The word 'Baroque' was originally an insult meaning an irregular or misshapen pearl.

The etymology of 'Baroque' traces back to the Portuguese term 'barroco' or the Spanish 'barrueco,' both of which describe a pearl with an uneven, non-spherical shape. In the jewelry trade of the 16th and 17th centuries, these pearls were considered defective and less valuable than perfectly round specimens. The transition from a jeweler's term to an artistic critique occurred in the mid-1700s.During the Enlightenment, critics like Jean-Jacques Rousseau used the term to describe music or architecture that was confusing, dissonant, or lacked harmony. In his 1768 'Dictionnaire de Musique,' Rousseau defined Baroque music as that in which the harmony is confused and filled with modulations and dissonances. It was intended to contrast sharply with the logical and balanced proportions of the earlier Renaissance style.By the late 19th century, the negative connotation began to fade. Art historians like Heinrich Wölfflin, in his 1888 work 'Renaissance und Barock,' helped redefine the period as a legitimate and sophisticated evolution of style rather than a 'corrupt' version of the Renaissance. Today, the Baroque period (roughly 1600 to 1750) is celebrated for its emotional intensity and grand scale.The term now encompasses legendary figures such as Caravaggio, Bernini, and Johann Sebastian Bach. It is ironic that a word once used to dismiss art as 'bizarre' or 'misshapen' now identifies some of the most technically complex and expensive masterpieces in human history. The shift illustrates how aesthetic values change over centuries.