Rococo and Neo-Classicism

Rococo - Styles and Influences

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Rococo and Neo-Classicism
(18th/early 19th c.)

In the reign of Louis XV the Court in Versailles less and less dictated the forms of cultural life. The role once played by the Court was increasingly taken over by the city salons and smaller palaces and manors with a less formal atmosphere. The newly wealthy classes filled their gardens and parks with statuary turning them into dreamlike places of "scénes galantes" and intimate approach to nature. Garden statues were most often allegorical and mythological. Small-scale works with similar traits were also made for interiors. It was in these small statues and reliefs that Rococo sculpture was seen at its best.