The Baroque Age Of Sculpture (edited links)

     In the 17th century, there was a huge movement in the Baroque Age to move beyond the ideal embodiment of the human form of the Renaissance. It was called the Baroque Movement. Now, the artists centered on imagination, detail content, and realism. Jan Vermeer  and Artemisia Gentileschi are the two artists I am going to pay the most attentions to. The paintings of these two magnificent artists go much deeper than what is on the outside.
     Jan Vermeer created the painting known as Woman Holding a Balance. It was created in 1664, and was painted on an oil canvas, (Dutch 1632-1675). His paintings have more of a quiet tone, and focused in on women in a quiet time. His painting is spiritual, especially when you look at the painting behind her. The light seems to perfectly light her face and the balance. As our book states, "it depicts the Last Judgment with Christ separating the damned on the bottom left and the saved above" (Rogers 31). The women has her eyes closed, and her head is slightly tilted, which gives off the impression she is finding not only the balance of her jewelry, but an inner balance as well. This is definitely a religious painting. It seems that in many of his paintings, he emphasizes the light flowing in the room. To see some of his other excellent pieces of art visit Jan Vermeer. When I look at this painting I see time and effort. It makes me feel calm and quiet, and almost uncertain in some ways.

         Artemisia Gentileschi created a very interesting piece of art for the Baroque time. Her painting is called Judith Slaying Holofernes (1612-1621). Gentileschi learned art from her father who was also a painter in Rome. During the Baroque period, women were at a huge disadvantage when it came to art. Most of her art contains strong females, who are in turn way stronger than the males. This is very unique for her time. The painting has a dark background, and shows a man and two women. The man seems to be pushing one woman away, but the other has him at the neck with a sword (which looks like a crucifix). What stands out to me the most is their faces. I feel like Gentileschi really wanted people to notice the faced the three humans were making. The man is scared, but the women are very content, and assured of what they are doing. I feel this would go under philosophical because it is showing a 'karma' outcome. I really enjoy this painting. To learn more about Artemisia Gentileschi visit Artemisia .



     These two artists during the Baroque movement have created paintings that will influence art forever. They are legends from the movement, and have many other master-pieces than the two you have just seen. There are many other great artists from the time period, but these two stuck out the most to me. There is a lot of dimension and heart in these works, and they shall be remembered as influential Baroque artists.

Galileo Affecting our World Today

There is not many people who have not heard the name Galileo Galilee. He is a remarkable and smart man who in theory paved the way for our modern technology. His interest in the world, and how things work is identical to our modern scientists goal. Every scientist and astronomer want to figure out something new, and a way to understand how everything works. They all develop theories and try and prove themselves, which is just like Galileo himself. To learn more about him you can visit http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/galileo/life.html . It is safe to say that Galileo and his discoveries have influenced the modern world, and will continue to do so in the future.

            It is safe to say that Galileo was a mathematician. He studied math, and even became the chair of a mathematics department in Venice. His used his math skills to make scientific observations about the world around him. Is that not what every scientist does? Make observations of the world around them? Also, like most scientists today, he made mistakes and wrong theories. Galileo himself decided to conduct experiments with an object called a pendulum, and it was then successfully used to measure pulses. The theory of making instruments to conduct a goal (such as taking a pulse) has later become a goal for many other scientists. Galileo just started them off with the idea. To learn more about the pendulum visit http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/galileo/expe_flash_4.html .

            Galileo used other discoveries to advantage, which is also something we continue to do today. He learned of the telescopic lenses and decided to make his own telescope. When finished, he studies the things many people never studied before, trying to make educated guesses and new observations. To lern more on his telescope visit http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/galileo/telescope.html . With his studies, Galileo learns more about the Earth and other planets according to the sun, and is looked at as a liar who does not know what he is talking about. Although his ideas were shunned, he did not give up. With this example I think of the whole science vs. religion. Although scientists have made many discoveries of the aging of the world, and the past, religious people do not believe it. To this day, nobody wants to believe that what they have always believed in is wrong, so they do not take in new discoveries. They prevent themselves from learning and making new observations. That still has not changed to this day.

            Galileo used technology and speculations to provide evidence on new facts and theories. Galileo proved things that almost seemed impossible at the time, just like modern people do today. Nobody ever thought we could create the things we have created today, and learn the things we now know to be true. Galileo challenged the speculations to find out the real answer, which is the basis for what all scientists do today. His open mind, persistence, and his sense of exploring new things can be related to our modern world people today.

            Galileo’s work as an astrologist has paved future generations to be curious, and not just accept something without proof. He has taught us to use instruments and ideas to conduct experiments. Another thing he taught us is that you should never give up on things, even if the world turns its back on you. The way he conducted his experiments, and the way he curved the way we look at the world around us will continue to persist in the modern world for generations.