Visual_Symbols,_Formal_Conventions_and_Compositional_Strategies-_Ancient_Greek_Art_and_Baroque

Examine how artists use visual symbols, formal conventions and compositional strategies to construct meaning in artworks. Throughout the ages formal conventions, compositional strategies and visual symbols have been used to construct meaning in artworks. These artworks have reflected the feelings of the people during the time as well as historical meanings. Such artists include Polycleitus, Caravaggio and Bernini. Some artists, who have created even the most important artworks are unknown. In this essay I will describe the paintings and sculptures by the artists named and describe the meaning behind them. Polycleitus worked primarily with bronze, the most popular material of the time due to its adjustable strength and dazzling beauty and much of his work was a visual symbol for physical perfection in ancient Greece. Polycleitus was a Greek sculptor of the fifth and early fourth century BC. In Doryforos, the Spearcarrier, (460-450bc) the perfect balance in the position of the athlete is shown and the body appears relaxed yet ready to move. Polycleitus created a series of rods passing through key points of the body, with four quarters marked out. The body weight is supported by one leg and the body is rotated with the hips and head facing one way and the chest the other. The right arm is bent, while the other relaxed. The position is called contrapposto. The angles of the body oppose but also compliment each other. Polycleitus formed the rules for the human anatomy in art and this compositional strategy became the key to understanding how other ancient Greeks could capture physical beauty. The sculpture captured the ideal of physical perfection and was more human than human. Polycleitus new law of proportions, “the canon of Polycleitus” served as the root of Greek idealism and became a formal convention. The Riace Bronzes (sculpted in 460-450bc) are two full sized Greek bronzes of nude warriors that was inspired by the “canon of Polycleitus”. The artist who is unknown, made the legs unnaturally long, the same size as the upper body. To accentuate the symmetry of the two sides there’s an incredibly deep groove running up the centre of the chest. The back is remarkably well defined and the central channel of the spine is deeper than would you would ever see on a real human. The coccyx is left out, to improve the line of the back. The arrangement of the head, limbs and chest make them seem almost alive. The Riace Warriors represent the instinct to exaggerate by the ancient Greeks and show impossibly heroic humans. Their idealism or exaggeration is what makes them so overwhelming. Their beguiling surface disguising their idealized geometry and impossible anatomy. They are posed in an aggressive stance of overpowering physical perfection. Italian baroque master Michelangelo Caravaggio’s, the musicians, painted in 1595 is an oil on canvas. The musicians was painted during the baroque era. The baroque world grew from the catholic church’s encouragement that the arts should communicate religious theme through high emotion, dynamic movement and self-confident rhetoric. At that time they were losing power to the protestant reformation, the aim of the counter-reformation was to return the orders to their spiritual foundations. Painted for cardinal Maria Del Monte, it shows three youths playing music, one playing a lute with cupid behind them. Cupid, the symbol of desire and affection, is a visual symbol used to emphasise the songs played are about love. Mario Minniti, Caravaggio’s companion, is shown as the central figure playing a lute. His eyes are watering, indicating this song tells of the affliction of love instead of the joys of it. The striving composition is flat and complex and the construction of the tight-knit group is fragmented. The painting creates a feeling of claustrophobia and it crashes the safety barrier of the frame. The figures are so close-up they are almost inviting the viewer in. In 1599, Caravaggio won the commission to paint two scenes of the life of saint Matthew for the a great roman church known as The Contorelli Chapel. Caravaggio may well have been familiar with the charlatan money lending gamblers sitting around the table like Levi and his associates he painted. The painting shows a finger bolt of radiance from Jesus that exerts a sublime gravity that spares Mathew, turning him from a sinner into a saint. This hand unifies the two parts, Mathew and his subordinates and Christ and saint peter. The underlying grid pattern of vertical and horizontals in the stage like space of the picture are an important compositional feature which knit it together structurally. The light and dark contrast the mundane, natty world of Levi and the ineluctable power of the immortal faith. It draw inspiration from chiaroscuro. Caravaggio’s picture shows a sinner not a saint and goes against the formal conventions of the time. Gian Lorenzo Bernini is an influential Italian sculptor, architect and painter from the baroque era. Apollo and Daphne was finished in 1625 and is inspired by one of the stories included in Ovid's metamorphoses. Apollo and Daphne have been peirced by cupids arrow and Apollo is in love with Daphne while Daphne is wounded and is eternally chaste. The metamorphose Daphne undergoes is both physical and sensual and the viewer must move all away around the statue to see the transformation thus denying a single view point. The composition is based on a diagonal and the lines of composition give a motion sense showing she is trying to escape. The ecstasy of saint Theresa, finished in 1652 shows two central figures, a swooning nun and an angel in the act of piercing her with an arrow. It goes heavily against the formal conventions of the time in which it was painted as it shows the body of saint Teresa, in a state of sensual and spiritual pleasure or ecstasy. The statue of the Chapel is set in marble, stucco and paint and exudes luxe. The ecstasy of saint Theresa is situated in what look like theatre boxes and involves the viewer. It breaks down the barrier between the work and the viewer and its composition is a triumph of baroque ingenuity. Natural light is funnelled in from above from what looks like an unknown source and bathing it in an ethereal glow. The arrow of the angle reflects the light, creating an awe-inspiring and wonderful experience for the viewer. Dramatic intensity was used and undisciplined artistic creativity was common of artists during the baroque time. Exaggeration, perfection, permanence and clarity was typical of ancient Greek art and the Hellenistic period artists. Though both come from different time periods each are classical forms of art. Artists such as Polycleitus, unknown Caravaggio and Bernini all use visual symbols, formal conventions and compositional strategies to construct meaning in artworks. Through these meanings the artists intention is preserved.