Baroque

Baroque

1. Art

   • Was marked by absolute monarchy. Painters and sculptors represented the magnificence of the absolute monarch. Architects designed elegant mansions as symbols of royal power. The buildings had gardens, squares, staircases and fountains.

2. Architecture

   • Architects designed curved cornices and broken pediments forming curves and spirals. They also incorporated elliptical and oval shapes. Movement was exaggerated through the effects of light and shade
     • Baroque sculptors wanted to represent movement and naturalism. Marble and bronze were the most popular materials.

3. Painting

   • There are various features common to all Baroque painting: The Importance of colour over drawing. A focus on light. Realism. The search of movement in the compositions.
     • The Italian school: the leading naturalist painter was Michelangelo who worked almost exclusively in Rome.
     • The French school: french painting was influenced by academic art, for example, in the work of Nicolas Poussin.
     • The Flemish school: the main characteristics were the predominance of colour over drawing, movement and sensuality.