Baroque: Style in the Age of Magnificence 1620-1800

by Michael Snodin, Nigel Llewellyn

Lavish, opulent, and unabashedly dramatic, the Baroque style developed out of the Renaissance with the primary goal of inspiring awe. The most complex and sophisticated movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Baroque encompassed all forms of artistic expression, from painting to music to literature.
Published to accompany a major traveling exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, this richly illustrated book traces the evolution and spread of Baroque, examines the defining motifs and characteristics of the style, and reviews the importance of performance and spectacle. Like many artistic movements, the lifeblood of the Baroque style was patronage, both papal and princely, and the authors explore in detail the gorgeous churches and splendid palaces that resulted from such commissions. With previously unseen objects from public and private collections worldwide, Baroque is an unparalleled critical look at an inimitable period in art.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art

368 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2009

About the author

Michael Snodin has been responsible for the remarkable restoration of Strawberry Hill.

Reviews

[E. G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

List of Lenders
Director's Foreword
Acknowledgements
Maps

--The World of the Baroque Artist, Nigel Llewellyn
--Centres of Diplomatic Power c.1700, Nigel Llewellyn
--Potosí: the Silver Mountain, Marjorie Trusted
--The Portrayal of Absolutism, Nigel Llewellyn
--Goa: the 'Rome of the Orient', Mallica Kumbera Landrus
--The Peace of Westphalia, Nigel Llewellyn
--The Medallic History of Louis XIV, Mark Jones

--The Baroque Style, Michael Snodin
--The Bizarre, Rodney Palmer
--The Cornaro Chapel, Evonne Levy
--The International 'English Chair', Lucy Wood
--The Gobelins Workshops, Florian Knothe and Carolyn Sargentson

--Performance and Performativity, Joanna Norman/Elaine Tierney/Nigel Llewellyn
--Baroque Art and Design for the Theatre, Joanna Norman
--The Theatre at Český Krumlov, Joanna Norman
--Opera, Joanna Norman
--Urban Festival, Elaine Tierney
--Fireworks, Elaine Tierney
--The Festivities of Augustus the Strong, Claudia Schnitzer
--The High Mass, Nigel Llewellyn
--John V's Chapel at São Roque, Nigel Llewellyn

--Power and Piety, Nigel Llewellyn and Jane Eade
--Sacred Spaces, Nigel Llewellyn
--The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, Nigel Llewellyn
--The Stations of the Cross and Popular Piety, Nigel Llewellyn
--The Benedictine Abbey at Melk, Eric Garberson
--The Cult of Saints, Nigel Llewellyn
--Power and Sacred Art, Jane Eade
--Religious Processions, Marjorie Trusted

--The Palace, Michael Snodin
--The Baroque Garden, Luke Morgan
--Dining at Court, Philippa Glanville
--The State Bedchamber, Tessa Murdoch
--The Gallery, Reinier Baarsen
--The Montespan Fan Painting, Sarah Medlam

Notes
Summary Catalogue
Bibliography
Select Bibliography
Picture Credits
Index