Boucher: Hercules and Omphale 1735

               

               Born as a son of a minor painter in 1703, Francois Boucher would soon become a part of the French Academy in Rome in 1727. It was a few years after his graduation in 1931 that he received his first royal commission in 1735 for the royal residences at Versailles and Fontainebleau. From there he moved his way up and became the chief inspector at the Gobelins tapestry manufactory in 1755. It wasn’t until he was 62 years old that he became the First Painter to the King in 1765. (Stokstad, Cothren, and Sperling )

                Boucher’s work represents the Rocco style of painting very well. It was through the Rocco style which was oriented around pleasure, leisure, and sensuality that defined much of his work. In 1735 Boucher created a piece named, “Hercules and Omphale.” Of course this piece depicts Hercules the son of Zeus and Omphale the Powerful queen of Lydia. The story behind the painting of these two characters is that Hercules had murdered Iphicles and had stolen the Delphic oracle’s tripod and wished to make amends for what he had done. The Oracle of Apollo advised Hercules to enter the service of Omphale for 3 years. (Gill) It was through Hercules’s service to Omphale that she fell in love with him for his strength and physical beauty. What originally started as Hercules being enslaved by Omphale, soon became a relationship and they married each other, after which they had a child named Lamos.

                It is through this subject matter that Francois Boucher depicts the story of Hercules’s mistakes which end up leading him to love. The painting itself is an erotic piece, showing Omphale and Hercules in bed, with his hand grasping her breast. This type of painting fits in with the Rocco style relating pleasure and sensuality very well. This painting not only represents Francois Boucher’s style of painting but also the type of subject matter that he commonly included in his works. After browsing through his complete works I found that a number of his pieces were related to Greek mythology. He created many mythology based pieces such as “The Birth of Venus”, “The visit of Venus to Vulcan”, and “The Rape of Europa.” These works of art not only show his interest in depicting Greek mythology but also in depicting the female nude. There are numerous pieces that have been created by Boucher, estimated at over 1,000 paintings and 10,000 drawings, many of which depict a sensuous portrayal of the human body. (New World Encylopedia)

                Overall, Boucher’s “Hercules and Omphale” represents his style very well. It shows Boucher’s interest in depicting Greek mythology along with his interest in portraying the female nude. His very sensuous and elaborate style has made him “the artist most closely associated with Parisian Rocco paintings after Watteau’s death” (Stokstad, Cothren, and Sperling )

Works Cited

Gill, N.S.. "Omphale." About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Feb 2012. <http://ancienthistory.about.com /od/herculespeople/g/Omphale.htm>.

"Boucher, Francios." New World Encyclopedia. N.p., 02 Apr 2008. Web. 29 Feb 2012. <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Francois_Boucher>.

Stokstad, Marilyn, Michael W. Cothren, and Joy Sperling. Art History, Book 6, Portable Edition, Eighteenth To Twenty-First Century Art. Prentice Hall, 2010. Print.

The Baroque Period

                The baroque period of the 17^th century changes the way in which many renaissance ideals were represented within art. In the south the turmoil caused by the protestant reformation caused the Catholic Church to change what type of art they wanted produced. This was done through creating more realistic art pieces that people could relate to. By creating more realistic paintings, of course, there became an increased focus on naturalism. This increased focus on naturalism also created a decrease in idealism being portrayed within artwork. Instead of art pieces being defined by visual harmony and idealism, they began to be defined through naturalism, humanism (classical influences), and an increased focus on viewer involvement. These focuses are clearly represented within Bernini’s “David” and are lacking in some aspects within older works of renaissance art such as Michelangelo’s “David.”

                Bernini’s “David” is a good representation of the baroque period and its effect on art during that time. One of the first things that I noticed about the sculpture is the position in which the David is composed. His left arm is coming across his body with his right arm located behind him. This orientation really helps create a sense of movement, which is characteristic of baroque art, as well as encouraging the viewer to look around the sculpture and see what his other hand is doing. When looking at Michealangelo’s “David,” the sculpture seems to be much more frontally oriented, not encouraging the viewer to interact and walk around the piece as much as Bernini’s sculpture does. The positioning is not the only thing that helps encourage viewer interaction, but the overall dramatic scene which is being portrayed also adds to the viewer’s experience. Unlike Michealangelo’s piece which is just standing there in the frontally oriented contrapposto stance, Bernini’s “David” is twisting his body and getting ready to hurl a rock at goliath. The contrapposto stance also shows how the renaissance was focused more around balance, while the twisting figure of Bernini’s “David” shows a greater interest in movement and viewer involvement.

 Bernini’s “David” also shows the effects that the counter-reformation had on art, with drapery covering David instead of him being in the nude like Michealangelo’s. Although the lack of nudity may seem to take away from the humanistic aspect of the piece by not celebrating the human body through full nudity, the fact that Bernini modeled David after himself shows that celebrating human achievement is still popular. The classical subject matter of depicting David also helps show the continuing influence of humanism within the baroque period. Even though Bernini’s “David” is not fully nude you can still see much of his body, a body which is not near as idealistic as Michealangelo’s depiction of David. Instead, Bernini shows a focus on naturalism which is seen within David’s facial expression and within his more naturally depicted body.

Although only 120 years separates these works of art there are some clear differences that can be seen in style. These two sculptures help show how the baroque period became much more oriented around viewer interaction and dramatic scenes, while the renaissance shows a bigger interest in idealism and balance. The two periods still share some of the same characteristics such as the mediums used (marble, bronze, oil on canvas), humanism, and a focus on naturalism. Overall the baroque period is defined by the combination of humanism, naturalism, strong diagonals, drama and emotion, movement, and tenebrism, most of which are seen within Bernini’s “David.”

Protestant Reformation

Option #2

            Before reading about the Protestant Reformation I figured that it would have to do with a change in artistic style within the northern renaissance, but after reading about it I quickly found out my idea of it was very wrong. For the most part the Protestant Reformation actually didn’t affect the artistic style of the north much at all. The artists continued to pay close attention to detail, focused on naturalism, and still had an interest in properly depicting various textures. What did change during the Protestant Reformation was the subject matter which was shown in northern renaissance art. During the reformation artists began to focus more on secular subject matter rather than on religious subject matter. This happened because protestant groups didn’t want pictures with religious subjects because of the unease within the church during that time. The art instead focused on moral messages built within the paintings through the use of secular depictions. The type of subject matter created during the Protestant Reformation was very different when compared to earlier works of art which were very often focused on a religious theme. This becomes quite evident when looking at earlier northern renaissance art work by artist such as Jan van Eyck who used religious themes or symbols within almost all of his work.

One artist that I believe encompasses much of the northern style during the Protestant Reformation was Pieter Bruegel the Elder. One of my favorite paintings by him is his “return of the hunters.” This work of art by him shows some of the effects of the Protestant Reformation. The effect of the reformation is first noticed very clearly through the lack of religious figures within the painting. From what I could tell there were no religious figures or symbols within “the return of the hunters.” After noticing the lack of religious symbols I then realized the humanistic values that were present within the painting. This was mainly due to the background and the emphasis on landscapes, a style that is related with humanism because of classic roman influence. Not only that but it further drives itself into secular subject matter by clearly depicting a season; the season of winter, which shows the northern influence and tradition of calendars within this work of art.

Bruegel’s work also shows how the artistic style of northern art has pretty much remained the same throughout the Protestant Reformation. One of the first northern stylistic characteristics that stand out very clearly is the attention which has been paid to the detail of texture within Bruegel’s painting. There is a textural distinction between everything in the picture, ranging from the brick of the houses to the bark on the trees. You can also see a continued interest in naturalism by the way that the characters and animals are depicted in realistic positions and proportions.

Overall it is clear that the Protestant Reformation changed the subject matter within northern renaissance art during the 16^th century, focusing more on secular rather than religious subject matter. It is also clear that the artistic style of the north remained close to the same, keeping its focus on naturalism, attention to detail, and textural distinction.

Mannerism

The word mannerism derives from the Italian maniera, meaning "style" or "manner.” The mannerism period of the renaissance was defined by this type style of art that focused on unnatural or unrealistic body proportions, lack of balance, twisted figures, uncomfortable and unstable compositions. The mannerist style became very popular in southern Europe hence the reason mannerism derives from Italian. When looking at the two works of art, Abraham Janssens, The Origin of the Cornucopia, ca. 1619 and Vincent Sellaer, Leda and the Swan and Her Children, ca. 1540, it is clear that they both represent this style of art.

            When looking at Abraham Janssens, The Origin of the Cornucopia one of the first things that I noticed was that how the bodies were not realistically proportioned. When looking at the women depicted they are all incredibly muscular applies to the mannerist style of unnatural body proportions. The main woman depicted at the front right of the painting has a huge muscular arms resembling more of an idealistic depiction of a man’s muscles than that of a woman’s. It also seems as though most of the characters in the painting are also sitting in awkward positions which would be hard to maintain for any long period of time. After looking at Abraham Janssens work of art it I noticed a few similarities in the representation of anatomy when observing Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment, Sistine Chapel” painting. In his painting women are represented in the same very muscular way which makes their body look unnatural. Another similarity between the two works of art is the awkward body positions. Although the characters in Janssens work of art look like they are in a fairly unnatural position, there are quite a few characters in Michelangelo’s painting that are in very unnatural positions. When looking at the two it is clear that Michelangelo has taken the awkward body positions, and twisted figures to an extreme, compared to Janssens more moderate approach.

            The next painting that I observed was Vincent Sellaer’s, “Leda and the Swan and Her Children.” When I first observed this painting I had trouble finding the mannerist style. But after closer examination I noticed that the children, especially the one in the front left are has a twisted body that fits in with the mannerism period. I also think that the way that the woman is resting her hand on the child’s head and her elbow on the swan makes the composition of the painting a little uncomfortable. It looks very awkward because it doesn’t look as though she is resting her hand on the child’s head because she is comforting him, but because she is using him as an armrest. The awkwardness applies to the way that she is resting her elbow on the swan as well. It is like she is using the swan and the children to help make herself more comfortable. Through the awkward composition and twisted body of the child it makes this picture fit in with the mannerist style of artwork.

            Overall the paintings by Abraham Janssens and Vincent Sellaer represent the mannerist style of art through the use of twisting bodies, unnatural body proportions, and unnatural composition.