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2012 ‫מועד דצמבר‬ - 41 - ‫ פרק ראשו ן‬- ‫ אנגלית‬

Text II (Questions 18-22)

(1) "Baroque is the ultimate of the bizarre: it is the ridiculous carried to extremes," wrote art
critic Francesco Milizia in the last years of the 18th century. He observed that while
Francesco Borromini, the founder of the Baroque style, had actually gone mad, several of
Borromini's contemporaries, including the renowned artist Guarino Guarini, had "gone

(5) Baroque," a not dissimilar condition in his opinion.

Milizia was referring to the style of music, art and architecture that emerged in Europe in
the late 1500s. It is difficult to characterize the Baroque approach simply; the work is
stylistically complex, even contradictory. In general, however, the desire to evoke emotional
states by appealing to the senses, often in dramatic ways, underlies its manifestations. Some

(10) of the qualities most frequently associated with the Baroque are grandeur, sensuous richness,
emotional exuberance and a tendency to blur distinctions between the various arts.

Milizia's reaction against the Baroque, echoed throughout Europe, ushered in more than a
century and a half of general disapproval of the style. Since the second half of the 20th
century, however, it has been steadily rehabilitated.

(15) In fact, recent years have seen an explosion of Baroque-related exhibits. The most
magnificent of these is The Triumph of the Baroque: Architecture in Europe 1600-1750,
which brings together 400 works by 200 artists and architects from 150 collections around the
world. Among the many remarkable features of the exhibit is the inclusion of some 80
historic architectural models representing buildings by many of the major Baroque architects.

(20) Many of these large, exquisitely crafted wooden models – which were originally created to
illustrate what the completed structures would look like – took as long to construct as actual
buildings. In some cases, they are the only remaining evidence of buildings that have long
since been destroyed, or of designs that were never realized.

Questions

18. The first paragraph contains a comparison between -

(1) Francesco Milizia and Francesco Borromini
(2) the works of Francesco Borromini and Guarino Guarini
(3) becoming crazy and creating Baroque art
(4) the ridiculous and the bizarre

)‫© כל הזכויות שמורות למרכז ארצי לבחינות ולהערכה (ע"ר‬

.‫ בלא אישור בכתב מהמרכז הארצי לבחינות ולהערכה‬- ‫ כולה או חלקים ממנה‬- ‫ או ללמדה‬,‫אין להעתיק או להפיץ בחינה זו או קטעים ממנה בכל צורה ובכל אמצעי‬