Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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BAROQUE

The ornate form of ecclesiastical art and architecture that began in Italy in the seventeenth century and eventually spread throughout the Continent. Its purpose was to infuse new life into the cold style of the later Renaissance. Purity of form, however, was sometimes sacrificed to a love of ornament.

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