BAROQUE AND ROCOCO

Renaissance to Baroque
 Late 16th century
 Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture
 Rhetorical and theatrical
 New exploration of form, light and shadow, dramatic
intensity
 Statement of wealth and power of church
 St. Peter’s basilica – precursor of Baroque style
Baroque: Characteristics
 Broader nave: sometimes oval
 Deliberately incomplete architectural elements
 Dramatic use of light
 Colours and ornamentations
 Ceiling frescoes in large scale
 Dramatic central projection in external facade
 Sculpture, painting and stucco
 Optical illusion
Baroque: Rome and southern Italy
 Santa Susana by Carlo Moderno
 Dynamic rhythm of columns and pilasters, central massing,
protrusion and condense central decoration
 Playfulness, maintains rigor
 Santa Maria della Pace by Cortona
 Half domed portico, concave side wings: theatrical stage shape
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Baroque: Rome and southern Italy
 BERNINI
 Piazza: St. Peter’s square
 Two colonnades with freestanding column
 Egyptian obelisk at the centre
 Monumental facade, classical form, gigantic pilasters
Baroque: Rome and southern Italy
 BORROMINI
 Dramatic deviation from regular Renaissance architecture
 Complex plans and unusual forms, use of symbolism
 Affinity with the late style of Michelangelo
 Partly oval-partly cross plan with convex-concave wall
 Antipathy to the flat surface
 Use of corkscrew lantern above the dome
Baroque: northern Italy
 GUARINO GUARINI
 Combination of many tradition to create irregular unconventional
facade
 Oval columns
 Use of contemporary geometry
 Followed Borromini
Baroque: France
 Three winged layout of palaces
 Sober and classicizing direction
 Initially side wings were treated as inferior and accordingly scaled
down
 Medieval tower replaced by the central projection like three storey
monumental gateway
 Lofty roof and complex roof line
 Colossal order: more impressive structure
 Palace of Versaillece
Rococo: Architecture
 Lighter, more graceful than Baroque
 More ornamentations
 Asymmetric forms, where in Baroque style symmetry was
followed
 More secular than Baroque
 Numerous curves and decorations
 Use of pale colours
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Rococo: Interior
 Abstract ornamentation: flaming, leafy or shell-like textures
in asymmetrical sweeps, broken curves
 Carved wood and stucco
 Furniture and decorative objects