Humanities Study Guide

Humanities Study Guide

a retreat, but it eventually housed 50,000 people from the government and the royal family. The palace, which ultimately took over the city, represented the absolute power of Louis XIV. Paintings Art flourished all around Western Europe at this time. In Italy, Michelangelo Caravaggio was a painter who repopularized chiaroscuro , that deep contrast between light and dark, to create Biblical scenes. Artemisia Gentileschi was a female painter who also used the chiaroscuro style. Another notable female painter is Judith Leyster , who was the first woman admitted into the painter’s guild in what we now know as the Netherlands. Rachel Ruysch is known for her still works of flowers and fruit, and Johannes Vermeer, a Dutch painter, is famous for his use of light and color. Rembrandt van Rijn, one of the most well-known painters during this time, gained notoriety for creating drama in group scenes. He later formed a new method called etching that enhanced the effects of his lighting. The most celebrated painter in Spain was Diego Velazquez ; his style resembled Realism. He believed that people should regard artists in the highest esteem in the Spanish culture. Peter Paul Rubens was themost famous painter in France. His themes were both religious and secular in nature. He was often commissioned by the wealthy to do easel paintings, ceilings, tapestries, and various other works. Nicolas Poussin was another French artist, renowned for his Baroque and Neoclassical styles of painting. Opera During the 17th century, a new form of music that we know as opera emerged. Opera often included a drama set to music with elaborate singing and a full orchestra. Although opera’s roots date back to the Late Renaissance, opera wasn’t entirely accepted until the 17th century. Claudio Monteverdi wrote the first opera, Orf o, which introduced chordal dissonances, or groups of tones that create the feeling of suspense. The term aria emerged during this time and had a strong presence in opera. An aria is a song that typically shows emotions, character development, and key plot points. Opera developed two themes, the Opera Seria, which usually appealed to the upper class, and the Opera Buffa, which had a comedic appeal to the middle and lower class. Baptiste Lully drove the development of French opera and ballet. He choreographed a dance where Louis XIV was the Sun King that put him in high favor with the king, who then appointed him as head of the Royal Academy of Music. Ballet was formalized as a style of dance and dancers started to be professionally trained in ballet, compared to the usual actors who would just follow choreography on stage. Dancers presented movements on stage to the audience rather than dancing in circles or similar formations. Music During the Baroque period, the first concertos began. Antonio Vivaldi would write and perform for various courts, using the violin and piano to play these pieces of music.

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