The Baroque is a period of artistic style that started around 1600 in Rome, Italy, and spread throughout the majority of Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. In informal usage, the word “baroque” describes something that is elaborate and highly detailed. The Baroque age is roughly divided into three parts: Early Baroque, High Baroque and Late Baroque. The Late baroque is synonymous with the Rococo period, which followed. The Baroque style is characterized be exaggerated motion and clear detail used to create drama, exuberance and grandeur in painting, sculpture, architecture, dance and music.
In painting, the chiaroscuro technique is very popular. This technique refers to the interplay between light and dark and is often used in paintings of dimly lit scenes to produce a very high-contrast, dramatic atmosphere. The chiaroscuro technique is best visible in the painting “The Massacre of the Innocents” by Peter Paul Rueben Other famous Baroque painters include Carving and Rembrandt. In the Baroque style of architecture, emphasis was placed on bold spaces, domes, and large masses as seen in the Royal Palace at Versailles, Treat Fountain in Rome, Salisbury Cathedral and Memorable Palace in Salisbury. In music, the
Baroque style makes up a large part of classical music. Important composers include Johann Sebastian Bach, George Handel, and Antonio Vivaldi. This style’s popularity was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, which had decided at the Council Of Trend that the arts should portray religious themes and direct emotional involvement in response to the Protestant Reformation. The aristocracy, too, appreciated this style as it allowed them to impress their visitors and express power, triumph and control. Baroque palaces were built on a monumental scale to display their wealth and grandeur. According to the Oxford English
Dictionary, the word baroque is derived from the Portuguese word “barroom”, Spanish “barroom”, or French “baroque”, all of which refer to a “rough or imperfect pearl”, though whether it entered those languages via Latin, Arabic, or some other source is uncertain. There are other theories as to where the name comes from, but none are confirmed. The term “Baroque” was initially used in a derogatory sense, to underline the excesses of its emphasis. In particular, the term was used to describe its eccentric redundancy and noisy abundance of details, which sharply contrasted the clear and sober rationality of the Renaissance. By Straightforward
