The term first appeared in a dictionary in 1690

• From the Portuguese: barocco
• From the Spanish: berrueco (imperfect pearl)
• In the 18th century: synonym for bizarre
• In the 19th century: granted its current meaning - a strict and austere style- by Jacob Burckhardt:

The Baroque era is characterized by ambiguity: at once severe and fanciful, of daytime and nighttime, in celebration of life and in exaltation of death. With, as its motto, memento mori (reminder of mortality).

Temporal context:

• Begins in 1585, when Cardinal Felice Peretti became Sixtus V.
• Ends in 1680, with the death of Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

Site: Rome. The Holy See.

Historical/intellectual context :

• The Sack of Rome by Charles V.
• The Church crisis.
• The Reformation.
• The Counter-Reformation.
• Coalition of orders around the pope.
• Founding of the Jesuit Order.
• The personality of each pope.

The Counter-Reformation, also known as the Catholic Reformation, was born of the Church's need to breathe new life into its doctrines and purge itself of past abuses. The Council of Trent (19th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church) represented the culmination point of all attempts to meet the crisis of the Protestant Reformation:

• the church dogma and doctrines were redefined
• abuses of power and special privileges were abolished
• the authority of the Holy See was established
• appropriate instruments were set up - the Roman College, 1556

The Baroque spirit first made itself felt in the 15th entury with such key figures as Girolamo Savanorola, St. Vincent Ferrier, St. Bernardine of Siena.

It asserted itself most fully in the 16th century with the creation of various orders: the Capuchin Order (1525), the Theatines, the Barnabites, the Ursulines and, above all, as of 1540, the Jesuits - founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola and approved by Paul III.

All this was accomplished thanks to several faithful greats:
- St. Charles Borromeo in Italy
- St. Thomas of Villeneuve in Spain
- Saint Bartholomew of the Martyrs in Portugal
- St. Francis of Sales in France
as well as: St. John of the Cross (Spain), St. Theresa of Avila, St. Francis Xavier (one of the greatest Christian missionaries)

and the support of several steadfast popes:
- Pope Pius V (Michaele Ghislieri: 1556-1572 - appointed inquisitor general by Paul IV, reformer of the papal government in Rome, inventor of the index ("Index librorum prohibitorum").
- Pope Gregory XIII (Ugo Buoncompagni: 1572-1585) rectifier of the reformed calendar ("Gregorian calendar"), founder of the Roman College, contemporary of Saint Bartholomew.
- Pope Sixtus V (Felix Peretti, 1585-1590) life enemy of Gregory XIII, sent away from the Curia (body of congregations, tribunals and offices from which pope governs Roman Catholic Church).
- Pope Clement VIII (Ippolito Aldobrandini, 1592-1605)
- Pope Leo XI (Alessandro de' Medici: 1605)
- Pope Paul V (Camillo Borghese: 1605-1621)
- Pope Urban VIII (Maffeo Barberini: 1623-1644)
- Pope Innocent X (Giovanni Battista Pamfili: 1644-1655) nuncio (papal legate accredited to civil government) in Naples, Cardinal from 1629,Pope from 1644 -1655, Condemns Jansenism as heretical in 1653.
- Pope Alexander VII (Fabio Chigi: 1655-1667) These then are the people who built the new Rome. To this day, the city's immortal monuments bear the coats of arms of these historical figures.