Definition of Grotesque in Art

The most common criterion in relation to art it consists in linking it with the ideal of beauty. However, this guideline is not always met. In fact, the phenomenon artistic It can express something sad, gloomy, and even something hideous, disturbing, or monstrous. In this sense, Aristotle already recalled that the purpose of art is not to like but to represent.

In popular culture, something grotesque is anything that has extravagant and exaggerated features. Simply put, this is tacky and rude. In the art world, the grotesque has its own meaning.

Grotesque aesthetics in art began in the Renaissance

The term grotesque comes from the Italian word grotta, which means grotto or cave. In this way, in its original sense, this adjective expresses what is typical of a cave. This definition was projected onto art from the Renaissance Italian, when a curious find was found in the city of Rome: the Domus Aurea, a palace built by Nero after the fire of Rome.

During the Renaissance, the inhabitants of Rome were unaware that this place corresponded to the palace of Nero and they referred to this site as "the Roman caves". Renaissance artists such as Rafael, Boticelli or Miguel Ángel were attracted to this place and in their works they imitated the decoration of these caves. Many Italian artists were hired to decorate church ceilings and walls with grotesque ornaments.

Thus arose a new style in art. The typical elements in grotesque artistic decoration are very diverse: vegetables, animals, fruits, roots and mythological beings. All of this served as a decorative element in the spacious rooms.

The grotesque style has traditionally been regarded as a minor and horror-driven artistic trend. vacui or fear of emptiness (this tendency creates the need to recharge the empty places that are without decorate). Originally this ornamental trend did not have a aspiration terrifying, as it was simply a matter of original and comical decoration of works of art, especially murals, ceilings and walls.

An aesthetic category

For some art historians, the grotesque constitutes a category esthetic. This category is present in all kinds of creations: figures misshapen, hideous cartoons, sinister characters and sinister creatures.

On synthesis, this category becomes a resource to distort reality in its most extravagant and ridiculous dimension. In this sense, it should be noted that the grotesque in art is related to our way of perceiving reality. The aesthetics of carnival parties represent a good example of our perceptionsingular of reality.

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