Rococo (,
also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, and ''
trompe-l'œil
''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...
'' frescoes to create surprise and the illusion of motion and drama. It is often described as the final expression of the
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
movement.
The Rococo style began in France in the 1730s as a reaction against the more formal and geometric
Louis XIV style
The Louis XIV style or ''Louis Quatorze'' ( , ), also called French classicism, was the style of architecture and decorative arts intended to glorify King Louis XIV and his reign. It featured majesty, harmony and regularity. It became the officia ...
. It was known as the "style
Rocaille
Rocaille ( , ) was a French style of exuberant decoration, with an abundance of curves, counter-curves, undulations and elements modeled on nature, that appeared in furniture and interior decoration during the early reign of Louis XV of France. ...
", or "Rocaille style". It soon spread to other parts of Europe, particularly northern Italy, Austria, southern Germany, Central Europe and Russia. It also came to influence the other arts, particularly sculpture, furniture, silverware, glassware, painting, music, and theatre. Although originally a secular style primarily used for interiors of private residences, the Rococo had a spiritual aspect to it which led to its widespread use in church interiors, particularly in Central Europe, Portugal, and South America.
Etymology
![Zwiefalten 28 04 2011 23](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Zwiefalten_28_04_2011_23.jpg)
The word ''rococo'' was first used as a humorous variation of the word ''
rocaille
Rocaille ( , ) was a French style of exuberant decoration, with an abundance of curves, counter-curves, undulations and elements modeled on nature, that appeared in furniture and interior decoration during the early reign of Louis XV of France. ...
''. Rocaille was originally a method of decoration, using pebbles, seashells, and cement, which was often used to decorate grottoes and fountains since the Renaissance. In the late 17th and early 18th century, rocaille became the term for a kind of decorative motif or ornament that appeared in the late
Style Louis XIV
The Louis XIV style or ''Louis Quatorze'' ( , ), also called French classicism, was the style of architecture and decorative arts intended to glorify King Louis XIV and his reign. It featured majesty, harmony and regularity. It became the official ...
, in the form of a seashell interlaced with
acanthus leaves. In 1736 the designer and jeweler Jean Mondon published the ''Premier Livre de forme rocquaille et cartel'', a collection of designs for ornaments of furniture and interior decoration. It was the first appearance in print of the term ''rocaille'' to designate the style. The carved or moulded seashell motif was combined with palm leaves or twisting vines to decorate doorways, furniture, wall panels and other architectural elements.
The term ''rococo'' was first used in print in 1825 to describe decoration which was "out of style and old-fashioned". It was used in 1828 for decoration "which belonged to the style of the 18th century, overloaded with twisting ornaments". In 1829, the author
Stendhal
Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, ; ), was a 19th-century French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' (''The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de P ...
described rococo as "the rocaille style of the 18th century".
![Engelszell Stiftskirche - Nepomukaltar 4 Kapitell](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Engelszell_Stiftskirche_-_Nepomukaltar_4_Kapitell.jpg)
In the 19th century, the term was used to describe architecture or music which was excessively ornamental.
[Ancien Regime Rococo](_blank)
. Bc.edu. Retrieved on 2011-05-29. Since the mid-19th century, the term has been accepted by
art historians
The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic visu ...
. While there is still some debate about the historical significance of the style, Rococo is now often considered as a distinct period in the development of
European art
The art of Europe, or Western art, encompasses the history of art, history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile Upper Paleolithic rock art, rock and cave painting and petroglyph art and was characteristic of the ...
.
Characteristics
Rococo features exuberant decoration, with an abundance of curves, counter-curves, undulations and elements modeled on nature. The exteriors of Rococo buildings are often simple, while the interiors are entirely dominated by their ornament. The style was highly theatrical, designed to impress and awe at first sight. Floor plans of churches were often complex, featuring interlocking ovals; In palaces, grand stairways became centrepieces, and offered different points of view of the decoration. The main ornaments of Rococo are: asymmetrical shells,
acanthus and other leaves, birds, bouquets of flowers, fruit, musical instruments, angels and
Chinoiserie
(, ; loanword from French ''wikt:chinoiserie#French, chinoiserie'', from ''wikt:chinois#French, chinois'', "Chinese"; ) is the European interpretation and imitation of China, Chinese and other East Asia, East Asian artistic traditions, especial ...
(
pagoda
A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...
s, dragons, monkeys, bizarre flowers and Chinese people).
The style often integrated painting, moulded stucco, and wood carving, and ''
quadratura
Illusionistic ceiling painting, which includes the techniques of perspective ''di sotto in sù'' and ''quadratura'', is the tradition in Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo art in which ''trompe-l'œil'', perspective tools such as foreshortening, an ...
'', or illusionist ceiling paintings, which were designed to give the impression that those entering the room were looking up at the sky, where cherubs and other figures were gazing down at them. Materials used included stucco, either painted or left white; combinations of different coloured woods (usually oak, beech or walnut); lacquered wood in the Japanese style, ornament of gilded bronze, and marble tops of commodes or tables. The intent was to create an impression of surprise, awe and wonder on first view.
Differences between Baroque and Rococo
Rococo has the following characteristics, which
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
does not:
*The partial abandonment of symmetry, everything being composed of graceful lines and curves, similar to
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...
*The huge quantity of asymmetrical curves and C-shaped
volute
A volute is a spiral, scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals. Four are normally to be found on an Ion ...
s
*The wide use of flowers in ornamentation, an example being
festoon
A festoon (from French ''feston'', Italian ''festone'', from a Late Latin ''festo'', originally a festal garland, Latin ''festum'', feast) is a wreath or garland hanging from two points, and in architecture typically a carved ornament depicti ...
s made of flowers
*Chinese and Japanese motifs (see also: ''
chinoiserie
(, ; loanword from French ''wikt:chinoiserie#French, chinoiserie'', from ''wikt:chinois#French, chinois'', "Chinese"; ) is the European interpretation and imitation of China, Chinese and other East Asia, East Asian artistic traditions, especial ...
'' and ''
Japonisme
''Japonisme'' is a French term that refers to the popularity and influence of Japanese art and design among a number of Western European artists in the nineteenth century following the forced reopening of foreign trade with Japan in 1858. Japon ...
'')
*Warm pastel colours (whitish-yellow, cream-coloured, pearl greys, very light blues)
France
The ''
Rocaille
Rocaille ( , ) was a French style of exuberant decoration, with an abundance of curves, counter-curves, undulations and elements modeled on nature, that appeared in furniture and interior decoration during the early reign of Louis XV of France. ...
'' style, or French Rococo, appeared in Paris during the reign of
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...
, and flourished between about 1723 and 1759. The style was used particularly in salons, a new style of room designed to impress and entertain guests. The most prominent example was the salon of the Princess in
Hôtel de Soubise
The Hôtel de Soubise () is a city mansion '' entre cour et jardin'' (), located at 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris.
History
The Hôtel de Soubise was built for the Prince and Princess de Soubise on the sit ...
in Paris, designed by
Germain Boffrand
Germain Boffrand () (16 May 1667 – 19 March 1754) was a French architect. A pupil of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Germain Boffrand was one of the main creators of the precursor to Rococo called the '' style Régence'', and in his interiors, of the ...
and
Charles-Joseph Natoire
Charles-Joseph Natoire (3 March 1700 – 23 August 1777) was a French painter in the Rococo manner, a pupil of François Lemoyne and director of the French Academy in Rome, 1751–1775. Considered during his lifetime the equal of François Bouc ...
(1735–40). The characteristics of French Rococo included exceptional artistry, especially in the complex frames made for mirrors and paintings, which were sculpted in plaster and often gilded; and the use of vegetal forms (vines, leaves, flowers) intertwined in complex designs. The furniture also featured sinuous curves and vegetal designs. The leading furniture designers and craftsmen in the style included
Juste-Aurele Meissonier,
Charles Cressent
Charles Cressent (1685–1768) was a French furniture-maker, sculptor and fondeur-ciseleur of the régence style. As the second son of François Cressent, sculpteur du roi, and grandson of Charles Cressent, a furniture-maker of Amiens, who also ...
, and
Nicolas Pineau
Nicolas Pineau (1684–1754) was a French carver and ornamental designer, one of the leaders who initiated the exuberant style of the French ''rocaille'' or Rococo. He worked in St. Petersburg and Paris.
Pineau, the son of the carver Jean-Baptist ...
.
The Rocaille style lasted in France until the mid-18th century, and while it became more curving and vegetal, it never achieved the extravagant exuberance of the Rococo in Bavaria, Austria and Italy. The discoveries of Roman antiquities beginning in 1738 at
Herculaneum
Herculaneum (; Neapolitan and it, Ercolano) was an ancient town, located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
Like the nea ...
and especially at
Pompeii
Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...
in 1748 turned French architecture in the direction of the more symmetrical and less flamboyant
neo-classicism
Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative
Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes these objects pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, ...
.
File:Salon de la princesse hotel de soubise.jpg, Salon of the Hôtel de Soubise
The Hôtel de Soubise () is a city mansion '' entre cour et jardin'' (), located at 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris.
History
The Hôtel de Soubise was built for the Prince and Princess de Soubise on the sit ...
in Paris (1735–40) by Germain Boffrand
Germain Boffrand () (16 May 1667 – 19 March 1754) was a French architect. A pupil of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Germain Boffrand was one of the main creators of the precursor to Rococo called the '' style Régence'', and in his interiors, of the ...
File:Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier - Table de Cabinet., 6th Plate (Study for a Table), pl. 47 in Oeuvre de Juste-Aurele Meissonnier - Google Art Project (down table cropped).jpg, Table design by Juste-Aurele Meissonier (1730)
File:Hotel de Soubise - Grande chambre de la princesse 3.JPG, Grand Chamber of the Prince, Hotel de Soubise (1735–40)
File:Boiserie from the Hôtel de Varengeville MET DP214174.jpg, Woodwork in the Hôtel de Varengeville by Nicolas Pineau
Nicolas Pineau (1684–1754) was a French carver and ornamental designer, one of the leaders who initiated the exuberant style of the French ''rocaille'' or Rococo. He worked in St. Petersburg and Paris.
Pineau, the son of the carver Jean-Baptist ...
(1735)
File:Charles Cressent, Chest of drawers, c. 1730 at Waddesdon Manor.jpg, Chest of drawers by Charles Cressent
Charles Cressent (1685–1768) was a French furniture-maker, sculptor and fondeur-ciseleur of the régence style. As the second son of François Cressent, sculpteur du roi, and grandson of Charles Cressent, a furniture-maker of Amiens, who also ...
(1730), Waddesdon Manor
File:Paris Hôtel de Samuel Bernard 34.JPG, Detail of a door of the Hôtel de Samuel Bernard from Paris (1740s)
Consoleklok van verguld en geciseleerd brons, BK-NM-12289-2.jpg, Gilt and hammered bronze corbel
In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...
of a clock by Jean Joseph de Saint-Germain and J. Boullé ( 1745-1749)
File:Hotel de Marsilly, July 4, 2007.jpg, The door of the Hôtel de Marsilly, with two corbel
In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...
s and a cartouche
In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the fea ...
above it, all of them being rococo
File:Bordeaux Notre-Dame R01.jpg, Eglise Notre-Dame, Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
(1684-1707)
Italy
Artists in Italy, particularly
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
, also produced an exuberant rococo style. Venetian commodes imitated the curving lines and carved ornament of the French rocaille, but with a particular Venetian variation; the pieces were painted, often with landscapes or flowers or scenes from
Guardi
Francesco Lazzaro Guardi (; 5 October 1712 – 1 January 1793) was an Italian painter, nobleman, and a member of the Venetian School. He is considered to be among the last practitioners, along with his brothers, of the classic Venetian school of ...
or other painters, or
Chinoiserie
(, ; loanword from French ''wikt:chinoiserie#French, chinoiserie'', from ''wikt:chinois#French, chinois'', "Chinese"; ) is the European interpretation and imitation of China, Chinese and other East Asia, East Asian artistic traditions, especial ...
, against a blue or green background, matching the colours of the
Venetian school of painters whose work decorated the salons. Notable decorative painters included
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an impo ...
, who painted ceilings and murals of both churches and palazzos, and
Giovanni Battista Crosato
Giovanni Battista Crosato (1686 – July 15, 1758) was an Italian painter of quadratura, active in the 18th century in Piedmont.
He was born in Venice, where he had likely his first training. By 1733 he had moved to Turin, where he was recruited ...
who painted the ballroom ceiling of the
Ca Rezzonico
Ca' Rezzonico () is a palazzo and art museum on the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro ''sestiere'' of Venice, Italy. It is a particularly notable example of the 18th century Venetian baroque and rococo architecture and interior decoration, and displa ...
in the
quadraturo manner, giving the illusion of three dimensions. Tiepelo travelled to Germany with his son during 1752–1754, decorating the ceilings of the
Würzburg Residence
The Würzburg Residence (German: ''Würzburger Residenz'') is a palace in Würzburg, Germany. Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and Maximilian von Welsch, representatives of the Austrian/South German Baroque style, were involved in the construction, ...
, one of the major landmarks of the Bavarian rococo. An earlier celebrated Venetian painter was
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (also called Giambattista Piazzetta or Giambattista Valentino Piazzetta) (February 13, 1682 or 1683 – April 28, 1754) was an Italian Rococo painter of religious subjects and genre scenes.
Biography
Piazzetta was ...
, who painted several notable church ceilings.
The Venetian Rococo also featured exceptional glassware, particularly
Murano glass
Venetian glass () is glassware made in Venice, typically on the island of Murano near the city. Traditionally it is made with a soda–lime "metal" and is typically elaborately decorated, with various "hot" glass-forming techniques, as well as ...
, often engraved and coloured, which was exported across Europe. Works included multicolour chandeliers and mirrors with extremely ornate frames.
File:Interior of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (Venice) - The Glory of St. Dominic by Piazzetta.jpg, Ceiling of church of Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice, by Piazzetta
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (also called Giambattista Piazzetta or Giambattista Valentino Piazzetta) (February 13, 1682 or 1683 – April 28, 1754) was an Italian Rococo art, Italian Rococo painter of religious subjects and Genre works, genre s ...
(1727)
File:Giovanni Battista Tiepolo - Juno and Luna - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Juno and Luna'' by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an impo ...
(1735–45)
File:Lampadario in vetro di Murano - Ca' Rezzonico, Venice.jpg, Murano glass
Venetian glass () is glassware made in Venice, typically on the island of Murano near the city. Traditionally it is made with a soda–lime "metal" and is typically elaborately decorated, with various "hot" glass-forming techniques, as well as ...
chandelier at the Ca Rezzonico
Ca' Rezzonico () is a palazzo and art museum on the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro ''sestiere'' of Venice, Italy. It is a particularly notable example of the 18th century Venetian baroque and rococo architecture and interior decoration, and displa ...
(1758)
File:Ca' Rezzonico (Venice) - Ceiling of the Ballroom.jpeg, Ballroom ceiling of the Ca Rezzonico
Ca' Rezzonico () is a palazzo and art museum on the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro ''sestiere'' of Venice, Italy. It is a particularly notable example of the 18th century Venetian baroque and rococo architecture and interior decoration, and displa ...
with ceiling by Giovanni Battista Crosato
Giovanni Battista Crosato (1686 – July 15, 1758) was an Italian painter of quadratura, active in the 18th century in Piedmont.
He was born in Venice, where he had likely his first training. By 1733 he had moved to Turin, where he was recruited ...
(1753)
Southern Germany
In church construction, especially in the southern German-Austrian region, gigantic spatial creations are sometimes created for practical reasons alone, which, however, do not appear monumental, but are characterized by a unique fusion of architecture, painting, stucco, etc., often completely eliminating the boundaries between the art genres, and are characterised by a light-filled weightlessness, festive cheerfulness and movement.
The Rococo decorative style reached its summit in southern Germany and Austria from the 1730s until the 1770s. There it dominates the church landscape to this day and is deeply anchored there in popular culture. It was first introduced from France through the publications and works of French architects and decorators, including the sculptor
Claude III Audran, the interior designer
Gilles-Marie Oppenordt
Gilles-Marie Oppenordt (27 July 1672 – 13 March 1742) was a celebrated French designer at the '' Bâtiments du Roi'', the French royal works, and one of the initiators of the Rocaille and Rococo styles, nicknamed "the French Borromini".Gie ...
, the architect
Germain Boffrand
Germain Boffrand () (16 May 1667 – 19 March 1754) was a French architect. A pupil of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Germain Boffrand was one of the main creators of the precursor to Rococo called the '' style Régence'', and in his interiors, of the ...
, the sculptor Jean Mondon, and the draftsman and engraver
Pierre Lepautre Pierre Lepautre may refer to:
* Pierre Lepautre (1648–1716), French engraver, who played a role in the development of rococo
* Pierre Lepautre (1659–1744), French sculptor
{{Hndis, Lepautre, Pierre ...
. Their work had an important influence on the German Rococo style, but does not reach the level of buildings in southern Germany.
German architects adapted the Rococo style but made it far more asymmetric and loaded with more ornate decoration than the French original. The German style was characterized by an explosion of forms that cascaded down the walls. It featured molding formed into curves and counter-curves, twisting and turning patterns, ceilings and walls with no right angles, and stucco foliage which seemed to be creeping up the walls and across the ceiling. The decoration was often gilded or silvered to give it contrast with the white or pale pastel walls.
The Belgian-born architect and designer
François de Cuvilliés
François de Cuvilliés, sometimes referred to as ''the Elder'' (23 October 1695, Soignies, Hainaut14 April 1768, Munich), was a Belgian-born Bavarian decorative designer and architect. He was instrumental in bringing the Rococo style to the Witt ...
was one of the first to create a Rococo building in Germany, with the pavilion of
Amalienburg
The Amalienburg is an elaborate hunting lodge on the grounds of the Nymphenburg Palace Park, Munich, in southern Germany. It was designed by François de Cuvilliés in Rococo style and constructed between 1734 and 1739 for Elector Karl Albr ...
in Munich, (1734-1739), inspired by the pavilions of the
Trianon and
Marly in France. It was built as a hunting lodge, with a platform on the roof for shooting pheasants. The Hall of Mirrors in the interior, by the painter and stucco sculptor
Johann Baptist Zimmermann
Johann Baptist Zimmermann (3 January 1680, Gaispoint — 2 March 1758, Munich) was a German painter and a prime stucco plasterer during the Baroque.
Zimmermann was born in Gaispoint, Wessobrunn. He and his brother Dominikus Zimmermann were ...
, was far more exuberant than any French Rococo.
Another notable example of the early German Rococo is
Würzburg Residence
The Würzburg Residence (German: ''Würzburger Residenz'') is a palace in Würzburg, Germany. Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and Maximilian von Welsch, representatives of the Austrian/South German Baroque style, were involved in the construction, ...
(1737–1744) constructed for the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg by
Balthasar Neumann
Johann Balthasar Neumann (; 27 January 1687 (?) – 19 August 1753), usually known as Balthasar Neumann, was a German architect and military artillery engineer who developed a refined brand of Baroque architecture, fusing Austrian, Bohemian, Ita ...
. Neumann had travelled to Paris and consulted with the French rocaille decorative artists
Germain Boffrand
Germain Boffrand () (16 May 1667 – 19 March 1754) was a French architect. A pupil of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Germain Boffrand was one of the main creators of the precursor to Rococo called the '' style Régence'', and in his interiors, of the ...
and
Robert de Cotte
Robert de Cotte (1656 – 15 July 1735) was a French architect-administrator, under whose design control of the royal buildings of France from 1699, the earliest notes presaging the Rococo style were introduced. First a pupil of Jules Hard ...
. While the exterior was in more sober Baroque style, the interior, particularly the stairways and ceilings, was much lighter and decorative. The Prince-Bishop imported the Italian Rococo painter
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an impo ...
in 1750–1753 to create a mural over the top of the three-level ceremonial stairway. Neumann described the interior of the residence as "a theatre of light". The stairway was also the central element in a residence Neumann built at the
Augustusburg Palace in Brühl (1743–1748). In that building the stairway led the visitors up through a stucco fantasy of paintings, sculpture, ironwork and decoration, with surprising views at every turn.
In the 1740s and 1750s, a number of notable pilgrimage churches were constructed in
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, with interiors decorated in a distinctive variant of the rococo style. One of the most notable examples is the
Wieskirche
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (german: Wieskirche) is an oval Rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by brothers J. B. and Dominikus Zimmermann, the latter of whom lived nearby for the last eleven years of his life. It is located in the foothil ...
(1745–1754) designed by
Dominikus Zimmermann
Dominikus Zimmermann (30 June 1685, Gaispoint – 16 November 1766, Wies) was a German Rococo architect and stuccoist.
Life
Dominikus Zimmermann was born in Gaispoint near Wessobrunn in 1685 and became a Baumeister (Architect) and a stuc ...
. Like most of the Bavarian pilgrimage churches, the exterior is very simple, with pastel walls, and little ornament. Entering the church the visitor encounters an astonishing theatre of movement and light. It features an oval-shaped sanctuary, and a deambulatory in the same form, filling in the church with light from all sides. The white walls contrasted with columns of blue and pink stucco in the choir, and the domed ceiling surrounded by plaster angels below a dome representing the heavens crowded with colourful Biblical figures. Other notable pilgrimage churches include the
Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers by
Balthasar Neumann
Johann Balthasar Neumann (; 27 January 1687 (?) – 19 August 1753), usually known as Balthasar Neumann, was a German architect and military artillery engineer who developed a refined brand of Baroque architecture, fusing Austrian, Bohemian, Ita ...
(1743–1772).
File:Schloss Amalienburg (6317867213).jpg, Amalienburg
The Amalienburg is an elaborate hunting lodge on the grounds of the Nymphenburg Palace Park, Munich, in southern Germany. It was designed by François de Cuvilliés in Rococo style and constructed between 1734 and 1739 for Elector Karl Albr ...
pavilion in Munich by François de Cuvilliés
François de Cuvilliés, sometimes referred to as ''the Elder'' (23 October 1695, Soignies, Hainaut14 April 1768, Munich), was a Belgian-born Bavarian decorative designer and architect. He was instrumental in bringing the Rococo style to the Witt ...
(1734–1739)
File:Amalienburg Spiegelsaal-1.jpg, Hall of Mirrors of Amalienburg
The Amalienburg is an elaborate hunting lodge on the grounds of the Nymphenburg Palace Park, Munich, in southern Germany. It was designed by François de Cuvilliés in Rococo style and constructed between 1734 and 1739 for Elector Karl Albr ...
by Johann Baptist Zimmermann
Johann Baptist Zimmermann (3 January 1680, Gaispoint — 2 March 1758, Munich) was a German painter and a prime stucco plasterer during the Baroque.
Zimmermann was born in Gaispoint, Wessobrunn. He and his brother Dominikus Zimmermann were ...
(1734–1739)
File:NRW, Bruhl, Augustusburg 01.jpg, Looking up the central stairway at Augustusburg Palace in Brühl by Balthasar Neumann
Johann Balthasar Neumann (; 27 January 1687 (?) – 19 August 1753), usually known as Balthasar Neumann, was a German architect and military artillery engineer who developed a refined brand of Baroque architecture, fusing Austrian, Bohemian, Ita ...
(1741–1744)
File:Wieskirche 003.JPG, The Wieskirche
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (german: Wieskirche) is an oval Rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by brothers J. B. and Dominikus Zimmermann, the latter of whom lived nearby for the last eleven years of his life. It is located in the foothil ...
by Dominikus Zimmermann
Dominikus Zimmermann (30 June 1685, Gaispoint – 16 November 1766, Wies) was a German Rococo architect and stuccoist.
Life
Dominikus Zimmermann was born in Gaispoint near Wessobrunn in 1685 and became a Baumeister (Architect) and a stuc ...
(1745–1754)
File:Vierzehnheiligen-Basilika3-Asio.JPG, Interior of the Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers by Balthasar Neumann
Johann Balthasar Neumann (; 27 January 1687 (?) – 19 August 1753), usually known as Balthasar Neumann, was a German architect and military artillery engineer who developed a refined brand of Baroque architecture, fusing Austrian, Bohemian, Ita ...
(1743–1772)
File:Kaisersaal Würzburg.jpg, The Kaisersaal in the Würzburg Residence
The Würzburg Residence (German: ''Würzburger Residenz'') is a palace in Würzburg, Germany. Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and Maximilian von Welsch, representatives of the Austrian/South German Baroque style, were involved in the construction, ...
by Balthasar Neumann
Johann Balthasar Neumann (; 27 January 1687 (?) – 19 August 1753), usually known as Balthasar Neumann, was a German architect and military artillery engineer who developed a refined brand of Baroque architecture, fusing Austrian, Bohemian, Ita ...
(1749–1751)
File:Festsaal Schaetzlerpalais.JPG, Festival Hall of the Schaezlerpalais
The Schaezlerpalais is a baroque palace in Augsburg. The palace extends far back from the street, encompassing dozens of rooms, courtyards and gardens. The gilded mirrored ballroom was built between 1765-1770 and has survives intact. it is widely r ...
in Augsburg
Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
by Carl Albert von Lespilliez
Carl Albert von Lespilliez (also known as Karl Albert von Lespilliez) (1723-1796) was a German draftsman, architect and printmaker. He worked as an architect for the Bavarian court. His work is held in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt, Nationa ...
(1765–1770)
File:КИТАЙСКИЙ ДВОРЕЦ. ЗОЛОТОЙ КАБИНЕТ.jpg, Golden Cabinet of the Chinese Palace, Oranienbaum, Russia
Oranienbaum (russian: Ораниенба́ум) is a Russian royal residence, located on the Gulf of Finland west of St. Petersburg. The Palace ensemble and the city centre are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
History
In 1707, four years afte ...
, built by Antonio Rinaldi for Catherine the Great
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
(1762–1778)
Johann Michael Fischer
Johann Michael Fischer (18 February 1692 – 6 May 1766) was a German architect in the late Baroque period.
Fischer was born in Burglengenfeld, Upper Palatinate. He is a major representative of south German Baroque architects. He studied in Bohem ...
was the architect of
Ottobeuren Abbey
Ottobeuren is a Benedictine abbey, located in Ottobeuren, near Memmingen in the Bavarian Allgäu, Germany.
For part of its history Ottobeuren Abbey was one of the 40-odd self-ruling imperial abbeys of the Holy Roman Empire and, as such, was a vi ...
(1748–1766), another Bavarian Rococo landmark. The church features, like much of the rococo architecture in Germany, a remarkable contrast between the regularity of the facade and the overabundance of decoration in the interior.
Britain
In Great Britain, rococo was called the "French taste" and had less influence on design and the decorative arts than in continental Europe, although its influence was felt in such areas as silverwork, porcelain, and silks.
William Hogarth
William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like s ...
helped develop a theoretical foundation for Rococo beauty. Though not mentioning rococo by name, he argued in his ''Analysis of Beauty'' (1753) that the undulating lines and S-curves prominent in Rococo were the basis for grace and beauty in art or nature (unlike the straight line or the circle in
Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aestheti ...
).
Rococo was slow in arriving in England. Before entering the Rococo, British furniture for a time followed the
neoclassical Palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
model under designer
William Kent
William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, but ...
, who designed for Lord Burlington and other important patrons of the arts. Kent travelled to Italy with Lord Burlington between 1712 and 1720, and brought back many models and ideas from Palladio. He designed the furniture for
Hampton Court Palace
Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...
(1732), Lord Burlington's
Chiswick House
Chiswick House is a Neo-Palladian style villa in the Chiswick district of London, England. A "glorious" example of Neo-Palladian architecture in west London, the house was designed and built by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington (1694–1753 ...
(1729), London, Thomas Coke's
Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall ( or ) is an 18th-century English country house, country house near the village of Holkham, Norfolk, England, constructed in the Neo-Palladian style for the Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (fifth creation), 1st Earl of Leicester ...
, Norfolk, Robert Walpole's pile at
Houghton Houghton may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Houghton, South Australia, a town near Adelaide
* Houghton Highway, the longest bridge in Australia, between Redcliffe and Brisbane in Queensland
* Houghton Island (Queensland)
Canada
* Houghton Townshi ...
, for
Devonshire House
Devonshire House in Piccadilly, was the London townhouse of the Dukes of Devonshire during the 18th and 19th centuries. Following a fire in 1733 it was rebuilt by William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire, in the Palladian style, to designs ...
in London, and at Rousham.
Mahogany
Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...
made its appearance in England in about 1720, and immediately became popular for furniture, along with
walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''.
Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...
wood. The Rococo began to make an appearance in England between 1740 and 1750. The furniture of
Thomas Chippendale
Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779) was a cabinet-maker in London, designing furniture in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs in a trade catalogue titled ''The Gentleman and Ca ...
was the closest to the Rococo style, In 1754 he published "Gentleman's and Cabinet-makers' directory", a catalogue of designs for rococo, ''chinoiserie'' and even Gothic furniture, which achieved wide popularity, going through three editions. Unlike French designers, Chippendale did not employ marquetry or inlays in his furniture. The predominant designer of inlaid furniture were Vile and Cob, the cabinet-makers for King George III. Another important figure in British furniture was
Thomas Johnson, who in 1761, very late in the period, published a catalogue of Rococo furniture designs. These include furnishings based on rather fantastic Chinese and Indian motifs, including a canopy bed crowned by a Chinese pagoda (now in the Victoria and Albert Museum).
Other notable figures in the British Rococo included the silversmith Charles Friedrich Kandler.
File:A Design for a State Bed From Chippendale's Director.jpg, Design for a State Bed by Thomas Chippendale
Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779) was a cabinet-maker in London, designing furniture in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs in a trade catalogue titled ''The Gentleman and Ca ...
(1753–1754)
File:Chinese Sopha -Sofa-, in Chippendale Drawings, Vol. I MET DP104166 (cropped).jpg, Proposed Chinese sofa by Thomas Chippendale
Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779) was a cabinet-maker in London, designing furniture in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs in a trade catalogue titled ''The Gentleman and Ca ...
(1753–1754)
File:French Commode and Lamp Stands.jpg, Design for Commode and lamp stands by Thomas Chippendale (1753–1754)
File:Pair of side chairs MET DP111238.jpg, Side chair; Thomas Chippendale; circa 1755–1760; mahogany; Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
(New York City)
File:Thomas Johnson - Three Designs for Torcheres in the Chinese Taste (Plate 13 of "One Hundred and Fifty New Designs") - Google Art Project.jpg, Design for candlesticks in the "Chinese Taste" by Thomas Johnson (1756)
File:Set of fourteen side chairs MET DP110781.jpg, Chippendale chair (1772), Metropolitan Museum
File:Brazier MET 202187.jpg, Brazier by silversmith Charles Friedrich Kander (1735), Metropolitan Museum
Russia
The Russian Empress
Catherine the Great
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
was another admirer of the Rococo; The Golden Cabinet of the Chinese Palace in the palace complex of
Oranienbaum near Saint Petersburg, designed by the Italian
Antonio Rinaldi, is an example of the Russian Rococo.
Frederician Rococo
![Friedrich II](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Friedrich_II.%2C_mit_Dreispitz%2C_gr%C3%BC%C3%9Fend_%28Franke%29.jpg)
Frederician Rococo is a form of Rococo which developed in
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
during the reign of
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
and combined influences from
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
(especially Saxony) and the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. Its most famous adherent was the architect
Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff
(Hans) Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff (17 February 1699 – 16 September 1753) was a painter and architect in Prussia.
Knobelsdorff was born in Kuckädel, now in Krosno Odrzańskie County. A soldier in the service of Prussia, he resigned his ...
. Furthermore, the painter
Antoine Pesne
Antoine Pesne () (29 May 1683 – 5 August 1757) was a French-born court painter of Prussia. Starting in the manner of baroque, he became one of the fathers of rococo in painting. His work represents a link between the French school and the F ...
and even King Frederick himself influenced Knobelsdorff's designs. Famous buildings in the Frederican style include
Sanssouci Palace
Sanssouci () is a historical building in Potsdam, near Berlin. Built by Prussian King Frederick the Great as his summer palace, it is often counted among the German rivals of Versailles. While Sanssouci is in the more intimate Rococo style and ...
, the
Potsdam City Palace
The Potsdam City Palace (german: Potsdamer Stadtschloss) is a building in Potsdam, Germany, located on the Old Market Square, next to the St. Nicholas' Church (''Nikolaikirche''). It was the second official residence (the winter residence) of ...
, and parts of
Charlottenburg Palace
Schloss Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Palace) is a Baroque palace in Berlin, located in Charlottenburg, a district of the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf borough.
The palace was built at the end of the 17th century and was greatly expanded during th ...
.
Decline and end
The art of
Boucher and other painters of the period, with its emphasis on decorative mythology and gallantry, soon inspired a reaction, and a demand for more "noble" themes. While the Rococo continued in Germany and Austria, the French Academy in Rome began to teach the classic style. This was confirmed by the nomination of
De Troy as director of the Academy in 1738, and then in 1751 by
Charles-Joseph Natoire
Charles-Joseph Natoire (3 March 1700 – 23 August 1777) was a French painter in the Rococo manner, a pupil of François Lemoyne and director of the French Academy in Rome, 1751–1775. Considered during his lifetime the equal of François Bouc ...
.
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rema ...
, the mistress of Louis XV contributed to the decline of the Rococo style. In 1750 she sent her brother,
Abel-François Poisson de Vandières, on a two-year mission to study artistic and archeological developments in Italy. He was accompanied by several artists, including the engraver
Charles-Nicolas Cochin
Charles-Nicolas Cochin (22 February 1715 – 29 April 1790) was a French engraver, designer, writer, and art critic. To distinguish him from his father of the same name, he is variously called Charles-Nicolas Cochin le Jeune (the Younger), Cha ...
and the architect
Soufflot
Jacques-Germain Soufflot (, 22 July 1713 – 29 August 1780) was a French architect in the international circle that introduced neoclassicism. His most famous work is the Panthéon in Paris, built from 1755 onwards, originally as a church de ...
. They returned to Paris with a passion for classical art. Vandiéres became the Marquis of Marigny, and was named director general of the King's Buildings. He turned official French architecture toward the neoclassical. Cochin became an important art critic; he denounced the ''petit style'' of Boucher, and called for a grand style with a new emphasis on antiquity and nobility in the academies of painting and architecture.
The beginning of the end for Rococo came in the early 1760s as figures like
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...
and
Jacques-François Blondel
Jacques-François Blondel (8 January 1705 – 9 January 1774) was an 18th-century French architect and teacher. After running his own highly successful school of architecture for many years, he was appointed Professor of Architecture at the Acad ...
began to voice their criticism of the superficiality and degeneracy of the art. Blondel decried the "ridiculous jumble of shells, dragons, reeds, palm-trees and plants" in contemporary interiors.
By 1785, Rococo had passed out of fashion in France, replaced by the order and seriousness of Neoclassical artists like
Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...
. In Germany, late 18th-century Rococo was ridiculed as ''Zopf und Perücke'' ("pigtail and periwig"), and this phase is sometimes referred to as ''Zopfstil''. Rococo remained popular in certain German provincial states and in Italy, until the second phase of neoclassicism, "
Empire style
The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 durin ...
", arrived with Napoleonic governments and swept Rococo away.
Furniture and decoration
The ornamental style called ''
rocaille
Rocaille ( , ) was a French style of exuberant decoration, with an abundance of curves, counter-curves, undulations and elements modeled on nature, that appeared in furniture and interior decoration during the early reign of Louis XV of France. ...
'' emerged in France between 1710 and 1750, mostly during the regency and reign of
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...
; the style was also called ''
Louis Quinze
The Louis XV style or ''Louis Quinze'' (, ) is a style of architecture and decorative arts which appeared during the reign of Louis XV. From 1710 until about 1730, a period known as the Régence, it was largely an extension of the Louis XIV style ...
''. Its principal characteristics were picturesque detail, curves and counter-curves, asymmetry, and a theatrical exuberance. On the walls of new Paris salons, the twisting and winding designs, usually made of gilded or painted stucco, wound around the doorways and mirrors like vines. One of the earliest examples was the
Hôtel Soubise in Paris (1704–05), with its famous oval salon decorated with paintings by Boucher, and
Charles-Joseph Natoire
Charles-Joseph Natoire (3 March 1700 – 23 August 1777) was a French painter in the Rococo manner, a pupil of François Lemoyne and director of the French Academy in Rome, 1751–1775. Considered during his lifetime the equal of François Bouc ...
.
The best known French furniture designer of the period was
Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier
Juste-Aurèle Meissonier (1695 – 31 July 1750) was a French goldsmith, sculptor, painter, architect, and furniture designer.
He was born in Turin, but became known as a worker in Paris, where he died. His Italian origin and training were ...
(1695–1750), who was also a sculptor, painter. and goldsmith for the royal household. He held the title of official designer to the Chamber and Cabinet of Louis XV. His work is well known today because of the enormous number of engravings made of his work which popularized the style throughout Europe. He designed works for the royal families of Poland and Portugal.
Italy was another place where the Rococo flourished, both in its early and later phases. Craftsmen in Rome, Milan and Venice all produced lavishly decorated furniture and decorative items.
File:Juste-aurèlie messonier, candelabro d'argento, Parigi, 1734-1735 , 02.JPG, Candlelabra by Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier
Juste-Aurèle Meissonier (1695 – 31 July 1750) was a French goldsmith, sculptor, painter, architect, and furniture designer.
He was born in Turin, but became known as a worker in Paris, where he died. His Italian origin and training were ...
(1735–40)
File:Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier - "Chariot of Apollo," Ceiling Design for Count Bielinski's Cabinet, Warsaw, Poland - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Chariot of Apollo'' design for a ceiling of Count Bielinski by Meissonier Meissonier or Meissonnier is the name of several people:
* Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (1815–1891), French classicist painter and sculptor famous for his depictions of Napoleon, his armies and military themes
* Jean-Antoine Meissonnier (1783– ...
, Warsaw, Poland (1734)
File:Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier - Canapé executé pour Mr. le Comte de Bielinski Grand M.al de la Couronne de Pologne, en 1735.; Canapé... - Google Art Project.jpg, Canapé designed by Meissonnier for Count Bielinski, Warsaw, Poland (1735)
File:Bottega romana, console, 1710 ca., base in legno e piano di marmo.JPG, Console table, Rome, Italy (circa 1710)
The sculpted decoration included fleurettes, palmettes, seashells, and foliage, carved in wood. The most extravagant rocaille forms were found in the consoles, tables designed to stand against walls. The Commodes, or chests, which had first appeared under Louis XIV, were richly decorated with rocaille ornament made of gilded bronze. They were made by master craftsmen including
Jean-Pierre Latz Jean-Pierre Latz (Paris, 4 August 1754 ) was one of the handful of truly outstanding cabinetmakers (''ébénistes'') working in Paris in the mid-18th century. Like several of his peers in the French capital, he was of German origin. His furniture is ...
and also featured marquetry of different-coloured woods, sometimes placed in draughtsboard cubic patterns, made with light and dark woods. The period also saw the arrival of
Chinoiserie
(, ; loanword from French ''wikt:chinoiserie#French, chinoiserie'', from ''wikt:chinois#French, chinois'', "Chinese"; ) is the European interpretation and imitation of China, Chinese and other East Asia, East Asian artistic traditions, especial ...
, often in the form of lacquered and gilded commodes, called ''falcon de Chine'' of ''Vernis Martin'', after the ebenist who introduced the technique to France.
Ormolu
Ormolu (; from French ''or moulu'', "ground/pounded gold") is the gilding technique of applying finely ground, high-carat gold– mercury amalgam to an object of bronze, and for objects finished in this way. The mercury is driven off in a kiln le ...
, or gilded bronze, was used by master craftsmen including
Jean-Pierre Latz Jean-Pierre Latz (Paris, 4 August 1754 ) was one of the handful of truly outstanding cabinetmakers (''ébénistes'') working in Paris in the mid-18th century. Like several of his peers in the French capital, he was of German origin. His furniture is ...
. Latz made a particularly ornate clock mounted atop a cartonnier for
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
for his palace in
Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
. Pieces of
imported Chinese porcelain were often mounted in
ormolu
Ormolu (; from French ''or moulu'', "ground/pounded gold") is the gilding technique of applying finely ground, high-carat gold– mercury amalgam to an object of bronze, and for objects finished in this way. The mercury is driven off in a kiln le ...
(gilded bronze) rococo settings for display on tables or consoles in salons. Other craftsmen imitated the
Japanese art of lacquered furniture, and produced commodes with Japanese motifs.
File:Secretaire - Bernard II van Risamburgh - Münchner Residenz - DSC07490.JPG, Desk for the Münchner Residenz
The Residenz (, ''Residence'') in central Munich is the former royal palace of the House of Wittelsbach, Wittelsbach List of rulers of Bavaria, monarchs of Bavaria. The Residenz is the largest city palace in Germany and is today open to visitors ...
by Bernard II van Risamburgh
Bernard II van Risamburgh, sometimes Risen Burgh (working by c 1730 — before February 1767) was a Parisian ''ébéniste'' of Dutch and French extraction, one of the outstanding cabinetmakers working in the Rococo style. "Bernard II's furniture is ...
(1737)
File:Kambli Cartonnier with a clock of Frederick II.jpg, Clock-chest for Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
(1742)
File:Chinese - Bowl Mounted with Two Fish - Walters 492266.jpg, A Chinese porcelain bowl and two fish mounted in gilded bronze, France (1745–49)
File:LatzEncoignure1a.jpg, An encoignure
Encoignure is a type of furniture located in a corner of a room. In French, it literally means the angle, or return, formed by the junction of two walls. Since the 20th century, the word has been chiefly used to designate a small armoire, oakley ...
by royal cabinetmaker Jean-Pierre Latz Jean-Pierre Latz (Paris, 4 August 1754 ) was one of the handful of truly outstanding cabinetmakers (''ébénistes'') working in Paris in the mid-18th century. Like several of his peers in the French capital, he was of German origin. His furniture is ...
(circa 1750)
File:Commode.jpg, Lacquered Commode in Chinoiserie style, by Bernard II van Risamburgh
Bernard II van Risamburgh, sometimes Risen Burgh (working by c 1730 — before February 1767) was a Parisian ''ébéniste'' of Dutch and French extraction, one of the outstanding cabinetmakers working in the Rococo style. "Bernard II's furniture is ...
, Victoria and Albert Museum (1750–1760)
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Rococo tended to be more restrained. Thomas Chippendale's furniture designs kept the curves and feel, but stopped short of the French heights of whimsy. The most successful exponent of British Rococo was probably
Thomas Johnson, a gifted carver and furniture designer working in London in the mid-18th century.
Painting
Elements of the ''Rocaille'' style appeared in the work of some French painters, including a taste for the picturesque in details; curves and counter-curves; and dissymmetry which replaced the movement of the baroque with exuberance, though the French ''rocaille'' never reached the extravagance of the Germanic rococo. The leading proponent was
Antoine Watteau
Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised October 10, 1684died July 18, 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, a ...
, particularly in
''Pilgrimage on the Isle of Cythera'' (1717),
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
, in a genre called ''
Fête Galante
''Fête galante'' () (courtship party) is a category of painting specially created by the French Academy in 1717 to describe Antoine Watteau's (1684–1721) variations on the theme of the fête champêtre, which featured figures in ball dress o ...
'' depicting scenes of young nobles gathered together to celebrate in a pastoral setting. Watteau died in 1721 at the age of thirty-seven, but his work continued to have influence through the rest of the century. The ''Pilgrimage to Cythera'' painting was purchased by
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
of Prussia in 1752 or 1765 to decorate his palace of
Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...
in Berlin.
The successor of Watteau and the ''Féte Galante'' in decorative painting was
François Boucher
François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...
(1703–1770), the favorite painter of
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rema ...
. His work included the sensual ''Toilette de Venus'' (1746), which became one of the best known examples of the style. Boucher participated in all of the genres of the time, designing tapestries, models for porcelain sculpture, set decorations for the Paris opera and ''opera-comique'', and decor for the Fair of Saint-Laurent. Other important painters of the ''Fête Galante'' style included
Nicolas Lancret
Nicolas Lancret (22 January 1690 – 14 September 1743) was a French painter. Born in Paris, he was a brilliant depicter of light comedy which reflected the tastes and manners of French society during the regency of the Duke of Orleans and, late ...
and
Jean-Baptiste Pater
Jean-Baptiste Pater (December 29, 1695 – July 25, 1736) was a French rococo painter.
Born in Valenciennes, Pater was the son of sculptor Antoine Pater and studied under him before becoming a student of painter Jean-Baptiste Guide. Pater then m ...
. The style particularly influenced
François Lemoyne
François Lemoyne or François Le Moine (; 1688 – 4 June 1737) was a French rococo painter. He was a winner of the Prix de Rome, professor of the Académie de peinture et de sculpture, and ''Premier peintre du Roi'' to Louis XV. He was tutor ...
, who painted the lavish decoration of the ceiling of the Salon of Hercules at the
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...
, completed in 1735. Paintings with fétes gallant and mythological themes by Boucher,
and
Charles-Joseph Natoire
Charles-Joseph Natoire (3 March 1700 – 23 August 1777) was a French painter in the Rococo manner, a pupil of François Lemoyne and director of the French Academy in Rome, 1751–1775. Considered during his lifetime the equal of François Bouc ...
decorated the famous salon of the
Hôtel Soubise in Paris (1735–40). Other Rococo painters include:
Jean François de Troy
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* Je ...
(1679–1752),
Jean-Baptiste van Loo
Jean-Baptiste van Loo (14 January 1684 – 19 December 1745) was a French subject and portrait painter.
Life and career
He was born in Aix-en-Provence, and was instructed in art by his father Louis-Abraham van Loo, son of Jacob van Loo. Hav ...
(1685–1745), his two sons
Louis-Michel van Loo
Louis-Michel van Loo (2 March 1707, Toulon – 20 March 1771, Paris) was a French Painting, painter.
Biography
He studied under his father, the painter Jean-Baptiste van Loo, at Turin and Rome, and he won a prize at the ''Académie Royale de ...
(1707–1771) and
Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo
Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo (25 August 1719 – 15 November 1795) was a French painter of allegorical scenes and portraits.
He studied under his father, the painter Jean-Baptiste van Loo, at Turin and Rome, where in 1738 he won the Pr ...
(1719–1795), his younger brother
Charles-André van Loo
Carle or Charles-André van Loo (; 15 February 1705 – 15 July 1765) was a French painter, son of the painter Louis-Abraham van Loo, a younger brother of Jean-Baptiste van Loo and grandson of Jacob van Loo. He was the most famous member of a su ...
(1705–1765),
Nicolas Lancret
Nicolas Lancret (22 January 1690 – 14 September 1743) was a French painter. Born in Paris, he was a brilliant depicter of light comedy which reflected the tastes and manners of French society during the regency of the Duke of Orleans and, late ...
(1690–1743), and
Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806).
In Austria and Southern Germany, Italian painting had the largest effect on the Rococo style. The Venetian painter
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an impo ...
, assisted by his son,
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (August 30, 1727March 3, 1804) was an Italian painter and printmaker in etching. He was the son of artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and elder brother of Lorenzo Baldissera Tiepolo.
Life history
Domenico was born in ...
, was invited to paint frescoes for the
Würzburg Residence
The Würzburg Residence (German: ''Würzburger Residenz'') is a palace in Würzburg, Germany. Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and Maximilian von Welsch, representatives of the Austrian/South German Baroque style, were involved in the construction, ...
(1720–1744). The most prominent painter of Bavarian rococo churches was
Johann Baptist Zimmermann
Johann Baptist Zimmermann (3 January 1680, Gaispoint — 2 March 1758, Munich) was a German painter and a prime stucco plasterer during the Baroque.
Zimmermann was born in Gaispoint, Wessobrunn. He and his brother Dominikus Zimmermann were ...
, who painted the ceiling of the
Wieskirche
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (german: Wieskirche) is an oval Rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by brothers J. B. and Dominikus Zimmermann, the latter of whom lived nearby for the last eleven years of his life. It is located in the foothil ...
(1745–1754).
File:L'Embarquement pour Cythere, by Antoine Watteau, from C2RMF retouched.jpg, Antoine Watteau
Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised October 10, 1684died July 18, 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, a ...
, ''Pilgrimage on the Isle of Cythera'' (1717)
File:Déjeuner de jambon - Nicolas Lancret - musée Condé.jpg, " Luncheon with Ham" by Nicolas Lancret
Nicolas Lancret (22 January 1690 – 14 September 1743) was a French painter. Born in Paris, he was a brilliant depicter of light comedy which reflected the tastes and manners of French society during the regency of the Duke of Orleans and, late ...
(1735)
File:François Lemoyne - L'Apothéose d'Hercule - Google Art Project.jpg, Ceiling of the Salon of Hercules by François Lemoyne
François Lemoyne or François Le Moine (; 1688 – 4 June 1737) was a French rococo painter. He was a winner of the Prix de Rome, professor of the Académie de peinture et de sculpture, and ''Premier peintre du Roi'' to Louis XV. He was tutor ...
(1735)
File:The Toilet of Venus, by François Boucher.jpg, ''The Toilet of Venus'' by François Boucher
François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...
(1746)
File:Tiepolo-residenz-wuerzburg.jpg, Ceiling fresco in the Würzburg Residence
The Würzburg Residence (German: ''Würzburger Residenz'') is a palace in Würzburg, Germany. Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and Maximilian von Welsch, representatives of the Austrian/South German Baroque style, were involved in the construction, ...
(1720–1744) by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an impo ...
File:Kuppelfreskowieskirche.jpg, Ceiling of the Wieskirche
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (german: Wieskirche) is an oval Rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by brothers J. B. and Dominikus Zimmermann, the latter of whom lived nearby for the last eleven years of his life. It is located in the foothil ...
by Johann Baptist Zimmermann
Johann Baptist Zimmermann (3 January 1680, Gaispoint — 2 March 1758, Munich) was a German painter and a prime stucco plasterer during the Baroque.
Zimmermann was born in Gaispoint, Wessobrunn. He and his brother Dominikus Zimmermann were ...
(1745–1754)
Sculpture
Antonio Corradini - Dama Velata (Puritas) - Museo del Settecento Veneziano - Ca' Rezzonico, Venice.jpg, ''The "Veiled Dame (Puritas)'' by Antonio Corradini
Antonio Corradini (19 October 1688 – 12 August 1752) was an Italian Rococo sculptor from Venice. He is best known for his illusory veiled depictions of human body, where the contours of the face and bodies beneath the veil are discernible.
Bo ...
(1722)
Edme Bouchardon, Cupid, 1744, NGA 41708.jpg, ''Cupid'' by Edmé Bouchardon
Edmé Bouchardon (; 29 May 169827 July 1762) was a French sculptor best known for his neoclassical statues in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, his medals, his equestrian statue of Louis XV of France for the Place de la Concorde (destroy ...
, National Gallery of Art (1744)
Prometheus Adam Louvre MR1745 edit atoma.jpg, ''Prometheus'' by Nicolas-Sébastien Adam
Nicolas-Sébastien Adam (22 March 1705 – 27 March 1778), also called "Adam the Younger", was a French sculptor working in the Neoclassical style.David B. Morris, ''The Culture of Pain'' (University of California Press, 1991), p. 203. He was bor ...
(1762)
Vertumnus Pomona Lemoyne Louvre RF2716.jpg, ''Vertumnus and Pomone'' by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne
Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne (15 February 1704 – 1778) was a French sculptor of the 18th century who worked in both the rococo and neoclassical style. He made monumental statuary for the Gardens of Versailles but was best known for his expressive p ...
(1760)
Falconet - Pygmalion & Galatee (1763)-black bg.jpg, Pygmalion et Galatee by Étienne-Maurice Falconet (1763)
The Intoxication of Wine MET DP254072.jpg, ''The intoxication of wine'' by Claude Michel
Claude Michel (20 December 1738 – 29 March 1814), known as Clodion, was a French sculptor in the Rococo style, especially noted for his works in marble, bronze, & terracotta.
Life
He was born in Nancy to Anne Adam and Thomas Michel, an un ...
(Clodion), terracotta, 1780s-90s
Rococo sculpture was theatrical, colourful and dynamic, giving a sense of movement in every direction. It was most commonly found in the interiors of churches, usually closely integrated with painting and the architecture. Religious sculpture followed the Italian baroque style, as exemplified in the theatrical altarpiece of the
Karlskirche
The ''Rektoratskirche St. Karl Borromäus'', commonly called the ''Karlskirche'' (), is a Baroque church located on the south side of Karlsplatz in Vienna, Austria. Widely considered the most outstanding baroque church in Vienna, as well as one ...
in Vienna.
Early Rococo or
Rocaille
Rocaille ( , ) was a French style of exuberant decoration, with an abundance of curves, counter-curves, undulations and elements modeled on nature, that appeared in furniture and interior decoration during the early reign of Louis XV of France. ...
sculpture in France sculpture was lighter and offered more movement than the classical style of Louis XIV. It was encouraged in particular by
Madame de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rema ...
, mistress of Louis XV, who commissioned many works for her chateaux and gardens. The sculptor
Edmé Bouchardon
Edmé Bouchardon (; 29 May 169827 July 1762) was a French sculptor best known for his neoclassical statues in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, his medals, his equestrian statue of Louis XV of France for the Place de la Concorde (destroy ...
represented
Cupid
In classical mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupīdō , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, lust, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus (mythology), Venus and the god of war Mar ...
engaged in carving his darts of love from the club of
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
. Rococo figures also crowded the later fountains at Versailles, such as the Fountain of Neptune by
Lambert-Sigisbert Adam
Lambert-Sigisbert Adam (10 October 170012 May 1759) was a lorrain sculptor born in 1700 in Nancy. The eldest son of sculptor Jacob-Sigisbert Adam, he was known as Adam l’aîné ("the elder") to distinguish him from his two sculptor brothers Ni ...
and
Nicolas-Sebastien Adam (1740). Based on their success at Versailles, they were invited to Prussia by
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
to create fountain sculpture for
Sanssouci
Sanssouci () is a historical building in Potsdam, near Berlin. Built by Prussian King Frederick the Great as his summer palace, it is often counted among the German rivals of Versailles. While Sanssouci is in the more intimate Rococo style and ...
Palace, Prussia (1740s).
Étienne-Maurice Falconet (1716–1791) was another leading French sculptor during the period. Falconet was most famous for his statue of
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
on horseback in St. Petersburg, but he also created a series of smaller works for wealthy collectors, which could be reproduced in a series in
terracotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, a ...
or cast in bronze. The French sculptors,
Jean-Louis Lemoyne
Jean-Louis Lemoyne (1665–1755) was a French sculptor whose works were commissioned by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV and Louis XV of France, Louis XV.
His sculptures are featured in major art museums, including the Louvre, the Metropolitan ...
,
Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne
Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne (15 February 1704 – 1778) was a French sculptor of the 18th century who worked in both the rococo and neoclassical style. He made monumental statuary for the Gardens of Versailles but was best known for his expressive p ...
,
Louis-Simon Boizot
Louis-Simon Boizot (1743–1809) was a French sculptor whose models for biscuit figures for Sèvres porcelain are better-known than his large-scale sculptures.
Biography
Boizot was the son of Antoine Boizot, a designer at the Gobelins manu ...
,
Michel Clodion
Claude Michel (20 December 1738 – 29 March 1814), known as Clodion, was a French sculptor in the Rococo style, especially noted for his works in marble, bronze, & terracotta.
Life
He was born in Nancy to Anne Adam and Thomas Michel, an un ...
,
Lambert-Sigisbert Adam
Lambert-Sigisbert Adam (10 October 170012 May 1759) was a lorrain sculptor born in 1700 in Nancy. The eldest son of sculptor Jacob-Sigisbert Adam, he was known as Adam l’aîné ("the elder") to distinguish him from his two sculptor brothers Ni ...
and
Jean-Baptiste Pigalle
Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (26 January 1714 – 20 August 1785) was a French sculptor.
Life
Pigalle was born in Paris, the seventh child of a carpenter. Although he failed to obtain the ''Prix de Rome'', after a severe struggle he entered the ''Ac ...
all produced sculpture in series for collectors.
In Italy,
Antonio Corradini
Antonio Corradini (19 October 1688 – 12 August 1752) was an Italian Rococo sculptor from Venice. He is best known for his illusory veiled depictions of human body, where the contours of the face and bodies beneath the veil are discernible.
Bo ...
was among the leading sculptors of the Rococo style. A Venetian, he travelled around Europe, working for
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
in St. Petersburg, for the imperial courts in Austria and Naples. He preferred sentimental themes and made several skilled works of women with faces covered by veils, one of which is now in the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
.
File:Wien-Landstraße, Oberes Belvedere, Trägerfigur.JPG, Atlantides in the upper Belvedere Palace
The Belvedere is a historic building complex in Vienna, Austria, consisting of two Baroque palaces (the Upper and Lower Belvedere), the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. The buildings are set in a Baroque park landscape in the third district o ...
, Vienna, by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt
Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt (14 November 1668 – 16 November 1745) was an Austrian baroque architect and military engineer who designed stately buildings and churches and whose work had a profound influence on the architecture of the Habsburg E ...
(1721–22)
File:Kloster Rohr in Nby Detail Hochaltar.JPG, Assumption
Assumption, in Christianity, refers to the Assumption of Mary, a belief in the taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven.
Assumption may also refer to:
Places
* Assumption, Alberta, Canada
* Assumption, Illinois, United States
** Assumption Town ...
scene by Egid Quirin Asam
Egid Quirin Asam (1 September 1692 – 29 April 1750) was a German plasterer, sculptor, architect, and painter. He was active during the Late Baroque and Rococo periods.
Born in Tegernsee, Bavaria, Asam worked mainly together with his brothe ...
(1722–23) former monastery church, Rohr in Niederbayern
Rohr in Niederbayern is a municipality in the district of Kelheim in Bavaria in Germany.
Twin towns
Rohr in Niederbayern is twinned with:
* Castelcucco
Castelcucco is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Treviso in the Italian re ...
File:El Transparente.jpg, ''El Transparente'' altar in Toledo Cathedral
, native_name_lang =
, image = Toledo Cathedral, from Plaza del Ayuntamiento.jpg
, imagesize = 300px
, imagelink =
, imagealt =
, landscape =
, caption ...
by Narciso Tomé
Narciso Tomé (1690–1742) was a Spanish architect and sculptor of the late-Baroque or Rococo period.
Tomé was born in Toro, Spain. With his brother, Diego, he sculpted the facade of the University of Valladolid in 1715. In 1721, he was named m ...
(1721–32)
File:Façana del Palau del Marqués de Dosaigües.JPG, Portal of the Palace of the Marquis de Dos Aguas, Valencia, Spain (1740-1744)
File:Versalles Fuente de Neptuno 02.JPG, Fountain of Neptune and Amphitrite Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...
, by Lambert-Sigisbert Adam
Lambert-Sigisbert Adam (10 October 170012 May 1759) was a lorrain sculptor born in 1700 in Nancy. The eldest son of sculptor Jacob-Sigisbert Adam, he was known as Adam l’aîné ("the elder") to distinguish him from his two sculptor brothers Ni ...
and Nicolas-Sebastien Adam (1740)
File:8002.Element Luft-2 Nymphen mit erlegtem Reiher(1739)-Lambert Sigisbert Adam-Sanssouci Steffen Heilfort.JPG, Fountain nymphs by Lambert Sigisbert Adam at Sanssouci
Sanssouci () is a historical building in Potsdam, near Berlin. Built by Prussian King Frederick the Great as his summer palace, it is often counted among the German rivals of Versailles. While Sanssouci is in the more intimate Rococo style and ...
palace, Prussia (1740s)
The most elaborate examples of rococo sculpture were found in Spain, Austria and southern Germany, in the decoration of palaces and churches. The sculpture was closely integrated with the architecture; it was impossible to know where one stopped and the other began. In the
Belvedere Palace
The Belvedere is a historic building complex in Vienna, Austria, consisting of two Baroque palaces (the Upper and Lower Belvedere), the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. The buildings are set in a Baroque park landscape in the third district o ...
in Vienna, (1721-1722), the vaulted ceiling of the Hall of the Atlantes is held up on the shoulders of muscular figures designed by
Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt
Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt (14 November 1668 – 16 November 1745) was an Austrian baroque architect and military engineer who designed stately buildings and churches and whose work had a profound influence on the architecture of the Habsburg E ...
. The portal of the
Palace of the Marquis of Dos Aguas in Valencia (1715-1776) was completely drenched in sculpture carved in marble, from designs by Hipolito Rovira Brocandel.
The ''El Transparente'' altar, in the major chapel of
Toledo Cathedral
, native_name_lang =
, image = Toledo Cathedral, from Plaza del Ayuntamiento.jpg
, imagesize = 300px
, imagelink =
, imagealt =
, landscape =
, caption ...
is a towering sculpture of polychrome marble and gilded stucco, combined with paintings, statues and symbols. It was made by
Narciso Tomé
Narciso Tomé (1690–1742) was a Spanish architect and sculptor of the late-Baroque or Rococo period.
Tomé was born in Toro, Spain. With his brother, Diego, he sculpted the facade of the University of Valladolid in 1715. In 1721, he was named m ...
(1721–32), Its design allows light to pass through, and in changing light it seems to move.
Porcelain
A new form of small-scale sculpture appeared, the
porcelain
Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...
figure, or small group of figures, initially replacing sugar sculptures on grand dining room tables, but soon popular for placing on mantelpieces and furniture. The number of European factories grew steadily through the century, and some made porcelain that the expanding middle classes could afford. The amount of colourful
overglaze decoration
Overglaze decoration, overglaze enamelling or on-glaze decoration is a method of decorating pottery, most often porcelain, where the coloured decoration is applied on top of the already fired and glazed surface, and then fixed in a second firing ...
used on them also increased. They were usually modelled by artists who had trained in sculpture. Common subjects included figures from the
commedia dell'arte
(; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...
, city street vendors, lovers and figures in fashionable clothes, and pairs of birds.
Johann Joachim Kändler
Johann Joachim Kändler (June 15, 1706 – May 18, 1775) was a German sculptor who became the most important modeller of the Meissen porcelain manufactury, and arguably of all European porcelain. He worked at Meissen for over 40 years, fro ...
was the most important modeller of
Meissen porcelain
Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first European hard-paste porcelain. Early experiments were done in 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger continued von Tschirnhaus's work and ...
, the earliest European factory, which remained the most important until about 1760. The Swiss-born German sculptor
Franz Anton Bustelli
Franz Anton Bustelli (12 April 1723 – 18 April 1763) was a Swiss-born German modeller for the Bavarian Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory from 1754 to his death in 1763. He is widely regarded as the finest modeller of porcelain in the Rococo ...
produced a wide variety of colourful figures for the
Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory
The Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory (German: ''Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg'') is located at the ''Nördliche Schloßrondell'' in one of the ''Cavalier Houses'' in front of the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, Germany, and since its establi ...
in Bavaria, which were sold throughout Europe. The French sculptor
Étienne-Maurice Falconet (1716–1791) followed this example. While also making large-scale works, he became director of the
Sevres Porcelain manufactory and produced small-scale works, usually about love and gaiety, for production in series.
File:The Music Lesson MET DP-14272-001 (cropped).jpg, ''The Music Lesson'', Chelsea porcelain
Chelsea porcelain is the porcelain made by the Chelsea porcelain manufactory, the first important porcelain manufactory in England, established around 1743–45, and operating independently until 1770, when it was merged with Derby porcelain. ...
, Metropolitan Museum (c. 1765)
File:Karlskirche October 2006 005.jpg, High altar of the Karlskirche
The ''Rektoratskirche St. Karl Borromäus'', commonly called the ''Karlskirche'' (), is a Baroque church located on the south side of Karlsplatz in Vienna, Austria. Widely considered the most outstanding baroque church in Vienna, as well as one ...
in Vienna (1737)
File:Cup and Saucer LACMA 47.35.6a-b (1 of 3).jpg, Cup with saucer; circa 1753; soft-paste porcelain with glaze and enamel; Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...
File:Mezzetin, Johann Joachim Kaendler, Meissen Porcelain Factory, c. 1739, hard-paste porcelain - Wadsworth Atheneum - Hartford, CT - DSC05311.jpg, Mezzetin
Mezzetino, also Mezzettino, (Pron. ''met-zeh-TEE-no'') is a character from the ''commedia dell'arte'' and is considered by Duchartre to be a variant on the stock character Brighella. His name means "Half-Measure (of liquor)" in Medieval Italian, ...
, by Kaendler, Meissen
Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...
, c. 1739
File:Harlequin and Columbine MET DP169015 (cropped).jpg, ''Harlequin
Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque dialect, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the ''zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian language, Italian ''commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city o ...
and Columbine'', Capodimonte porcelain
Capodimonte porcelain (sometimes "Capo di Monte") is porcelain created by the Capodimonte porcelain manufactory (''Real Fabbrica di Capodimonte''), which operated in Naples, Italy, between 1743 and 1759. Capodimonte is the most outstanding facto ...
, c. 1745
File:Bustelli Liebesgruppe Der gestörte Schläfer BNM.jpg, ''Pair of lovers'' group of Nymphenburg porcelain
The Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory (German: ''Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg'') is located at the ''Nördliche Schloßrondell'' in one of the ''Cavalier Houses'' in front of the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, Germany, and since its establi ...
, c. 1760, modelled by Franz Anton Bustelli
Franz Anton Bustelli (12 April 1723 – 18 April 1763) was a Swiss-born German modeller for the Bavarian Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory from 1754 to his death in 1763. He is widely regarded as the finest modeller of porcelain in the Rococo ...
File:Bustelli Käsmann BNM.jpg, Figure of a cheese seller by Bustelli, Nymphenburg porcelain
The Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory (German: ''Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg'') is located at the ''Nördliche Schloßrondell'' in one of the ''Cavalier Houses'' in front of the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, Germany, and since its establi ...
(1755)
Music
A Rococo period existed in
music history
Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view.
In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history o ...
, although it is not as well known as the earlier Baroque and later Classical forms. The Rococo music style itself developed out of baroque music both in France, where the new style was referred to as
''style galant'' ("gallant" or "elegant" style), and in Germany, where it was referred to as ''empfindsamer Stil'' ("sensitive style"). It can be characterized as light, intimate music with extremely elaborate and refined forms of
ornamentation
An ornament is something used for decoration.
Ornament may also refer to:
Decoration
*Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts
*Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve on ...
. Exemplars include
Jean Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera ...
,
Louis-Claude Daquin
Louis-Claude Daquin (or D'Aquino, d'Aquin, d'Acquin; July 4, 1694 – June 15, 1772) was a French composer, writing in the Baroque and Galant styles. He was a virtuoso organist and harpsichordist.
Life
Louis-Claude Daquin was born in Paris to a f ...
and
François Couperin
François Couperin (; 10 November 1668 – 11 September 1733) was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as ''Couperin le Grand'' ("Couperin the Great") to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented ...
in France; in Germany, the style's main proponents were
C. P. E. Bach
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...
and
Johann Christian Bach
Johann Christian Bach (September 5, 1735 – January 1, 1782) was a German composer of the Classical period (music), Classical era, the eighteenth child of Johann Sebastian Bach, and the youngest of his eleven sons. After living in Italy for ...
, two sons of
J.S. Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suite ...
.
In the second half of the 18th century, a reaction against the Rococo style occurred, primarily against its perceived overuse of ornamentation and decoration. Led by
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...
, this reaction ushered in the
Classical era
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
. By the early 19th century, Catholic opinion had turned against the suitability of the style for ecclesiastical contexts because it was "in no way conducive to sentiments of devotion".
Russian composer of the Romantic era
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
wrote The ''
Variations on a Rococo Theme
The ''Variations on a Rococo Theme'',; in russian: Вариации на тему рококо. Op. 33, for cello and orchestra was the closest Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ever came to writing a full concerto for cello and orchestra. The style was ins ...
'', Op. 33, for cello and orchestra in 1877. Although the theme is not Rococo in origin, it is written in Rococo style.
Fashion
![Sackbackgown](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Sackbackgown.jpg)
Rococo fashion was based on extravagance, elegance, refinement and decoration. Women's fashion of the seventeenth-century was contrasted by the fashion of the eighteenth-century, which was ornate and sophisticated, the true style of Rococo.
These fashions spread beyond the royal court into the salons and cafés of the ascendant bourgeoisie. The exuberant, playful, elegant style of decoration and design that we now know to be 'Rococo' was then known as ''le style rocaille, le style moderne, le gout.''
A style that appeared in the early eighteenth-century was the ''robe volante'',
a flowing gown, that became popular towards the end of King Louis XIV's reign. This gown had the features of a bodice with large pleats flowing down the back to the ground over a rounded petticoat. The colour palette was rich, dark fabrics accompanied by elaborate, heavy design features. After the death of Louis XIV the clothing styles began to change. The fashion took a turn to a lighter, more frivolous style, transitioning from the baroque period to the well-known style of Rococo.
The later period was known for their pastel colours, more revealing frocks, and the plethora of frills, ruffles, bows, and lace as trims. Shortly after the typical women's Rococo gown was introduced, ''robe à la Française,''
a gown with a tight bodice that had a low cut neckline, usually with a large ribbon bows down the centre front, wide panniers, and was lavishly trimmed in large amounts of lace, ribbon, and flowers.
The ''Watteau pleats''
also became more popular, named after the painter Jean-Antoine Watteau, who painted the details of the gowns down to the stitches of lace and other trimmings with immense accuracy. Later, the ''
'pannier'
'' and ''
'mantua''
' became fashionable around 1718. They were wide hoops under the dress to extend the hips out sideways and they soon became a staple in formal wear. This gave the Rococo period the iconic dress of wide hips combined with the large amount of decoration on the garments. Wide panniers were worn for special occasions, and could reach up to 16 feet (4.8 metres) in diameter,
and smaller hoops were worn for the everyday settings. These features originally came from seventeenth-century Spanish fashion, known as ''guardainfante'', initially designed to hide the pregnant stomach, then reimagined later as the pannier.
1745 became the Golden Age of the Rococo with the introduction of a more exotic, oriental culture in France called ''a la turque''.
This was made popular by Louis XV's mistress, Madame Pompadour, who commissioned the artist, Charles Andre Van Loo, to paint her as a Turkish sultana.
In the 1760s, a style of less formal dresses emerged and one of these was the ''polonaise'', with inspiration taken from Poland. It was shorter than the French dress, allowing the underskirt and ankles to be seen, which made it easier to move around in. Another dress that came into fashion was the ''robe a l'anglais'', which included elements inspired by the males' fashion; a short jacket, broad lapels and long sleeves.
It also had a snug bodice, a full skirt without panniers but still a little long in the back to form a small train, and often some type of lace kerchief worn around the neck. Another piece was the 'redingote', halfway between a cape and an overcoat.
Accessories were also important to all women during this time, as they added to the opulence and the decor of the body to match their gowns. At any official ceremony ladies were required to cover their hands and arms with gloves if their clothes were sleeveless.
Gallery
Architecture
File:Igreja de São Francisco de Assis (Ouro Preto, MG) por Rodrigo Tetsuo Argenton.jpg, Church of São Francisco de Assis in Ouro Preto
Ouro Preto (, ''Black Gold''), formerly Vila Rica (, ''Rich Village''), is a city in and former capital of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, a former colonial mining town located in the Serra do Espinhaço mountains and designated a World Herita ...
, Brazil, 1749–1774, by Aleijadinho
Antônio Francisco Lisboa ( or 1738 – 18 November 1814), better known as Aleijadinho (), was a sculptor, carver and architect of Colonial Brazil, noted for his works on and in various churches of Brazil. Little is known with certainty about his ...
File:Czap6DSC 1080.jpg, Czapski Palace
The Czapski Palace ( pl, Pałac Czapskich, ), also called the Krasiński, Sieniawski or Raczyński Palace, is a substantial palace in the center of Warsaw, at 5 Krakowskie Przedmieście. It is considered one of the most distinguished examples of r ...
in Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, Poland, 1712–1721, reflects the rococo fascination with orient
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
al architecture
File:St. Andriy's Church in Kyiv.jpg, St. Andrew's Church in Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, 1744–1767, designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli
Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (russian: Франче́ско Бартоломе́о (Варфоломе́й Варфоломе́евич) Растре́лли; 1700 in Paris, Kingdom of France – 29 April 1771 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Emp ...
File:Dresden-Zwinger-Wallpavillion-gp.jpg, Zwinger
"" () is a German word for outer ward or bailey (castle), outer bailey. It represents an open kill zone area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes. s were built in the Post-classical history, post-classical and early ...
in Dresden
File:Esterházy-kastély (4051. számú műemlék) 2.jpg, Eszterháza
Eszterháza is a palace in Fertőd, Hungary, built by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. Sometimes called the "Hungarian Versailles", it is Hungary's grandest Rococo edifice. It served as the home to Joseph Haydn and his orchestra from 1760 to 1790. In ...
in Fertőd
Fertőd is a town in the Győr-Moson-Sopron county of Hungary, not far from Austria. Fertőd was formed when the towns of Eszterháza and Süttör were unified, in 1950.
It is the location of one of Hungary's best known palaces, Eszterháza, whic ...
, Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, 1720–1766, sometimes called the "''Hungarian Versailles''"
File:150913 Branicki Palace in Białystok - 09.jpg, The Rococo Branicki Palace in Białystok, sometimes referred to as the "''Polish Versailles''"
Trier Kurfuerstliches Palais BW 1.JPG, Electoral Palace of Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
File:Convento Santo Domingo - Lima.jpg, Basilica of Santo Domingo in Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...
, Peru, completed in 1766, by Manuel d'Amat i de Junyent
Engravings
File:Allegories of astronomy and geography.jpg, Unknown artist. Allegories of astronomy and geography. France (?), ca. 1750s
File:A. Avelin after Mondon le Fils.jpg, A. Avelin after Mondon le Fils. L′Heureux moment. 1736
File:Mondon le Fils.jpg, A. Avelin after Mondon le Fils. Chinese God. An engraving from the ouvrage «Quatrieme livre des formes, orneė des rocailles, carteles, figures oyseaux et dragon» 1736
Painting
File:Jean-Antoine Watteau - Pierrot, dit autrefois Gilles.jpg, Antoine Watteau
Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised October 10, 1684died July 18, 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, a ...
, ''Pierrot'', 1718–1719
File:Antoine Watteau - L'imbarco per Citera.jpg, Antoine Watteau
Jean-Antoine Watteau (, , ; baptised October 10, 1684died July 18, 1721) Alsavailablevia Oxford Art Online (subscription needed). was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, a ...
, ''Pilgrimage to Cythera '', 1718–1721
File:Vanloo, Triumph of Galatea.jpg, Jean-Baptiste van Loo
Jean-Baptiste van Loo (14 January 1684 – 19 December 1745) was a French subject and portrait painter.
Life and career
He was born in Aix-en-Provence, and was instructed in art by his father Louis-Abraham van Loo, son of Jacob van Loo. Hav ...
, ''The Triumph of Galatea
Galatea is an ancient Greek name meaning "she who is milk-white".
Galatea, Galathea or Gallathea may refer to:
In mythology
* Galatea (Greek myth), three different mythological figures
In the arts
* ''Aci, Galatea e Polifemo'', cantata by H ...
'', 1720
File:FdeTroyLectureMoliere.jpg, Jean François de Troy
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* Je ...
, ''A Reading of Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...
'', 1728
File:Francis Hayman 001.jpg, Francis Hayman
Francis Hayman (1708 – 2 February 1776) was an English painter and illustrator who became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and later its first librarian.
Life and works
Born in Exeter, Devon, Hayman begun his arti ...
, ''Dancing Milkmaids'', 1735
File:Charles-André, dit Carle Vanloo - Halte de chasse (1737).JPG, Charles-André van Loo
Carle or Charles-André van Loo (; 15 February 1705 – 15 July 1765) was a French painter, son of the painter Louis-Abraham van Loo, a younger brother of Jean-Baptiste van Loo and grandson of Jacob van Loo. He was the most famous member of a su ...
, ''Halt to the Hunt'', 1737
File:François Boucher - The Triumph of Venus - Google Art Project.jpg, François Boucher
François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...
, ''The Triumph of Venus
''The Triumph of Venus'' is a 1740 oil-on-canvas painting by François Boucher. It inspired ''The Birth of Venus'' by Jean-Honoré Fragonard.
The painting was one of the large number of drawings and paintings acquired by Carl Gustaf Tessin during ...
'', 1740
File:Boucher par Gustav Lundberg 1741.jpg, Gustaf Lundberg
Gustaf Lundberg (17 August 1695 – 18 March 1786) was a Swedish rococo pastelist and portrait painter. He trained and worked in Paris and later was appointed court portrait painter in Stockholm.
Biography
Lundberg was born in Stockholm, Sweden, ...
, ''Portrait of François Boucher
François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...
'', 1741
File:Boucher Diane sortant du bain Louvre 2712.jpg, François Boucher
François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...
, ''Diana Leaving the Bath'', 1742
File:Giambattista Tiepolo - The Banquet of Cleopatra - Google Art Project.jpg, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an impo ...
, ''The Banquet of Cleopatra
''The Banquet of Cleopatra'' is the title of several paintings showing the culmination of a wager between Cleopatra and Mark Antony as to which one could provide the most expensive feast. As recounted in Pliny the Elder's '' Natural History'' Cl ...
'', 1743
File:Resting Girl by François Boucher (1753) - Alte Pinakothek - Munich - Germany 2017 (crop).jpg, François Boucher
François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...
, ''Marie-Louise O'Murphy
Marie-Louise O'Murphy (; 21 October 1737 – 11 December 1814), also variously called ''Mademoiselle de Morphy'', ''La Belle Morphise'', ''Louise Morfi'' or ''Marie-Louise Morphy de Boisfailly'', was one of the lesser mistresses (''petites maît ...
'', 1752
File:Pompadour6.jpg, Maurice Quentin de La Tour
Maurice Quentin de La Tour (5 September 1704 – 17 February 1788) was a French Rococo portraitist who worked primarily with pastels. Among his most famous subjects were Voltaire, Rousseau, Louis XV of France, Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour.
...
, ''Full-length portrait of the Marquise de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French Royal court, court. She was the official maîtresse-en-titre, chief mistress of Louis XV ...
'', 1748–1755
File:Madame de Pompadour.jpg, François Boucher
François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...
''Portrait of the Marquise de Pompadour
Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French Royal court, court. She was the official maîtresse-en-titre, chief mistress of Louis XV ...
'', 1756
File:Fragonard - swing.jpg, Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732
(birth/baptism certificate)
– 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific ar ...
, '' The Swing'', 1767
File:Jean-Honoré Fragonard - Inspiration.jpg, Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732
(birth/baptism certificate)
– 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific ar ...
, ''Inspiration'', 1769
File:Denisdiderot.jpg, Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732
(birth/baptism certificate)
– 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific ar ...
, ''Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promine ...
'', 1769
File:The Progress of Love - The Meeting - Fragonard 1771-72.jpg, Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (; 5 April 1732
(birth/baptism certificate)
– 22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific ar ...
''The Meeting (Part of the Progress of Love series)'', 1771
File:Louise Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun - Marie-Antoinette dit « à la Rose » - Google Art Project.jpg, Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
, '' Marie Antoinette à la Rose'', 1783
Rococo era painting
File:Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin 029.jpg, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, ''Still Life with Glass Flask and Fruit'', c. 1750
File:Thomas Gainsborough - Mr and Mrs Andrews.jpg, Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...
, ''Mr and Mrs Andrews
''Mr and Mrs Andrews'' is an oil on canvas portrait of about 1750 by Thomas Gainsborough, now in the National Gallery, London. Today it is one of his most famous works, but it remained in the family of the sitters until 1960 and was very little ...
'', 1750
File:Greuze, Jean-Baptiste - The Spoiled Child - low res.jpg, Jean-Baptiste Greuze
Jean-Baptiste Greuze (, 21 August 1725 – 4 March 1805) was a French painter of portraits, genre scenes, and history painting.
Biography Early life
Greuze was born at Tournus, a market town in Burgundy. He is generally said to have formed h ...
, ''The Spoiled Child'', c. 1765
File:Joshua Reynolds - George Clive and his Family with an Indian Maid - WGA19338.jpg, Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...
, ''Robert Clive
Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British ...
and his family with an Indian maid,'' 1765
File:Kauffman-Garrick.jpg, Angelica Kauffman
Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann ( ; 30 October 1741 – 5 November 1807), usually known in English as Angelica Kauffman, was a Swiss Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Remembered primarily as a history painter, K ...
, ''Portrait of David Garrick
David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...
'', c. 1765
File:Denis Diderot by Louis-Michel van Loo.jpg, Louis-Michel van Loo
Louis-Michel van Loo (2 March 1707, Toulon – 20 March 1771, Paris) was a French Painting, painter.
Biography
He studied under his father, the painter Jean-Baptiste van Loo, at Turin and Rome, and he won a prize at the ''Académie Royale de ...
, ''Portrait of Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the ''Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promine ...
'', 1767
File:The Blue Boy.jpg, Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...
, ''The Blue Boy
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'', 1770
File:Thomas_Gainsborough_-_The_Honourable_Mrs_Graham_(1757_-_1792)_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg, Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...
, ''Portrait of Mrs Mary Graham
''Portrait of Mrs Mary Graham'' or ''The Honourable Mrs Graham'' is a 1777 oil on canvas painting by the British artist Thomas Gainsborough, produced shortly after Mary's marriage to Thomas Graham, the future Lord Lynedoch on 26 December 1774. I ...
'', 1777
See also
*
Italian Rococo art
Italy, Italian Rococo art refers to painting and the plastic arts in Italy during the Rococo period, which went from about the early/mid-18th to the late 18th century.
History and background
Italian Rococo was mainly inspired by the rocaille or Fr ...
*
Rococo painting
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
*
Rococo in Portugal
Rococo architecture entered Portugal through the north, while Lisbon, due to the court pomp, remained in the Baroque. It is an architecture that follows the international taste in decoration, and, as a result of the contrast between dark granite a ...
*
Rococo in Spain The Spanish Rococo style of the 18th century is relatively unexplored and bears little resemblance to its French equivalent. Under the reign of Philip V of the Bourbon Dynasty, architectural commissions were primarily awarded to Italian architects, ...
*
Cultural movement
A cultural movement is a change in the way a number of different disciplines approach their work. This embodies all art forms, the sciences, and philosophies. Historically, different nations or regions of the world have gone through their own ind ...
*
Gilded woodcarving
Wood carving is one of the oldest arts of humankind. Wooden spears from the Middle Paleolithic, such as the Clacton Spear, reveal how humans have engaged in utilitarian woodwork for millennia. However, given the relatively rapid rate at which ...
*
History of painting
The history of painting reaches back in time to artifacts and artwork created by pre-historic artists, and spans all cultures. It represents a continuous, though periodically disrupted, tradition from Antiquity. Across cultures, continents, and ...
*
Timeline of Italian artists to 1800
Following is a list of Italian painters (in alphabetical order) who are notable for their art.
A
*Niccolò dell'Abbate (1509/12–1571)
*Giuseppe Abbati (1836–1868)
*Angiolo Achini (1850–1930)
*Pietro Adami (c. 1730)
*Livio Agresti (1508 ...
*
Illusionistic ceiling painting
Illusionistic ceiling painting, which includes the techniques of perspective ''di sotto in sù'' and ''quadratura'', is the tradition in Renaissance art, Renaissance, Baroque art, Baroque and Rococo art in which ''trompe-l'œil'', Perspective (gr ...
*
Louis XV style
The Louis XV style or ''Louis Quinze'' (, ) is a style of architecture and decorative arts which appeared during the reign of Louis XV. From 1710 until about 1730, a period known as the Régence, it was largely an extension of the Louis XIV style ...
*
Louis XV furniture
The furniture of the Louis XV period (1715-1774) is characterized by curved forms, lightness, comfort and asymmetry; it replaced the more formal, boxlike and massive furniture of the Louis XIV style. It employed marquetry, using inlays of exotic w ...
Notes and citations
Bibliography
*
*
*
* (French translation from German)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
* Arno Schönberger and Halldor Soehner, 1960. ''The Age of Rococo''. Published in the US as ''The Rococo Age: Art and Civilization of the 18th Century'' (Originally published in German, 1959).
*
*
External links
All-art.org: Rococo in the "History of Art"*
History of Rococo. Art, architecture & luxuryHistory & Culture Academy of Latgale
Barock- und Rococo- Architektur, Volume 1, Part 1, 1892(in German)Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room, William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library, University of Houston Digital Library.
{{Authority control
*
18th century in art
18th century in the arts
Art movements
Art movements in Europe
Catholic art by period
Decorative arts
Early Modern period