Rococo

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806) was the most prolific French painter of the 18th century. He created over 550 paintings embodying the spirit of...

James W Singer 23 November 2025

Music

Farinelli—The Best Castrato in Portraits

Castrati were male singers who had been castrated before puberty to retain the so-called voce bianca, that is unmutated voice, which therefore was...

Magda Michalska 23 October 2025

Jean-Henri Riesener, Bureau du Roi, 1760-1769, oak, rosewood, bronze, gold, porcelain, enamel, glass, leather, Château de Versailles, Versailles, France. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Bureau du Roi by Jean-Henri Riesener

Jean-Henri Riesener’s Bureau du Roi is a masterpiece of 18th-century French art. It was and still is a designer piece fit for a...

James W Singer 5 October 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Monkey Painter by Jean-Baptiste Chardin

It’s tacky! It’s funny! It’s weird! Yes, Jean-Baptiste Chardin’s The Monkey Painter is definitely not what you would consider in good taste.

James W Singer 27 July 2025

Rococo

How to Look Fabulous: Rococo Women Beauty Guide

How to look fabulous? That is the question! Let’s refer to the most splendid and opulent period of history: the 18th century. The Enlightenment era...

Kateryna Martynova 7 July 2025

Jean-François de Troy, Diana and Actaeon, 1734, Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Diana and Actaeon by Jean-François de Troy

Diana and Actaeon by Jean-François de Troy is a French masterpiece blending the exuberance of Rococo sensuality with the intellectualism of...

James W Singer 25 May 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Madame de Pompadour by François Boucher

François Boucher (1703–1770) was the most celebrated French painter of the 18th century. His painting Madame de Pompadour captures the beautiful...

James W Singer 25 May 2025

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: La Toilette by François Boucher

The soft rustle of silky cloth and the hard crackling of burning wood echo against the yellow-papered walls of the boudoir. The small room is...

James W Singer 25 May 2025

Anne Vallayer-Coster, Still Life with Flowers in an Alabaster Vase and Fruit, 1783, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Still Life with Flowers in an Alabaster Vase and Fruit by Anne Vallayer-Coster

Still Life with Flowers in an Alabaster Vase and Fruit by Anne Vallayer-Coster is a masterpiece of the still-life genre, 18th-century French art, and...

James W Singer, 20 April 2025

European Art

Francisco Goya in 10 Paintings

Francisco Goya’s work includes the abundant Rococo style, formal portraiture, anti-war etchings, religious paintings, and the dark and surreal.

Theodore Carter 17 April 2025

Rococo

François Boucher in 10 Paintings

François Boucher (1703–1770) was one of the major exponents of the Rococo style in the 18th century. His paintings showed the ostentation and...

Jimena Escoto 10 April 2025

Women Artists

Madame de Pompadour As an Artist

Madame de Pompadour was the most influential mistress of Louis XV. Even though having influence over a king was no small deal, there is more to De...

Vithória Konzen Dill 4 April 2025