Understanding Baroque Architecture: Key Characteristics and Elements

Baroque Architecture
1. General Characteristics
Chronology: extends from the end of the sixteenth century until the end of the eighteenth century (the last step is called Rococo).
Sources: Renaissance Crisis
- Creative exhaustion
- The Sack of Rome (1527) and economic inflation create a sense of despondency in society.
The Italian style takes a crisis expressed in Mannerism (announcing the Baroque).
- The Counter-Reformation, led by the Council of Trent (1545-1563), where the Catholic Church traces
specific guidelines about how to perform works for the Catholic Church. The art must connect with
the faithful, dazzling and moving them; the faithful should feel that they belong to a true religion.
Formal Aspects
Alteration of classical elements without renouncing them.
There is a variety of styles, so it is not possible to provide a single formal idea.
This results in the integration or fusion of various arts in one work.
Predominance of emotional over the rational and geometric.
Abundance of unstable contrasts, which are reflected in the use of:
- Incoming and outgoing
- Curves and reverses
- Effects of light breaks run of glory and chiaroscuro effects with lights and shadows.
- Different materials that offer different colors accordingly.
Works are stunning, with spectacular theatrical effects, according to the guidelines
proposed by the Catholic Church (Counter-Reformation).
Decoration
In general, there is an abundance of decoration, especially in the Rococo, characterized by extreme decorativism, exoticism, and concealment of structures behind the decoration of rockeries and other
elements.
However, there are also very sober styles.
Elements:
The style still uses classical elements, though often altered:
Extension of the giant order by Michelangelo.
Alteration of classical elements includes broken pediments, elongated columns, and narrow bases.
New Types of Plants:
- Oval and elliptical plants
- Jesuit plant: a single nave, the transept does not project, chapels attached.
Abundance of curves and undulations, which convey dynamism.
There are urban planning developments, especially in the eighteenth century, with monumental gardens.