The Baroque (1600–1750) was art designed to overwhelm your senses and bypass your reason. Gold, marble, twisting columns, dramatic lighting, emotional extremes. The Church and the aristocracy used it to project power.
Plan a history trip →Caravaggio (1571–1610): revolutionary painter, murderer, fugitive. Invented chiaroscuro. Paintings in Roman churches (San Luigi dei Francesi, Santa Maria del Popolo — both free). Bernini (1598–1680): sculptor, architect, impresario. St. Peter’s colonnade, Ecstasy of St. Teresa (Santa Maria della Vittoria, free), Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Piazza Navona). Borromini (1599–1667): Bernini’s rival. San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza.
Lecce: "Baroque Florence of the South" — every church and palace in golden limestone Baroque. Noto, Ragusa, Modica (Sicily): rebuilt in Baroque after the 1693 earthquake. UNESCO Val di Noto. Turin: Guarini’s Cappella della Sindone, Juvarra’s Basilica di Superga. Naples: Cappella Sansevero (€10, the Veiled Christ — the most technically astonishing marble sculpture in existence).