The Baroque style flourished in European visual culture during the 17th and 18th centuries. Although the movement shared the naturalism and often religious or mythological subject matter of the Renaissance style, it is typified by an elaborate and extravagant application of decoration; in general, Baroque artists worked to distance themselves from their Renaissance predecessors. The style was greatly encouraged by the Catholic Church, who considered it an enticing contrast to the austere Protestant art and architecture that had been popularised following the Reformation in the 16th century. Most works of the Baroque period share a common goal: to convey a heightened sense of drama. In painting this is often achieved through energetic compositions and a luminous application of colour, whilst in sculpture, dynamic forms dominate. Such drama, the Catholic church believed, would instil piety among the congregation, and a sense of awe for the church.