Özet:

In the Baroque period, the artists, who received the encouragement and support of the Catholic Church, painted many paintings with high dramatic effects, especially of the creepy moments of torture and murder of Christian saints. An important part of these religious paintings are martirdom scenes of Christ’s apostles. The most depicted martyrdom scenes of the apostles are St. Peter, St. Andrew, St. Bartholomew and St. John. Due to the rarely portrayed St. Philip’s martyrdom and possibly confusion about who they were, St. Matthew, St. James the Greater, St. Thomas, St. Little James, St. Jude and St. Simon’s martyrdom scenes are not among the popular themes of the Baroque period. In this article, oil paintings on canvas belonging to the seventeenth and eighteenth century religious Baroque art, including scenes of the martyrdom of Christ’s apostles were investigated. With this research, conducted through visual and written sources, it was focused on the iconographic examination of the paintings. The famous artists were commissioned oil paintings on canvas showing martyrdom scenes of saints. Especially for religious places in Italy, Spain and France, as a show of power and propaganda of the Catholic Church it is possible to say that it has replaced the frescoes in church art because it can be made in a shorter time at a lower cost and it can easily be replaced. Among the famous names of the Baroque period depicting the martyrdom scenes of Christ’s apostles as oil paintings, the following artists stand out: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Guido Reni, Giovanni Battista Beinaschi (Fossano), Mattia Preti, Sébastien Bourdon, Jusepe de Ribera, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Peter Paul Rubens, Charles Le Brun, Francisco de Zurbarán, Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, Giulia Lama (Lisalba), Simon de Vos, Daniel Hallé (father), Eugenio Cajés, Michael Leopold Willmann, Sisto Badalocchio, Valentin de Boulogne (Jean Valantine), Lionello Spada, Antoine Paillet, Giambattista Tiepolo and Sebastiano Conca. In addition to these artists, it is understood that there are many copies and anonymous paintings produced from the paintings of these artists. Some of these are copy pictures made by students at the art academies of the time. Baroque artists generally used an open composition, where the figures were shown halfway, and also made use of all kinds of contrasts to increase the dramatic effect. Besides that, to the contrasts in the feelings and movements of the figures, the contrast between the beauty of the painting and the severity and ugliness of the subject is presented with intense reality. When the paintings are examined chronologically, it is clearly seen to what extent the artists were influenced by each other in the composition, use of color, light and shadow, and the stance of the figures. It is seen that especially the chiaroscuro technique, which creates volume, light-shadow contrast and intense dramatic effect, has become the primary technique for Baroque period painters. Some of these paintings have been re-examined with today’s technology and new information about the artist, the work or the period has been revealed. This research shows that a significant portion of the paintings now exist in museums and private collections all over the world, not in the venues of the time they were made. This situation brings with it the discussion of whether the religious importance and value attributed to the paintings in the past still continue.

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