Videos: Baroque objects
The Leeds Centrepiece
Assembly of the centrepiece, showing the transition from the savoury course to the dessert course.
The surtout or centrepiece first appeared in France around 1700. As its name suggests, it was the centrepiece of the table display. Called a ‘machine’, it had a double function. As well as candlesticks, it included a tureen and cruet stands for the service of the savoury, and caster stands and dishes for dessert.
Featured in the 2009 V&A exhibition, Baroque: Style in the Age of Magnificence.
Objects from the Church of São Roque
Liturgical objects from the Chapel of St John the Baptist in the Church of São Roque, Lisbon, as used in the traditional Mass.
Featured in the 2009 V&A exhibition, Baroque: Style in the Age of Magnificence.
A gift in your will
You may not have thought of including a gift to a museum in your will, but the V&A is a charity and legacies form an important source of funding for our work. It is not just the great collectors and the wealthy who leave legacies to the V&A. Legacies of all sizes, large and small, make a real difference to what we can do and your support can help ensure that future generations enjoy the V&A as much as you have.
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Baroque: Magnificence & Style (Paperback)
The complexity and sophistication of Baroque art, developed through the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, could be understood as an attempt …
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