Italian Baroque architecture

Italian Baroque architecture is the form the broader Baroque style took in Italy, where it originated in the late sixteenth century out of the Counter-Reformation, as the Catholic Church sought new art and architecture to appeal to worshippers, and it remained the dominant style into the eighteenth century. The style is marked by drama and grandeur, with ornate and intricate decoration, expensive materials such as marble, granite and gold, large domes, cupolas and double-hipped roofs, and a dynamic, theatrical use of columns and pilasters, with wood sometimes painted to imitate more costly materials. Rome produced some of its defining works, including Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Sant'Andrea al Quirinale of 1658 and Francesco Borromini's San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, while later examples include Luigi Vanvitelli's Caserta Palace near Naples, Filippo Juvarra's Basilica of Superga of 1717 in Turin, Baldassarre Longhena's Church of Santa Maria della Salute in Venice, and the Duomo of San Giorgio in Ragusa, Sicily, rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake.