the angel and the saint on a billowy cloud with bronze beams of light cascading down behind them.  These beams of light reveal that God, himself, has pierced the heart of St. Theresa.  "The sculptor's floating image of St. Teresa and the angel places the saint midway between earthly and heavenly existence" (Wilkins, 383).  To give these heavenly beams a more dramatic impact, Gianlorenzo Bernini placed a hidden skylight above the sculpture. Gianlorenzo Bernini depicts the most dramatic point in St. Theresa's life and caters to the notion that God equals light to create the quintessence of Baroque art. (For more details of the sculpture and it's environment click here.)

The context of The Ecstasy of St. Theresa exemplifies Baroque art because it is considered to be Gianlorenzo Bernini's most controversial and beautiful sculptures.  The Baroque movement "was encouraged by the Catholic Church, the most important patron of the arts at that time, as a return to tradition and spirituality" (Artcylcopedia.com); however, Gianlorenzo Bernini depicts St. Theresa in the state of spiritual and sexual ecstasy.  Her neck is flung back, eyes are closed, mouth partially open, telling of her elation. Although only her face, hands, and bare feet are visible, the bends and folds of her garment reveal a passionate body beneath in her moment of climax. Never before had a Saint been depicted in the state of sexual ecstasy, yet St. Theresa's autobiography allowed Gianlorenzo Bernini to create such a controversial piece of work.  Looking now at the other figure in this sculpture, the angel's face is thought, by many, to be the most beautiful face ever created.  The face is perfectly symmetrical; each feature is perfectly positioned.  The eyes are aligned, the nose has a perfect slant, and the lips are just the right fullness.  Gianlorenzo Bernini balances perfect beauty and sexual ecstasy to achieve the spirit of Baroque art.
Created between 1645-1652, Gianlorenzo Bernini's The Ecstasy of St. Theresa is one of the most talked about sculptures in history.  "The religious sculptures he did from the 1640s on were perhaps the last flourish of great Christian art" (Economist, 87).  In terms of its form, The Ecstasy of St. Theresa is made of different materials and puts a spin on classicism. The iconography of The Ecstasy of St. Theresa is very Baroque because it depicts the most dramatic point in the saint's life and caters to the notion that God equals light.  In terms of context, the sculpture is one of Gianlorenzo Bernini's most controversial and beautiful works of art. Gianlorenzo Bernini's stunning masterpiece, The Ecstasy of St. Theresa, epitomizes the high drama of 17th century Baroque art.
 Works Cited:
"Artists by Movement: The Baroque Era." Artcyclopedia.com.
Baroque, in art and architecture. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.
Economist. 09/06/98, Vol. 349 Issue 8087, p87, 2/3p, 1bw.
The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Transcript.  "FURY OF CREATION" April 30, 1998.
The New York Times. April 26, 1998, Sunday, Late Edition - Final, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Art, Section 2; Page 42; Column 3.
Wilkins, Ann Thomas.  "Bernini and Ovid: Expanding the Concept of Metamorphosis."  International Journal of the Classical Tradition Winter2000,     Vol. 6, Issue 3, p383, 26p, 4bw.

 

Donatello David 1440

Michelangelo  David  1501-1504

Bernini  David  1623-1624

 

Bernini  David  1623-1624

Bernini Self Portrait 1622

Bernini, Portrait of Scipione Borghese 1632
 

Bernini, Portrait of Scipione Borghese 1632

Bernini Cornaro Chapel 1647-1652

 



 

Andrea Palladio,  Olympic Theater Vicenza, Italy 1584 completed by Scamozzi (Schamozzi)

 

Baroque Art, The Vatican, Maderno, and Bernini

¹ba.roque adj, often cap [F, fr. MF barroque irregularly shaped (of a pearl), fr. Pg barroco irregularly shaped pearl] (1765)
1: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a style of artistic expression prevalent esp. in the 17th century that is marked generally by use of complex forms, bold ornamentation, and the juxtaposition of contrasting elements often conveying a sense of drama, movement, and tension
2: characterized by grotesqueness, extravagance, complexity, or flamboyance
3: irregularly shaped--used of gems --

 

This bronze medal from the British Museum has an image of what Bramante originally had planned for  St. Peter's in 1506. Bramante 1506 (Upper left) Sangallo c1510-1540? (upper right) Michelangelo c1546 (middle left) Giaccomo della Porta 1590 Carlo Maderno 1607-15  (middle right) Bernini 1637 (bottom)

The changes in the plan of St. Peter's in Rome also exemplify the changes in style from the Renaissance to the Baroque periods.  If you look at the overall changes in form they actually become more and more ornate, complex and even theatrical in design as we move through the periods. Form:  The Plan of St. Peter's goes through several radical changes over time.  It started as a basilican tau plan ("T" shaped) in 315 CE.   When Pope Julius ordered the original building torn down Bramante designed the building to be based on a Greek cross central plan.  Unfortunately, Bramante's design was a little unstable and Sangallo redesigned the plan.  Sangallo and Michelangelo both thickened up the walls and slightly simplified Bramante's original design.   Michelangelo also redesigned the dome and the facade of the structure.  His design was to create a more egg shaped or pointed dome than Bramante's original design because the shallow half sphere of Bramante's design was structurally a bit unstable.  Michelangelo's design was then completed by Giaccomo della Porta in 1590. Iconography: Bramante's design is based on the conception of the ideal temple plan as laid out in Vitruvius's texts and copied by architects such as Michelangelo and Palladio.  The use of the dome falls in place with the Renaissance conception of classical forms such and makes reference to the dome on the Pantheon.     Michelangelo's Design Form:  Carlo Maderno in 1607-15 didn't so much redesign the building but add to it.  Maderno lengthened the nave of the cathedral converting it from a central plan to a Latin cross basilican plan which makes the building appear as a crucifix from above. Iconography:  Maderno's redesign is symbolic of several things.  First, it is a kind of assertion of Maderno as an artist and architect that he is remodeling the design of such greats as Bramante and Michelangelo.  It is a kind of arrogant display of power.  Almost like when gangs spray paint over the "tags" of other gangs. The iconography is also symbolic of Catholic ideas.  The redesign is almost a rejection of the central church plan and a return to basic Christian iconography.  The Reformation had already occurred and in some ways, images of the crucifixion and of the crucifix are intrinsic to the Catholic conception of Christianity.  The Church and Christ's sacrifice, symbolized by the symbol of the crucifixion are symbolic that this is the portal to God. Form: Bernini's arms were commissioned by Pope Alexander VII (1655-67).   Originally it was meant to be a completed ellipse that surrounded the piazza however, it was never completed. Iconography: Bernini created the egg shaped atrium/plaza that are the "arms" of St. Peters.  Instead of using the traditional circle as the form, Bernini creates a "baroque" twist to the schema by making the shape an ellipse. The addition of this ellipse to the overall program of buildings changes the shape of the complex as a whole.  The entire structure then appears to look like a key (which is the symbol of Peter's role in the Church) from above.  Bernini also conceived of the arms as a symbol of St. Peter's arms embracing the faithful.  See his drawing at right.

Carlo Maderno St. Peter's  facade 1605

Form:  Maderno's facade is almost the perfect example of the term "Baroque."  It is extremely complex and uses a classical vocabulary but with some very Mannerist twists.  The facade of the structure is really a combination of two facades.  The pediment above the central doors is too far down the building.  This is very similar to Palladio's design for the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice. Begun 1566. Initially the facade appears to have a symmetrical standard formula for Corinthian order buildings but over all the combination of the forms is irregular. The facade is not one straight line across.  Instead the building undulates and shifts backwards and forwards in an irregular almost unpredictable pattern.  There are doubled columns combined with flattened pilasters.  The undulation of the facade is a little disorienting and creates a dramatic play of light and shadow across the facade which augmented by the facade's color which is two toned.  The top of the building is a different color than the bottom.

St. Peter's has the mark of almost every important Italian artist from the 1500's to the 1700's.  Even when the chance to redesign the over all structure or even the exterior facade, Gian Lorenzo Bernini still took it upon himself to redesign, or at least redecorate the interior of the structure. There are many places where Bernini's has redesigned tombs, stairways and altars.  The two most important are Bernini's Baldacchino 1624-1633 or canopy located directly under the dome at the crossing and his Cathedra Petri 1656-1666 (Chair of St. Peters) located in the eastern apse.

Bernini, St. Peter's, The Baldacchino 1624-1633

Form: According to the Brittanica, Bernini's,   famous immense gilt-bronze baldachin executed between 1624 and 1633. Its twisted columns derive from the early Christian columns that had been used in the altar screen of Old St. Peter's. Bernini's most original contribution to the final work is the upper framework of crowning volutes flanked by four angels that supports the orb and cross. The baldachin is perfectly proportioned to its setting, and one hardly realizes that it is as tall as a four-story building. Its lively outline moving upward to the triumphant crown, its dark colour heightened with burning gold, give it the character of a living organism. An unprecedented fusion of sculpture and architecture, the baldachin is the first truly Baroque monument. It ultimately formed the centre of a programmatic decoration designed by Bernini for the interior of St. Peter's. The ornamentation and use of different materials is an excellent example of the Baroque style.  The overall form is of a tent like canopy that is cast in bronze.  The materials, bronze gilded with gold trim, is a striking and almost gaudy use of materials.  The columns are classical but literally with a "twist."  Atop the structure are banners adorned with the "Barbarini bees" (the Pope's family's coat of arms.)  Above that is a kind of diorama like scene of winged victory figures and cherubs that carry the papal crown as if they are about to descend and crown Peter. Iconography:  The size and use of precious materials is a conspicuous consumption of materials which heightens its value.  In fact, tour guides tell the story that Bernini ran out of bronze for its construction and the pope authorized him to remove and melt down the doors of the Pantheon for bronze.  The tour guides say, "Whatever the barbarians didn't destroy, the Barbarini did." The structure was built over the crossing of the nave and transept, under the central dome and above the mortal remains of St. Peter, the first Pope.  The form of the tent probably is symbolic of the relationship of the first Jewish temple, which was in a tent, and the first Christian basilica St. Peter's. (The baldachin) also spelled Baldachino, or Baldaquin, also called Ciborium, in architecture, is the canopy over an altar or tomb, supported on columns, especially when freestanding and disconnected from any enclosing wall. The term originates from the Spanish baldaquin, an elaborately brocaded material imported from Baghdad that was hung as a canopy over an altar or doorway. Later it came to stand for a freestanding canopy over an altar. This probably also accounts for the cherub who floats above symbolically waiting to crown St. Peter below.

Bernini. Throne of St. Peter, or the Cathedra Petri (1657-66)

According to the Brittanica, Bernini's most spectacular religious decoration is the Throne of St. Peter, or the Cathedra Petri (1657-66), a gilt-bronze cover for the medieval wooden throne (cathedra) of the pope. Bernini's task was not only to make a decorative cover for the chair but also to create a meaningful goal in the apse of St. Peter's for the pilgrim's journey through the great church. The seat is seemingly supported by four imposing bronze figures representing theological doctors of the early church: Saints Ambrose, Athanasius, John Chrysostom, and Augustine. Above, a golden glory of angels on clouds and rays of light emanates from the Dove of the Holy Spirit, which is painted on an oval window. The cathedra was produced about the same time as the piazza, and the contrast between these two works shows Bernini's versatility. Both works were done for the Chigi pope, Alexander VII (1655-67), who was one of Bernini's greatest patrons. The tomb that Bernini designed for Alexander VII (1671-78; St. Peter's) was largely executed by his pupils. Notice how this is very similar in its use of Baroque forms and materials to the Baldachino above.  The work is a multi media work of art.  The chair is bronze, the clouds and cherubs are made out of stucco and or plaster that has been gilded with gold and the rays of light bursting from the stain glass window are wooden rods coated with gold leaf.  Even the use of the stain glass window is part of Bernini's use of dramatic lighting which may have been influenced by the use of dramatic lighting in some paintings and possibly even the opera.  Beneath the chair and the figures of the saints is the altar which is made out of different colored marbles and granites.  In the Renaissance period, this eclectic use of materials would have been considered anti classical and too ornate, however, during the Baroque period, heightened drama and ornamentation is commonplace.

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pi.las.ter n [MF pilastre, fr. It pilastro] (1575): an upright architectural member that is rectangular in plan and is structurally a pier but architecturally treated as a column and that usu. projects a third of its width or less from the wall

$148  Burt, 

oil on canvas panel, 9 x 12 inches 

by Kenney Mencher   

https://www.etsy.com/listing/255697946/

$148 "Bella"

oil on canvas panel, 9 x 12 inches by Kenney Mencher  

https://www.etsy.com/listing/255432604/

Shoulders,  oil on canvas panel 9x12  inches by Kenney Mencher  https://www.etsy.com/listing/255180919/

Jan Vermeer

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Jan Vermeer

Jan Vermeer,  Girl with a Pearl Earring c. 1665 Oil on canvas, 46,5 x 40 cm Mauritshuis, The Hague Dutch, Baroque

Context and Iconography: "Provenance: The provenance of this painting cannot be traced back very far. All earlier documents or sales catalogs cited by Blankert are pure guesswork. Vermeer seems to have painted a number of "heads," and various cited 'tronie', as they were called, cannot be further identified. We only know for certain that the work was purchased at the beginning of 1882 for the collection A. A. des Tombe of The Hague for fl. 2.30 in the sale Braam of the same city. The des Tombe collection was a public collection and bequeathed the picture in 1903 to the Mauritshuis. The girl is seen against a neutral, dark background, very nearly black, which establishes a powerful three-dimensionality of effect. Seen from the side, the girl is turning to gaze at us, and her lips are slightly parted, as if she were about to speak to us. It is an illusionist approach often adopted in Dutch art. She is inclining her head slightly to one side as if lost in thought, yet her gaze is keen.  The girl is dressed in an unadorned, brownish-yellow jacket, and the shining white collar contrasts clearly against it. The blue turban represents a further contrast, while a lemon-yellow, veil-like cloth falls from its peak to her shoulders. Vermeer used plain, pure colours in this painting, limiting the range of tones. As a result, the number of sections of colour are small, and these are given depth and shadow by the use of varnish of the same colour."

" The girl's headdress has an exotic effect. Turbans were a popular fashionable accessory in Europe as early as the 15th century, as is shown by Jan van Eyck's probable self portrait, now in the National Gallery in London. During the wars against the Turks, the remote way of life and foreign dress of the "enemy of Christendom" proved to be very fascinating. A particularly noticeable feature of Vermeer's painting is the large, tear-shaped pearl hanging from the girl's ear; part of it has a golden sheen, and it stands out from the part of the neck which is in shadow.  In his Introduction to the Devout Life (1608), which was published in a Dutch translation in 1616, the mystic St Francis De Sales (1567-1622) wrote, "Both now and in the past it has been customary for women to hang pearls from their ears; as Pliny observed, they gain pleasure from the sensation of the swinging pearls touching them. But I know that God's friend, Isaac, sent earrings to chaste Rebecca as a first token of his love. This leads me to think that this jewel has a spiritual meaning, namely that the first part of the body that a man wants, and which a woman must loyally protect, is the ear; no word or sound should enter it other than the sweet sound of chaste words, which are the oriental pearls of the gospel."
 From this it is clear that the pearl in Vermeer's painting is a symbol of chastity. The oriental aspect, which is mentioned in the above extract, is further emphasized by the turban. The reference to Isaac and Rebecca suggests that this picture could have been painted on the occasion of this young woman's marriage. So to that extent it is a portrait.
 There is surely a similar explanation for the Head of a Girl dressed in a smart, grey dress (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). One must admire the artist's technique, which features application of the pigments in juxtaposition and melting, avoiding precise lines, and therefore blurring the contours of different colours so as to obtain effects that foreshadow those of the impressionists. The dark backgrounds that Vermeer chose in these two portraits enhance the plasticity of the models. "
http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/highlight.cgi?file=html/v/vermeer/03b/22pearl.html&find=pearl

Jan Vermeer,  Girl with a Pearl Earring c. 1665 Oil on canvas, 46,5 x 40 cm Mauritshuis, The Hague Dutch, Baroque	Michelangelo Meresi Caravaggio  Boy Being Bitten by a Lizard c1600	Form: Jan Vermeer is at first glance very much a caravaggisti. His portrait demonstrates a good mastery of the human face as well as chiaroscuro and tenebrism.   Essentially there handling of value structure is the same. However, where Caravaggio might choose dull earth toned hues (colors), on closer inspection, you can see that Vermeer uses more intense and saturated tones. In Caravaggio's painting he paints the flesh tones of the young man completely in browns and pinks.  Vermeer's flesh tones are much more colorful.

 

If you look closely at the core shadow of the girl's cheekbone and under her chin, you will see that Vermeer used some blue and grays in the shadows and that he also shows a bit of yellowish green on her jaw line which is the color of the light reflecting from her garment. The use of colors that you wouldn't expect to find in things like flesh tones are referred to as non-local color.  Vermeer looked very carefully at flesh tones, the colors of drapery, and the colors of walls and shadows and recorded in paint how color changes in response to the light that moves across it.

 

figure 1 This strip (fig 1) is of the blue cloth across the top of her head.  In figure 2,  I reduced the colors to blocks of tones to allow you to see the value shift as well as the change in the hues.  In figure 2, if you are sensitive to color you may notice that the first two of blocks look kind of greenish.  The third block looks almost like it's pure blue and that the blocks on the far right are brownish blue.  This is because color changes as it moves across an object. Usually as things are closer to a light source they are yellower of "warmer" in tone and as they move away they become cooler. figure 2 figure 3 In figure 3 all the other colors have been dropped out of the band.  It only consists of blue with no grays or any yellow are red.  Figure 3 demonstrates a lack of cool to warm relationships.  A similar relationship of warm green to cool blue green also occurs on her blouse.

 

Vermeer Girl Reading  1652 Vermeer Geographer 1669 Jan Vermeer, Lady with Her Maidservant  Holding a Letter c. 1667 Oil on canvas, 89,5 x 78,1 cm Frick Collection, New York

Form:  The composition of Girl Reading, 1652, at first seems simple and symmetrical but Vermeer creates a great range of space and a visual flow through the image in which the eye moves in almost a zig zag pattern from foreground to background.  By arranging a curtain in the foreground that partially blocks the view the viewer is forced to pause.  This creates a momentary stage like trompe l’oeil effect.  In the middle ground he provides another visual pause with the table containing the fruits and the Persian carpet.  The curtain is then echoed in the curtain hanging above the window and then the diagonal of the perspectives of the window frame moves the eye back to the image of the woman.  The value structure initially is very Caravaggesque but on closer examination the range of value and the subtlety of the tonal transitions is a bit more complicate. The same is true of the color in this image.  The wall behind the woman is almost a rainbow of non-local colors that move from warm to cool and light to dark. Virtuosic conceits such as the reflection in the glass and the lace on the drapery serve to heighten the immediacy and realism of the image.  This painting and Vermeer's style returns to some of the ideas that we explored in the Arnolfini portrait and in other Northern painters. Iconography:  The subject matter of woman writing and reading letters became a popular one in the 17th century and is taken up in later British novels by Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters and in a racier way, in the French novel  Dangerous Liaisons, and in various Rococo paintings.  Some historians have postulated that in Vermeer's paintings, depictions of women reading and writing letters is an illustration of there world.  Woman were primarily confined to the internal domestic world and they were able to reach beyond it through letters.  Whereas depictions of men by Vermeer, show them with the trappings (such as globes and maps) and therefore in roles of the adventurer whose world is outside the home.  (see the Geographer) These paintings are a kind of still life and portrait mix.  The use of the still life, such as the fresh fruit which were delicacies and the Persian carpet which was considered a luxury items which are considered vanitas which is a kind of memento mori.  According to the Brittanica a vanitas was, (Latin: "vanity"), in art, an important type of still-life painting that flourished in the Netherlands in the early 17th century, consisting of collections of objects symbolic of the inevitability of death and the transience and vanity of earthly achievements and pleasures; a vanitas painting exhorts the viewer to consider mortality and to repent. The vanitas evolved from simple pictures of skulls and other symbols of death and transience frequently painted on the reverse sides of portraits during the late Renaissance. It had acquired an independent status by about 1550, and by 1620 had become a very popular genre. Its development until its decline in about 1650 was centred in Leiden, in the United Provinces of the Netherlands, an important seat of Calvinist learning, with its emphasis on man's sinfulness and its rigid moral code. Context: Many historians believe that Vermeer himself lead a very insulated and domestic life and that many of his paintings reuse the same props and the same room.  This would account for his consistent use of the window on the left in many pictures and the reoccurrence of the same garments, chairs, carpets and still life objects and this is why we have so many other kind of paintings, such as the landscape below.

Jan Vermeer,  View of Delft 1659-60  Oil on canvas, 98,5 x 117,5 cm Mauritshuis, The Hague More views of this image

"Topographic views of cities had become a tradition by the time Vermeer painted his famous canvas. Hendrik Vroom was the author of two such works depicting Delft, but they are more archaic because they followed the traditional panoramic approach that we remember from the two cityscapes by Hercules Seghers at the Berlin museum. The latter artist was one of the first to make use of the inverted Galilean telescope to transcribe the preliminary prints and their proportions (more than twice as high as wide) into the more conventional format of his paintings.  Vermeer executed his View of Delft on the spot, but the optical instrument pointed toward the city and providing the artist with the aspect translated onto canvas, which we admire for its conciseness and special structure, was not the camera obscura but the inverted telescope. It is only the latter that condenses the panoramic view of a given sector, diminishes the figures of the foreground to a smaller than normal magnification, emphasizes the foreground as we see it in the picture, and by the same token makes the remainder of the composition recede into space. The image thus obtained provides us with optical effects that, without being unique in Dutch seventeenth-century painting, as often claimed, convey a cityscape that is united in the composition and enveloped atmospherically into glowing light.  We admire the town, but it is not a profile view of a township, but a painting, an idealized representation of Delft, with its main characteristics simplified and then cast into the framework of a harbour mirroring selected reflections in the water, and a rich, full sky with magnificent cloud formations looming over it. This is chronologically the last painting by Vermeer that was executed in rich, full pigmentation, with colour accents put in with a fully loaded brush. The artist outdid himself in a rendition of his hometown, which stands as a truly great interpretation of nature." Quoted from http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/html/v/vermeer/02c/13view.html

 
 

Camera Obscura

It was believed that Vermeer used the device of the camera obscura.  There are several theories concerning his use of the device.  The first is that he used the device as means to just look at a flattened two dimensional image.  According to the Brittanica, the camera obscura, is the ancestor of the photographic camera. The Latin name means "dark chamber," and the earliest versions, dating to antiquity, consisted of small darkened rooms with light admitted through a single tiny hole. The result was that an inverted image of the outside scene was cast on the opposite wall, which was usually whitened. For centuries the technique was used for viewing eclipses of the Sun without endangering the eyes and, by the 16th century, as an aid to drawing; the subject was posed outside and the image reflected on a piece of drawing paper for the artist to trace. Portable versions were built, followed by smaller and even pocket models; the interior of the box was painted black and the image reflected by an angled mirror so that it could be viewed right side up. The introduction of a light-sensitive plate by J.-N. Niepce created photography. And according to the Cape Argus "CAMERA OBSCURA MARRIES MAGIC AND SCIENCE" February 15, 2001   Knowledge of the phenomenon has been around for well over 2 000 years. In essence, a camera obscura uses the property of light by which, if a room or container is darkened and a small hole is made in one wall or side, an image from the outside will be projected on to the opposite inside surface, but upside down and inverted. This ability of a small hole, or pinhole, to form an image was apparently known to Chinese scholars as early as the 4th century BC. The famous Greek philosopher Aristotle also knew about the phenomenon and used it to observe solar eclipses. Famous Renaissance artist and scholar Leonardo da Vinci wrote about it and produced a detailed account of the formation of images by the use of a small hole. Later, this concept was modified by the use of lenses, so that a 360BA view could be obtained - by using a lens mounted above the camera and able to swivel in a complete circle - and into portable forms which eventually became pinhole cameras. These instruments were often used by artists to aid perspective drawing, as the images are easily traced. Modern photography was born when the small reflex box obscura was combined with Daguerre's invention in 1839. Daguerre perfected the discovery of the effect of sunlight on silver nitrate to form photographic film and paper.

Copyright 2001 The Chronicle Publishing Co.
The San Francisco Chronicle
JULY 8, 2001, SUNDAY, FINAL EDITION SECTION: SUNDAY REVIEW; Pg. 65
LENGTH: 386 words
HEADLINE: How Vermeer may have used a camera obscura
BYLINE: Reviewed by Kenneth Baker
BODY:Vermeer's Camera,Uncovering the Truth Behind the Masterpieces
By Philip Steadman
OXFORD; 207 PAGES; $25
--------------------------------------------------
Did the rise of photography prepare the way for Johannes Vermeer's rediscovery after two centuries of neglect?
More than that, Philip Steadman argues in his new book, "Vermeer's Camera," Vermeer (1632-1675) may have paved the way for photography itself by his use of a camera obscura.
Most art historians now believe that Vermeer used this optical convenience, but no one has taken more trouble to prove it than Steadman, a professor of urban studies at University College London. The principle of the camera obscura -- Latin for "dark chamber" -- had been known to European scholars since the early Renaissance. As to how Vermeer might have learned of it, Steadman must speculate.
Open a small hole in the wall of a dark room and an inverted image of the scene outside, given enough light, will appear on the opposite interior wall. Lenses and mirrors can right and focus a projected image. The same principles work in a portable "box camera," as in the cameras that launched photography.
Steadman's argument rests on the assumption that Vermeer made a number of his most famous paintings in the same room.
Working backward from the pictures' internal perspective, Steadman infers the dimensions of the room itself, including the position of a back wall that we, the painting's viewers, necessarily never see.
On that back wall, Steadman believes, Vermeer projected his camera obscura images of the room. He imagines Vermeer's camera as a curtained cubicle in which the painter could sit alone.
When Steadman calculated the sizes of those hypothetical projections, based on his reckoning of the paintings' viewpoints -- that is, the position of the camera obscura's lens -- they approximate those of Vermeer's canvases to a startling degree.
Steadman's account of his research can be hard to follow at points, but his argument seems decisive.
The camera obscura hypothesis, Steadman concludes, suits not only the look of Vermeer's mature paintings but also his situation as a man seeking peace in a financially pressed household of 11 children.
E-mail Chronicle Art Critic Kenneth Baker at kennethbaker@sfchronicle.com.

Jan Vermeer. The Lacemaker 1669-70 Oil on canvas transferred to panel, 2 3.9 x 20.5 cm  Musée du Louvre, Paris Dutch, Baroque Form:  This portrait is a very straightforward and naturalistic representation.  The composition is simple and there is no great range of space.  The value structure initially is very Caravaggesque but on closer examination the range of value and the subtlety of the tonal transitions is a bit more complicate. The same is true of the color in this image.  Vermeer does use some intense or saturated hues as well as a few non-local colors in the face and hands. This image is one of those images that tends to support Vermeer's use of the camera obscura.  If you look closely at the detail below of the red lace you will find that Vermeer's lace becomes blobs of color rather than the red lines we would anticipate a painter rendering for individual strands.  If you look closely at the details of any photograph you will find that details become blurry in this same fashion. Another facet of this detail also supports this conclusion.  If you look closely at the details of the strands you will also see that there are little disks or rings of color that seem to have no purpose for being there.  These disks are actually what one would see if you looked through a cheap or poorly made lens on a camera.  They are caused by some imperfections in the lens condensing or refracting light in an odd fashion. Iconography:  Almost all of Vermeer's paintings are allegorical in some way.  As this the young woman makes lace her hands are propped up on a prayer book.  This juxtaposition of prayer book to her embroidery seems to pay homage to the cliché that "idle hands are the work of the devil."  This may be the case because there are many accounts of Dutch housewives obsessive creation of lace ornamentation,  however, this was not just to keep their hands busy.  Lacemaking was also a good source of extra income for many housewives.  If you look at almost any image from Rembrandt to Vermeer you will see that the clothing usually included an ornate lace collar and sometimes sleeves and other ornaments.  So lace is also a sign of wealth when it was worn.

 
 

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Color Temperature The terms "warm" and "cool" are used to express those hues that connote these respective qualities. In general, reds, oranges, and yellows "feel" warm, while blues, greens, and purples "feel" cool. Distinctions between warm and cool colors can be very appear either warmer or cooler depending upon the slight influence of red or blue. The same applies to gray and black (fig.12).

fig.12 color wheel
The wheel of color are helpful tool that show the basic organization and interrelationships of colors. It is also used as a tool for color selection. This color wheel provides basic color terminology that anyone working with type and color should be completely familiar with. Many color wheel models exist, and some are quite complex. Below are color wheel that contains 12 basic colors (fig.6). It is conceivable for a wheel to consist of an infinite number of variations, too subtle for the human eye to discern. Contained within the circle of color is a circle of black, which is obtained by mixing together all of the surrounding colors. Though this color wheel consist of only 12 colors, it is the root of all colors, a pure statement of chromatic harmony, and a fountain of imagination and emotion are important.

fig.6

Hue Hue is simply another name for color. The pure hues are identified by familiar names such as red, violet, green, purple, yellow. In the world of commercial products and pigments, hues have been given thousands of names. Woodland Green, Sienna, Apache Red etc. may evoke romantic and exotic thoughts, but these names, aside from their marketing value, have little to do with the composition of the colors they represent. In reality, few legitimate names exist for hues. The basic 12 color-wheel pictured on the opposite page features the primary hues red, yellow and blue; the secondary hues orange, green, and violet; and the six tertiary hues red-orange, orange-yellow, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, and red-violet (fig.9). Primaries are considered absolute colors and cannot be created by mixing other colors together. However, mixing together the primaries color into various combinations creates an infinite number of colors.

fig.9



me.men.to mo.ri n, pl memento mori [L, remember that you must die] (1596): a reminder of mortality; esp: death's-head
me.men.to n, pl -tos or -toes [ME, fr. L, remember, imper. of meminisse to remember; akin to L ment-, mens mind--more at mind] (1580): something that serves to warn or remind; also: souvenir
non-local colorThe use of colors that you wouldn't expect to find in things like fleshtones are referred to as non-local color.
prov.e.nance n [F, fr. provenir to come forth, originate, fr. L provenire, fr. pro- forth + venire to come--more at pro-, come] (1785) 1: origin, source 2: the history of ownership of a valued object or work of art or literature
Saturation
It also called chroma or intensity, saturation refers to the brightness of a hue. The highest saturation occurs in colors that are pure and unmixed. Any color mixture will diminish intensity. However, adding white, gray, black, or a complementary color most radically compromises intensity (fig.10). Variations of a single hue dulled in intensity by different amounts of an added complement are often referred to as tones. When complementary colors are placed in close proximity, the intensity of each is increased. This vibrant condition is referred to as simultaneous contrast (fig.11).
 

fig.10

fig.11

trompe l’oeil - (French: "deceive the eye"), in painting, the representation of an object with such verisimilitude as to deceive the viewer concerning the material reality of the object. This idea appealed to the ancient Greeks who were newly emancipated from the conventional stylizations of earlier art. Zeuxis, for example, reportedly painted such realistic grapes that birds tried to eat them. The technique was also popular with Roman muralists. Although trompe l’oeil never achieved the status of a major artistic aim, from the early Renaissance on, European painters occasionally fostered illusionism by painting false frames out of which the contents of a still life or portrait appeared to spill, or by creating window-like images suggesting actual openings in the wall or ceiling. (Brittanica)
Value Structure
Is the lightness or darkness of a color or shade.  Chiaroscuro and tenebrism both employ the use quick shifts of light and dark.
Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. It is a variable that can substantially alter a color's appearance, and as we will see later, it is also an important factor in achieving legibility with type and color. A hue changes in value when either white or black are added to it. A color with added white is called a tint (fig.7) ; a color with added black is called a shade (fig.8). Generally speaking, pure hues that are normally light in value (yellow, orange, green) make the best tints, white pure hues that are normally dark in value (red, blue, violet) make the most desirable shades. The palettes colors below shoes a spectrum of tints and shades based on the hues from the colors clearly shows that changes in value greatly expand color possibilities.

fig.7

fig.8

vanitas (Latin: "vanity"), in art, an important type of still-life painting that flourished in the Netherlands in the early 17th century, consisting of collections of objects symbolic of the inevitability of death and the transience and vanity of earthly achievements and pleasures; a vanitas painting exhorts the viewer to consider mortality and to repent. The vanitas evolved from simple pictures of skulls and other symbols of death and transience frequently painted on the reverse sides of portraits during the late Renaissance. It had acquired an independent status by about 1550, and by 1620 had become a very popular genre. Its development until its decline in about 1650 was centred in Leiden, in the United Provinces of the Netherlands, an important seat of Calvinist learning, with its emphasis on man's sinfulness and its rigid moral code. (Brittanica Encyclopedia)

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