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Baroque and Rococo
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Baroque and Rococo
Art Map |
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Francesco Borromini
Francois Mansart
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With its roots in Italy, in the late 16th and early 17th century, a style
evolved out of
Mannerism that expressed new ideas about the world, nature, and human
relationships.
New concepts of the role of an in relation to civil and ecclesiastical power
emerged, as
well as a changed attitude towards the private individual's enjoyment of beauty.
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During the l7th century, the Catholic Church, by now fully recovered
from the schism of the Reformation and more confident of its power
following the meetings of the Council of Trent (1545-1563), began to
exploit art as a means of disseminating new doctrines. In much the same
way, the great European monarchies entrusted artists with the task of
creating suitably magnificent and persuasive images of their grandeur.
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Baroque Architecture
The Baroque was a highly theatrical style that relied on illusion,
rhetoric, and extravagance for its effects. Over the years, these
characteristics have provoked differing reactions: they were rejected
during the Neoclassical era. but have been praised in modern times. The
basic elements of the style remained fairly consistent during the course
of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century. Though much
altered, they were still utilized in a way that can be termed Late
Baroque. The essential characteristics of the Baroque architectural
style were the transformation of natural shapes; the alteration of
classical proportions; methods of shrinking or expanding space; and
illusionism. These combined to increase the emotional charge of works of
art and create effects of surprise and wonder that were far beyond
common experience. Artists strove for an unbroken continuity between
internal and external spaces, between painted and architectural space,
as well as between artifice and nature. This sometimes led to the use of
natural elements, such as water and light, as well as the combination of
techniques and effects from different types of art, making the onlooker
play the dual role of spectator and actor.
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Gianlorenzo Bernini, detail of the Fountain of the
Four Rivers, Piazza Navona, Rome, 1648-51.
The four rivers - the Danube, Nile, Ganges, and Rio de la Plata
- represented the then-known world and hinted a! the Church's
global influence.
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PIAZZA NAVONA
Built to the express wishes of Pope Innocent X Pamphili, the Piazza Navona in
Rome is typical of the Baroque idea of urban space. It transformed the area in
front of the Pamphili family palace and the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone into
a suitable setting for public entertainment. Indeed, the large open space is
contained within the outlines of the ancient Roman racetrack, the Hippodrome of
Domitian. The central focus was the Fountain of the Four Rivers (1648-51) by
Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598— 1680), which probably echoes the temporary structure
erected as part of the celebrations of Innocent's election. It exemplifies the
synthesis of nature and art, with water gushing from a hollow rock, on which sit
personifications of the four continents and the greatest rivers then known. From
this base soars the obelisk, symbol of man's aspiration towards the infinite,
surmounted by the emblem of the Pamphili family. Two smaller fountains in the
piazza, also by Bernini, and the facade of the church of Sant' Agnese (1653—57)
by Francesco Borromini (1599-1677) provide a balance to the central fountain.
The church's high dome and twin bell towers, along with the vertical axis of
Bernini's fountain, contrast with the piazza's horizontal planes.
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Piazza Navona, Rome.
This view shows Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers and
the facade of Sant'Agnese in Agone.
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Piazza Navona, Rome. The Fountain of Neptune can be seen
in the foreground.
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THE PLACE ROYALE
The Place Royale (now the Place des Vosges) was laid out in 1604 in
the then aristocratic quarter of Paris on land owned by the Crown.
Its understated elegance is a product of both its proportions — it
is a true square — and the uniformity of the facades that conceal
the individual houses. Variety is provided by materials: white stone
for the architectural framework, red brick for the walls, and grey
slate for the roofs. Only the roofs and chimneys demarcate the
individual buildings, which have shops at ground level, family
residences above, and attics for servants. In the centre of the
north and south sides, the Pavilion du Roi and the Pavilion de la
Reine face each other, providing the square with a central axis: in
the middle stands a statue of Louis XIII.
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Place des Vosges. detail of one of the houses.
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Daumont, Place Royale, Paris (now the Place des Vosges),
18th-century print.
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ST PETER'S SQUARE
Bernini's project for St Peter's Square was submitted in its
definitive form in 1657 and was vigorously supported by Pope
Alexander VII Chigi. The colonnaded piazza, linked to the basilica's
facade by a small square, is enhanced by the obelisk erected by
Domenico Fontana for Sixtus V, as well as two fountains sited at the
focal points of the oval space. Bernini's proposal made the most of
the grandeur of the great colonnaded semicircles, which are four
columns deep, underlining the symbolic power of the square - they
are
stretched out towards the city and the world beyond like the arms of
the Church. The variety of visual effects and perspectives balances
the relationship between the horizontal space of the piazza and
Michelangelo's dome on the basilica itself. A planned third section
of colonnade was to have closed the square, but this was never
built. Instead, the opening of the great boulevard leading from the
church in the 1940s has compromised the sense of enclosure that
Bernini sought.
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Plan of St Peter's basilica and piazzas, Vatican City.
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View of St Peter's Square, Vatican City.
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Francesco Borromini
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BORROMINI
Francesco Castelli, known as Borromini (1599-1677), learned his
craft working at Milan Cathedral as a pupil of Francesco Maria
Richino (1584-1658), the greatest Milanese exponent of Baroque. From
at least 1619 onwards, Borromini worked for Maderno and Bernini in
Rome, until he received commissions for the convent and church of
San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1635-41) and the Falconieri and
Spada palaces there. The most memorable of his many buildings in
Rome include the Chiesa nuova and Oratory for the Congregation of
San Filippo Neri and the churches of Sant'Agnese and Sant'lvo alla
Sapienza. Borromini, who eventually took his own life, was one of
the most original and inventive exponents of Baroque architecture,
which he imbued with soaring upward movement and powerful
chiaroscuro effects. He was also one of the finest of a succession
of artists, architects, and sculptors, who, from the Middle Ages
well into the 18th century, moved from the valleys and foothills of
the Lombard Alps into the mainstream of Italian and European art.
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The Urban Space
The consolidation of great nation states in which power was
centralized, the emergence of capital cities as seats of government
and symbols of power, and a growth in population and traffic (both
pedestrian and wheeled) all contributed to an urgent need to
redefine the city. Baroque planning imposed an ordered structure
based on a web of wide, straight thoroughfares, which linked a
series of focal points, such as gateways, churches, and palaces. To
give the townscape a more orderly appearance, continuous streets
were created and the facades of important buildings were integrated
wherever possible to form a harmonious urban fabric. Rome led in
this process of urban transformation, and Sixtus V, pope from 1585
to 1590, entrusted the task to the architect Domenico Fontana
(1543-1607). The project entailed the construction of straight roads
directly linking the seven main basilicas of Rome, several of which
were situated in the outskirts of the city. Its practical purpose
was to revive depopulated districts outside Rome's historic nucleus,
and to enliven the holiest of cities. During the course of the
century, other building works contributed to the creation of the
modern image of Rome: Pope Innocent X (1644-55) commissioned
Gianlorenzo Bernini anci Francesco Borromini, to design the Piazza
Navona, and Alexander VII (1655—67) commissioned St Peter's Square
by Bernini, the Piazza di Santa Maria della Pace by Pietro da
Cortona (1596-1669), and the Piazza del Popolo by Carlo Rainaldi
(1611-91). As the century progressed, Paris also assumed a more
symmetrical appearance. The French capital began to change into a
modern city during the reign of Henry IV (1589-1610), who built the
Place Royale. This was innovative in its regular geometric shape
formed by residential buildings of uniform appearance - such squares
were conceived as a setting for a centrally placed statue of the
sovereign. Built between 1604 and 1612 in the Marais district of
Paris, the Place des Vosges, as it is now called, was the first
example of this new urban feature, and was followed by the Place
Dauphine on the He de la Cite. Under the Regent Marie de Medicis
(1610-17), the interest of the French Court shifted to the
construction of imposing buildings, such as the Palais du
Luxembourg. Following the accession of Louis XIII (1617-43), work
was resumed on altering and enlarging the Palais du Louvre, but it
was only under Louis XIV (1661— 1715), when the monarchy felt fully
secure, that Paris was transformed into a great capital city. Louis
XIV made his chief minister Colbert directly responsible for urban
planning, and he oversaw such projects as the creation of the
circular Place des Victoires, designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart
(1646-1708), and the polygonal Place Vendome. The old city walls
were demolished and replaced by concentric rings of boulevards, with
avenues and streets radiating out towards the surrounding
countryside. Andre Le Notre (1613-1700) laid out the Tuileries
gardens and the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, and created the landscape
and gardens of the great Palace at Versailles. The Italian city of
Turin, capital to the dukes of Savoy from 1563 onwards, underwent
similar changes in urban planning; it was transformed by architects
such as Ascanio Vitozzi (1539-1615), who created the Piazza Castello
and the Via Nuova, and Carlo di Castellamonte (1560-1641), who
expanded the city following the grid system used in the original
Roman castrum. In 1638, he planned the Piazza Reale, now Piazza San
Carlo, which was inspired by the Place Royale in Paris, though here
closed by two churches with facades by the later Baroque architect
Filippo Juvarra (1678-1736).
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Blaeu, Piazza Reale, Turin, engraving. Library of the Royal Palace,
Turin.
The great square is notable for the symmetry of the palaces
and Juvarra's churches.
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Aerial view of St Peters, Vatican City. The Vatican buiidings,
parts of which were altered after Bernini's time,
typify Roman
Baroque architecture and urban planning.
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 Frencesco Borromini
San Carlo Alle Quattro Fontane
1638-1641
Rome, Italy
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Frencesco Borromini
S Ivo della Sapienza
1642-1650
Rome, Italy
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Schematic plan (based on that by the modern scholar Giedion) for the
prospective reorganization of Rome under Pope Sixtus V (1585-90).
The aim was to create wide, straight thoroughfares which linked the
most important churches. In this drawing, a solid line denotes work
actually carried out.
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Aerial view of the Piazza del Popoio, Rome.
On the far side of the
square are the churches of Santa Maria di Montesanto (1662-75) and
Santa Maria dei Miracoli (1675-81), by Rainaldi, Bernini, and Carlo
Fontana. In the foreground is the Porta del Popoio;
the facade
facing the square was designed by Bernini (c. 1665).
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THE MANSARTS
Francois Mansart (1598-1666) was appointed architect to Louis XIII
of France in 1636. He was one of the creators of the style classique,
which developed from the cultural renaissance in 16th-century France
and replaced the Mannerist style with a more purely classical and
distinctively French version of the European Baroque. His
great-nephew and pupil Jules Hardouin-Mansart became royal architect
in 1675 and built the Palace of Versailles around an earlier
building by Louis Le Vau, as well as the dome of the Invalides in
Paris (1680-1707). His designs for city squares made him an
influential town planner in his day. The Mansarts gave their name to
the high, steeply pitched "mansard" roof.
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Perelle, Place Dauphine, engraving.
The sguare was planned during
the reign of Henry IV as part of a scheme to rationalize Paris.
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