Baroque 1620 – 1800 – magnificence at the Victoria and Albert Museum

Giovanni Paolo Panini – Interior of St. Peter’s, Rome

Honoré Pelle – Bust of Charles II

Baroque 1620 – 1800 – magnificence at the Victoria and Albert Museum

The magnificence and splendour of Baroque, one of the most opulent styles of the 17thand 18th centuries, will be the subject of the V&A’s spring exhibition

4 April – 19 July 2009

]]>

The exhibition will reflect the complexity and grandeur of the Baroque style, from the Rome of Borromini andBernini to the magnificence of Louis XIV’s Versailles and the lavishness of Baroque theatreand performance. On display will be religious paintings by Rubens and Tiepolo while silverfurniture, portraits, sculpture, a regal bed and court tapestries will conjure up the roomsof a Baroque palace. The exhibition will be the first to examine all the elements of theBaroque style and will show how, as European power spread, Baroque style reached otherparts of the world, captured in objects such as a gilded Mexican altarpiece.

Baroque 1620 – 1800 will bring together around 200 objects to examine the flourishing ofthe Baroque style during the era that saw the establishment of great European andcolonial empires ruled by absolute monarchs and the continuing power of the RomanCatholic Church. Displays will cover architecture, furniture, silver, ceramics, painting,sculpture, and textiles. The exhibition will explore the Baroque style in performance andthe theatre; the public city square; religious spaces including St Peter’s Basilica in Romeand secular spaces such as Louis XIV’s Palace of Versailles