Rococo

The gravity of the Baroque gave way to lightness, play and love in pastel.

After the death of Louis XIV in 1715, the French nobility moved from Versailles into elegant town houses in Paris. Interiors filled with shell-shaped ornament – rocaille, which gave the style its name – mirrors and light colours.

Watteau created the fête galante, dreamy pictures of lovers in parks. Boucher and Fragonard painted goddesses and flirtations for an audience that wanted to be entertained. Meanwhile Chardin painted quiet pictures of everyday life.

Rococo spread across Europe, to the churches of Bavaria, the palaces of Venice and the Swedish court. Swedish artists such as Roslin and Lundberg made careers in Paris. Criticism of Rococo as frivolous and decadent grew and paved the way for Neoclassicism.