Storiadellarte.com: italian art history

Baroque architecture is monumental. At this time many cities began changing: new roads were built and the old medieval districts were flattened. Town halls and squares were built to look monumental and spectacular and aimed at arousing wonder and admiration in spectators. The noblemen's houses were laid out as various buildings around a garden full of fountains, statues, pathways and waterfalls with the aim of exalting the dominating class with spectacular effects. Churches generally had a central plan with a single nave and they were covered by great domes. Facades covered in statues were made to look spectacular. One of the major architects of the Baroque period was Carlo Maderno who built the extension to St Peter’s nave and completed the facade started by Donato Bramante.
Another important architect was Borromini. Among his works, splendid examples of Italian baroque style, is the facade of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane in Rome, with a concave and convex design which is also found inside the church. In Venice Baldassarre Longhena designed the church of Santa Maria della Salute, in Turin Guarino Guarini planned and built the chapel of the Holy Shroud.
Some of the most significant buildings in Naples are the cloister of the Carthusian monastery of San Martino, the spire of San Gennaro and the facade of Santa Maria della Sapienza.