Baroque Art
The Baroque is a period of artistic style that utilized exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to make exuberance, drama, tension, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, architecture, dance and music. The style started around 1600 in Rome, Italy and spread to most of the area of Europe.
The popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, which had determined at the time of the Council of Trent, in response to the Protestant Reformation, that the arts must communicate religious themes in direct and emotional involvement. The aristocracy as well saw the dramatic style of Baroque architecture and art as a means of impressing visitors and expressing triumphant power and control. Baroque palaces are erected around an entrance of courts and grand staircases and reception rooms of sequentially increasing opulence.