The word “Baroque” is the term used to describe Western art and architecture in the 17th century. The exact origins of the word are unclear. It may derive from the Portuguese word 'barrocco' referring to a rough or irregularly shaped pearl. The word’s appearance as a stylistic term dates back to the late 18th century when critics who disliked what they considered to be the excessive and free inventions of the 17th century, especially in comparison with the earlier Renaissance style, used the word in disparaging manner.
1492 – Chistopher Columbus discover the Americas.
1541 – St. Ignatius Loyola writes Spiritual Exercises.
1545 - Roman Catholic Church convenes Council of Trent.
1576 – Titian dies.
1599 - Caravaggio in Rome working on Calling of St. Matthew.
1605 – Publication of The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha by Cervantes.
1607 – Monteverdi’s opera L’Orfeo premiers in Mantua.
1621 – Van Dyck travels to Italy and begins his Italian Sketchbook.
1625 – Rubens completes the Marie de Medici allegorical cycle in Paris.
1628 – Velazquez and Rubens meet in Madrid.
1633- Galileo convicted for heresy by the Inquisition for his book Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632)
1635 – Rembrandt paints Belshazzar’s Feast.
1637 – Descartes posits “ I think, therefore I am” in his Discourse on the Method.
1641 – Poussin appointed First Painter to King Louis XIII of France.
1656 - Velazquez paints Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor).
1658 – Bernini begins work on Rome’s Sant’Andrea al Quirinale church.
1660-61 – Vermeer paints View of Delft.