Baroque art (derived from the Portuguese word ‘Barrocco’ meaning rough or imperfect pearl) originated in Italy and a few other countries as an imperceptible passage from the late Renaissance which ended about 1600. It was occasionally seen as a variation and brutalization of the Renaissance style and sometimes conversely as a higher form of its development, and remained dominant until approximately the middle of the eighteenth century. Conventionally, the Baroque style is not emphasized in the global history of art, because the time period when it flourished — between 1550 and 1750 — is correctly viewed as an enclosed time period in which various directions of style were expressed.
For some specialists, the Baroque style, because it adapted to the strict forms of the Renaissance, was strictly nothing other than a branch or a variant of the Renaissance art from which it arose. This is how it was for all changes of style in the history of art: each new direction built on the foundations of the previous one. The Gothic style followed from the Romantic which adapted from the Old Christian, and so on. Since the time when Hellenic art ruled the world, it served as a measure and foundation for the subsequent style developments, which only more or less distance themselves from it or else imitate it.
However, the Baroque style distanced itself from the strict principles and theories of the Antique so much that the Antique fundamentals were hardly recognizable. It is difficult to draw a distinctive line between the Renaissance and the Baroque, as both schools merge into each other. However, the Baroque cannot simply be limited to a specific timeline or location. Moreover, one can only strictly speak of a proper Baroque style in the fields of architecture and perhaps sculpture.
The Baroque period occurred during an era of deep religious, cultural and social unrest. Wars, the Reformation and other confusions resulted in a new political order and complicated spiritual and cultural development. The medieval system of government slowly dissolved between 1520 and 1530, and the Reformation had its indelible effect on the people as the imperial princes became more and more powerful.