Essentials of Baroque Architecture

Essentials of Baroque Architecture

This course looks at Baroque Architecture in many of its forms: as a showcase for Counter-Reformation churches in Rome and at the Vatican, as it was received in Northern Europe in France and England, and how the Spanish Baroque  made the journey across the Atlantic and determined the built forms of colonial power for much of the Americas. The Baroque style which had been unleashed by the Catholic Church in order to impress the Catholic populations on the European continent in the wake of the Council of Trent served double-duty in the lands which were colonized by Catholic powers, like Spain, France, or Portugal. Spanish architecture had by the Late Renaissance begun to assume its own idiosyncratic forms; by inserting and adapting iconic, religious forms into the outward feature of a building of Spain’s imperial and earthly power, we observe the marriage of Catholicism with the Spanish crown that otherwise defined their aggressive, expansionist rules both in Europe and the New World. The second part of the course takes an in-depth look at the development of curved surfaces in architecture and the influential contribution of two Roman architects, Gianlorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, which revolutionized the very concept of what buildings could look like well through the modern era. What we call the Baroque is the style which was selected for the lavish new constructions and art commissions which were part of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, the reaction against Protestantism and the opportunity it provided to re-clarify the core tenets of the Catholic faith. The Council of Trent was the event which hammered out the Church of Rome’s future goals and the agenda by which they could be realized; instructing and impressing the masses through religious art and architecture were the motives underlying the intensive building and embellishment campaigns which spread the Baroque style throughout Catholic Europe.

Building and the Language of Power in Europe and the Colonized Americas

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What you will learn

• Students will learn the key developments, vocabulary terms, and works of art which are associated with Baroque architecture.
• Students will be able to recognize significant Baroque churches in Rome, Spain, and the New World.
• Students will gain an appreciation of the themes that defined Baroque architecture from its predecessors.

Rating: 4.55

Level: All Levels

Duration: 1 hour

Instructor: Dr. Lily Filson