Rococo Painting. Rococo, less commonly roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colors, sculpted molding, and trompe l'oeil frescoes to create surprise and the illusion of motion and drama.
   It is often described as the final expression of the Baroque movement. The Rococo style began in France in the 1730s as a reaction against the more formal and geometric Style Louis XIV.
   It was known as the style rocaille, or rocaille style. It soon spread to other parts of Europe, particularly northern Italy, Austria, southern Germany, Central Europe and Russia.
   It also came to influence the other arts, particularly sculpture, furniture, silverware and glassware, painting, music, and theatre. The word rococo was first used as a humorous variation of the word rocaille.
   Rocaille was originally a method of decoration, using pebbles, seashells and cement, which was often used to decorate grottoes and fountains since the Renaissance. In the late 17th and early 18th century rocaille became the term for a kind of decorative motif or ornament that appeared in the late Style Louis XIV, in the form of a seashell interlaced with acanthus leaves. In 1736 the designer and jeweler Jean Mondon published the Premier Livre de forme rocquaille et cartel, a collection of designs for orna
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