Abstract: In the compositional structure of baroque art, one of the basic, most characteristic, means of expression is the way light and shade are used. In the paintings of quite a number of the artists from around 1600 the darkness deepens, dimming the outlines of the figures and objects, sometimes even predominating over the lit up parts. This tendency of style later called the maniera tenebrosa finds no correspondence in baroque art theory and was attacked by critics of the time. However, in practice tenebrism was an extremely widespread current in painting. Darkness as opposed to light and at the same time complementary to it is an iconographic and psychological factor of significant importance in this new language of art. This cannot be solely explained by the influence of Caravaggio as is usually done. Caravaggio merely gave eloquent expression to this tendency which was born of a general background in the spirit of the time. This study is an introductory attempt at tracing what ideas and opinions went to contribute to the phenomenon of tenebrism and at the same time are a commentary on it. The answer to this question we do not really find in the art criticism of the time. An exception is Lomazzo's Treatise which introduced the extremely important idea of "sacred light". But there was a current of thought considering darkness as a value, as opposition but at the same time necessary complement to light. It may be found in texts dealing with other fields of intellectual life. In this regard is mentioned the theology of darkness in St. John of the Cross as well as fragments of the works of Kepler, Giordano Bruno and Galileo. There is also pointed out the frequency with which manuals deal with the projecting of shadows. The bulk of source material is supplied by the cabalistic and alchemistic doctrines with lengthy excerpts quoted from the works of Robert Fludd, Blaise Vigenere and especially Athanasius Kircher. The question of light and darkness is the most deep-rooted characteristic of baroque culture. This was also perhaps the only period in history when this question called forth so much speculation and achieved such great prestige, unheard of before then or ever since.

Abstract: From the late 1500s to the mid-1700s, Italy gave the world some of the liveliest and most imaginative structures in the history of architecture. This profusely illustrated book is the first comprehensive study in English of the works that emerged throughout the Italian peninsula during this critical period. "If Renaissance architecture was to be contemplated on an intellectual level," John Varriano writes, "Baroque architecture was to be experienced with the emotions and the senses." The grandiloquent projects of the Baroque age were generally sponsored, either directly or indirectly, by the Catholic Church, but as Varriano notes, their appeal has always transcended the immediate self-promotion of their patrons and held powerful sway over people of diverse cultural and religious backgrounds. Coming from an era when architecture was considered a true art, the best Baroque buildings are capable of provoking universal human responses. Italian Baroque and Rococo Architecture offers chapters on the key architects of the time--Gianlorenzo Bernini, Francesco Borromini, Pietro da Cortona, Guarino Guarini--as well as detailed treatments of the work of many less well-known architects who were active from Sicily to Venice. More than half of the 190 photographs and illustrations were made expressly for this book or have not previously been published. These pictures wre chosen to convey the actual experience of the site. About the Author: John Varriano is Professor of Art History at Mount Holyoke College. He has published numerous articles in his field and is the co-author of Roma Resurgens: Papal Medals from the Age of the Baroque. The first comprehensive study of a key era in architectural history

Abstract: This two-volume study examines a dance-form whose development is crucially bound up with European musical history over two hundred years. The history of the late baroque Allemande of Bach and Handel began in the 1540s in Nuremberg, with a distinct type of Tanz. This Deutscher Tanz spread to France and the Low Countries as the Almande, to England as the Almain, and to Italy as the Balletto Tedesco. All these versions influences each other as the form developed through Renaissance and Baroque Europe.

Abstract: The writings of Nikolai Gogol' reflect the complexity of the author's world perception and, as such, contain many diverse elements. This diversity has made Gogol"s works a popular subject of literary criticism and scholarly research for more than one and a half centuries. Some Gogol' scholars, such as Adolf StenderPetersen, Viktor Vinogradov, and Iurii Mann, have sought to understand and interpret Gogol"s works by focusing on parallels between his literary creations and the writings of his contemporaries and immediate predecessors. ' A few scholars, however, have looked beyond Gogol"s immediate predecessors and have pointed out parallels between his literary style and baroque literary traditions. One of the first to note baroque elements in Gogol"s writings was Stepan Shevyrev. In his article on Dead Souls, Shevyrev did not mention the term baroque (the word was not yet in vogue among scholars) but did point to the highly colorful nature of Gogol"s style. Shevyrev also noted stylistic embellishments in Gogol"s language and the lushness and massiveness of his phrasing, a characteristic of the baroque.2 Shevyrev's observations, while they are valid as the first suggestion of baroque elements in Gogol"s poetics, do not reveal the origins of the baroque tradition in Gogol"s works. A connection between the works of Gogol' and baroque culture was established only in the twentieth century by Vladimir Rozov and, later, Vasilii Gippius, who linked Gogol"s writings to Ukrainian interludes and vertep-the Ukrainian puppet theater.3 The first scholar who used the term baroque in regard to Gogol"s works was Andrei Belyi. In his book, Masterstvo Gogolia, he compared Gogol"s phrasing to a highly ornate baroque building.4 Belyi was followed by Dmitrii Chizhevskii, who connected Gogol"s writings to the Ukrainian baroque literary tradition.5 A relation between Gogol"s works and Ukrainian and Italian baroque traditions was noted by Andrei Siniavskii in

Abstract: This study of Scarlatti's first and most-performed opera investigates the reasons for its popularity, initially political, but subsequently musical. Among the details inspected are the social and political situation in Rome; an analysis of the music and libretto; the earliest Roman performances using hitherto unpublished contemporary documents and comparisons with other works performed-during the Carnival of 1679; Queen Christina's early patronage of Scarlatti and his first opera; subsequent performances through 1699, the last-known production; and conclusions about the importance of this opera.

Abstract: Documents discovered at the archives nationales have made it possible for us to throw light on the socio-historical context of the last tragedie lyrique by jean-philippe rameau : les boreades. We are now able to date the work, thanks to the invoice of copyist durand (1763) and to resolve some of the questions concerning the number of musicians involved;we can even understand the method used by the copyists and the way the rehearsals were organised. As to the reason why les boreades was not perfomed in public, we support the hypothesis that this was due to a cabal rather than mere accident. We have attributed the libretto to louis de cahusac; we have also underlined the political aspect of the text and its masonic overtones. An analysis of the formal structure and musical language of the work clearly demonstrates the beginings of a break with baroque tradition. The dramaturgy and the overall structure of les boreades how that the work was definitly conceived as a whole and not as a compilation of short peaces. Rameau's language in his last work, while remaining linked to the baroque, prefigures the new aesthetic with consequences which reach beyond the classical style.

Abstract: One of the stumbling blocks in research into late Baroque opera has been the lack of modern critical scores; it is a situation caused, in many cases, by the disappearance of the primary sources. A case in point is Bernardo Pasquini’s opera Dov’e Amore e Pieta of 1679, of which only the libretto and an excerpted aria remain. Given the fact that this work was produced in the same year and the above-named comedy of Alessandro Scarlatti, and that Pasquini had by this stage acquired a secure reputation in Rome and therefore probably exerted some influence on the musical style of the younger man, a critical edition or facsimile would have provided a very useful point of reference for the student. As it is, we are left guessing at the reasons why (as indicated in contemporary documents cited by Professor D’Accone) Dov’e Amore e Pieta failed to fulfil the public expectations of its distinguished composer, while the operator debut of the 18-year old Palermitano turned out to be the operatic success of the...

Abstract: " L'Astree " en France aujourd'hui : un modele d'analyse psychologique. Pour Scudery et le XVIIe s., c'est la reussite de l'alliance entre une thematique psychologique et une forme epique, d'une esthetique de la diversite. Quelques representations de cette esthetique dans le roman : la fontaine et le labyrinthe du jardin d'Isoure, le jardin ordonne dans la campagne sauvage, l'errance psychologique des amants isoles allant tous vers la comprehension de l'Amour

Abstract: Lecture du " Conceit " de la poesie metaphysique anglaise a l'aide de la poetique baroque de Matteo Peregrini ( " Delle acutezze ", 1639) et Emanuele Tesauro ( " Cannocchiale aristotelico| 1654)