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Rococo Style

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770) - Young Lady in a Tricorn hat , 1755-56


Hotel d’Avaray (Kingdom of the Netherlands)

Garden with sculptures in Lucca, Italy.
All photos via here
 
Rococo was a decorative style based in France most often used in interior design, painting, architecture, and sculpture. Normally associated with the reign of King Louis XV, the movement actually began in the 17th century. With the rise of the middle class, the death of Louis XIV at this time, the high society in Paris became the pinnacle of fashion.
Rococo was a light, ornamental, and elaborate style of art, identified by elegant and detailed ornamentation and the use of curved, asymmetrical forms. The style appealed to the senses rather than intellect, stressing beauty over depth. The movement portrayed the life of the aristocracy, preferring themes of romance, mythology, fantasy, every day life.
The Rococo style is sometimes considered to be the end of the Baroque period and was eventually replaced by Neoclassicism during the American and French Revolutions at the end of the eighteenth century. Read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rococo