The Flea, Las Meninas & Four Seasons

The Baroque Period was a complex time when people were trying to decide who should be in charge of the government but also the church. There was actually a war that lasted 30 years because of this. An important concept during the baroque period was the concept of the complex but simple. John Donne was poet who wrote several complex poems, “The Flea” is a good example of the complex but simple concept. It’s about a man that wants to be with a woman but refuses him. Donne’s poem used the metaphor of the flea sucking the blood of the girl and of the poet as a metaphor for sex. The poet was trying to convince the girl to have sex with him because if the flea could suck her blood and she didn’t care for the flea, why wouldn’t she let him do the same. However the argument doesn’t work and she squashes the flea with her nail. For the art we looked at several different pieces however, Velasquez’s Las Meninas fits the concept of complex but simple also. It is a painting of a princess getting her portrait done but also of the people surrounding her and the artist himself. Although the painting appears very complex from afar, close up you can see the simplicity of the brush strokes. Also the shadowing of the painting looks very real from afar, the painting sort of draws you in. For the music of the baroque we listened to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, this also fits the concept of the complex but simple. The Spring part is very beautiful just like a spring day. While the piece sounds complex it actually uses imitation where it repeats itself but in a different form. The piece uses imitation and creates a complex series of sounds. The concept of complex but simple can be found throughout the art music and literature of the Baroque Period.
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