A conversation between the Baroque and Gothic
Here’s what these two architectural styles would say to you over a cup of coffee…
Baroque says: “LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! I’M ALL SHINY AND ELABORATE! AREN’T I SO PRETTY?”
Gothic says: nothing. It just stares long and hard at you until you bow in awe and terror.
My money’s with Gothic. 
21 August, 2010 at 00:46
The Gothic is from a time when most people could not read or write and never travelled more than 3 miles from home in a lifetime. It was mean’t to evoke both awe and silence from the viewer. The Medieval concept of religion: “Its all beyond your puny ability to understand”.
The Baroque comes from the humanist concepts of the 17th and 18th Centuries. It was showing off pure and simple. And it was meant to carry the message “the patron of this Church is very rich”. Less about religion and more about the guy with the deep pockets. That’s the Baroque
22 August, 2010 at 14:06
Hahaha indeed! And yet, I was in Vienna over the weekend (photos forthcoming) and for once, there was Baroque architecture that was less show-offy and more friendly, indeed, humanistic. Proof *against* my argument.
25 August, 2010 at 05:50
Vienna is a very different place for a number of reasons so I would not expect the Baroque to be a overwhelming there.
A joke that was apparently going around during WWI was about the Vienese attitude tward life:
“In Paris things are serious but not hopeless … In Vienna things are hopeless but not serious. “