Caravaggio's Raking Light

Caravaggio's Calling of Saint Matthew, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
Picture taken by Cava H.

Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi) received commissions from Cardinal Francesco Del Monte to create paintings honoring Saint Matthew for the Contrarelli chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. In The Calling of Saint Matthew, the setting is a tavern, a commonplace setting typical of Caravaggio's paintings. In the scene, Christ emerges from the darkness on the right. He summons Levi, the Roman tax collector, and Levi's face is highlighted by a beam of light emanating from an unspecified source (raking light) outside the picture. Christ's hand gesture is similar to the hand gesture in Michelangelo's Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel. Caravaggio showed naturalism in his paintings by portraying unidealized figures set in harsh and realistic settings. The stark contrast of light and dark was a unique feature of Caravaggio's painting style. He manipulated light to heighten the emotional impact in his paintings. Caravaggio's painting style influenced many artists throughout Europe.

The Welcoming Arms of St. Peter's

St. Peter's, Vatican City, Rome
Picture taken by Cava H.

Colonnade of St. Peter's piazza, Vatican City, Rome
Picture taken by Cava H.

The energy of the Counter-Reformation was evident in the architecture of the 17^th century as several popes rebuilt Rome to showcase the power of the Catholic Church. In 1625, Gianlorenzo Bernini received a commission from Pope Urban VIII to design the piazza in front of St. Peter's in Rome. An obelisk brought from Egypt by the ancient Romans and a fountain constructed by Maderno in front of the church had to be incorporated into Bernini's design. Bernini designed two colonnades made up of four rows of huge Tuscan columns. The colonnades terminate in classical temple fronts. The colonnades symbolize the welcoming arms of the Roman Catholic Church and create a dramatic gesture of embrace to all who enter the piazza. The scale and theatricality of St. Peter's served the Catholic Church's desire to reestablish its authority. In contrast to the orderly rationality of Renaissance art, St. Peter's showcases the dramatic, theatrical, and elaborate style of Baroque art and architecture.

Raphael's “School of Athens” (Vasari)

Raphael's School of Athens (Philosophy), Stanza della Segnatura
Picture taken by Cava H. 

In 1509, Raphael was commissioned by Pope Julius II to decorate the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican. One of the rooms Raphael painted was the Stanza della Segnatura, the papal library. Raphael painted images symbolizing the four branches of human knowledge and wisdom on the four walls of the Stanza della Segnatura – theology, law (justice), poetry, and philosophy. His philosophy mural, School of Athens, depicts a gathering of great philosophers and scientists. According to Vasari, “there are Aristotle and Plato...while around them a large school of philosophers form a circle.” Raphael included a portrait of the architect Bramante and his own self-portrait in the mural. The setting is a large hall with massive vaults. Vasari stated that Raphael “adorned this painting with perspective” and that “the entire scene is arranged with such order and measure that it truly proved his self worth.” The balance and clarity of Raphael's painting demonstrate the artistic style of the High Renaissance.

New Sacristy (Medici Chapel)

Medici Chapel, San Lorenzo
Picture taken by Cava H.

In 1519, Michelangelo was commissioned by the Medici popes to build a funerary chapel, the New Sacristy, attached to the Basilica of San Lorenzo. Michelangelo sculpted tombs of Giuliano and Lorenzo Medici at opposite sides of the New Sacristy. Instead of sculpting the likenesses of Giuliano and Lorenzo, Michelangelo sculpted Giuliano alert and clad in the armor of a Roman emperor, holding a commander's baton. Lorenzo is depicted deep in thought. The sculptures of Giuliano and Lorenzo illustrate the neo-platonic concept of active versus contemplative life. They also symbolize two ways for humans to achieve union with God. Below Giuliano's sculpture, Michelangelo carved a female and a male figure representing Night and Day. The muscular female figure appears masculine because Michelangelo used male models even for his female figures. The figures are tense and twisted in anguish, similar to the twisting of bodies in his “Bound Slave” sculptures and in his Sistine Chapel paintings. Michelangelo's style shows a gradual move from Renaissance art towards Mannerism. 

Bramante and High Renaissance Architecture

Saint Peter's, Vatican City
Picture taken by Cava H.

Donato D'Angelo Bramante was born in Urbino and trained as a painter. He went to Milan in 1481, and abandoned painting to become an architect. Bramante developed the High Renaissance form of the central-plan church under the influence of Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, and Leonardo. While the Early Renaissance style of architecture emphasized detailing flat wall surfaces, High Renaissance architecture was more sculptural. Bramante favored the architecture and art of classical antiquity. He was inspired by the round temples of Roman Italy, and his first major work in the classical style was the Tempietto (“Little Temple”). The Tempietto's dome, drum, and base are in balance and harmony to one another and to the whole. The plan is round and the elevated base isolates it from its surroundings. Bramante's Tempietto started the architecture style of the High Renaissance. Pope Julius II chose Bramante to design a replacement for the church of Old Saint Peter's. Bramante designed a central-plan church consisting of a Greek cross with each arm terminating in an apse. However, the construction of Saint Peter's was not completed in Bramante's lifetime. After his death, the work was passed to Michelangelo, who modified Bramante's design.

Painting the Sistine Chapel (Vasari)

Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo
Picture taken by Cava H.

The Sistine Chapel was built by Pope Sixtus IV in the Vatican palace. In memory of his uncle Sixtus, Pope Julius II asked Michelangelo to paint the vault of the Sistine chapel. Michelangelo did not welcome this task, and tried to recommend others for the job. He considered painting the vault a difficult task, and preferred to continue to work on Julius II's tomb. The more he refused, the more the pope insisted that Michelangelo paint the ceiling. In order to reach the ceiling, Michelangelo built his own scaffolding on poles which did not touch the wall. Vasari stated that the “frescoes were done with the greatest discomfort, for he had to stand there working with his head tilted backwards, and it damaged his eyesight so much that he could no longer read or look at drawings if his head was not tilted backwards.” Michelangelo painted figures in various poses, some holding garlands of oak and acorn leaves representing the coat of arms and insignia of Pope Julius II. According to Vasari, the “work has been and truly is the beacon of our art, and it has brought such benefit and enlightenment to the art of painting.”

The Eye of the Artist (Vasari)

Michelangelo's unfinished Pieta
Picture taken by Cava H.

Michelangelo was commissioned by a French cardinal in Rome to create a marble Pieta to be placed in Saint Peter's in the Chapel of the Madonna della Febbre. Vasari stated that no sculptor “could ever reach this level of design and grace, nor could he, even with hard work, ever finish, polish, and cut the marble as skillfully as Michelangelo did here, for in this statue all the worth and power of sculpture is revealed.” Michelangelo carved Mary cradling the dead body of Christ in her lap with a pyramid of drapery. The size of the figures are not proportional for the sake of the composition of the sculpture. According to Vasari, “Michelangelo departed in a significant way from the measures, orders, and rules men usually employ, following Vitruvius and the ancients, because he did not wish to repeat them.” Michelangelo believed that pleasing proportions could be identified with the artist's judgment. Vasari stated that Michelangelo declared “that it was necessary to have a good eye for measurement rather than a steady hand, because the hands work while the eyes make judgments....” Such beliefs marked the beginning of the ideas of artist as genius and conceptual art. Fifty years after carving the Roman Pieta, Michelangelo began carving another Pieta intended for his own tomb. This Pieta was left unfinished.

Michelangelo's David

Copy of Michelangelo's David at Piazza della Signoria
Picture taken by Cava H.

In 1501, the Florentine Cathedral building committee invited Michelangelo to create a David statue for the Pallazo della Signoria. Michelangelo carved the statue out of a large, tall, and narrow block of marble that had been previously used by another artist. While others had abandoned the piece of marble and deemed it useless, Michelangelo was able to carve a masterpiece out of it. Michelangelo represented David in heroic classical nudity, sternly watching his approaching enemy. Michelangelo admired Greco-Roman statues, and David's torso is derived from the 2^nd century sculpture of Apollo Belvedere. David's physique is rendered with skill, precision, and grace. While David's body appears classical, his head and facial expression capture Renaissance ideas. David's focused facial expression creates emotional tension and alludes to an opposing force beyond the statue. Instead of the calm, ideal beauty seen in earlier art, Michelangelo's sculpture channels pent-up emotion and tension. Michelangelo's passions and emotions are clearly evident in his beautiful sculptures. The David was moved from the Palazzo Vecchio to the Galleria dell'Accademia in the 19^th centurey to prevent further damage.