Fletcher, Banister; Fletcher, Banister: A history of architecture for the student, craftsman, and amateur: being a comparative view of the historical styles from the earliest period (London, 1896)

ITALIAN RENAISSANCE.

231

THE ROCOCO STYLE.

The Rococo, or Baroco, style is a debased application to
architecture of Renaissance features. Such work is to be
distinguished from the mixtures of certain forms of the
early Renaissance, when the style was commencing, because
the Rococo period, coming after the reign of a highly
systematized classical style, represents an anarchical reaction.
Sinuous frontages, broken curves in plan and elevation,
and a strained originality in detail, are the characteristics of
the period. Columns are placed in front of pilasters, and
cornices made to break round them. Broken and curved
pediments and twisted columns are also features of the style.
In the interiors, the ornamentation is carried out to an extra-
ordinary degree, without regard to fitness or suitability, and
consists of exaggerated and badly-designed detail, often
over-emphasized by gilding. These features are specially
to be noticed in the Jesuit churches throughout Italy and
Europe. This style, commencing at the time when the move-
ment in religion connected with the Jesuits was in progress,
was adopted by them for its essentially modern character,
and its almost universal extension is a monument to their
activity.

Note.—The attentive student will trace the progress of
the Renaissance movement, the application of classical
ideas to modern forms, beneath the trappings of bad
detail.

Carlo Maderno (1556-1639), Bernini (1589-1680)
and Borromini (1599-1667), are among the more famous
who practised this debased form of art.