Power of Art

The English Macquarie Dictionary defines the word “power” as:

1. Ability to do or act; capability of doing or affecting something.
2. Great or marked ability to do or act; strength, empower, might, potent, force.
3. The possession of control or command over others; dominion, authority, ascendancy or influence.

  Throughout history, artists have represented the meaning of power in many different ways to reflect strength, wealth, authority, influence and propaganda. From the colossal pyramids of Giza and the intimidating Persian palaces of the Ancient World; to the glorious paintings, sculptures, and buildings of the Baroque and Renaissance eras; to the compelling, conceptual and propagandised artworks of the modern and post modern eras, the power of the greatest art shakes the world into revelation. In this essay, artistic representations of power will be explored through the works of Carravaggio, Picasso and Michael Graves.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571 – 1610) was a significant Baroque style Italian painter. His work “David with the Head of Goliath 1609” is a great example of how power is achieved in art. It depicts a young boy, David, grasping the hair of a beheaded bearded male. He is clothed in peasant garments with a robe worn diagonally across his bare chest. He is holding a sword with his other hand and the blade directed to be placed between his thighs. His face has a strange expression of disgust and sorrow as it looks down at his trophy, the bloody head of the giant Goliath. The artwork provides a strong impact on first site due to the violent image of blood dripping from Goliath’s head.

The painting is a portrayal of the story of David and Goliath as accounted in the Bible. It was the famous battle between the champion warrior of the Philistines, Goliath, and the young shepherd David, the future king of Israel. It was simply an event in which a virtuous and courageous young boy fought with his humility and by his God’s name to...