BAROQUE

ROCOCO

Started in the early 17th century in Italy.

Adopted the humanist Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture in a new rhetorical (symbolic), theatrical, sculptural

fashion – expressing the triumph of absolutist church and state.

New architectural concerns for color, light and shade, sculptural values and intensity

BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE

Demand for an architecture that was more accessible to the emotions

A visible statement of the wealth and power of the Church

In mid 17th century – expression in the form of grand palaces, first in France (Château de Maisons - 1642) by François Mansart and then throughout Europe.

BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE

Château de Maisons - 1642

BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE

Michelangelo's late Roman buildings, particularly St. Peter's Basilica

PRECURSORS & FEATURES OF BAROQUE

Giacomo della Porta's façade of the Church of the Gesù, a precursor of the baroque

PRECURSORS & FEATURES OF BAROQUE

Most important church facade of the early baroque, Santa Susanna by Carlo Maderno

17th century – the baroque style spread through Europe and Latin America, where it was particularly promoted by the Jesuits (Members of the Society of Jesus).

PRECURSORS & FEATURES OF BAROQUE

long, narrow naves are replaced by broader, occasionally circular forms

PRECURSORS & FEATURES OF BAROQUE

long, narrow naves are replaced by broader, occasionally circular forms

PRECURSORS & FEATURES OF BAROQUE

dramatic use of light - strong light-and-shade contrasts,

chiaroscuro effects

(church of Weltenburg Abbey)

PRECURSORS & FEATURES OF BAROQUE

dramatic use of light - uniform lighting by

means of several windows

(church of Weingarten Abbey)

PRECURSORS & FEATURES OF BAROQUE

opulent (rich) use of ornaments (puttos made of wood – gilded (paint

gold) , plaster or stucco, marble or faux (fake)

finishing)

PRECURSORS & FEATURES OF BAROQUE

large-scale ceiling frescoes

(Sicilian Baroque: San Benedetto in Catania, Italy)

PRECURSORS & FEATURES OF BAROQUE

the interior is often no more than a shell for painting and sculpture

(especially in the late baroque)

PRECURSORS & FEATURES OF BAROQUE

illusory effects like trompe l'oeil & the blending of painting and

architecture

PRECURSORS & FEATURES OF BAROQUE

pear domes - Bavarian, Czech, Polish, and Ukrainian baroque

PRECURSORS & FEATURES OF BAROQUE

Marian and Holy Trinity columns are erected in Catholic countries, often in

thanksgiving for ending a plague

PRECURSORS & FEATURES OF BAROQUE

Baroque motifs feature heroic battles and religious figures

PRECURSORS & FEATURES OF BAROQUE

Emerged in France in the early 18th century as a continuation of the Baroque style.

In contrast to the heavier themes and darker colors of the Baroque, the Rococo style was characterized by opulence (richness), grace (elegance), playfulness, and lightness.

ROCOCO STYLE

Rococo motifs – carefree aristocratic life and lighthearted romance

Also revolve heavily around nature and exterior settings

ROCOCO STYLE

In the mid-late 18th century, Rococo was largely replaced by the Neoclassic style.

The word Rococo is seen as a combination of the French rocaille, or shell, and the Italian barocco, or Baroque style.

Shell-like curves and decorative arts – some critics used the term to imply that the style was frivolous or merely fashion.

ROCOCO STYLE

The lighthearted themes and intricate designs of Rococo presented themselves best on a smaller scale.

ROCOCO in FURNITURE & DECORATIVE OBJECTS

Asymmetry - a new taste to European style

“Contraste” - practice of leaving elements unbalanced for effect

ROCOCO in FURNITURE & DECORATIVE OBJECTS

Wall clock on its bracket

A well-known design by Charles Cressent

In a gilt-brass case filled with "contraste" in its details

Enjoyed the exotic character of Chinese arts, and imitated them in wares produced in France.

ROCOCO in FURNITURE & DECORATIVE OBJECTS

Eighteenth-century Chippendale style combined Chinese & rococo

In a full-blown Rococo design, like the Table d'appartement by German designer J. A. Meissonnier

Apron, legs, stretcher have all been seamlessly integrated into a flow of opposed c-scrolls and "rocaille."

The knot of the stretcher shows the asymmetrical "contraste"

ROCOCO in FURNITURE & DECORATIVE OBJECTS

Solitude Palace in Stuttgart

ROCOCO in INTERIOR DESIGN

Chinese Palace in Oranienbaum

ROCOCO in INTERIOR DESIGN

ROCOCO in INTERIOR DESIGN

In those Continental contexts where Rococo is fully in control, fantastic, and sculptured forms are expressed with abstract

ornament using flaming, leafy or shell-like textures in asymmetrical sweeps and flourishes and broken curves

ROCOCO in INTERIOR DESIGN

Intimate Rococo interiors suppress architectonic divisions of architrave, frieze and cornice for the picturesque, the curious, and the whimsical, expressed in plastic materials like carved wood and stucco