Monday, July 4th, 2016
Baroque furniture was the latest in furniture fashion in the late 17th century. The likes of Francesco Borromini and Gianlorenzo Bernini were famous architects that made baroque more innovative. It was during the last quarter of that century showed a lot of changes in terms of design. Scroll patterns and caryatids were presented for the world’s perusal. These designs were unique because they made use of the female figure along with spiral and scroll-shaped legs. By the end of that century, baroque architecture showed curved fronts on chests and wardrobes.
French Baroque
One of the most luxurious furniture pieces of baroque was handcrafted for Louis XIV, King of France. These lovely pieces were created by no less than André Charles Boulle. He combined exotic forms embellished with inlays created with tortoise shell, metals, and ebony. These pieces had gilded columnar legs which supported chairs, tables and chests. These gilded carvings seemed like imported Roman fresco.
French baroque means the artist spent a great deal of time on the furniture piece’s workmanship.
English/American Baroque
During the reign of William and Mary, baroque design on furniture also reigned supreme. The pieces there were greatly gilded in order to show the wealth that ancient England had.
In America, master craftsmen used Tudor and Elizabethan basics inspired the designs of the Pilgrim style often made from oak. This style was simple yet exquisitely designed by famous designers. The baroque design jumpstarted the evolution of furniture from ornate carvings to minute-details on the same materials used.
Ornamentally Baroque
Baroque style became ornamental by the 17th and 18th centuries. Though this is the case, it has been making a comeback into many modern homes as of late. The baroque of today is less fussy, though. It is so simple that minimalists can even use them.
The designers of today know that baroque style has the following elements – jewel tones ornate mirrors, gilded finishes, opulent moldings, curvy lines, and the most intricate architectural details. The elegance of marble is also often used by pairing it with contemporary elements.
Mixed Baroque
Baroque elements can be combined to create a balance among different time periods. For instance, you can fuse antique Louis XV lantern with ornate console table and curved ironwork.
A home office can also become more interesting if you use metallic wallpaper as a backdrop to an interesting art piece. Italian glass chandelier can also be used to balance a modern desk lamp and a modular credenza.
The Baroque Focal Point and Accents
Use an ornate island chandelier as the central element inside your kitchen. Light cabinetry and backsplash will make this same kitchen look more updated.
If you’re not keen into jumping on the baroque bandwagon, then you can just use baroque inspirations such as crown moldings and cornices. Add gilded touches onto your ceiling right on the areas that you designated as the sitting room. Plush upholstery and soft colors can tone down the intricate elements.
Rococo: Born From Baroque
You can actually play with baroque elements. A rustic bathroom fuses tramp art with baroque. Use a Rococo-form mirror framed in wood and bottle caps.
Rococo was born from the Baroque movement and is also referred to as Late Baroque.
Juxtaposition in Baroque
Light, neutral colors, dark and black woods can all be married to produce a new traditionalist theme. Don’t limit yourself to the usual church exterior mode where baroque’s distinctive elements show complex features. Ceilings are often decorated with images while plant motifs are used on walls.
Use baroque design as an inspiration to your shabby chic, bohemian, traditional and even modern settings.
Tags: baroque, Baroque design, baroque furniture, baroque furniture history, history, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings
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Thursday, May 26th, 2016
While baroque may have a certain characteristic that is entirely its own, it has different versions to offer from Europe to Latin America. While they have a slightly different look for every country, there is a reason why only a single term is used to describe them. All come from a common aesthetic beginning.
Baroque, in Spain, originally referred to an oddly-shaped pearl. In Italy, this term is used to describe a sophistic argument with little dialectic worth. It soon became known in every European language and most used it to define anything unusual, extravagant, irregular, even absurd.
A Little Baroque History
During the second half of the 19th century, Heinrich Wolfflin together with his followers brought a whole new meaning to the term baroque. This Swiss critic used the term to define more specific features such as movements (e.g. a curving on the wall or a water feature showing different water patterns).
Baroque could also be used to represent infinity. So this could be used to define the whole horizon or a trick of mirrors which can alter optical perspectives.
In Renaissance architecture, baroque is the right term to use when describing churches and palaces. These could be royal palaces, cathedrals, parish churches, monastic buildings, country mansions, etc.
The Baroque Building
A structure can be given form in various ways. It can be a piece of sculpture in the middle of a building. It can also be a mere box which is given definition by regular-shaped walls. As a skeletal framework, it is what architects see as a mass that needs to be worked on.
Churches during the Baroque period were always built with vaulted ceilings, hence, the term cathedral ceilings.
Manipulation of Light
The light that focuses a certain point in a physical structure may vary but the effect that it renders will always be the same. So imagine using the same kind of lighting on a brick wall and a smooth, granite one. Baroque architects used this fact to give emphasis to texture and proportion. The difference now lies on the level of appreciation that the spectator shows for each rendition.
A Touch of French
The greatest look that the French were able to contribute when it comes to the baroque style could not be found in architecture. You will appreciate French baroque if you take a careful look at beautiful landscape gardening. Baroque gardens have always been Italian in nature with small parks, flower beds and plants. It wasn’t until Andre Le Notre, a landscape architect that a new perspective for garden landscape was born. The French garden often stood at the center of the palace with gravel-filled carriage areas, gates, and the drive all around it. The French-inspired baroque style was the inspiration for The Netherlands and Belgium architecture.
Urban Baroque
Grand staircases are reminiscent of the aristocratic buildings during the 17th century. Having these in your home would be a good way to let people know that you mean to use the baroque style.
Baroque, more often than not, is a kind of art illusion. There are scenery paintings and other false perspectives, sculptures abound, ornaments everywhere.
For a more modern baroque style, try to use a lot of white. The elegance of marble is most welcome, as are opulent moldings, curvaceous lines, jewel tones, and gilded finishes.
You can also mix eras to create a result that is surprisingly baroque. An example is installing metallic wallpaper, and mixing it with a painting of a raven on the wall, a glass chandelier, and a modular credenza.
To cap the baroque design, make sure that you create a focal point that is sure to catch everyone’s attention. A well-placed chandelier or a wooden sculpture will do the trick.
Tags: baroque, Baroque design, baroque furniture history, baroque style, French design, French design elements, French furnishings, French furniture, French interior design, French interiors, history, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings
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