Rome Week 4!

            For our fourth and final week in Rome, we set out to learn all about Spectacle, Patronage, and the Jesuits in Baroque Rome! This trip has been so amazing and so educational that I don’t want it to end, but this was certainly an incredible way to tie it all together. To learn all about our theme of the week, we went to the church of S. Vitale, Bernini’s Triton fountain, The Ecstasy of S. Teresa, the church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, and the Palazzo Farnese.

            Our first stop of the day was Bernini’s Triton fountain, which was actually Bernini’s first freestanding fountain. It is remarkable to see and I wish that the water was on when we walked past it, but I have been lucky enough to see it with the water on as different times in this trip. Bernini was a Baroque artist who had been inspired by the mannerist period. This fountain features the son of the God Poseidon, Triton, holding up a conch shell on top of fish. Triton is usually portrayed as a mermaid and the conch shell is frequently used within his image formula. It incorporates spectacle as Triton is blowing into the conch shell and the water shoots up incredibly high from there. It is even said that when this was built, the water shot up higher than it is now. Triton is also an incredibly large figure himself and it sitting upon large fish. This fountain refers to patronage also, as if you look close enough you can find Barberini bees, which we have learned represent the Barberini family helped to pay for this statue.


My favorite church of the day was the church of S. Vitale, and it also happened to perfectly showcase Jesuit patronage and spectacle. It was another martyr church, which I have come to like a lot through this trip. The martyr churches have always been my favorite and the most interesting to me, as martyrs themselves are particularly interesting to me. This was an ancient church that was later renovated by the Jesuits during the Reformation. The Jesuits have a want to educate the people about the faith and to strengthen people’s faith during the reform, so they dedicated the church to the martyr Saint Vitale. Showing people the martyrs of the Church, specifically this one, made them able to inspire people to keep strong to their faith in a time where Christians were getting persecuted. Two large paintings are in the front of the Church explaining the story of the martyrdom of St. Vitale, with smaller paintings around the church depicting other martyrs within the Catholic faith. The large paintings follow the mannerist style impeccably, especially in the ways that the Council of Trent announced religious art should style themselves. The Council of Trent announced that art should be used to teach, and the story should be visible through the painting. The figures in this painting are all moving and turning, showing their long bodies. The painting also includes the bright colors that were important in the Mannerist style as well.


Another beautiful piece of art that we saw was The Ecstasy of St. Teresa in the church of S. Maria della Vittoria. This is a beautiful Baroque piece invoking spectacle and patronage as well. It was done by Bernini, and was actually Bernini’s first piece after his bell towers at St, Peters failed. This was Bernini’s piece to say “I’m back”, and it is exquisite. The marble has different textures for the different people in the sculpture. For example, the angel is wearing very light, airy clothing and that is depicted in the texture of the marble. Teresa is wearing heavy clothing and that is also shown. The angel actually looks weightless in the way that it is shown. Teresa is being held down by gravity even though she is being raised by the clouds in her state. The rays behind the two represent the lights of heaven. Bernini actually designed the whole altar around the sculpture as well, incorporating paintings into it to tell the full story of Teresa. There are also spectators watching in seats to both sides of the scene, reading Teresa’s autobiography describing what had happened to her. It is quite the spectacle, and was commissioned in order to symbolize the Church’s victory in the Catholic Reformation over Protestantism.



I am so sad to leave Rome but I truly think that we can all leave Rome and say we saw almost everything it had to see. I am so thankful for this trip and for this class for teaching me more about art than I had ever known. Bye Rome!



-Kelsey Stelly

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Final - Alaina Fontenot

Image
Rome is home to some of the world’s oldest and most influential works of art. This past month, in Art/Jesuits in Early Modern Rome, we covered an impressive amount of ground looking at work spanning from the 15th all the way to the 17th centuries. What’s maybe the most impressive, though, is the range of ceiling paintings that spanned these centuries. From the Allegory of Divine Providence by Pietro da Cartona in the Palazzo Barberini, to the Apotheosis of Saint Ignazio by Andrea Pozzo in the Chiesa di Stant’ Ignazio, to the Triumph of the Name of Jesus by Giovanni Battista Gaulli in the Gesù, each painting seemed more grandiose and mind-boggling than the next.  Each painting mentioned above is its own example of quadratura painting in the Baroque era. The Baroque movement in art came after the Renaissance and later Mannerism painting where there was an emphasis on going back to the Classical art and architecture of the Hellenistic period and Classical Rome. The art was very c...
Read more

What's Up? Comparing ceiling paintings in Rome

Image
Jimmy Guardiola    In the month we spent in Rome, we saw countless amazing pieces of art. The oldest and most spectacular sculptures, the most intricate sarcophagi, the most colorful paintings, and the most breathtaking architectural achievements. All in all, however, the greatest things I saw consistently were the ceiling paintings. Whether fresco or canvas, it seemed that everyone one we saw was better than the last. It is impossible to register and memorize all the art contained in one single church. Most churches of ceiling works in the main naive, in each chapel, the cupola, the transepts, and the apse. Though I can spend hours talking about each, for this, I will focus on the ones located in the main naive. The very first thing you seem with great detail as you look up when entering a church. I'm going to be comparing my two favorite pieces. one actually is from a church, however, the second in located in a famous palazzo. The first is "The Triumph of the Name of Jesus...
Read more

Spectacle, Patronage, and the Jesuits in Baroque Rome-Teresa Berner

Image
Here we are, the last blogpost of this four week series. The time I spent here in Rome was one the most educational experiences of my life.  Actually being in the presence of these works of art that I have learned about over the course of my life has been surreal. This week was no different. This week was all about the spectacle, patronage, and the Jesuits in Baroque Rome. The most evident spot of Jesuit patronage and spectacle that we went to this week was the church of S. Vitale. It is an ancient church that was renovated by the Jesuits during the Catholic Reformation. The Jesuits knew that they had to educate people about the reforms of the Catholic Church. They thought that by reminding the public about Catholic martyrs who showed the ultimate sign of faith by dying for their beliefs, people would be inspired to come back to the church. Along the walls of the nave are paintings of different martyrs. There are paintings of the martyrdom of St. Vitale in the apse of t...
Read more