Editing Baroque (section)

===Transition to rococo===
{{Main|Rococo}}
{{See also|Louis XV style}}
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File:Meudon observatoire 2016 (15).jpg|Meudon Observatory, [[Château de Meudon]], Meudon, France, an example of an early Rococo building from the last years of [[Louis XIV]], unknown architect, 1706–1709<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martin|first1=Henry|title=Le Style Louis XIV|date=1927|publisher=Flammarion|isbn=|page=38|url=|language=fr}}</ref>

File:Charles Cressent, Chest of drawers, c. 1730 at Waddesdon Manor.jpg|Chest of drawers; by [[Charles Cressent]]; {{circa}}1730; various wood types; gilt-bronze mounts and a Brèche d'Aleps marble top; height: 91.1&nbsp;cm; [[Waddesdon Manor]], Waddesdon, UK

20230209 Amalienburg Nymphenburg.jpg|[[Amalienburg]], Nymphenburg Palace Park, Munich, Germany, by [[François de Cuvilliés]], 1734–1739{{sfn|Hodge|2019|p=95}}

File:Salon ovale de la princesse in the Hôtel de Soubise (11).jpg|Salon Oval de la Princesse of the [[Hôtel de Soubise]], Paris, by [[Germain Boffrand]], [[Charles-Joseph Natoire]] and [[Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne]], 1737–1739

File:The Triumph of Venus, by François Boucher.jpg|''[[The Triumph of Venus]]''; by [[François Boucher]]; 1740; oil on canvas; 130 × 162&nbsp;cm; [[Nationalmuseum]], Stockholm, Sweden

File:Vienna (124619801).jpeg|Vieux-Laque Room, [[Schönbrunn Palace]], Vienna, Austria, decorated with Chinese black [[lacquerware]] panels, by [[Nikolaus Pacassi]], 1743–1763{{sfn|Hopkins|2014|p=94}}

File:Gate - Residence Square Würzburg - DSC02894.JPG|Gate with two statues and elaborate wrought-iron grilles, [[Würzburg]], Germany, grilles by [[Johann Georg Oegg]], 1752

Chinese House Potsdam-, Germany.jpg|[[Chinese House (Potsdam)|Chinese House]], Sanssouci Park, Potsdam, Germany, an example of [[Chinoiserie]], by [[Johann Gottfried Büring]], 1755–1764{{sfn|Sund|2019|p=104}}

File:Coffeepot MET DP103144 (cropped),.jpg|Coffeepot, decorated with [[foliage]]; 1757; silver; height: 29.5&nbsp;cm; [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York

The Music Lesson MET DP-14272-001 (cropped).jpg|''The Music Lesson''; by the [[Chelsea porcelain factory]]; {{circa}}1765; soft-paste porcelain; 39.1 × 31.1 × 22.2&nbsp;cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art

Nodding pagod, Meissen, Germany, c. 1760, porcelain, 1892.60.325 - Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York City - DSC07727.jpg|Pagod, based on Asian figures of [[Budai]], an example of Chinoiserie; by [[Johann Joachim Kändler]]; {{circa}}1765; hard paste porcelain; Metropolitan Museum of Art{{sfn|Sund|2019|p=99, 100}}

File:Cartouche bekroond met drietand Second livre de cartouches (serietitel op object), RP-P-2011-164-8.jpg|[[Cartouche (design)|Cartouche]] from the ''Second {{lang|fr|Livre de Cartouches|italic=unset}}'', an example of asymmetry; {{circa}}1710–1772; engraving on paper; 23 x 19.8&nbsp;cm; [[Rijksmuseum]], Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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The Rococo is the final stage of the Baroque, and in many ways took the Baroque's fundamental qualities of illusion and drama to their logical extremes. Beginning in France as a reaction against the heavy Baroque grandeur of [[Louis XIV]]'s court at the [[Palace of Versailles]], the rococo movement became associated particularly with the powerful {{lang|fr|[[Madame de Pompadour]]|italic=no}} (1721–1764), the mistress of the new king, [[Louis XV]] (1710–1774). Because of this, the style was also known as ''Pompadour''. Although it's highly associated with the reign of Louis XV, it didn't appear in this period. Multiple works from the last years of Louis XIV's reign are examples of early Rococo. The name of the movement derives from the French {{lang|fr|rocaille}}, or pebble, and refers to stones and shells that decorate the interiors of caves, as similar shell forms became a common feature in Rococo design. It began as a design and [[decorative arts]] style, and was characterized by elegant flowing shapes. Architecture followed and then painting and sculpture. The French painter with whom the term Rococo is most often associated is [[Jean-Antoine Watteau]], whose pastoral scenes, or {{lang|fr|[[Fête galante|fêtes galantes]]}}, dominate the early part of the 18th century.

There are multiple similarities between Rococo and Baroque. Both styles insist on monumental forms, and so use continuous spaces, [[coupled column|double columns]] or pilasters, and luxurious materials (including gilded elements). There also noticeable differences. Rococo designed freed themselves from the adherence to symmetry that had dominated architecture and design since the [[Renaissance]]. Many small objects, like ink pots or porcelain figures, but also some ornaments, are often asymmetrical. This goes hand in hand with the fact that most ornamentation consisted of interpretation of foliage and sea shells, not as many Classical ornaments inherited from the Renaissance like in Baroque. Another key difference is the fact that since the Baroque is the main cultural manifestation of the spirit of the [[Counter-Reformation]], it is most often associated with ecclesiastical architecture. In contrast, the Rococo is mainly associated with palaces and domestic architecture. In Paris, the popularity of the Rococo coincided with the emergence of the salon as a new type of social gathering, the venues for which were often decorated in this style. Rococo rooms were typically smaller than their Baroque counterparts, reflecting a movement towards domestic intimacy.{{sfn|Hopkins|2014|p=294}} Colours also match this change, from the earthy tones of [[Caravaggio]]'s paintings, and the interiors of red marble and gilded mounts of the reign of [[Louis XIV]], to the pastel and relaxed pale blue, Pompadour pink, and white of the Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour's France. Similarly to colours, there was also a transition from serious, dramatic and moralistic subjects in painting and sculpture, to lighthearted and joyful themes.

One last difference between Baroque and Rococo is the interest that 18th century aristocrats had for [[East Asia]]. [[Chinoiserie]] was a style in fine art, architecture and design, popular during the 18th century, that was heavily inspired by Chinese art, but also by Rococo at the same time. Because traveling to China or other Far Eastern countries was hard at that time and so remained mysterious to most Westerners, European imagination were fuelled by perceptions of Asia as a place of wealth and luxury, and consequently patrons from emperors to merchants vied with each other in adorning their living quarters with Asian goods and decorating them in Asian styles. Where Asian objects were hard to obtain, European craftsmen and painters stepped up to fill the demand, creating a blend of Rococo forms and Asian figures, motifs and techniques. Aside from European recreations of objects in East Asian style, Chinese [[lacquerware]] was reused in multiple ways. European aristocrats fully decorated a handful of rooms of palaces, with Chinese lacquer panels used as wall panels. Due to its aspect, black lacquer was popular for Western men's studies. Those panels used were usually glossy and black, made in the [[Henan province]] of China. They were made of multiple layers of lacquer, then incised with motifs in-filled with colour and gold. Chinese, but also [[Japanese lacquerware|Japanese lacquer]] panels were also used by some 18th century European carpenters for making furniture. In order to be produced, Asian screens were dismantled and used to veneer European-made furniture.