The Baroque hero / The baroque movement     The baroque movement Chronologically, the baroque is an artistic style which follows that of the Renaissance whose most vivid expressions appeared in Italy in the 17th century. Art of imagination, contrasts, and extravagance, it also shows architectural audacity, musical surprises, and pictorial contrasts. But the terms can be interchangeable, because as the baroque is concerned with movement, it is also constantly evolving. The baroque is a complete art, reflecting the exceptional circumstances that marked its time at the end of the 16th and at the beginning of the 17th century. Today one refers to baroque architecture as well as baroque literature, music and painting. These various artistic disciplines had, according to culture, history and circumstances, different fortunes in each country. In Italy, cradle of the baroque, this artistic movement is as much architectural as sculptural, pictorial and musical. At the outset it serves the Church which, in pursuit of the objectives of  the Counter Reformation, wishes to impose Catholicism and its power. Thus, the Popes and the great prelates call on Borromini or Bernini to build spectacular churches, chapels and other religious monuments, as well as the many painters capable of magnifying the religious message in splendid and poignant allegorical frescos. Carravaggio,although on the margins of the exuberant baroque, remains one of the most famous examples. But gradually the baroque invades all of Italian society, finding fertile ground in music, of which the opera is the most shining example, and in the theatre, perfectly illustrated by the exuberance of the famous Commedia dell'Arte. In Spain, the Italian influence is manifest but the economic circumstances, the regional structure and the effects of war do not allow an architectural impetus comparable with that of Italy. Nevertheless, baroque art will appear in other domains, such as painting and literature, which display an exceptional wealth. Velasquez, Murillo, Ribera or Zurbaran are the most representative painters of the Spanish baroque period. However, architecture is not overlooked, especially thanks to the influence of the Churriguera family who at the end of the 17th century create a very characteristic form of baroque, named the “ churrigueresque style ”. Besides, throughout the Spanish colonies, the baroque becomes the expression of the Catholic Church which thereby imposes its religion on the Indians of Latin America. It builds churches, and produces altarpieces and paintings in great profusion reflecting an extreme form of the baroque style. In England, the political and religious situation, together with puritanical influence and the natural restraint of the Anglo-Saxons, did not favour the emergence of an important baroque movement. However, the architect Christopher Wren is greatly influenced by this artistic tendency, and rebuilds a major part of London after the tragic fire of 1666, bringing his baroque touch to Saint-Paul's Cathedral, and numerous churches, where fantasy appears behind the rigorous structure of the mathematician. In music, Henry Purcell, although very individualistic in his interpretation, is the only real English representative of the baroque movement. France is somewhat on the margins of this luxuriant and disorganised artistic movement, considering the unusually long reign of Louis XIV. His will to create a unique style and to submit the state to a precise order, led his architects toward the rigor and the precision of classicism. Besides, the classic architecture of Louis XIV is above all civilian and not religious. Yet the baroque appears in the provinces, in altars, screens or sculptures, but without ever reaching the same degree as in neighbouring countries. Only the festivities of Versailles and the music of Lulli are splendidly baroque. In the countries of central and northern Europe, the baroque is especially expressed with opulence and splendour in architecture, painting and sculpture. From the banks of the Danube to those of the Neva, palaces, churches, castles and monasteries provide the most spectacular examples. But the baroque is also the expression of the individual and therefore of European culture of the 17th century. In fact, it is perhaps literature, which with the creation of “ the baroque hero ” provides the most homogeneous vision of the time. The art of movement but also that of death, the baroque finds in literature a means of expression that allows it to impart all the impressions felt in this evolving world, never ceasing to innovate, build, discover, and question preconceived certainties. This evolution takes place in a climate of periodic wars, epidemics and famines among the most gruelling in the history of Western society. The Spanish Picaro, which gives birth to the “ picaresque ” novel, best embodies this baroque hero who must survive in a world where all is change, deception and shifting alliances. His assets are ruse and intelligence, in contrast to the strength and straightforwardness of the knight of the Middle Ages. Nostalgia is no longer appropriate and if the Renaissance once more placed man at the centre of the universe, the baroque grants him the freedom to act according to his own convictions.