Lavish, opulent, and unabashedly dramatic, the Baroque style developed out of the Renaissance with the primary goal of inspiring awe. The most complex and sophisticated movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Baroque encompassed all forms of artistic expression, from painting to music to literature. Published to accompany a major traveling exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, this richly illustrated book traces the evolution and spread of Baroque, examines the defining motifs and characteristics of the style, and reviews the importance of performance and spectacle. Like many artistic movements, the lifeblood of the Baroque style was patronage, both papal and princely, and the authors explore in detail the gorgeous churches and splendid palaces that resulted from such commissions. With previously unseen objects from public and private collections worldwide, Baroque is an unparalleled critical look at an inimitable period in art.