RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE:

BAROQUE AND ROCOCO

THE SPREAD OF THE RENAISSANCE THROUGH EUROPE
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
(17TH-19TH CENTURY)
ELEMENTS OF THE BAROQUE
ARCHITECTURE ARE COMPLICATED
DECORATIONS, PAINTINGS AND CONTRASTS
BETWEEN LIGHT AND SHADOW. THE FINAL
EFFECT OF THIS STYLE IS TENSION AND
HUMILITY. BAROQUE LOOKS DIFFERENT IN
DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. IN ITALY, WHERE IT
STARTED, THE STYLE IS REFLECTED IN
DRAMATIC CHURCHES WITH IRREGULAR
SHAPES, HUGE DOMES AND EXTRAVAGANT
ORNAMENTATION. IN FRANCE IS HIGHLY
DECORATED COMBINED WITH CLASSICAL
FEATURES. SACRED BUILDINGS AND
CHATEAUX WERE TYPICAL FOR THIS STYLE.
SOME EXAMPLES OF BAROQUE
ARCHITECTURE: TREVI FOUNTAIN IN ROME,
PALACE OF VERSAILLES IN PARIS AND ST.
PAUL'S CATHEDRAL IN LONDON.

Photo: The Church of Gesu, Rome

THE RENAISSANCE TIMELINE
KEY ARCHITECTS/ARTISTS DURING THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD

BRUNELLESCHI BRAMANTE MICHAELANGELO MADERNO

HIGH BAROQUE AND
QUATTROCENTO MANNERISM
RENAISSANCE ROCOCO
(1400-1500) (1520-1600)
(1500-1525) (1600-1900)
 CARLO MADERNO
(1556-1629)
• REMEMBERED AS ONE OF THE FATHERS OF THE BAROQUE STYLE.
• THE FACADES OF SANTA SUSANNA, ST. PETER’S BASILICA, AND
SANT’ANDREA DELLA VALLE WERE CONSIDERED AS IMPORTANT
IN THE EVOLUTION OF ITALIAN BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE.
CHARACTERISTICS

BAROQUE ARCHITECTS TOOK THE BASIC

ELEMENTS OF RENAISSANCE
ARCHITECTURE,
INCLUDING DOMES AND COLONNADES,
AND MADE THEM HIGHER, GRANDER,
MORE DECORATED, AND MORE
DRAMATIC.
“
“You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him
to find it for himself.”

GALILEO GALILEI
”
HISTORY, MOST ESPECIALLY OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE CAN HELP UNLOCK THE
KEY TO THE PAST AND RELATE IT TO THE PRESENT TIMES.
QUADRATURA
PAINTING COMBINED WITH SCULPTURE
CUPOLAS

• CUPOLAS WERE USED TO PLAY WITH LIGHT

TRICKLING INTO THE STRUCTURES
 TWISTED COLUMNS

• TWISTED COLUMNS WERE ALSO OFTEN USED, TO GIVE AN ILLUSION OF UPWARDS MOTION.
 CARTOUCHES

• DECORATIVE ELEMENTS ACCENTED HIGHLIGHTS IN THE FACADES OF STRUCTURES.

ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE

• ROCOCO FEATURES EXUBERANT

DECORATION, WITH AN ABUNDANCE OF
CURVES, COUNTER-CURVES,
UNDULATIONS AND ELEMENTS MODELED
ON NATURE. THE EXTERIORS OF ROCOCO
BUILDINGS ARE OFTEN SIMPLE, WHILE
THE INTERIORS ARE ENTIRELY
DOMINATED BY THEIR ORNAMENT. THE
STYLE WAS HIGHLY THEATRICAL,
DESIGNED TO IMPRESS AND AWE AT
FIRST SIGHT. FLOOR PLANS OF
CHURCHES WERE OFTEN COMPLEX,
FEATURING INTERLOCKING OVALS; IN
PALACES, GRAND STAIRWAYS BECAME
CENTREPIECES, AND OFFERED
DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW OF THE
DECORATION.
BAROQUE VS. ROCOCO ARCHITECTURE
• THE PARTIAL ABANDONMENT OF SYMMETRY, EVERYTHING BEING COMPOSED OF
GRACEFUL LINES AND CURVES, SIMILAR TO ART NOUVEAU
• THE HUGE QUANTITY OF ASYMMETRICAL CURVES AND C-SHAPED VOLUTES
• THE WIDE USE OF FLOWERS IN ORNAMENTATION, AN EXAMPLE BEING FESTOONS MADE
OF FLOWERS
• CHINESE AND JAPANESE MOTIFS
• WARM PASTEL COLOURS (WHITISH-YELLOW, CREAM-COLOURED, PEARL GREYS, VERY
LIGHT BLUES