Baroque Architecture Essay

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Today when talking about Baroque architectures, most people would come up with two of the most famous buildings from Baroque Period which are Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London and Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican. This essay will explore the differences between the designs and effects in both St. Paul’s Cathedral and St. Peter’s Basilica by comparing their background information, front façades, naves, high altars, and most importantly dome designs.

The Baroque Period was between late the 16th and mid-18th century which occurred after the Renaissance Period. About 1500, when rebuilding started and the Popes became the greatest builders in the world, Julius II, from Urbino and Michelangelo from Florence carried out their grandiose schemes …show more content…

Peter’s Cathedral is located at the highest point in the City of London and was designed by architect Christopher Wren. Because of the faith in religion and the political system, English Baroque was unapparent. Baroque aesthetics made little impact in England during the 17th century. The popularity of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Catholic Church. Although England was a Protestant nation, Charles II started refurbishing his royal palaces on his restoration in 1660. According to Kostof (1995), Charles II valued the arts as a way to assert the renewed power and encouraged foreign artists to go to England. Charles II was a great supported of Christopher …show more content…

There was an old Victorian marble high alter and screen that were damaged by a bomb in World War II in St. Paul’s. It has later been replaced by a marble and gilded oak alter in 1958. There is a special table where bread and wine are consecrated by priests. Inside St. Peter’s, the massive altar is situated right above the tomb of Saint Peter, which is very important for Catholics. There are four enormous columns around the altar to support a bronze canopy over the altar. Each column is 30.5 meters tall and weighs nearly 93 tons. The four spiral columns are called Solomonic columns. Gian Lorenzo Bernini took the twisting form of the Solomonic column and enlarged it as the base to create the

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