The Baroque (, ; ) is a

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

, dance,

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including the Iberian Peninsula it continued, together with new styles, until the first decade of the 19th century. It followed

Renaissance art Renaissance art (1350 – 1620 AD) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occ ...

and Mannerism and preceded the

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

(in the past often referred to as "late Baroque") and Neoclassical styles. It was encouraged by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

as a means to counter the simplicity and austerity of

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

architecture, art, and music, though Lutheran Baroque art developed in parts of Europe as well. The Baroque style used contrast, movement, exuberant detail, deep colour, grandeur, and surprise to achieve a sense of awe. The style began at the start of the 17th century in Rome, then spread rapidly to France, northern Italy, Spain, and Portugal, then to Austria, southern Germany, and Russia. By the 1730s, it had evolved into an even more flamboyant style, called ''

rocaille Rocaille ( , ) was a French style of exuberant decoration, with an abundance of curves, counter-curves, undulations and elements modeled on nature, that appeared in furniture and interior decoration during the early reign of Louis XV of France. ...

'' or ''

'', which appeared in France and Central Europe until the mid to late 18th century. In the

decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...

, the style employs plentiful and intricate ornamentation. The departure from Renaissance classicism has its own ways in each country. But a general feature is that everywhere the starting point is the ornamental elements introduced by the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

. The classical repertoire is crowded, dense, overlapping, loaded, in order to provoke shock effects. New motifs introduced by Baroque are: the

cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the f ...

, trophies and weapons, baskets of fruit or flowers, and others, made in

marquetry Marquetry (also spelled as marqueterie; from the French ''marqueter'', to variegate) is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures. The technique may be applied to case fur ...

, stucco, or carved.

Origin of the word

Pendant in the form of a siren MET DT7173

The English word ''baroque'' comes directly from the French. Some scholars state that the French word originated from the Portuguese term ''barroco'' ("a flawed pearl"), pointing to the Latin ''verruca'', ("wart"), or to a word with the suffix ''-ǒccu'' (common in pre-Roman Iberia). Other sources suggest a

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functione ...

term used in logic, , as the most likely source.Robert Hudson Vincent,

Modern Language Quarterly Modern Language Quarterly (MLQ), established in 1940, is a quarterly, literary history journal, produced (housed) at the University of Washington and published by Duke University Press. The current editor is Jeffrey Todd Knight. Marshall Brown ( ...

, Volume 80, Issue 3 (September 2019) In the 16th century, the Medieval Latin word ''baroco'' moved beyond scholastic logic and came into use to characterise anything that seemed absurdly complex. The French philosopher Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) associated the term ''baroco'' with "Bizarre and uselessly complicated." Other early sources associate ''baroco'' with magic, complexity, confusion, and excess. The word ''baroque'' was also associated with irregular pearls before the 18th century. The French ''baroque'' and Portuguese ''barroco'' were terms often associated with jewelry. An example from 1531 uses the term to describe pearls in an inventory of

Charles V of France Charles V (21 January 1338 – 16 September 1380), called the Wise (french: le Sage; la, Sapiens), was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380. His reign marked an early high point for France during the Hundred Years' War, with his armi ...

's treasures. Later, the word appears in a 1694 edition of ''Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française,'' which describes ''baroque'' as "only used for pearls that are imperfectly round." A 1728 Portuguese dictionary similarly describes ''barroco'' as relating to a "coarse and uneven pearl". An alternative derivation of the word ''baroque'' points to the name of the Italian painter

Federico Barocci Federico Barocci (also written ''Barozzi'')(c. 1535 in Urbino – 1612 in Urbino) was an Italian Renaissance painter and printmaker. His original name was Federico Fiori, and he was nicknamed Il Baroccio. His work was highly esteemed and inf ...

(1528–1612). In the 18th century, the term began to be used to describe music, and not in a flattering way. In an anonymous satirical review of the première of Jean-Philippe Rameau's '' Hippolyte et Aricie'' in October 1733, which was printed in the ''

Mercure de France The was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group. The gazette was published ...

'' in May 1734, the critic wrote that the novelty in this opera was "du barocque", complaining that the music lacked coherent melody, was unsparing with dissonances, constantly changed key and meter, and speedily ran through every compositional device. In 1762, ''Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française'' recorded that the term could figuratively describe something "irregular, bizarre or unequal".

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

, who was a musician and composer as well as a philosopher, wrote in 1768 in the ''

Encyclopédie ''Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers'' (English: ''Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts''), better known as ''Encyclopédie'', was a general encyclopedia publis ...

'': "Baroque music is that in which the harmony is confused, and loaded with modulations and dissonances. The singing is harsh and unnatural, the intonation difficult, and the movement limited. It appears that term comes from the word 'baroco' used by logicians."''Encyclopedie''; ''Lettre sur la Musique Française'' under the direction of

Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the '' Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promi ...

In 1788, Quatremère de Quincy defined the term in the ''

Encyclopédie Méthodique The ''Encyclopédie méthodique par ordre des matières'' ("Methodical Encyclopedia by Order of Subject Matter") was published between 1782 and 1832 by the French publisher Charles Joseph Panckoucke, his son-in-law Henri Agasse, and the latter's ...

'' as "an architectural style that is highly adorned and tormented". The French terms ''style baroque'' and ''musique baroque'' appeared in ''Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française'' in 1835''.'' By the mid-19th century, art critics and historians had adopted the term "baroque" as a way to ridicule post-Renaissance art. This was the sense of the word as used in 1855 by the leading art historian Jacob Burckhardt, who wrote that baroque artists "despised and abused detail" because they lacked "respect for tradition". In 1888, the art historian

Heinrich Wölfflin Heinrich Wölfflin (; 21 June 1864 – 19 July 1945) was a Swiss art historian, esthetician and educator, whose objective classifying principles ("painterly" vs. "linear" and the like) were influential in the development of formal analysis in ar ...

published the first serious academic work on the style, ''Renaissance und Barock'', which described the differences between the painting, sculpture, and architecture of the Renaissance and the Baroque.

Architecture: origins and characteristics

The Baroque style of architecture was a result of doctrines adopted by the

at the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...

in 1545–63, in response to the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

. The first phase of the Counter-Reformation had imposed a severe, academic style on religious architecture, which had appealed to intellectuals but not the mass of churchgoers. The Council of Trent decided instead to appeal to a more popular audience, and declared that the arts should communicate religious themes with direct and emotional involvement. Similarly, Lutheran Baroque art developed as a confessional marker of identity, in response to the Great Iconoclasm of

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

s. Baroque churches were designed with a large central space, where the worshippers could be close to the altar, with a dome or cupola high overhead, allowing light to illuminate the church below. The dome was one of the central symbolic features of Baroque architecture illustrating the union between the heavens and the earth. The inside of the cupola was lavishly decorated with paintings of angels and saints, and with stucco statuettes of angels, giving the impression to those below of looking up at heaven. Another feature of Baroque churches are the ''quadratura'';

trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...

paintings on the ceiling in stucco frames, either real or painted, crowded with paintings of saints and angels and connected by architectural details with the balustrades and consoles. ''Quadratura'' paintings of Atlantes below the cornices appear to be supporting the ceiling of the church. Unlike the painted ceilings of Michelangelo in the

Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel (; la, Sacellum Sixtinum; it, Cappella Sistina ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the pope in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), the chapel takes its nam ...

, which combined different scenes, each with its own perspective, to be looked at one at a time, the Baroque ceiling paintings were carefully created so the viewer on the floor of the church would see the entire ceiling in correct perspective, as if the figures were real. The interiors of Baroque churches became more and more ornate in the High Baroque, and focused around the altar, usually placed under the dome. The most celebrated baroque decorative works of the High Baroque are the Chair of Saint Peter (1647–1653) and the Baldachino of St. Peter (1623–1634), both by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, in

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

in Rome. The Baldequin of St. Peter is an example of the balance of opposites in Baroque art; the gigantic proportions of the piece, with the apparent lightness of the canopy; and the contrast between the solid twisted columns, bronze, gold and marble of the piece with the flowing draperies of the angels on the canopy.Ducher (1988) p. 106-107 The

Dresden Frauenkirche The Dresden Frauenkirche (german: Dresdner Frauenkirche, , ''Church of Our Lady'') is a Evangelical Church in Germany, Lutheran church in Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony. Destroyed during the Allied Bombing of Dresden in Wo ...

serves as a prominent example of Lutheran Baroque art, which was completed in 1743 after being commissioned by the Lutheran city council of Dresden and was "compared by eighteenth-century observers to St Peter's in Rome". The twisted column in the interior of churches is one of the signature features of the Baroque. It gives both a sense of motion and also a dramatic new way of reflecting light. The

was another characteristic feature of Baroque decoration. These were large plaques carved of marble or stone, usually oval and with a rounded surface, which carried images or text in gilded letters, and were placed as interior decoration or above the doorways of buildings, delivering messages to those below. They showed a wide variety of invention, and were found in all types of buildings, from cathedrals and palaces to small chapels. Baroque architects sometimes used forced perspective to create illusions. For the Palazzo Spada in Rome, Borromini used columns of diminishing size, a narrowing floor and a miniature statue in the garden beyond to create the illusion that a passageway was thirty meters long, when it was actually only seven meters long. A statue at the end of the passage appears to be life-size, though it is only sixty centimeters high. Borromini designed the illusion with the assistance of a mathematician.

Italian Baroque

The first building in Rome to have a Baroque facade was the

Church of the Gesù , image = Church of the Gesù, Rome.jpg , imagesize = , caption = Giacomo della Porta's façade, precursor of Baroque , mapframe = yes , mapframe-caption = Click on the map for a full ...

in 1584; it was plain by later Baroque standards, but marked a break with the traditional Renaissance facades that preceded it. The interior of this church remained very austere until the high Baroque, when it was lavishly ornamented. In Rome in 1605, Paul V became the first of series of popes who commissioned basilicas and church buildings designed to inspire emotion and awe through a proliferation of forms, and a richness of colours and dramatic effects. Among the most influential monuments of the Early Baroque were the facade of

(1606–1619), and the new nave and loggia which connected the facade to Michelangelo's dome in the earlier church. The new design created a dramatic contrast between the soaring dome and the disproportionately wide facade, and the contrast on the facade itself between the Doric columns and the great mass of the portico. In the mid to late 17th century the style reached its peak, later termed the High Baroque. Many monumental works were commissioned by Popes

Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As p ...

and Alexander VII. The sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed a new quadruple colonnade around St. Peter's Square (1656 to 1667). The three galleries of columns in a giant ellipse balance the oversize dome and give the Church and square a unity and the feeling of a giant theatre.Ducher (1988) p. 104. Another major innovator of the Italian High Baroque was Francesco Borromini, whose major work was the Church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane or Saint Charles of the Four Fountains (1634–46). The sense of movement is given not by the decoration, but by the walls themselves, which undulate and by concave and convex elements, including an oval tower and balcony inserted into a concave traverse. The interior was equally revolutionary; the main space of the church was oval, beneath an oval dome. Painted ceilings, crowded with angels and saints and

architectural effects, were an important feature of the Italian High Baroque. Major works included ''The Entry of Saint Ignatius into Paradise'' by Andrea Pozzo (1685–1695) in the Church of Saint Ignatius in Rome, and ''The triumph of the name of Jesus'' by Giovanni Battista Gaulli in the

in Rome (1669–1683), which featured figures spilling out of the picture frame and dramatic oblique lighting and light-dark contrasts. The style spread quickly from Rome to other regions of Italy: It appeared in Venice in the church of

Santa Maria della Salute Santa Maria della Salute ( en, Saint Mary of Health), commonly known simply as the Salute, is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica located at Punta della Dogana in the Dorsoduro sestiere of the city of Venice, Italy. It stands on the nar ...

(1631–1687) by Baldassare Longhena, a highly original octagonal form crowned with an enormous cupola. It appeared also in Turin, notably in the

Chapel of the Holy Shroud The Chapel of the Holy Shroud ( it, Cappella della Sacra Sindone) is a Baroque-style Roman Catholic chapel in Turin in northern Italy, constructed to house the Shroud of Turin (''Sindone di Torino''), a religious relic believed to be the burial s ...

(1668–1694) by Guarino Guarini. The style also began to be used in palaces; Guarini designed the

Palazzo Carignano Palazzo Carignano is a historical building in the centre of Turin, Italy, which houses the Museum of the Risorgimento. It was a private residence of the Princes of Carignano, after whom it is named. Its rounded façade is different from other f ...

in Turin, while Longhena designed the Ca' Rezzonico on the Grand Canal, (1657), finished by

Giorgio Massari Giorgio Massari (13 October 1687 – 20 December 1766) was an Italian late- Baroque architect from Venice. He designed the Villa Lattes near Treviso in 1715, the church of Santo Spritito in Udine, the church of Santa Maria della Pace 1720–46 in ...

with decorated with paintings by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. A series of massive earthquakes in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

required the rebuilding of most of them and several were built in the exuberant late Baroque or Rococo style. File:Santa Maria della Salute from Hotel Monaco.jpg,

(

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

), 1631–1687, by Baldassare Longhena File:Obelisco Fontana dei Fiumi Piazza Navona Roma.jpg,

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (''Fountain of the Four Rivers'') is a fountain in the Piazza Navona in Rome, Italy. It was designed in 1651 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for Pope Innocent X whose family palace, the Palazzo Pamphili, faced onto the piazza a ...

(Rome), 1648–1651, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini File:St Peter's Square, Vatican City - April 2007.jpg,

St. Peter's Square Saint Peter's Square ( la, Forum Sancti Petri, it, Piazza San Pietro ,) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighborhood ( rione) of Borgo. B ...

(Rome), 1656–1667, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini File:Église Santa Maria Pace - Rome (IT62) - 2021-08-28 - 3.jpg,

Santa Maria della Pace Santa Maria della Pace is a church in Rome, central Italy, not far from Piazza Navona. The building lies in rione Ponte. History The current building was built on the foundations of the pre-existing church of Sant'Andrea de Aquarizariis in 148 ...

(Rome), 1656–1667, by Pietro da Cortona

Spanish Baroque

The Catholic Church in Spain, and particularly the Jesuits, were the driving force of Spanish Baroque architecture. The first major work in this style was the San Isidro Chapel in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, begun in 1643 by Pedro de la Torre. It contrasted an extreme richness of ornament on the exterior with simplicity in the interior, divided into multiple spaces and using effects of light to create a sense of mystery. The Cathedral in

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of S ...

was modernized with a series of Baroque additions beginning at the end of the 17th century, starting with a highly ornate bell tower (1680), then flanked by two even taller and more ornate towers, called the ''Obradorio'', added between 1738 and 1750 by Fernando de Casas Novoa. Another landmark of the Spanish Baroque is the chapel tower of the Palace of San Telmo in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

by Leonardo de Figueroa.Cabanne (1988) pgs. 48–51 Granada had only been conquered from the Moors in the 15th century, and had its own distinct variety of Baroque. The painter, sculptor and architect

Alonso Cano Alonso Cano Almansa or Alonzo Cano (19 March 16013 September 1667) was a Spanish painter, architect, and sculptor born in Granada.Granada Cathedral Granada Cathedral, or the Cathedral of the Incarnation ( es, Catedral de Granada, Santa Iglesia Catedral Metropolitana de la Encarnación de Granada) is a Roman Catholic church in the city of Granada, capital of the province of the same name in ...

between 1652 and his death in 1657. It features dramatic contrasts of the massive white columns and gold decor. The most ornamental and lavishly decorated architecture of the Spanish Baroque is called

Churrigueresque Churrigueresque (; Spanish: ''Churrigueresco''), also but less commonly "Ultra Baroque", refers to a Spanish Baroque style of elaborate sculptural architectural ornament which emerged as a manner of stucco decoration in Spain in the late 17th ...

style, named after the brothers Churriguera, who worked primarily in Salamanca and Madrid. Their works include the buildings on the city's main square, the Plaza Mayor of Salamanca (1729). This highly ornamental Baroque style was influential in many churches and cathedrals built by the Spanish in the Americas. Other notable Spanish baroque architects of the late Baroque include Pedro de Ribera, a pupil of Churriguera, who designed the Royal Hospice of San Fernando in Madrid, and Narciso Tomé, who designed the celebrated El Transparente altarpiece at

Toledo Cathedral , native_name_lang = , image = Toledo Cathedral, from Plaza del Ayuntamiento.jpg , imagesize = 300px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape = , caption ...

(1729–32) which gives the illusion, in certain light, of floating upwards. The architects of the Spanish Baroque had an effect far beyond Spain; their work was highly influential in the churches built in the Spanish colonies in Latin America and the Philippines. The Church built by the Jesuits for a college in

Tepotzotlán Tepotzotlán () is a city and a municipality in the Mexico, Mexican state of Mexico. It is located northeast of Mexico City about a 45-minute drive along the Mexico City-Querétaro at marker number 41. In Aztec times, the area was the center o ...

, with its ornate Baroque facade and tower, is a good example. File:Palacio San Telmo facade Seville Spain.jpg, Palacio de San Telmo,

, Spain, 1682–1796, by Leonardo de Figueroa File:Granada, Monasterio de La Cartuja, sacristia (2).jpg, Vestry of the

Granada Charterhouse Granada Charterhouse ( es, Cartuja de Granada) is a Carthusian monastery in Granada, Spain. It is one of the finest examples of Spanish Baroque architecture. The charterhouse was founded in 1506; construction started ten years later, and conti ...

, Granada, Spain, 1727–1764, by Narciso Tomé Palacio Real de Madrid - 13.jpg,

Royal Palace of Madrid The Royal Palace of Madrid ( es, Palacio Real de Madrid) is the official residence of the Spanish royal family at the city of Madrid, although now used only for state ceremonies. The palace has of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the ...

, Spain, 1735-1764, by Jean Bautista Sachetti File:Catedral de Santiago de Compostela agosto 2018 (cropped).jpg, Façade of the Cathedral of

, Spain, 1738, by Fernando de Casas Novoa

Central Europe

From 1680 to 1750, many highly ornate cathedrals, abbeys, and

pilgrimage church A pilgrimage church (german: Wallfahrtskirche) is a church to which pilgrimages are regularly made, or a church along a pilgrimage route, like the Way of St. James, that is visited by pilgrims. Pilgrimage churches are often located by the grave ...

es were built in Central Europe, in Bavaria, Austria, Bohemia and southwestern Poland. Some were in

style, a distinct, more flamboyant and asymmetric style which emerged from the Baroque, then replaced it in Central Europe in the first half of the 18th century, until it was replaced in turn by classicism. The princes of the multitude of states in that region also chose Baroque or Rococo for their palaces and residences, and often used Italian-trained architects to construct them. Notable architects included Johann Fischer von Erlach,

Lukas von Hildebrandt Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt (14 November 1668 – 16 November 1745) was an Austrian baroque architect and military engineer who designed stately buildings and churches and whose work had a profound influence on the architecture of the Habsburg mo ...

and Dominikus Zimmermann in Bavaria, Balthasar Neumann in Bruhl, and Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann in Dresden. In Prussia, Frederick II of Prussia was inspired by the

Grand Trianon The Grand Trianon () is a French Baroque style château situated in the northwestern part of the Domain of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built at the request of King Louis XIV of France as a retreat for himself and his '' maîtresse- ...

of the Palace of Versailles, and used it as the model for his summer residence,

Sanssouci Sanssouci () is a historical building in Potsdam, near Berlin. Built by Prussian King Frederick the Great as his summer palace, it is often counted among the German rivals of Versailles. While Sanssouci is in the more intimate Rococo style and ...

, in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

, designed for him by

Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff (Hans) Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff (17 February 1699 – 16 September 1753) was a painter and architect in Prussia. Knobelsdorff was born in Kuckädel, now in Krosno Odrzańskie County. A soldier in the service of Prussia, he resigned his ...

(1745–1747). Another work of Baroque palace architecture is the

Zwinger "" () is a German word for outer ward or outer bailey. It represents an open kill zone area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes. s were built in the post-classical and early modern periods to improve the defence ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

, the former orangerie of the palace of the Dukes of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

in the 18th century. One of the best examples of a rococo church is the Basilika Vierzehnheiligen, or Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, a pilgrimage church located near the town of Bad Staffelstein near Bamberg, in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, southern Germany. The Basilica was designed by Balthasar Neumann and was constructed between 1743 and 1772, its plan a series of interlocking circles around a central oval with the altar placed in the exact centre of the church. The interior of this church illustrates the summit of Rococo decoration. Another notable example of the style is the Pilgrimage Church of Wies (german: Wieskirche). It was designed by the brothers J. B. and Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

, in the municipality of

Steingaden Steingaden is a town and municipality in the Weilheim-Schongau district of Upper Bavaria, Germany. It is the site of the 12th-century Steingaden Abbey (''Kloster Steingaden'') and the Wies Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Geography The commun ...

in the

Weilheim-Schongau Weilheim-Schongau is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the south of Bavaria, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Landsberg, Starnberg, Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Ostallgäu. Geography The dist ...

district,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Construction took place between 1745 and 1754, and the interior was decorated with frescoes and with stuccowork in the tradition of the

Wessobrunner School The Wessobrunner School is the name for a group of Baroque stucco-workers that, beginning at the end of the 17th century, developed in the Benedictine Wessobrunn Abbey in Bavaria, Germany. The names of more than 600 stucco-workers who emerged f ...

. It is now a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. Another notable example is the St. Nicholas Church (Malá Strana) in Prague (1704–55), built by

Christoph Dientzenhofer Christoph Dientzenhofer ( cs, Kryštof Dientzenhofer) (born 7 July 1655 in St. Margarethen near Brannenburg, Landkreis Rosenheim - 20 June 1722 in Prague)Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer ( cs, Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer) (1 September 1689, Prague – 18 December 1751) was a Bohemian architect of the Baroque era. He was the fifth son of the German architect Christoph Dientzenhofer and the Bohemian-Ge ...

. Decoration covers all of walls of interior of the church. The altar is placed in the nave beneath the central dome, and surrounded by chapels, light comes down from the dome above and from the surrounding chapels. The altar is entirely surrounded by arches, columns, curved balustrades and pilasters of coloured stone, which are richly decorated with statuary, creating a deliberate confusion between the real architecture and the decoration. The architecture is transformed into a theatre of light, colour and movement. In Poland, the Italian-inspired Polish Baroque lasted from the early 17th to the mid-18th century and emphasised richness of detail and colour. The first Baroque building in present-day Poland and probably one of the most recognizable is the Church of St. Peter and Paul in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, designed by Giovanni Battista Trevano. Sigismund's Column in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, erected in 1644, was the world's first secular Baroque monument built in the form of a column. The palatial residence style was exemplified by the Wilanów Palace, constructed between 1677 and 1696. The most renowned Baroque architect active in Poland was Dutchman Tylman van Gameren and his notable works include Warsaw's St. Kazimierz Church and

Krasiński Palace The Krasiński Palace ( pl, Pałac Krasińskich), also known as the Palace of the Commonwealth, is a reconstructed Baroque palace in Warsaw, Poland, on Krasiński Square (''Plac Krasińskich''). Initially erected between 1677 and 1683 for the po ...

, St. Anne's in Kraków and Branicki Palace in Bialystok. However, the most celebrated work of Polish Baroque is the Fara Church in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

, with details by Pompeo Ferrari. After

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

under the agreements of the Peace of Westphalia two unique baroque

wattle and daub Wattle and daub is a composite building method used for making walls and buildings, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung a ...

structures was built:

Church of Peace in Jawor The Church of Peace in Jawor (''German: Friedenskirche'') - a wooden Evangelical church of a wattle and daub structure, located in Jawor. It is a historic sacral building built under the agreements of the Peace of Westphalia concluded in 1648, w ...

, Holy Trinity Church of Peace in Świdnica the largest wooden Baroque temple in Europe. File:Iglesia colegial de Poznan, Poznan, Polonia, 2014-09-18, DD 19-21 HDR.jpg,

Poznań Fara Poznań Fara ( pl, Fara Poznańska), also known as the Parish Church or simply Fara, is a Roman Catholic basilica located in the heart of the Old Town district in Poznań, western Poland. It is one of the city's most recognizable landmarks, the ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, 1651–1732, by Bartłomiej Nataniel Wąsowski, Giovanni Catenazzi, Pompeo Ferrari 281012 Detail of the Wilanów Palace - 19.jpg, Wilanów Palace,

, 1677-1679, unknown architect File:Wien Graben Pestsäule Ostseite.jpg, Plague Column,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, 1682 and 1694, by

Matthias Rauchmiller Matthias Rauchmiller (also known as Matthias Rauchmüller) was a painter, sculptor and ivory carver active and influential in Vienna after 1675. Born on January 11, 1645, in Radolfzell (near Lake Constance, in Germany), he died in Vienna on Febr ...

and

Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (20 July 1656 – 5 April 1723) was an Austrian architect, sculptor, engraver, and architectural historian whose Baroque architecture profoundly influenced and shaped the tastes of the Habsburg Empire. His inf ...

File:St. Nikolaus auf der Kleinseite Innenraum 1.jpg, Church of Saint Nicholas,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, 1703–1711, by

Rogalin Rogalin is a village in western Poland, situated on the river Warta. It lies approximately east of the town of Mosina, and south of the metropolitan city of Poznań.Neoclassicism and the architecture of the Enlightenment. Unlike Italian buildings, French Baroque buildings have no broken pediments or curvilinear façades. Even religious buildings avoided the intense spatial drama one finds in the work of Borromini. The style is closely associated with the works built for

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

(reign 1643–1715), and because of this, it is also known as the

Louis XIV style The Louis XIV style or ''Louis Quatorze'' ( , ), also called French classicism, was the style of architecture and decorative arts intended to glorify King Louis XIV and his reign. It featured majesty, harmony and regularity. It became the officia ...

. Louis XIV invited the master of Baroque, Bernini, to submit a design for the new wing of the Louvre, but rejected it in favor of a more classical design by Claude Perrault and Louis Le Vau. The main architects of the style included

François Mansart François Mansart (; 23 January 1598 – 23 September 1666) was a French architect credited with introducing classicism into Baroque architecture of France. The '' Encyclopædia Britannica'' cites him as the most accomplished of 17th-century Fr ...

(1598–1666),

Pierre Le Muet Pierre Le Muet (7 October 1591 – 28 September 1669)Mignot 1996. was a French architect, military engineer, and writer, famous for his book ''Manière de bâtir pour toutes sortes de personnes'' (1623 and 1647), and for the châteaux he construc ...

(Church of Val-de-Grace, 1645–1665) and Louis Le Vau (

Vaux-le-Vicomte The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte (English: Palace of Vaux-le-Vicomte) is a Baroque French château located in Maincy, near Melun, southeast of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne department of Île-de-France. Built between 1658 and 1661 for Nicolas ...

, 1657–1661). Mansart was the first architect to introduce Baroque styling, principally the frequent use of an applied order and heavy rustication, into the French architectural vocabulary. The mansard roof was not invented by Mansart, but it has become associated with him, as he used it frequently. The major royal project of the period was the expansion of Palace of Versailles, begun in 1661 by Le Vau with decoration by the painter

Charles Le Brun Charles Le Brun (baptised 24 February 1619 – 12 February 1690) was a French painter, physiognomist, art theorist, and a director of several art schools of his time. As court painter to Louis XIV, who declared him "the greatest French artist of ...

. The gardens were designed by André Le Nôtre specifically to complement and amplify the architecture. The Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors), the centerpiece of the château, with paintings by Le Brun, was constructed between 1678 and 1686. Mansart completed the Grand Trianon in 1687. The chapel, designed by de Cotte, was finished in 1710. Following the death of Louis XIV, Louis XV added the more intimate

Petit Trianon The Petit Trianon (; French for "small Trianon") is a Neoclassical style château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built between 1762 and 1768 during the reign of King Louis XV of France. ...

and the highly ornate theatre. The fountains in the gardens were designed to be seen from the interior, and to add to the dramatic effect. The palace was admired and copied by other monarchs of Europe, particularly Peter the Great of Russia, who visited Versailles early in the reign of Louis XV, and built his own version at

Peterhof Palace The Peterhof Palace ( rus, Петерго́ф, Petergóf, p=pʲɪtʲɪrˈɡof,) (an emulation of early modern Dutch "Pieterhof", meaning "Pieter's Court"), is a series of palaces and gardens located in Petergof, Saint Petersburg, Russia, commi ...

near Saint Petersburg, between 1705 and 1725. File:Château de Maisons-Laffitte 001.jpg,

Château de Maisons The Château de Maisons (now Château de Maisons-Laffitte), designed by François Mansart from 1630 to 1651, is a prime example of French baroque architecture and a reference point in the history of French architecture. The château is located in M ...

(France), by

, 1630–1651 File:Louvre-facade-est.jpg, East front of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

(Paris), 1665–1680, by Claude Perrault and Louis Le Vau Versailles Chapel - July 2006 edit.jpg, Chapel of the Palace of Versailles (

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

, France), 1696–1710 File:Porte Saint-Denis 01.jpg,

Porte Saint-Denis The Porte Saint-Denis ( en, St. Denis Gate) is a Parisian monument located in the 10th arrondissement, at the site of one of the gates of the Wall of Charles V, one of Paris' former city walls. It is located at the crossing of the Rue Saint-De ...

(Paris), 1672, by François Blondel File:Cathédrale Saint-Louis-des-Invalides, 140309 2.jpg, Dôme des Invalides (Paris), 1677–1706, by Jules Hardouin-Mansart File:Chateau Versailles Galerie des Glaces.jpg,

Hall of Mirrors The Hall of Mirrors (french: Grande Galerie, Galerie des Glaces, Galerie de Louis XIV) is a grand Baroque style gallery and one of the most emblematic rooms in the royal Palace of Versailles near Paris, France. The grandiose ensemble of the hal ...

of the Palace of Versailles, 1678-1684 File:Palace of Versailles June 2010.jpg, Garden façade of the Palace of Versailles, 1678–1688, by Jules Hardouin-Mansart File:Cour de Marbre du Château de Versailles October 5, 2011.jpg, The Marble Court of the Palace of Versailles, 1680 File:Place Vendome, Paris 20 April 2011.jpg,

Place Vendôme The Place Vendôme (), earlier known as Place Louis-le-Grand, and also as Place Internationale, is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine. It i ...

(Paris), 1699–1706, by Jules Hardouin-Mansart File:Hôtel de Rothelin - façade cour.jpg, Hôtel de Rothelin-Charolais (Paris), 1700–1704, by Pierre Cailleteau

Portuguese Baroque

Baroque architecture in Portugal lasted about two centuries (the late seventeenth century and eighteenth century). The reigns of John V and

Joseph I Joseph I or Josef I may refer to: *Joseph I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch in 1266–1275 and 1282–1283 * Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (1678–1711) *Joseph I (Chaldean Patriarch) (reigned 1681–1696) *Joseph I of Portugal (1750–1777) ...

had increased imports of gold and diamonds, in a period called Royal Absolutism, which allowed the Portuguese Baroque to flourish. Baroque architecture in Portugal enjoys a special situation and different timeline from the rest of Europe. It is conditioned by several political, artistic, and economic factors, that originate several phases, and different kinds of outside influences, resulting in a unique blend, often misunderstood by those looking for Italian art, find instead specific forms and character which give it a uniquely Portuguese variety. Another key factor is the existence of the Jesuitical architecture, also called "plain style" (Estilo Chão or Estilo Plano) which like the name evokes, is plainer and appears somewhat austere. The buildings are single-room basilicas, deep main chapel, lateral chapels (with small doors for communication), without interior and exterior decoration, simple portal and windows. It is a practical building, allowing it to be built throughout the empire with minor adjustments, and prepared to be decorated later or when economic resources are available. In fact, the first Portuguese Baroque does not lack in building because "plain style" is easy to be transformed, by means of decoration (painting, tiling, etc.), turning empty areas into pompous, elaborate baroque scenarios. The same could be applied to the exterior. Subsequently, it is easy to adapt the building to the taste of the time and place, and add on new features and details. Practical and economical. With more inhabitants and better economic resources, the north, particularly the areas of Porto and

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

, witnessed an architectural renewal, visible in the large list of churches, convents and palaces built by the aristocracy.

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

is the city of Baroque in Portugal. Its historical centre is part of

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

. Many of the Baroque works in the historical area of the city and beyond, belong to Nicolau Nasoni an Italian architect living in Portugal, drawing original buildings with scenographic emplacement such as the church and tower of Clérigos, the logia of the Porto Cathedral, the church of Misericórdia, the Palace of São João Novo, the Palace of Freixo, the Episcopal Palace (

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

: ''Paço Episcopal do Porto'') along with many others. File:Biblioteca Joanina Universidade de Coimbra IMG 0664.JPG, University Library (

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The u ...

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

), 1716-1728, by Gaspar Ferreira File:Mafra (27595630149) (cropped).jpg,

Palace of Mafra The Palace of Mafra ( pt, Palácio de Mafra), also known as the Palace-Convent of Mafra and the Royal Building of Mafra (), is a monumental Baroque and Neoclassical palace-monastery located in Mafra, Portugal, some 28 kilometres from Lisbon. Co ...

(

Mafra Mafra is a Czech media group that publishes printed and internet media, headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic. It is a subsidiary of Agrofert holding conglomerate owned by trust of Andrej Babiš, the former Prime Minister of the Czech Repu ...

, Portugal), 1717-1755, by João Frederico Ludovice Patriarcato di Lisbona (3093346552).jpg,

Azulejo ''Azulejo'' (, ; from the Arabic ''al- zillīj'', ) is a form of Spanish and Portuguese painted tin-glazed ceramic tilework. ''Azulejos'' are found on the interior and exterior of churches, palaces, ordinary houses, schools, and nowadays, r ...

in the cloisters of the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora (

Lisboa Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, Portugal), with a scene based on a print by

Jean Le Pautre Jean Le Pautre or Lepautre (baptised 28 June 1618; died 2 February 1682) was a French designer and engraver, the elder brother of the architect Antoine Le Pautre, the father of the engravers Pierre Le Pautre and Jacques Le Pautre, and the unc ...

, 1730-1735, unknown architect File:Bom Jesus 2017 (10).jpg, Grand Staircase of the Pilgrimage Church of Bom Jesus do Monte (

, Portugal), 1784, by

Carlos Luís Ferreira Amarante Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewher ...

and others

Russian Baroque

The debut of Russian Baroque, or

Petrine Baroque Petrine Baroque (Russian: Петровское барокко) is a style of 17th and 18th century Baroque architecture and decoration favoured by Peter the Great and employed to design buildings in the newly founded Russian capital, Saint Petersbu ...

, followed a long visit of Peter the Great to western Europe in 1697–1698, where he visited the Chateaux of Fontainebleau and Versailles as well as other architectural monuments. He decided, on his return to Russia, to construct similar monuments in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, which became the new capital of Russia in 1712. Early major monuments in the Petrine Baroque include the Peter and Paul Cathedral and

Menshikov Palace The Menshikov Palace (russian: Меншиковский дворец) is a Petrine Baroque edifice in Saint Petersburg, situated on Universitetskaya Embankment of the Bolshaya Neva on Vasilyevsky Island.It is not to be confused with the Menshiko ...

. During the reign of

Empress Anna Anna Ioannovna (russian: Анна Иоанновна; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the duchy of Courland from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much ...

and Elizaveta Petrovna, Russian architecture was dominated by the luxurious Baroque style of Italian-born

Bartolomeo Rastrelli Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (russian: Франче́ско Бартоломе́о (Варфоломе́й Варфоломе́евич) Растре́лли; 1700 in Paris, Kingdom of France – 29 April 1771 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Emp ...

, which developed into

Elizabethan Baroque Elizabethan Baroque (russian: Елизаветинское барокко, translit=Yelizavetinskoye barokko or ) is a term for the Russian Baroque architectural style, developed during the reign of Elizabeth of Russia between 1741 and 1762. It ...

. Rastrelli's signature buildings include the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now ...

, the Catherine Palace and the Smolny Cathedral. Other distinctive monuments of the Elizabethan Baroque are the bell tower of the

Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius (russian: Тро́ице-Се́ргиева ла́вра) is the most important Russian monastery and the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiyev Pos ...

and the Red Gate. In

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Naryshkin Baroque Naryshkin Baroque, also referred to as Moscow Baroque or Muscovite Baroque, is a particular style of Baroque architecture and decoration that was fashionable in Moscow from the late 17th century into the early 18th century. In the late 17th century ...

became widespread, especially in the architecture of

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

churches in the late 17th century. It was a combination of western European Baroque with traditional

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

folk styles. File:2019-08-02-3847-Saint Petersburg.jpg, Peterhof Gardens (

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

), 1746–1758 File:Smolny Cathedral SPB 02.jpg,

Smolny Convent Smolny Convent or Smolny Convent of the Resurrection (''Voskresensky'', Russian language, Russian: Воскресенский новодевичий Смольный монастырь), located on Ploschad Rastrelli (Rastrelli Square), on the le ...

(Saint Petersburg), 1748, by

Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (russian: Франче́ско Бартоломе́о (Варфоломе́й Варфоломе́евич) Растре́лли; 1700 in Paris, Kingdom of France – 29 April 1771 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Emp ...

File:Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo.jpg,

Tsarskoe Selo Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the c ...

(

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

, Russia), 1749–1756, by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli

Baroque in the Spanish and Portuguese Colonial Americas

Due to the colonization of the Americas by European countries, the Baroque naturally moved to the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

, finding especially favorable ground in the regions dominated by Spain and Portugal, both countries being centralized and irreducibly Catholic monarchies, by extension subject to Rome and adherents of the Baroque Counter-reformist most typical. European artists migrated to America and made school, and along with the widespread penetration of

Catholic missionaries Missionary work of the Catholic Church has often been undertaken outside the geographically defined parishes and dioceses by religious orders who have people and material resources to spare, and some of which specialized in missions. Eventually, p ...

, many of whom were skilled artists, created a multiform Baroque often influenced by popular taste. The

Criollo Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to: People * Criollo people, a social class in the Spanish race-based colonial caste system (the European descendants) Animals * Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South Ameri ...

and

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

crafters did much to give this Baroque unique features. The main centres of American Baroque cultivation, that are still standing, are (in this order)

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, Colombia, Bolivia, Guatemala,

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. Of particular note is the so-called "Missionary Baroque", developed in the framework of the Spanish reductions in areas extending from Mexico and southwestern portions of current-day United States to as far south as Argentina and Chile, indigenous settlements organized by Spanish Catholic missionaries in order to convert them to the Christian faith and acculturate them in the Western life, forming a hybrid Baroque influenced by Native culture, where flourished

Criollos In Hispanic America, criollo () is a term used originally to describe people of Spanish descent born in the colonies. In different Latin American countries the word has come to have different meanings, sometimes referring to the local-born majo ...

and many indigenous artisans and musicians, even literate, some of great ability and talent of their own. Missionaries' accounts often repeat that Western art, especially music, had a hypnotic impact on foresters, and the images of saints were viewed as having great powers. Many natives were converted, and a new form of devotion was created, of passionate intensity, laden with mysticism, superstition, and theatricality, which delighted in festive masses, sacred concerts, and mysteries. The Colonial Baroque architecture in the Spanish America is characterized by a profuse decoration (portal of La Profesa Church,

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

; facades covered with Puebla-style

azulejo ''Azulejo'' (, ; from the Arabic ''al- zillīj'', ) is a form of Spanish and Portuguese painted tin-glazed ceramic tilework. ''Azulejos'' are found on the interior and exterior of churches, palaces, ordinary houses, schools, and nowadays, r ...

s, as in the

Church of San Francisco Acatepec Church of San Francisco Acatepec is a colonial religious building, characteristic of the Mexican Baroque architecture, especially recognized for its facade of Talavera mosaics combined with red brick. It is located in the town of San Francisco ...

in San Andrés Cholula and Convent Church of San Francisco of Puebla), which will be exacerbated in the so-called Churrigueresque style (Facade of the Tabernacle of the Mexico City Cathedral, by Lorenzo Rodríguez; Church of San Francisco Javier,

; Church of Santa Prisca of

Taxco Taxco de Alarcón (; usually referred to as simply Taxco) is a small city and administrative center of Taxco de Alarcón Municipality located in the Mexican state of Guerrero. Taxco is located in the north-central part of the state, from the cit ...

). In

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

, the constructions mostly developed in the cities of

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

, Cusco, Arequipa and Trujillo, since 1650 show original characteristics that are advanced even to the European Baroque, as in the use of cushioned walls and

solomonic column The Solomonic column, also called Barley-sugar column, is a helical column, characterized by a spiraling twisting shaft like a corkscrew. It is not associated with a specific classical order, although most examples have Corinthian or Composite c ...

s ( Church of la Compañía de Jesús, Cusco; Basilica and Convent of San Francisco,

). Other countries include: the

Metropolitan Cathedral of Sucre The Metropolitan Cathedral of Sucre, also called Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a cathedral of Sucre, formerly La Plata, Bolivia is the seat of the Roman Catholic Church in Bolivia. It was built between 1559 and 1712.World Heritage ...

in Bolivia; Cathedral Basilica of Esquipulas in Guatemala; Tegucigalpa Cathedral in Honduras;

León Cathedral Santa María de Regla de León Cathedral is a Catholic church, the episcopal see of the diocese of León in north-western Spain, consecrated under the name of the Virgin Mary. It was the first monument declared by the Royal Order of Spain on A ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

; the Church of la Compañía de Jesús in Quito,

; the Church of San Ignacio in Bogotá, Colombia; the Caracas Cathedral in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

; the Cabildo of Buenos Aires in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

; the Church of Santo Domingo in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

; and Havana Cathedral in

. It is also worth remembering the quality of the churches of the Spanish Jesuit Missions in Bolivia, Spanish Jesuit missions in Paraguay, the Spanish missions in Mexico and the Spanish Franciscan missions in California. In

, as in the metropolis,

, the architecture has a certain Italian influence, usually of a

Borrominesque Francesco Borromini (, ), byname of Francesco Castelli (; 25 September 1599 – 2 August 1667), was an Italian architect born in the modern Swiss canton of Ticino

type, as can be seen in the Co-Cathedral of Recife (1784) and Church of Nossa Senhora da Glória do Outeiro in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

(1739). In the region of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

, highlighted the work of

Aleijadinho Antônio Francisco Lisboa ( or 1738 – 18 November 1814), better known as Aleijadinho (), was a sculptor, carver and architect of Colonial Brazil, noted for his works on and in various churches of Brazil. Little is known with certainty about his ...

, author of a group of churches that stand out for their curved planimetry, facades with concave-convex dynamic effects and a plastic treatment of all architectural elements ( Church of São Francisco de Assis in Ouro Preto, 1765–1788). File:Cathédrale de Cusco Décembre 2007e.jpg,

Cusco Cathedral , image = Cathédrale de Cusco Décembre 2007e.jpg , image_size = 250px , alt = , caption = Main facade of the Cusco Cathedral. , location = Cusco, Peru , geo ...

( Cusco,

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

), 1559–1654 File:Vista de la Fachada del Templo de San Francisco Acatepec 9.jpg,

( San Andrés Cholula,

), 17th–18th centuries File:20170807 Bolivia 1373 crop Potosí sRGB (37270469644).jpg, Church of San Lorenzo de Carangas ( Potosí, Bolivia), mid-16th century–1744 File:Iglesia de Santo Domingo, Santiago, 2017-09-24.jpg,

Santo Domingo Church Santo Domingo Church, formally known as the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary ( Spanish: ''Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario''; Filipino: ''Pambansang Dambana ng Mahal na Birhen ng Santo Rosaryo''), i ...

(

), 1747–1808 File:Templo de Santa Prisca de Taxco de Alarcón, Guerrero.jpg,

Church of Santa Prisca de Taxco The Parroquia de Santa Prisca y San Sebastían, commonly known as the Church of Santa Prisca, is a colonial monument located in the city of Taxco de Alarcón, in the southern state of Guerrero, Mexico, built between 1751 and 1759. It is located ...

(

), 1751–1758, by Diego Durán and Cayetano Sigüenza

Baroque in the Spanish and Portuguese Colonial Asia

In the Portuguese colonies of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

(

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

Daman and Diu Daman and Diu (; ) was a former union territory in northwestern India. With an area of , it was the smallest administrative subdivision of India on the mainland. The territory comprised two districts, Damaon and Dio island, geographically s ...

) an architectural style of Baroque forms mixed with Hindu elements flourished, such as the Goa Cathedral and the Basilica of Bom Jesus of Goa, which houses the tomb of St. Francis Xavier. The set of churches and convents of Goa was declared a

in 1986. In the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, which were a Spanish colony for centuries, a large number of Baroque constructions are preserved. Four of these as well as the Baroque and Neoclassical city of Vigan are both

s; and although they lack formal classification, The Walled City of Manila along with the city of

Tayabas Tayabas, officially the City of Tayabas ( fil, Lungsod ng Tayabas), is a 6th class component city in the province of Quezon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 112,658 people. It is known for ''lambanog'' (cocon ...

both contain a significant extent of Baroque-era architecture. File:Restos de la Catedral de San Pablo, Macao, 2013-08-08, DD 05.jpg,

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

(

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...

, China), 1601 File:Eglise St Paul.jpg,

( Diu,

), 1601 File:Paoay Church, Paoay, Ilocos Norte, Philippines - panoramio (1).jpg, Saint Augustine Church (

Paoay Paoay, officially the Municipality of Paoay ( ilo, Ili ti Paoay; fil, Bayan ng Paoay), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 25,001 people. The town is hom ...

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

), begun in 1694 File:Goa vecchia, basilica di bom jesus, interno, pulpito 01.jpg, Pulpit ( Basilica of Bom Jesus,

, India), 18th century

Painting

Baroque painters worked deliberately to set themselves apart from the painters of the Renaissance and the Mannerism period after it. In their palette, they used intense and warm colours, and particularly made use of the

primary colours A set of primary colors or primary colours (see spelling differences) consists of colorants or colored lights that can be mixed in varying amounts to produce a gamut of colors. This is the essential method used to create the perception of a b ...

red, blue and yellow, frequently putting all three in close proximity. They avoided the even lighting of Renaissance painting and used strong contrasts of light and darkness on certain parts of the picture to direct attention to the central actions or figures. In their composition, they avoided the tranquil scenes of Renaissance paintings, and chose the moments of the greatest movement and drama. Unlike the tranquil faces of Renaissance paintings, the faces in Baroque paintings clearly expressed their emotions. They often used asymmetry, with action occurring away from the centre of the picture, and created axes that were neither vertical nor horizontal, but slanting to the left or right, giving a sense of instability and movement. They enhanced this impression of movement by having the costumes of the personages blown by the wind, or moved by their own gestures. The overall impressions were movement, emotion and drama. Another essential element of baroque painting was allegory; every painting told a story and had a message, often encrypted in symbols and allegorical characters, which an educated viewer was expected to know and read. Early evidence of Italian Baroque ideas in painting occurred in Bologna, where Annibale Carracci, Agostino Carracci and

Ludovico Carracci Ludovico (or Lodovico) Carracci (21 April 1555 – 13 November 1619) was an Italian, early-Baroque painter, etcher, and printmaker born in Bologna. His works are characterized by a strong mood invoked by broad gestures and flickering light th ...

sought to return the visual arts to the ordered Classicism of the Renaissance. Their art, however, also incorporated ideas central the Counter-Reformation; these included intense emotion and religious imagery that appealed more to the heart than to the intellect. Another influential painter of the Baroque era was Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. His realistic approach to the human figure, painted directly from life and dramatically spotlit against a dark background, shocked his contemporaries and opened a new chapter in the history of painting. Other major painters associated closely with the Baroque style include Artemisia Gentileschi,

Elisabetta Sirani Elisabetta Sirani (8 January 1638 – 28 August 1665) was an Italian Baroque painter and printmaker who died in unexplained circumstances at the age of 27. She was a pioneering female artist in early modern Bologna, who established an academy fo ...

, Giovanna Garzoni, Guido Reni,

Domenichino Domenico Zampieri (, ; October 21, 1581 – April 6, 1641), known by the diminutive Domenichino (, ) after his shortness, was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School of painters. Life Domenichino was born in Bologna, son of a sho ...

, Andrea Pozzo, and Paolo de Matteis in Italy;

Francisco de Zurbarán Francisco de Zurbarán ( , ; baptized 7 November 1598 – 27 August 1664) was a Spanish painter. He is known primarily for his religious paintings depicting monks, nuns, and martyrs, and for his still-lifes. Zurbarán gained the nickname "Spanish ...

and Diego Velázquez in Spain;

Adam Elsheimer __NOTOC__ Adam Elsheimer (18 March 1578 – 11 December 1610) was a German artist working in Rome, who died at only thirty-two, but was very influential in the early 17th century in the field of Baroque paintings. His relatively few paintin ...

in Germany; and Nicolas Poussin and

Georges de La Tour Georges de La Tour (13 March 1593 – 30 January 1652) was a French Baroque painter, who spent most of his working life in the Duchy of Lorraine, which was temporarily absorbed into France between 1641 and 1648. He painted mostly religious chia ...

in France (though Poussin spent most of his working life in Italy). Poussin and La Tour adopted a "classical" Baroque style with less focus on emotion and greater attention to the line of the figures in the painting than to colour.

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradi ...

was the most important painter of the Flemish Baroque style. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of classical and Christian history. His unique and immensely popular Baroque style emphasised movement, colour, and sensuality, which followed the immediate, dramatic artistic style promoted in the Counter-Reformation. Rubens specialized in making altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects. One important domain of Baroque painting was ''Quadratura'', or paintings in ''

'', which literally "fooled the eye". These were usually painted on the stucco of ceilings or upper walls and balustrades, and gave the impression to those on the ground looking up were that they were seeing the heavens populated with crowds of angels, saints and other heavenly figures, set against painted skies and imaginary architecture. In Italy, artists often collaborated with architects on interior decoration; Pietro da Cortona was one of the painters of the 17th century who employed this illusionist way of painting. Among his most important commissions were the frescoes he painted for the Palace of the Barberini family (1633–39), to glorify the reign of Pope Urban VIII. Pietro da Cortona's compositions were the largest decorative frescoes executed in Rome since the work of Michelangelo at the

. François Boucher was an important figure in the more delicate French Rococo style, which appeared during the late Baroque period. He designed tapestries, carpets and theatre decoration as well as painting. His work was extremely popular with

Madame Pompadour Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rema ...

, the Mistress of King

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

. His paintings featured mythological romantic, and mildly erotic themes. File:Annibale Carracci, Resurrezione, Louvre.jpg,

Resurrection of Christ The resurrection of Jesus ( grc-x-biblical, ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ) is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lord ...

; by Annibale Carracci; 1593; oil on canvas; 217 x 160 cm;

File:The Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne - Annibale Carracci - 1597 - Farnese Gallery, Rome.jpg, ''Triumph of Bacchus and Adriane'' (part of '' The Loves of the Gods''); by Annibale Carracci; 1597–1600; fresco; length (gallery): 20.2 m;

Palazzo Farnese Palazzo Farnese () or Farnese Palace is one of the most important High Renaissance palaces in Rome. Owned by the Italian Republic, it was given to the French government in 1936 for a period of 99 years, and currently serves as the French emb ...

(Rome) File:The Calling of Saint Matthew-Caravaggo (1599-1600).jpg,

The Calling of St Matthew ''The Calling of Saint Matthew'' is a painting by Caravaggio, depicting the moment at which Jesus Christ inspires Matthew to follow him. It was completed in 1599–1600 for the Contarelli Chapel in the church of the French congregation, San Luig ...

; by Caravaggio; 1602–1604; oil on canvas; 3 x 2 m;

San Luigi dei Francesi The Church of St. Louis of the French ( it, San Luigi dei Francesi, french: Saint Louis des Français, la, S. Ludovici Francorum de Urbe) is a Roman Catholic church in Rome, not far from Piazza Navona. The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary ...

(Rome) File:Peter Paul Rubens Peter Paul Rubens - The Artist and His First Wife, Isabella Brant, in the Honeysuckle Bower.jpg, Self-portrait with Isabella Brant; by

; 1609-1610; oil on canvas; 1.78 x 1.37 m;

Alte Pinakothek The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pi ...

(

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, Germany) File:Peter Paul Rubens - The Four Continents.jpg, ''

The Four Continents ''The Four Continents'', also known as ''The Four Rivers of Paradise'', is a painting by Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, made in the 1610s. It depicts the female personifications of what, at the time, were believed to be four continents (Europe ...

''; by

; 1615; oil on canvas; 209 x 284 cm; Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna, Austria) File:Nicolas Poussin - L'Enlèvement des Sabines (1634-5).jpg, ''

The Rape of the Sabine Women The Rape of the Sabine Women ( ), also known as the Abduction of the Sabine Women or the Kidnapping of the Sabine Women, was an incident in Roman mythology in which the men of Rome committed a mass abduction of young women from the other citi ...

''; by Nicolas Poussin; 1634–1635; oil on canvas; 1.55 × 2.1 m;

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

(New York City) File:La ronda de noche, por Rembrandt van Rijn.jpg, ''

The Night Watch ''Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq'', also known as ''The Shooting Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch'', but commonly referred to as ''The Night Watch'' ( nl, De Nachtwacht), i ...

''; by Rembrandt; 1642; oil on canvas; 3.63 × 4.37 m; Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam, Netherlands) File:Claude Lorrain 008.jpg, '' The Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba''; by Claude Lorrain; 1648; oil on canvas; 149.1 × 196.7 cm;

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

(London) File:Michaelina wautier-triunfo de baco.JPG, '' The Triumph of Bacchus''; by Michaelina Wautier; before 1659; oil on canvas; 270 x 354 cm; Kunsthistorisches Museum File:Maria van Oosterwijck, , Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Gemäldegalerie - Vanitas-Stilleben - GG 5714 - Kunsthistorisches Museum.jpg, ''Vanitas Still Life''; by Maria van Oosterwijck; 1668; oil on canvas; 73 x 88.5 cm; Kunsthistorisches Museum

Hispanic Americas

In the Hispanic Americas, the first influences were from Sevillan Tenebrism, mainly from Zurbarán —some of whose works are still preserved in

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

— as can be seen in the work of the Mexicans

José Juárez José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

and Sebastián López de Arteaga, and the Bolivian Melchor Pérez de Holguín. The Cusco School of painting arose after the arrival of the Italian painter

Bernardo Bitti Democrito Bernardo Bitti (1548–1610) was an Italian Jesuit priest and painter. He introduced Mannerism to Peru, where he went on a Jesuit mission after having studied in Rome. On his way to Peru, Bitti traveled through Spain, where he bec ...

in 1583, who introduced Mannerism in the Americas. It highlighted the work of Luis de Riaño, disciple of the Italian

Angelino Medoro Angelino Medoro (1567–1631) was an Italian painter during the 17th-century, active in Latin America. His work in the Viceroyalty of Peru was greatly influential on the Cuzco School art movement. Biography Angelino Medoro was born in 1567 in p ...

, author of the murals of the Church of San Pedro of Andahuaylillas. It also highlighted the Indian (

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

) painters Diego Quispe Tito and Basilio Santa Cruz Pumacallao, as well as Marcos Zapata, author of the fifty large canvases that cover the high arches of the Cathedral of Cusco. In

, the Quito School was formed, mainly represented by the mestizo Miguel de Santiago and the

criollo Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to: People * Criollo people, a social class in the Spanish race-based colonial caste system (the European descendants) Animals * Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South Ameri ...

Nicolás Javier de Goríbar. In the 18th century sculptural altarpieces began to be replaced by paintings, developing notably the Baroque painting in the Americas. Similarly, the demand for civil works, mainly portraits of the aristocratic classes and the ecclesiastical hierarchy, grew. The main influence was the Murillesque, and in some cases – as in the

Cristóbal de Villalpando Cristóbal de Villalpando (ca. 1649 – 20 August 1714) was a Baroque Criollo artist from New Spain, arts administrator and captain of the guard. He painted prolifically and produced many Baroque works now displayed in several Mexican cathedrals ...

– that of Valdés Leal. The painting of this era has a more sentimental tone, with sweet and softer shapes. It highlight Gregorio Vásquez de Arce in Colombia, and Juan Rodríguez Juárez and

Miguel Cabrera José Miguel Cabrera Torres (born April 18, 1983), nicknamed "Miggy", is a Venezuelan professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Since his debut in 2003 he has been a two-t ...

Sculpture

The dominant figure in baroque sculpture was Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Under the patronage of Pope Urban VIII, he made a remarkable series of monumental statues of saints and figures whose faces and gestures vividly expressed their emotions, as well as portrait busts of exceptional realism, and highly decorative works for the Vatican such as the imposing Chair of St. Peter beneath the dome in

. In addition, he designed fountains with monumental groups of sculpture to decorate the major squares of Rome. Baroque sculpture was inspired by ancient Roman statuary, particularly by the famous first century CE statue of

Laocoön Laocoön (; grc, , Laokóōn, , gen.: ), is a figure in Greek and Roman mythology and the Epic Cycle. Laocoon was a Trojan priest. He and his two young sons were attacked by giant serpents, sent by the gods. The story of Laocoön has been the su ...

, which was unearthed in 1506 and put on display in the gallery of the Vatican. When he visited Paris in 1665, Bernini addressed the students at the academy of painting and sculpture. He advised the students to work from classical models, rather than from nature. He told the students, "When I had trouble with my first statue, I consulted the ''Antinous'' like an oracle." That ''Antinous'' statue is known today as the Hermes of the Museo Pio-Clementino. Notable late French baroque sculptors included

Étienne Maurice Falconet Étienne Maurice Falconet (1 December 1716 – 24 January 1791) was a French baroque, rococo and neoclassical sculptor, best-known for his equestrian statue of Peter the Great, the ''Bronze Horseman'' (1782), in St. Petersburg, Russia, and for ...

and Jean Baptiste Pigalle. Pigalle was commissioned by

Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...

to make statues for Frederick's own version of Versailles at

, Germany. Falconet also received an important foreign commission, creating the famous statue of Peter the Great on horseback found in

. In Spain, the sculptor

Francisco Salzillo Francisco Salzillo y Alcaraz (12 May 1707 – 2 March 1783Malgares Guerrero, José Antonio. XXII Jornadas de Patrimonio Cultural de la Región de Murcia (Spanish). 2011, p. 418. ) was a Spanish sculptor. He is the most representative Spanish ...

worked exclusively on religious themes, using polychromed wood. Some of the finest baroque sculptural craftsmanship was found in the gilded stucco altars of churches of the Spanish colonies of the New World, made by local craftsmen; examples include the Rosary Chapel of the Church of Santo Domingo in

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

(Mexico), 1724–1731. File:Francesco mochi, santa veronica, 1632, 02,2.jpg, ''Saint Veronica''; by

Francesco Mochi Francesco Mochi (29 July 1580 – 6 February 1654) was an Italian early-Baroque sculptor active mostly in Rome and Orvieto. He was born in Montevarchi and died in Rome. His early training was with the anti-Mannerist Florentine painter Santi d ...

; 1629–1639;

Carrara marble Carrara marble, Luna marble to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara in the province of Massa ...

; height: 5 m;

(

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

) File:Ecstasy of St. Teresa HDR.jpg, '' Ecstasy of Saint Teresa''; by Gian Lorenzo Bernini; 1647–1652; marble; height: 3.5 m; Santa Maria della Vittoria (Rome) File:Fame riding Pegasus Coysevox Louvre MR1824.jpg, ''The King's Fame Riding Pegasus''; by

Antoine Coysevox Charles Antoine Coysevox ( or ; 29 September 164010 October 1720), was a French sculptor in the Baroque and Louis XIV style, best known for his sculpture decorating the gardens and Palace of Versailles and his portrait busts. Biography Coysevo ...

; 1698-1702;

Carrara Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence. Its mot ...

marble; height: 3.15 m;

File:Venus Giving Arms to Aeneas MET DT215153.jpg, ''Venus Giving Arms to Aeneas''; by Jean Cornu; 1704; terracotta and painted wood; height: 108 cm;

(New York City) File:Ermitáž (39).jpg, '' The Death of Adonis''; by Giuseppe Mazzuoli; 1710s; marble; height: 193 cm;

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the largest ...

(

)

Furniture

The main motifs used are: horns of plenty,

festoon A festoon (from French ''feston'', Italian ''festone'', from a Late Latin ''festo'', originally a festal garland, Latin ''festum'', feast) is a wreath or garland hanging from two points, and in architecture typically a carved ornament depict ...

s, baby angels, lion heads holding a metal ring in their mouths, female

faces The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affe ...

surrounded by garlands, oval cartouches,

acanthus leaves The acanthus ( grc, ἄκανθος) is one of the most common plant forms to make foliage ornament and decoration, and even as the leaf distinguishing the heraldic coronet of a manorial lord from other coronets of royalty or nobility, which us ...

, classical columns,

caryatid A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "ma ...

s, pediments, and other elements of

Classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect ...

sculpted on some parts of pieces of furniture, baskets with fruits or flowers, shells, armour and trophies, heads of

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...

, and C-shaped

volute A volute is a spiral, scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals. Four are normally to be found on an Ion ...

s. During the first period of the reign of Louis XIV, furniture followed the previous style of Louis XIII, and was massive, and profusely decorated with sculpture and gilding. After 1680, thanks in large part to the furniture designer André Charles Boulle, a more original and delicate style appeared, sometimes known as Boulle work. It was based on the inlay of

ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...

and other rare woods, a technique first used in Florence in the 15th century, which was refined and developed by Boulle and others working for Louis XIV. Furniture was inlaid with plaques of ebony, copper, and exotic woods of different colors.Renault and Lazé, ''Les Styles de l'architecture et du mobilier'' (2006), pg. 59 New and often enduring types of furniture appeared; the commode, with two to four drawers, replaced the old ''coffre'', or chest. The ''canapé'', or sofa, appeared, in the form of a combination of two or three armchairs. New kinds of armchairs appeared, including the ''fauteuil en confessionale'' or "Confessional armchair", which had padded cushions ions on either side of the back of the chair. The console table also made its first appearance; it was designed to be placed against a wall. Another new type of furniture was the ''table à gibier'', a marble-topped table for holding dishes. Early varieties of the desk appeared; the Mazarin desk had a central section set back, placed between two columns of drawers, with four feet on each column. File:Decorative arts in the Louvre - Room 32 D201903 (cropped).jpg, Four-poster bed from the Château d'Effiat; 1650; natural walnut, chiselled Genoa silk velvet and embroidered silks; 295 cm;

File:Francia, tavolo da parete, 1685-90 ca.jpg, Pier table; 1685–1690; carved,

gesso Gesso (; "chalk", from the la, gypsum, from el, γύψος) is a white paint mixture consisting of a binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these. It is used in painting as a preparation for any number of substrates suc ...

ed, and gilded wood, with a marble top; 83.6 × 128.6 × 71.6 cm; Art Institute of Chicago (US) File:Armoire aux perroquets du Louvre.jpg, Cupboard; by André Charles Boulle; 1700; ebony and amaranth veneering, polychrome woods, brass, tin, shell, and horn

on an oak frame, gilt-bronze; 255.5 x 157.5 cm; Louvre File:Commode MET DP108742.jpg, Commode; by André Charles Boulle; 1710-1732; walnut veneered with ebony and

of engraved brass and tortoiseshell, gilt-bronze mounts, antique marble top; 87.6 x 128.3 x 62.9 cm;

(New York City) File:Heinrich ludwig rohde o ferdinand plitzner (attr.), scrittoio a ribalta, magonza 1720 ca.jpg, German slant-front desk; by Heinrich Ludwig Rohde or Ferdinand Plitzner; 1715–1725; marquetry with maple, amaranth, mahogany, and walnut on spruce and oak; 90 × 84 × 44.5 cm; Art Institute of Chicago

Music

The term ''Baroque'' is also used to designate the style of music composed during a period that overlaps with that of Baroque art. The first uses of the term 'baroque' for music were criticisms. In an anonymous, satirical review of the première in October 1733 of Rameau's '' Hippolyte et Aricie,'' printed in the ''Mercure de France'' in May 1734, the critic implied that the novelty of this opera was "du barocque," complaining that the music lacked coherent melody, was filled with unremitting dissonances, constantly changed key and meter, and speedily ran through every compositional device.

, who was a musician and noted composer as well as philosopher, made a very similar observation in 1768 in the famous ''

'' of

: "Baroque music is that in which the harmony is confused, and loaded with modulations and dissonances. The singing is harsh and unnatural, the intonation difficult, and the movement limited. It appears that term comes from the word 'baroco' used by logicians." Common use of the term for the music of the period began only in 1919, by

Curt Sachs Curt Sachs (; 29 June 1881 – 5 February 1959) was a German musicologist. He was one of the founders of modern organology (the study of musical instruments). Among his contributions was the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which he created with Er ...

, and it was not until 1940 that it was first used in English in an article published by

Manfred Bukofzer Manfred Fritz Bukofzer (27 March 1910 – 7 December 1955) was a German-born American musicologist. Life and career He studied at Heidelberg University and the Stern conservatory in Berlin, but left Germany in 1933 for Switzerland, where he ob ...

. The baroque was a period of musical experimentation and innovation which explains the amount of ornaments and improvisation performed by the musicians. New forms were invented, including the concerto and

sinfonia Sinfonia (; plural ''sinfonie'') is the Italian word for symphony, from the Latin ''symphonia'', in turn derived from Ancient Greek συμφωνία ''symphōnia'' (agreement or concord of sound), from the prefix σύν (together) and ϕωνή (sou ...

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

was born in Italy at the end of the 16th century (with

Jacopo Peri Jacopo Peri (20 August 156112 August 1633), known under the pseudonym Il Zazzerino, was an Italian composer and singer of the transitional period between the Renaissance and Baroque styles, and is often called the inventor of opera. He wrote th ...

's mostly lost ''

Dafne ''Dafne'' is the earliest known work that, by modern standards, could be considered an opera. The libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini survives complete; the mostly lost music was completed by Jacopo Peri, but at least two of the six surviving fragment ...

'', produced in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

in 1598) and soon spread through the rest of Europe: Louis XIV created the first Royal Academy of Music, In 1669, the poet

Pierre Perrin Pierre Perrin (c.1620 – 24 April 1675) was a French poet and librettist. Perrin, sometimes known as L'Abbé Perrin although he never belonged to the clergy, was born in Lyon. He founded the Académie d'Opéra, which later was renamed the Acad ...

opened an academy of opera in Paris, the first opera theatre in France open to the public, and premiered '' Pomone'', the first grand opera in French, with music by

Robert Cambert Robert Cambert (c. 1628–1677) was a French composer principally of opera. His opera '' Pomone'' was the first actual opera in French. Biography Under Mazarin Born in Paris c. 1628, he studied music under Chambonnières. His first position was ...

, with five acts, elaborate stage machinery, and a ballet.

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He ...

in Germany, Jean-Baptiste Lully in France, and Henry Purcell in England all helped to establish their national traditions in the 17th century. Several new instruments, including the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, were introduced during this period. The invention of the piano is credited to

Bartolomeo Cristofori Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco (; May 4, 1655 – January 27, 1731) was an Italian maker of musical instruments famous for inventing the piano. Life The available source materials on Cristofori's life include his birth and death reco ...

(1655–1731) of

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, Italy, who was employed by Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany, as the Keeper of the Instruments. Cristofori named the instrument ''un cimbalo di cipresso di piano e forte'' ("a keyboard of cypress with soft and loud"), abbreviated over time as ''pianoforte'', ''fortepiano'', and later, simply, piano.

Composers and examples

Giovanni Gabrieli Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1554/1557 – 12 August 1612) was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School, at the time of the shift f ...

(c. 1554/1557–1612) '' Sonata pian' e forte'' (1597), ''In Ecclesiis'' (from ''Symphoniae sacrae'' book 2, 1615) * Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger (c. 1580–1651) ''Libro primo di villanelle, 20'' (1610) * Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643), ''L'Orfeo, L'Orfeo, favola in musica'' (1610) *

(1585–1672), ''Musikalische Exequien'' (1629, 1647, 1650) * Francesco Cavalli (1602–1676), ''Egisto (opera), L'Egisto'' (1643), ''Ercole amante'' (1662), ''Scipione affricano'' (1664) Johann Sebastian Bach

* Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–1687), ''Armide (Lully), Armide'' (1686) * Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643–1704), ''Te Deum (Charpentier), Te Deum'' (1688–1698) * Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644–1704), ''Mystery Sonatas'' (1681) * John Blow (1649–1708), ''Venus and Adonis (opera), Venus and Adonis'' (1680–1687) * Johann Pachelbel (1653–1706), ''Pachelbel's Canon, Canon in D'' (1680) * Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713), Twelve concerti grossi, op.6 (Corelli), 12 concerti grossi, Op. 6 (1714) * Marin Marais (1656–1728), ''Sonnerie de Ste-Geneviève du Mont-de-Paris'' (1723) * Henry Purcell (1659–1695), ''Dido and Aeneas'' (1688) * Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725), ''L'honestà negli amori'' (1680), ''Il Pompeo'' (1683), ''Mitridate Eupatore'' (1707) * François Couperin (1668–1733), ''Les barricades mystérieuses'' (1717) * Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1751), ''Didone abbandonata (Albinoni), Didone abbandonata'' (1724) * Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741), ''The Four Seasons (Vivaldi), The Four Seasons'' (1725) * Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679–1745), ''Il Serpente di Bronzo'' (1730), ''Missa Sanctissimae Trinitatis'' (1736) * Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767), ''Der Tag des Gerichts'' (1762) * Johann David Heinichen (1683–1729) * Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764), ''Dardanus (opera), Dardanus'' (1739) * George Frideric Handel (1685–1759), ''Water Music (Handel), Water Music'' (1717), ''Messiah (Handel), Messiah'' (1741) * Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757), List of solo keyboard sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, Sonatas for harpsichord * Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565, Toccata and Fugue in D minor (1703–1707), ''Brandenburg Concertos'' (1721), ''St Matthew Passion'' (1727) * Nicola Porpora (1686–1768), ''Semiramide riconosciuta (Porpora), Semiramide riconosciuta'' (1729) * Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736), ''Stabat Mater'' (1736)

Dance

The classical ballet also originated in the Baroque era. The style of court dance was brought to France by Marie de Medici, and in the beginning the members of the court themselves were the dancers.

himself performed in public in several ballets. In March 1662, the Académie Royale de Danse, was founded by the King. It was the first professional dance school and company, and set the standards and vocabulary for ballet throughout Europe during the period.

Literary theory

Heinrich Wölfflin was the first to transfer the term Baroque to literature. The key concepts of Baroque literary theory, such as “conceit” (''concetto''), “wit” (''acutezza'', ''ingegno''), and “Wonder (emotion), wonder” (''meraviglia''), were not fully developed in literary theory until the publication of Emanuele Tesauro's ''Il Cannocchiale aristotelico'' (The Aristotelian Telescope) in 1654. This seminal treatise - inspired by Giambattista Marino's epic ''Adone'' and the work of the Spanish Jesuit philosopher Baltasar Gracián - developed a theory of metaphor as a universal language of images and as a supreme intellectual act, at once an artifice and an epistemologically privileged mode of access to truth.

Theatre

Set design Act5 of Andromède by P Corneille 1650 - Gallica

The Baroque period was a golden age for theatre in France and Spain; playwrights included Pierre Corneille, Corneille, Jean Racine, Racine and Molière in France; and Lope de Vega and Pedro Calderón de la Barca in Spain. During the Baroque period, the art and style of the theatre evolved rapidly, alongside the development of opera and of ballet. The design of newer and larger theatres, the invention the use of more elaborate machinery, the wider use of the proscenium arch, which framed the stage and hid the machinery from the audience, encouraged more scenic effects and spectacle. The Baroque had a Catholic and conservative character in Spain, following an Italian literary model during the Renaissance. The Hispanic Baroque theatre aimed for a public content with an ideal reality that manifested fundamental three sentiments: Catholic religion, monarchist and national pride and honour originating from the chivalric, knightly world. Two periods are known in the Baroque Spanish theatre, with the division occurring in 1630. The first period is represented chiefly by Lope de Vega, but also by Tirso de Molina, Gaspar Aguilar, Guillén de Castro, Antonio Mira de Amescua, Luis Vélez de Guevara, Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Diego Jiménez de Enciso, Luis Belmonte Bermúdez, Felipe Godínez, Luis Quiñones de Benavente or Juan Pérez de Montalbán. The second period is represented by Pedro Calderón de la Barca and fellow dramatists Antonio Hurtado de Mendoza, Álvaro Cubillo de Aragón, Jerónimo de Cáncer, Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla, Juan de Matos Fragoso, Antonio Coello y Ochoa, Agustín Moreto, and Francisco Bances Candamo. These classifications are loose because each author had his own way and could occasionally adhere himself to the formula established by Lope. It may even be that Lope's "manner" was more liberal and structured than Calderón's. Lope de Vega introduced through his ''Arte nuevo de hacer comedias en este tiempo'' (1609) the ''new comedy''. He established a new dramatic formula that broke the three Aristotle unities of the Italian school of poetry (action, time, and place) and a fourth unity of Aristotle which is about style, mixing of tragic and comic elements showing different types of verses and stanzas upon what is represented. Although Lope has a great knowledge of the plastic arts, he did not use it during the major part of his career nor in theatre or scenography. The Lope's comedy granted a second role to the visual aspects of the theatrical representation. Tirso de Molina, Lope de Vega, and Calderón were the most important play writers in Golden Era Spain. Their works, known for their subtle intelligence and profound comprehension of a person's humanity, could be considered a bridge between Lope's primitive comedy and the more elaborate comedy of Calderón. Tirso de Molina is best known for two works, ''The Convicted Suspicions'' and ''The Trickster of Seville'', one of the first versions of the Don Juan myth. Upon his arrival to Madrid, Cosimo Lotti brought to the Spanish court the most advanced theatrical techniques of Europe. His techniques and mechanic knowledge were applied in palace exhibitions called "Fiestas" and in lavish exhibitions of rivers or artificial fountains called "Naumaquias". He was in charge of styling the Gardens of Buen Retiro, of Palace of Zarzuela, Zarzuela, and of Royal Palace of Aranjuez, Aranjuez and the construction of the theatrical building of Coliseo del Buen Retiro. Lope's formulas begin with a verse that it unbefitting of the palace theatre foundation and the birth of new concepts that begun the careers of some play writers like Calderón de la Barca. Marking the principal innovations of the New Lopesian Comedy, Calderón's style marked many differences, with a great deal of constructive care and attention to his internal structure. Calderón's work is in formal perfection and a very lyric and symbolic language. Liberty, vitality and openness of Lope gave a step to Calderón's intellectual reflection and formal precision. In his comedy it reflected his ideological and doctrine intentions in above the passion and the action, the work of Autos sacramentales achieved high ranks. The genre of Comedia is political, multi-artistic and in a sense hybrid. The poetic text interweaved with Medias and resources originating from architecture, music and painting freeing the deception that is in the Lopesian comedy was made up from the lack of scenery and engaging the dialogue of action. The best known German playwright was Andreas Gryphius, who used the Jesuit model of the Netherlands, Dutch Joost van den Vondel and Pierre Corneille. There was also Johannes Velten who combined the traditions of the English comedians and the commedia dell'arte with the classic theatre of Corneille and Molière. His touring company was perhaps the most significant and important of the 17th century. The foremost Italian baroque tragedian was Federico Della Valle. His literary activity is summed up by the four plays that he wrote for the courtly theater: the tragicomedy ''Adelonda di Frigia'' (1595) and especially his three tragedies, ''Judith'' (1627), ''Esther'' (1627) and ''La reina di Scotia'' (1628). Della Valle had many imitators and followers who combined in their works Baroque taste and the didactic aims of the Society of Jesus, Jesuits (Francesco Sforza Pallavicino, Pallavicino, Girolamo Graziani, Graziani, etc.)

Spanish colonial Americas

Following the evolution marked from Spain, at the end of the 16th century, the companies of comedians, essentially transhumant, began to professionalize. With professionalization came regulation and censorship: as in Europe, the theatre oscillated between tolerance and even government protection and rejection (with exceptions) or persecution by the Church. The theatre was useful to the authorities as an instrument to disseminate the desired behavior and models, respect for the social order and the monarchy, school of religious dogma. The ''corrales'' were administered for the benefit of hospitals that shared the benefits of the representations. The itinerant companies (or "of the League (unit), league"), who carried the theatre in improvised open-air stages by the regions that did not have fixed locals, required a viceregal license to work, whose price or ''pinción'' was destined to alms and works pious. For companies that worked stably in the capitals and major cities, one of their main sources of income was participation in the Corpus Christi (feast), festivities of the Corpus Christi, which provided them with not only economic benefits, but also recognition and social prestige. The representations in the viceregal palace and the mansions of the aristocracy, where they represented both the comedies of their repertoire and special productions with great lighting effects, scenery, and stage, were also an important source of well-paid and prestigious work. Born in the Viceroyalty of New Spain but later settled in Spain, Juan Ruiz de Alarcón is the most prominent figure in the Baroque theatre of New Spain. Despite his accommodation to Lope de Vega's new comedy, his "marked secularism", his discretion and restraint, and a keen capacity for "psychological penetration" as distinctive features of Alarcón against his Spanish contemporaries have been noted. Noteworthy among his works ''La verdad sospechosa'', a comedy of characters that reflected his constant moralizing purpose. The dramatic production of Juana Inés de la Cruz, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz places her as the second figure of the Spanish-American Baroque theatre. It is worth mentioning among her works the Autos sacramentales, auto sacramental ''El divino Narciso (auto sacramental), El divino Narciso'' and the comedy ''Los empeños de una casa''.

Gardens

The Baroque garden, also known as the ''jardin à la française'' or French formal garden, first appeared in Rome in the 16th century, and then most famously in France in the 17th century in the gardens of Vaux le Vicomte and the Palace of Versailles. Baroque gardens were built by Kings and princes in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain, Poland, Italy and Russia until the mid-18th century, when they began to be remade into by the more natural English landscape garden. The purpose of the baroque garden was to illustrate the power of man over nature, and the glory of its builder, Baroque gardens were laid out in geometric patterns, like the rooms of a house. They were usually best seen from the outside and looking down, either from a chateau or terrace. The elements of a baroque garden included parterres of flower beds or low hedges trimmed into ornate Baroque designs, and straight lanes and alleys of gravel which divided and crisscrossed the garden. Terraces, ramps, staircases and cascades were placed where there were differences of elevation, and provided viewing points. Circular or rectangular ponds or basins of water were the settings for fountains and statues. Bosquets or carefully trimmed groves or lines of identical trees, gave the appearance of walls of greenery and were backdrops for statues. On the edges, the gardens usually had pavilions, orangeries and other structures where visitors could take shelter from the sun or rain. (French translation from German) Baroque gardens required enormous numbers of gardeners, continual trimming, and abundant water. In the later part of the Baroque period, the formal elements began to be replaced with more natural features, including winding paths, groves of varied trees left to grow untrimmed; rustic architecture and picturesque structures, such as Roman temples or Chinese pagodas, as well as "secret gardens" on the edges of the main garden, filled with greenery, where visitors could read or have quiet conversations. By the mid-18th century most of the Baroque gardens were partially or entirely transformed into variations of the English landscape garden. Besides Versailles and Vaux-le-Vicomte, Celebrated baroque gardens still retaining much of their original appearance include the Royal Palace of Caserta near Naples; Nymphenburg Palace and Augustusburg and Falkenlust Palaces, Brühl in Germany; Het Loo Palace, Netherlands; the Belvedere Palace in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

; Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, Spain; and

in St. Petersburg, Russia. File:Kasteel van Vaux-le-Vicomte - Maincy 06.jpg, Gardens at

(France), 1657-1661, by André Le Nôtre File:Vue aérienne du domaine de Versailles le 20 août 2014 par ToucanWings - Creative Commons By Sa 3.0 - 22.jpg, Gardens of Versailles, begun in 1661, by André Le Nôtre File:Het Loo Hauptachse.JPG, Gardens of the Het Loo Palace, Netherlands, 1689 File:1 Tessinska palatset trädgård 2.jpg, Garden of the Tessin Palace (Stockholm, Sweden), 1692-1700, by Nicodemus Tessin the Younger

Differences between Rococo and Baroque

The following are characteristics that Rococo has and Baroque has not: *The partial abandonment of symmetry, everything being composed of graceful lines and curves, similar to the Art Nouveau ones *The huge quantity of asymmetrical curves and C-shaped

s *The very wide use of flowers in ornamentation, an example being

s made of flowers *Chinese and Japanese motifs *Warm pastel colours (whitish-yellow, cream-coloured, pearl greys, very light blues)

End of the style, condemnation, and academic rediscovery

Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV, contributed to the decline of the baroque and rococo style. In 1750 she sent her nephew, Abel-François Poisson, Abel-François Poisson de Vandières, on a two-year mission to study artistic and archeological developments in Italy. He was accompanied by several artists, including the engraver Nicolas Cochin and the architect Soufflot. They returned to Paris with a passion for classical art. Vandiéres became the Marquis of Marigny, and was named Royal Director of buildings in 1754. He turned official French architecture toward the neoclassical. Cochin became an important art critic; he denounced the ''petit style'' of Boucher, and called for a grand style with a new emphasis on antiquity and nobility in the academies of painting of architecture. The pioneer German art historian and archeologist Johann Joachim Winckelmann also condemned the baroque style, and praised the superior values of classical art and architecture. By the 19th century, Baroque was a target for ridicule and criticism. The neoclassical critic Francesco Milizia wrote: "Borrominini in architecture, Bernini in sculpture, Pietro da Cortona in painting...are a plague on good taste, which infected a large number of artists." In the 19th century, criticism went even further; the British critic John Ruskin declared that baroque sculpture was not only bad, but also morally corrupt. The Swiss-born art historian Heinrich Wölfflin (1864–1945) started the rehabilitation of the word Baroque in his ''Renaissance und Barock'' (1888); Wölfflin identified the Baroque as "movement imported into mass", an art antithetic to Renaissance art. He did not make the distinctions between Mannerism and Baroque that modern writers do, and he ignored the later phase, the academic Baroque that lasted into the 18th century. Baroque art and architecture became fashionable in the interwar period, and has largely remained in critical favor. The term "Baroque" may still be used, usually pejoratively, describing works of art, craft, or design that are thought to have excessive ornamentation or complexity of line.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * Causa, Raffaello, ''L'Art au XVIII siècle du rococo à Goya'' (1963), (in French) Hachcette, Paris * * * Gardner, Helen, Fred S. Kleiner, and Christin J. Mamiya. 2005. ''Gardner's Art Through the Ages'', 12th edition. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth. (hardcover) * * * * * * * * * Prater, Andreas, and Bauer, Hermann, ''La Peinture du baroque'' (1997), (in French), Taschen, Paris * Tazartes, Maurizia, ''Fontaines de Rome'', (2004), (in French) Citadelles, Paris

External links

The baroque and rococo culture

Webmuseum Paris

barocke in Val di Noto – Sizilien

The Baroque style and Luis XIV influence

Melvyn Bragg's BBC Radio 4 program ''In Our Time'': The Baroque
* {{Authority control Baroque, 17th century in art 17th century in the arts 18th century in art 18th century in the arts Art movements Art movements in Europe Catholic art Decorative arts Early Modern period Catholic art by period

Origin of the word

Architecture: origins and characteristics

Italian Baroque

Spanish Baroque

Central Europe

Portuguese Baroque

Russian Baroque

Baroque in the Spanish and Portuguese Colonial Americas

Baroque in the Spanish and Portuguese Colonial Asia

Painting

Hispanic Americas

Sculpture

Furniture

Music

Composers and examples

Dance

Literary theory

Theatre

Spanish colonial Americas

Gardens

Differences between Rococo and Baroque

End of the style, condemnation, and academic rediscovery

See also

Notes

Sources

Further reading

External links