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127-619: Frederick II was a passionate collector of paintings. In his youth, he preferred the contemporary French art of the Rococo , and the walls of his rooms in Sanssouci were adorned with paintings of his favorite artist Antoine Watteau . After his accession to the throne in 1740, the king became increasingly interested in history paintings , which were highly regarded at his time. Especially, he collected works of renaissance , mannerism and Baroque art, mostly from Italian and Flemish artists. Due to

254-410: A celebrated portrait of Louis XIV in 1701, surrounded by all the attributes of power, from the crown on the table to the red heels of his shoes. Rigaud soon had an elaborate workshop in place for making portraits of the nobility; he employed specialized artists to create the costumes and draperies, and others to paint the backgrounds, ranging from battlefields to gardens to salons, while he concentrated on

381-467: A complex for war veterans consisting of residences, a hospital, and a chapel – was constructed by Libéral Bruant and Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1671–1679). Louis XIV then commissioned Hardouin-Mansart to construct a separate private royal chapel featuring a striking dome, the Église du Dôme , which was added to complete the complex in 1708. The next major project was the Place des Victoires (1684–1697),

508-547: A degree of perfection and unity rarely equalled in the art of classic gardens. The château is at the center of this strict spatial organization which symbolizes power and success." The Gardens of Versailles, created by André Le Nôtre between 1662 and 1700, were the greatest achievement of the French formal garden. They were the largest gardens in Europe, with an area of 15,000 hectares, and were laid out on an east–west axis followed

635-597: 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 (1743 – 1772). Johann Michael Fischer was the architect of Ottobeuren Abbey (1748 – 1766), another Bavarian Rococo landmark. The church features, like much of the rococo architecture in Germany, a remarkable contrast between

762-557: A late 17th to early 18th century tapestry done by Aubusson depicting Chinese astronomers at the Beijing Ancient Observatory using new more accurate instruments brought to them by Europeans ( Jesuits ) which were installed in 1644. In the early years of the King's reign, the most important public royal ceremony was the carrousel , a series of exercises and games on horseback. These events were designed to replace

889-415: A long, single-story building painted in yellow, the middle part of which is emphasized by a dome. On the garden side, marble sculptures stand between the windows reaching down to the floor. Most of the sculptures were made by Johann Gottlieb Heymüller and Johann Peter Benckert , and depict allegorical figures from arts and sciences. The heads on the keystones show portraits of artists. The gallery hall

1016-642: A more sober and uniform façade of columns, with a flat roof topped by a balustrade and row of columns (1681). He used the same style to harmonize the other new buildings he created at Versailles, including the Orangerie and the Stables . Hardouin-Mansart constructed the Grand Trianon (completed 1687), single-story royal retreat with arched windows alternating with pairs of columns, and a flat roof and balustrade. Another major new project undertaken by Louis

1143-472: A note that the other leading centre of French faience, Rouen faience , should be protected and encouraged, sent designs, and given commissions by the king. Around 1670 the Poterat family of Rouen received part of the large and prestigious commissions for Louis XIV's Trianon de porcelaine , a small palace whose walls were largely covered in painted tiles, in fact of faience rather than porcelain , which

1270-404: A real estate development of seven large buildings in three segments around a circular square, with a standing figure statue of Louis XIV (later replaced with an equestrian statue) planned for the centerpiece. This was built by an enterprising entrepreneur and nobleman of the court, Jean-Baptiste Prédot, combined with the architect Jules Haroudin-Mansart. The final urban project became the best-known,

1397-413: A richness of materials (marble, gold, and bronze) which reflected in the mirrors. In the late Louis XIV period, after 1690, new elements began to appear, that were less militaristic and more fantastic; particularly seashells, surrounded by elaborate sinuous lines and curves; and exotic designs, including arabesques and Chinoiserie . During the first period of the reign of Louis XIV, furniture followed

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1524-402: A royal workshop for the manufacture of furniture and tapestries, under the name of Gobelins Manufactory . Colbert placed the workshop under the direction of the royal court painter, Charles Le Brun , who served in that position from 1663 until 1690. The workshop worked closely with the major painters of the court, who produced the designs. After 1697 the enterprise was reorganized, and thereafter

1651-650: 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 in Vienna. Early Rococo or Rocaille sculpture in France sculpture was lighter and offered more movement than the classical style of Louis XIV. It

1778-630: A stream of well-trained painters. Le Brun became the dean of French painters under Louis XIV, involved in architectural projects and interior design. His notable decorative works included the ceiling of the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. The major painters of the later reign of Louis XIV included Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743) who came to Paris in 1681, and attracted the attention of Le Brun. Le Brun oriented him toward portrait painting, and he made

1905-420: A structure with the plan of a Greek Cross . The design used superimposed orders of columns, in the classical style, but the dome achieved greater height, by resting on a double tambour or drum, and the façade and dome itself were richly decorated with sculptures, entablements in niches, and ornaments of gilded bronze alternating with the nervures , or ribs of the dome. The finest church interior of

2032-516: 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 – 1705), with its famous oval salon decorated with paintings by Boucher, and Charles-Joseph Natoire . The best known French furniture designer of

2159-464: A vast and mysterious silence. La Tour is the only interpreter of the serene aspect of shadows." In his final years, Louis XIV's tastes changed again, under the influence of his morganic wife, Madame de Maintenon , toward more religious and meditative themes. He had all the paintings in his private room removed and replaced by a single canvas, Saint Sebastien being tended by Saint Irene (c. 1649) by Georges de La Tour. The most influential sculptor of

2286-468: Is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, and trompe-l'œil frescoes to create surprise and the illusion of motion and drama. It is often described as the final expression of the Baroque movement. The Rococo style began in France in the 1730s as a reaction against

2413-467: Is magnificently designed with richly gilded ornaments on the slightly curved ceiling. The floor is laid out in matching colors with a rhombic pattern of white and yellow Italian marble. On the green walls, the framed paintings are laid out densely above and alongside each other in a Baroque style. Some of the works exhibited are Caravaggio's Increduility of St Thomas , Anthony van Dycks Pentecost , and Four Evangelists and Saint Hieronymus from

2540-614: 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 ", arrived with Napoleonic governments and swept Rococo away. The ornamental style called rocaille emerged in France between 1710 and 1750, mostly during the regency and reign of Louis XV ; the style was also called Louis Quinze . Its principal characteristics were picturesque detail, curves and counter-curves, asymmetry, and

2667-629: The Château de Marly . He originally made the outdoor statues in weather-resistant stucco, then replaced them with marble works when they were finished in 1705. His work of Neptune from Marly is now in the Louvre, and his statues of Pan and a Flora and Dryad are now found in the Tuileries Gardens . His statue of The King's Fame riding Pegasus was originally made for the Château of Marly. After

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2794-596: The Place Vendôme , also by Hardouin-Mansart, between 1699 and 1702. Its centerpiece was an equestrian statue of Louis XIV (later replaced with a statue of Napoleon atop the Vendome Column). In another innovation, this project was partially financed by the sale of lots around the square. All of these projects featured monumental façades in the Louis XIV style, giving a particular harmony to the squares. In

2921-693: The Revolution it was moved to the Tuileries Gardens, and is now inside the Louvre. He also made a series of greatly admired portrait sculptures of the leading statesmen and artists of the time; Louis XIV at Versailles, Colbert (for his tomb at the Church of Saint Eustache ; Cardinal Mazarin in the Collège des Quatre-Nations (now the Institut de France ) in Paris; the playwright Jean Racine ;

3048-508: The Sevres Porcelain manufactory and produced small-scale works, usually about love and gaiety, for production in series. A Rococo period existed in music history , 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

3175-515: The Venus de Medici . In 1776, his bust of the King's official painter Charles Le Brun won him admission to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. He was soon producing monumental sculpture to accompany the new buildings constructed by Louis XIV; he made a Charlemagne for the royal chapel at Les Invalides , and then a large number of statues for the new Park at Versailles and then at

3302-751: The commedia dell'arte , city street vendors, lovers and figures in fashionable clothes, and pairs of birds. Johann Joachim Kändler was the most important modeller of Meissen porcelain , the earliest European factory, which remained the most important until about 1760. The Swiss-born German sculptor Franz Anton Bustelli produced a wide variety of colourful figures for the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory 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

3429-466: The grotesque style of ornament, originally created in Italy by Raphael, into French interior design. He used the grotesque stele not only on wall panels, but also on tapestries made by the Aubusson tapestry workshops. His many varied other designs included the highly-ornate design of transom of the warship Soleil Royal (1669), named for the King. In addition to interior decoration, he designed

3556-498: The porcelain 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 used on them also increased. They were usually modelled by artists who had trained in sculpture. Common subjects included figures from

3683-534: The 18th century, a reaction against the Rococo style occurred, primarily against its perceived overuse of ornamentation and decoration. Led by Christoph Willibald Gluck , this reaction ushered in the Classical era . 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

3810-506: 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

3937-492: 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

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4064-761: The Great to create fountain sculpture for Sanssouci Park , Prussia (1740s). Étienne-Maurice Falconet (1716 – 1791) was another leading French sculptor during the period. Falconet was most famous for his Bronze Horseman statue of Peter the Great in St. Petersburg, but he also created a series of smaller works for wealthy collectors, which could be reproduced in a series in terracotta or cast in bronze. The French sculptors, Jean-Louis Lemoyne , Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne , Louis-Simon Boizot , Michel Clodion , Lambert-Sigisbert Adam and Jean-Baptiste Pigalle all produced sculpture in series for collectors. In Italy, Antonio Corradini

4191-532: The Italian maiolica istoriato style, adopted the new French Court style, borrowing from metalwork and other decorative arts, and using prints after the new generation of court painters such as Simon Vouet and Charles Lebrun for the images, which were also painted in many colours. The pieces were often extremely large and ornate, and apart from garden vases and wine-coolers, no doubt decorative rather than practical. In 1663 Jean-Baptiste Colbert , recently made Louis XIV 's Controller-General of Finances , made

4318-408: The King personally: the head of the King was often represented as the sun god Apollo , surrounded by palm leaves or gilded rays of light. An eagle usually represented Jupiter . Other ornamental details included gilded numbers, royal batons, and crowns. The Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles (1678–1684) was the summit of the early Louis XIV style. Designed by Charles Le Brun , it combined

4445-637: The Louis XIII era, but more ornate, with a marble shelf supporting vases, below a carved frame with a painting or mirrors, all surrounded by a thick border of carved leaves or flowers. Decorative elements on the walls of the early Louis XIV style were usually intended to celebrate the military success, majesty and cultural achievements of the King. They often featured military trophies, with helmets, oak leaves symbolizing victory, and masses of weapons, usually made of glided bronze or sculpted wood, in relief surrounded by marble. Other decorative elements celebrated

4572-609: 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 and Jacques-François Blondel began to voice their criticism of

4699-540: 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 Louis XIV style , 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

4826-492: 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. The word rococo was first used as a humorous variation of the word rocaille by Pierre-Maurice Quays (1777-1803) Rocaille was originally a method of decoration , using pebbles, seashells, and cement, which was often used to decorate grottoes and fountains since

4953-507: The Romantic era Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote The Variations on a Rococo Theme , Op. 33, for cello and orchestra in 1877. Although the theme is not Rococo in origin, it is written in Rococo style. Louis XIV style The Louis XIV style or Louis Quatorze ( / ˌ l uː i k æ ˈ t ɔːr z , - k ə ˈ -/ LOO -ee ka- TORZ , -⁠ kə- , French: [lwi katɔʁz] ), also called French classicism ,

5080-572: The architect Vauban and the garden designer André Le Nôtre . Jacques Sarazin was another notable sculptor working on projects for Louis XIV. He made many statues and decorations for the Palace of Versailles, as well as the Caryatids for the eastern façade of the Pavilion du Horloge of the Louvre, facing the Cour Carré , which were based both on a study of the original Greek models, and on

5207-568: The architecture of other European monarchs, from Frederick the Great of Prussia to Peter the Great of Russia . Major architects of the period included François Mansart , Jules Hardouin-Mansart , Robert de Cotte , Pierre Le Muet , Claude Perrault , and Louis Le Vau . Major monuments included the Palace of Versailles , the Grand Trianon at Versailles, and the Church of Les Invalides (1675–1691). The Louis XIV style had three periods. During

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5334-789: The arrival of Chinoiserie , 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 , or gilded bronze, was used by master craftsmen including Jean-Pierre Latz . Latz made a particularly ornate clock mounted atop a cartonnier for Frederick the Great for his palace in Potsdam . Pieces of imported Chinese porcelain were often mounted in ormolu (gilded bronze) rococo settings for display on tables or consoles in salons. Other craftsmen imitated Japanese lacquered furniture, and produced commodes with Japanese motifs. British Rococo tended to be more restrained. Thomas Chippendale 's furniture designs kept

5461-724: 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 (1732), Lord Burlington's Chiswick House (1729), London, Thomas Coke's Holkham Hall , Norfolk, Robert Walpole's Houghton Hall , for Devonshire House in London, and at Rousham House . Mahogany made its appearance in England in about 1720, and immediately became popular for furniture, along with walnut wood. The Rococo began to make an appearance in England between 1740 and 1750. The furniture of Thomas Chippendale

5588-526: The back of the chair. The console table also made its first appearance; it was designed to be placed against a wall. Another new type of furniture was the table à gibier , a marble-topped table for holding dishes. Early varieties of the desk appeared; the Mazarin desk had a central section set back, placed between two columns of drawers, with four feet on each column. After about 1650, Nevers faience ( tin-glazed earthenware ), which had long made wares in

5715-703: The ballroom ceiling of the Ca' Rezzonico in the quadraturo manner, giving the illusion of three dimensions. Tiepolo travelled to Germany with his son during 1752 – 1754, decorating the ceilings of the Würzburg Residence , one of the major landmarks of the Bavarian Rococo. An earlier celebrated Venetian painter was Giovanni Battista Piazzetta , who painted several notable church ceilings. The Venetian Rococo also featured exceptional glassware, particularly Murano glass , often engraved and coloured, which

5842-593: 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 Opéra-Comique , and decor for the Fair of Saint-Laurent . Other important painters of the Fête Galante style included Nicolas Lancret and Jean-Baptiste Pater . The style particularly influenced François Lemoyne , who painted

5969-459: 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

6096-468: The building for himself. The design was strongly influenced by the classicism of François Mansart . It combined a façade dominated and rhymed by colossal classical columns, beneath a dome, imported from the Italian Baroque architecture , along with a number of original features, such as a semicircular salon which looked out on the vast French formal garden created by André Le Nôtre . Based on

6223-473: The church of Val-de-Grâce (1645–1710), the chapel of the Val-de-Grâce hospital. The design was worked on successively by Jules Hardouin-Mansart , Jacques Lemercier and Pierre Le Muet before being completed by Gabriel Leduc . Its picturesque tripartite façade, peristyle, detached columns, statues, and tondi , make it the most Italianate and Baroque of Paris churches. It served as the prototype for

6350-456: The city hall of Toulon in 1665–1667, then was employed by Nicolas Fouquet to make a statue of Hercules for his château at Vaux-le-Vicomte . He continued to live in the south of France, making notable statues of Milo of Croton , Perseus , and Andromeda (now in the Louvre). In 1662 Jean Baptiste Colbert purchased the tapestry workshop of a family of Flemish artisans and transformed it into

6477-433: 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 , and Nicolas Pineau . The Rocaille style lasted in France until

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6604-409: The composition, colors and especially the faces. Georges de La Tour (1593–1652) was another important figure in the Louis XIV style; he was given a title, named court painter of the King, and received high payments for his portraits, though he rarely ever came to Paris, preferring to work in his home town of Lunéville . His paintings, with their unusual light and dark effects, were unusually somber,

6731-528: The costumes and scenery for the royal theaters, including for the opera Amadis by Jean-Baptiste Lully performed at the Theater of the Palais Royal (1684), and for the opera-ballet Les Saisons by Lully's successor, Pascal Colasse , in 1695. One of the most enduring and popular forms of the Louis XIV style is the jardin à la française or French formal garden , a style based on symmetry and

6858-624: The course of the sun: the sun rose over the Court of Honor, lit the Marble Court, crossed the Château and lit the bedroom of the King, and set at the end of the Grand Canal , reflected in the mirrors of the Hall of Mirrors . In contrast with the grand perspectives, reaching to the horizon, the garden was full of surprises: fountains, small gardens filled with statuary, which provided a more human scale and intimate spaces. The central symbol of

6985-464: The craft of marquetry , the furniture was decorated with different colors and different woods. The most prominent creator of furniture in the later period was André Charles Boulle . The final period of Louis XIV style, from about 1690 to 1715, is called the period of transition; it was influenced by Hardouin-Mansart and by the King's designer of fetes and ceremonies, Jean Bérain the Elder . The new style

7112-475: 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. 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

7239-642: 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 or other painters, or Chinoiserie , 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 , who painted ceilings and murals of both churches and palazzos, and Giovanni Battista Crosato who painted

7366-517: The death in 1661 of Cardinal Mazarin , the King's chief minister , Louis decided to take personal charge of all aspects of government, including the arts. His chief advisor on the arts was Jean Colbert (1619–1683), who was also his finance minister. In 1663 Colbert reorganized the Royal furniture workshops, which made a wide variety of luxury goods, and added to it the Gobelins tapestry workshops . At

7493-721: 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 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 . The portal of the Palace of the Marqués de Dos Aguas in Valencia (1715 – 1776)

7620-404: The decoration. The main ornaments of Rococo are: asymmetrical shells, acanthus and other leaves, birds, bouquets of flowers, fruit, musical instruments, angels and Chinoiserie ( pagodas , dragons, monkeys, bizarre flowers and Chinese people). The style often integrated painting, moulded stucco, and wood carving, and quadratura , or illusionist ceiling paintings, which were designed to give

7747-458: The early German Rococo is Würzburg Residence (1737 – 1744) constructed for Prince-Bishop Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn of Würzburg by Balthasar Neumann . Neumann had travelled to Paris and consulted with the French rocaille decorative artists Germain Boffrand and Robert de Cotte . While the exterior was in more sober Baroque style, the interior, particularly the stairways and ceilings,

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7874-495: The early Louis XIV style, the principle characteristics of decor were a richness of materials and an effort to achieve a monumental effect. The materials used included marble, often combined with multicolor stones, bronze, paintings, and mirrors. These were inserted into an extremely framework of columns, pilasters, niches, which extended up the walls and up upon the ceiling. The doors were surrounded with medallions, frontons and bas-reliefs. The fireplaces were smaller than those during

8001-407: The figures barely seen in the darkness, lit by torchlight, evoking meditation and pity. In addition to religious scenes, he did genre paintings, including the famous Tricheur or card cheat, showing a young noble being cheated at cards while others look on passively. The writer and later French culture minister André Malraux wrote in 1951, "No other painter, not even Rembrandt, ever suggested such

8128-458: The first period, which coincided with the youth of the King (1643–1660) and the regency of Anne of Austria , architecture and art were strongly influenced by the earlier style of Louis XIII and by the Baroque style imported from Italy. The early period saw the beginning of French classicism, particularly in the early works of Francois Mansart, such as the Chateau de Maisons (1630–1651). During

8255-653: The following characteristics, which Baroque does not: The Rocaille style, or French Rococo, appeared in Paris during the reign of Louis XV , 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 in Paris, designed by Germain Boffrand and Charles-Joseph Natoire (1735 – 1740). The characteristics of French Rococo included exceptional artistry, especially in

8382-637: The following reign that French porcelain was produced in quantity. In the first part of the reign, French painters were largely influenced by the Italians, particularly Caravaggio . Notable French painters included Nicolas Poussin , who was living in Rome; Claude Lorrain , who specialized in landscapes and spent most of his career in Rome; Louis Le Nain , who, along with his brothers, did mostly genre works; Eustache Le Sueur , and Charles Le Brun , who studied with Poussin in Rome and were influenced by him. With

8509-572: The garden, and André Le Nôtre to create the gardens. For the first time the garden and the château were perfectly integrated. A grand perspective of 1500 meters extended from the foot of the château to a copy of the Farnese Hercules ; and the space was filled with parterres of evergreen shrubs in ornamental patterns, bordered by colored sand, and the alleys were decorated at regular intervals by statues, basins, fountains, and carefully sculpted topiaries . "The symmetry attained at Vaux achieved

8636-412: The ground floor, to support the weight of the vaulted ceiling. Though Louis XIV was later accused of having ignored Paris, his reign saw several massive architectural projects which opened up space and ornamented the center of the city. The idea of monumental urban squares surrounded by uniform architecture had begun in Italy, like many architectural ideas of Baroque period. The first such square in Paris

8763-531: 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. Rococo tends to have

8890-404: The interiors, and soft pastel colours framed with large hooded windows and cornices on the exteriors featuring rocaille motifs, such as asymmetrical shells and rocks. Plafonds often featured rococo scrollwork surrounding allegorical paintings of ancient Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. Flooring was often inlaid with parquetry designs formed from different woods to create elaborate designs in

9017-481: The largest effect on the Rococo style. The Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo , assisted by his son, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo , was invited to paint frescoes for the Würzburg Residence (1720 – 1744). The most prominent painter of Bavarian rococo churches was Johann Baptist Zimmermann , who painted the ceiling of the Wieskirche (1745 – 1754). Rococo sculpture was theatrical, sensual and dynamic, giving

9144-408: The late Louis XIV period is the chapel of the Palace of Versailles , created between 1697 and 1710 by Hardouin-Mansart and his successor as court architect, Robert de Cotte . The decor was carefully restrained, with light colors and sculptural detail in slight relief on the columns. The interior of the chapel opened up and lightened by the use of classical columns placed on the tribune, one level above

9271-476: The later domes of Les Invalides and the Panthéon . The next major church built under Louis XIV was the church of Les Invalides (1680–1706). The nave of the church, by Libéral Bruant , was comparable to those of other churches of the period, with ionic pilasters and penetrating vaults, and an interior that resembled the high baroque style. The dome, by Hardouin-Mansart, was more revolutionary, sitting upon

9398-765: The lavish decoration of the ceiling of the Salon of Hercules at the Palace of Versailles , completed in 1735. Paintings with fétes gallant and mythological themes by Boucher, Pierre-Charles Trémolières and Charles-Joseph Natoire decorated the famous salon of the Hôtel Soubise in Paris (1735 – 1740). Other Rococo painters include: Jean François de Troy (1679 – 1752), Jean-Baptiste van Loo (1685 – 1745), his two sons Louis-Michel van Loo (1707 – 1771) and Charles-Amédée-Philippe van Loo (1719 – 1795), his younger brother Charles-André van Loo (1705 – 1765), Nicolas Lancret (1690 – 1743), and Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732 – 1806). In Austria and Southern Germany, Italian painting had

9525-484: 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 and especially at Pompeii in 1748 turned French architecture in the direction of the more symmetrical and less flamboyant neo-classicism . Artists in Italy, particularly Venice , also produced an exuberant Rococo style. Venetian commodes imitated

9652-414: 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 and the architect Soufflot . They returned to Paris with a passion for classical art. Vandières became

9779-464: The more formal and geometric Louis XIV style . It was known as the "style Rocaille ", 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 other arts, particularly sculpture, furniture, silverware, glassware, painting, music, theatre, and literature. Although originally a secular style primarily used for interiors of private residences,

9906-579: 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 , particularly in The Embarkation for Cythera (1717), Louvre , in a genre called Fête galante 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

10033-543: The new monarchs. After the ceremony the site became known as the Place du Trône , or place of the Throne, until it became the Place de la Nation in 1880. An office existed in the royal household of Louis XIV called Menus-Plaisirs du Roi , which was responsible the decoration at royal ceremonies and spectacles, including ballets, masques, illuminations, fireworks, theater performances and other entertainments. This office

10160-557: The new monumental style of Louis XIV. The old brick and stone of the Henry IV squares was replaced by the Grand Style of monumental columns, which usually were part of the façade itself, rather than standing separately. All the buildings around the square were connected and built to the same height, in the same style. The ground floor featured a covered arcade for pedestrians. The first such complex of buildings built under Louis XIV

10287-683: The opening of the Altes Museum in Berlin in 1829, about fifty paintings were transferred there. Among these were the Leda by Correggio , three paintings by Rembrandt , some by Rubens , Anthony van Dyck , and Antoine Watteau . Also, all the marble statues were moved. In 1929–30, the Picture Gallery was set up again, and 120 of the 159 works marked in the catalogue as purchased by Frederick returned from Berlin. During World War II , all

10414-530: The other courts of Europe. The royal Gobelins manufactory had competition from two private enterprises, the Beauvais Manufactory and the Aubusson tapestry workshop, which produced works in the same style but with a low-warp process, with slightly lesser quality. Jean Bérain the Elder , the royal draftsman and designer of the King, created a series of grotesque carpets for Aubusson. These tapestries sometimes celebrated contemporary themes, such as

10541-641: The paintings were moved to Rheinsberg Palace in Rheinsberg . Only ten paintings returned from there in 1946, and most of the pictures seemed lost. However, a large collection of paintings confiscated by the Soviet Union was returned in 1958. However, some of the pictures are still in Russian collections. The Picture Gallery was built in the place of a former greenhouse, which Frederick the Great had used to raise tropical fruit. Büring replaced this with

10668-478: The period was Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier (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 Saxony and Portugal . Italy

10795-647: The period was the Italian Gian Lorenzo Bernini , whose work in Rome inspired sculptors all over Europe. He traveled to France; his proposal for a new façade of the Louvre was rejected by the King, who wanted a more specifically French style, but Bernini did make a bust of Louis XIV in 1665 which was greatly admired and imitated in France. One of the most prominent sculptors under Louis XIV was Antoine Coysevox (pronounced "quazevo") (1640–1720) from Lyon. He studied sculpture under Louis Lerambert and copied in marble ancient Roman works, including

10922-480: 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 Jean François de Troy as director of the academy in 1738, and then in 1751 by Charles-Joseph Natoire . Madame de Pompadour ,

11049-521: The previous style of Louis XIII, and was massive, and profusely decorated with sculpture and gilding. After 1680, thanks in large part to the furniture designer André Charles Boulle , a more original and delicate style appeared, sometimes known as Boulle work . It was based on the inlay of ebony and other rare woods, a technique first used in Florence in the 15th century, which was refined and developed by Boulle and others working for Louis XIV. Furniture

11176-501: The principle of imposing order on nature. The most famous example is the Gardens of Versailles designed by André Le Nôtre , which inspired copies all across Europe. The first important garden à la française was the Château of Vaux-le-Vicomte , created for Nicolas Fouquet , the superintendent of finances to Louis XIV, beginning in 1656. Fouquet commissioned Louis Le Vau to design the château, Charles Le Brun to design statues for

11303-472: The regularity of the facade and the overabundance of decoration in the interior. 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 helped develop a theoretical foundation for Rococo beauty. Though not mentioning rococo by name, he argued in his Analysis of Beauty (1753) that

11430-692: The reign of Frederick the Great and combined influences from France, Germany (especially Saxony ) and the Netherlands . Its most famous adherent was the architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff . Furthermore, the painter Antoine Pesne and even King Frederick himself influenced Knobelsdorff's designs. Famous buildings in the Frederician style include Sanssouci Palace , the Potsdam City Palace , and parts of Charlottenburg Palace . The art of François Boucher and other painters of

11557-557: The rest of the century. A version of Watteau's painting titled Pilgrimage to Cythera was purchased by Frederick the Great of Prussia in 1752 or 1765 to decorate his palace of Charlottenburg in Berlin. The successor of Watteau and the Féte Galante in decorative painting was François Boucher (1703 – 1770), the favorite painter of Madame de Pompadour . His work included the sensual Toilette de Venus (1746), which became one of

11684-469: The same time, with the assistance of Le Brun, Colbert took charge of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture , which had been founded by Cardinal Mazarin. Colbert also took a dominant role in architecture, taking the title of Superintendent of buildings in 1664. In 1666, the French Academy in Rome was founded, to take advantage of Rome's position as the leading art center of Europe, and to assure

11811-505: The sculptor Claude III Audran , the interior designer Gilles-Marie Oppenordt , the architect Germain Boffrand , the sculptor Jean Mondon, and the draftsman and engraver Pierre Lepautre . 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

11938-411: The second period (1660–1690), under the personal rule of the King, the style of architecture and decoration became more classical, triumphant and ostentatious, expressed in the building of the Palace of Versailles, first by Louis Le Vau and then Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Until 1680, furniture was massive, decorated with a profusion of sculpture and gilding. In the later period, thanks to the development of

12065-479: The square separating the Louvre from the Tuileries Palace, which afterwards became known as the Place du Carrousel . The ceremonial entry of the King into Paris also became an occasion for festivities. The return of Louis XIV and Queen Maria Theresa to Paris after his coronation in 1660 was celebrated by a grand event on a fairground at the gates of the city, where large thrones were constructed for

12192-483: 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 , with interiors decorated in a distinctive variant of the rococo style. One of the most notable examples is the Wieskirche (1745 – 1754) designed by Dominikus Zimmermann . Like most of

12319-419: The style of the 18th century, overloaded with twisting ornaments". In 1829, the author Stendhal described rococo as "the rocaille style of the 18th century". In the 19th century, the term was used to describe architecture or music which was excessively ornamental. Since the mid-19th century, the term has been accepted by art historians . While there is still some debate about the historical significance of

12446-583: The style, Rococo is now often considered as a distinct period in the development of European art . 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

12573-486: The success of Vaux le Vicomte, Louis XIV selected Le Vau to construct an immense new palace at Versailles, to augment a smaller palace transformed from a hunting lodge by Louis XIII. This gradually became, over the decades, the master work of the Louis XIV style. Following the death of Le Vau in 1680, Jules Hardouin-Mansart took over the Versailles project; he broke away from the picturesque projections and dome and made

12700-420: 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 . In Germany, late 18th-century Rococo was ridiculed as Zopf und Perücke ("pigtail and periwig"), and this phase

12827-459: The tournament, which had been banned after 1559 when King Henry II was killed in a jousting accident. In the new, less dangerous version, riders usually had to pass their lance through the interior of a ring, or strike mannequins with the heads of Medusa , Moors and Turks. A grand carrousel was held on June 5–6, 1662 to celebrate the birth of the Dauphin , the son of Louis XIV. It was held on

12954-465: 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 ). Rococo was slow in arriving in England. Before entering the Rococo, British furniture for a time followed the neoclassical Palladian model under designer William Kent , who designed for Lord Burlington and other important patrons of

13081-467: The woodwork. Russian orthodox church architecture was also heavily influenced by rococo designs during the eighteenth century, often featuring a square Greek cross design with four equidistant wings. Exteriors were painted in light pastel colours such as blues and pinks, and bell towers were often topped with gilded onion domes. Frederician Rococo is a form of Rococo which developed in Prussia during

13208-773: The work of Michelangelo . Another notable sculptor of the Style Louis XV was Pierre Paul Puget (1620–1694), who was a sculptor, painter, engineer and architect. He was born in Marseille, and first sculpted ornaments for ships under construction. He then travelled to Italy, where he worked as an apprentice on the Baroque ceilings of the Palazzo Barberini and Palazzo Pitti . He travelled back and forth between Italy and France, painting, sculpting and wood-carving. He made his celebrated statue of caryatids for

13335-444: The workshop of Peter Paul Rubens . Adjacent to the long gallery hall is the similarly richly arranged cabinet, where the paintings of smaller format are exhibited. Rococo Rococo , less commonly Roccoco ( / r ə ˈ k oʊ k oʊ / rə- KOH -koh , US also / ˌ r oʊ k ə ˈ k oʊ / ROH -kə- KOH ; French: [ʁɔkɔko] or [ʁokoko] ), also known as Late Baroque ,

13462-528: 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. The Russian rococo style

13589-582: Was among the leading sculptors of the Rococo style. A Venetian, he travelled around Europe, working for Peter the Great in St. Petersburg, for the 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 most elaborate examples of rococo sculpture were found in Spain, Austria and southern Germany, in

13716-459: Was an "overnight frenzy" as the elite rushed to get faience replacements of the best quality. The reign also saw the earliest French porcelain in Rouen porcelain , although production was only of soft-paste porcelain and on a tiny scale; only nine small pieces are thought to survive. The next factory, Saint-Cloud porcelain , from perhaps 1695 onwards, was more successful, though it was only in

13843-746: 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. 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 and also featured marquetry of different-coloured woods, sometimes placed in draughtsboard cubic patterns, made with light and dark woods. The period also saw

13970-458: 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 is a towering sculpture of polychrome marble and gilded stucco, combined with paintings, statues and symbols. It was made by Narciso Tomé (1721 – 1732), Its design allows light to pass through, and in changing light it seems to move. A new form of small-scale sculpture appeared,

14097-563: Was demolished not long after. Nevers and other centres shared these commissions, and others for large fittings and decorations for Louis's other palaces. Nevers garden vases in blue and white were prominently used in the gardens of the Château de Versailles. The French faience industry received another huge boost when, late in Louis's reign in 1709, the king pressured the wealthy to donate their silver plate, previously what they normally used to dine, to his treasury to help pay for his wars. There

14224-406: Was devoted entirely to the production of tapestries for the King. The themes and styles of the tapestry were largely similar to the themes in the paintings of the period, celebrating the majesty of the King and triumphal scenes of military victories, mythological and pastoral scenes. While at first they were made only for use of the King and nobility, the factory soon began exporting its products to

14351-550: Was encouraged in particular by Madame de Pompadour , mistress of Louis XV, who commissioned many works for her chateaux and gardens. The sculptor Edmé Bouchardon represented Cupid engaged in carving his darts of love from the club of Hercules . Rococo figures also crowded the later fountains at Versailles , such as the Fountain of Neptune by Lambert-Sigisbert Adam and Nicolas-Sebastien Adam (1740). Based on their success at Versailles, they were invited to Prussia by Frederick

14478-406: Was exported across Europe. Works included multicolour chandeliers and mirrors with extremely ornate frames. 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 eliminating

14605-467: Was held from 1674 to 1711 by Jean Bérain the Elder (1640–1711). He was also designer of the King's bedchamber and offices, and had an enormous influence upon what became known as Louis XIV style; his studio was located in the Grand Gallery of the Louvre, along with those of the royal furniture designer André Charles Boulle . He was particularly responsible for introducing the a modified version of

14732-451: Was inlaid with plaques of ebony, copper, and exotic woods of different colors. New and often enduring types of furniture appeared; the commode , with two to four drawers, replaced the old coffre , or chest. The canapé , or sofa, appeared, in the form of a combination of two or three armchairs. New kinds of armchairs appeared, including the fauteuil en confessionale or "confessional armchair", which had padded cushions on either side of

14859-713: Was introduced largely by Empress Elisabeth and Catherine the Great , during the eighteenth century by court architects such as Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli . Rastrelli's work at palaces such as the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg and the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo incorporated many features of western European rococo architecture, including grand rooms ornamented with gold leaf, mirrors, and large windows for natural light on

14986-559: Was lighter in form, and featured greater fantasy and freedom of line, thanks in part to the use of wrought iron decoration, and greater use of arabesque , grotesque and coquille designs, which continued into the Louis XV style . The model of civil architecture in the early part of the reign was Vaux le Vicomte (1658), by Louis Le Vau , built for the King's Superintendent of Finances Nicolas Fouquet and completed in 1658. Louis XIV charged Fouquet with theft, put him prison, and took

15113-603: Was much lighter and decorative. The Prince-Bishop imported the Italian Rococo painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo 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

15240-557: Was one of the first to create a Rococo building in Germany, with the pavilion of Amalienburg 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 , was far more exuberant than any French Rococo. Another notable example of

15367-409: Was referred to as empfindsamer Stil ("sensitive style"). It can be characterized as light, intimate music with extremely elaborate and refined forms of ornamentation . Exemplars include Jean Philippe Rameau , Louis-Claude Daquin and François Couperin in France; in Germany, the style's main proponents were C. P. E. Bach and Johann Christian Bach , two sons of J.S. Bach . In the second half of

15494-461: Was the Collège des Quatre-Nations (now the Institut de France ) (1662–1668), facing the Louvre. It was designed by Louis Le Vau and François d'Orbay , and combined the new college donated by Cardinal Mazarin , a chapel, and the library of Mazarin. (Later, as the Institut de France , it would become the headquarters of the academies founded by the King.) The Hôtel Royal des Invalides –

15621-651: Was the Place Royal (now Place des Vosges ) begun by Henry IV of France , completed later with an equestrian statue of Louis XIII; then the Place Dauphine on the Île de la Cité , which featured, adjacent to it, an equestrian statue of Henry IV. The initial grand Paris projects of Louis XIV were new façades on the Louvre Palace , especially the Colonnade, facing to the east. These were showcases of

15748-537: 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

15875-495: Was the construction of a new façade for the east side of the Louvre . In 1665 Louis invited the most famous sculptor architect of the Italian Baroque, Gian Lorenzo Bernini , to submit a design, but in 1667 rejected it in favor of a more sober and classical colonnade , designed by a committee of three, comprising Louis Le Vau, Charles Le Brun , and Claude Perrault . In the early period of his reign, Louis began building

16002-419: 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

16129-523: 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 style during the reign of Louis XIV (1643–1715), imposed upon artists by the newly established Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture (Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture) and the Académie royale d'architecture (Royal Academy of Architecture). It had an important influence upon

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