The Baroque refers to a highly ornated and typically extravagant architectural style that involves music and art which thrived in Europe in the period around the 17th century all the way to the 18th century. It was succeeded b Renaissance style followed by the neoclassical style with considerable support coming from the Roman Catholic Church since it was used to in countering the simplicity and severity of Protestant music, art, and architecture. The baroque design used movement, contrast, grandeur, surprise and exuberant detail in order to attain a sagacity of awe. Palladian architecture refers to a European architectural style that was inspired and derived from the Venetian designs done by Andrea Palladio. The contemporary Palladian architecture happens to be an evolution of the concepts put across b Palladio whose work was based on the perspective, symmetry as well as the values of a formal conventional temple architecture used by the Romans and Ancient Greeks. Palladianism started being utilized in the 17th century whereby Palladio interpretations in the classical design were adopted thus facilitating its growth until the end of the 18th century(Lahiji 15).
Palladianism turned out to be a very popular style in Britain around mid 17th century although it was quite brief since its flowering was interrupted by the beginning of the civil war in England as well as the imposition of strictness that followed. The style came back to fashion in the early 18th century in the entire Britain as well as the Prussian region(Bauer 23). Francesco Algarotti proposed to Burlington while in Berlin where he recommended the adoption of the style in Prussia since it had already been introduced and flourished in other regions such as England. On the other hand, the baroque style began around the first third of the 17th century in Rome from where it started spreading to other parts which include France, Spain, northern Italy and Portugal. The design was also used in southern Germany as well as Austria and by 1730; it had developed into a more colorful variant known as Rococo or rocaille that was evident in central Europe and France by the end of the 18th century. Therefore it is evident that despite the two styles originating from Europe, baroque seemed to be more popular and widespread compared to Palladianism.
The term baroque originated from a term used in Portugal to refer to pearl or rather Barocco which meant an irregular shape. The term is similar to other terms used in different languages to refer to romance whereby in Spanish it is referred to as barrueco while in Italy, it is known as Barocco. In France, the term was used in describing pearls in the inventory of treasures done by Charles V. On the other hand, Palladianism originates from the inventor of the design known as Palladio who used to design buildings in Venice and Veneto using a rich grouping that was made of palazzi in Vicenza. A book published by Palladio was the main inspiration of the architectural design in the 17th century whereby architects from Italian institutions learned about the design(Maudlin 43). The most prominent follower of Palladianism was Inigo Jones who came from England and having traveled across Italy, he managed to anoint his own duplicate of Palladio’s dissertation.
The Baroque architectural style became famous due to the doctrines that were adopted during the Council of Trent by the Roman Catholic with an aim of addressing the Protestant Reformation. The first stage of addressing the reformation imposed a stern academic style in the architecture used in Protestant religion. It was very appealing to the intellectuals although it did not have an impact on the believers. In response, the Trent council decided to appeal to the popular audience through a declaration that would make art more interactive while portraying religious themes through an emotional and direct involvement. The Palladianism style was popular among the rich patrons with the most preferred design being the four-volume Britannicus Vitruvius that was done by architect Colen Campbell(Hodge 66). He used to publish books which were mainly based on designs that contained architectural prints derived from British buildings which were part of the inspirations from Vitruvius design to Palladio. The designs were derived from the work done by Inigo Jones although the later tomes comprised of plans and drawings done by Campbell together with other architects living in the 18th century. The books from Campbell largely contributed towards the establishment of Palladian architecture in Britain during the 18th century with the contributors becoming the most admirable in that era. In Vitruvius Britannicus, Campbell turned out to be the main architect involved in building Henry Hoare’s Stourhead residence which was a masterpiece thus inspiring the formation of similar houses all over England. Therefore, despite the introduction and spread of the designs by different architects, the new work turned out to be very impressive to the people who eventually started adopting the designs while building their houses. The baroque design was preferred by religious institutions since it was specifically meant for countering the Protestants while the Palladianism style was used in the formation of residential houses and schools especially for the wealthy people in the society.
In the Baroque design, churches used to be made with a large space at the center where the congregation would be adjacent to the altar with a cupola or dome being placed overhead so as to facilitate light penetration thus illuminating the entire church. The dome used to be the central symbolic characteristic of baroque architecture which illustrated the union of the earth and heavens. The interior of the cupola was sumptuously decorated using angels and saints paintings where stucco statuettes symbolizing the angels gave an impression to the congregation of a heavenly view. The other notable feature of the style was the quadratura painting on the ceiling which was in form of stucco frames that were either painted or real. They were crowded with paintings symbolizing angels and saints with connections being made through architectural details that contained consoles and balustrades. Quadrature images of Atlantes that were placed below the chapel combined diverse scenes whereby each had a specific perspective thus required a single view at one time(Bauer 73). The ceiling images in Baroque style were carefully made so that the viewer from the ground could see the whole ceiling in an appropriate perspective since the figures used to be real.
In the Palladian architectural design, there was a forefront that had been brought about by the new design school with the third Earl of Burlington being among the students in 1729. Richard and William designed the Chiswick House which was meant to be a reinterpretation of Villa Carpa that was done by Palladio using purified ornaments and elements of the 16th century. Lack of ornamentation used to be a distinctive feature in Palladianism architecture thus differing with the Baroque style. In 1734, William Kent together with Richard Boyle designed the most outstanding structure using the Palladian style a good example being the Holkham Hall located in Norfork England. The central block of the structure assumed the Palladio’s shape very closely although the lowly detached wings from the farm buildings were prominent and significant(Maudlin 81). Kent connected the features of Palladian design through banishing the farm animals in addition to elevating the wings which turned out to be equally important as the structure itself. The wings used to be typically adorned with pediments and porticos which used to be alike and were evident in the Kedleston hall as well as small country structures. The development involved the flanking of wings which caused the English Palladianism to change from being the original work of pastiche done by Palladio. Architectural designs evolved to suit the needs of every client which typically differs with the baroque design which was meant to impress the entire audience using decorations that were appealing to the viewers.
In the mid 17th century, Baroque design reached its crest which was eventually termed as the high baroque whereby numerous monumental works used to be commissioned by Popes. Gian Lorenzo Bernini who used to be an architect and sculptor designed an innovative quadruple arcade in St Peter’s square which had three galleries of lines in a great ellipse balance that oversized the dome thus giving the square and the church unity as well as the giant theatre feeling(Sciberras 103). On the other hand, the Duke of Bedford resolved to restructure Woburn Abbey by choosing the Palladian architecture to design to bring out the most fashionable structure during that era. He chose other architects such as Henry Flitcroft who used to be a protégé in Burlington. The design adopted by Flitcroft used to be unique such that it could not be distinguished as a Palladian design. In his design, the main block used to be smaller with three bays thus suggesting a temple-like structure which was closed. The development done by the two architects became popular in England with numerous residential structures as well as town halls being made using the design. Therefore, it is evident that the developments and innovations done to the initial design of both the baroque and Palladian style turned out to be much appealing to the people thus being formally accepted with people putting up structures using the innovations done by various architects.
Paul the fifth became the first Pope to commision the basilicas as well as Church buildings in Rome that had been designed to instigate emotions and terror by profiling the forms in addition to applying rich colors that brought about dramatic effects. The most significant monument to be constructed using the early Baroque design was the St Peter’s Basilica with the new loggia and nave connecting the frontage to Michelangelo’s dome found in past church structures. On the other hand, Architects involved in the construction of Palladian structures among them being William Chambers and Robert Adam became popular due to their distinctive innovations with their demand increasing as time passed on(Hodge 115). This differed with the Baroque design which required an approval from the Pope in order to be a recognized architect. Architects using the Palladian structure used to be self-proclaimed whereby they used to involve various classical designs such as the ancient Greek architecture thus coming up with a neoclassical style which was a reconstruction done to the initial Palladian style. Innovations done by various architects contributed to the improvement of the Palladian design since they used to be active influencers who were helped in spreading the culture across other continents with the approaches used becoming main elements in the urban design and architectural processes.
Work Cited
Bauer, Hermann. Baroque. TASCHEN GmbH, 2016.
Hodge, Susie. Architecture in Minutes. Quercus, 2016.
Lahiji, Nadir. Adventures with the Theory of the Baroque and French Philosophy. Bloomsbury Academic, 2016.
Maudlin, Daniel. Building the British Atlantic World: Spaces, Places, and Material Culture, 1600-1850. The University of North Carolina Press, 2016.
Sciberras, Keith. Caravaggio to Mattia Preti: Baroque Painting in Malta. Midsea Books, 2015.
