FRENCH
BAROQUE
ROCOCO
Antoine Watteau
Louis XIV
Francois Boucher
Nicolas Poussin
Claude Lorrain
Jean-Honore
Fragonard
Bernini
Bust of Louis XIV
1665
FRENCH BAROQUE
Portrait of Louis XIV,
1701.
Adopted the name “le Roi
Soleil” (‘The Sun King’)
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 to
being only 5’4”
French Baroque
Louis XIV, Palace of Versailles, c.1680.
Hall of Mirrors,
Versailles, c1680.
Hall of Battles, Versailles.
Maquette of Versailles
Court etiquette
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;
•
A gentleman was to do no work except writing letters, giving speeches, practicing fencing, or dancing.
For pleasure he engaged in hawking, archery, indoor tennis, or hunting. A gentleman would also take
part in battle and would sometimes serve as a public officer, paying the soldiers;
French Baroque
Nicolas Poussin
(pronounced poo-SAHN)
Foremost painter of 17th
century French
Classicism
Nicolas Poussin, Rape of the Sabines, 1640s.
Nicolas Poussin, The Death of Germanicus, 1627-28.
Nicolas Poussin, The Shepherds of Arcadia, 1638.
Nicolas Poussin, Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite, 1634.
Claude Lorrain,
Landscape with Apollo
Guarding the Herds of
Admetus , 1645.
Claude Lorrain, Port Scene with the Departure of Ulysses from the Land
of the Feaci, 1646.
Claude Lorrain, Aeneas's Farewell to Dido in Carthago, 1676.
Claude Lorrain, Landscape with Cephalus
and Procris Reunited by Diana, 1645.
Claude Lorrain, Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba, 1648.
Rococo
François de Cuvilles, Hall of Mirrors
Munich, Germany, early 18th century
Delicate, Organic, Ornate, Detailed, Reflective, Fanciful, Festive
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
Rococo
Portrait of Louis XIV, 1701.
Antoine Watteau, L’Indefferent
Louvre, Paris, France ,1716
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’
Antoine Watteau, Pilgrimage to Cythera, 1717.
Rococo
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”
Francois Boucher, Cupid a Captive, 1754
Rococo
Francois Boucher, Marquise de
Pompadour 1756.
Rococo
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.
Jean-Honré Fragonard, The Swing, 1766
Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Bathers, 1766.