Baroque Ornament and Designs

Baroque art and architecture -- extravagant in concept, exuberant in spirit, elaborate in detail -- flourished in seventeenth-century Europe, and through the ages has continued to stir us with its vitality and dynamism and its mood of barely suppressed passion. In the architecture of St. Peter's in Rome, St. Paul's in London, and Santa Maria della Salute in Venice as well as in the works of Michelangelo, Bernini, and Rubens, the Baroque spirit lives today. Now graphic artists can add Baroque flair to almost any graphic project with this magnificent collection of royalty-free motifs.The seventeenth-century French artist Jacques Stella (1596-1657) embodies the Baroque sensibility. Early in his career, Stella spent seven years in Florence, working for Medici Prince Cosimo II and enjoying the acquaintance and advice of the master engraver Jacques Callot. He spent another ten years in Rome, where he came under the artistic influence of his friend Nicolas Poussin. On his return to France, ch