2. Cronology and geography
• From the end of 16th century until 1750.
• Geography: whole Europe+ America.
• Characteristics of the period:
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Religious and political conflicts
Geographical colonization
Scientific development
New astrological discoveries Sun centre of Universe
3. Baroque Style
• The word means imperfection
• New naturalism that reflects the scientific
advances
• Taste for dramatic action and emotion:
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Colour and light contrasted
Rich textures
Asymmetrical spaces
Diagonal plans
New subjects: landscape, genre, still-life
4. Baroque Style
• Variety within the style
• Art at the service of power
• Two main centres:
– Rome: Pope’s authority
– France: powerful monarchy
• Influence of the Counter-Reform
• Worry about plastic values
9. Architecture: Italy
• They evolved from the Renaissance forms
• Movement toward grand structures with flowing,
curving shapes
• Landscape was frequently incorporated
• New elements as gardens, squares , courtyards and
fountains.
• Influence of the rebuilding of Saint Peter, in which
classical forms integrated with the city.
10. Architecture: Italy
• Maderno
– He made the Vatican’s façade
– His work destroyed partially Michelangelo’s design
– His work combined the dome with the creation of an space
where the Pope could appear publicaly
– Other works:
• Santa maria della Vittoria
• Palazzo Barberini
12. Architecture: Italy
• Longhena
– He worked mainly in Venice
– His design was selected for building Santa Maria della
Salute
– It is building of central plan with a great dome that
became the symbol of Venice.
13. Santa Maria of Nazaret
Santa Maria della Salute
Ca’ Rezzonico
14. Architecture: Italy
• Bernini
– He created a fusion of architecture, painting and sculpture
– He used false perspective and trompe-l’ oeil to impact
– He used a palace façade that became a model with massive pilasters
above a rusticated base.
– Works:
• Saint Peter’s square
• Baldaquin
16. Architecture: Italy
• Borromini
– His works spring from the contrast between convention
and freedom
– He used tradition as a basis, but not as a law
– Works:
• San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
• San Carlo Borromeo
• Oratorio degli Fillipenses
19. Architecture: France
• It was elegant, ordered, rational and restraided
• It is a rectilinear model, closer to classicism
• It aimed at showing the power of Louis XIV
monarchy.
• The main works are:
– Louvre: Le Vau and Perrault
– Versailles: Le Brun, Le Vau, Le Notre
22. Architecture: Central Europe
• It began later due to the Thirty Years’ War
• Austria developed the Imperial style with Fischer von Erlach
and Hildebrandt
• In Germany, in the Catholic South Jesuit models were
followed while in the Protestant North works were less
important
• Palace architecture was important in the whole area
23. Fisher von Erlach: Karlskirtche and Schönbrunn
Hildebrandt: Belvedere palace
24. Architecture: England and Russia
• In England is important Wren
• Baroque was the style used to design town planning
• In Russia it is very decorative, in quite traditional
churches sometimes made of brick; later it was
imported from the Low Countries and finally it
became an extravagant art.
26. Architecture: Spain
• At the beginning it continued the pattern of the
Escorial
• Decoration tends to concentrate just in the façade
• The Rococo was the time of the development of the
Churrigueresque style, with exaggerated decoration
around the door
• The Plateresque (last Renaissance that imitates the
work on silver) and the Churrigueresque were
exported to America, mainly to Mexico.
28. Rococo
• French style for interior decoration
• It developped mainly at the end of 1720
• It was used in other countries as a French Style
• Characteristics:
– Galante: luxurious things
– Contraste: asymmety
– Chinoiserie: exotic character imitating Chinese arts
29. Rococo Architecture
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It caught the public taste
Small and curious buildings
Elegant parlours, dainty sitting-rooms and boudoirs
Walls, ceiling, furniture and works of metal as decoration
Ensemble of sportive, fantastic and sculptured forms
Horizontal lines almost completely supressed
Shell-like curves
Walls covered by stucco
White and bright colours.