Peter Greenaway and the Baroque

The work of Peter Greenaway poses a complex challenge since it ranges from films to artworks and forces the limits usually accepted for both domains. The themes of his work, such as death, violence and sexuality, mixed with games and different kinds of measuring, can be polemical. Furthermore, the treatment that they are given eschews well-known solutions, thus impelling the viewer to play an active role. The Baroque is proposed as a key to relating different aspects of Greenaway s work that would otherwise seem chaotic and incoherent. The term Baroque refers to a historical period, but also to a topic that has been given attention by both art and film critics who do not limit it exclusively to the 17th century. This book identifies the basic strategies of Greenaway s work that resulted in different formal and thematic manifestations related to what has been conventionally qualified as a Baroque aesthetic. Film and artwork are analyzed together, with intention of showing how similar conceptions of an idea can be translated to different domains. The book ventures to decipher Greenaway s puzzles while assuming that critical writing can be an engaging game.