Go For Baroque
The streets of Prague and Dresden are replete with palaces, churches, civic buildings, and townhouses built in the Baroque style which began spreading across Central Europe in the late 16th century and dominated much of the 17th century. Before we get into its history and uses, let’s examine the aesthetics. When looking at a building, how do you know that its architecture is Baroque.
Beginning in Italy, the Baroque arose from the Classicism of the Renaissance which, inspired by Greek and Roman precedents, was restrained, ordered, symmetrical, often complying with mathematical formulae. When you look at a Baroque building, you see the underlying classical characteristics: balanced numbers and placement of doors, windows, columns, and pilasters (decorative columns in relief). Pediments surmount windows and doors and cornices jut from the roof lines. Unlike the Renaissance building, the Baroque building bursts from those constraints. The building’s ornament is bolder and its architectural elements more exaggerated. You may see more use of color. Pilasters and pediments protrude in higher relief creating a dynamic play of shadow and light. Doors may be recessed into columned porticoes and surrounded by sculptural figures. And these are not the idealized caryatids of classical temples. They are fleshy, naturalistic figures displaying the muscle with which they are symbolically supporting the walls and roofs.
Palazzo Farnese, Rome, Italy. 1517 - 34
Renaissance: Classical restraint with balance, order, and symmetry evoking order and calm
Photo credit: By Myrabella - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7611709
Pavillion de l’horloge, Louvre, Paris, France. 1624 - 45
Baroque: Symmetry with drama. Windows and doors are recessed, the central pavilion protrudes from the side galleries, and sculptural figures decorate the façade
Photo credit: By Jastrow - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2304910
Clam-Gallas Palace, Prague, Czechia 1714 - 18
Replacing architectural columns with muscular figures makes a statement with your visitors. Note the contrasting colors of the walls and door and window frames.
The term baroque comes from the Iberian Peninsula where it referred to an imperfect pearl. In its early use, the term was derogatory. Contemporary critics believed that the new style was an inappropriate and vulgar departure from Classicism. Yet that vulgarity was entirely suited to the ruling classes who launched building campaigns across Europe in the 17th century. Baroque architecture was meant to inspire awe and project power and wealth.
Monarchs and noblemen in the Germanic countries imported Italian architects and artisans in the early 17th century to build their palaces. The Wallenstein Palace in Prague—designed by Italian architects—was one of the first expressions of the Baroque in Central Europe. However, the Thirty Years’ War (1618 - 48) interrupted its spread. By war’s end, two factors led to its revival in many capitals. After the Treaty of Westphalia, the Holy Roman Empire encompassed a patchwork of principalities with varying political strength and ambitious monarchs. Grandiose buildings and luxurious art objects were the surest way to display wealth, power, and dominance to the neighbors. At the same time, regional architects and artists developed the requisite design skills, ending the need for foreign-born talent.
Wallenstein Palace, Prague, Czechia 1623 - 30
Early Baroque in the Mala Strana
Loggia, Wallenstein Palace
No shortage of niches, swags, and putti
When Augustus the Strong wanted to transform Dresden into a cosmopolitan and enviable capital to impress his neighbors, particularly his nemesis Friedrich I of Prussia, he hired Germans such as architect Matthaus Daniel Pöppelmann and goldsmith Johann Melchior Dinglinger. Pöpplemann erected buildings to the glory of the Saxon ruler while Dinglinger filled his treasury (the Green Vault) with sumptuous excess.
In the Zwinger (1710-32), Pöpplemann created his apotheosis of the Baroque. Originally, he designed the building as a parade and festival ground. On three sides, ornate gates allow access into the grounds with arched galleries connecting the gates and corner pavilions. In the mid-19th century, Gottfried Semper designed the picture gallery that encloses the fourth side. Working with sculptor Balthasar Permoser, Pöpplemann created an exuberant synthesis of architecture and ornament. Few surfaces remain uncarved. Every plinth is crowned with a figure. Columns drip with swags. One gets the impression that no matter how much ornament was added, it just wasn’t enough. The fact that a prosperous and powerful ruler built the Zwinger is also not lost on the viewer. Look Friedrich, I have more swags than you do.
Wall Pavillion in the Zwinger, Dresden, Germany 1709
If there is an undecorated, uncarved surface, it is difficult to find.
Like monarchs, the Catholic Church employed Baroque architecture to symbolize the glory of Christianity and reestablish its dominance after the retreat of the Ottomans from Central Europe. In Dresden, Augustus built the Hofkirche to establish his Catholic bona fides after becoming King of Poland and converting from Protestantism. Several blocks away, the Frauenkirche is a rare Protestant example of Baroque exuberance. Church interiors could display even greater magnificence, confirming for a largely illiterate population the unquestioned power of the church and its doctrine. The early 18th-century silver tomb of St. John of Nepomuk is an exemplar of drama and movement. Two tons of silver add to the lavish effect of the sculpture and design.
Tomb of St. John of Nepomuk, St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague, Czechia 1736
The monument also illustrates the transition to the 18th-century’s predominant art movement, the Rococo, which was Baroque on steroids.
Baroque architecture lived on in both cities blending with later building styles and tastes. In the 19th century as parts of Prague, such as the Jewish Quarter, were demolished and redeveloped, many architects built in neo-Baroque style alongside Art Nouveau. In parts of Dresden, which have the unusual distinction of being simultaneously 400 years old and 30 years old, much of the newer construction in the Altstadt mirrors the historical architecture of the restored Baroque buildings, creating aesthetic, if not period, harmony.