Humanities Baroque Essay

Dramatic religious paintings were being made Literature was being written in a way that it will be memorable. The King James version of the Bible had major impacts on the arts. It was finished in 1611 and was considered to be the most important change in English literature and printing (Ryken). It was set to transform the entire English language and keep the emotional influence. â€Å"The new translation of Scripture preserved the spiritual fervor of the Old Testament Hebrew and the narrative vigor of the New Testament Greek† (Fiero 62). The King James Version was a big part of the Baroque period because it was a piece of literature that had heightened emotional words and could actually be understood correctly by the reader. In Baroque artwork, viewers can visualize the emotional impact the painting has. Everything is in action and the painting is like shot in the middle of what’s going on. In Caravaggio’s The Crucifixion of Saint Peter, everything is painted right in the middle of the crucifixion. Saint Peter is not even up yet but in the middle of getting there. The painting is activated and has complex movements. Gravity has a very powerful pull in this picture as well. Viewers can see the emotion in Saint Peter’s face that he is scared but brave. Caravaggio made sure to tell a story in this painting with emotion since you see a poor, innocent, and homeless looking man being crucified. Everything from the guy’s dirty feet and bottom who hoisting up Saint Peter is basically sticking out to the viewer’s face. The three men do not show there face as they crucify Saint Peter and it adds mystery as to who would do such an act. Everything from the nails in Saint Peter’s hands to the dirt on their feet is very real and descriptive. Light is also emphasized in this painting as well because of the black background. The Baroque period and its artwork gave out real emotion while the action is happening. All the tension in one painting is thrown into the viewers’ faces (Fiero). Music in the Baroque period surrounded itself with rhythm, melody, terraced dynamics, texture, and basses. Composers would express emotions and affection in their music and broke away from the Medieval times by using vocal and instrumental music. A famous composer in the Baroque period was Johann Sebastian Bach. He used to mainly do church music but then developed a more musical potential for the concerto form. The best composed song in his career was called The Art of Fugue. â€Å"A fugue is a polyphonic composition in which a single musical theme is restated in sequential phrases† (Fiero). Baroque music brought in emotions and even listeners who don’t even understand the brilliance composition of Bach, can grow a love for his music just listening to it. The Baroque period brought in emotion to everything like literature, paintings, and music. It forever changed literature and the English language for people to understand it better and are able to be moved by the words in text instead of just reading it.