Baroque describes a dramatic, ornate style of art, music, and architecture that flourished in Europe from about 1600 to 1750. Baroque buildings feature grand curves, golden decorations, and elaborate details that seem to overflow from every surface. Baroque paintings use strong contrasts between light and shadow to create emotional, theatrical scenes. Baroque music, composed by masters like Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi, layers multiple melodies together in complex, energetic patterns.

The style emerged when artists wanted to create work that felt powerful and emotionally moving. A Baroque church might have a ceiling painted to look like heaven opening up above you, with angels swirling in golden clouds. Baroque composers wrote pieces where violins, trumpets, and harpsichords weave together in intricate conversations, building to triumphant crescendos.

Today, people sometimes use baroque (with a lowercase b) to describe anything overly complicated or decorated. If someone writes a sentence with too many fancy words and clauses, you might call it baroque. But when capitalized, Baroque refers specifically to that historical period when European artists created some of the most spectacular, emotionally powerful works in Western culture.