Baroque
A term used in the literature of the arts with both historical and critical meanings and as both an adjective and a noun. The term has a long, complex, and controversial history. Until the late 19th century it was used mainly as a synonym for ‘absurd’ or ‘grotesque’ (it possibly derives from a Portuguese word for a misshapen pearl), but in English it is now current with three principal meanings. Primarily, it designates the dominant style of European art between ... ...
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