Baroque 2006.

The idea for this composition came from my picture ‘Nine’. Baroque is the name applied to an architectural style of the seventeenth and part of the eighteenth centuries, that I find particularly interesting and highly enjoyable. The style is part of Classical architecture and is characterised by being passionate, lively, bold, theatrical, playful, irregular, colourful, rich, complex with over ornamentation and pattern.

​I have divided up the composition into nine irregular shaped rectangles, other irregular shapes and a central circle, all surrounded by a black border to show that this is a well defined architectural style. There are also three horizontal bands representing horizontal banding that can be found in some Baroque buildings and which also lean towards the central circle to create depth in the picture. There are also three vertical bands which represent pilasters and columns. The central vertical band exhibits entasis, a tapering in of the sides to reduce the optical illusion of concavity in columns.

​The golden circle, symbolic for cross sections of columns, plans of domes, circular windows and ornamental gilding, is placed at the geometrical centre of the composition which is also at the centre of a cross, representing Christianity. I’ve used gold here as symbolic for the Catholic church which has long been associated with Baroque architecture.​

​I hope that I have achieved for the viewer a certain amount of visual playfulness and visual enjoyment by the complex interplay of straight lines, curves, shapes, primary and secondary colours, black and gold, all combining to give a sense of Baroque pleasure.

​Please see my back story regarding my picture Nine.