Decorative elements and baroque ornaments. Baroque patterns and ornaments How to draw a picture in the Baroque style

Baroque ornament broke with the calm harmony of the ornamental art of the Renaissance. Expressions of peace and balance gradually began to give way to a new understanding of beauty. Blind imitation of antique decor disappears. Heavy and massive elements are made more rounded (cartouche), more solemn. In the initial period, the most common motif was a mask, sometimes laughing, which replaced the sun motif. Straight lines in the ornament are gradually replaced by curved ones. Instead of calm - an emotional outburst, instead of clarity and conciseness - complexity, diversity and lush decorativeness; at the same time, the organizing center of the decorative composition, symmetry, is still preserved. Baroque ornamentation is varied and expressive. He preserves the motifs of Greek and mainly Roman art, willingly uses half-human and half-animal figures, heavy garlands of flowers and fruits, motifs of shells and lilies in combination with the symbolic sun; The antique acanthus leaf motif is widely used. In combination with the most whimsical and unexpected curls, acanthus ornaments are used in almost all types of applied art. Ornament of the second half of the 17th century. (late Baroque) is strictly symmetrical, characterized by imitation of architectural details: columns, broken pediments, balustrades, consoles. The decor of this period is rich, somewhat heavy and majestic. In addition to classical ovaries, acanthuses, trophies, the ornament abounds in volutes, cartouches, shells, altars, floor lamps, dragons, caryatids and vases of flowers. During this period, the role of the decorator increases even more. A number of artists continue the initiative of Jacques Andruet Dusereau.

Gradually, the technique of combining straight and rounded lines, which was developed by the end of the 17th century, became a characteristic feature of the decor. At the same time, other new motifs appeared: a diamond-shaped mesh decorated with small rosettes, called a trellis, and an ornament imitating a curtain cut with teeth and decorated with tassels - a lambrequin. Ornamental compositions by the artist-engraver Jean Berin (1679-1700) are widely used in many types of applied art. J. Beren relies heavily on the ornamentation of the French Renaissance. The dominant role in his ornamental compositions is played by grotesques, which were born on the basis of the study of grotesques of the 16th century. His ornaments are characterized by materiality and sculptural tangibility, which gives the compositions some heaviness and rhythmic stability. Jean Bern further develops the type of composition with a central figure in an ornamental frame, which was defined in French decorative art. Most often this is the figure of a deity or a mythological character: Apollo, Venus, Diana, Flora, Bacchus. It carries the main semantic load and determines the choice of other decorative elements of the composition. A number of motifs that developed in the work of J. Berin became decisive in the ornamentation of the subsequent period. These include curls connected by short straight stripes, thin spirals turning into acanthus, flat ribbon ornaments - everything that makes it possible to distinguish French grotesques from Italian and Flemish ones with their characteristic masks, herms, and candelabra-like forms. The work of J. Beren was an expression of the style of this time and played an important role for its subsequent development. Multi-tiered porticoes and garlands, baskets and arabesques, cornucopias and musical instruments - all this is enclosed in lush frames, symmetrically. In the sophistication and lightness of the composition, the features of the new decor of the 18th century are outlined. The Baroque style ornament has found wide application in different European countries and has acquired its own special features under the influence of the national traditions of each of them. A whimsical pattern of a wide variety of fruits and leaves, rendered with amazing expressiveness, is found in Moscow churches of the late 17th century. It covers gilded and conostases of extraordinary beauty. This complex carved ornament was called “Flerms carving” and was carried out by special masters of the Orezhey Chamber. It contains complex interlacings of intricately torn cartouches, with characteristic ridges along the edges of the curls and rows of convex pearls. These motifs penetrated to Moscow through Ukraine and Poland, where baroque ornamentation was widespread. In Russia, Baroque ornaments were also widely used in decorating the interiors of palaces created by F.-B. Rastrelli in St. Petersburg, Tsarskoe Selo, and Peterhof. A common feature of Rastrelli’s interiors is their secular, entertaining, festive appearance. There is an abundance of color, stucco, and pattern everywhere. In the decorative decoration of interiors, the master most often uses shell motifs, floral curls, cartouches, and cupids. In the hands of Russian carvers, even the elaborate curls of ornamental forms in the Baroque style are sweeping and light in their own way, full of a special life-affirming force. Russian Baroque ornament is the pride of Russian architecture; it has worthily enriched the world achievements of ornamentation. In the applied art of Russia at the beginning of the 17th century, the decor still retains its clarity and clarity of design. Subsequently, the desire for decorative filling of space, for “patternedness”, which does not leave the slightest place devoid of patterns, grows more and more. By the end of the 17th century. the floral ornament gradually begins to lose its conventional character. Instead of stems stretched in a straight line or twisted in steep spirals, plants are depicted in positions that are more natural and closer to nature. Figures of animals and birds appear among the floral ornaments. Sibyls, biblical scenes, and fairy-tale creatures (mermaid, unicorn, Sirin) are depicted on silver items. By the end of the century and in the first years of the 18th century. More and more often, fruits and berries, lush bunches and whole garlands of fruits and flowers, suspended on ribbons threaded into rings, are found in the ornament. Masters are showing increasing interest in literary works, engravings and popular prints. Numerous scenes, mainly inspired by engravings from Piscator's "Front Bible" (Holland), are enclosed in beautiful frames of flowers, leaves and curls in the Western Baroque style adopted by Russia from Ukraine. In the 17th century in Russian gold and silversmithing, much of what was widely developed in the 18th century is emerging - the desire to convey plastically voluminous forms, observation of nature and, in connection with this, a realistic depiction of plants, animals and people, the transition from linear, contour images to the rendering of chiaroscuro and space, from religious themes to secular ones. In the 17th century Russian ornament retains national characteristics and basically develops in the same ways as the ornamentation of Western European countries, among which France occupies a leading place in applied art.

Baroque era ornament.

Baroque- an artistic style that originated in Italy and spread to other European countries from the end of the 16th to the middle of the 18th century. The name of the style comes from Portuguese - “irregularly shaped pearl”; meaning “bizarre”, “strange”, “changeable” this word entered European languages. Baroque art reveals the essence of life in the movement and struggle of random, changeable elemental forces. The main features of Baroque are pomp, solemnity, and dynamism. He is also characterized by bold contrasts of scale, color, light and shadow, a combination of reality and fantasy. Baroque is characterized by the fusion of various arts in a single ensemble, the interpenetration of architecture, sculpture, painting and decorative arts. Baroque ornaments use Renaissance elements - shells, acanthus leaves, garlands, mascarons, but more complex and expressive.

The Baroque style expressed the ideas of the boundlessness and diversity of the world, its variability. Man in Baroque art was perceived as a complex personality experiencing dramatic conflicts. Everything unusual and mysterious seemed beautiful and attractive, while everything clear and correct seemed boring and dull. The peculiarity of Baroque is a more emotional contact with the viewer than in the previous era.

The fine arts were dominated by monumental decorative compositions on religious or mythological themes, and ceremonial portraits intended to decorate interiors. The sculpture established the accuracy of the portrait features of the character and, at the same time, some idealization of him. The Baroque work suggested several points of view.

In its extreme manifestations, Baroque comes to mysticism, dramatic tension, expression of forms. Events are exalted, artists prefer to glorify exploits or depict scenes of torment.

The Church sought to use art for its own purposes: to inspire people with reverence for power, to amaze or dazzle with its magnificence, to captivate people with examples of the exploits and martyrdoms of saints. This explains the attraction of Baroque masters to grandiose sizes, complex forms, pathos, and increased emotionality.

Flemish Baroque differs significantly from Italian - the works of the Flemings are filled with a sense of the colorful richness of the world, the elemental power of man and the abundantly fruitful nature. Flemish artists developed a genre of everyday life that showed a highly critical attitude towards life around them and reflected the life of ordinary people.

In the 16th century, still life was finally established as an independent genre. It expressed an interest in the material world that originated in the Dutch “painting of things” of the early 15th century. Flemish still lifes, glorifying the beauty of earthly existence, the richness of the fruits of the earth and sea, are cheerful and decorative. The canvases, large in size and bright in color, served as decoration for the walls of the spacious palaces of the Flemish nobility.

In the Flemish Baroque, realistic features are developed to a greater extent than in Italy. Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordans, Snyders captured the poeticized material beauty of nature and the image of a strong, energetic, healthy person. In painting intended to decorate family castles, palaces of the aristocracy, and Catholic churches, decorativeism, based on coloristic effects, dominates.


In 17th-century Holland, painting was the leading art form. Several painting schools emerged here, uniting major masters and their followers: Frans Hals in Haarlem, Rembrandt in Amsterdam, Fabricius and Vermeer in Delft. The tastes of bourgeois society predetermined the development of Dutch art. The artist was entirely dependent on the demands of the market. The rapid development of painting was explained not only by the demand for paintings by those who wanted to decorate their homes with them, but also by the view of them as a commodity. If a talented artist defended his independence in matters of creativity, like Hals and Rembrandt, then he found himself isolated and died an untimely death in poverty and loneliness.


Baroque developed in a unique way in France. Originated here Grand style, or Louis XIV style, combining elements of Baroque and classicism. With its figurative structure, this style expressed the ideas of prosperity of strong, absolute royal power. This was the first of the so-called “royal styles” (later on, individual stages in the development of French art began to be designated by the names of kings). A peculiarity of the development of art in France was that here in the 17th century, in essence, the very concept of artistic style took shape. The history of styles in European art actually begins with the “Grand Style” of Louis XIV, since the concept of “style” was already recognized as the most important category of art. The style began to permeate all aspects of court life, everyday life and morals. Along with this came the aestheticization of its individual elements. Refined artistic taste was valued at court; style became a real mania for the aristocrats of Berlin, Vienna and London.

In the 18th century, Baroque moved into its final phase, called late baroque. In different countries, its time boundaries were determined in their own way. It lasted the longest in monumental and decorative painting, especially in paintings of temple interiors and sculpture.

In Russia, in the first quarter of the 18th century, the first national style developed - Russian Baroque. It is characterized by: clarity of composition with decorative splendor of decoration, play of light and shadow on the facades, wide and tall windows starting directly from the floor, framed by complex platbands; suites of rooms decorated with gilded carvings, parquet floors made of expensive wood, picturesque lampshades with an illusory breakthrough of space into depth; gilding and sculpture in the external decoration of the building, colorful color combinations (intense blue or turquoise and white, sometimes a combination of orange and white).

In the 18th century, Russian art in just a few decades was destined to transform from religious to secular, to master new genres (still life, portrait, landscape, historical genre, etc.). The reforms of Peter I affected not only politics, economics, but also art. He surrounded himself with talented foreign architects, sculptors and painters, and sent Russian artists to study abroad.

In Russia, the Russian Baroque style manifested itself most clearly in architecture. At the same time, there were certain differences between the architectural schools of Moscow (Naryshkin baroque) and St. Petersburg (Petrine baroque).

The national aspirations of the era were manifested in the programmatic adherence to ancient Russian models in religious construction. The plans of churches and cathedrals again, as in pre-Petrine times, acquire centricity and five domes, which are perceived literally as a symbol of Russian people and nationality. The gilding of the domes, the gilded ornaments of the domes and domes, the intricate stucco moldings in the frames of windows and portals, the gilded wooden carvings of the iconostasis, icon cases and frames of icons brought religious buildings closer to palace ones and added a secular character to their appearance.

Naryshkinskoe Baroque. Baroque elements appeared in the decorative forms of Russian architecture in the second half of the 17th century. The new richly decorated style was called Naryshkin, or Moscow, baroque, since Russian architecture of the 17th century was significantly different from Italian and Astro-German. If Western European Baroque is characterized by tension and constrained energy, then Russian is characterized by optimistic elation and festivity.

In Baroque architecture, pilasters, columns, vases, cartouches, and sculptures were grouped in different ways to create grandeur and wealth. A variety of interior decor was provided, combining colorful panels, figured mirrors, and lamps on the walls and ceiling. The furniture was also selected to be complex and intricate in shape, rich in decor. All this created a general impression of pomp and luxury.

Petrovskoe Baroque is a term applied by art historians to the architectural and artistic style favored by Peter I and widely used for the design of buildings in the new Russian capital of St. Petersburg. Limited to the conventional framework of 1697-1730 (the time of Peter and his immediate successors), it was an architectural style that merged the influences of Italian Baroque, early French classicism, German and Dutch civil architecture and a number of other styles and trends. Thus, Peter's Baroque is not Baroque in its pure form, and this term is rather arbitrary. At the same time, it certainly reflects the latent, still implicit architectural tendency of the Peter the Great era and helps to explain the further evolution of Russian architecture to the mature Baroque style. XVIII century. This style is characterized by simplicity of volumetric construction, clarity of divisions and restraint of decoration, and a planar interpretation of facades.

Unlike the Naryshkin Baroque, popular at that time in Moscow, the Petrine Baroque represented a decisive break with the Byzantine traditions that had dominated Russian architecture for almost a millennium.

Its main representatives: Jean-Baptiste Leblond, Domenico Trezzini, Andreas Schlüter, J. M. Fontana, N. Michetti and G. Matarnovi - arrived in Russia at the invitation of Peter I. Each of these architects who worked in St. Petersburg contributed to the appearance of the buildings being constructed is a tradition of his country, of the architectural school that he represented.

Basic ornamental motifs of the Baroque era
Baroque ornament has a lot in common with the late Renaissance, which is quite natural given the organic continuity of these styles. The motif of the acanthus curl, which often turns into a cartouche, continues to play an important role as a connecting element in most compositions. It has already been noted that this motif has an extremely active, “violent” character, filling with juicy, heavy fruits. Among these curls there are active characters that the ornament was “inherited” from the Renaissance, but now they amaze with stunning realism.

Allegory is still the language of this ornament, but a much more meaningful, logical plot action, a certain paradoxical expediency, has appeared in it. For example, in one of the compositions you can see a scene of a very real deer hunt, in which, in addition to the hunter and the dog, the goddess and cupids participate. Moreover, all these characters get confused in the curls of the mythological acanthus, as if in thick real grass, hide in them, step over them.

If in Renaissance decor we see our own inner world, isolated from reality, then Baroque ornament constantly strives to break these boundaries. Elements of baroque ornament depicted on columns, cornices, portals, tapestry borders, picture frames, decorating all sorts of things, actively invade the plot outline or real space.

The decor can be so active that it overshadows the content itself. Thus, on the tapestry “A Wonderful Catch”, made from Raphael’s cardboard, the gospel plot seems to be relegated to the background due to the extreme activity of the border. The cupids depicted on it comically repeat this plot: they diligently pull huge fish, as a result of which the well-known profanation occurs.

An important aspect of Baroque ornament, also inherited from the previous style, is the excessive “irregularity” and picturesqueness of interpretation. This is a whole world with its stormy abundance, in which “irregularity”, loose compliance with symmetry emphasizes the paradoxical realism and hand-made nature.

In Baroque ornamentation we can observe the further history of transformations of the shell, medallion and cartouche motifs. Thus, the shell often takes the form of a fan or carnation (influence of Persia). It can also be associated with the French royal lily, which also reveals the original connection of these motifs.

The motif of architectural volute with long, extended connecting lines has been further developed in a variety of ways in the Renaissance ornament. These lines, sometimes with patterned, smooth bends, sometimes with clear right angles, are extremely important. They seem to organize the entire decorative space, denoting symmetrical relationships in it, and give definiteness to the compositions. Sometimes one can see a complete cooling of this motif to simple geometric divisions, without any volutes, where the classicist traditions are most clearly manifested. They are present in the decor as if on a “parity” basis with the baroque component, creating extremely intense, internally contradictory, complex decorative solutions. Finally, they may be completely absent, and then the bacchanalia of the Baroque triumphs, as if striving to get rid of any rapport dependence altogether.

Baroque ornamentation is varied and expressive. He preserves the motifs of Greek and mainly Roman art, willingly uses half-human and half-animal figures, heavy garlands of flowers and fruits, motifs of shells and lilies in combination with the symbolic sun; The antique acanthus leaf motif is widely used. In combination with the most whimsical and unexpected curls, acanthus ornaments are used in almost all types of applied art.

Ornament of the second half of the 17th century. (late Baroque) is strictly symmetrical, characterized by imitation of architectural details: columns, broken pediments, balustrades, consoles. The decor of this period is rich, somewhat heavy and majestic. In addition to classical ovaries, acanthuses, trophies, the ornament abounds in volutes, cartouches, shells, altars, floor lamps, dragons, caryatids and vases of flowers. During this period, the role of the decorator increases even more. A number of artists continue the initiative of Jacques Andruet Dusereau.

Gradually, a characteristic feature of the decor became the combination of straight and rounded lines, which was developed by the end of the 17th century. At the same time, other new motifs appeared: a diamond-shaped mesh decorated with small rosettes, called a trellis, and an ornament imitating a curtain cut with teeth and decorated with tassels - a lambrequin.

Ornamental compositions by the engraver Jean Beren (1679-1700) are widely used in many types of applied art. J. Beren relies heavily on the ornamentation of the French Renaissance. The dominant role in his ornamental compositions is played by grotesques, which were born on the basis of the study of grotesques of the 16th century. His ornaments are characterized by materiality and sculptural tangibility, which gives the compositions some heaviness and rhythmic stability.

Jean Bern further develops the type of composition with a central figure in an ornamental frame, which was defined in French decorative art. Most often this is the figure of a deity or a mythological character: Apollo, Venus, Diana, Flora, Bacchus. It carries the main semantic load and determines the choice of other decorative elements of the composition.

A number of motifs that developed in the work of J. Berin became decisive in the ornamentation of the subsequent period. These include curls connected by short straight stripes, thin spirals turning into acanthus, flat ribbon ornaments - everything that makes it possible to distinguish French grotesques from Italian and Flemish ones with their characteristic masks, herms, and candelabra-like forms.
The work of J. Beren was an expression of the style of this time and played an important role for its subsequent development.

Multi-tiered porticoes and garlands, baskets and arabesques, cornucopias and musical instruments - all this is enclosed in lush frames, symmetrically. In the sophistication and lightness of the composition, the features of the new decor of the 18th century are outlined.

The Baroque style ornament has found wide application in different European countries and has acquired its own special features under the influence of the national traditions of each of them. A whimsical pattern of a wide variety of fruits and leaves, rendered with amazing expressiveness, is found in Moscow churches of the late 17th century. It covers gilded iconostases of extraordinary beauty. This complex carved ornament was called “Flerms carving” and was carried out by special masters of the Armory Chamber.
It contains complex interlacings of intricately torn cartouches, with characteristic ridges along the edges of the curls and rows of convex pearls. These motifs penetrated to Moscow through Ukraine and Poland, where baroque ornamentation was widespread.

In Russia, Baroque ornaments were also widely used in decorating the interiors of palaces created by F.-B. Rastrelli in St. Petersburg, Tsarskoe Selo, and Peterhof. A common feature of Rastrelli's interiors is their secular, entertaining, festive appearance. There is an abundance of color, stucco, and pattern everywhere in them. In the decorative decoration of interiors, the master most often uses shell motifs, floral curls, cartouches, and cupids. In the hands of Russian carvers, even the elaborate curls of ornamental forms in the Baroque style are sweeping and light in their own way, full of a special life-affirming force. Russian Baroque ornament is the pride of Russian architecture; it has worthily enriched the world's achievements of ornamentation.

In the applied art of Russia at the beginning of the 17th century, the decor still retains its clarity and clarity of design. Subsequently, the desire for decorative filling of space, for “patternedness”, which does not leave the slightest place devoid of patterns, grows more and more.

By the end of the 17th century. the floral ornament gradually begins to lose its conventional character. Instead of stems stretched in a straight line or curled in steep spirals, plants are depicted in positions that are more natural and closer to nature. Among the floral ornaments, figures of animals and birds appear. Sibyls, biblical scenes, and fairy-tale creatures (mermaid, unicorn, Sirin) are depicted on silver items. By the end of the century and in the first years of the 18th century. More and more often, fruits and berries, lush bunches and whole garlands of fruits and flowers, suspended on ribbons threaded into rings, are found in the ornament. Masters are showing increasing interest in literary works, engravings, and popular prints. Numerous scenes, mainly inspired by engravings from Piscator's "Front Bible" (Holland), are enclosed in beautiful frames of flowers, leaves and curls in the Western Baroque style adopted by Russia from Ukraine.

In the 17th century in the Russian gold and silver business, much of what was widely developed in the 18th century is outlined - the desire to convey plastically voluminous forms, observation of nature and, in connection with this, a realistic depiction of plants, animals and people, the transition from linear, contour images to the rendering of chiaroscuro and spaces, from religious themes to secular ones.

In the 17th century Russian ornament retains national characteristics and basically develops in the same ways as the ornamentation of Western European countries, among which France occupies a leading place in applied art.

Ornament in interior items and decorative arts of the Baroque era.
Interior

In Baroque there is a reverence for the ancient classics. The halls of state meetings are painted with monumental classical scenes from the life of the gods and decorated with ancient sculpture. In decorative art, sculptural and architectural details associated with antiquity also appear, and the size of the ornament increases. Clear and massive forms, rich color contrasts predominate, and expensive exotic materials are often used.

The general impression created by the Italian Baroque interior is power, luxury and theatricality, while French interiors, being equally large-scale and magnificent, tend to be more balanced and orderly.

Lighting effects became another feature of the decorative arts, which is very clearly visible in Dutch still lifes, as well as in the use of mirrors in combination with reflective surfaces in the interior. Interest in movement is embodied, for example, in stands shaped like twisted columns. Nonlinear forms and the play of light on a wavy surface are also characteristic of Baroque.

An interest in light and movement can be observed in the development process Auricular style at the beginning of the 17th century in Dutch silver products. Named for its resemblance to the human ear, this style is characterized by abstract, dense forms and rippling water effects, sometimes strange monsters.

The fantastic ornament, so fashionable in the second half of the 16th century, begins to dominate. The play of light on the wavy surfaces of silver creates the impression of a bizarre deformation of the metal, as if in the process of melting. Auricular decoration is primarily used in Dutch silverware, although it appears occasionally in furniture and very rarely in pottery and textiles.

The establishment of lively trade with the countries of the Far East is another key moment in the development of decorative art in the 17th century. Numerous trading companies began to supply products made of lacquer, porcelain, and silk to the European market, which contributed to the formation of a taste for the exotic. The product was expensive and available only to the rich, but the demand was so great that cheap counterfeits of lacquerware and blue and white porcelain began to be produced in European countries.

At first they were quite close to the eastern prototypes, but gradually the creators, while maintaining an exotic touch, moved more and more away from the original and created a style called "chinoiserie".

Since European knowledge about the Far East was very approximate, decorative artists had to use their imagination in decorating themes.

This was followed by a further emancipation of expression, which created a fantastic, rich vocabulary of decoration that had a huge influence on the development of decorative art in the 17th and 18th centuries. Having changed, products made from blue and white porcelain begin to take on traditional European forms.

At this time, flowers were a widespread element in decorative art. New plant species are imported into Europe, botanical gardens are created, and the well-being of experienced gardeners increases. The consequence is not only a fashion for displaying cut flowers and creating new forms of flower vases, but also the rapid enrichment of artists and decorators with new motifs.

In the first half, the tulip trade reaches its peak, tulips are depicted in elaborate or stylized forms, they are engraved on silver, they appear on fabrics and pieces of furniture decorated with marquetry, and they are painted on ceramics.

Another motif borrowed from nature and antiquity is acanthus. However, it is used much more often than other foliage ornaments, without being associated with any specific era. The jagged, divided leaves of acanthus appear among architectural details in every area of ​​the decorative arts, becoming a dominant motif in Baroque decor.

In the last quarter of the century, the more strict and formal style of “Baroque classicism” prevailed, adopted by the French court and manifested in the works of French decorative artists and designers.

The works of such decorators are widely distributed in the form of prints, specially engraved boards with ornaments that are easily translated into various materials. They became a powerful source of inspiration in the decorative arts of the early 18th century.

An important aspect of the work of French decorators of the 17th and early 18th centuries. there was a revival of grotesque ornament. It was composed of acanthus tendrils, lambrequins, and fantastic creatures, symmetrically located inside finely curled edges. Although these motifs began to appear in 16th-century designs, they became more refined and linear, introducing a new element of airy lightness and elegance, largely predicting the Rococo style.

Baroque stone patterns of the church of Santa Croce in Geusalemme (chiesa di Santa Croce in Geusalemme). 17-18 centuries Rome.

Development of Baroque ornament

Modern baroque, as well as its prototype - the European style of the 17th-18th centuries, is characterized by scale, sharp combinations of light and shadow, fantasy, ornateness in the decor of buildings and interiors. Baroque ornament covered cornices, columns, borders, door portals, window openings, picture frames, and furniture. Baroque ornament uses elements of the late Renaissance - mascarons, shells, acanthus scroll, cartouche. Baroque patterns are enriched with realistic relief images of people and animals, which are mixed with cupids, mythical creatures, flowers and floral curls. The motifs of the shell, cartouche, and medallion are transformed: for example, a shell in Baroque jewelry can take on the appearance of a carnation, fan, sun, or resemble the French royal lily. In addition, Baroque ornament borrows relief designs from Greek and Roman art: half-human and half-animal figures, flower garlands, fruits.

Baroque ornament on the facade of the Church of Santa Susanna in Rome (Chiesa di Santa Susanna alle Terme di Diocleziano). Rebuilt in 1605 by the architect Carlo Moderna.

Baroque patterns of the second half of the 17th century. symmetrical, images often imitate architectural elements: pediments, columns, balustrades. The Baroque ornaments of this period include trophies, classical ova, caryatids, Atlases, dragons, vases with flowers. Smooth lines are combined with straight ones, new motifs appear: mesh with rosettes, lambrequin, teeth, tassels. Thin spirals, curls connected by straight lines, ribbons, masks, and candelabra remain popular. Lush frames include baskets, arabesques, cornucopia, and musical instruments.

Elements of Baroque ornament.

By the end of the 17th century, the Baroque plant pattern became more realistic, the plants looked like natural ones. Images of animals, birds, fairy-tale creatures, mermaids, unicorns, and sibyls are woven into the floral ornament. In the mid-17th and early 18th centuries. The grotesque was revived, and the Baroque sometimes took on extreme expressive, intense forms in relief images.

Expressive Baroque decor of the Trevi Fountain. Architect Nicola Salvi. 1732-62 Rome.

By the 18th century in the ornamental elements of the Baroque, garlands of fruits and berries, bundles of leaves and stems threaded into rings appear.

Baroque ornament.

In the last quarter of the 18th century. a more formal baroque style is in fashion. Ornaments spread from the capital of France in engraved form on boards.

Baroque ornament in European countries

Baroque ornament was widely used in different European countries, enriched by the national traditions of each people. Baroque pattern in Moscow churches of the late 18th century. called “Flem Carving”, it was created by masters of the Armory Chamber. These Baroque decorations combined torn cartouches, fruits, and leaves, creating the image of the Garden of Eden. The decor was gilded, while the main structure remained dark. “Flemish carving” (Flemish, Belarusian) differed from flat traditional Russian carving in its relief and imitated stucco. The carving technique corresponded to the European design. The art of Flemish carving came to Russia in the mid-17th century, when Belarusian carvers, at the invitation of Patriarch Nikon, came to decorate the Church of the Resurrection in New Jerusalem. After the patriarch's disgrace, they began to work at the royal court. This type of carving has become very popular because... it was possible to create luxurious decorations for temples.

Flemish carving in the Church of the Intercession in Fili is a model for churches at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries.

Baroque elements were used in the design of churches and palaces in St. Petersburg, Tsarskoye Selo, Peterhof with an abundance of stucco, ornate, complex designs.

The Church of the Intercession in Fili (1692-1693) on his Naryshkin estate near Moscow is decorated with Baroque elements.

The decor of the church used shell motifs, cartouches, cupids, and curls - characteristic elements of the Baroque.

The Flemish Baroque ornament is distinguished by the presence of a large number of fruits, plants, flowers, and everyday subjects. The development of the contemporary Baroque period was determined by the tastes of society.

Baroque patterns decorate the Flemish Baroque church - St. Michael's Church.

Several schools developed in Holland, in Haarlem - Frans Hals, in Amsterdam - Rembrandt, in Delft - Fabricius and Vermeer.

Baroque decor on the buildings of the Grand Place in Brussels, 17th century.

In France, Baroque became a royal style, expressing ideas of prosperity. Included royal symbols in the ornament. In the royal courts of Berlin, Vienna, and London, this style was considered a sign of refined taste.

Types and materials of modern baroque decor

Among the Baroque ornaments: ormuschel (Ohrmuschel - auricle), combining a cartouche with a ribbon weave and grotesques (Invented in Flanders at the end of the 16th century), knorpelwerk (Knorpel - cartilage and Werk - work) - a Baroque pattern, in the design of which masks, monster faces or the crest of a sea wave, became particularly widespread in the works of German masters of the 17th century; Strapwork, Rollwerk (Rollwerk from Rolle - roller, reel, roll and Werk - work) - a half-unfolded roll of parchment with notched edges. It is often framed by a cartouche, a trellis (treillage) - in the form of an oblique grid, decorated with small rosettes (a characteristic ornament of the Louis XIV and Rococo styles), a lambrequin, reminiscent of the curtain of the same name.

Strapwork.

Rollwerk.

To decorate the interiors and facades of modern baroque buildings, in addition to natural and artificial stone, gypsum, and concrete, you can use a lightweight, reliable material - polyurethane.

Bas-relief made of polyurethane for decorating facades and interiors in the modern Baroque style.

Sheaves threaded through polyurethane rings for modern baroque buildings. The panel is an imitation of stucco molding for decorating interiors and facades in the modern Baroque style.

The characteristics of the material make it possible to make any relief image on its basis, which can be used to decorate any interior or facade of buildings, since polyurethane is injection molded and is capable of conveying the finest detail of the form. It is resistant to low temperatures, temperature changes, humidity and mechanical stress, and can also imitate natural materials: stone, wood.

Ornament - this is a special type of artistic creativity, which is considered

many researchers does not exist as an independent work, it

only decorates this or that thing, but, nevertheless, “he... represents

is a rather complex artistic structure, for the creation of which

various means of expression are used. Among them are color, texture and

mathematical foundations of ornamental composition - rhythm, symmetry;

graphic expression of ornamental lines, their elasticity and mobility,

flexibility or angularity; plastic - in relief ornaments; and finally

the expressive qualities of the natural motifs used, the beauty of the drawn

flower, the bend of the stem, the pattern of the leaf...” The term ornament is related to the term

decor, which “never exists in its pure form, it consists of a combination

useful and beautiful; functionality comes first, beauty comes

after her." The decor must support or emphasize the shape of the product.

*****Baroque ornament is distinguished by its variety and expressiveness. He

preserves the motifs of Greek and mainly Roman art, willingly

uses half-human and half-animal figures, heavy garlands of flowers

and fruits, shell and lily motifs combined with the symbolic sun; wide

An antique acanthus leaf motif is used. In connection with the most

whimsical and unexpected

swirl ornament of acanthus

used by almost all types

applied arts.

*****Ornament of the second half of the 17th century.

(late Baroque) strictly symmetrical,

he is characterized by imitation

architectural details: columns,

torn pediments,

balustrades, consoles. The decor of this

period is rich, somewhat heavy and

majestic. The ornament is replete with volutes, cartouches, shells,

altars, dragons, caryatids and vases of flowers.

Baroque ornament in Western Europe

The ancestor of the historical style in spatial

arts and music, called “Baroque”,

became Italy, which in the 16th century gave life and

previous style of the Renaissance

(Renaissance).

From Italian “barocco” is translated as

"strange, bizarre", but there is reason to connect

a pearl with an irregular surface. First experiments in

new style were made at the end of the 16th century in the church

sculpture and architecture and preserved for quite a long time

many features of the Renaissance.

The heyday of Baroque as a special style of furniture occurred in

Baroque ornament

mid-17th century. Like all historical styles, Baroque had become by this time

the dominant style in all areas of artistic activity, including

church and civil construction, production of household items and clothing,

jewelry and weapons making, shipbuilding, instrument making (for

navigation, clocks, telescopes), instruments, etc.

The general orientation of the Baroque in the composition of objects is a departure from clarity,

the rigor and static construction of form characteristic of the Renaissance. IN

of things. The goal is to create a feeling of strength, living, active

energy, a certain mystical splendor. It couldn't have been more convenient

for the needs of the Catholic Church, which at that time opposed the movement for

church reformation that swept Europe. It is no coincidence that the Baroque was called a weapon

counter-reformation, according to whose plans churches were supposed to serve everyone

possible ways to exalt the power of Catholicism - its

architecture, sculpture, painting, gilding, light, music,

rhetorical pathos of sermons. More fully and broadly the principles of the Baroque

manifested themselves in the art of those countries in which the Counter-Reformation found itself

the most successful are in Italy, Spain and France.

From the church environment, Baroque quickly spread to architecture and

decoration of the palaces of kings, ruling nobility and nobility. In all countries

Western Europe, as well as in Russia in the 17th-18th centuries, the new style turned out to be just right

monarchical power, which fought for absolutism. Essentially

in a simplified form, baroque was reflected in urban and rural environments

common people.

Baroque furniture (main features)

The furniture items include the following:

features characteristic of the Baroque style:

1.All façade projections (or at least

at least one of them) any types of furniture

lacking a closed rectangular contour,

characteristic of the vast majority

products of the Renaissance. Squareness

the outlines are broken, at least

patterned-shaped tops of cabinets, backs of chairs and chairs, backs

beds in the form of a curved cornice, pediment or sandrik with vases.

Surfaces, in one way or another, isolated within the general

facade contour (for example, the surface of cabinet doors, sliding

boxes, pilasters), often also have their own figured contour.

2.Baroque style furniture does not have such surfaces, the only

whose decorative property would be only natural texture

wood, usually walnut or ebony. If the product contains

any large surface, such as cabinet door panels or

countertops, then it is broken by inlay (intarsia, mosaic), more often

all patterned, or “marquette” type, that is, a set of conjugate

dies 3-4 mm thick with differently oriented textures

wood

3.For the first time in the history of furniture, curved surfaces are widely used,

obtained by carpentry processing of solid wood blanks and bending (bending

solid wood - an achievement of the Baroque era). Often, but not always, and

Only in expensive products do cabinet doors have such surfaces,

the front walls of drawers, and sometimes the side walls of chests of drawers, cabinets,

tables, bureaus, secretaries. The front and sides are also often bent.

a kingdom of chairs, armchairs, sofas, tables. There are curved surfaces

both vertically and horizontally, including convex, concave and

pennant-shaped, as well as convex-concave (very rare).

4.Correct ornament with border symmetry, characteristic

It is inferior to the Renaissance, and even earlier to Gothic, and after Baroque to classicism.

place for a free pattern. Patterns are made three-dimensional, carved, or

two-dimensional - using the technique of inlay or decoration. For

materials such as yellow copper, ivory

bone, ebony, tortoiseshell, precious and semi-precious

minerals, etc. Ornamental symmetry based on rhythmic

repetition of any figure is alien to the Baroque style.

5. In this style, the main motifs of volumetric jewelry are mostly

asymmetrical - shields with a complex broken or rounded outline,

cartouches, shells, so-called “antennae” (highly elongated,

acanthus leaves branching from one another), garlands, festoons, head,

bust and full figure of a man. They are either cut out from the general array of that

or other furniture parts, or placed on it, being made of

wood, metal, ivory, turtle, etc.

6.Baroque is characterized by complex figuration of all supporting elements

(legs) of cabinets, tables, chairs, beds, etc., which is obtained with

using carving, mass bending and as a result of turning. Often legs

have a characteristic paw appearance, possibly with bird claws - so

called “cabriole” (from the French cabriole - “jump”). Much less often

turned and twisted supports are used, which were mainly made

in Germany, Holland and England.

Stages of Baroque development

In the Baroque era in France, where the style received its most vivid and complete

development, a whole galaxy of outstanding masters of architecture and

decorative artists who worked in the furniture business, such as: Jean Lepautre, Daniel

Marot, Charles Lebrun, Gilles Openordt and, in particular, the architect, painter,

decorator and blackwood carpenter Andre-Charles Boulle with his four

successors-sons.

The Baroque era is usually divided into four periods, which are chronologically

are combined with the reign of the French kings:

style of Louis XIII - early baroque, transitional from the Renaissance, 1610-

Louis XIV style, 1643-1715

Regency style (“Regency”) – transitional to the style of Louis XV, 1715-

Louis XV style – late Baroque, called “Rococo”,

Modern furniture contains elements of style

baroque are reproduced extremely rarely, most

partly in upholstered furniture. Very

common plant ornamentation

character, volumetric and flat, following the contour,

such as cabinet doors and countertops, is

simplified stylization of ornamentation not baroque, but

called second rococo, or second neo-rococo

half of the 19th century.

Baroque style ornament is widely used in

different countries of Europe, acquired under the influence of the national traditions of each

of them have their own special features. A whimsical pattern of a wide variety of fruits and

leaves, rendered with amazing expressiveness, is found in

Moscow churches of the late 17th century. It covers with extraordinary beauty

gilded iconostasis. This complex carved ornament was called

“Flermes carving” was carried out by special masters of the Armory Chamber.

Baroque ornament in Russia

Speaking about Baroque architecture and furniture in Western countries, one cannot help but say

About Russia. The second third of the 18th century is a time when Russian furniture was bizarre

combines the baroque of previous years with that which came from Western Europe

rococo. At that time F. Rastrelli, S. I. Chevakinsky and other famous

architects create luxurious houses and palaces with rich interiors for

the royal family and nobility in St. Petersburg and its environs. Interior decoration

buildings are magnificent: state halls located in an enfilade along one axis and

richly decorated with gilded carvings, huge windows and mirrors in

walls, framed by lush decor and created thanks to

reflections create the illusion of additional space, an abundance of lighting

devices, the shine of candles, which was crushed and reflected in the mirrors along with

abundance of gilded carvings. Furniture was conceived by architects as part

general decorative decoration; it consisted mainly of carved consoles and

chairs that were placed along the walls. The main halls served as the "face"

palace, they were furnished with special splendor; in this residential environment

rooms received much less attention.

*In the middle of the 18th century there was still a shortage of furniture for living quarters

premises. In her “Notes,” Catherine II described these years: “The court at that time

time was so poor in furniture that the same mirrors, beds, chairs, tables and

chests of drawers that served us in the Winter Palace were transported after us to

Summer Palace , from there to Peterhof and even went with us to Moscow. With such

during transportation, a lot of things broke and broke, and we received everything so broken

I saw that it was quite difficult to use this furniture" (these notes

date back to 1751). Furnishings from this time have survived

Furniture made for the Grand Palace in Peterhof and the Catherine Palace

in Tsarskoe Selo , mostly lost during the Second World War, and furniture

Winter Palace - during fires. Main direction of development

artistic furniture forms were determined by the influence of baroque

architects - F. Rastrelli and others, who themselves designed furniture for

the interiors they create; at the same time they brought new understanding

proportions of furniture, tasks for decorating it, as well as the meaning of upholstery fabrics,

which matched the wall upholstery. The new character of the furniture is most clearly

receives expression in carving: flat and relief, in places slotted, often

gilded. Carvings in the form of shells and

various curls in rather high relief, stylized flowers, almost

voluminous in their shapes, birds, fruits. The legs, drawers, and

mirror frames, backrests of sofas and chairs. The border often disappears

separating the ornament from the object, the entire object turns into a totality

volumetric decorations resting on each other. In addition to the baroque ornament

The carving contains Rococo elements - shells, curls, wave motifs.

Today let's look at the most interesting art style of Baroque. Its emergence was influenced by two important events of the Middle Ages. Firstly, this is a change in ideological ideas about the universe and man associated with the epoch-making scientific discoveries of that time. And secondly, with the need for those holding power to imitate their own greatness against the backdrop of material impoverishment. And the use of an artistic style that glorifies the power of the nobility and the church was just right. But against the backdrop of mercantile goals, the spirit of freedom, sensuality and self-awareness of man as a doer and creator broke through into the style itself.

- (Italian barocco - bizarre, strange, prone to excess; port. perola barroca - pearl with a vice) - a characteristic of European culture of the 17th-18th centuries, the center of which was Italy. The Baroque style appeared in the 16th-17th centuries in Italian cities: Rome, Mantua, Venice, Florence. The Baroque era is considered to be the beginning of the triumphant march of “Western civilization.” opposed classicism and rationalism.

In the 17th century, Italy lost its economic and political power. Foreigners - the Spaniards and the French - begin to rule its territory. But exhausted Italy has not lost the height of its position - it still remains the cultural center of Europe. The nobility and the church needed their power and wealth to be seen by everyone, but since there was no money for new buildings, they turned to art to create the illusion of power and wealth. This is how Baroque emerged in Italy.

Baroque is characterized by contrast, tension, dynamism of images, a desire for grandeur and splendor, for a combination of reality and illusion. During this period, thanks to the discoveries of Copernicus, the idea of ​​the world as a rational and constant unity, as well as of man as the most intelligent being, changed. As Pascal put it, man began to recognize himself as “something in between everything and nothing,” “one who captures only the appearance of phenomena, but is unable to understand either their beginning or their end.”

The Baroque style in painting is characterized by dynamism of compositions, “flatness” and splendor of forms, aristocracy and originality of subjects. The most characteristic features of Baroque are flashy floridity and dynamism. A striking example is creativity with its riots of feelings and naturalism in the depiction of people and events.

Caravaggio is considered the most significant master among Italian artists who created at the end of the 16th century. new style in painting. His paintings on religious subjects resemble realistic scenes of the author’s contemporary life, creating a contrast between late antiquity and modern times. The heroes are depicted in twilight, from which rays of light snatch out the expressive gestures of the characters, contrastingly outlining their characteristics.

In Italian Baroque painting, different genres developed, but mainly they were allegories and the mythological genre. Pietro da Cortona, Andrea del Pozzo, and the Carracci brothers (Agostino and Lodovico) succeeded in this direction. The Venetian school became famous, where the genre of vedata, or city landscape, gained great popularity. The most famous author of such works is the artist.

Rubens combined in his paintings the natural and the supernatural, reality and fantasy, scholarship and spirituality. In addition to Rubens, another master of the Flemish Baroque achieved international recognition -. With the work of Rubens, a new style came to Holland, where it was picked up by. In Spain, Diego Velazquez worked in the manner of Caravaggio, and in France - Nicolas Poussin, in Russia - Ivan Nikitin and Alexey Antropov.

Baroque artists discovered new techniques for art in the spatial interpretation of form in its ever-changing life dynamics, and intensified their life position. The unity of life in the sensory-physical joy of being, in tragic conflicts forms the basis of beauty in Baroque art. Idealized images are combined with violent dynamics, reality with fantasy, and religious affectation with emphasized sensuality.

Closely associated with the monarchy, aristocracy and the church, Baroque art was intended to glorify and propagate their power. At the same time, it reflected new ideas about the unity, boundlessness and diversity of the world, about its dramatic complexity and eternal variability, interest in the environment, in the human environment, in the natural elements. Man no longer appears as the center of the Universe, but as a multifaceted personality, with a complex world of experiences, involved in the cycle and conflicts of the environment.

In Russia, the development of Baroque falls in the first half of the 18th century. Russian Baroque was free from the exaltation and mysticism characteristic of Catholic countries, and had a number of national characteristics, such as a sense of pride in the successes of the state and people. In Baroque architecture, it reached a majestic scale in the city and estate ensembles of St. Petersburg, Peterhof, and Tsarskoe Selo. In the fine arts, freed from medieval religious shackles, they turned to secular social themes, to the image of a human activist. Baroque everywhere evolves to the graceful lightness of the Rococo style, coexists and intertwines with it, and since the 1760s. replaced by classicism.