Page:A history of Hungarian literature.djvu/78

64 and also of Jerusalem, was reconquered by the Chris­tians.

In 1664, the year of Zrinyi's death, an epic poem appeared which became vastly more popular. The sub­ject of the poem was the romantic marriage of Count Francis Wesselényi (afterwards Palatine of Hungary) and the beautiful Countess Maria Széchy. Its chief interest for us lies in the fact that it marks the beginning of an entirely new literary style, which quickly became popular throughout Europe.

The title, The Venus of Murány allied to Mars, is in itself enough to show the nature of the new style, which was characterised by florid metaphor and mythological allusions. It is the Baroque style, which influenced every department of life during the second half of the seventeenth century. The palaces display it as much as the pictures; the laying out of gardens, as the binding of books; literature not less than hairdressing. In all things there was something grotesque and over­-ornamental, originating in the exaggeration of the Renaissance.

The change of taste introduced the Rococo period. The restful; straight lines of the Renaissance buildings suddenly became twisted, curved, or broken. There was more wealth of detail but less dignity. Every­where were rounded corners, shell-shaped hollowed surfaces, or intersecting lines. Sculpture, too, assumed an entirely different character. The statues as it were became restless. The ample and twisted folds of their garments seemed agitated by the wind, and their very gestures became nervous or excited, although the spectator could not possibly tell why. It was as though some emotion stirred them, the source of which could