BAROQUE

ARCHITECTURE
OUTLINE
History
Baroque characteristics
Baroque Art
Baroque Interior
Color Schemes
Characteristics of Design
Furnitures
BAROQUE

originally meant overdone

too much color in painting, and too

grand in architecture
Baroque History
 BAROQUE HISTORY
1590-1720

Portuguese 'barocco' meaning, 'irregular pearl or stone'

Catholic Counter-Reformation Art

originating in Rome, Baroque art above all, reflected the

religious tensions of the age - notably the desire of the
Catholic Church in Rome to reassert itself in the wake of the
Protestant Reformation
Baroque Characteristics
BAROQUE CHARACTERISTICS
elaborate ornamentation

creats dramatic effect

appealing to the spirit through the senses

enlarged space

heightened sensuality with spirituality

naturalistic rather than ideal

emotional rather than rational

Baroque Art &
Architecture
BAROQUE ART
Dramatic, emotional

Colors were brighter than bright; darks were darker than

dark

Counter-Reformation art

Paintings & sculptures in church contexts should speak to

the illiterate rather than to the well-informed
THE ECSTASY OF ST. THERESA
CALLING OF SAINT MATTHEW
ST FRANCIS IN ECSTASY
DEAD CHRIST MOURNED
ELEVATION OF THE CROSS
 BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
domes/roofs were enlarged

interiors carefully constructed to produce spectacular

effects of light and shade

emotional style

exploited the theatrical potential of the urban landscape

LES INVALIDES, PARIS
KARLSKIRCHE
ST. PAULS CATHEDRAL, LONDON
THE ASSUMPTION OF THE
VIRGIN MARY
Baroque Interior
 Elements of Design
Floors - typically made of solid wood or marble
Hand-woven rugs - placed to soften spaces
Furnitures - detailed with curved legs, carved details,
and gilding
Commonly used
- Gold frames and gilding on statues and pottery
- Large mirrors, crystal chandeliers, door knobs and
pulls
Luxury fabrics in damask and floral prints
Vaults, Arches and Buttresses
Complex staircases

Gallery
Baroque Color Schemes
 Color Schemes

A palette of rich, vibrant hues

Contrast between light and shadow

Madonna dei Pellegrini
Painter: Michelangelo Merisi da
Caravaggio
Caravaggios Palette:
Lead white
Lead-tin yellow
Yellow ocher
Verdigris
Vermilion
Red ocher
Umber
Carbon black
Characteristics of Design
Characteristics

Foliage Motifs

Putto/Putti

Marquetry

Crests and Initials

Lambrequin Motif
Acanthus Baroque Leaf
Baroque Scroll Leaf
Baroque Floral Scroll
 Putti

Mythological &
religious
paintings
Sculptures
 Marquetry

Laying of veneers of
different-coloured
woods onto the surface
of furniture.
Crests & Initials
Lambrequin Motif

Lambrequin or
Tasselled cloth

Fabrics transformed
into motifs
Furnitures
 French Baroque Furnitures
For the court of Louis XIV in France

Created by Andr Charles Boulle

Embellished with inlays made of combined

metals with gilded columnar legs

Tortoise shell and ebony designs

Absolom Roche
Belle de Fleur

Made of intricately hand carved

mahogany finished in majestic gold
leaf.
Boule Console Table 1701

Thin sheets of brass and

tortoise shell veneer on an oak
frame
Boule Console Table 1701
Claudette Baroque Mirror
Queen Annes Revenge Chaise
Italian Baroque Furnitures

Gilded wood, oak or walnut

Lion commodes

With cassoni

Florentine Console Tables

Canova
Rhombus
Giove
Firenze
 English/British Baroque Furnitures

Walnut as the wood of choice

Pine and Ash; Ebony and Cane as base wood or

veneers

Chairs are still typically throne like

Resources
https://arthistory.knoji.com/a-brief-history-of-baroque-furniture/
http://www.ehow.com/info_10070157_colors-baroque-art.html
http://www.sevensedie.com/collection/26/baroque
http://www.furniturestyles.net/european/french/baroque.html
http://www.artble.com/artists