Baroque 09-Nov-21

Baroque
The word "baroque" comes from the Portuguese word barroco,
“meaning misshapen pearl”

Early Baroque, c. 1590 – c. 1625

High Baroque, c. 1625 – c. 1660
Late Baroque, c. 1660 – c. 1725
Late Baroque is also sometimes used synonymously with the succeeding Rococo movement

Prof. Hitesh Changela 23/09/2021

Part 1

Mannerist Villa Garden Background

Themes:
• Architecture as frame (i.e. variation in triumphal arch)
• Ground plain (i.e. sectional variation & playfulness)
• Axis/ denial of axis
• Courtyards –Displaced center/ Nature vs culture
• Water as spatial element
• Rustication through masonry
• Continuity in Trabeated and Actuated expression
• Paradise garden (lost & regained)
• Grotto: Damp, shell-encrusted, cave like space
• Herms: Half column/ half human figure
• Juxtaposition
• Variation on a theme
• Spatial experiences through various senses
09-Nov-21
• End of 16th Century Catholic Church was recovering and beginning to regain the
initiative.
• The message was one of rejoicing – the miracle of salvation, the benevolent intercession
of the virgin and saints, and the ultimate ecstasy of heaven.
• Baroque ( a word originally applied pejoratively, meaning “ a misshapen pearl” in 19th c. )
evolved to meet the needs of this movement. It is essentially the style of the COUNTER
REFORMATION
• Last great universal style –accepted by society collectively, embedded in tradition and
extended traditions, not picking up things from other styles
• Synthesis –of gothic and renaissance
• Gothic –space, not rational but emotionally engaging
• Renaissance –rational & clear
Baroque –bringing two qualities together
Reference: Sutton, Ian; “Western Architecture”, Thames and Hudson Ltd, London.(1999)
HC 3

Cartesian geometry

Baroque:
“Misshapen pearl”

• Classical architecture
• Classical typology Kind of pearl but something wrong in it
• Orders
• Symmetry and balance

Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

…one of the thing which separate this period from others is “systematization”
- Chritian Norberg Schulz The 11th-century Persian mathematician Omar Khayyám saw
a strong relationship between geometry and algebra and was
• Mathematics: Cartesian Geometry –systematization of space, moving in the right direction when he helped close the gap
can locate any point in space between numerical and geometric algebra.
Idea of Infinity –axis expanses, boulevards & avenues
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) –calculus – talk about space itself, Analytic geometry was independently invented by René
not just in-between space Descartes and Pierre de Fermat,
• State craft: Centralized stateship –bringing small nobles together, although Descartes is sometimes given sole credit.
Urban reforms to strengthen the socio-political scenario Cartesian geometry, the alternative term used for analytic
• Urban space: In-between spaces –public squares become important rather individual geometry, is named after Descartes
buildings
• Infrastructure: Revitalization of roads, aqueducts, drains, river canals, fountains

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Baroque 09-Nov-21

Cartesian Vision
Rene Descartes depicted the interpretation (in his Principles of Philosophy of 1644) of light and
its physiological reaction in the brain in this iconic image, as follows: the lines of sight depicting
binocular vision, observed (and compressed) by the eye's "particles" and processed by the pineal
gland which in turn manipulate the "fluids" in the control of nerves and muscles.

Medieval town, vernacular

Palma Nova,
Renaissance

Part of the "TAB.GEOMETRY."

(Table of Geometry)
from the 1728 Cyclopaedia Chateau de Versailles, Baroque
http://www.patrikschumacher.com/Texts/The%20Instrumentality%20of%20Ap
pearances%20in%20the%20Pursuit%20of%20a%20Legible%20Urban%20Or
der.html

Baroque Art
Pierre Patel –A Bird's Eye View of the Palace and Gardens at Versailles, 1668

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Baroque 09-Nov-21

Caravaggio, The Crowning with Thorns

Andrea Pozzo:
Detail ( The Apotheose of S.Ignazio,Rome,1688-90) exaggerated lighting, intense emotions, release from restraint, and even a kind of artistic sensationalism

Caravaggio:
Caravaggio: “The Denial of saint Peter” (1610)
Calling of St.Matthew (1599-1600)

Rembrandt:
“Christ in the storm the sea
Of Galilee” (1633)

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Rembrandt:
Rembrandt:
“The night watch”
“The Three Crosses” (1653)

Comparative note on
Renaissance & Baroque Art

Michelangelo:
David,

Gianlorenzo Bernini:
David, Galleria Borghese, Rome (1623)
09-Nov-21 HC 22

David

Donatello –1440s Verrocchio –1473-75 Michelangelo –1501-04 Bernini –1623-24

1408-09
Baroque Space

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Baroque 09-Nov-21

Baroque Space

S.Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, PALLADIO, 1565

Martino Longhi’s SS.Vincenzo ed Anastasio,

Rome, 1645
Giacomo della Porta’s Gesu, Rome, 1571

Cartona
A complex play of convex
A complex play of convex and and concave surfaces
concave curves

Intense plastic walls surfaces

Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669) was an Italian Baroque painter

and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian
Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, he was one of the
key figures in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture.
He was also an important designer of interior decorations

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SS Luca e Martina, Rome

1634

Sixtus V’s plan For Rome,

1585-90
Pope Sixtus V began radical changes
and his design program both guided
the city’s development for next
hundred years or more and influenced
urban design throughout Europe and
eventually America.

Baroque Pilgrimage church

Giovanni Ambrogio Brambilla, Vedute della Sette Chiese di Roma (View of the Seven Churches
Sixtus V’s city plan – 1585-1590: of Rome), 1575
The basis for city development in the 17th century

Sixtus V’s city plan – 1585-1590:

The basis for city development in the 17th century

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Baroque 09-Nov-21

The “trivium” at Piazza del

Popolo:
(see Kostof p489)
Axial views marked by Egyptian
obelisks

Piazza del Popolo

09-Nov-21 HC 42

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Baroque 09-Nov-21

Piazza del Popolo Piazza del Popolo

Spanish Steps

Spanish Steps

09-Nov-21 HC 49

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Baroque 09-Nov-21

Comparatives Plan for St. Gianlorenzo Bernini 1598

Peter

•A Sculpture whose architecture remained highly sculptural.

•Belonged to Politically important authoritative group.

•At the age of thirty one in 1629 he was commissioned to

work on St.Peter’s Rome.

Centralized church plan is ideal but don’t support hierarchy of church, plan prohibited by Council of Trent: Reference: Sutton, Ian; “Western Architecture”, Thames and Hudson
Counterreformation 1543-1563, church collectively decided Ltd, London.(1999)

Gianlorenzo Bernini
Gianlorenzo Bernini
The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa
The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa

Gianlorenzo Bernini
Gianlorenzo Bernini
Rape of Proserpina David-1623

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Baroque 09-Nov-21

Gianlorenzo Bernini
Site Plan of St. Peter, Vatican, Rome-
1748

Piazza St. Peters Rome, Arial View

Piazza St. Peters Rome

The Scala Regia, Vatican, Rome

By Bernini, 1663-66

Piazza St. Peters Rome

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Baroque 09-Nov-21

The Scala Regia, Vatican, Rome By Bernini, 1663-66 The Scala Regia, Vatican, Rome By Bernini, 1663-66

S. Andrea al Quirinale, Rome

1658-70

Concave and Convex Façade of the Louvre, 1665

Gianlorenzo Bernini
S. Andrea al Quirinale, Rome, 1658-70

S. Andrea

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Baroque 09-Nov-21

S. Andrea al Quirinale, Rome, 1658-70

S. Andrea

S. Andrea al Quirinale, Rome, 1658-70 S. Andrea al Quirinale, Rome, 1658-70

S. Andrea al Quirinale, Rome, 1658-70 S. Andrea al Quirinale, Rome, 1658-70

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Baroque 09-Nov-21

Piazza Navona, Rome, Begun-1644

Piazza Navona, Plan

Piazza Navona, Rome

Piazza Navona, Arial View

• Urban reforms to strengthen the socio-political

scenario.

•A Sculptural quality to his work

• Fascination towards Oval Forms and adding the

theatrical effects to the space with the gelp of
light

•Use of sculptures, subject of them and materials

used to reflect power of that time.

Piazza Navona

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Baroque 09-Nov-21

Borromini Francesco Boromini

(1599-1667)
S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome-
begun-1634
•An artistic personality with fascination towards geometry. Stretched Greek-cross plan.
•Neutral to any Political point of view

Reference: Sutton, Ian; “Western Architecture”, Thames and Hudson

Ltd, London.(1999)

S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome-

begun-1634
He conceived his complex plan by
interlocking a series of geometric
figures from circles to equilateral
triangles.

S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome-

begun-1634

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Baroque 09-Nov-21

S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome- S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome-
begun-1634 begun-1634

drawings by the Weber brothers as they

observed the changing wave fronts made by a
drop of mercury into a pool of mercury

S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome- S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome-
begun-1634 begun-1634

S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome- S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome-
begun-1634 begun-1634

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Baroque 09-Nov-21

Borromini, forced-perspective, gallery, palazzo spada, rome Borromini, forced-perspective, gallery, palazzo spada, rome

Guarino Guarini,
(1624-1683)
Site Plan of S. Lorenzo, Turin-1668-80

Borromini, forced-perspective, gallery, palazzo spada, rome

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Guarini, Guarino
Guarino Guarini,
(1624-1683)
http://rometour.org/guarini-guarino-1624-1683.html (1624-1683)
S. Lorenzo, Turin-1668-80

Guarino Guarini, Italian architect, treatise writer, philosopher and mathematician, was born in Modena in 1624
and died in Milan in 1683. Being a brother of a religious order of Teatins he spent the period of noviceship in
Rome (1639-1647), where studied the works of Borromini. After a sojourn in Modena he began a long series of
travels serving his order and dedicating himself to teaching of math and philosophy, and to projecting of
religious buildings (Santissima Annunziata; casa dei Teatini and church of San Filippo in Messina (1660-1662)
(destroyed by earthquake of 1908); project of the church dei Padri Somaschi in Messina (1660-1662); project
for Sainte-Annela-Royale in Paris (1662-1665)). In 1666 the architect was called to Turin where stayed till 1681
as an engineer and mathematician of Charles Emanuel II of Savoy.
This was the time when the treatise about geometry and mathematics "Euclides adauctus et methodicus"
(1671, 1676) was written, as well as some works dedicated to astronomy; here was created a fundamental
architectural construction of the church San Lorenzo belonging to his order (1668-1680) (see the internal part
of the dome on the left); the chapel of Sacra Sindone in the Cathedral, initiated by Amedeo di Castellamonte,
of which Guarini executed since 1668 the halls, the stairs and the cover with the dome; the church of
Immacolata Concezione in Turin (began in 1673); the project for Santa Maria Ettinga in Praga (1679); church
Santa Maria della Provvidenza in Lisbon (1680) destroyed now; project for the Palazzo Carignano (1679)
executed in baroque style (see below).
The works created by Guarini had a great importance for the evolution of baroque architecture between the
17th and 18th centuries, not only in Piedmont (where in 1737 four treatises dedicated to "Civic Architecture"
were published), but in all over the Europe, where his method was adapted and developed especially by the
German and Bohemian architects (Dientzenhofer). Charged with obscure and difficult symbolic meanings his
style is based on a simple method of combination and organization of the space cells and is characterized by
experimentation and use of multiply models of Gothic and Spanish-Arabic architecture.

Guarino Guarini,
(1624-1683)
Plan of S. Lorenzo, Turin-1668-80 S. Lorenzo, Turin-1668-80

S. Lorenzo, Turin-1668-80 S. Lorenzo, Turin-1668-80

Charged with obscure and difficult

symbolic meanings his style is based
on a simple method of combination
and organization of the space cells and
is characterized by experimentation
and use of multiply models of Gothic
and Spanish-Arabic architecture

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Baroque 09-Nov-21

Chapel of the
Holy Shroud

Organisation and resolution of

geometric forms
Use of Human brain eye co-
ordination in Architecture
Classical spatial definitions
redefined to make it more
dramatic

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