Renaissance, Illustration, and Baroque: Artistic and Literary Movements
Renaissance
The Renaissance marked a revaluation of classical Greek and Latin culture. It is considered a period bridging the Middle Ages and the Roman era. Originating in Italy in the 15th century, it was influenced by humanism from the 14th century. The Renaissance had a significant impact on the arts, with figures like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. It shifted focus from a theocentric to an anthropocentric view, emphasizing human potential and classical studies. Thinkers like Erasmus of Rotterdam advocated for tolerance and church reform.
Key Characteristics
- Maintained the 15th-century poetic model of Ausias March.
- Growing influence of folk poetry and cançoner.
- Fusion of previous influences into single poems.
Illustration
Following the pessimism of the Baroque, the Illustration (Enlightenment) represented a renewed confidence in progress and reason. In the arts, neoclassicism emerged, returning to Greco-Roman norms. For example, the three unities (action, place, and time) were emphasized in theater. The French Revolution of 1789 and the establishment of bourgeois democracy, based on the separation of executive, legislative, and judicial powers, were key outcomes. Writers used literature for didactic and ideological purposes, spreading knowledge and liberal ideas against absolutism and dogmatic religion. Notable figures include Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Diderot and D’Alembert.
Baroque
The Baroque, in the 17th century, was a movement antithetical to the harmony of the Renaissance. It highlighted the tensions and contradictions of the human condition, such as the brevity of life and the pursuit of pleasure. This led to a focus on death, human degeneration, and criticism of flaws, often through satire. The Baroque emphasized contrasts: life and death, lyricism and ridicule, and the use of chiaroscuro.
While the Renaissance was primarily Italian, the Baroque had a strong Spanish influence. Painters like Valdés Leal, Zurbarán, Murillo, and Velázquez, and writers such as Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca, Luis de Góngora, and Francisco de Quevedo, exemplified this. The 17th century also saw the works of literary masters like Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes, both of whom died in 1616.
Key Characteristics
- Castilianization of language (syntax, metaphorical vocabulary).
- Imitation of Spanish Baroque imagery (metaphor, hyperbaton, hyperbole).
- Imitation of Castilian metrical forms (octaves, sonnets, decimals, quintillas, romances).
- Use of metaphorical mythology.
- Themes: serious, trivial, dramatic, burlesque, eschatological, and erotic.
- Manuscript transmission (Catalan Baroque poems in collections like Relaxation and Garden, Parnas Muses Catalanas, Curiosity Catalan, and Garden Leisure and Parnas).