Understanding Baroque Art and Architecture: Key Features
The Essence of Baroque Art
The Baroque style dominated Europe, representing the peak of imagination and creation. This search for movement and the breakdown of the proportion of traditional rules are what mainly differentiate it from the Renaissance. The Baroque appealed to instinct, the senses, and fantasy. The art of this period reflects a culture that celebrates religious and political values, its purpose being to extol the dignity and greatness of the Church and of the absolute monarchy. Life and death are the poles in which Baroque man moves, creating in him an inner tension, both in the metaphysical sense of the soul and in the material sense.
In the religious sphere, Europe was immersed in the rise of the new Protestant Church, which rejected the Catholic hierarchy. On the other hand, the Church of Rome responded to the accusations by reaffirming its structure and triggering a profound internal reform marked by strict adherence to the rules and a firm stance against any dialogue with the Protestants. Baroque architecture sought the spectacular through rich and luxurious elements. In sculpture and painting, theatrical compositions predominate.
Baroque Architecture: Luxury and Space
Baroque architecture is characterized by luxury and space. The desire for larger spaces explains the rise of domes and the building of places of enormous proportions, such as San Pedro del Vaticano. To better understand the concept of Baroque, we focus on two buildings: the religious San Andrea al Quirinale in Rome, by Bernini, and the civilian Palace of Versailles outside Paris, by Mansart.
San Andrea al Quirinale: A Study in Movement
Bernini used the classical orders but with a different meaning than in the Renaissance. The entrance is flanked by two columns supporting a roof which, in turn, is flanked by two larger pillars that rise to support the pediment that crowns the facade.
Key Features:
- Sculptural Surfaces: The surfaces of the buildings are treated like sculptures, moving, incoming and outgoing, with concern for the contrasts of light and shadows that occur both outside and inside.
- Undulating Cornices: Not only are there ripples in the cornices on the façade but around the building, alternating and combining curves with straight lines.
- Innovative Capitals: Inventing new ways in the capitals; the two columns flanking the entrance have unique capitals.
- Dynamic Plants: The desire for movement is transmitted to the plants. The architect does not protrude or retract the walls.
- Ornamentation: The ornaments fill surfaces, leaving no space for the eye to rest. The elliptical dome is divided by cornices decorated with a dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit. Above each window, large sculptures sit unstably. The entire dome is decorated with hexagonal coffers of various shapes and sizes.
- Color Palette: Buildings tend to play with colors to create a greater sense of movement and spectacle. Coffered gold, marble in various colors, and bright lights create a luxurious space.
Versailles: The Palace of the Sun King
Versailles was the vision of Louis XIV, who did not feel comfortable living in Paris at the Louvre, preferring Versailles, which was originally a hunting lodge built by his father, Louis XIII. When it was expanded, artists such as the architect Mansart and the landscape architect Le Notre, who designed its beautiful landscape gardens, were involved. An idea inspired propaganda throughout the design. Mansart designed a monumental façade with a clear tendency to horizontal and linear elements. That line was broken with monumental sculpture groups that finished off the top of the building. The truly baroque element is inside.
The Hall of Mirrors: A Baroque Masterpiece
The Hall of Mirrors became the scene of large parties and receptions. The walls were covered with marble and mirrors, and the ceiling with paintings. Delicate sculptures were placed in niches that broke the monotony of the mirrors. This trick of playing with reflections, bringing the gardens inside, embodies the absolute power that is one of the roots of the Baroque.