Description of the Baroque style in the interior:

The Baroque style in the interior is designed to show the wealth and prestige of the owner of the house of the 17th-18th century. Baroque design is characterized by the dynamism of images, the desire for grandeur and pomp, to combine reality and illusion. The Baroque style in the interior uses curvilinear and architectural forms (columns, architectural decor). Plastic forms of jewelry, ornate and intricately intertwined ornaments create sublimity and volume. Gold (gilding), silver, copper, bone, marble and various types of wood are widely used. 

Baroque walls: The choice of wall decoration for the Baroque style is great and depends more on the desired overall impression, the main thing is the lack of uniformity and the presence of various inserts, borders, even architectural decor. Textile wallpapers, wooden panels (often painted), plaster (without relief), stucco molding (often gilded) can be used. A baroque wall should be non-uniform, but rather graceful and ornate to match the furniture. Tapestries (tapestry) are widely used - woven carpets without lint. In addition to tapestries, brocade is often used to enhance the impression of luxury.

Baroque ceiling: First of all, it is a continuation of the wall, its idea, texture and even pattern, without sharp interruption and contrast. As well as on the walls, stucco molding and gilding are used in the Baroque interior. Fresco painting is used to add sophistication. Both flat ceilings and those made in the form of vaults are used equally. Often in the Baroque style, it is the fresco that is used to feel the volume and height of the ceiling.

Baroque floor: Equally used as a ceramic floor (imitation of marble or majolica) and wood. The choice of parquet in the Baroque style is also very diverse, from small piece to artistic. The size of the tile, parquet board, or the number of stripes in the laminate, however, as well as the color of all of the above, remains at your personal choice to match the overall interior. The only condition will be the absence of a sharp color contrast of the floor from the general tone of the finish. As an addition to the Baroque interior, painted carpets are used (a small part of the floor).

Baroque furniture: Lacquered, with curved legs, rich in intricate gilded carvings. Armchairs with a strongly bent back and an elongated seat for outstretched legs. Baroque sofas resemble several armchairs connected to each other. The upholstery is bright, often decorated with fringe, the upper edge of the back of the sofa is wavy. Chests of drawers with drawers, double-leaf cabinets, and showcases will perfectly fit into the interior of the Baroque style. Tables with a massive top made of mosaic and colored marble, round, less often rectangular in shape. The edges of the tables are carved and inlaid with heads of rams, lions or female figures. The bed is chosen massive, focusing on the beautifully decorated headboard. 

Baroque decor items: Mirrors, sculpture and painting (copies of Rubens, late Rembrandt, Caravaggio) are used as decorative elements of the interior in the Baroque style. The main theme for painting were: portraits, urban landscapes, the sea, French genre scenes with the interiors of baroque palaces. Large mirrors are hung on the walls, decorated with massive stucco molding with gilding.

Grandfather clocks decorated with bronze, pedestals for sculptures, caskets on the table, candelabra will look great in the Baroque interior, an old globe and a wall map for the office. Boudoirs are decorated with dense fabrics with a complex woven pattern. The design uses fabric with a pattern of flowers, birds or landscapes.

 

Pro Tips:

1. Baroque interior style is suitable for spacious rooms, creating exquisite halls, bedrooms and offices. For small rooms, it will not work in any way, which is due to massive furniture, which should not affect the overall volume and not stop the feeling of spaciousness and grandeur. So for the interior of a small country house, the style is inappropriate, where every element of furniture and decoration will narrow the space so small. But if you like the baroque, you can limit yourself to a little stylization, using only a few details.

2. When using the baroque style in the interior, think over the color scheme of the room, delimit it into upper and lower levels. The combination of white and gold is more than ever suitable for contrasting highlights against the background of the overall color of the room. The color scheme of furniture in most cases is similar to the decoration of the walls, often the fabric used on the walls is used to upholster the furniture. In baroque, it is important to maintain a sense of proportion, otherwise the style will look ridiculous.

3. The bed in the Baroque era was one of the most luxuriously retractable pieces of furniture. Guests were often received lying in bed, so gradually the bed took on the shape of a tent with an abundance of curtains, draperies and decorations. If for some reason it is impossible to recreate this in your bedroom, at least take care of the openwork headboard, which can also be decorated with gilding and fine carvings.

4. For additional decoration in the interior of the Baroque, niches in the walls are often used, where figurines, vases and other decorations are placed. Porcelain, mirrors, mother-of-pearl, ivory items will also add touches. A piquant touch will be the use of personal belongings of that time, as if forgotten by the owner on a table or other place. It can be a fan, an umbrella for walking, a cane, a cocked hat, even a scarf with initials.

5. The baroque interior requires a richly decorated window and door. When choosing a door, remember the palace doors. An excellent option would be double doors, painted to match the walls, or white, with colored inserts. The decoration of the door is up to your imagination. It can be carving, gilding, even textile or colored glass inserts. Above the door, you can place a panel, the so-called desudéportes.

6. Also, the baroque style will be pleasant for women who love hand embroidery. They will pleasantly be able to complement the interior with handmade pillows or embroidered fabric. For those men who love carpentry, do-it-yourself carved furniture will become not only a spiritual part of the interior, but also a pleasant pastime for its manufacture. Of course, here we are talking about a country interior. In general, the Baroque style is quite open to creative freedom, erasing the restriction in ornate decoration, carving or decoration.

 

History of the Baroque style:

BAROQUE (Italian barocco - "strange", port. perola barroca - "pearl of irregular shape") - a characteristic of European culture of the XVII-XVIII centuries, the center of which was Italy. The Baroque style appeared in the XVI-XVII centuries in Italian cities: Rome, Mantua, Venice, Florence. It is the Baroque era that is considered to be the beginning of the triumphal procession of "Western civilization".

Baroque is a wonderful time, where a woman is distinguished by pale skin, an elaborate hairstyle, a fly on her face, a corset, a fan in her hand and an elegant umbrella for walking, and a man becomes a gentleman from the English. gentle: “soft”, “gentle”, “calm”.

Entertainment in the Baroque era is given special attention. Pilgrimages are replaced by promenades (walks in the park); instead of jousting tournaments - "carousels" (horseback rides) and card games; instead of mysteries - theater and masquerade balls. You can add the appearance of swings and "fiery fun" (fireworks). In the interiors, portraits and landscapes took the place of icons, and music turned from spiritual into a pleasant play of sound.

Baroque architecture (L. Bernini, F. Borromini in Italy, B. F. Rastrelli in Russia) is characterized by spatial scope, fusion, fluidity of complex, curvilinear forms. Often there are large-scale colonnades, an abundance of sculpture on the facades and in the interiors, volutes, arched facades with a rake in the middle, rusticated columns and pilasters. The domes acquire complex forms, often they are multi-tiered, as in St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. The characteristic details of the Baroque are the telamon (atlas), the caryatid, the mascaron.

The most prominent representative of the Baroque in Italian architecture was Carlo Maderna (1556-1629), who created his own style. His main creation is the facade of the Roman church of Santa Susanna (1603).

The main creator in the development of Baroque sculpture can be called Lorenzo Bernini. He owns the decoration of the square of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome and the interiors, as well as other buildings. A significant contribution was made by D. Fontana, R. Rainaldi, G. Guarini, B. Longhena, L. Vanvitelli, P. da Cortona.

In Sicily, after a major earthquake in 1693, a new style of late Baroque appeared - Sicilian Baroque.

The Baroque style is spreading in Spain, Germany, Belgium (then Flanders), the Netherlands, Russia, France. Spanish baroque, or local churrigueresco (in honor of the architect Churriguera), which also spread to Latin America. His most famous monument is the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.

Baroque appeared in Russia as early as the 17th century (“Naryshkin baroque”, “Golitsyn baroque”). In the 18th century, during the reign of Peter I, it was developed in St. Petersburg and its suburbs in the work of D. Trezzini - the so-called "Petrine baroque" (more restrained), and flourished in the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna in the work of S. I. Chevakinsky and B. Rastrelli.

The largest and most famous Baroque ensembles in the world: Versailles (France), Peterhof (Russia), Aranjuez (Spain), Zwinger (Germany), Schönbrunn (Austria).

Later, at the beginning of the 18th century. the French developed their own style, a kind of baroque - rococo. It manifested itself not in the external design of buildings, but only in interiors, as well as in the design of books, clothing, furniture, and painting. The style was distributed throughout Europe and in Russia.