Light as Director

Baroque architects used light strategically. Hidden windows would illuminate specific areas — an altar, a dome, a sculpture — while leaving others in shadow. At Bernini's Sant'Andrea al Quirinale (1658-1670), a concealed window bathes the altar in golden light, making the rising figure of Saint Andrew appear to be ascending into actual sunlight.

The technique reached its extreme in Bavarian and Austrian Rococo churches, where painted ceilings dissolved into fake skies, gold covered every surface, and natural light was manipulated so thoroughly that the boundary between real architecture and painted illusion became impossible to locate.