David and David

 The Baroque period was a time in art that was supposed to bring emotion to the viewer, everything was very dramatic. You can see this clearly in Michelangelo’s David, and Bernini’s David. You can also tell what values of the Renaissance continued to be valued in the 17^th century Baroque period.

Both of these statues possess qualities of humanism. But I think Michelangeo’s David has more humanism to it than Bernini’s David. Michelangeo’s has an interest in anatomy as well as the ideal human body and, while Bernini’s just has the humanist trait of an ideal human body. Michelangeo’s David is completely naked, showing the interesting they had at the time of anatomy, while Bernini’s David is actually wearing clothes that are covering up his genitalia. It was thought as slightly shameful to be completely naked, unlike the time when people were interested in anatomy.

Both of the Davids in the Renaissance and 17^th century capture the idea of humanism and naturalism in the statues. These statues show man is still the main focus. Although it is based off a biblical man and story, each statue shows different physical ideals of the time. Michelangeo’s David shows the body of an ideal athlete of the time. Muscular and lean. You can see very clearly where the muscles is giving him the look of a well-trained athlete. His softer round face, gives him the look of you young man, as well as his finely toned muscles,  Bernini’s David shows a matured man, in a twisted position, looking like he is just about to lash out at an invisible opponent. He has an ideal body of a warrior, in this position too. You see he is training his body, making his muscle very obvious. His face has a ridged jaw, with a tense scowl on his face, to me, making him look a bit older than Micheloanges’s David. Both still, both of these sculptures draw attention to humanistic features- man being very powerful. 

Both of these statues have the idea of naturalism from the renaissance. Micheloageo’s David is standing in the classic contrapposto stance, while Bernini’s David is in a very twisted dramatic position. This is a huge difference between the Renaissance and the 17^th century. But naturalism still is in both of the statues. Micheloageo’s David, although standing in the classic ¾ contrapposto stance, looks very real. You see the detail Micheloangeo put into this statue to make it so naturalistic. His proportions look natural. His hair and face really have small details, and the small details such as the neck, showing the natural dips make a huge difference, you can see the small bones in his hands and the slight muscles in his forearm. Although his does have slightly large hands, it is just a sign of power. Bernini’s David also embraces naturalism. The way he sculpted David’s motion makes it look as if he was frozen in the moment. All the right muscles are flexed and his angles for his body are correct for the motion of this nature. But he also made sure the small details were there. The slight creases in his face, texture in the pouch he is carrying, his feet, well look like natural dirty worn out feet, which have not been idealized to perfection. But this intense detail was a value of the renaissance and was still valued in the 17^th century.

Albrect Dürer

Albrect Dürer’s pieces The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (pg. 684), and Adam and Eve (pg. 684) are both pieces that have a great deal of Italianate features, and northern European traditional features. There is northern influence seen in both pieces is the large amount of texture and lines used to create the two pieces, they also both have a fair amount of naturalism. The Italianate features of these pieces include the properties that these pieces were made of- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a woodcut and Adam and Eve is an engraving, and the Adam and Eve engraving also alludes to the educational favor that there was in the Italianate time period.

Northern influence is seen on both of these pieces with the detailed texture that each has. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse being a woodcut has many lines within the wood. Dürer most likely hired a skilled carpenter to do the cutting. But you can see the shadows and highlights are very obvious with the lines used. There are many condensed line in the shadows, and less condensed, if any line at all, for the highlighted areas of the piece. The naturalism in this woodcut is seen through the detail that was implemented onto the wood. Details on the faces, clothes, and horses make them look realistic; as realistic as you can with only cutting out wood. Italian influence on this peace is most obvious with just the material used, wood. But there is also a feel of a chaotic scene. Similar to many of the paintings we saw in chapter 20 on 16^th art in Italy, specifically Pontormo’s Entombment (pg. 661), mannerism seems to be in this woodcut.  Horses are placed where typically horses would not be in a stampede of some sort. Some look as if they are running in the air. I just felt this seemed to portray a bit of mannerism. 

The Adam and Eve engraving have northern influence because it shows a lot of texture all throughout the piece. The skin of the people, trees, ground, hair, and animals all have textures. The technique from northern Europe is used. Lines, and cross hatching are very apparent. You see as with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the lines in Adam and Eve also show highlights and shadows. This piece also has a lot of naturalism to it and detail, which would also be a lot of northern influence. The detail in their bodies, the tree and the animals are very realistic, having correct proportions and shadowing. The Italian influence that is in this piece is very apparent with the material being used. Dürer carved this piece from metal plates. You can also see Dürer is embracing the gift and importance of education. You can see the sign which is written some language… I unfortunately am not sure what one, but I feel it still embraces how important education was to Dürer, and how he flaunted his own education.