Baroque and Rococo ARchitecture
Baroque and Rococo ARchitecture
Baroque and Rococo ARchitecture
-Architecture-
Introduction of
Baroque architecture
Rococo art, flourished in France and Germany in the early 18Th century was
in many respects a continuation of the baroque, particularly in the use of light
and shadow and the compositional movement. Rejected the traditional themes of
heroes and mythology. Focused on representing the carefree life characteristic of
the aristocratic patrons of the arts. Derived form the French word, rocaille, or
pebbles, referring to the stones and shells used to decorate the interior of caves.
As the seventeenth century ended and the eighteenth century began, France
emerged as the strongest wealthiest, nation in Europe. Paris its capital, became
the center of the art world.
The term "Baroque"
The word "Baroque," like most period or stylistic designations, was invented by later critics rather than
practitioners of the arts in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. It is a French translation of the
Portuguese phrase "pérola barroca," which means "irregular pearl," or false jewel—notably, an ancient similar
word, "Barlocco" or "Brillocco," is used in Roman dialect for the same meaning—and natural pearls that deviate
from the usual, regular forms so they do not have an axis of rotation are known as "baroque pearls." The word
may have been influenced by the mnemonic term "Baroco" denoting, in logical Scholastica, a supposedly
labored form of syllogism.
Location and Map
Indeed, a Renaissance facade often consists of many similar sections, such that one's eye is not drawn to any
particular part of the building. A Baroque facade, on the other hand, often features an attention-
grabbing concentration of rich elements (e.g. curved walls, columns, blind arches, statues, relief sculpture) around a
central entrance.F303
Churches are the most splendid form of Baroque architecture in Italy, while chateaux (country mansions) are the
outstanding Baroque works of France.
England should also be noted in a discussion of Baroque architecture, for two reasons. Firstly, this period
featured Christopher Wren, often considered the greatest of all English architects. Wren designed many of London's
buildings after the Great Fire, including his masterpiece, St Paul's Cathedral. Secondly, the Baroque age witnessed
the rise of Palladian style architecture in England, which became massively popular during the subsequent
Neoclassical period.
ROCOCO
The early 18th century, saw a resurgence in aristocratc social, political and economic
power. (the great age of aristocracy) with reign of louis XV, the sparkling gaiety cultivated in
the new age, found perfectly harmonious in the rococo style. Rococo, it is a softer style that
expresses free, graceful movement, playful use of line and delicate colors. During the reign
of Louis XV in France, the rococo may be thought of as the feminine version of the baroque.
The Rococo style is lighter in scale, rooms are smaller, and there is a reliance of silver and
gold gilding not only on the walls but on the ceiling decoration. The rococo is a style of the
interior rather than an architectural one. Pastels colors are used, and there is an all over
patterning of lightly scaled undulating motifs. Altough space layout was symmetrical, the
applied decoration was asymmetrical.
DEFINATION OF ROCOCO
An 18th century art style which placed emphasis on portraying the carefree life of the
aristocracy rather than on grand heroes or pious martyrs. Love and romance were considered
to be better subjects for art than historical or religious subjects. The style was characterized
by a free, graceful movement a playful use of line and delicate colors. Genre painting came
back into favor when the academy admitted watteau to its ranks in 1717 on the presentation
of this work the subject of which was so novel that the term fete galante was coined to
describe it.
Distinguishing features of Baroque
architecture
Important features of baroque architecture include:
long, narrow naves are replaced by broader, occasionally circular forms
dramatic use of light, either strong light-and-shade
contrasts, chiaroscuro effects (e.g. church of Weltenburg Abbey), or uniform
lighting by means of several windows (e.g. church of Weingarten Abbey)
opulent use of ornaments (puttos (cherubs) made of wood (often gilded),
plaster or stucco, marble or faux finishing)
large-scale ceiling frescoes
Santa Susanna: Carlo Maderno,.
Sicilian Baroque: San Benedetto in Catania.
the external facade is often characterized by a dramatic central projection
the interior is often no more than a shell for painting and sculpture (especially
in the late baroque)
illusory effects like trompe l'oeil and the blending of painting and architecture
in the Bavarian, Czech lands, Poland, and Ukranian baroque, pear domes are
ubiquitous
Marian and Holy Trinity columns are erected in Catholic countries, often in
thanksgiving for ending a plague
Phase of the Baroque age
leading region Early
Baroque (ca. 1600-25)Italy
High Baroque (ca. 1625-75)
Late Baroque (ca. 1675-1725)
Rococo (ca. 1725-1800) France
Early Baroque ca. 1600-1625
The foremost pioneer of Baroque architecture was Carlo Maderno, whose
The facade of Saint Peter's contains a number of typical Baroque elements, including double
columns (close-set pairs of columns), layered columns, colossal columns(columns that span multiple
stories), and broken pediments (in which the bottom and/or top of a pediment features a gap, often with
ornamentation that "bursts through" the pediment). All of these elements were pioneered during the Late
Renaissance, in mannerist architecture.
St Peter's also makes extensive use of coffered ceilings, a common feature of monumental Western
architecture. (A "coffer" is a sunken ceiling panel, typically square, rectangular, or octagonal in shape.)
High Baroque
Period: 1740s–early 1760s
Although the style had first appeared as Muscovite or Naryshkin Baroque back in the late seventeenth century, the High
Baroque only really flourished in Russia between the 1740s and early 1760s. The central figure of this period of High
Baroque was an Italian architect called Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli.
Rastrelli was born in Florence in 1700 and accompanied his father to Russia in 1716 at the invitation of Peter the Great.
Between 1725 and 1730, he studied architecture in Italy, where he was influenced by the Baroque style. He returned to Russia
in 1730, remaining there right up until his death in 1771.
The two foremost names in Baroque architecture are Bernini and Borromini, both of whom
worked primarily in Rome.
Two masterpieces of Gian Lorenzo Bernini are found at St Peter's. One is the four-
story baldachin that stands over the high altar.14 (A baldachin is an indoor canopy over a
respected object, such as an altar or throne.) The other is the curving colonnades that frame St
Peter's Square.
Bernini's most famous building is likely the small church of Sant'Andrea al
Quirinale ("Saint Andrew's on Quirinal Hill"). Quirinal hill is one of the "seven hills of
Rome".
The most famous Baroque structures of France are magnificent chateaux (grand country residences), greatest of which is
the Palace of Versailles. One of the largest residences on earth, Versailles was built mainly under Louis XIV, whose patronage
of the arts helped propel France to the crest of Western culture.1,7
The palace facade admirably illustrates the classical-Baroque compromise of northern Europe. The walls are characterized
largely by simple planar classicism, although they do contain such Baroque elements as sculpted busts, a triple stringcourse,
double pilasters, and colossal pilasters. Additionally, the mansard roof features a sinuous metal railing and rich moulding
around the dormer windows. Versailles became Europe's model of palace architecture, inspiring similarly grand residences
throughout the continent.
Versailles' most famous room is the Hall of Mirrors, whose mirrors have the same dimensions as the windows they stand
opposite
The final expansion of Versailles was superintended by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, whose key design is the Dome des
Invalides, generally regarded as the most important French church of the century. Hardouin-Mansart profited from his uncle's
instruction and plans to instill the edifice with an imperial grandeur unprecedented in the countries north of Italy. The majestic
hemispherical dome balances the vigorous vertical thrust of the orders, which do not accurately convey the structure of the
interior. The younger architect not only revived the harmony and balance associated with the work of the elder Mansart but
also set the tone for Late Baroque French architecture, with its grand ponderousness and increasing concessions to
academicism.
Facade of Versailles Russian Palace inspired by Versailles
Versailles' most famous room is the Hall of Mirrors, whose mirrors have the
same dimensions as the windows they stand opposite
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGRV_enKZ751KZ751&biw=1707&bih=766&
tbm=isch&q=saint+peter%27s+basilica+section&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj4n5Sm0JXW
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http://list25.com/25-amazing-examples-of-baroque-architecture/
CONCLUSION
Renaissance architecture gave the visual impression of being simple but Boroque
architecture was deliberately complex.
Instead of uniformity of the elements and overall effect, there was studied variety