FRENCH BAROQUE'S SOBRIETY

BAROQUE:*
THE ART OF THE COUNTER-REFORMATION,**
WHICH CONTESTS PROTESTANT AUSTERITY AND RATIONALITY 

*  The Portuguese term for a pearl of irregular form 

** The Church's reaction to the Protestant challenge 

Translation: 

An art that pushes back on capitalism in Catholic lands,* 

by dispersing investible wealth

and emphasizing the power of the Church -- 

except in France 

* Certain German principalities, central Europe, Spain and Portugal with their colonies

• Compare Saint James of Compostella in Spain  

with Saint-Paul Saint-Louis in Paris:

° Drama and opulence vs. restraint

All Saint James photos / Internet

Saint James: space and stairs separate the church from the street.


Saint Paul: the church is on the street, like any other building.

Voyager comme Ulysse.com

Saint James: the columns are made up of pillars.

Saint Paul: the columns are simple blocs of stone. 

Bombog

Bombog

Saint James altar


Saint Paul altar

° The saints who look down from the summits

announce different political messages  

Saint James: the pilgrim emphasizes traditional Catholicism. 

Internet

Saint Paul: the saint is a canonized king, who wears a crown rather than a halo and stands under a second crown that it is easily seen from the street. He announces the power of monarchy and the architecture and decor suggest that obedience to the rulers is necessary for salvation.

• The simplicity at Saint Paul caracterizes
other Parisian building of the time,
Place des Vosges and Pont Neuf:
Since the monarchy dominates the new economy
riches don't have to be dispersed.  

-- Another explanation, which is not a contradiction: 
The serenity of French art
 corresponds to the taste of a powerful and rational middle class
(Baroque and classicisme by Victor Tapié, 1957, a classic).

*    *     *

Fast forward:
Not destroying wealth after 1635 has a different reason --
entry into the Thirty Years' War and a civil war
absorb resources for a generation.

Little Louis XIV sleeps in torn sheets. 

*     *     *

Next,

Defeating archaic opponents of growth