Baroque art is the art whose artistic style used exaggerated motion, interpreted

detail to produce drama, tension, and grandeur achieved through scale in

architecture, painting, sculpture, dance, music, and literature. The style was
instrumented by the Roman Catholic Church at around 1600 in Rome, Italy. This
was later spread to other European countries. The church chose the style so that
it could communicate religious themes in emotional involvement during the time
of the Council of Trent. They saw the dramatic style of Baroque architecture and
art as a way of impressing visitors (Carl & Charles, 2009).

Religion was the determinant aspect of Baroque art. It all started with the Roman
Catholic Church to combat the spread of Protestantism. It employed this art as a
means of propagating the faith. Politics also influenced art. Monarchies of France
and Spain used the art that was reflected in their size and splendor of the
majesty of their kings (Carl & Charles, 2009).

Carl, K. H., & Charles, V. (2009). Baroque art. New York: Parkstone
International.

Baroque art was characterized by its religious themes. The Roman Catholic Church started the
procedure in an effort to counteract the growth of Protestantism. It utilized this art to propagate
the message of the faith. Art is influenced by politics as well. Baroque brought images for
religious worship back into the public eye after being banned for their glorification of the
ethereal and ideal. The movement's leaders professed that art should be easily understood and
strongly felt by common people with the effect of encouraging piety and an awe for the church.
Baroque art was characterized by its religious themes. The Roman Catholic Church started the
procedure in an effort to counteract the growth of Protestantism. It utilized this art to propagate
the message of the faith. Art is influenced by politics as well. Baroque architects took the basic
elements of Renaissance architecture, including domes and colonnades, and made them higher,
grander, more decorated, and more dramatic.

You can see Baroque’s influence in major religious architecture, such as in St. Peter’s Square in
Rome, and the Royal Palace of La Granja in Spain.

Baroque art, which used exaggerated motion and detail to generate drama, tension, and grandeur
in construction, painting, sculpture, dance, music, and literature, was returned to the public after
being forbidden for glorifying ideas. Later, the movement spread to other European countries in
order to develop devotion and reverence for the church. The church chose to adopt this strategy
to emotionally connect listeners with theological subjects during the Council of Trent in order to
impress them. (Carl & Charles, 2009).

Carl, K. H., & Charles, V. (2009). Baroque art. New York: Parkstone
International.

The Rococo style, often known as the Late Baroque style, is a theatrical and
lavish design approach. Rococo architecture is most generally associated with
buildings constructed in France during the 18th century, but the style influenced
the arts, music, furniture design, and even tableware. Rococo art and
architecture were influenced by stage design and had a strong sense of
theatricality and drama. The impact of theater could be observed in the inventive
ways in which painting and ornamental objects were weaved into diverse
surroundings, producing totally immersive atmospheres. During the Rococo
period, detail craftsmanship blossomed.

https://www.theartstory.org/movement/rococo/#:~:text=Rococo%20art%20and
%20architecture%20carried,flourished%20in%20the%20Rococo%20period.
https://artincontext.org/rococo-architecture/#:~:text=Rococo%20architecture
%20is%20most%20commonly,a%20short%20period%20of%20time.

Bernini: The Ecstasy of St. Teresa

Divine love has never looked so good. Swooning high on a cloud of gravity-defying marble, the
16th-century saint Teresa of Avila throws her head back in a silent cry of ecstasy. A mischievous
angel rises above her and giggles as he pulls back a gold-tipped arrow, ready to plunge it deep
into the limp body of this young saint.

Bernini (1598-1680), a prominent Roman school

Baroque sculptor, created one of the greatest
sculptures of the Baroque period, The Ecstasy of
Saint Teresa (L'Estasi di Santa Teresa), which is
housed in the Cornaro Chapel of the church of
Santa Maria della Vittoria. As one of the most
important examples of Counter-Reformation
Baroque art, which strove to transmit the spiritual
components of the Catholic religion. The work is
inspired by a passage in Teresa of Avila's
autobiography, "The Life of Teresa of Jesus," in
which she recalls a moment of "religious ecstasy"
in her life as a cloistered Spanish mystic and
Carmelite nun (1515-1582).

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/sculpture/ecstasy-of-saint-teresa.htm
Bernini’s Piazza of St. Peter’s (1656-57)
Bernini conceived the piazza (1656-67) as an enormous oval framed by two colonnades of 284
columns and 88 pillars in four rows. Topped by an entablature with 140 statues of saints, the
curved colonnades embrace a 650-foot-long oval like "the motherly arms of the church," as
Bernini said.

"Bernini created the Piazza of

St. Peter's for Pope Alexander
VII between 1656 and 1667 as
a grand entrance to the church,
but it had to be designed so that
the largest possible audience
could see the Pope give his
blessing, either from the center
of the church's facade or from a
window in the Vatican Palace."

John Julius Norwich, ed. Great Architecture of the World. London: Mitchell Beazley
Publishers, 1975. ISBN 0-394-49887-9. NA200.G76. photo, p175. Reprint edition: Da
Capo Press, April 1991. ISBN 0-3068-0436-0.
Bernini: Coronaro Chapel (1645-52)
The Cornaro family, a famous and rich family in Rome with strong relations to the Church
during the Counter Reformation, commissioned this chapel, which is housed in the Santa Maria
della Vittoria.

Despite the modest size of the room, Bernini

made the most of it. A handful of intricate
columns and a broken triangular pediment
with curved sides that seem to thrust
outward frame the main altar. The apparent
bending of the pediment pushes the altar
forward, giving the small room a sense of
depth. The grandiosity of the columns, roof,
and pediment, as well as these tactics for
making the space look larger, are typical of
the Baroque period.

https://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/deb2170/cornaro-chapel/

Chapel of the Holy Shroud, Turin

The Holy Shroud Chapel project was not the first to be started by Camillo Guarino
Guarini. The Savoys had already hired Bernardino Quadri, Carlo, and Amedeo
Castellamonte. They ultimately turned it over to the architect-priest Guarini, who
used it as an outlet for his commitment, creativity, shrewdness, and ardent love of
construction. The chapel is located between the Palazzo Reale and the apse of the
Dome of Turin.

From the outside, only the conically shaped

lantern with its vaguely Asian appearance and
little urns hints the building's "pseudo-
sepulchral" purpose may be observed. The
interior, on the other hand, presents an
immersive and sensual journey that begins
with two lateral entrances at the Dome's high
altar. As one approaches the cupola's inner
pinnacle, which is made up of six registers of
successively smaller arches, they enter a gray
space that becomes lighter and lighter. They
provide a telescopic impression, making the
lantern appear to be extended out. One has the
impression of being trapped inside a gigantic
house of cards.

https://hypercritic.org/collection/guarino-guarini-chapel-of-the-sacred-shroud/
San Lorenzo, Turin

Guarino Guarini started the Church of San Lorenzo in Turin in 1668 for the
Theatine Order, of which he was a member of. A dome by Guarini, similar as the
one in his Church of S. The light-filled space of the lantern visible through the
complex rib network floats over the luminous cage of slender intersecting ribs; the
base of the dome is a circle, and the base of the buoyant lantern is formed by eight
semicircular lobes, each framed by a pair of splayed ribs. A Guarini scholar termed
this unusual combination of space, light, and mass as "a great work of
hallucinatory engineering.”
Very geometrically complex structure with the use of; squares, octagons, a Greek
cross, and circles are involved along with ovals.

John Julius Norwich, ed. Great Architecture of the World. London: Mitchell Beazley
Publishers, 1975. NA200.G76. ISBN 0-394-49887-9. p176. Reprint edition: Da Capo
Press, April 1991. ISBN 0-3068-0436-0.

Marvin Trachtenberg and Isabelle Hyman. Architecture, from Prehistory to Post-

Modernism. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986. ISBN 0-13-044702-1.
NA200.T7. p349.

Abbey Church, Melk, Austria

Jakob Prandtauer, a well-known Austrian Baroque architect, designed it in the early

18th century. The brilliant yellow of Melk Abbey, one of the largest and most
spectacular European Baroque ensembles, has a commanding position above the
Danube. the library, the massive Marble Hall, the Imperial Staircase and Corridor,
and the abbey church, which features superb Baroque style.
https://visitworldheritage.com/en/eu/melk-abbey-one-of-the-foremost-baroque-
ensembles-in-the-world/198a2b54-75b6-4607-8c1c-df3cdf3a9e6c

Abbey Church, St. Gallen

From the eighth century until its secularization in 1805, the Convent of
St. Gall was one of Europe's most prominent monasteries. It is a
stunning example of a sizable Carolingian monastery. One of the oldest
and wealthiest libraries in the world, it contains priceless items including
the first known building design that was written on parchment. Between
1755 and 1768, the conventual area was refurbished in the Baroque
fashion. The cathedral and the library, which show 12 centuries of
continuous activity, are the prominent features of this architectural
complex. The existing cathedral is one of the last significant Baroque
abbatial church constructions in the West, and the High Baroque library
is one of the most elegant examples of its time.
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/268/

Wurzburg Residenz, Germany

The building of this magnificent Baroque mansion, one of the largest

and most beautiful in Germany, was overseen by prince-bishops Lothar
Franz and Friedrich Carl von Schönborn. It is surrounded by beautiful
gardens. Under the guidance of Balthasar Neumann, a multinational
group of architects, painters (including Tiepolo), sculptors, and stucco
workers built and decorated it in the 18th century. The Würzburg
Residence is both the most consistent and spectacular Baroque palace.
Its structure and artistic elements demonstrate how it is a stand-alone
work of art in the European Baroque style.
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/169/

The Palace of Versailles

A grand chataeu designed by a trio of people; Le Vau, Architect, Charles Lebrun, Painter, and
Andre Le Notre, Landscaper.

The Palace of Versailles (built between 1624 and 1698), a stunning example of French Baroque
architecture, is France's most well-known royal château. The enormous size of Versailles is a
prime example of the architectural theme of "creation by division"; it is composed of a series of
straightforward repetitions rhythmically separated by the repetition of large windows, and it
expresses the core principles of Baroque art, with the king's bed serving as both the interior and
exterior focal points. Among its famous architectural features is the Hall of Mirrors (Galerie des
Glaces), one of the most well-known rooms in the world.
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/versailles-palace.htm

Zwinger Palace in Germany

The Zwinger Palace in Dresden, which dates back to the time of Augustus the Strong, is famous
around the world as a masterpiece of baroque architecture. Parts of the Staatliche
Kunstsammlungen Dresden are housed within Zwinger, often known as Zwinger Palace, a
historical monument complex in Dresden, Germany. One of the best examples of Baroque
architecture, in the opinion of many. Sculptor Balthasar Permoser and architect Matthäus Daniel
Pöppelmann worked together to design the gardens and the Baroque building. The Zwinger was
built in the late baroque style called 'Rococo' by designer Pöppelmann in 1710-1728.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zwinger
catherine palace in Russia

Catherine I commissioned the building in 1717. Johann-Friedrich Braunstein, an architect,

designed her vacation house. Empress Anna added on it in 1743, but Empress Elizabeth had it
rebuilt in favor of a much larger replica. This new Rococo-style edifice was designed by
Bartolomeo Rastrelli, an architect for her court. After four years of building, the 325-meter-long
palace was completed in 1756. Catherine the Great updated its appearance once again.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/catherine-palace-architecture-interior.html