With Eyes, I Worship: The Council of Trent’s Influence on Italian Baroque

Everyone learns differently, just as everyone worships differently. Throughout time people have practiced their religion by reading the words of the scripture or by attending a service and hearing a sermon from a pastor. In history though, there was a prominent third way to worship your deity. One’s eyes unlocked the powerful message of their faith, through viewing artwork and exploring architecture. In 1945, in part of the Counter-Reformation, also known as the Catholic-Reformation, a council was beginning to convene. This council, the Council of Trent, was formed to renew the Catholic religion. Facing the Protestant-Reformation, the Catholics knew that they had to …show more content…
When a viewer looks gazes upon an image, that image and it symbolism become more meaningful and memorable if it affects how you feel. If the Council of Trent wanted the individual to understand the importance of the Catholic religion and become or stay involved in the faith, the images portraying Catholicism needed to change how one felt and make a lasting impression on them. Two great examples of Italian Baroque art that created such strong emotions in the eye of the beholder and was influenced by the Council of Trent were Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Beheading Holofernes 1619-20 oil on canvas (Fig. 2) and Giovanni Battista Gaulli’s fresco The Triumph of the Name of Jesus and Fall of the Damned 1672-1685 (Fig. 3). Judith Beheading Holofernes (Fig. 2) is emotion provoking from the first glance. Seeing a woman literally severing a man’s head off with a sword is horrific. Even though this woman is saving the people of Judah from the invader Holofernes, just seeing his death taking place in the artwork is pretty powerful. A man is dying and blood is spurting out of his body; it is very dramatic. Also in this piece, the dark hues of the background in sharp contrast with the pale hues of the bodies create a sense of light and bring the viewer’s eye to the focal point of the painting. The Triumph of the Name of Jesus and Fall …show more content…
Theatrical lighting allowed for the viewer to feel not as if they were just viewing the painting, but as if they were taking part in it. Things become more personal and memorable, when one can envision their self in that position. When a piece of artwork can involve the viewer, the viewer takes away from it something that sticks with them and influences their thought. The Council of Trent wanted the influence of the Catholic religion to surround people in their everyday life. One of the great ways that influence happened was by incorporating those ideals into art, and using the theatrical lighting technique to leave a lasting impression on the viewer which would make them believe in the religion. Caravaggio created this theatrical lighting technique and it is known as tenebrism. Stockstad and Cothren state that tenebrism is when “forms emerge from a dark background into a strong light that often falls from a single source outside the painting” (723). The effect that the light creates is that of a spotlight. Bernini was someone to also incorporate the theatrical spotlight into his work and it really pulled the viewer in and invested them into the piece. Artwork exhibiting tenebrism affects the viewer in the same way as if they were actually at the theater watching a play. The audience starts to think of the deeper meaning and create the