Comparison Of Perugino And Caravaggio :: essays research papers

The artists of the Baroque had a remarkably different panache than artists of the Renaissance due to their different approach to form, space, and write up. This extreme differentiation in style resulted in a very different treatment of narrative. Perhaps this drastic stylistic difference between the Renaissance and Baroque in their treatment of form, space, and composition and how these characteristics effect the narrative of a picture cannot be seen more than in comparing Peruginos Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter from the Early Renaissance to Caravaggios Conversion of St. Paul from the Baroque.Perugino was one of the greatest masters of the Early Renaissance whose style ischaracterized by the Renaissance ideals of purity, simplicity, and exceptional symmetry of composition. His approach to form in Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St.Peter was very linear. He outlined all the figures with a black line giving them a sense of stability, permanence , and power in their environment, nevertheless restricting the figures sense of movement. In fact, the figures seem to not move at all, but rather are merely locked at a specific chip in time by their rigid outline. Peruginos approach to the figuresthemselves is extremely humanistic and classical. He shines light on the figures in a clear, even way, tutelage with the rational and uncluttered meaning of the work. His figures are all locked in a contrapposto pose engaging in intellectual conversation with their neighbor, giving a potent sense of classical rationality. The figures are repeated over and over such as this to convey a rational response and to show the viewer clarity. Peruginos approach to space was also very rational and simple. He organizes space along three simple planes foreground, middle ground, and background. Christ and Saint Peter read the center foreground and solemn choruses of saints and citizens occupy the rest of the foreground. The middle distance is fil led with miscellaneous figures, which complement the front group, emphasizing its density and order, by their mazed arrangement. Buildings from the Renaissance and triumphal arches from Roman antiquity occupy the background, reinforcing the overall classical message to the painting even though the event represented in the painting took place long before the Roman Empire. The center temple that occupies the background has a vanishing point running through its doorway and if it werent for this illusionistic technique, the painting would be very two-dimensional.