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Art history, Heinrich Wölfflin,s categories.

Renaissance art began in the early fifteenth century, while baroque art started in the

seventeenth century. Heinrich Wölfflin analyzed paintings by looking at them as formal

concepts rather than the technique or the subject of the art. He categorized renaissance and

baroque using principles that he grouped into five categories.  

The first categorization was the development from the linear to the painterly. In linear

development, images are outlined with distinct boundaries giving them an actual appearance.

In painterly effect, images seem fused, contours seem to be lost in shadows, and different

parts of the objects are bound together, as seen with Saint Anne and Jesus's images in the

painting. It can therefore be categorized as painterly rather than linear.

The second concept was of planar and recessional development. Planar development means

that the images in the painting are arranged in planes parallel to the picture. In recessional

development, images are recessed along diagonal lines. The painting has ideas developing in

a diagonal direction deep into the painting. Jesus directs us to john the Baptist, Mary, and

Saint Anne, while other images are arranged obliquely. This painting can, therefore, be

categorized as recessional.

The third categorization was closed and open form development. Closed-form involves the

symmetrical arrangement of images in either vertical and horizontal planes. Objects,

therefore, seem to be balanced in the picture. In open form development, verticals and
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horizontals contrast with the diagonals, moving into the picture. It gives the idea of continuity

beyond the picture. Images may be cut out o the picture contributing to this dynamic effect.

In the painting, the wicker chair's vertical image is contrasted by Josephs's diagonal

positioning in the image. His cut out image also gives the idea that there is space beyond the

painting.

The fourth concept described by Heinrich was multiplicity and unity. Images in multiplicity

development are depicted as independent objects despite being part of a whole. In unity

development, pictures are painted such that they blend and can not be separated. They are

shown as a total, and their appearance depends on the lighting. In the painting, the painter

merged objects with some parts in shadows, giving the sense that the picture is a wholesome

image dependent on how light strikes the image. This image can then be stated to have unity.

The final categorization Heinrich used was that of absolute and relative clarity of the picture.

Absolute clarity is achieved by representing images in the paintings just as they are, while

relative clarity involves depicting images as they seem. In this concept, ideas are given life,

and the subject's explicitness ceases to be the sole purpose. When the painting is taken as a

whole, it provides the sense that the images have life. The painter seems to focus more on

how the objects would appear as an animate thing. The image can be said to have relative

clarity.

 Using Heinrich Wölfflin's concepts, the painting of The Holy Family with Saint Anne and

the Young Baptist and His Parents can be categorized as a Baroque. Its shadows, use of

lighting, and animation of the painting give a sense of drama common with baroque art.

Renaissance art, as described by Heinrich's concepts, is more distinct and rigid and does not

show emotion. However, to achieve this categorization, Heinrich had to neglect artists like

poussin and put less emphasis on the subject matter. Therefore, it isolates other works from

the two times from being categorized using this set of principles.
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Works cited.

1. Whitcombe, c., 2020. [online] Available at: <http://arthistoryresourcesnet/baroque-

art-theory-2013/wolfflin-renaissance-baroque.htm> [Accessed 24 November

2020].