“Gesamtkunstwerk: (Ger., total work of art) Term applied to the art of the Baroque and Rococo periods, which sought unification of architecture, sculpture, painting, and sometimes even the applied and decorative arts into a ‘total work of art.’ For example, Gianlorenzo Bernini’s execution of the Coronaro Chapel in S. Maria della Vittoria in Rome. By extension, the same idea applies to other periods.”
Excerpted from: Diamond, David G. The Bulfinch Pocket Dictionary of Art Terms. Boston: Little Brown, 1992.
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