Западноевропейское искусство от Джотто до Рембрандта - [24]

III. Make up sentences of your own with the given phrases.

IV. Here are descriptions of some of Caravaggio 's works of art. Match them up to the given titles.

1. Christ points along the beam of light with a strikingly real hand whose gesture repeats that of God the Father in the Creation of Adam.

2. Against a background of nowhere he has fallen from his horse toward us, drastically foreshortened.

a. Conversion of Saint Paul

b. Calling of Saint Matthew

V. Translate the text into English.

Микеланджело Меризи, известный как Караваджо, дал название реалистическому течению в искусстве, которое нашло последователей во всей Западной Европе. Караваджо брал темы из окружающей действительности. Реалистические принципы сделали Караваджо наследником Ренессанса, даже несмотря на то, что он часто выражал свое презрение к великим художникам Ренессанса. Караваджо утверждал принципы реалистического искусства, бросив вызов общепринятым нормам. Картины на религиозные сюжеты он писал как жанровые. Герои произведений Караваджо — картежники, гадалки, авантюристы. Их изображениями Караваджо положил начало бытовой живописи. Караваджо накладывал краску широкими мазками, выхватывая из мрака светом наиболее важные части композиции. Эта контрастность световых пятен создавала атмосферу внутреннего драматизма. Герои Караваджо помещены в простую обстановку. Иногда произведения Караваджо были настолько реалистичны, что заказчики отказывались от них. Искусство Караваджо породило истинных последователей его художественного метода, получившего название «караваджизма».

VI. Summarize the text.

VII. Topics for discussion.

1. Caravaggio's style and characters.

2. Caravaggio's mode of life and work.

3. Caravaggio's artistic legacy.

Unit XI Poussin (1593/94-1665)

Nicolas Poussin is the embodiment of the Classical spirit. His paintings are the product not only of great imagination and pictorial skill but also of a discipline and control that grew firmer as the painter aged. Born in the small town in Normandy, Poussin went to Paris in his late adolescence. He had access to the royal collection of paintings where he was impressed by the works of Raphael and Titian, and to the royal library where he studied engravings after Raphael. After two trips to Italy, Poussin settled down in Rome in 1624. It was unlikely that he would ever enjoy official success. The world of nobles, popes, and monarchs was not for him. Poussin made only one large altarpiece for St. Peter's, and was dissatisfied with it.

An attempt by King Louis XIII to have Poussin work on ceiling painting for the Long Gallery of the Louvre ran afoul of the artist's refusal to consider ceiling paintings different from those on walls, and to turn over the execution of vast projects to assistants. The latter objection ruled out the customary colossal Baroque monumental commissions.

Poussin's paintings reflect his interest in antiquity and in Stoic philosophy. In his early work the Inspiration of the Poet, painted about 1628-29, Classical figures are arranged before a landscape in low afternoon light. Poussin attempted to recapture the magic of Titian through warm colouring unified by soft glazes and through subtle and surprising passages of lights and darks, especially the way light touches the edge of Apollo's lyre and part of his cheek, leaving the rest in shadow. This is an allegorical scene in keeping with seventeenth century ideas, the poet (it is easy to view him as a painter) owes his gifts to divine inspiration. About 1630 an illness gave Poussin a break during which he could formulate the theoretical basis of his art. Poussin abandoned his earlier lyrical style in favour of the grand manner, which required first of all a subject – drawn from religion, history or mythology -that avoided anything 'base' or 'low'. Poussin maintained that the subject must be so clarified in the painter's mind, that he will not block the essence of narrative with insignificant details. Then the painter must consider the conception, that is, the recounting of the story in an impressive way. Then the artist must devise the composition which must not be so carefully constructed that it looks laboured, but should flow naturally. Last comes the style or manner of painting or drawing.

At another point Poussin explained his theory of the modes of painting by analogy with the modes or scales in Greek music, and mentioned five, the Dorian, the Phrygian, the Lydian, the Hypolydian and the Ionic. He carried his ideas of the modes systematically into execution. His Rape of the Sabines, of about 1636-37, exemplifies the Phrygian mode adapted to 'frightful wars'. The picture fulfils all Poussin's requirements for the grand manner. The subject is lofty; the conception is powerful; the composition effortless and natural for all its references to ancient and Renaissance statuary figures and groups; and the style beyond all praise. The composition is staged in a limited space, flanked on one side by the temple portico in which Romulus stands and limited at the rear by a basilica.