Difference Between Italian And French Baroque Architecture Baroque is the name given to the art of the 17th century. But the baroque style, like all other styles in the history of art, began gradually. It started in the latter part of the 16th century and continued to be used well into the 18th century. Baroque can be defied as the florid, ornate style characterizing fine arts in Europe from the middle 16th to middle 18th centuries. The main characteristic of the baroque architecture is movement. Architects wanted their buildings to be exciting and to give the impression of activity. They did this by making dramatic contrasts of light and shadow and by using curved shapes. The Renaissance enthusiasm for antiquity led the architects to adhere to the rules of classic architecture as far as they were understood. The baroque style flouted these laws. By mid-century the carefully controlled and subtly refined Classical Baroque trend was clearly established. In France, its pre-eminent position was never seriously challenged. French Baroque architecture was more restrained in its expression than its Italian counterpart. The most common and remembered details that made the two styles different were its culture, economy, religion, government, and economics. These can make one style very different from the other, but there were also other reasons why. Italians were the first to come up with Baroque architecture, they became very interested in the surroundings of their buildings. They placed elaborate gardens around places. They set off important buildings in the cities by open squares decorated with fountains or colonnades. Roads leading from the squares giving a dramatic view of stairways, sculpture, or other buildings far in the distance. These were some of the things the Italians thought up when they first started up this new style, so when the french took in the Italians ideas, they surly changed them into what they were looking for. The French architects were full cognizant of the principals discovered in Italy, but they were also influenced by traditional French values and chose to limit their architectural vocabulary in accordance with them. Within these self-imposed limits they produced works of great order wherein variety was achieved principally through subtle adjustments in rhythm and proportions of mass… … middle of paper … …ined all odds and caught the eye of art people in Europe, single handedly changing the way we look at architecture and art in a whole. Artists and Their Works ITALIAN ARTISTS Artist Name of Work year *Illustration* Pietri da Cortona -SS. Martina e Luca 1635-1650 Bernardo Vittone -S. Chiara 1742 Gian Lorenzo Bernini -Chigi-Odescalchi -S. Andrea al Quirnale 1664 1658-1670 Francesco Borromini -S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane -Ivo 1638-41 1642-1650 Guarino Guarinin -S. Lorenzo -Palazzo Carignano -Church of the Immaculate Conception 1666-1679 1679-1692 1672-97 Alessandro Specchi -Porta di Ripetta 1703 Filippo Raguzzini -Piazza S. Ignazio -S. Maria della Quercia 1727-1728 1727 Filippo Juvarra -Church of the Carmine 1732-1735 FRENCH ARTISTS Artist Name of Work Year *Illustration* Jules Hardouin Mansart -Church of Les Invalides 1680-1691 Jacques Lemercier -Church of the Sorbonne 1635 Francois Mansart -Ste. Marie de la Visitation -Chateau of Blois -Chateau of Maisons 1632-1634 1635-1638 1642-1646 Louis Levau -College des Quatre Nations -Chateaq and Gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte 1662 1657-1661