"The baroque style of architecture rose up from the Mannerism of the turn of the seventeenth century, and evolved into the lighter rococo around 1750. At its height, the baroque encompassed all the arts, and the style was freighted with the message of the Counter-Reformation." "This catalogue explores every facet of baroque architecture in Europe. An international team of scholars examines such subjects as the political and religious use of architecture, the birth of the baroque in Rome, landscape, fantasies, and the education of the architect. The second part of the book, a catalogue of works exhibited, illustrates the types of baroque construction: villas and chateaux, military architecture, royal palaces, and gardens."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

"Traditional surveys of the period divide their material strictly by countries and chronological periods. By contrast, Vernon Minor looks at the prevalent themes of Baroque and Rococo artistic production through the lens of the dominant institutions of the day. The ideologies of the Counter-Reformation Church, the court of Louis Quatorze and the mercantile economy of the Calvinist Dutch are implicit in much of the painting, sculpture and architecture of the epoch."--BOOK JACKET.

A new age dawns at the beginning of the 15th century in Italy: the Renaissance. With Florentine beginnings, it blossoms in Rome and reaches a further highpoint in the Palladian Villas of the Veneto. Medieval Castles are transformed into modern mansions, and the houses of the rich become palaces. The Italian Renaissance radiates throughout Europe. The age of the Baroque also begins in Italy, finding its architectural highpoint in Versailles and other European royal residences, as well as the cloisters and churches of southern Germany and Austria. All this, and more, is to be found in this volume.

A monograph on the lavish, whimsical, and inventive era in the history of architecture, from the cathedrals of Rome to the palaces of Russia. It features major styles and trends of Baroque architecture throughout Europe and beyond, and provides an account of how the Baroque developed in relation to the unique urban culture of each nation.