Italian Baroque

he most typical feature of the Baroque was a need for magnificence and splendor. “This may be the reason behind the Baroque love of highly ornate decorations: the more lavish the twirls and flourishes, the more light and splendor they could represent.”

The park composition of Italian Baroque villas was developed symmetrically to an emphasized main axes. Modeling of forms and breaking of the monotony of spaces became the leading trends in the new plans along with unity of gardens and architecture. 

The use of water in order to bring some dynamics into the composition outlines the decorative strives of the Baroque art of gardening. During the Renaissance the fountain represented the ultimate architectural and sculptural element to which water was just an addition. In Baroque water clearly had an equal significance together with architecture and sculpture in the complex picturesque assemblages fountains had turned into. Water drew with its complex lines and shapes the final outlines of the fountains. The light and joyful water streams and the clear canals from the early Renaissance grew into uproaring cascades with giant water columns and free majestic waterfalls. In this respect, the cascade represents the most characteristic facility type in Italian Baroque gardens. A marvelous example is the cascade at Kazerta where water flows over and sprays above statues representing widely dancing mythology effigies. In the skilful hands of the great masters water changed into a plastic, dynamic element closely connected with sculpture.

The various plant species took an increasingly important place in parks and garden compositions. The parterres were laid out over greater spaces and enriched by more and more complex decorative figures and arabesques. The high dark green cypresses with their reflections in the pools served as a background for statues and vases. Roses covered the supporting walls and columns and formed colorful tunnels. People stared exploring nature intensely. Baroque was the time when the green theatre first appeared, when terraced increased in number and decreased in height and width and when sculpture started representing entire ornate theatre scenes. 

Baroque was the time when the garden was valued as high as a painting, a statue, a poem: a creation which brought up adoration for its beauty.