Late Baroque and Rococo Architecture and Visual Culture

• Expanse, Wealth & Prestige were all great influences on the architecture of the Baroque. Often architects used optical illusions to convey a sense of grandeur and create a sense of overwhelm. The architecture of the Baroque was used to political advantage, as propaganda.

• The 17th century saw the development of the word propaganda. The Counter Reformation used visual sources to spread faith. Many places, such as Rome, were ruled not by parliament, but by absolute monarchy at this time. Power of the monarch in Britain was limited by parliament, but elsewhere the power was not limited in this way.

Andrea Pozzo, Ceiling of St. Ignazio, Rome, 1685-94

• Perspective was employed by many artists to impress upon the viewer, the power of the church and state, architecture that continued from 3D to 2D form. Blurring of Media.

Andrea Pozzo, Trompe L'oeil, Dome of Sst. Ignazio, Rome, 1685-94

• A lot of the works of this period were linked to stage and set design, very theatrical in their nature.

Francesco de Sanctis, The Spanish Steps, 1723-28, Rome
[Linking Trinita di Monti and Spanish embassy to Holy See]

• The Spanish Steps link the church and the fountain with a plunging perspective. The steps seem to move, which is of course a characteristic of the Baroque.

Nicola Salvi, The Trevi Fountain (with Palazzo Poli by Vanvitelli behind), 1732-62, Rome

• The Trevi Fountain is late Baroque in style. The sense of movement can be seen in the sculpted waves which are emphasised by the water cascading over them. Again here, multimedia is used to exemplify the architecture. Giant columns add a sense of verticality and grandeur.

Guarino Guarini, Chapel of the SS. Sindone (Holy Shroud), 1667-90, Turin

Guarino Guarini, Chapel of the SS. Sindone (Holy Shroud), 1667-90, Turin

Guarino Guarini, Dome of the Chapel of the SS. Sindone (Holy Shroud), 1667-90, Turin

• The Chapel of the Holy Shroud uses architecture to create overwhelming perspective. The dome creates a kind of vortex that seems to pull the viewer upwards. A sense of the divine and the diffusion of light that is presented here, is associated to some extent with the Gothic. There is a sense of glory and mystery in the presence of the light.

Johann Berhard Fischer von Erlach, St. Charles' Church (Karlskirche), 1716-33, Vienna

• A double quotation of Trajan's Column can be seen at the facade of St. Charles' Church in Vienna. The different elements of this facade create a sense of verticality, movement and originality. It is in some places curved liked the architecture of Borromini. It is also composed of volutes, rounded pediments, a restrained frontal view of an ancient temple, clustering of columns. The oval window in the dome again suggests movement, especially with the cornice around it, pushing it up into the dome.

Johann Berhard Fischer von Erlach, interior of St. Charles' Church (Karlskirche), 1716-33, Vienna

Johann Berhard Fischer von Erlach, interior dome of St. Charles' Church (Karlskirche), 1716-33, Vienna

• St. Charles' Church in Vienna has a huge multimedia works inside. It has pairs of columns which are very dynamic, and oval in shape, and in addition there are many other elements of curving shapes from different perspectives. Also lots of different textures.

• The same architect also designed the imperial library at Hofburg in Vienna:

Johann Berhard Fischer von Erlach, Imperial Library at the Hofburg, 1723-26, Vienna

• Secular and religious power were both reinforcing themselves and each other with the architecture of the Baroque.

Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt, The Upper Belvedere, 1721-22, Vienna [for Prince Eugene of Savoy]

• The Upper Belvedere displays the magnificence of the horizontal facade, with the advancing forward of parts of the facade. It also has very curvilinear gardens.

Sala Terrena, 1732-3, Vienna

• In the late Baroque Sala Terrena Atlas holds up the columns. Here sculpture and architecture are indistinguishable.

• The Baroque style incorporates lots of darks colours, contrasts and multimedia, these elements are meant to excite and stimulate the viewer.

Germain Boffrand, Salon de la Princesse, Hotel de Soubise, 1735-39, Paris

• The use of white and gold in the Rococo period produces a much more calming effect than that of the Baroque, as the decor is much less overwhelming and dramatic. In the Salon de la Princesse at the Hotel de Soubise in Paris, the paintings in the lunettes are very serene and subordinate. The decor is very light compared to that of the Baroque.

• Rococo is associated with the decline of Louis 14th, and with France moving away from Monarchy. Aristocrats began to develop their own style and fashionable society in their town houses. It was a light, witty, charming society, one not interested in the grandeur of the Baroque.

• Rococo and Baroque are linked by their sense of movement. The Rococo definitely has a sense of splendour, albeit more restrained than that of the Baroque.

• The sense of movement is in many ways presented through the use of C and S scrolls, which suggest movement on a less dramatic scale. Shell shapes were also very common in Rococo.

• Hogarth was quite Rococo, he said that the 'line of beauty should leave the eye in a wanton kind of chase.' (Merry, light social behaviour).

• Within Rococo design, paintings were lightly integrated, without the heavy Baroque sense of illusionism. Typically, spandrels were decorated with stories on the theme of love, stories which educated and refined people could appreciate. These scenes were painted without moralism intended.

• Rococo comes from the word ROCAILLE and COQUILLE. These were derogatory terms created in the 19th century, meaning rock work, shell work. This suggests that Rococo is a decorative style, perhaps not suited to architecture or grand spaces.

• Rococo design often incorporates nature in some form - foliage, shells, etc. It transposes a sense of gaiety and wit.

Asam Brothers, Asamkirche [St. John of Nepomuk], 1733-46, Munich

• German architects built the Asamkirche. The interior is divided vertically into three sections, increasing the brightness from the bottom upwards. The twisting, Solomonic columns convey a sense of movement.

Matthäus Daniel Póppelmann, The Wallpavillon of the Zwinger [The Palace of Elector of Saxony], 1716-18, Dresden

• The pavilion comes towards you from a curving facade, with sculptural figures forming part of the architecture. Although many of the elements here are Baroque, there is more of a lightness to the architecture.

Von Knobelsdorff, Sans Souci, 1745-7, Potsdam

• Sans Souci was the summer palace of Fredrick the Great of Prussia. The light-hearted architecture suggests it is Rococo. The rule of absolute monarchy was also open to learning and also encouraged religious tolerance. The figure of Atlas on the pilasters does not seem to be supporting much, there is not so much a sense of overwhelming magnificence as there is in the Baroque.

Johann Gottfried Büring, The Chinese House, 1755-64, San Souci, Potsdam 

• The Chinese House in Potsdam is Rococo in design. During this period there was a taste for CHINOISERIE, which was a particular Western idea of China. This taste derived from images of China, or porcelain and wallpaper of Chinese origin, not by personal experience. Many Chinese products were brought back to Western Europe by the Dutch. In this Rococo structure, it is clear that what they're looking for is a fantasy landscape of leisure and gaiety without religious feeling.

• 18th century individuals looked to other civilisations for inspiration. Europe created a China that it wanted, a less patronising view than that of the 19th century.

Claydon House, Chinese Room, 1757-71, Buckinghamshire

• The Chinese room at Claydon House has lots of Rococo influences and shows the association between the European idea of China and the wit of Rococo.

• This CULTURAL HYBRID made something new out of different cultures.

William Chambers, Chinese Pagoda, 1761-62, Kew Gardens, London

• William Chambers' Pagoda at Kew associates China with high civilisation and refinement. 

• Venice was a city of Rococo - of pleasure, wit and masquerade. It was Lysenscious. It was even pronounced 'Venus' in the 18th century. It was associated with immortality.

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, The Banquet of Cleopatra, 1743-44, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Apotheosis of Spain, 1762, Royal Palace, Madrid

• Tiepolo did not only paint secular scenes. The Apotheosis depicts a man ascending to heaven, lots of rulers are depicted ascending to heaven. This fresco shows the conquest of the Americas in mythological terms. The figures sit on huge cushions of clouds. There is an S shape running through the whole space, a great sense of movement, but with a lightness that is associated with the Rococo.