Baroque is one of the most flamboyant styles of architecture in history, and the most representative city for it is Rome. Rome had become in the seventeenth century the absolute expression of what the popes regarded as the perfect answer to the Reform. Because the religious reform that had taken place earlier, with the teachings of Martin Luther, had been such a big blow for the Catholic Church, the war for souls had begun. The Catholic Church replied to the austerity that the Reform preached with the rebuilding of Rome, and the Church of Saint Peter, in the new style of baroque, showy, eye -caching, impressive, made to overwhelm the common man who would be put in front of such artistic splendors. So the Catholic Church commissioned work from the best architects, painters and sculptors to realize their dream of a magnificent city that would make a believer out of a non-believer just thru the power of art. The primary weapon in this war was architecture. So, what is baroque architecture in Rome?

1.      Piazza dei Popolo. This square is typical for the ideology that baroque urban planners wanted to implement. The baroque was one of the first architectural styles that promoted lots of curved spaces. It wanted to create a spectacle for the observer, who would never know what’s behind the next curve or corner. Baroque urban planning relied a lot on obelisks. They were meant to direct the observer from one place to the other. When you got to the next obelisk you saw, you would be overwhelmed by an incredible building or the great square that seemed to appear out of nowhere. The element of surprise was considered very important in Baroque. Also a very important aspect that was specific of baroque were the so called tromp d’oeil. It is a French term that in a literal translation means fooling the eye. So at the Northern gate, when most travelers would have entered Rome you would have landed straight in the Piazza dei Popolo, you would have seen a great obelisk, and three main streets, Corso, Babuini, and Ripetta, that were separated by two apparently identical churches. But in reality the two churches had a different plan, one was round and one was oval, and this fit in nicely with the baroque mentality, something that would trick the viewer.  This is specific for baroque architecture in Rome.

2.      Palazzo Spada. Baroque Rome was also the turf where two of the greatest architects that ever lived had their own little duel: Borromini, and Bernini. The latter was more successful and was a real celebrity and won the sympathy of the pope at first, but after the tower that he designed for the Church of Saint Peter collapsed, he was outcaste. This was coupled with one of the repercussions of his rock star lifestyle, when, blinded by jealousy, he killed a man inside the church. After that the more calculated Boromini, probably the better engineer of the two, got more and more commissions. One of his more important legacies is the Palazzo Spada. This palace has a feature that is very evocative of the spirit of that time, of the way baroque expressed itself. There is a corridor that leads to a statue that seems to be the same height as a human. But actually when you get to it you find out that it is only half the size. This is because of the same basic principle of baroque: fooling the eye of the viewer. It is done by gradually lowering the height of the corridor towards the statue. So you have the impression that the corridor is much longer than it actually is. This is called forced perspective and it makes the statue look further away and thus, a lot bigger. These kinds of tricks are specific of baroque architecture in Rome.

3.      The colonnade of Piazza San Pietro. This was the masterpiece of Bernini. It was meant to suggest the arms of god that were embracing the Christians that came to the church of Saint Peter. It also had a very baroque characteristic. The columns didn’t let you really see the church; it was obscured from view until you got close enough, and went past the colonnade. This is when the grandeur of the church was meant to overwhelm the viewer who could finally see it unobstructed. The impact this baroque trick would have had on a seventeenth century peasant who came in pilgrimage to Rome would have been immense, which was the whole point of baroque architecture in Rome.

Baroque architecture in Rome is all about playing with the viewer’s senses. The viewer has to be tricked, has to be surprised, and has to be overwhelmed. This is the sort of architecture that comes towards you; it seems very familiar and cozy, on a human scale. As opposed to neoclassical architecture that is sober, much more rigorous, cold, baroque architecture is friendly, and playful, full of surprises.

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