Overview of the Baroque Period

The word, "baroque", has come to name the art, music, literature, and dance of the years 1600-1750. During these years of great exploration in the New World and enterprising discoveries of the scientific revolution, the art forms of western europe were also evolving. Where would we be today if Sir Isaac Newton had never developed his law of gravitation? or England did not settle their colony at Jamestown in 1607? or the art form of opera, combining theater, painting, and music never came to be? Just as any other period in history, the baroque pushed us forward and into a realm of expression and emotion.