Architecture in the Baroque period Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Architecture in the Baroque period - Essay Example Since the origins of the Baroque period can be readily traced to the religious developments during the period, it is also possible to differentiate and isolate that various characteristics of the structures during this period from others. Baroque artists did not make use of lines so that the volumes of the structures they built appear massive and weighty; instead they designed the structures such that the spaces between objects in them seemed vast and infinite. They also placed their figures and forms in a diagonal form rather than in rows so that the viewer could become more involved in the art. In line with the same ideas, figures in composition were made such that there were no clear boundaries between them. Such and other similar practices were employed in order to emphasize emotion and heighten the mood. It was done so with a purpose of arousing religious emotion. All these effects were created in the two most popular structures during the period, namely the church and the palac e. During the Baroque period, artists began to use their own symbolism rather than conforming to the previously established rules of the Renaissance era. Thus, the Church symbolism that had been created by the previous era began to vanish and as a consequence the influence of the Church on artistic content and form decreased. In fact, the events that heavily influenced all the works of art during this period were those of the Reformation and the Counter Reformation. One of the guiding principles was to reduce the influence of the Church.