Research Paper-Rococo Era

Art has traveled with us since ancient Minoan times, changing throughout the eras influenced by wars, politics, religions, technology, and the culture of the time in general. Through history classes, tours through art galleries and other museums, people learn about the eras progressing through time. However, because there are so many different eras, most people do not learn about all of the different art movements. One of the more uncommonly heard of is the Rococo era, which falls in between the Baroque and Neoclassical eras in the eighteenth century. This era represents the transition from the stern portrayal of the people of the Baroque time to to a more realistic and almost playful perspective of the lives lived in the early eighteenth century. This is essential to know in order to clearly see how the highly contrasted Baroque and Neoclassical periods are actually connected.

During the Baroque period, the art expressed characteristics of “overt rhetoric and dynamic movement.” It was not necessarily religious art, however it did represent the “self-confidence and proselytizing spirit of the reinvigorated Catholic Church”. In fact, it was said that the characteristics of the Baroque styles were applied to everything, except religion (Johnson, Mark). The color palette consists of bolder and rich colors, while the images themselves are very detailed and complex showing extreme contrasts of light and dark. The term “Baroque” comes from the word “barocco,” which means “rough pearl”. Initially, Baroque was used to “describe post-Renaissance architecture being unstructured, unornamented, theatrical, and grotesque.” For the artists of this time period, time was of great importance. They viewed time as “a measurable entity” where it uncovers the fallaciousness and allows the truth to come through and vindicate good over bad. The portraits of this era were “confined to royalty” and were to represent the “divine right” (Johnson, Mark). When viewers approached a Baroque portrait, they experienced a feeling of being looked down upon. An example of this is Self Portrait. In this piece by Francesco Salimena, the eyes appear to be looking at the viewers sternly as if they are of higher significance and disgusted at the sight of someone not in the line of royalty. Feelings brought upon by this piece is certainly not of happiness, but one could almost feel belittled. The subjects in the portraits portrayed pride for their positions through their gazes. In Stephen Davies' Responding Emotionally to Fictions, he states that “...emotions take intentional objects and are distinguished in terms of the beliefs one holds about them... A person's emotion-relevant beliefs connect to his or her desires and actions, of course.” (Davies 269) The divinity was seen as supremacy to all other earthly beings and this is how people felt looking at the Baroque pieces. Carl Einstein believed that the Baroque artists perceived their viewers as a participant in forming the pieces' effects. According to him, “the artist emphasized the viewer's visual activity and modeled in touches, so that the viewer himself would shape the actual form.” (Flam 31) The emphasis on the faces of royalty with bold colors involved the viewers in the pieces, automatically causing a similar affect on all of them in communicating the work to the viewers. After an amount of time, artists started to branch away from this type of communication to have a different affect on people. The era started to transform into one that caused a feeling of wonder and contentment as different subjects other than royalty were portrayed in mystique and playful atmospheres.

The Rococo era began to evolve in France in the early eighteenth century. In Italy, the artists were without any sort of artistic centre well into the 1860s. Italian artists were anxious to find any artistic opportunity and flocked to Paris to begin their search. When they arrived, they quickly began to conform to the Rococo genre painting practiced in Paris at the time. The Italian artists then took this budding style to other countries and helped to develop it in a way that made it distinguishably different from the style in Paris. The French Rococo had been far less decorative than the Italians transformed it to be. The style continued to spread and the Italians became known for leading the Rococo era throughout Europe (Igra).

The term “Rococo” is derived from the French word “Rocaille”, which means “rock-work after the forms of sea shells” (Collins). It was said that this century “considered painting, not sculpture, to be the highest level of visual art.” Several art critics viewed painting as empowering of the most grandeur amplification of the imagination belonging to the viewer (Brilliant 2). However, it took a series of time for the Rococo art to appeal to its viewers following such an opposite era. This turn in the century “encouraged a style essentially decorative and playful, refined and sensuous, feminine and optimistic.” It also had the “sombre and pessimistic tone of Naturalism” (Ireland).

At this point in time, women were still in the outward rims of social life. However, society soon began to evolve and women were ready to be heard. They wished to have an impact on politics, as well as science, and wanted to acquire an intellectual lifestyle. Women began to replace the men with their feminine features. The artists worked to bring into their paintings the “woman's beauty in ever new charms, to enhance its brilliance and elevate it to the ideal of human perfection”. This innovated portraying the women as “Goddess, Grace or Muse”. It came out to be “allegorical and mythological”. The divinity of the Baroque era was soon diminished and the “divine” exquisiteness of women took its place (Schonberger, Soechner 54). Allan Ramsay's Elizabeth Cunyngham, Mrs. Daniel Cunyngham is an example of the start to this new style. Her form is delicate and light, her face is slender and framed by carefully placed dark curls, and she is wearing a dress that gives off a sense of being airy and free. The popular words that descended from beauty were “gout,” “grace,” and “proportion” which can very easily be seen in this painting (Schonberger, Soechner 54). These words were much more important to an artist than trying to express any personality that the person may possess.

This appearance of these new portraits belonging to this era brought a different sort of reaction to its viewers. The faces were softer with kind-hearted smiles and at a glance seemed full of wit. The color palette differed from the Baroque era as well. It consisted of “delicate shades of silver, grey and reseda, pale blue, pink and white”. There was an extreme curvature involved in the pieces. The letters “C” and “S” were often seen in the pieces as base lines to get this curving effect. The proportions were described as “noble” and the faces soon became stereotypical and had a pleasant feel to them. Many of them were described as the “delights of spring” (Schonberger, Soechner 54). Marie Antoinette en Chemise by Madame Elisabeth-Louise Vigee-Lebrun demonstrates the use of flowers as decoration. She holds a single rose in her hand adding elegance to the portrait. Birds and bows were iconic to femininity and were incorporated into the pieces playing dominant roles in all of the Rococo movement. Soon the women were decorated in floral, because flowers were said to be the favored ornament of women. The hair of women became designed with several florets and sometimes the clothing was decorated with garlands to give it more of an elegant appearance.

A second style of Rococo portraits then began in the second half of the century. This started to transform under the change of the “new intellectual and spiritual trends”. Women were portrayed as domesticated rather than the mystical appearance as seen in earlier times. The education of women had grown a tremendous amount and they began to work as productive laborers. Families started to rely on the women to bring in contribution to support them financially. In these paintings, women were depicted sitting at sewing machines, holding books in their laps, or holding a straw hat on her head. It was also common for women to be seen laying their heads down on their husband's shoulders, or being in the midst of several children. “Family bliss, married harmony, domestic life and the joys of childhood” soon became themes that spread throughout Europe (Schonberger, Soechner 55). In this painting, The Eliot Famiy, Sir Joshua Reynolds displays the entire family. The children are seen playing or sitting like they would naturally do, the eldest members are sitting gracefully on the left side, the father figure is in the center, and the women are elegantly placed around the other figures. The dresses were simplified, both in the paintings and in women's fashion, from the previously high decoration and it appeared as a house dress. Simplicity had at this time became a special form of elegance.

The simple foundation prompted an eagerness for nature. It became popular to put people in their natural settings so that the relationship between them and their backgrounds could be established. “Ladies and gentlemen are seen descending the steps that lead from the door of their mansion into the surrounding park, walking in the garden, or gazing out over the fields and meadows of the English countryside”. Including landscapes to them was more like a theatrical
stage setting and was still considered decoration because of it (Schonberger, Soechner 55). Thomas Gainsborough often practiced including scenery in his paintings. In one piece that he completed, Portrait of Abel Moysey, Gainsborough placed Moysey on a rugged land next to what might be a forest. His inclusion of the scenery assisted in setting the tone of the piece by use of color, lighting and balance. Though the natural background painting started in the Rococo period, it was not very popular among the artists until the Romantic era.

Towards the end of the Rococo era new theme of child painting developed. During this age, grandparents lived with the children, father, and mother. There were no elderly homes for them to go too, so it was the child's responsibility to support them. Social security was non-existent, therefore the children played the part of being the family's social security. When artists painted a picture of a child, the child typically had a childish face, but was dressed like an adult and posed to show maturity like an adult has (Schonberger, Soechner 55). William Hogarth depicts The Graham Children wearing the adult-like clothing. The dressing actually accurately depicted the way children did dress. At a young age children were bound to tradesman to learn how to trade or take the position in some other profession. It was only the upper children who had the ability to go to college or to a university. The lowest class of children, particularly in Europe, were often left to fend for themselves. Pick pocketing and stealing from vendors in the marketplace just to get food was very common. The Rococo artists explored the child world. They focused on portraying the lives that children were supposed to live. Not as adults working in factories, but as explorers having fun. Hogarth begins to show this transformation here. Though the clothing is still above the children's age, the setting that they are in tells a different story. The young boy on the right and the baby girl on the left are both entranced by the birds fluttering about the bird cage. The facial expressions upon their faces are also of a joyful and playful manner. Soon, the attempt to portray children realistically in the world had fully developed. Little girls were portrayed as little princesses chasing after butterflies (Schonberger, Soechner 55). Thomas Gainsborough actually depicted this happening. In The Painter's Daughters, Margaret and Mary, Chasing Butterflies, his daughters are shown wearing clothes fit for their age. They are brightly colored with skirts that are not as full as most women wore in that time. The two girls run together holding hands, chasing after a butterfly- something that displayed the innocence and playfulness of children and was very typical for them to do. Children were finally placed in their realistic and natural settings. Along side of this last portion of the Rococo era in the ending quarter of the eighteenth century, the age of individualism was birthed bringing forth the Neoclassical era.

It began in England with designs created by the Palladians, who made up a group that was led by Earl of Burlington the third. A strong desire came upon the artists to paint a more truthful vision instead of the “ephemera of life”. So groups, such as the Palladians, travelled throughout Europe to capture the vital moments. The art had changed from the mythical, delicate and graceful paintings full of curvature, to a much more simple composition. In some cases it narrowed down to pieces consisting of only a few figures that stood in peaceful, static poses. These figures were typically derived from antique statues. Some of these artists made their money by “painting particular views for rich men coming to see the sights or some of the grand travelers in front of an imposing Ancient monument to prove that they had been there”. Some of the Nobles would call on painters such as Pompeo Batoni to be painted leaning against a great Antique work that could be easily recognized (Neoclassical Art and Architecture). This painting is done by Batoni and titled Swagger: Colonel the Hon William Gordon, where the Colonel can be seen proudly leaning against the statue. In other cases, the paintings remained very mythological but had usually had a moral point to it. An example of the more mythological paintings is Angelica Kauffman's Cherubs Sculpture. There, four cherub angels are diligently at work creating a sculpture of another cherub sculpture.

The eighteenth century Rococo art movement successfully captured the time period as it was happening, from family bliss to feminine beauty, to the world of children. Stephen Davies stated, “..we respond emotionally to scenarios that are hypothetical or counter factual as readily as to ones that are actual.” (Davies 271) These pieces of artwork left strong impacts on their viewers, especially because they could relate to what they were seeing. The Baroque paintings had left a negative affect with the portraits' harsh glances and pride. And the later Neoclassical era went back to painting higher status figures as well as mythological settings. With the Rococo paintings, however, there was a reaction more filled with joy. The color pallet was a long softer and lighter, and the forms were much more elegant and delicate. This era proved to have a positive impact and play an important role in history. It is essential that this era- the Rococo era, is never forgotten.


Rococo Sources


Batoni, Pompeo. Swagger: Colonel the Hon William Gordon. 01 Dec 2009.


Brilliant, Richard. "Antique Art: Continuity and Transformation." Source: Notes in the History of Art. 29.1 (2009): 2-7. Print.


Collins, Neal. "Rococo Art Style." Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art. 2009. Web.


Davies, Stephen. "Responding Emotionally to Fictions." Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. 67.3 (2009): 269-284. Print.


Flam, Jack. "Carl Einstein and Metasculpture." Source: Notes in the History of Art. 29.1 (2009): 31-34. Print.


Gainsborough, Thomas. The Painter's Daughters, Margaret and Mary, Chasing Butterflies. About 1756. 01 Dec 2009.


Gainsborough, Thomas. Portrait of Abel Moysey M.P. c. 1771. 01 Dec 2009.

Hogarth, William. The Graham Children. c. 1732. 01 Dec 2009.

Igra, Caroline. "Reviving the Rococo: Enterprising Italian Artists in Second Empire Paris." Art History 28.3 (2005): 340-356. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 2 Nov. 2009.

Ireland, K. R. "Aspects of Cythera: Neo-Rococo at the Turn of the Century."

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Johnson, Mark. "Learn About Baroque Art, View Famous Artists and their Famous Paintings." Art History. Web. 11 Nov 2009.


Kauffmann, Angelica. Cherubs Sculpture. 02 Dec 2009.


Ramsay, Allan. Elizabeth Cunyngham, Mrs Daniel Cunyngham. c. 1740. 02 Dec 2009.


Reynolds, Sir Joshua. The Eliot Family. c. 1746. 01 Dec 2009.


Salimena, Francesco. Self Portrait. c. 1715. Uffizi, Florence. 01 Dec 2009.


Schonberger, Arno, and Halldor Soechner. The Rococo Age. New York: McGraw Hill, 1960. Print.

Vigee-Lebrun, Madame Elisabeth-Louise. Marie Antoinette en Chemise. c. 1783. 01 Dec 2009.


"Neoclassical Art and Architecture." 2009. History.com. 11 Nov 2009. Web.