welcome back to the accessible art history YouTube channel this week we're going to be comparing two of the most popular time periods in our history Renaissance and Baroque although the pieces often cover the same subjects their styles are actually quite different we're going to explore three ways to show these differences so keep on watching to find out more before we get started though let's refresh our memories on what the Renaissance and Baroque eras were all about the Renaissance came first lasting from around 1300 to 1550 for Western Europe this signaled a rebirth this was due to the fact the eastern half of the Roman Empire was conquered by the Ottomans many scientists artists and scholars fled to the west and brought previously lost knowledge with them in addition archaeological digs became popular on earth and classical art for the first time in centuries artists like Raphael Botticelli Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were inspired by these developments and created some of the most famous art in history in the mid to late 16th century a new artistic style began to sweep over Europe it was called baroque meaning complex or different there is some debate on the actual reasoning but these seem to be the two most popular theories the period was marked by the counter-reformation or when the Catholic Church used art and architecture to reinvigorate itself against the rising Protestant numbers they hired artists such as Peter Paul Rubens Caravaggio Bernini and Velasquez to create art that would celebrate the history and miracles of the church in a way that would draw people back to the true faith now that we've established some background information let's dive deeper into the differences between Renaissance and Baroque art first off these two styles utilize completely different techniques of composition during the Renaissance the goal was to achieve balance every detail was meticulously placed this can be seen in Leonardo da Vinci's fresco The Last Supper he painted it around 1495 for the Church of Santa Maria delle grazie a in Milan Italy Christ sits at the center of the table and the vanishing point is right above his head on either side there are six disciples in various states of shock behind the group are three windows one large and two small representing the Holy Trinity each element of this work is perfectly aligned create a mathematical composition in sharp contrast to Leonardo's work is Caravaggio's painting the entombed men of Christ this is one of his most famous pieces and he created it between 1603 and 1604 today this work hangs in the Vatican Museums Caravaggio encompasses the tragedy and drama of the moment by creating a strong diagonal composition the viewers eye is drawn upward from the left corner from Christ's dead body to the men placing him in the tomb and finally to the two marries his mother and Magdalene who are mourning the scene twists upward creating a gradual unveiling of the story in essence Renaissance art used balance to lay the story out on the table no pun intended while Baroque art allows a story to unfold slowly as the viewer takes in the peace this difference can likely be explained by the fact that the papacy who commissioned Caravaggio's work wanted to remind people of the sacrifices that Christ made on humanity's behalf it was a calculated way to bring people back to the faith created in 1507 Raphael's LaBella then there is a wonderful example of Renaissance Madonna painting although it was commissioned by a Sienese nobleman named Fabrizio cigar ad this work now hangs in the Louvre it features a beautiful young Madonna in a lush landscape she watches over her son Jesus and his cousin John the Baptist they are both infants in this depiction though they still have their iconographic markers throughout the work there is uniform light it is soft and warm speaking to a lovely spring or summer day it also symbolizes the holiness of the three figures the presence cast that light onto humanity itself although there are examples of contrasting light in Renaissance art such as Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna of the rocks they are far less common once again we are turning to Caravaggio for an examination of baroque art this painting is called the Madonna di Loreto and was created between 1604 and 1606 it serves as decoration in the cavaletti chapel in the Church of Santa Cassino in Rome in this work the madonna stands holding the infant jesus there is barely any identification just a small golden halo in front of Mary there are two pilgrims they have fallen to their knees in worship at the divine figures in front of them Caravaggio uses light to his advantage to tell the story the Virgin is partially shrouded by a shadow adding to the mystery of her divinity her face is illuminated allowing the viewer to take in her full glory the pilgrims themselves are partially obscured by the shadow she cast showing they aren't supposed to be the focus of the work when shown side by side the difference in lighting becomes abundantly clear and once again they tell viewers a lot about the motives behind the pieces in the Renaissance it was all about classical beauty the Madonna is fair and handsome all the two holy infants are plump and adorable in order to convey this the lighting had to be perfect and even but in the Baroque era it was all about the story that was being told the light was manipulated in such a way that it created a beginning a middle and an end essentially it was made to be a restoration of a narrative our final difference between Renaissance and Baroque art is a utilization or lack thereof of emotion and for this we are turning to sculpture first up Michelangelo's pietà this is one of his earliest works sculpted around 1498 299 and his house in st. Peter's Basilica the Pieta is one of those common themes in art it shows the Virgin Mary cradling Christ after he died on the cross however despite this tragic moment in this work both figures are quite serene Mary looks down in reverence and Christ could simply be sleeping rational calm seems to be a strange choice but when you consider where the statue is placed it makes a bit more sense it was meant to be an aide in worship in one of the holiest places in the Catholic world Gian Lorenzo Bernini like his predecessor Michelangelo was often in the employ of the Catholic Church in fact they commissioned him to create this piece it is called the ecstasy of Saint Teresa he sculpted it for the Cornaro Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome between 16 47 and 52 to say this work is dramatic would be an understatement from the left an angel swoops down to pierce st. Teresa with his arrow she throws her head back in both pleasure and pain behind the pair golden sunbeams rain down the sculpture tells a story and an amazing one at that it speaks to the mystical element of the Catholic Church an excellent subject for the counter-reformation although both of these sculptures depict holy women they are worlds apart the Virgin Mary is the epitome of containment despite having just lost her son she has no grief on her face her sorrow is buried within however Saint Teresa expels her emotion with reckless abandon she is the opposite of contained the story of her ecstasy burst forth out of the space and threatens to invade the viewers once again we see the theme of rational knowledge versus a dramatic beckoning of the truth today Renaissance and Baroque works are some of the most popular in the study of our history and with very good reason despite their differences or perhaps because of them they are able to resonate with viewers they connect with different parts of the human mind and our desire to understand the world around us [Music]