Catholic Art verse Protestant Art essays

Catholic Art verse Protestant Art essays In this essay I am going to show the differences and similarities between Catholic and Protestant art works. I am first going to give a brief background into the history of the time. I am going to explain how the Protestant movement started and how it effected the art works of the relevant countries. I am going to show that the conflict between the two religions created war and social unrest between countries. I am then going to show the differences and similarities between the two. I will then use examples of art works from Vermeer, Rembrandt, Caravaggio and Rubens to show the differences and similarities. At the beginning of the 16th Century, there was a group of people who broke away from the Catholic Church. They were led by Martin Luther, and the group which broke away was called the Protestants. The Protestant group challenged the workings of the Catholic Church - they believed that if a person wanted to speak to God, they did not have to go and speak to a priest, to have what they wanted said to God. The Protestants believed that the Catholic Church had been taking an unfair advantage of the people. The Catholic Church at this point in time was losing members to the Protestant movement. They were not pleased with this. They tried in all their power to get people back to the church. One of the main ways that they tried to get people back was through the art. They had work that was bold and striking, it caught the imagination of the viewer. It awed them, tried to get them to belong to the Catholic Church. During this time in history, the Kings and Queens of countries where very religious. They were either Catholic or Protestant in faith. In these specific countries the art work of the chosen faith was supported and even promoted. Hence, the Catholic faith was based around the countries of Spain and Italy. The Protestant faith was based around the Netherlands and Germany. Due to...