Baroque Architecture: Artificial or Natural?

Abstract

The term Baroque, coined by the art critics who in the 18th century advocated a return to classical norms, alludes to a work's far-fetched or artificial character. Since then, it is usually applied with that negative connotation to architecture that, in the different regions of the West, precedes Neoclassicism. However, Neoclassicism, due to its claim of universal validity, is less spontaneous and natural than Baroque architecture, which acquires different expressions depending on its geographical location. The aim of this article is to find a more accurate response to the artifice or naturalness of Baroque architecture by means of the distinction between the principle of exclusion and the principle of sacrifice proposed by Gombrich for an interpretation of artistic change.