Misplaced Pages

#756243

137-667: The academy was founded on 26 March 1640 by Queen Christina of Sweden at the proposal of Count Per Brahe , on base of Åbo Cathedral School (founded 1276). It was the third university in the Swedish Empire , following Uppsala University (founded 1477) and the Academia Gustaviana (now the University of Tartu in Estonia ) (1632). The first printing shop in Finland was established at

274-624: A "Ballet de la Naissance de la Paix," performed on her birthday. On the day after, 19 December 1649, he probably started his private lessons for the queen. With Christina's strict schedule, he was invited to the cold and draughty castle at 5:00 am daily to discuss philosophy and religion. Soon, it became clear they did not like each other; she disapproved of his mechanical view, and he did not appreciate her interest in Ancient Greek . On 15 January Descartes wrote he had seen Christina only four or five times. On 1 February 1650, Descartes caught

411-465: A book about Greek dance . Christina was interested in theatre, especially the plays of Pierre Corneille ; she was herself an amateur actress. From 1638 Oxenstierna employed a French ballet troupe under Antoine de Beaulieu , who also had to teach Christina to move around more elegantly. In 1647, the Italian architect Antonio Brunati was ordered to build a theatrical setting in one of the larger rooms of

548-711: A bride. She sent letters recommending two of the Duke's daughters to Charles. Based on this recommendation, he married Hedwig Eleonora . On 10 July Christina arrived in Hamburg and stayed with Jacob Curiel at Krameramtsstuben . Christina visited Johann Friedrich Gronovius , and Anna Maria van Schurman in the Dutch Republic. In August, she arrived in the Southern Netherlands and settled down in Antwerp. For four months Christina

685-557: A certain Gian Rinaldo Monaldeschi. The official entry into Rome took place on 20 December, in a sedan chair designed by Bernini through Porta Flaminia , which today is known as Porta del Popolo . Christina met Bernini on the next day, she invited him to her apartment the same evening and they became lifelong friends. "Two days afterwards she was conducted to the Vatican Basilica, where the pope gave her confirmation. It

822-451: A cold. He died ten days later, early in the morning of 11 February 1650, and according to Chanut, the cause of his death was pneumonia . By the age of nine, Christina was already impressed by the Catholic religion and the merits of celibacy . She read a biography of the virgin queen Elizabeth I of England with interest. But Christina understood that she was expected to provide an heir to

959-528: A concave traverse. The interior was equally revolutionary; the main space of the church was oval, beneath an oval dome. Painted ceilings, crowded with angels and saints and trompe-l'œil architectural effects, were an important feature of the Italian High Baroque. Major works included The Entry of Saint Ignatius into Paradise by Andrea Pozzo (1685–1695) in the Sant'Ignazio Church, Rome , and The Triumph of

1096-705: A deliberate confusion between the real architecture and the decoration. The architecture is transformed into a theatre of light, colour and movement. In Poland, the Italian-inspired Polish Baroque lasted from the early 17th to the mid-18th century and emphasised richness of detail and colour. The first Baroque building in present-day Poland and probably one of the most recognizable is the Saints Peter and Paul Church, Kraków , designed by Giovanni Battista Trevano . Sigismund's Column in Warsaw , erected in 1644,

1233-425: A deposed brother ( Eric XIV of Sweden ) and a deposed nephew ( Sigismund III of Poland ). Gustav Adolf's legitimate younger brothers had died years earlier. The one legitimate female left, his half-sister Catharine , came to be excluded in 1615 when she married John Casimir, a non-Lutheran. Christina became the undisputed heir presumptive . From Christina's birth, King Gustav Adolph recognized her eligibility even as

1370-508: A distinct, more flamboyant and asymmetric style which emerged from the Baroque, then replaced it in Central Europe in the first half of the 18th century, until it was replaced in turn by classicism. The princes of the multitude of states in that region also chose Baroque or Rococo for their palaces and residences, and often used Italian-trained architects to construct them. A notable example

1507-631: A female heir, and although she was called "queen," the official title the Riksdag gave at her coronation in February 1633 was "king". In June 1630, when Christina was three years old, Gustav Adolf left for Germany to defend Protestantism and became involved in the Thirty Years' War . He secured his daughter's right to inherit the throne, in case he never returned, and gave orders to Axel Gustafsson Banér, his marshal, that Christina should receive an education of

SECTION 10

#1732844724757

1644-591: A few exceptions, including Ebba Sparre , Lady Jane Ruthven and Louise van der Nooth , Christina did not show any interest in any of her female courtiers. She generally mentions them in her memoirs only to compare herself favorably toward them by referring to herself as more masculine than they. Christina was educated as a royal male would have been. The theologian Johannes Matthiae Gothus became her tutor; he gave her lessons in religion, philosophy, Greek and Latin . Chancellor Oxenstierna taught her politics and discussed Tacitus with her. Oxenstierna proudly wrote of

1781-656: A giant ellipse balance the oversize dome and give the Church and square a unity and the feeling of a giant theatre. Another major innovator of the Italian High Baroque was Francesco Borromini , whose major work was the Church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane or Saint Charles of the Four Fountains (1634–1646). The sense of movement is given not by the decoration, but by the walls themselves, which undulate and by concave and convex elements, including an oval tower and balcony inserted into

1918-464: A guitarist. A Dutch theater troupe with Ariana Nozeman and Susanna van Lee visited her in 1653. Among the French artists she employed was Anne Chabanceau de La Barre , who was made court singer. In 1646, Christina's good friend, the French ambassador Pierre Chanut , met and corresponded with the philosopher René Descartes , asking him for a copy of his Meditations . Upon showing the queen some of

2055-446: A narrowing floor and a miniature statue in the garden beyond to create the illusion that a passageway was thirty meters long, when it was actually only seven meters long. A statue at the end of the passage appears to be life-size, though it is only sixty centimeters high. Borromini designed the illusion with the assistance of a mathematician. The first building in Rome to have a Baroque façade

2192-592: A never-ending round of fireworks, jousts , mock duels, acrobatics, and operas. On 31 January Vita Humana an opera by Marco Marazzoli was performed. At the Palazzo Barberini , where she was welcomed on 28 February by a few hundred privileged spectators, she watched an amazing carousel in the courtyard. Christina had settled down in the Palazzo Farnese , which belonged to the Duke of Parma . Every Wednesday she held

2329-488: A new church order, but it was voted down as this was interpreted as Crypto-Calvinism . Queen Christina defended him against the advice of Chancellor Oxenstierna, but three years later, the proposal had to be withdrawn. In 1647, the clergy wanted to introduce the Book of Concord ( Swedish : Konkordieboken ) – a book defining correct Lutheranism versus heresy, making some aspects of free theological thinking impossible. Matthiae

2466-593: A period called Royal Absolutism, which allowed the Portuguese Baroque to flourish. Baroque architecture in Portugal enjoys a special situation and different timeline from the rest of Europe. It is conditioned by several political, artistic, and economic factors, that originate several phases, and different kinds of outside influences, resulting in a unique blend, often misunderstood by those looking for Italian art, find instead specific forms and character which give it

2603-469: A pilgrimage church located near the town of Bad Staffelstein near Bamberg, in Bavaria, southern Germany. The Basilica was designed by Balthasar Neumann and was constructed between 1743 and 1772, its plan a series of interlocking circles around a central oval with the altar placed in the exact centre of the church. The interior of this church illustrates the summit of Rococo decoration. Another notable example of

2740-573: A policy. In 1649, Louis de Geer founded the Swedish Africa Company and in 1650, Christina hired Hendrik Carloff to improve trade on the Gold Coast . Her reign also saw the founding of the colony of New Sweden in 1638; it lasted until 1655. Christina has been described as the " Minerva of the North" due to her strong support of arts and academics. In 1645, Christina invited Hugo Grotius ,

2877-456: A proliferation of forms, and a richness of colours and dramatic effects. Among the most influential monuments of the Early Baroque were the façade of St. Peter's Basilica (1606–1619), and the new nave and loggia which connected the façade to Michelangelo's dome in the earlier church. The new design created a dramatic contrast between the soaring dome and the disproportionately wide façade, and

SECTION 20

#1732844724757

3014-663: A result of the Great Fire of Turku of 1827, which devastated most of the city and also badly damaged the university, the government offices that had remained were finally moved to the new capital, and so also was the university. It continued in Helsinki, first as the Imperial Alexander University in Finland , and, following Finland's independence in 1917, as the University of Helsinki . There are two universities in Turku today:

3151-529: A rounded surface, which carried images or text in gilded letters, and were placed as interior decoration or above the doorways of buildings, delivering messages to those below. They showed a wide variety of invention, and were found in all types of buildings, from cathedrals and palaces to small chapels. Baroque architects sometimes used forced perspective to create illusions. For the Palazzo Spada in Rome, Francesco Borromini used columns of diminishing size,

3288-537: A sense of awe. The style began at the start of the 17th century in Rome, then spread rapidly to the rest of Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal, then to Austria, southern Germany, and Poland. By the 1730s, it had evolved into an even more flamboyant style, called rocaille or Rococo , which appeared in France and Central Europe until the mid to late 18th century. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires including

3425-510: A sense of mystery. The Santiago de Compostela Cathedral was modernized with a series of Baroque additions beginning at the end of the 17th century, starting with a highly ornate bell tower (1680), then flanked by two even taller and more ornate towers, called the Obradorio , added between 1738 and 1750 by Fernando de Casas Novoa . Another landmark of the Spanish Baroque is the chapel tower of

3562-718: A time, the Baroque ceiling paintings were carefully created so the viewer on the floor of the church would see the entire ceiling in correct perspective, as if the figures were real. The interiors of Baroque churches became more and more ornate in the High Baroque, and focused around the altar, usually placed under the dome. The most celebrated baroque decorative works of the High Baroque are the Chair of Saint Peter (1647–1653) and St. Peter's Baldachin (1623–1634), both by Gian Lorenzo Bernini , in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The Baldequin of St. Peter

3699-465: A uniquely Portuguese variety. Another key factor is the existence of the Jesuitical architecture, also called "plain style" (Estilo Chão or Estilo Plano) which like the name evokes, is plainer and appears somewhat austere. The buildings are single-room basilicas, deep main chapel, lateral chapels (with small doors for communication), without interior and exterior decoration, simple portal and windows. It

3836-503: A university at will by the Peace of Westphalia . She is also remembered for her unconventional lifestyle and occasional adoption of masculine attire, which have been depicted frequently in media; gender and cultural identity are pivotal themes in many of her biographies. She succeeded her father Gustavus Adolphus upon his death at the Battle of Lützen at seven years old, but she began ruling

3973-565: A work bestowing doubt on all organized religion. In 1651, the kabbalist Menasseh ben Israel offered to become her agent or librarian for Hebrew books and manuscripts; they discussed his messianic ideas as he had recently spelled them out in his latest book, Hope of Israel . Other illustrious scholars who came to visit were Claude Saumaise , Johannes Schefferus , Olaus Rudbeck , Johann Heinrich Boeckler , Gabriel Naudé , Christian Ravis , Nicolaas Heinsius and Samuel Bochart , together with Pierre Daniel Huet and Marcus Meibomius , who wrote

4110-427: Is a practical building, allowing it to be built throughout the empire with minor adjustments, and prepared to be decorated later or when economic resources are available. In fact, the first Portuguese Baroque does not lack in building because "plain style" is easy to be transformed, by means of decoration (painting, tiling, etc.), turning empty areas into pompous, elaborate baroque scenarios. The same could be applied to

4247-423: Is an example of the balance of opposites in Baroque art; the gigantic proportions of the piece, with the apparent lightness of the canopy; and the contrast between the solid twisted columns, bronze, gold and marble of the piece with the flowing draperies of the angels on the canopy. The Dresden Frauenkirche serves as a prominent example of Lutheran Baroque art, which was completed in 1743 after being commissioned by

Royal Academy of Turku - Misplaced Pages Continue

4384-520: Is crowded, dense, overlapping, loaded, in order to provoke shock effects. New motifs introduced by Baroque are: the cartouche , trophies and weapons, baskets of fruit or flowers, and others, made in marquetry , stucco , or carved. The English word baroque comes directly from the French . Some scholars state that the French word originated from the Portuguese term barroco 'a flawed pearl', pointing to

4521-640: Is one of the few women buried in the Vatican Grottoes . Christina was born in the royal castle Tre Kronor . Her parents were the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus and his German wife, Maria Eleonora . They had already had three children: two daughters (a stillborn princess in 1621, then the first Princess Christina, who was born in 1623 and died the following year) and a stillborn son in May 1625. Excited expectations surrounded Maria Eleonora's fourth pregnancy in 1626. When

4658-534: Is regarded as the first tourist to visit North Cape, Norway . Another Franciscan was the Swede Lars Skytte, who, under the name pater Laurentius, served as Christina's confessor for eight years. Twenty-nine-year-old Christina gave occasion to much gossip when socializing freely with men her own age. One of them was Cardinal Decio Azzolino , who had been a secretary to the ambassador in Spain, and responsible for

4795-523: Is said to have been almost ruined by her visit. Her departure was on 8 November. The southbound journey through Italy was planned in detail by the Vatican and included brilliant triumphs in Ferrara, Bologna, Faenza and Rimini. In Pesaro , Christina became acquainted with the handsome brothers Santinelli , who so impressed her with their poetry and adeptness of dancing that she took them into service, as well as

4932-654: Is that in which the harmony is confused, and loaded with modulations and dissonances. The singing is harsh and unnatural, the intonation difficult, and the movement limited. It appears that term comes from the word 'baroco' used by logicians." In 1788 Quatremère de Quincy defined the term in the Encyclopédie Méthodique as "an architectural style that is highly adorned and tormented". The French terms style baroque and musique baroque appeared in Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française in 1835. By

5069-561: Is the St. Nicholas Church (Malá Strana) in Prague (1704–1755), built by Christoph Dientzenhofer and his son Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer . Decoration covers all of walls of interior of the church. The altar is placed in the nave beneath the central dome, and surrounded by chapels, light comes down from the dome above and from the surrounding chapels. The altar is entirely surrounded by arches, columns, curved balustrades and pilasters of coloured stone, which are richly decorated with statuary, creating

5206-467: Is the city of Baroque in Portugal. Its historical centre is part of UNESCO World Heritage List . Many of the Baroque works in the historical area of the city and beyond, belong to Nicolau Nasoni an Italian architect living in Portugal, drawing original buildings with scenographic emplacement such as the church and tower of Clérigos , the logia of the Porto Cathedral , the church of Misericórdia,

5343-618: The Codex Argenteus and the Codex Gigas . In 1649, 760 paintings, 170 marble and 100 bronze statues, 33,000 coins and medallions, 600 pieces of crystal, 300 scientific instruments, manuscripts, and books (including the Sanctae Crucis laudibus by Rabanus Maurus ) were transported to Stockholm. The art, from Prague Castle , had belonged to Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor and had been captured by Hans Christoff von Königsmarck during

5480-541: The quadratura ; trompe-l'œil paintings on the ceiling in stucco frames, either real or painted, crowded with paintings of saints and angels and connected by architectural details with the balustrades and consoles. Quadratura paintings of Atlantes below the cornices appear to be supporting the ceiling of the church. Unlike the painted ceilings of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel , which combined different scenes, each with its own perspective, to be looked at one at

5617-459: The Battle of Prague and the negotiations of the Peace of Westphalia . By 1649–1650, "her desire to collect men of learning round her, as well as books and rare manuscripts, became almost a mania", Goldsmith wrote. To catalog her new collection she asked Isaac Vossius to come to Sweden and Heinsius to purchase more books on the market. Her ambitions naturally demanded a wide-ranging correspondence. Not infrequently, she sat and wrote far into

Royal Academy of Turku - Misplaced Pages Continue

5754-413: The Battle of Prague (1648) , when her armies looted Prague Castle , many of the treasures collected by Rudolph II were brought back to Stockholm. Thus, Christina acquired a number of valuable illustrated works and rare manuscripts for her library. The inventory drawn up at the time mentions 100 an allerhand Kunstbüchern ("a hundred art books of different kinds"), among them two world-famous manuscripts:

5891-791: The Chapel of the Holy Shroud (1668–1694) by Guarino Guarini . The style also began to be used in palaces; Guarini designed the Palazzo Carignano in Turin, while Longhena designed the Ca' Rezzonico on the Grand Canal , (1657), finished by Giorgio Massari with decorated with paintings by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo . A series of massive earthquakes in Sicily required the rebuilding of most of them and several were built in

6028-529: The Duke of Guise gave up. Christina's goal was to become a mediator between France and Spain in their contest to control Naples. Her plan detailed that she would lead French troops to take Naples and rule until bequeathing the crown to France after her death. Christina sent home all her Spanish servants, including her confidant Pimentel and her confessor Guêmes. On 20 July 1656 Christina set sail from Civitavecchia for Marseille where she arrived nine days later. In early August, she traveled to Paris, accompanied by

6165-498: The Galerie des Cerfs , discussing the matter and letters with him. He insisted that betrayal should be punished with death. She was convinced that he had pronounced his own death sentence. After an hour or so Le Bel was to receive his confession. Both Le Bel and Monaldeschi entreated for mercy, but he was stabbed by her domestics – notably Ludovico Santinelli – in his stomach and in his neck. Wearing his coat of mail , which protected him, he

6302-612: The Latin verruca 'wart', or to a word with the Romance suffix -ǒccu (common in pre-Roman Iberia ). Other sources suggest a Medieval Latin term used in logic, baroco , as the most likely source. In the 16th century the Medieval Latin word baroco moved beyond scholastic logic and came into use to characterise anything that seemed absurdly complex. The French philosopher Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592) helped to give

6439-604: The Palace of San Telmo in Seville by Leonardo de Figueroa . Granada had only been conquered from the Moors in the 15th century, and had its own distinct variety of Baroque. The painter, sculptor and architect Alonso Cano designed the Baroque interior of Granada Cathedral between 1652 and his death in 1657. It features dramatic contrasts of the massive white columns and gold decor. The most ornamental and lavishly decorated architecture of

6576-642: The Palace of São João Novo , the Palace of Freixo , the Episcopal Palace ( Portuguese : Paço Episcopal do Porto ) along with many others. The debut of Russian Baroque, or Petrine Baroque , followed a long visit of Peter the Great to western Europe in 1697–1698, where he visited the Châteaux of Fontainebleau and Versailles as well as other architectural monuments. He decided, on his return to Russia, to construct similar monuments in St. Petersburg , which became

6713-487: The Swedish Empire when she reached the age of eighteen. During the Torstenson War in 1644, she initiated the issuance of copper in lumps to be used as currency . Her lavish spending habits pushed the state towards bankruptcy, sparking public unrest. Christina argued for peace to end the Thirty Years' War and received indemnity . Following scandals over her not marrying and converting to Catholicism, she relinquished

6850-620: The Swedish-speaking Åbo Akademi University (founded in 1918) and the Finnish-speaking University of Turku (1920), which both sometimes may claim an academic tradition at the location since the 17th century, in spite of a break for almost a century. 60°27′06″N 22°16′48″E  /  60.4516°N 22.2799°E  / 60.4516; 22.2799 Christina of Sweden Christina ( Swedish : Kristina ; 18 December [ O.S. 8 December] 1626 – 19 April 1689)

6987-599: The Wessobrunner School . It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Baroque in France developed quite differently from the ornate and dramatic local versions of Baroque from Italy, Spain and the rest of Europe. It appears severe, more detached and restrained by comparison, preempting Neoclassicism and the architecture of the Enlightenment . Unlike Italian buildings, French Baroque buildings have no broken pediments or curvilinear façades. Even religious buildings avoided

SECTION 50

#1732844724757

7124-474: The putrefaction . They tried to persuade Maria not to visit the corpse so often. Axel Oxenstierna managed to have the corpse interred in Riddarholmen Church on 22 June 1634, but had to post guards after she tried to dig it up. Maria Eleanora had been indifferent to her daughter, but after Gustav Adolf's death, Christina became the center of her mother's attention. Gustav Adolf had decided that in

7261-416: The 14-year-old girl that "she is not at all like a female" and had "a bright intelligence." Christina seemed happy to study ten hours a day. Besides Swedish and German , she learned at least six more languages: Dutch , Danish , French , Italian , Arabic and Hebrew . In 1644, at the age of 18, Christina was declared an adult, although the coronation was postponed because of the Torstenson War . She

7398-496: The 18th century the term began to be used to describe music, and not in a flattering way. In an anonymous satirical review of the première of Jean-Philippe Rameau 's Hippolyte et Aricie in October 1733, which was printed in the Mercure de France in May 1734, the critic wrote that the novelty in this opera was " du barocque ", complaining that the music lacked coherent melody,

7535-489: The Duke of Guise. Mazarin gave her no official sponsorship but gave instructions that she be celebrated and entertained in every town on her way north. On 8 September she arrived in Paris and was shown around; ladies were shocked by her masculine appearance and demeanor and the unguarded freedom of her conversation. When visiting the ballet with la Grande Mademoiselle , she, as the latter recalls, "surprised me very much – applauding

7672-463: The French doctor Pierre Bourdelot arrived in Stockholm. Unlike most doctors of that time, he held no faith in blood-letting ; instead, he ordered sufficient sleep, warm baths, and healthy meals, in contrast to Christina's hitherto ascetic way of life. She was only twenty-five; and advising that she should take more pleasure in life, Bourdelot asked her to stop studying and working so hard and to remove

7809-411: The Iberian Peninsula it continued, together with new styles, until the first decade of the 19th century. In the decorative arts , the style employs plentiful and intricate ornamentation. The departure from Renaissance classicism has its own ways in each country. But a general feature is that everywhere the starting point is the ornamental elements introduced by the Renaissance . The classical repertoire

7946-440: The Lutheran city council of Dresden and was "compared by eighteenth-century observers to St Peter's in Rome". The twisted column in the interior of churches is one of the signature features of the Baroque. It gives both a sense of motion and also a dramatic new way of reflecting light. The cartouche was another characteristic feature of Baroque decoration. These were large plaques carved of marble or stone, usually oval and with

8083-486: The Name of Jesus by Giovanni Battista Gaulli in the Church of the Gesù in Rome (1669–1683), which featured figures spilling out of the picture frame and dramatic oblique lighting and light-dark contrasts. The style spread quickly from Rome to other regions of Italy: It appeared in Venice in the church of Santa Maria della Salute (1631–1687) by Baldassare Longhena , a highly original octagonal form crowned with an enormous cupola . It appeared also in Turin , notably in

8220-438: The North Sea and was no longer encircled by Denmark–Norway . Chancellor Oxenstierna soon discovered that her political views differed from his own. In 1645, he sent his son, Johan Oxenstierna , to the Peace Congress in the Westphalian city of Osnabrück , to argue against peace with the Holy Roman Empire . Christina, however, wanted peace at any cost and sent her own delegate, Johan Adler Salvius . The Peace of Westphalia

8357-496: The Royal Council decided to split the office of head lady-in-waiting (responsible for the queen's female courtiers) and the office royal governess (or foster-mother) in four, with two women appointed to share each office. Accordingly, Ebba Leijonhufvud and Christina Natt och Dag were appointed to share the position of royal governess and foster mother with the title Upptuktelse-Förestånderska ('Castigation Mistress'), while Beata Oxenstierna and Ebba Ryning were appointed to share

SECTION 60

#1732844724757

8494-400: The Spanish Baroque is called Churrigueresque style, named after the brothers Churriguera , who worked primarily in Salamanca and Madrid. Their works include the buildings on Salamanca's main square, the Plaza Mayor (1729). This highly ornamental Baroque style was influential in many churches and cathedrals built by the Spanish in the Americas. Other notable Spanish baroque architects of

8631-415: The Swedish throne. Her first cousin Charles was infatuated with her, and they became secretly engaged before he left in 1642 to serve in the Swedish army in Germany for three years. Christina revealed in her autobiography that she felt "an insurmountable distaste for marriage" and "for all the things that females talked about and did." She once stated, "It takes more courage to marry than to go to war." As she

8768-723: The Vatican's correspondence with European courts. He was also the leader of the Squadrone Volante , the free-thinking "Flying Squad" movement within the Catholic Church. Christina and Azzolino were so close that the pope asked him to shorten his visits to her palace, but they remained lifelong friends. In a letter on 26 January 1676 to Azzolino Christina writes (in French) that she would never offend God or give Azzolino reason to take offense, but this "does not prevent me from loving you until death, and since piety relieves you from being my lover, then I relieve you from being my servant, for I shall live and die as your slave." As he had promised to remain celibate, his replies were more reserved. In

8905-492: The abdication ceremony at Uppsala Castle , Christina wore her regalia , which were ceremonially removed from her, one by one. Per Brahe , who was supposed to remove the crown, did not move, so she had to take the crown off herself. Dressed in a simple white taffeta dress, she gave her farewell speech with a faltering voice, thanked everyone, and left the throne to Charles X Gustav, who was dressed in black. Per Brahe felt that she "stood there as pretty as an angel." Charles Gustav

9042-415: The academy in 1642. The printer was Peder Walde. Turku (or Åbo in Swedish) was the largest city in Finland and among the three largest in Sweden, while under Swedish sovereignty. In 1809, Finland was ceded to Russia and the capital of the new Grand Duchy of Finland was relocated to Helsinki in 1812, as Turku was regarded as being too remote from Saint Petersburg — and too near to Stockholm . As

9179-560: The activities of Bourdelot and tried to convince her to change her attitude towards him; Bourdelot returned to France in 1653 "laden in riches and curses". The Queen had long conversations about Copernicus , Tycho Brahe , Francis Bacon , and Kepler with Antonio Macedo, secretary and interpreter for Portugal's ambassador. Macedo was a Jesuit , and in August 1651, smuggled on his person a letter from Christina to his general in Rome. In reply, Paolo Casati and Francesco Malines, trained in both natural sciences and theology, came to Sweden in

9316-435: The archduke invited her to his Brussels palace on Coudenberg . On 24 December 1654, she converted to the Catholic faith in the archduke's chapel in the presence of the Dominican Juan Guêmes, Raimondo Montecuccoli and Pimentel. Baptized as Kristina Augusta, she adopted the name Christina Alexandra. She did not declare her conversion in public, in case the Swedish council might refuse to pay her alimony. In addition, Sweden

9453-497: The arrangement between her and Louis XIV was ready. He would recommend Christina as queen to the Kingdom of Naples and serve as guarantor against Spanish aggression. As Queen of Naples, she would be financially independent of the Swedish king, and also capable of negotiating peace between France and Spain. On her way back Christina visited French courtesan and author Ninon de l'Enclos in the convent at Lagny-sur-Marne . In early October, she left France and arrived in Torino . During

9590-442: The author of Mare Liberum , to become her librarian, but he died on his way in Rostock . That same year she founded Ordinari Post Tijdender ("Regular Mail Times"), the oldest currently published newspaper in the world. In 1647, Johann Freinsheim was appointed as her librarian. During the Thirty Years' War, Swedish troops looted books from conquered territories and dispatched them to Sweden to win favour with Christina. After

9727-439: The baby was born, it was first thought to be a boy. It was "hairy" and screamed "with a strong, hoarse voice." She later wrote in her autobiography that "Deep embarrassment spread among the women when they discovered their mistake." The king, though, was very happy, saying, "She'll be clever, she has made fools of us all!" Gustav Adolf was closely attached to his daughter, whereas her mother remained aloof in her disappointment at

9864-471: The beheading of Arnold Johan Messenius , together with his 17-year-old son, who had accused her of serious misbehavior and of being a " Jezebel ". According to them "Christina was bringing everything to ruin, and that she cared for nothing but sport and pleasure." In 1653, she founded the Amaranten order . Antonio Pimentel was appointed as its first knight; all members had to promise not to marry (again). In

10001-489: The blame due to a brawl among courtiers, but she insisted that she alone was responsible for the act. She wrote to Louis XIV who two weeks later paid her a friendly visit without mentioning it. In Rome, people felt differently; Monaldeschi had been an Italian nobleman, murdered by a foreign barbarian with Santinelli as one of her executioners. The letters proving his guilt are gone; Christina left them with Le Bel and only he confirmed that they existed. Christina never revealed what

10138-481: The books from her apartments. For years, Christina knew by heart all the poems from the Ars Amatoria and was keen on the works by Martial and Petronius . The physician showed her the 16 erotic sonnets of Pietro Aretino , which he kept secretly in his luggage. By subtle means, Bourdelot undermined her principles. Having been Stoic , she now became an Epicurean . Her mother and de la Gardie were very much against

10275-429: The castle. Fountains at the marketplace splashed out wine for three days, a whole roast ox was served, and illuminations sparkled, followed by a themed parade ( The Illustrious Splendors of Felicity ) on 24 October. Her tutor, Johannes Matthiae, influenced by John Dury and Comenius , who since 1638 had been working on a new Swedish school system, represented a gentler attitude than most Lutherans. In 1644, he suggested

10412-591: The child being a girl. In the year after Christina's birth, Maria Eleonora was described as being in a state of hysteria owing to her husband's absences. She showed little affection for her daughter and was not allowed any influence in Christina's upbringing. He was worried that her instability might pass on to their daughter. The Crown of Sweden was hereditary in the House of Vasa , but from King Charles IX 's time onward (reigned 1604–11), it excluded Vasa princes descended from

10549-732: The churches built in the Spanish colonies in Latin America and the Philippines. The church built by the Jesuits for the College of San Francisco Javier in Tepotzotlán , with its ornate Baroque façade and tower, is a good example. From 1680 to 1750, many highly ornate cathedrals, abbeys, and pilgrimage churches were built in Central Europe, Austria, Bohemia and southwestern Poland. Some were in Rococo style,

10686-483: The contrast on the façade itself between the Doric columns and the great mass of the portico. In the mid to late 17th century the style reached its peak, later termed the High Baroque. Many monumental works were commissioned by Popes Urban VIII and Alexander VII . The sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed a new quadruple colonnade around St. Peter's Square (1656 to 1667). The three galleries of columns in

10823-580: The diplomat Antonio Pimentel de Prado to Stockholm in August. On 26 February 1649, Christina announced that she had decided not to marry and instead wanted her first cousin Charles Gustav to be heir to the throne. While the nobility objected to this, the three other estates – clergy, burghers, and peasants – accepted it. She agreed to stay on the condition the councils never again asked her to marry. In 1651, Christina lost much of her popularity after

10960-564: The early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (in the past often referred to as "late Baroque") and Neoclassical styles. It was encouraged by the Catholic Church as a means to counter the simplicity and austerity of Protestant architecture, art, and music, though Lutheran Baroque art developed in parts of Europe as well. The Baroque style used contrast, movement, exuberant detail, deep color, grandeur, and surprise to achieve

11097-418: The embalmed body of her husband. The 7-year-old Queen Christina came in solemn procession to Nyköping to receive her mother. Maria Eleonora declared that the burial should not take place during her lifetime - she often spoke of shortening her life - or at least should be postponed as long as possible. She also demanded that the coffin be kept open and went to see it regularly, patting it and taking no notice of

11234-507: The event of his death, his daughter should be cared for by his half-sister, Catherine of Sweden and half-brother Carl Gyllenhielm as regent. This solution did not suit Maria Eleonora, who had her sister-in-law banned from the castle. In 1634, the Instrument of Government , a new constitution, was introduced by Oxenstierna. The constitution stipulated that the "King" must have a Privy Council , which Oxenstierna himself headed. Maria Eleonora

11371-462: The execution of marchese Gian Rinaldo Monaldeschi , her master of the horse and formerly leader of the French party in Rome. For two months she had suspected Monaldeschi of disloyalty; she secretly seized his correspondence, which revealed that he had betrayed her interests. Christina gave three packages of letters to Le Bel, a priest, to keep them for her in custody. Three days later, at one o'clock on Saturday afternoon, she summoned Monaldeschi into

11508-404: The exterior. Subsequently, it is easy to adapt the building to the taste of the time and place, and add on new features and details. Practical and economical. With more inhabitants and better economic resources, the north, particularly the areas of Porto and Braga , witnessed an architectural renewal, visible in the large list of churches, convents and palaces built by the aristocracy. Porto

11645-546: The exuberant late Baroque or Rococo style. The Catholic Church in Spain, and particularly the Jesuits , were the driving force of Spanish Baroque architecture. The first major work in this style was the San Isidro Chapel in Madrid , begun in 1643 by Pedro de la Torre . It contrasted an extreme richness of ornament on the exterior with simplicity in the interior, divided into multiple spaces and using effects of light to create

11782-501: The help of her uncle, John Casimir , Christina tried to reduce the influence of Oxenstierna when she declared her cousin Charles Gustav as her heir presumptive. The following year, Christina resisted demands from the other estates (clergy, burghers, and peasants) in the Riksdag of the Estates for the reduction of the number of noble landholdings that were tax-exempt. She never implemented such

11919-543: The intense spatial drama one finds in the work of Borromini . The style is closely associated with the works built for Louis XIV (reign 1643–1715), and because of this, it is also known as the Louis XIV style . Louis XIV invited the master of Baroque, Bernini, to submit a design for the new east wing of the Louvre , but rejected it in favor of a more classical design by Claude Perrault and Louis Le Vau . The main architects of

12056-489: The last time on 28 October 1632 at Erfurt . The very next day, Gustav Adolf broke camp and left. On 3 November, Maria wrote to Axel Oxenstierna: "without H.R.M. 's presence, I am worth nothing, not even my life." Her mother, of the House of Hohenzollern , was said to be the most beautiful queen in Europe, but she was also considered hysterical, unstable and overly emotional. It is suggested that she inherited madness, from both

12193-517: The late Baroque include Pedro de Ribera , a pupil of Churriguera, who designed the Real Hospicio de San Fernando in Madrid, and Narciso Tomé , who designed the celebrated El Transparente altarpiece at Toledo Cathedral (1729–1732) which gives the illusion, in certain light, of floating upwards. The architects of the Spanish Baroque had an effect far beyond Spain; their work was highly influential in

12330-455: The letters, Christina became interested in beginning a correspondence with Descartes. She invited him to Sweden, but Descartes was reluctant until she asked him to organize a scientific academy. Christina sent a ship to pick up the philosopher and 2,000 books. Descartes arrived on 4 October 1649. He resided with Chanut and finished his Passions of the Soul . It is highly unlikely Descartes wrote

12467-561: The librarian Lucas Holstenius , himself a convert, waited for her in Innsbruck . On 3 November 1655, Christina announced her conversion to Catholicism in the Hofkirche and wrote to Pope Alexander VII and her cousin Charles X about it. To celebrate her official conversion, L'Argia , an opera by Antonio Cesti , was performed. Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria , already in financial trouble,

12604-464: The mass of churchgoers. The Council of Trent decided instead to appeal to a more popular audience, and declared that the arts should communicate religious themes with direct and emotional involvement. Similarly, Lutheran Baroque art developed as a confessional marker of identity, in response to the Great Iconoclasm of Calvinists . Baroque churches were designed with a large central space, where

12741-637: The meantime Christina learned that the Swedes had confiscated all her revenue as the princess had become a Catholic. King Philip IV of Spain ruled the Duchy of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples . The French politician Mazarin , an Italian himself, had attempted to liberate Naples from Spanish rule, against which the locals had fought before the Neapolitan Republic was created. A second expedition in 1654 had failed and

12878-417: The mid-19th century, art critics and historians had adopted the term baroque as a way to ridicule post-Renaissance art. This was the sense of the word as used in 1855 by the leading art historian Jacob Burckhardt , who wrote that baroque artists "despised and abused detail" because they lacked "respect for tradition". In 1888 the art historian Heinrich Wölfflin published the first serious academic work on

13015-641: The model for his summer residence, Sanssouci , in Potsdam , designed for him by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff (1745–1747). Another work of Baroque palace architecture is the Zwinger (Dresden) , the former orangerie of the palace of the electors of Saxony in the 18th century. One of the best examples of a rococo church is the Basilika Vierzehnheiligen, or Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers ,

13152-577: The most celebrated work of Polish Baroque is the Poznań Fara Church, with details by Pompeo Ferrari . After Thirty Years' War under the agreements of the Peace of Westphalia two unique baroque wattle and daub structures was built: Church of Peace in Jawor , Holy Trinity Church of Peace in Świdnica the largest wooden Baroque temple in Europe. The many states within the Holy Roman Empire on

13289-569: The new capital of Russia in 1712. Early major monuments in the Petrine Baroque include the Peter and Paul Cathedral and Menshikov Palace . During the reign of Anna and Elisabeth , Russian architecture was dominated by the luxurious Baroque style of Italian-born Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli , which developed into Elizabethan Baroque . Rastrelli's signature buildings include the Winter Palace ,

13426-583: The night while the servants came and went with new wax candles. The " Semiramis from the North" corresponded with Pierre Gassendi , her favorite author. Blaise Pascal offered her a copy of his pascaline . She had a firm grasp of classical history and philosophy. Christina studied Neostoicism , the Church Fathers , and Islam ; she systematically looked for a copy of the Treatise of the Three Impostors ,

13563-466: The palace open to visitors from the higher classes who kept themselves busy with poetry and intellectual discussions. Christina opened an academy in the palace on 24 January 1656, called Academy of Arcadia , where the participants enjoyed music, theater, and literature. The poet Reyer Anslo was presented to her. Belonging to the Arcadia-circle was also Francesco Negri , a Franciscan from Ravenna who

13700-522: The palace. In 1648, she commissioned 35 paintings from Jacob Jordaens for a ceiling in Uppsala Castle . The court poet Georg Stiernhielm wrote several plays in the Swedish language, such as Den fångne Cupido eller Laviancu de Diane , performed with Christina taking the main part of the goddess Diana . She invited foreign companies to play at Bollhuset . An Italian opera troupe visited in 1652 with Vincenzo Albrici and Angelo Michele Bartolotti ,

13837-500: The parts which pleased her, taking God to witness, throwing herself back in her chair, crossing her legs, resting them on the arms of her chair, and assuming other postures, such as I had never seen taken but by Travelin and Jodelet, two famous buffoons... She was in all respects a most extraordinary creature". Christina was treated with respect by the young Louis XIV and his mother, Anne of Austria , in Compiègne . On 22 September 1656,

13974-477: The paternal and maternal lines. However, this image of the hysterical, depressive and profligate queen dowager, which has become part of historiography , has been put into perspective in more recent research, first in the 1980s by the archivist Åke Kromnov, among others, and more recently in the monograph "Drottningen som sa nej" by Moa Matthis , published in 2010. After the king died on the battlefield on 6 November 1632, Maria Eleonora returned to Sweden with

14111-521: The period was the expansion of Palace of Versailles , begun in 1661 by Le Vau with decoration by the painter Charles Le Brun . The gardens were designed by André Le Nôtre specifically to complement and amplify the architecture. The Galerie des Glaces ( Hall of Mirrors ), the centerpiece of the château, with paintings by Le Brun, was constructed between 1678 and 1686. Mansart completed the Grand Trianon in 1687. The chapel, designed by Robert de Cotte ,

14248-415: The position of head lady-in-waiting, all four with the formal rank and title of Hovmästarinna . The Royal Council's method of giving Queen Christina several foster mothers to avoid her forming an attachment to a single person appears to have been effective, as Christina did not mention her foster mothers directly in her memoirs and did not seem to have formed an attachment to any of them; in fact, with only

14385-480: The respective diets ( Kreistage ) of three Imperial Circles : the Upper Saxon Circle , Lower Saxon Circle , and Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle ; the city of Bremen was disputed. Shortly before the conclusion of the peace settlement, she admitted Salvius into the council, against Oxenstierna's wishes. Salvius was no aristocrat, but Christina wanted the opposition to the aristocracy present. In 1649, with

14522-523: The same style when writing to women she had never met but whose writings she admired. Christina's coronation took place on 22 October 1650. Christina went to the castle of Jacobsdal , where she boarded a coronation carriage draped in black velvet embroidered in gold and pulled by three white horses. The procession to Storkyrkan was so long that when the first carriages arrived, the last ones had not yet left Jacobsdal (a distance of roughly 10.5 km or 6.5 miles). All four estates were invited to dine at

14659-476: The same year, she ordered Vossius (and Heinsius) to make a list of about 6,000 books and manuscripts to be packed and shipped to Antwerp. In February 1654, she plainly told the Council of her plans to abdicate . Oxenstierna told her she would regret her decision within a few months. In May, the Riksdag discussed her proposals. She had asked for 200,000 rikstalers a year but received dominions instead. Financially she

14796-459: The spring of 1652. She had more conversations with them, being interested in Catholic views on sin, the immortality of the soul , rationality, and free will . The two scholars revealed her plans to Cardinal Fabio Chigi . Around May 1652 Christina, raised in the Lutheran Church of Sweden , decided to become Catholic . She sent Matthias Palbitzki to Madrid and King Philip IV of Spain sent

14933-479: The style included François Mansart (1598–1666), Pierre Le Muet (Church of Val-de-Grâce , 1645–1665) and Louis Le Vau ( Vaux-le-Vicomte , 1657–1661). Mansart was the first architect to introduce Baroque styling, principally the frequent use of an applied order and heavy rustication , into the French architectural vocabulary. The mansard roof was not invented by Mansart, but it has become associated with him, as he used it frequently. The major royal project of

15070-574: The style is the Pilgrimage Church of Wies ( German : Wieskirche ). It was designed by the brothers J. B. and Dominikus Zimmermann . It is located in the foothills of the Alps , in the municipality of Steingaden in the Weilheim-Schongau district, Bavaria, Germany. Construction took place between 1745 and 1754, and the interior was decorated with frescoes and with stuccowork in the tradition of

15207-716: The style, Renaissance und Barock , which described the differences between the painting, sculpture, and architecture of the Renaissance and the Baroque. The Baroque style of architecture was a result of doctrines adopted by the Catholic Church at the Council of Trent in 1545–1563, in response to the Protestant Reformation . The first phase of the Counter-Reformation had imposed a severe, academic style on religious architecture, which had appealed to intellectuals but not

15344-495: The subsequent years, Christina thrived in the company of her aunt Catherine and her family. In 1638, after the death of her aunt and foster mother, the Royal Regency Council under Axel Oxenstierna saw the need to appoint a new foster mother to the underage monarch, which resulted in a reorganization of the queen's household. To prevent the young queen from being dependent upon a single individual and favorite mother figure,

15481-430: The ten years of her reign, the number of noble families increased from 300 to about 600, rewarding people such as Lennart Torstenson , Louis De Geer and Johan Palmstruch for their efforts. These donations took place with such haste that they were not always registered, and on some occasions, the same piece of land was given away twice. Christina abdicated her throne on 6 June 1654 in favor of Charles Gustav. During

15618-485: The term baroco (spelled Barroco by him) the meaning 'bizarre, uselessly complicated'. Other early sources associate baroco with magic, complexity, confusion, and excess. The word baroque was also associated with irregular pearls before the 18th century. The French baroque and Portuguese barroco were terms often associated with jewelry. An example from 1531 uses the term to describe pearls in an inventory of Charles V of France 's treasures. Later,

15755-579: The territory of today's Germany all looked to represent themselves with impressive Baroque buildings. Notable architects included Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach , Lukas von Hildebrandt and Dominikus Zimmermann in Bavaria , Balthasar Neumann in Bruhl , and Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann in Dresden. In Prussia , Frederick II of Prussia was inspired by the Grand Trianon of the Palace of Versailles , and used it as

15892-473: The throne to her cousin Charles X Gustav and settled in Rome. Pope Alexander VII described Christina as "a queen without a realm, a Christian without faith, and a woman without shame." She played a leading part in the theatrical and musical communities and protected many Baroque artists, composers, and musicians. Christina, who was the guest of five consecutive popes and a symbol of the Counter-Reformation ,

16029-548: The type normally only afforded to boys. When Gustav Adolf did not come home as expected after the summer campaign of 1630, Maria wrote to John Casimir, her brother-in-law that she could not stand it; she wanted to die. She begged him to try to persuade the king to come home. It was decided that Maria would travel to Germany the following spring. She arrived on 10 July 1631, to Wolgast in Pomerania. On 11 January 1632, she met with her spouse near Hanau . The couple were spotted for

16166-581: The winter Christina lived in the apostolic palace in Pesaro, probably to flee the plague which infested several regions including Naples. During the Naples Plague (1656) almost half of the population died within two years. In July 1657, she returned to France, either being impatient or not so anxious to become queen of Naples. On 15 October 1657 apartments were assigned to her at the Palace of Fontainebleau , where she committed an action that stained her memory:

16303-403: The word appears in a 1694 edition of Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française , which describes baroque as "only used for pearls that are imperfectly round." A 1728 Portuguese dictionary similarly describes barroco as relating to a "coarse and uneven pearl". An alternative derivation of the word baroque points to the name of the Italian painter Federico Barocci (1528–1612). In

16440-486: The worshippers could be close to the altar, with a dome or cupola high overhead, allowing light to illuminate the church below. The dome was one of the central symbolic features of Baroque architecture illustrating the union between the heavens and the earth. The inside of the cupola was lavishly decorated with paintings of angels and saints, and with stucco statuettes of angels, giving the impression to those below of looking up at heaven. Another feature of Baroque churches are

16577-463: Was a member of the House of Vasa and the Queen of Sweden in her own right from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. Her conversion to Catholicism and refusal to marry led her to relinquish her throne and move to Rome. The Swedish queen is remembered as one of the most erudite women of the 17th century, wanting Stockholm to become the "Athens of the North" and was given the special right to establish

16714-650: Was chased around in an adjacent room before they finally succeeded in dealing him a fatal wound in his throat. "In the end, he died, confessing his infamy and admitting [Santinelli's] innocence, protesting that he had invented the whole fantastic story in order to ruin [him]." Father Le Bel was told to have him buried inside the church, and Christina, seemingly unfazed, paid an abbey to say a number of Masses for his soul. She "was sorry that she had been forced to undertake this execution, but claimed that justice had been carried out for his crime and betrayal. Mazarin , who had sent her old friend Chanut, advised Christina to place

16851-510: Was chiefly occupied with her studies, she slept three to four hours a night, forgot to comb her hair, donned her clothes in a hurry and wore men's shoes for the sake of convenience. (In fact, her permanent bed-head became her trademark look in paintings. ) When Christina left Sweden, she continued to write passionate letters to her intimate friend Ebba Sparre, in which she told her that she would always love her. However, such emotional letters were relatively common at that time, and Christina would use

16988-433: Was considered very difficult, and in 1636 she lost her parental rights to her daughter. The Riksråd justified its decision by asserting that she neglected Christina and her upbringing and that she had a bad influence on her daughter ... Chancellor Oxenstierna saw no other solution than to exile the widow to Gripsholm castle, while the governing regency council would decide when she was allowed to see her daughter. For

17125-692: Was crowned later on that day. Christina left the country within a few days. In the summer of 1654, Christina left Sweden in men's clothing with the help of Bernardino de Rebolledo and rode as Count Dohna through Denmark. Relations between the two countries were still so tense that a former Swedish queen could not have traveled safely in Denmark. Christina had already packed and shipped abroad valuable books, paintings, statues, and tapestries from her Stockholm castle, leaving its treasures severely depleted. Christina visited Frederick III, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and, while there, thought that her successor should have

17262-701: Was finished in 1710. Following the death of Louis XIV, Louis XV added the more intimate Petit Trianon and the highly ornate theatre. The fountains in the gardens were designed to be seen from the interior, and to add to the dramatic effect. The palace was admired and copied by other monarchs of Europe, particularly Peter the Great of Russia, who visited Versailles early in the reign of Louis XV, and built his own version at Peterhof Palace near Saint Petersburg, between 1705 and 1725. Baroque architecture in Portugal lasted about two centuries (the late seventeenth century and eighteenth century). The reigns of John V and Joseph I had increased imports of gold and diamonds, in

17399-508: Was in the letters, but according to Le Bel, it is supposed to have dealt with her "amours", either with Monaldeschi or another person. She herself wrote her version of the story for circulation in Europe. Baroque The Baroque ( UK : / b ə ˈ r ɒ k / bə- ROK , US : /- ˈ r oʊ k / -⁠ ROHK ; French: [baʁɔk] ) is a Western style of architecture , music , dance , painting , sculpture , poetry, and other arts that flourished from

17536-550: Was lodged in the mansion of a Jewish merchant. She was visited by Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria ; the Prince de Condé , the ambassador Pierre Chanut , as well as the former governor of Norway, Hannibal Sehested . In the afternoons, she went for a ride, and each evening, parties were held; there was always a play to watch or music to listen to. Christina quickly ran out of money and had to sell some of her tapestries, silverware, and jewelry. When her financial situation did not improve,

17673-420: Was preparing for war against Pomerania , which meant that her income from there was considerably reduced. The pope and Philip IV of Spain could not support her openly either, as she was not publicly a Catholic yet. Christina succeeded in arranging a major loan, leaving books and statues to settle her debts. In September, she left for Italy with her entourage of 255 persons and 247 horses. The pope's messenger,

17810-707: Was secured through a pension and revenue from the town of Norrköping , the isles of Gotland , Öland , Ösel , and Poel , Wolgast and Neukloster in Mecklenburg , and estates in Pomerania . Her plan to convert was not the only reason for her abdication, as there was increasing discontent with her arbitrary and wasteful ways. Within ten years, she and Oxenstierna had created 17 counts , 46 barons , and 428 lesser nobles . To provide these new peers with adequate appanages , they had sold or mortgaged crown property representing an annual income of 1,200,000 rikstalers . During

17947-676: Was signed in October 1648, effectively ending the European wars of religion . Sweden received an indemnity of five million thalers , used primarily to pay its troops. Sweden further received Western Pomerania (henceforth Swedish Pomerania ), Wismar , the Archbishopric of Bremen , and the Bishopric of Verden as hereditary fiefs, thus gaining a seat and vote in the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire and in

18084-435: Was strongly opposed to this and was again backed by Christina. The Book of Concord was not introduced. In 1651, after reigning for almost twenty years, working at least ten hours a day, Christina had a nervous breakdown or burn out . For an hour, she seemed to be dead. She suffered from high blood pressure and complained about bad eyesight and her crooked back. She had already seen many court physicians. In February 1652,

18221-467: Was the Church of the Gesù in 1584; it was plain by later Baroque standards, but marked a break with the traditional Renaissance façades that preceded it. The interior of this church remained very austere until the high Baroque, when it was lavishly ornamented. In Rome in 1605, Paul V became the first of series of popes who commissioned basilicas and church buildings designed to inspire emotion and awe through

18358-537: Was the world's first secular Baroque monument built in the form of a column. The palatial residence style was exemplified by the Wilanów Palace , constructed between 1677 and 1696. The most renowned Baroque architect active in Poland was Dutchman Tylman van Gameren and his notable works include Warsaw's St. Kazimierz Church and Krasiński Palace , Church of St. Anne, Kraków and Branicki Palace, Białystok . However,

18495-522: Was then that she received from the pope her second name of Alexandra, the feminine form of his own." She was granted her own wing inside the Vatican, decorated by Bernini. Christina's visit to Rome was the triumph of Pope Alexander VII and the occasion for splendid Baroque festivities. For several months, she was the only preoccupation of the Pope and his court. The nobles vied for her attention and treated her to

18632-462: Was unsparing with dissonances, constantly changed key and meter, and speedily ran through every compositional device. In 1762 Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française recorded that the term could figuratively describe something "irregular, bizarre or unequal". Jean-Jacques Rousseau , who was a musician and composer as well as a philosopher, wrote in the Encyclopédie in 1768: "Baroque music

18769-617: Was visited by a group of Dutch diplomats, including Johan de Witt , to find a solution for the Sound Dues . In the Treaty of Brömsebro , signed at a creek in Blekinge , Denmark added the isles of Gotland and Ösel to Christina's domain while Norway lost the districts of Jämtland and Härjedalen to her. Under Christina's rule, Sweden, virtually controlling the Baltic Sea , had unrestricted access to

#756243