Book excerpt: Baroque and Rococo art and architecture have become popular once more, after a century and a half of neglect, misunderstanding and scorn. This radical shift in taste has led to a rapid growth of detailed knowledge about the artists who created these exhilarating styles. The famous masters have been reassessed and whole areas of achievement - Italian Baroque painting, German Rococo architecture - have been brought to a new, enthusiastic public. Germain Brazin's engrossing survey of this rich subject ranges over all Europe and traces the orgins and effects of Baroque and Rococo - from the Counter-Reformation to Neoclassicism, Exoticism, and even Art Nouveau.