In the 17th and 18th centuries, Baroque composers like Heinrich Biber pushed the boundaries of musical norms. Embracing the Stylus Phantasticus (fantastic style), a genre of music that was theatrical, unrestrained, and imaginative, they welcomed maximality, made secular entertainment sacred, and heightened the audiences’ senses and spirit.

The term Stylus Phantasticus was likely coined by scholar Athanasius Kircher (1602–1680). In his work Iter exstaticum coeleste (1660), he describes a particularly moving concert in Rome: “And thus, by this very incomparable symphony, an anointed soul was ravished by a certain exotic emotion into the miraculous harmony of the celestial orbs. Here it contemplated the laws of agreements and disagreements of both the collective and individual bodies of this cosmos, so ordered, that while from a single consonance they might abound with dissonances, yet, all in all, I had discovered that the intense harmony sounded together with regard to the preservation of the universe.”

The three prints in this exhibition exemplify the maximalism of Stylus Phantasticus. Each inspires wonder in the viewer with complex, theatrical imagery, bringing together many components to create a harmonious whole. In depicting or alluding to settings of musical performance, they engage the viewer’s senses and spirit in powerful ways.

Image: Daniel William Stoopendaal (Dutch, 1672–1726), After Hendrik Pola (Dutch, 1676–1748), Image of the Theater and its Ornaments. Fireworks for the Peace of Utrecht at the Hague, 1713. Etching and engraving. Prints and Drawings Acquisition Fund, 2021.3.