Baroque Architecture vs Georgian Architecture
Georgian Architecture evolved from Baroque Architecture — refined the preceding English Baroque toward calmer classical restraint.
Baroque Architecture
A dramatic, theatrical style that used curves, movement, light, and rich ornament to overwhelm and persuade — serving the Counter-Reformation Church and absolutist courts as an instrument of emotional spectacle.
- Dynamic curved and undulating façades conveying movement
- Dramatic contrasts of light and shadow in architecture
- Grand domes and soaring, often frescoed, interior spaces
- Rich ornament: gilding, sculpture, colored marble
- Architecture, sculpture, and painting unified into one spectacle
Georgian Architecture
The dominant English-speaking style of the 18th century — symmetry, classical proportion, and restrained brick-and-stone façades — named for the four King Georges.
- Strict bilateral symmetry about a central entrance
- Regularly spaced sash windows, often diminishing by storey
- Brick or ashlar façades with restrained classical ornament
- Classical door surrounds with fanlights, pediments, or pilasters
- Crowning cornice, parapet, or balustrade and hierarchical proportions
At a glance
| Baroque Architecture | Georgian Architecture | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 1600–1750 | 1714–1830 |
| Discipline | Architecture | Architecture |
| Region | Italy, Austria & Germany, France, Spain & Latin America | Great Britain, Ireland, British colonies |
| Family | Baroque | Classical |
| Formal traits | domed, curvilinear, ornamental, theatrical | symmetrical, sash-windows, masonry, restrained |
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