The Baroque Period

The Baroque Period was the age of reason when minds and imaginations opened up new worlds of scientific knowledge as well as artistic creativity. (Fleming, 75) The Baroque era was a period of opulence and magnificence that gave off a powerful awe inspiring style that was full of flamboyant concepts and overall dramatic quality. From Venice, as well as from Rome and the centers where international mannerism flourished, the roads to Baroque art fanned out in all directions. The style of Baroque art was so diverse that it’s difficult to determine what classifies it as being art of the Baroque era. Although Baroque art has many diverse artistic manifestations there are certain general characteristics that appear in all three types of Baroque art. The Counter Reformation Baroque style focuses on astonishing and overpowering its audience. Art of this time was also enlisted in serving the purposes of the church militant. The Aristocratic Baroque style focuses on glorifying the position and asserting national power and prestige. The last style of the Baroque age, Bourgeois Baroque, was marked by the concentration on down-to-earth common people of the middle class. The individuality of each style of the Baroque period is visibly distinctive, yet similar in their own exclusive approaches.

The Counter Reformation art, which focused on the command of the church, was created by the Jesuits in 154. It was also dynamic and religious due to the influence of the church. In Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes, a religious fervor can be seen in this brutally graphic version of a biblical scene which enlightens the action with realism and powerful female protagonists. Gentileschi’s use of emotionalism is visible because of the abundance of dramatic aspects due to the vicious slaughter of Holofernes by the Jewish widow, Judith. She also utilizes the aspect of light and shade to extract the spectator’s attention to the dramatic action of the painting. Her use of