Teresa Oaxaca, Neo Baroque celebration of extravagence

Neo Baroque

The Baroque was a period of celebration and exuberance expressed best through the arts. Its strong insistence on Christian themes was also a thin veil for the pagan extravagance that had been going on since the earlier Renaissance. Through Humanism during these periods man was taken and put at the center of the world in many different guises; cupids, satyrs, shepherds, angels, gods, royalty and peasantry. They frolicked about in the public arena unabashed. They adorned theatres, public fountains, mansions and public buildings, churches and other common places of gathering. These ages were alive with an enjoyment and hungry patronage of the arts.

The Baroque was more than the glorification of the monarch or the aristocracy; in sketches and other documentation of the period we become of aware of monumental festival pavilions and other temporary public installations.

The costumes and masks and painted scenery that made up the atmosphere of the religious festival and many other special days. Less visible to us than the solid palaces are the now lost public fairs and festivals, carnivals, mystery plays, and pageants. On these events everyone worked hard to create a sense of the suspension of reality in favor of ennobling existence. On a day like this anyone could be a king and was a celebrated soul.
Teresa Oaxaca
Aug 15, 2015

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