baroque

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Klein suggests the name may be from Italian painter Federigo Barocci (1528-1612), a founder of the style. How to tell baroque from rococo, according to Fowler: “The characteristics of baroque are grandeur, pomposity, and weight; those of rococo are inconsequence, grace, and lightness.” But the two terms often used without distinction for styles featuring odd and excessive ornamentation.

A period in the arts, visual and musical, from about 1600 to about 1750, marked by elaborate ornamentation and efforts to create dramatic effects. Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederick Handel, and Antonio Vivaldi were great composers of the baroque era.