Baroque is the name given to the art of the 17th century. But the baroque style, like all other styles in the history of art, began gradually. It started in the latter part of the 16th century and continued to be used well into the 18th century. Baroque can be defined as the florid, ornate style characterizing fine arts in Europe from the middle 16th to middle 18th centuries. The main characteristic of baroque architecture is movement. Architects wanted their buildings to be exciting and to give the impression of activity. They did this by making dramatic contrasts of light and shadow and by using curved shapes.
             The Renaissance enthusiasm for antiquity led the architects to adhere to the rules of classic architecture as far as they were understood. The baroque style flouted these laws. By mid-century the carefully controlled and subtly refined Classical Baroque trend was clearly established. In France, its pre-eminent position was never seriously challenged. French Baroque architecture was more restrained in its expression than its Italian counterpart. The most common and remembered details that made the two styles different were its culture, economy, religion, government, and economics. These can make one style very different from the other, but there were also other reasons why.
             Italians were the first to come up with Baroque architecture, they became very interested in the surroundings of their buildings. They placed elaborate gardens around places. They set off important buildings in the cities by open squares decorated with fountains or colonnades. Roads leading from the squares giving a dramatic view of stairways, sculpture, or other buildings far in the distance. These were some of the things the Italians thought up when they first started up this new style, so when the french took in the Italians ideas, they surly changed them into what they were looking for. The French architects were full cognizant
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