The Difference between Baroque Art and Renaissance Art
By John Gramlick
Trident University International

The Baroque is a period and a particular style that was used to express motion with a clear interaction to detail that identified drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music. Baroque started on or about the 1600s in Rome, Italy and spread rapidly throughout Europe. Baroque’s style was a success with the Roman Catholic Church because it would be an art that would show life. There was a Roman Counsel in Trent that decided that this art would be displayed in every Roman Catholic Church. In addition the Protestant Reformation took Baroque art and decided that they would use this style in communicating religious themes that identified emotions. Baroque art also expressed triumphant power and control. Many of Baroques palaces were built around courts, grand staircases and reception rooms. Renaissance art was paintings and sculptures of a certain period in European history. This distinct style was started around the 1400’s which identified philosophy, literature, music and even science. This art was a rebirth of ancient traditions. The Europeans developed art with a scientific outlook. As the Renaissance art spread throughout Europe it impacted artist and patrons with the development of new techniques and artistic sensibilities. It also set the mark in change from the medieval times to the early modern times. The early renaissance art was created in parallel with the late Medieval art. In the 1500’s the Renaissance art surfaced rapidly. Late Renaissance art also known as Mannerism exploded and identified a distinctive type of art throughout every region. In high renaissance, the art was done to perfection. It is often known that a renaissance painting looks as if all the air has been removed out of a scene. That is because when a painting is done there is nothing is out of place. Every piece of art has been perfected and everyone depicted in a renaissance painting is of the ideal form. The scene in the renaissance paintings is usually the moment right before the climax of all the action. For example Michelangelo’s David shows David the moment before he throws the stone. Intense psychological moments are used in the renaissance works.
Mannerism artists are as skilled as the renaissance artists. With that knowledge they decided to break away from the traditional renaissance style. The art starts with misproportioned colors, especially in clothing that is an ideal step in expressionism. The goals of mannerists were to make things off from the ideal form so that people would focus on what is off. In doing this off focus way of art showed people what isn’t right in the painting.
Baroque paintings are much more dramatic than the renaissance paintings and start to depict more of the story within their paintings. There is lots of intense contrast in lighting in a baroque painting. There is also much more action and movement in baroque works. The moment in a baroque work differs from that of a renaissance painting. Baroque’s paintings shows moment depicted in the painting is usually at the height to the story. It is at the climax where the most action happens and that single point in time is capture in the works of the baroque artists.
In addition High Renaissance focused on humanism for example; the celebration of God through man. One particular artist name Leonardo experimented utilizing realistic ways of art and Michelangelo was an exquisite artist. Mannerist broke free from realism and focused on things like color, space, lights and darks. Mannerist also used expressions through religion because art needed to express emotions. Baroque again returns to realism by painting dramatic lighting.
Overall, Renaissance and the Baroque styles really identify many ways in art. It shows that you can use art to identify the true outlook of a painting. You can also use art to misplace the truth by making things in a statue by changing the color. The Mannerist way seemed to be pretty neat because breaking free from realism and focused on space, color. In breaking free from realism opened a new way to express emotion. This emotion really brought out religion. In closing I found that art is unique, especially if the artist had vision and a common goal in making something clouded into something beautiful.

References
Art of the Western World
Site: http://www.learner.org/resources/series1.html
Baroque
Site: http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/baroque/
The word Renaissance
Site: http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac88