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Buildings across Time, 4th Edition Chapter Twelve: Baroque Architecture

Introduction The sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation challenged the power and authority of the Catholic Church. The church’s response included the use of art and architecture as a means for holding and attracting members. Baroque artists and architects used painting, sculpture, stucco work, gliding, and light to produce dramatic, exciting, illusionistic spatial experiences.

In Rome, the Gesù, the mother church of the Jesuit Order, established a new prototype. In France, the Baroque retained a more classical spirit. In Central Europe, the Baroque did not appear until the mid-seventeenth century. In England, the Baroque peaked with the restoration of the Stuart Monarchy.

The Reformation & the Catholic Counter Reformation - Gesu

Vignola and della Porta: Plan and section of the Gesu, Rome. The stunted nave announces that this is a preaching church of the Counter-Reformation. The use of piers and lateral chapels provided an alternative to the column and side- aisle plan inherited by Brunelleschi from the Middle Ages.

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The Reformation & the Catholic Counter Reformation – Rome Plan

Fontana: Sixtus V’s plan for Rome, 1585-1590. With S. Maria Maggiore at the center, Pope Sixtus V developed axial connections to the city’s seven principle churches. The Piazza del Popolo served as the most popular entry for pilgrims arriving from the north. With this plan, the Renaissance concept of static, self-contained spaces gave way to the Baroque concept of dynamic axial connections between important urban points. It would inspire numerous plans, from L’Enfant’s Washington, D.C. to Haussmann’s Paris.

The Reformation & the Catholic Counter Reformation – St. Peter’s

Michelangelo and Maderno: Plan of the completed St. Peter’s, Rome, 1546-64 and 1606-12. The extension of the nave after Michelangelo’s death documents the clergy’s determination to replace the architect-preferred central plan with the Latin cross design conducive to the processional and large crowds.

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The Reformation & the Catholic Counter Reformation – St. Peter’s

Longitudinal section through St. Peter’s. Viewing this section, one would hardly suspect that Bramante and Michelangelo intended this church to be the greatest of the Renaissance central plans. However, the architects did succeed in recreating the scale and grandeur of ancient Rome.

The Reformation & the Catholic Counter Reformation – St. Peter’s

Bernini: Plan of St. Peter’s complex and a portion of the Vatican. In this site plan the southern extremity of Bramante’s Belvedere Court is visible to the right. The final plan for the church still carries the imprint of its central plan origins. The quarter east of the piazza is shown in its dense form before being removed by Mussolini to provide open space all the way to the Tibur River.

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Bernini S. Andrea at Quirinale

S. Andrea al Quirinale, Rome, 1658-70. A reflection of Counter-Reformation policies, S. Andrea has flanking walls that reach out as if to embrace passers- by. Its huge aedicula-like frontispiece is an essay in semi-circular geometries: thermal window, portico roof, and entry stairs.

Photo by Michael Fazio.

Bernini Plan of S. Andrea al Quirinale

Bernini: Plan of S. Andrea al Quirinale, Rome. Bernini chose to place the altar along the short axis of the ellipse. He also chose to terminate the cross axis with pilasters rather than chapels. Both were unorthodox choices in the mid-sixteenth century.

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Borromini S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane

The intensity of Borromini’s organizational skills can be read in the dual ordering of the church and the courtyard. In each, the theme is six sets of paired columns. In the courtyard, they are free standing; in the church, they are pressed into the undulating, surrounding wall.

The Small Roman Churches of Francesco Borromini – S. Ivo

Borromini: S. Ivo della Sapienza, Rome, begun 1642.

The first two levels of the courtyard were planned by Pirro Ligorio and Giacomo della Porta. Borromini accepted this extant structure as the base for his unorthodox drum with its exotic cupola crowned by a spiral.

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The Small Roman Churches of Francesco Borromini – S. Ivo

Borromini: Plan of S. Ivo della Sapienza, Rome. Borromini made use of two interlocking equilateral triangles as a conceptual structure for this complex plan. The reflected ceiling plan reveals the facets of his “pumpkin” vault, similar in spirit to those apparently used by the Emperor Hadrian at his villa in Tivoli near Rome.

The Small Roman Churches of Francesco Borromini – S. Ivo

Borromini: Transverse section through S. Ivo della Sapienza, Rome. This section reveals Borromini’s unconventional layering. Atop the pilasters sits the faceted entablature. Springing from this entablature are the ribs, folded against one another and diminishing in width as they rise.

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Urban Open Spaces in Baroque Rome Piazza Navona

Nolli map of the Piazza Navona, Rome, begun 1644. The Piazza Navona’s outline results from its origins as an ancient Roman circus or racetrack. Around it are the narrow irregular streets of Rome’s medieval core. S. Agnese in Agone is #608; S. Maria della Pace is #599; and S. Ivo della Sapienza is #800.

Urban Open Spaces in Baroque Rome Piazza del Popolo

Nolli: Plan of the Piazza del Popolo, Rome before its modification by Guiseppe Valadier. Here is the raw material from which the present-day Piazza del Popolo would be fashioned: the three wide, straight streets leading south into central Rome, the ancient Roman wall and gateway to the north, and the church of S. Maria del Popolo and the monastic gardens extending east up the Pincian Hill.

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Urban Open Spaces in Baroque Rome Spanish Steps

De Sanctis and Specchi: the Spanish Steps, Rome, 1723-26.

If architecture can be ‘frozen music’, then the Spanish Steps are an excellent example of the phenomenon. The principle elements are the steps with their landings, the obelisk, and the church of the Trinita dei Monte, built at separate times but deftly combined by Francesco de Sanctis and Alessandro Specchi.

Urban Open Spaces in Baroque Rome Spanish Steps

De Sanctis and Specchi: Plan of the Spanish Steps, Rome. The steps speak of choice about the run of stairs to take, choice about stopping on an overlook, and choice about the speed at which to proceed. Here in the Nolli plan it is also apparent how this intervention interacts with the existing context.

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Spread of Baroque to Northern Italy SS. Sindone

Guarini: Plan of the Sindone Chapel, Turin, begun 1667. Guarini inherited the plan, but the reflected ceiling plan reveals his innovations: a telescoping, layered vault of rotated polygons.

Spread of Baroque to Northern Italy SS. Sindone

Guarini: Section through the Sindone Chapel, Turin. The drawing reveals the extraordinary organic quality of Guarini’s dome construction. It is dramatic change from the hemispherical domes of Brunelleschi, even though it sits atop a familiar Serlian Motif.

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Spread of Baroque to Northern Italy S. Lorenzo

Guarini: Section through S. Lorenzo, Turin, 1668-80. Guarini used a cantilevered vault at this first level and interlocking parabolic ribs at the dome. Most interesting perhaps are the many light modulators that form the transition from exterior to interior space.

Spread of Baroque to Northern Italy S. Lorenzo

Guarini: Plan of S. Lorenzo, Turin. This plan with reflected ceiling plan reveals the complex patterns of Guarini’s vaults. The four pairs of rotunda columns provide a richness through the layering of architectural elements. However, their small diameters indicate that they are false structure, with the loads above being carried by the cantilever.

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The Baroque in Central Europe Karlskirche

Karlskirche, Vienna, 1716-25.

Fischer von Erlach possessed an knowledge of early architectural history, which he put to use here. The triumphal columns connect the Hapsburg Empire to Roman antiquity and the dome alludes to papal Rome.

The Baroque in Central Europe Karlskirche

Fischer von Erlach: Section through the Karlskirche, Vienna. Compared to the plan and elevation, the section is tame; cut along the central axis, however, it gives no hint of the cowboy- storefront quality of the façade.

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The Baroque in Central Europe Karlskirche

Fischer von Erlach: Plan of the Karlskirche, Vienna. It is hard to imagine a more unusual plan than this one. The attitude of its designer, who borrowed from numerous sources, anticipates the tide of eclecticism that would reach a high point in the late-nineteenth century.

The Baroque in Central Europe St. Nicholas

Christoph Dientzenhofer: St. Nicolas on the Lesser Side, Prague, 1703-11.

One of six architect brothers, Christoph Dientzenhofer designed this church using wall pillars. Setting these pillars on the diagonal, he was able to support syncopated, three-dimensionally curving transverse arches that met tangentially at the centers of the bays, producing dual spatial readings.

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The Baroque in Central Europe Einsiedeln

Moosbrugger: Abbey, Einsiedeln, 1719-35.

This abbey or monastery was designed by brothers Caspar and Johann Moosbrugger. Such families of building craftsmen were common in Baroque Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia.

The Baroque in Central Europe Wurtzburg

Neumann: Wursburg Residence, begun 1720. This is the garden front of the palace. The second floor contains the royal reception room reached by one of the great stairs of the period.

Photo by Michael Fazio.

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The Baroque in France S. Marie de la Visitation

Francois Mansart: Plan of S. Marie de la Visitation, Paris, 1632. Mansart’s central-rotunda plan was unique at the time in France. The column screens were motivated by the need to shield the nun’s choir connected to the adjacent monastery.

The Baroque in France Val-de-Grace

Francois Mansart: Early section drawing for the Church of the Val-de-Grace, Paris. Low-slung vaults in the stunted nave and steep, telescoping domes at the crossing connect Mansart to spatial investigations in the work of Guarini and Vittone.

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The Baroque in France Val-de-Grace

Francois Mansart: Reflected ceiling plan of the Church of the Val-de-Grace, Paris, 1644-46. Mansart simplified his early schemes for this church in order to make it economically buildable. He was so inclined to overwork projects that he was sometimes replaced as designer by impatient clients.

The Baroque in France Maisons

Francois Mansart: Plan of the Chateau at Maisons, near Paris, 1642-51. Of particular interest here is the central entry. Its cruciform plan is defined by massive walls inside which stand four pairs of columns: an apparently trabeated building inside an arcuated one. The plan also illustrates the French preference for dominant end pavilions.

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The Baroque in France Versailles

Le Notre: Plan of the palace and gardens, Versailles, begun 1661. The vast axial plan at Versailles is a fulfillment of the proposal put forward in the sixteenth century by Sixtus V in his replanning of Rome. The young Pierre L’Enfant, his father a court painter, lived here and remembered his experience when he laid out the axes- over-grid plan for Washington, D.C.

The Baroque in France Les Invalides

J. H. Mansart: Saint-Louis-des-Invalides, Paris, 1670-1708. J. H. Mansart made use of drawings he inherited from his uncle Francois in preparing a design for this church. His center plan can also be compared to Bramante’s scheme for St. Peter’s.

Section through Saint-Louis-des- Invalides, Paris. Mansart’s triple-shell dome not only creates two scales, interior and exterior, but also pursues his uncle Francois Mansart’s experiments with spatial layers resulting from dome truncations.

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Wren and the Baroque in England St. Paul’s

Wren: Site plan of the St. Paul’s Cathedral area, London. After the great London fire of 1666, Sir Christopher Wren proposed a replanning that would have placed St. Paul’s at a critical spot along several major axial streets. It never happened, and the church remains today amidst the rebuilt medieval street pattern.

Wren and the Baroque in England St. Paul’s

Wren: “Great Model” plan for St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, 1673. Wren’s so- called “Great Model” was found to be unacceptable in England because it had strong Catholic overtones, derived from the churches of the Italian Baroque Style in Rome.

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Wren and the Baroque in England St. Paul’s

Wren: Plan and section of St. Paul’s, London. Remnants of the “Great Model” can be found in the many domed units covering both nave and aisles. It is Wren’s interpretation of an ancient Roman basilica.

Hawksnoor, Vanbrugh, and Gibbs Castle Howard

Vanbrugh: Plan of Castle Howard, Yorkshire, begun 1701. While Palladian in conception, the Castle Howard is vast; the width of this complex is almost 600 feet.

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Hawksnoor, Vanbrugh, and Gibbs Blenheim Palace

Vanbrugh and Hawksmoor, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, 1705-24. This sprawling palace was financed by the British crown as a means to reward the Duke of Marlboro for his military exploits at the Battle of Blenheim.

Hawksnoor, Vanbrugh, and Gibbs St. Martin-in-the-Fields

Gibbs: Plan, section, and elevation of St. Martin-in-the- Fields, London, 1721-26. Gibbs successfully united the temple front, Wren-like tower, and basilican nave to produce a prototype for churches in England and America. He tried out several variants before settling on this composition that begins as a square, moves through sets of octagons, and terminates with a faceted spire. His ideas were successfully disseminated by his much-read and richly illustrated book, “A Book of Architecture.”