|
More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
|
baroque
|
|
Style which developed in Italy in the 17C and spread throughout Europe, though most powerfully in Roman Catholic countries. An abundance of form and feeling (the women in paintings by Rubens offer a good touchstone for the mood of *baroque) is combined with a love of complexity. The extremes of baroque were too florid for Protestant England, but the architecture of *Wren and the carving of Grinling *Gibbons are restrained versions of the style. In the following century the buildings of *Vanbrugh and the furniture of William *Kent take English baroque to its limit. The term is also applied to music of the same period, during which *Purcell and *Handel were the most important composers working in Britain.
|
|
|
|