Page 34 - 4606

UNIT 7

BAROQUE AND ROCOCO STYLES

I. Read the text and translate it in the written form.

Baroque Architecture
The Baroque period was one of the most exciting times for European
architecture. During this period, from the end of the 16th century to the
dawn of the 18th century, European architecture exploded in novel direc-

tions. Rather than designing a single building, an architect might be re-
sponsible for reimagining a complex of buildings, or even planning an en-
tire city. With this shift, the capitol of art and architecture moved from
Rome to Paris.

Regular, repeating designs gave way to curves and irregularity,
as various styles were mixed and adapted. Yet this variety was regulated

for the purposes of symmetry and grandeur. Finally, for the first time since
antiquity, architects began tinkering with optical illusion in building. They
realized you could trick the eye into making a large building seem even
grander. This hearkens back to Greek tricks that allowed their grand tem-

ples to tower even larger in the eye of the beholder.
Though Baroque architecture found its way across Europe, two coun-
tries came to the fore in this field: Italy and France. Baroque architecture

got its start in Italy and is still evident today at the Vatican in Rome. This
new architectural form reached its apex in France. Its mark can be seen
quite clearly in Paris, but its purest expression can be found in that most
Baroque of all buildings, Louis XIV's palace at Versailles.

Baroque Architecture in Italian Churches
Let us begin, as the Baroque style did, in Italy. Here we can see the

most obvious Baroque architectural innovation: the use of curves. At the
Church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, we can see how straight lines
were replaced with delicate curves, giving the building its distinctively Ba-
roque feel. From the rounded windows to the graceful squiggle of the

whole facade, this church is a feast for the eyes. In Venice, the church of
Santa Maria della Salute we see another key facet of Baroque art, symmet-

rical irregularity.
Each side of this eight-sided structure offers the viewer a new per-
34