Fall 2009

The Dark and the Light of the Baroque Period: the Italian Renaissance

Ivana Whitfield

Professor Nancy Shahani

Art 200.04

An Introduction to Chiaroscuro, Tenebrism, and the Italian Renaissance

In the 1600’s, Italy saw new art techniques that took over the Baroque period. Michelangelo Merisi da Carvaggio, an incredibly influential artist of this period, perfected the use of dramatic contrasts of light and darkness and the use of night effects; these two techniques are called chiaroscuro and tenebrism. Caravaggio influenced many painters throughout the Italian Renaissance period, including that of the artist El Greco. This Greek artist traveled to Venice where he picked up styles from the Venetian Renaissance, including tenebrism and chiaroscuro. A painting heavily influenced by the Baroque Period attributed to El Greco can be found at the Barnes Foundation.

The Barnes Foundation is a private collection of artworks from all parts of the world. It was founded by scientist Albert C. Barnes in 1922. Barnes made his fortune by inventing an ointment to prevent blindness in babies. This ointment was mandated throughout the United States. Barnes spent his fortune on art, collecting all kinds of artwork from different parts of the world, from paintings and sculptures, to objects and ironworks (such as door hinges and other parts). Barnes has collected approximately 50 million dollars worth of art including that of the chiaroscuro piece attributed to El Greco.

Like most paintings during the early seventeenth century, this piece is biblical. Titled Disrobing of Christ, this painting’s setting is very dark as if it took place in a dark cave or a dark room. The chiaroscuro gives the painting a 3-D effect; the shaded areas give depth while the light areas are pushed out. The darkness contrasts with a limited amount of light shining on the Christ figure from some sort of window or such. This causes the vantage point to be directly on the Christ figure. It is almost like there is a big spotlight on Christ, pulling that subject outwards. The bright colored robe also helps to attract to the light and draw Christ into the viewer’s attention before the rest of the figures in the picture are noticed. The light puts emphasis on this one person and the rest of the figures become subordinate.

This compares with works by Caravaggio because he also used the light in chiaroscuro to show emphasis and subordination. Caravaggio’s works are a lot darker than normal chiaroscuro works because he used night lighting. It looks as if the room is completely dark except for the limited light coming from a candle. This technique is defined as tenebrism. For example, in Caravaggio’s piece David and Goliath the background is completely dark. All that is seen is David kneeling over the defeated Goliath. David’s face is darkened by shadows as his fingers are intertwined in Goliath’s hair. However, his body, Goliath’s shoulders and the head of Goliath are directly hit by the light. The emphases on the two bodies tell a lot of the story of David and Goliath. The light allows the viewer to clearly see which of the two are the bigger and stronger. However, Goliath is on the ground with David kneeling almost casually over him. The light focusing on David’s body structure as he kneels on Goliath shows that David came out the victor in that battle. He looks heroic though his face is almost not seen.

The tenebrism in this painting tells the entire story of David and Goliath even to someone who does not know the story. This was relevant during this time period. A lot of Italian art was based on bible stories or biblical references. This was because artists were commissioned for their artwork by the church, raising their status in society and becoming a part of the “liberal arts” such as literature, mathematics and philosophy (Gilbert). Therefore, many of Caravaggio’s works were done trying to please that of the clergy as well as express his own artistic views. The Sacrifice of Isaac was originally created in the late 1500’s and was filled with heavy tenebrism. It depicts Abraham about to sacrifice his son Isaac but he is stopped by an angel telling him to sacrifice a ram instead. In this painting, the light is coming from the opposite angle than in the David and Goliath piece, shining from the top right corner of the painting. This causes all the faces of the people in this painting, Abraham and Isaac, to be hidden in the shadows except for that of the angel’s. The emphasis on the angel explains the angel’s purpose in the story: to give Abraham an alternative sacrifice than to kill his son. The contrast in this painting of light and dark explains the contrast between good and evil. Though he was doing as God said, Abraham was about to kill his son. It was clearly not what God really wanted him to do otherwise there would not be an angel with an alternative sacrifice. Therefore, the darkness over Abraham and Isaac symbolizes the wrong deed that is about to be committed. It is the opposite with the light. Light has a positive connotation; it refers to goodness, peace, etc. The light on the angel’s face brings about all these references as well as draws the viewer’s attention. The light also shines directly on the angel’s hand which is resting on the ram. It makes it clear that the ram is to now be sacrificed; it’s the way God wants it, according to the story.

However, Caravaggio did another version of this painting for Pope Urban VIII in 1604. As an artist in this time period, he was hired and commissioned by the church for such biblical pieces so he had to please the clergy. That is why the second version of this painting does not have such heavy night effects but is just normal chiaroscuro. The way the lighting is in this painting, it is viewed from left to right, starting with the angel and ending with the ram. The entire story is told as you see the hand of the angel grabbing Abraham’s, stopping the sacrifice, and the angel pointing with his other hand to the sacrificial ram awaiting his fate (Wikipedia). There is also a background in this version of the painting which contrasts with the original for there was no background in the original. With only a black backdrop and the heavy tenebrism, all the focus was on the figures in the painting. It was intense and jumped out at you. Adding a background makes the painting more subtle which is necessary if the painting was for the church. When in the church, no one wants to see a painting screaming sacrifice and death to them. They want something more peaceful, which is what the background brings to the piece. That is also why the light and the point of emphasis are so important. The first thing that is noticed with this painting is what the angel is doing. When seeing that the angel is stopping the sacrifice and pointing to the awaiting lamb, the sight of Abraham with a knife to Isaac’s throat is not so shocking because it is apparent that the death is not going to occur. Caravaggio strategically used chiaroscuro in this piece to get the same point across that he had in the first version of this painting but he did so in a more subtle way that also pleased the clergy.

Caravaggio’s techniques became the highlight of the period. Tenebrism and chiaroscuro spread throughout Italy and on to French artists, Spanish artists, and even Greek artists like El Greco. The artwork of this period, though very biblical still express many personal interpretations of the bible. The light and dark contrasts enhance the paintings already filled with detailed realism (Preble). This unique style marked the Italian Renaissance period and has had a lasting effect on the art world.

SOURCES

Gilbert, WIlliam. "Chapter 7: Italian Renaissance Art." Renaissance and Reformation. Lawrence: Carrie Books, 1998. Print.

Preble, Duane, Sarah Preble, and Patrick Frank. Prebles' Artforms (9th Edition). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.

Kren, Emil, and Daniel Marx. Web Gallery of Art. Web. <http://www.wga.hu/index1.html>.

"Sacrifice of Isaac (Caravaggio)." Wikipedia. 24 Aug. 2009. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacrifice_of_Isaac_(Caravaggio)>.