FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
FRENCH BAROQUE& ROCOCO
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
FRENCH BAROQUE
Louis XIV
Nicolas Poussin
Claude Lorrain
ROCOCO
Antoine Watteau
Francois Boucher
Jean-Honore Fragonard
Know these people…
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
BerniniBust of Louis XIV
1665FRENCH BAROQUE
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo Portrait of Louis XIV, 1701.
FACTS ABOUT LOUIS XIVAdopted the name “le Roi Soleil” (‘The Sun King’). Many of the small elements on buildings at this time included a sun design.
Believed he was center of Universe and was “God’s Will” that he be King
Kept complete control of France and his followers
Founded the Royal Academy of Painting & Sculpture in 1648(to promote the French Classical Style)
Invented red heel shoes due tobeing only 5’4”
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
Louis XIV, Palace of Versailles, c.1680.
The Palace of Versailles is one of the most beautiful achievements of 18th-
century French art. The site began as Louis XIII’s hunting lodge before his son Louis XIV transformed and expanded it,
moving the court and government of France to Versailles in 1682. Each of the
three French kings who lived there until the French Revolution added
improvements to make it more beautiful.
HERE’S HOW YOU REMEMBER:Louis XIV built it
Louis XV lived in itLouis XVI “paid” for it (with his head!)
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo Louis XIV, Palace of Versailles, c.1680.
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo Louis XIV, Palace of Versailles, c.1680.
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo Painting of Versailles from 1722
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
Hall of Mirrors, Palace of Versailles, c1680.
The Versailles of old was dimly lit, as lighting was used sparingly to protect its ornate walls
and ceilings from smoke damage. Mirrors gained favor as a way of boosting available
candlelight, an infatuation that culminated in the Hall of Mirrors.
On grand occasions, twenty thousand candles and glittering chandeliers would be used to transform the Hall of Mirrors into a
“corridor of light”.
The Hall of Mirrors originally known as the Great Hall, used to be an outdoor terrace. It
was later converted into a dazzling indoor space to showcase one of Louis XIV’s most
prized collections—his sculptures of antiquity. The room was magnificent (and still
is) at sunset, when the Sun on the horizon illuminates the Hall!
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo Hall of Mirrors, Palace of Versailles, c1680.
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French Baroque & Rococo Chapel inside Versailles
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French Baroque & Rococo Hall of Battles, Versailles.
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
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French Baroque & Rococo Bed of Louis XIV
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French Baroque & Rococo Bedchamber of Marie Antoinette
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French Baroque & Rococo Bedchamber of Marie Antoinette
“secret” passage of Marie Antoinette
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
Life at the court was narrowly regulated by court etiquette. Etiquette became the means of social advancement for the court.
Louis XIV’s elaborate rules of etiquette included the following:
• People who wanted to speak to the king could not knock on his door. Instead, using the left pinkie finger, they had to gently scratch on the door, until they were granted permission to enter. As a result, many courtiers grew that fingernail longer than the others;
• A lady never held hands or linked arms with a gentleman. Besides being in bad taste, this
practice would have been impossible because a woman’s hooped skirts were so wide. Instead, she was to place her hand on top of the gentleman’s bent arm as they strolled through the gardens and chambers of Versailles. It is also mentioned that the ladies were only allowed to touch fingertips with the men.
• When a gentleman sat down, he slid his left foot in front of the other, placed his hands on the sides of the chair and gently lowered himself into the chair. There was a very practical reason for this procedure. If a gentleman sat too fast, his tight trousers might split;
• Women and men were not allowed to cross their legs in public;
• When a gentleman passed an acquaintance on the street, he was to raise his hat high off his head until the other person passed;
Court Etiquette
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
Nicolas Poussin(pronounced poo-SAHN)
Foremost painter of 17th century French Classicism
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo Nicolas Poussin, Rape of the Sabines, 1640s.
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo Nicolas Poussin, The Death of Germanicus, 1627-28.
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo Nicolas Poussin, The Shepherds of Arcadia, 1638.
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo Nicolas Poussin, Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite, 1634.
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
Claude Lorrain, Landscape with Apollo Guarding the
Herds of Admetus , 1645.
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & RococoClaude Lorrain, Port Scene with the Departure of Ulysses from the Land of the Feaci, 1646.
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo Claude Lorrain, Aeneas's Farewell to Dido in Carthago, 1676.
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & RococoClaude Lorrain, Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba, 1648.
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo François de Cuvillies, Hall of Mirrors, Munich, Germany, early 1700s.
Delicate, Organic, Ornate, Detailed, Reflective, Fanciful, Festive
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo Germain Boffrand, Salon de la Princesse , Paris, France ca 1737-1740
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
This is a typical French Rococo Room.
The room is comprised of sinuous curves luxuriantly multiplied in mirror reflections.
Painting, architecture, and sculpture combine to form a single ensemble.
tendrils: A twisting, threadlike structure by which a twining plant, such as a grape or cucumber, grasps an object or a plant for support.
Germain Boffrand, Salon de la Princesse , Paris, France ca 1737-1740
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
Antoine Watteau, L’Indefferent, 1716.Portrait of Louis XIV, 1701.
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
Antoine Watteau,Return from Cythera, 1717-1719
This painting represents a group of lovers preparing to depart from the island of
eternal youth and love, sacred to Aphrodite.
Young and luxuriously costumed, they perform, as it were, an elegant, tender,
and graceful ballet, moving from the protective shade of a woodland park,
peopled with amorous cupids and voluptuous statuary, down a grassy slope
to an awaiting golden barge.
Fete Galante = ‘elegant outdoor entertainment’
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
Antoine Watteau, Pilgrimage to Cythera, 1717.
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
Francois Boucher, Cupid a Captive, 1754
Boucher was a follower of Watteau and the painter for Madame de Pompadour ( the influencial mistress
of Louis XV)
His fame was gained through his paintings of graceful allegories, with Archadian shepherds,
nymphs, and goddesses cavorting in shady glens engulfed in pink and sky blue light.
“Boucher’s paintings are highly caloric with little nutritional value”
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
Francois Boucher,Marquise de Pompadour , 1756.
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo
Jean-Honré Fragonard,The Swing, 1766
Fragonard was a student of Boucher and is considered by many to have
surpassed the genius of his master.
This is a typical “intrigue” picture. A young gentleman has managed an
arrangement whereby an unsuspecting old bishop swings the young man’s pretty
sweetheart higher and higher, while her lover (and the work’s patron), in the lower
left-hand corner, stretches out to admire her ardently from a strategic position on
the ground.
The young lady flirtatiously and boldly kicks off her shoe at the little statue on
the god of discretion, who holds his finger to his lips.
FRENCH BAROQUE & ROCOCO
French Baroque & Rococo Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Bathers, 1766.