Magnificent public squares, palaces and churches with sumptuously decorated interiors played a central role in legitimizing the beliefs and values of the triumphalist Catholic Church but also those of European monarchies and fledging nation states. This course explores the virtue of magnificence underlying the profusion of the arts of conspicuous display across Europe, 1600-1800, in a period of political and religious crisis, scientific discoveries and intellectual developments that shaped the modern world. Lectures and discussions consider topics such as the imagery of the Catholic Church in its spiritual heart in Rome where it struggled to retain its relevance, royal iconography in the powerful courts of Spain and France, and art produced in the very different climate of the Protestant Dutch Republic, fueled by capitalism and a rising middle class. We examine new trends such as the art market, the Academy, travel and tourism, and the formation of private collections and cabinets of wonders. Our final weeks follow the exportation of Baroque art and artists to Russia, the Americas and Asia. How did Baroque art express the shifting balance of political power in Europe, national aspirations and global exchange, and Catholic vs. Protestant ideals? What role did Baroque art play in conveying collective identity, capturing everyday experience in a more and more secular society, and guiding the individual’s response to the world and beyond?