Propaganda During The Baroque Era

In this day and age, the word ”propaganda” can be received with a negative connotation; usually, the word is used to define advertisements that correspond to war and political movements. This form of advertisement emerged during the Baroque period as the Catholic church began to lose followers. Propaganda was used by the Catholic church as a way to use art to reestablish itself; today propaganda is used as a way to advertise political views, beliefs, ideas, and products.

Whether propaganda is expressed through film, pictures, posters, music, or written pieces, propaganda is derived during the Baroque time period.Throughout this period the Catholic Church responded to the backlash it received from some of their followers through art; this

is known as the Counter-Reformation. Martin Luther challenged the Catholic Church with his written piece “95 Theses; this piece criticized the Catholic Church for its sale of indulgences. Luther claimed that the Bible was the center of religion. In order to have a proper relationship with God one did not have to listen to a priest, but rather form a relationship with God through the use of the Bible (Protestantism). When Catholic Church lost followers to Luther’s Protestantism, the church lost a portion of their money and power; the Catholic Church then hired artist during this time period (Gianlorenzo Bernini, Michelangelo Caravaggio) to create pieces that would “teach and inspire the faithful” (Brown, pg 5).However, the church’s propaganda was not only used as a way to “re-enlighten” the people, but rather as a way for the church to re-establish its power and money . Perhaps one of the most memorable pieces funded by the Catholic Church at this time is The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa is a marble statue-chiseled by Bernini- depicting the moment when a Catholic nun was “pierced by an angel“ and felt the “great love of God”( Brown, pg13). In the piece, Bernini uses a mix of light, religion, emotion, and sex to capture the viewer's attention and advertise what the Catholic Church offers.
Propaganda is a term usually used to refer to the political influence used in dictatorships, times, of war, and political movements. The term is usually used to refer to the influences North Koreans receive from their government; when a student asks why some North Koreans follow their dictator, the response is usually, propaganda. For example, North Koreans are told their country has won World Cup games and several Olympic medals, however, this information was falsely given to their citizens. North Koreans not only hear false claims such as these, but are also surrounded with propaganda. Around their country they are shown images depicting their leader- and past leaders- as Gods and supreme perfect human beings. All this information is force fed to the citizens of North Korea to keep them under the government's power and notion that there is no better country than the one they are in. The image on the right is poster depicting a free North Korean citizen tearing up the American flag, here the American flag symbolizes Americans greed and capitalist society; thus, the notion represented in the poster being the United States being the enemy of their country.
Propaganda from the beginning was used to describe a form of advertisement. Although the parties who use it (the Catholic church to politicians and businesses)may have changed, it still remains a way to attract people to consume products, ideas, views, and beliefs. It is important to keep in mind who uses propaganda and why as it is the masses of everyday people who must view these advertisements and draw their own conclusions.