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ROCOCO
GOTHIC
(+/-1725–1775 AD)
The Rococo movement kept the ornateness of the baroque style but
with a lighter, more graceful and asymmetrical approach. Playful and
witty secular themes were now displayed with lighter, pastel colors
and lavish use of gold. The name was derived from the French words
rocaille and coquille (rock and shell), referring to the rocks and
shell-shaped ornaments used on fountains and ornamentation. The
grand, public focus of the Baroque shifted to an emphasis on private
rooms. This style was applied mainly to interiors and expressed
through elaborately decorated plasterwork, murals, tapestries,
furniture, mirrors, porcelain, and silks. Queluz Palace in Portugal is an
example. Built in the style of Versailles in the mid-1700s, it is one of
the last magnificent Rococo buildings designed in Europe. Once a
country mansion built for Pedro III, son of King João V, its grounds
today are adorned with spectacular gardens.
(+/-1150 –1450 AD)
Gothic architecture evolved from the Romanesque and broke the
rounded arch tradition with the use of pointed arches and building
elements that stressed verticality and a reach toward the heavens, a
manifestation of Europe's focus during this period on religion over
the mundane. The pointed arch was extensively used in doorways,
windows, arcades and galleries, and enabled expansive vaulted
ceilings— higher than in the Romanesque style—by transferring the
building's weight onto supporting columns. Flying buttresses on
Gothic exteriors further supported the weight and allowed for many
tall, vertical windows as well as rows of clerestory windows near the
ceiling that flooded the structures with ethereal light. Many of
Europe's greatest cathedrals, castles and universities were built in this
style; the best-known example of Gothic architecture is Paris's Notre
Dame Cathedral, which was one of the first buildings to use the flying
buttress, a style that spread throughout Europe.
San Luis de los Franceses Church, Seville, Spain
