The 18th century is believed to have begun in 1715 with the death of Louis XIV and ended in 1815 with the fall of Napoleon I and the Congress of Vienna. The Enlightenment is a term that designates a cultural and philosophical movement that dominated Europe, and more particularly in France. By extension, they gave the name of the Enlightenment (French: Lumière) which led to the advent of democracy, in England and the United States with the American Revolution, and in France with the French Revolution. The Rococo style was founded in this period in Paris, and was later adopted by Austria and Germany. To get a clearer idea, I will define the Rococo Style, then I will introduce two of its pioneers. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay According to Delécluze, the term "rococo" was coined, around 1797, in derision by Pierre-Maurice Quays. It derives from an association of the French word “rocaille” which designates an ornament that imitates natural rocks and stones and the curved shape of some shells and the Portuguese word Baroco: “baroque”. The term Rococo had a pejorative character for a long time before being accepted by art historians around the mid-nineteenth century and considered a European artistic movement in all respects. This style was involved in architecture, decorative arts, painting and sculpture. It developed from 1715 to 1780, in France and then in the Holy Roman Empire, and in southern Europe (Savoy, Italy, Spain, Portugal). There is a notable difference between rococo and classical art. I'll lay it out in the grid below. Characteristics of Classical Art Characteristics of Rococo Mythological Themes/Heroes (Ancient Greeks, Romans) Love was a common theme Idealized representation of the subject: Larger than life · Physical form and strength emphasized · Nude · Contrasting Pale colors and Cherubs · Figures carefree, provocative and graceful Backgrounds often included delicate depictions of nature Romantic depictions indulging in leisure activities Balance and perspective Very popular portraiture “Les Grâces présidant à l'éducation de l'Amour”, circa 1735, Francois Boucher La figure above is considered one of the best examples of a French rock garden, the decor of the Soubise hotel was made by François Boucher, Charles Joseph Natoire and Carle van Loo, among others, and remains intact to this day. Furthermore, William Hogarth and Jean-Baptiste Greuze are two pioneers of Rococo. William Hogarth, son of the Glorious Revolution, recognized very early by critics and identified in France in 1753 by Denis Diderot as a brilliant spirit. Hogarth is a complete artist, who embraced diverse modes of expression, and whose influence continued into the early 20th century. The first free and singular artist of the English school of painting, he does not hesitate to use the press and his networks of friends to defend his ideas, expressing, both with the pen and with the brush, the wanderings, the pleasures and the moral contradictions of the his time. The famous Wedding-à-la-mode series, generously loaned to the Louvre Museum by the National London Gallery, is based on real events but also on a play by Dryden and shortly before by David Garrick. The paintings are painted in anticipation of their transition to engraving on the back of the scenes. This series describes the unhappy marriage of a young man, the son of an improvident and impoverished aristocrat, shown as a "fine breed", and the daughter of a rich merchant. The ridiculous, the frivolous, the misunderstanding, the ruin and then the death punctuate each of the six episodes of the series. But here too, the freedom and vanity of the figures, their gestures and their equipment, the attention to the interiors and the animals.