Rococo in different artistic modes Furniture and decorative objects

The lighthearted themes and intricate designs of Rococo presented themselves best at a

more intimate scale than the

imposing Baroque architecture and sculpture.

It is not surprising, then, that French Rococo

art was at home indoors. Metalwork, porcelain

figures and especially furniture rose to new

pre-eminence as the French upper classes

sought to outfit their homes in the now

fashionable style.

Rococo mirror and stuccowork inSchloss Ludwigsburg reflect the style's characteristic anti-

architectural integration of materials and forms

Rococo style took pleasure in asymmetry, a taste that was new to European style. This

practice of leaving elements unbalanced for effect is called contraste.

Baroque painting

Still-life, by Portuguese painterJosefa de Óbidos,

c.1679, Santarém, Portugal, Municipal Library

A defining statement of what Baroque signifies in

painting is provided by the series of paintings

executed by Peter Paul Rubens for Marie de

Medici at the Luxembourg Palace in Paris (now at the Louvre), in which a Catholic

painter satisfied a Catholic patron: Baroque-era conceptions of monarchy, iconography,

handling of paint, and compositions as well as the depiction of space and movement.

Baroque style featured "exaggerated lighting, intense emotions, release from restraint,

and even a kind of artistic sensationalism". Baroque art did not really depict the life style

of the people at that time; however, "closely tied to the Counter-Reformation, this style

melodramatically reaffirmed the emotional depths of the Catholic faith and glorified both

church and monarchy" of their power and influence.

15 JULY 2014