10 Artworks That Defined the Rococo Style

Jean-Antoine Watteau, Pilgrimage to Cythera (1717)

Following the death of King Louis XIV in 1715, the cultural center of the French elite shifted away from the royal palace in Versailles and toward private homes in Paris. This more personal milieu found its artistic expression in Rococo

, which represented a rejection of Baroque

 art’s formal grandeur. Drawing its name from the French word rocaille (meaning rock or pebble), which originally referred to the Renaissance

 penchant for decorating artificial grottos with shells and stones, Rococo began as an interior design style favored by the urban upper class.

Characterized by elegance, levity, floral motifs, muted colors, and curving, asymmetrical lines, Rococo soon extended to painting, where its aesthetics combined with themes of sensual love and nature. The style quickly spread to the rest of France, and then to Germany, Austria, England, and other European countries.

While it ultimately fell out of favor due to its perceived frivolity, while proponents of Neoclassicism

 prevailed in popularizing a more sober style, Rococo painting remains enchanting—not just in its cotton-candy colors, but also in its playfulness, combination of naturalism and ornament, and celebration of recreation, love, and youth. What follow are 10 iconic artworks that exemplify Rococo in its varied iterations, from mythological scenes to historical portraits, and lush landscapes to lavish interiors.