Baroque

Bryleigh Pierce
Dec 29, 2025
2 min read

Updated: Jan 12

Flourishing from the early sixteenth century until the mid-eighteenth century, the Baroque movement extended beyond the visual arts to encompass music, poetry, architecture, literature and theatre. Through its dynamic compositions and dramatic intensity, art in this period sought to evoke awe and passion by engaging the viewer emotionally, transforming artistic expression into a vivid experience of power and spirituality.

Elisabetta Sirani, Baptism of Christ (1658). San Gerolamo della Certosa, Bologna, Italy.

The opulence of Baroque was encouraged by the Catholic Church during the Counter-Reformation in a deliberate response to the austerity of Protestant art. Through monumental architecture, dramatic religious imagery and theatrical staging, the Church sought to inspire faith and assert its authority. Baroque art thus reflects not only artistic innovation, but also the political and religious currents that shaped Europe in this period.

The Baroque period occupies a crucial position in the history of art, representing a moment of profound creativity and transformation, where art became a means of stirring the viewer’s senses and spirit. For women, it was also a time of assertion and resilience, a moment when their talents, though often constrained by convention, helped to expand the emotional and intellectual boundaries of the movement itself.

Baroque women