Compare and contrast Baroque art in France, Spain, and Italy with Dutch Baroque, mentioning not only the formal visual aspects of works, but also differences in theme and content. Finally, explain the major reasons for the differences

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Baroque art is full of energy, emotion, and movement, and favored greater contrast between colors, and light and dark. Architecture and sculpture favored ornamentation, as rich and complex as possible. The Catholic Church encouraged a response to the Protestant Reformation, resulting in the Baroque style, which dictated the arts should communicate religious themes in an emotional presentation. Dutch Baroque, sometimes called "bourgeois Baroque," is quite different from the Baroque art of France, Spain, and Italy. Protestantism in the North was the dominant religion and outward symbols of faith, imagery, ornate churches, and pageantry were far less important. Artists painted scenes of everyday life, also called genre paintings, in addition to landscape painting.