BOROQUE AND ROCOCO

Ar.Anand.S.J
Asst.Professor, SICA
 Protestantism, one of the three major divisions of Christianity, the
others being Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy. Protestantism began
as a movement to reform the Western Christian church in the 16th
century, resulting in the Protestant Reformation, which severed the
reformed churches from the Roman Catholic Church.
 The declared aim of the original reformers was to restore the Christian
faith as it had been at its beginning, while keeping what they thought
valuable from the Roman Catholic tradition that had developed during
the intervening centuries.
 The four main Protestant traditions that emerged from the
Reformation were the Lutheran (known in continental Europe as
Evangelical), the Calvinist (Reformed), the Anabaptist, and the
Anglican.
 Despite the considerable differences among them in doctrine and
practice, they agreed in rejecting the authority of the pope and in
emphasizing instead the authority of the Bible and the importance of
individual faith.
 Religion determined many aspects of baroque art.
 The Roman Catholic church was a highly influential
patron, and its Counter Reformation, a movement to
combat the spread of Protestantism, employed
emotional, realistic, and dramatic art as a means of
propagating the faith.
 The simplicity sought by Protestantism in countries
such as the Netherlands and northern Germany
likewise explains the severity of the architectural styles
in those areas.
 Baroque Art and
Architecture, the style dominating
the art and architecture of Europe
and certain European colonies in
the Americas throughout the 1600s,
and in some places, until 1750.

 A number of its characteristics

continue in the art and architecture
of the first half of the 18th century,
although this period is generally
termed rococo and corresponds
roughly with King Louis XV of
France.

 Manifestations of baroque art

appear in virtually every country in
Europe, with other important
centers in the Spanish and
Portuguese settlements in the
Americas and in other outposts.
The term baroque also defines
periods in literature and music.
 French Revolution, major transformation of the
society and political system of France, lasting from
1789 to 1799.
 During the course of the Revolution, France was
temporarily transformed from an absolute monarchy,
where the king monopolized power, to a republic of
theoretically free and equal citizens.
 The effects of the French Revolution were widespread,
both inside and outside of France, and the Revolution
ranks as one of the most important events in the
history of Europe.
 Among the general characteristics of
baroque art is a sense of movement,
energy, and tension (whether real or
implied). Strong contrasts of light and
shadow enhance the dramatic effects
of many paintings and sculptures.
 Even baroque buildings, with their
undulating walls and decorative
surface elements, imply motion.
 Intense spirituality is often present in
works of baroque art; in the Roman
Catholic countries, for example, scenes
of ecstasies, martyrdoms, or
miraculous apparitions are common.
 Infinite space is often suggested in
baroque paintings or sculptures; Caravaggio’s The
throughout the Renaissance and into
the baroque period, painters sought a Cardsharps (1596)
grander sense of space and truer
depiction of perspective in their
works.
 Realism is another integral feature
of baroque art; the figures in
paintings are not types but
individuals with their own
personalities.

 Artists of this time were

concerned with the inner workings
of the mind and attempted to
portray the passions of the soul on
the faces they painted and
sculpted.

 The intensity and immediacy of

baroque art and its individualism
and detail—observed in such
things as the convincing rendering
of cloth and skin textures—make
it one of the most compelling Judith Beheading Holofernes
periods of Western art.
(about 1620) was painted by
the Italian baroque artist
Artemisia Gentileschi.
 The Palace of Versailles
(begun 1669), created for
Louis XIV—the Sun King—by
Louis Le Vau, André Le Nôtre,
and Charles Lebrun, is the
single most important French
baroque architectural
monument.
 It is dedicated to the Sun King,
and its measured classical
forms, vast and complex
gardens, and sumptuous
interiors glorify the power of
the monarchy; it gave rise to
imitations by dozens of other
rulers throughout Europe.
 A similarly grandiose project
was the enlargement (1660s-
1670s) of the Louvre by Le
Vau, Lebrun, Claude Perrault,
and others, a work of great
restraint and subtlety.
 Among the first major architects of the
early baroque was Carlo Maderno, who is
known principally for his work on Saint
Peter's.
 Between 1606 and 1612 he built the nave
extension and facade of this structure,
begun approximately 100 years earlier by
Donato Bramante.
 Aside from Bernini, the major architects
of the Roman baroque were Francesco
Borromini and, to a lesser extent, Carlo
Rainaldi. Together they designed Sant'
Agnese (begun 1652) in Piazza Navona.
 The elegantly undulating facade of
Borromini's San Carlo alle Quattro
Fontane (1665-1667) in Rome, with its
convex and concave rhythms echoing
those of the interior, might be called the
quintessence of Italian baroque
architecture. rights reserved.
San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect
and sculptor Francesco Borromini in the baroque architectural style.
 Saint Paul’s Cathedral (London), London,
built by British architect Sir Christopher
Wren and a universally known landmark of
the city.
 Wren's building, completed in 1710, is one of
a series of cathedrals that have occupied the
site since the 7th century, when the first
bishop of London was consecrated by Saint
Augustine of Canterbury, the founder of
Christianity in England.
 The original building was burnt down in
1087 and rebuilt after 1090; another fire in
1136 led to a second reconstruction.

 The east end, chapter house, and cloister

were rebuilt in Gothic style during the 14th
century. The cathedral, England's largest at
the time, was refaced and modernized by
British architect Inigo Jones in the 1630s,
but was reduced to a ruin by the Great Fire
of London in 1666.
 Two years later Wren was commissioned to design a
new edifice. He initially proposed a centralized plan
with four wings of equal length radiating from the
middle.
 However, the conservative clergy prevailed and a
conventional Latin cross-shaped plan was eventually
adopted.
 The final version of the building combined a floor
plan based on Gothic architectural style with
decorative elements based on classical Greek forms
then prevalent in Italian Renaissance architecture (see
Architecture: Italian Renaissance).
 A large dome, modeled on that of the Pantheon in
Rome, rises 108.7 m (365 ft) over the building's central
crossing point. The main entrance at the west front
follows the form of a classical temple, but is flanked by
two towers in a Baroque decorative scheme (see
Baroque Art and Architecture). Wren's innovative
combinations of classical forms were the source for a
particularly English form of Baroque architecture.
 Wren had the cathedral's stalls and organ case carved
in wood by acclaimed British artisan Grinling Gibbons.
Mosaic decorations date from the 19th century. Sir
Christopher Wren and British naval commander
Horatio Nelson are buried in the cathedral.
 Saint Paul’s Cathedral, a major landmark in London, is one of British
architect Sir Christopher Wren’s greatest achievements. After the
Great Fire of London destroyed the old Saint Paul’s in 1666, the city
commissioned Wren to design a replacement, which was completed
in 1710.
 Rococo Style, style of 18th-century painting and decoration characterized by
lightness, delicacy, and elaborate ornamentation.
 The rococo period corresponded roughly to the reign (1715-74) of King Louis
XV of France. Its exact origins are obscure, but it appears to have begun with
the work of the French designer Pierre Lepautre, who introduced arabesques
and curves into the interior architecture of the royal residence at Marly, and
with the paintings of Jean-Antoine Watteau, whose delicate, color-drenched
canvases of lords and ladies in idyllic surroundings broke with the heroic Louis
XIV style.
 The term rococo comes from the French rocaille, “rock-work,” and hallmarks of
the full-fledged style are architectural decoration based on arabesques, shells,
elaborate curves, and asymmetry; iridescent pastel colors; and, in painting,
light-hearted rather than weighty subject matter.
 The outstanding rococo painters were François Boucher, best known for his
boudoir scenes with plump, pink nudes, and Jean Honoré Fragonard,
renowned for his scenes of coy assignations in leafy glades and curtained
alcoves.
 In decoration, the rococo style reached its peak in the Hôtel de Soubise in
Paris begun in 1732, and worked on by a number of artists and decorators, most
notably Gabriel Germain Boffrant and René Alexis Delamaire.
 The term rococo comes from the French rocaille, “rock-
work,” and hallmarks of the full-fledged style are
architectural decoration based on arabesques, shells,
elaborate curves, and asymmetry; iridescent pastel
colors; and, in painting, light-hearted rather than
weighty subject matter.
 The outstanding rococo painters were François Boucher,
best known for his boudoir scenes with plump, pink
nudes, and Jean Honoré Fragonard, renowned for his
scenes of coy assignations in leafy glades and curtained
alcoves.
 In decoration, the rococo style reached its peak in the
Hôtel de Soubise in Paris begun in 1732, and worked on
by a number of artists and decorators, most notably
Gabriel Germain Boffrant and René Alexis Delamaire.
 The term rococo comes from the French rocaille, “rock-
work,” and hallmarks of the full-fledged style are
architectural decoration based on arabesques, shells,
elaborate curves, and asymmetry; iridescent pastel colors;
and, in painting, light-hearted rather than weighty subject
matter. The outstanding rococo painters were François
Boucher, best known for his boudoir scenes with plump,
pink nudes, and Jean Honoré Fragonard, renowned for his
scenes of coy assignations in leafy glades and curtained
alcoves. In decoration, the rococo style reached its peak in
the Hôtel de Soubise in Paris begun in 1732, and worked on
by a number of artists and decorators, most notably Gabriel
Germain Boffrant and René Alexis Delamaire.
 The decor of the grand salon of the Roquelaure mansion in Paris, France, is
characteristic of the rococo style that developed during the reign of Louis XV.
The style makes use of pale pastel colors, gold leaf, and delicate
ornamentation with many curving forms. The elegant house, known as a
hôtel in French, was completed in 1733 to the design of architect Pierre
Lassurance, with interior decor by Jean-Baptise Leroux.