Few periods in history are so fundamentally contradictory as the
Baroque, the culture flourishing from the mid-sixteenth to the
mid-eighteenth centuries in Europe. When we hear the term âBaroque,â the
first images that come to mind are symmetrically designed gardens in
French chateaux, scenic
fountains in Italian squares, and the vibrant rhythms of a harpsichord.
Behind this commitment to rule, harmony, and rigid structure, however,
the Baroque also embodies a deep fascination with wonder, excess,
irrationality, and rebellion against order. The Oxford Handbook of the Baroque
delves into this contradiction to provide a sweeping survey of the
Baroque not only as a style but also as a historical, cultural, and
intellectual concept. With its thirty-eight chapters edited by leading
expert John D. Lyons, the Handbook explores different manifestations of
Baroque culture, from theatricality in architecture and urbanism to
opera and dance, from the role of water to innovations in fashion,
from
mechanistic philosophy and literature to the tension between religion
and science. These discussions present the Baroque as a broad cultural
phenomenon that arose in response to the enormous changes emerging from
the sixteenth century: the division between Catholics and Protestants,
the formation of nation-states and the growth of absolutist monarchies,
the colonization of lands outside Europe and the mutual impact of
European and non-European cultures. Technological developments such as
the telescope and the microscope and even greater access to high-quality
mirrors altered mankindâs view of the universe and of human identity
itself. By exploring the Baroque in relation to these larger social
upheavals, this Handbook reveals a fresh and surprisingly modern image
of the Baroque as a powerful response to an epoch of crisis.