Is Baroque melodrama true art?
Was the melodramatic art and architecture of the Baroque era a diminishment from the gravitas and depth of the Renaissance? I argue that the sheer intelligence, virtuosity, and humane sensitivity of Baroque art, architecture, and music redeemed the melodramatic and histrionic elements from banality, bathos, and bombast. Therefore, the Baroque arts are authentic fine arts and represent a real advance in culture. Bernini’s sculpture lacked the power, intensity, gravitas, and heroism of Michelangelo. However, Bernini humanized sculpture, added drama and human feeling, used sweeter and more perfect forms, and put a brilliantly textured finish on the marble. Place the sculptures side by side and Michelangelo’s figures seem almost crude and inhuman in comparison to Bernini’s living marble people. Bernini’s melodramatic effects seems more forgivable than Michelangelo’s platonic inflation and his blatant distortion of the sculpted human form. Michelangelo’s glorious mutants are arresting, but
