Baroque art and architecture, the visual arts and building design and construction produced during the era in the history of Western art that roughly coincides with the 17th century. The earliest manifestations, which occurred in Italy, date from the latter decades of the 16th century, while in some regions, notably Germany and colonial South America, certain culminating achievements of Baroque did not occur until the 18th century. The work that distinguishes the Baroque period is stylistically complex, even contradictory. In general, however, the desire to evoke emotional states by appealing to the senses, often in dramatic ways, underlies its manifestations. Some of the qualities most frequently associated with the Baroque are grandeur, sensuous richness, drama, vitality, movement, tension, emotional exuberance, and a tendency to blur distinctions between the various arts.

1. HUSSEIN
AZHER
BAROQUEART &
ARCHITECTURE
Al-Nahrain University
Third year 2020

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INDEX
2
SUBJECT P
HISTORY 3
THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM 4
SCULPTURES 5
PAINTINGS 7
ARCHITECTURE 9
SOURCES 11
Baldaquin by Bernini in the Basilica of Saint Peter, Rome

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Baroque art and architecture, the visual arts and
building design and construction produced during
the era in the history of Western art that roughly
coincides with the 17th century. The earliest
manifestations, which occurred in Italy, date from
the latter decades of the 16th century, while in
some regions, notably Germany and colonial South
America, certain culminating achievements of
Baroque did not occur until the 18th century. The
work that distinguishes the Baroque period is
stylistically complex, even contradictory. In
general, however, the desire to evoke emotional
states by appealing to the senses, often in dramatic
ways, underlies its manifestations. Some of the
qualities most frequently associated with the
Baroque are grandeur, sensuous richness, drama,
vitality, movement, tension, emotional
exuberance, and a tendency to blur distinctions
between the various arts.
3
HISTORY
The Massacre of the Innocents by Peter Paul Rubens

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THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM
The term Baroque probably ultimately derived from the Italian word
barocco, which philosophers used during the Middle Ages to describe
an obstacle in schematic logic. Subsequently the word came to denote
any contorted idea or involuted process of thought. Another possible
source is the Portuguese word barroco (Spanish barrueco), used to
describe an irregular or imperfectly shaped pearl, and this usage still
survives in the jeweler’s term baroque pearl.
In art criticism the word Baroque came to be used to describe anything
irregular, bizarre, or otherwise departing from established rules and
proportions. This biased view of 17th-century art styles was held with
few modifications by critics from Johann Winckelmann to John Ruskin
and Jacob Burckhardt, and until the late 19th century the term always
carried the implication of odd, grotesque, exaggerated, and
overdecorated. It was only with Heinrich Wölfflin’s pioneer study
Renaissance und Barock (1888) that the term Baroque was used as a
stylistic designation rather than as a term of thinly veiled abuse, and a
systematic formulation of the characteristics of Baroque style was
achieved.
4
Queluz National Palace, Portugal

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SCULPTURES
The Baroque style emerged from Renaissance
sculpture, which, drawing upon classical Greek
and Roman sculpture, had idealized the human
form. This was modified by Mannerism, when
the artist and scholar Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574)
urged artists to give their works a unique and
personal style. Mannerism introduced the idea of
sculptures featuring strong contrasts; youth and
age, beauty and ugliness, men and women.
Mannerism also introduced the figura serpentina,
which became a major characteristic of Baroque
sculpture. This was the arrangement of figures or
groups of figures in an ascending spiral, which
gave lightness and movement to the work.
5
The
Ectasy
of
Saint
Teresa
(1647-1652),
by
Gian
Lorenzo
Bernini
Angel with a Lance

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Another important influence leading to the
Baroque style was the Catholic Church, which
was seeking artistic weapons in the battle against
the rise of Protestantism. The Council of Trent
(1545–1563) gave the Pope greater powers to
guide artistic creation, and expressed a strong
disapproval of the doctrines of humanism, which
had been central to the arts during the Renaissance.
During the pontificate of Paul V (1605–1621) the
church began to develop artistic doctrines to
counter the Reformatuon, and commissioned new
artists to carry them out.
6
Fountain of the Four Rivers, Rome (1648-1651)
Basin
of
Saturn,
François
Girardon

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PAINTINGS
Las Meninas; by Diego Velázquez
Baroque painters worked deliberately to set themselves
apart from the painters of the Renaissance and the
Mannerism period after it. In their palette, they used intense
and warm colors, and particularly made use of the primary
colors red, blue and yellow, frequently putting all three in
close proximity. They avoided the even lighting of
Renaissance painting and used strong contrasts of light and
darkness on certain parts of the picture to direct attention to
the central actions or figures. In their composition, they
avoided the tranquil scenes of Renaissance paintings, and
chose the moments of the greatest movement and drama.
The Rape of the Sabine Women; by Nicolas Poussin

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Unlike the tranquil faces of Renaissance
paintings, the faces in Baroque paintings
clearly expressed their emotions. They often
used asymmetry, with action occurring away
from the center of the picture, and created axes
that were neither vertical nor horizontal, but
slanting to the left or right, giving a sense of
instability and movement. They enhanced this
impression of movement by having the
costumes of the personages blown by the
wind, or moved by their own gestures. The
overall impressions were movement, emotion
and drama. Another essential element of
baroque painting was allegory; every painting
told a story and had a message, often encrypted
in symbols and allegorical characters, which an
educated viewer was expected to know and
read.
8
The Entombment of Christ; by Caravaggio
The
Portrait
of
Louis
XIV;
by
Hyacinthe
Rigaud

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Baroque architecture first appeared in the
late 16th and early 17th century in religious
architecture in Rome a means to counter the
popular appeal of the Protestant
Reformation. It was a reaction against the
more severe and academic earlier style of
earlier churches, it aimed to inspire the
common people with the effects of surprise,
emotion and awe. To achieve this, it used a
combination of contrast, movement,
trompe-l'oeil and other dramatic and
theatrical effects, such as quadratura the
use of painted ceilings that gave the illusion
that one was looking up directly at the sky.
The new style was particularly favored by
the new religious orders, including the
Theatines and the Jesuits, who built new
churches designed to attract and inspire a
wide popular audience.
ARCHITECTURE
The interior of the dome of San Carlo by Borromini
San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane by Francesco Borromini

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Baroque architects took the basic elements of
Renaissance architecture, including domes and
colonnades, and made them higher, grander,
more decorated, and more dramatic. The
interior effects were often achieved with the use
of quadrature, or trompe-l'oeil painting
combined with sculpture; The eye is drawn
upward, giving the illusion that one is looking
into the heavens. Clusters of sculpted angels
and painted figures crowd the ceiling. Light
was also used for dramatic effect; it streamed
down from cupolas, and was reflected from an
abundance of gilding. Twisted columns were
also often used, to give an illusion of upwards
motion, and cartouches and other decorative
elements occupied every available space. In
Baroque palaces, grand stairways became a
central element.
Dome of Church of the Gesù
Baldaquin by Bernini in the Basilica of Saint Peter, Rome

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SOURCES
https://www.britannica.com/art/Baroque-art-and-architecture
https://m.theartstory.org/movement/baroque-art-and-architecture/history-and-concepts/
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/the-baroque-
period/#:~:text=The%20Baroque%20style%20is%20characterized,literature%2C%20dance
%2C%20and%20music.&text=The%20later%20Baroque%20style%20was,increasingly%20
decorative%20and%20elaborate%20works.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_sculpture
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_architecture
https://edu.glogster.com/glog/art-history-timeline/252e4qkg78s

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