Baroque: Difference between revisions

|countries = Europe and the Americas

The '''Baroque''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|b|ə|ˈ|r|ɒ|k}} {{respell|bə|ROK}}, {{IPAc-en|US|b|ə|ˈ|r|oʊ|k}} {{respell|bə|ROHK}}, {{IPA|fr|baʁɔk|lang}}) is a Western [[Style (visual arts)|style]] of [[Baroque architecture|architecture]], [[Baroque music|music]], [[Baroque dance|dance]], [[Baroque painting|painting]], [[Baroque sculpture|sculpture]], poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About the Baroque Period - Music of the Baroque |url=https://www.baroque.org/baroque |access-date=2022-10-26 |website=www.baroque.org}}</ref> It followed [[Renaissance art]] and [[Mannerism]] and preceded the [[Rococo]] (in the past often referred to as "late Baroque") and [[Neoclassicism|Neoclassical]] styles. It was encouraged by the [[Catholic Church]] as a means to counter the simplicity and austerity of [[Protestant]] architecture, art, and music, though [[Lutheran art#Baroque period|Lutheran Baroque art]] developed in parts of Europe as well.<ref name="Heal2011">{{cite journal|last=Heal|first=Bridget|date=1 December 2011|title='Better Papist than Calvinist': Art and Identity in Later Lutheran Germany|journal=German History|publisher=German History Society|volume=29|issue=4|pages=584–609|doi=10.1093/gerhis/ghr066|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The English word ''baroque'' comes directly from the [[French language|French]]. Some scholars state that the French word originated from the [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] term {{lang|pt|barroco}} 'a flawed pearl', pointing to the [[Latin]] {{lang|la|verruca}} 'wart',<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dicionarioetimologico.com.br/barroco/ |title=Origem da palavra BARROCO |website=Dicionário Etimológico}}</ref> or to a word with the [[Romance languages|Romance]] suffix {{lang|roa|-ǒccu}} (common in [[pre-Roman Iberia]]).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/baroque |title=BAROQUE: Etymologie de BAROQUE |publisher={{lang|fr|[[Centre national de ressources textuelles et lexicales]]|italic=no}} |quote={{lang|fr|italic=unset|empr. au port. {{lang|pt|barroco}} «&thinsp;rocher granitique&thinsp;» et «&thinsp;perle irrégulière&thinsp;», attesté dep. le xiii^e s. sous la forme {{lang|pt|barroca}} (''Inquisitiones'', p. 99, ''Portugaliae Monumenta Historica'', 1856 sqq. dans Mach.), d'orig. obsc., prob. préromane en raison du suff. -ǒccu très répandu sur le territoire ibérique}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Baroque|volume=3|short=x}}</ref> Other sources suggest a [[Medieval Latin]] term used in logic, {{lang|la-x-medieval|[[baroco]]}}, as the most likely source.<ref name="Baroque Poetics">Robert Hudson Vincent, {{Cite journal |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/modern-language-quarterly/article-abstract/80/3/233/139274 |title=Baroco: The Logic of English Baroque Poetics |date=September 2019 |doi=10.1215/00267929-7569598 |last1=Vincent |first1=Robert Hudson |journal=[[Modern Language Quarterly]] |volume=80 |issue=3 |pages=233–259 |s2cid=202373825|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The French terms {{lang|fr|style baroque}} and {{lang|fr|musique baroque}} appeared in {{Lang|fr|Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française}} in 1835.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://artflsrv03.uchicago.edu/philologic4/publicdicos/navigate/12/4108/?byte=1867064 |title=dictionnaires d'autrefois public access collection |website=artflsrv03.uchicago.edu |access-date=2019-01-02 |archive-date=21 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200821054535/https://artflsrv03.uchicago.edu/philologic4/publicdicos/navigate/12/4108/?byte=1867064 }}</ref> By the mid-19th century, art critics and historians had adopted the term ''baroque'' as a way to ridicule post-Renaissance art. This was the sense of the word as used in 1855 by the leading art historian [[Jacob Burckhardt]], who wrote that baroque artists "despised and abused detail" because they lacked "respect for tradition".<ref>{{Cite book |title=Der Cicerone&thinsp;: eine Anleitung zum Genuss der Kunstwerke Italiens |url=https://archive.org/details/gri_33125008298461/page/n377 |last=Burckhardt |first=Jacob |date=1855 |publisher=Schweighauser |page=356 |oclc=315796790}}</ref>

The Baroque style of architecture was a result of doctrines adopted by the [[Catholic Church]] at the [[Council of Trent]] in 1545–1563, in response to the [[Protestant Reformation]]. The first phase of the [[Counter-Reformation]] had imposed a severe, academic style on religious architecture, which had appealed to intellectuals but not the mass of churchgoers. The Council of Trent decided instead to appeal to a more popular audience, and declared that the arts should communicate religious themes with direct and emotional involvement.<ref>Hughes, J. Quentin (1953). [http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/Melita%20Historica/MH.01(1952-55)/MH.1(1953)2/orig05.pdf The Influence of Italian Mannerism Upon Maltese Architecture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314232116/http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/Melita%20Historica/MH.01(1952-55)/MH.1(1953)2/orig05.pdf |date=14 March 2017}}. ''Melitensiawath''. Retrieved 8 July 2016. pp. 104–110.</ref><ref>Helen Gardner, Fred S. Kleiner, and Christin J. Mamiya, ''Gardner's Art Through the Ages'' (Belmont, CA: [[Thomson/Wadsworth]], 2005), p. 516.</ref> Similarly, Lutheran Baroque art developed as a confessional marker of identity, in response to the [[Iconoclastic Fury|Great Iconoclasm]] of [[Calvinist]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blog.oup.com/2018/02/reformation-lutheran-baroque/|title=The Reformation and Lutheran Baroque|last=Heal|first=Bridget|date=20 February 2018|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|language=en|access-date=1 May 2018|quote=However, the writings of theologians can go only so far towards explaining the evolution of confessional consciousness and the shaping of religious identity. Lutheran attachment to religious images was a result not only of Luther's own cautious endorsement of their use, but also of the particular religious and political context in which his Reformation unfolded. After the reformer's death in 1546, the image question was fiercely contested once again. But as Calvinism, with its iconoclastic tendencies, spread, Germany's Lutherans responded by reaffirming their commitment to the proper use of religious images. In 1615, Berlin's Lutheran citizens even rioted when their Calvinist rulers removed images from the city's Cathedral.}}</ref>

It is conditioned by several political, artistic, and economic factors, that originate several phases, and different kinds of outside influences, resulting in a unique blend,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nga.gov/research/publications/pdf-library/age-of-the-baroque-in-portugal.html|title=Age of the Baroque in Portugal|website=www.nga.gov}}</ref> often misunderstood by those looking for Italian art, find instead specific forms and character which give it a uniquely Portuguese variety. Another key factor is the existence of the Jesuitical architecture, also called "plain style" (Estilo Chão or Estilo Plano)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.resumos.net/files/caracterizacaodaarquiteturacha.doc |title=Caracterização da arquitetura chã |access-date=3 February 2020 |archive-date=8 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808093614/http://resumos.net/files/caracterizacaodaarquiteturacha.doc }}</ref> which like the name evokes, is plainer and appears somewhat austere.

Many of the Baroque works in the historical area of the city and beyond, belong to [[Nicolau Nasoni]] an Italian architect living in Portugal, drawing original buildings with scenographic emplacement such as the [[Clérigos Church|church and tower of Clérigos]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.torredosclerigos.pt/en/history-and-architecture/architecture-and-baroque/|title=Architecture and the Baroque|website=www.torredosclerigos.pt}}</ref> the logia of the [[Porto Cathedral]], the church of Misericórdia, the [[Palace of São João Novo]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.upt.pt/page.php?p=654|title=Church of S. João Novo|website=www.upt.pt}}</ref> the [[Palácio do Freixo|Palace of Freixo]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.patrimoniocultural.gov.pt/pt/patrimonio/patrimonio-imovel/pesquisa-do-patrimonio/classificado-ou-em-vias-de-classificacao/geral/view/70403/|title=DGPC &#124; Pesquisa Geral|website=www.patrimoniocultural.gov.pt}}</ref> the [[Episcopal Palace of Porto|Episcopal Palace]] ([[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]: ''Paço Episcopal do Porto'')<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.patrimoniocultural.gov.pt/en/patrimonio/patrimonio-imovel/pesquisa-do-patrimonio/classificado-ou-em-vias-de-classificacao/geral/view/70404|title=DGPC &#124; Pesquisa Geral|website=www.patrimoniocultural.gov.pt}}</ref> along with many others.

File:Annibale Carracci, Resurrezione, Louvre.jpg|[[Resurrection (Annibale Carracci)|Resurrection of Christ]]; by [[Annibale Carracci]]; 1593; oil on canvas; 217 x 160&nbsp;cm; [[Louvre]]{{sfn|Hodge|2017|p=23}}

File:Caravaggio — The Calling of Saint Matthew.jpg|[[The Calling of St Matthew]]; by [[Caravaggio]]; {{circa}}1602–1604; oil on canvas; 3 x 2 m; [[San Luigi dei Francesi]], Rome{{sfn|Fortenberry|2017|p=244}}

File:Artemisia Gentileschi - Giuditta decapita Oloferne - Google Art Project-Adjust.jpg|[[Judith Slaying Holofernes (Artemisia Gentileschi, Florence)|Judith Slaying Holofernes]]; by [[Artemisia Gentileschi]]; 1611–1612; oil on canvas; 163 x 126&nbsp;cm; [[Uffizi]], Florence, Italy<ref>{{cite book|last1=Morrill|first1=Rebecca|title=Great Women Artists|date=2019|publisher=Phaidon|isbn=978-0-7148-7877-5|page=150|url=|language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Vivaldi.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Antonio Vivaldi]], (1678–1741)]]

[[Heinrich Wölfflin]] was the first to transfer the term Baroque to literature.<ref>Heinrich Wölfflin, ''Renaissance und Barock'' (Munich: F. Bruckmann, 1888); in English, ''Renaissance and Baroque'', trans. Kathrin Simon (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1964).</ref> The key concepts of Baroque literary theory, such as "[[conceit]]" (''concetto''), "[[wit]]" (''acutezza'', ''ingegno''), and "[[Wonder (emotion)|wonder]]" (''meraviglia''), were not fully developed in literary theory until the publication of [[Emanuele Tesauro]]'s ''Il Cannocchiale aristotelico'' (The Aristotelian Telescope) in 1654. This seminal treatise - inspired by [[Giambattista Marino]]'s epic ''Adone'' and the work of the Spanish [[Jesuit]] philosopher [[Baltasar Gracián]] - developed a theory of [[metaphor]] as a universal language of images and as a supreme intellectual act, at once an artifice and an epistemologically privileged mode of access to truth.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sohm |first=Philip |title=Pittoresco. Marco Boschini, His Critics, and Their Critiques of Painterly Brushwork in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Italy |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1991 |isbn=978-0-521-38256-4 |page=126}}</ref>

[[Walter Benjamin|Walter Benjamin’s]] study of the Baroque in ''[[The Origin of German Tragic Drama]]'', is a notoriously difficult but also exceptionally beloved major historical standard on the period. According to its conceit the work concentrates on [[The Origin of German Tragic Drama|Baroque drama]] though in fact the content of this study is extraordinarily diverse and even arcane in both the depth and range of its contents, dealing with an overwhelming heterogeneity of material in this historical terrain—though especially focusing its attention on Central Europe and (while Austrians of the Holy Roman Empire are sometimes mentioned and even Spanish under the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand) concentrating on Germany.

A major theme of the work is Benjamin’s mapping of the way in which the period arises in reaction to the collectively [[Traumagenic neurodevelopmental model of psychosis|traumagenic]] violence of the [[Thirty Years' War|Thirty Years War]]. This was a war in which virtually all of Europe participated at the bloody climax of the [[Reformation]], though it was fought more or less exclusively in the Holy Roman Empire with all major powers (with the exception of England and Russia, who nevertheless became embroiled or were effected in various ways) sending their armies to meet in battle on that terrain.  

File:Het Loo Hauptachse.JPG|Gardens of the [[Het Loo Palace]], Netherlands, unknown architect, 1689{{sfn|Bailey|2012|p=334}}

The replanning of the city of Rome under the rule of [[Pope Sixtus V]] revived and expanded the city in the 16th century. Many grand piazzas and squares were added as public spaces to contribute to the dramatic effect of the Baroque style. The piazzas featured fountains and other decorative features to embody the emotions of the time. An important factor in Baroque style planning was to connect churches, government structures, and piazzas together in a refined network of axis'. This allowed the important landmarks of the [[Catholic Church]] to become the focal points of the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last=((moore544)) |title=Baroque Replanning of Rome |url=https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/exploringarchitectureandlandscape/chapter/baroque-replanning-of-rome/ |website=Press Books |language=en}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=March 2025}}[[File:Aerial view of Barcelona, Spain (51227309370) edited.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of Barcelona]]

One last difference between Baroque and Rococo is the interest that 18th century aristocrats had for [[East Asia]]. [[Chinoiserie]] was a style in fine art, architecture and design, popular during the 18th century, that was heavily inspired by Chinese art, but also by Rococo at the same time. Because traveling to China or other Far Eastern countries was hard at that time and so remained mysterious to most Westerners, European imagination were fuelled by perceptions of Asia as a place of wealth and luxury, and consequently patrons from emperors to merchants vied with each other in adorning their living quarters with Asian goods and decorating them in Asian styles. Where Asian objects were hard to obtain, European craftsmen and painters stepped up to fill the demand, creating a blend of Rococo forms and Asian figures, motifs and techniques. Aside from European recreations of objects in East Asian style, Chinese [[lacquerware]] was reused in multiple ways. European aristocrats fully decorated a handful of rooms of palaces, with Chinese lacquer panels used as wall panels. Due to its aspect, black lacquer was popular for Western men's studies. Those panels used were usually glossy and black, made in the [[Henan province]] of China. They were made of multiple layers of lacquer, then incised with motifs in-filled with colour and gold. Chinese, but also [[Japanese lacquerware|Japanese lacquer]] panels were also used by some 18th century European carpenters for making furniture. In order to be produced, Asian screens were dismantled and used to veneer European-made furniture.

The [[Belle Époque]] was a period that begun around 1871–1880 and that ended with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It was characterized by optimism, regional peace, economic prosperity, colonial expansion, and technological, scientific, and cultural innovations. Eclecticism reached its peak in this period, with [[Beaux Arts architecture]]. The style takes its name from the [[École des Beaux-Arts]] in Paris, where it developed and where many of the main exponents of the style studied. Buildings in this style often feature [[Ionic order|Ionic columns]] with their [[volue]]s on the corner (like those found in French Baroque), a rusticated basement level, overall simplicity but with some really detailed parts, arched doors, and an arch above the entrance like that of the [[Petit Palais]] in Paris. The style aimed for a Baroque opulence through lavishly decorated monumental structures that evoked [[Louis XIV]]'s [[Versailles]]. When it comes to the design of the [[Belle Époque]], all furniture from the past was admired, including, perhaps, contrary to expectations, the Second Empire style (the style of the proceeding period), which remained popular until 1900. In the years around 1900, there was a gigantic recapitulation of styles of all countries in all preceding periods. Everything from Chinese to Spanish models, from Boulle to Gothic, found its way into furniture production, but some styles were more appreciated than others. The [[High Middle Ages]] and the early Renaissance were especially prized. [[Exoticism]] of every stripe and exuberant Rococo designs were also favoured.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sylvie|first1=Chadenet|title=French Furniture • From Louis XIII to Art Deco|date=2001|publisher=Little, Brown and Company|page=157|language=en}}</ref>

* [[John Rupert Martin|Martin, John Rupert]]. 1977. ''Baroque''. Icon Editions. New York: Harper and Rowe. {{ISBN|0-06-435332-X}} (cloth); {{ISBN|0-06-430077-3}} (pbk.)

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime.shtml Melvyn Bragg's BBC Radio 4 program ''In Our Time'': The Baroque]