Rococo 4K

MORE LIGHT In the eighteenth century, the Baroque aim of overwhelming the viewer by means of dramatic artistic presentation fell into disrepute: in the period of the Enlightenment, the Baroque conception of a deceptive, theatrical illusion was no longer considered inappropriate for modern, rational man.
In place of heavy, pathos-charged compositions, artists of the Rococo preferred bright ilumination light pastel colours, dainty or bizarre figures and either restrained or grotesquely exaggerated gestures and facial expressions.
Artists played with the viewer's power of perception by questioning the apparently logical interplay of body and drapery in sculpture, and intentionally incorporating features designed to disconcert.
This artistic development was inspired by the discussions on the Enlightenment and science pursued by the middle classes but also by the aristocracy and even the Roman Catholic clergy.
The centres of Rococo sculpture were found primarily in Southern Germany — Bavaria, Franconia and Swabia — and Austria.
Here artists formulated their responses to the challenges of the
Enlightenment not in the rigorous antiquity-oriented forms of Classicism, but in the ironic violation of the rules of Baroque art.
Many members of the aristocracy were themselves adherents of the Enlightenment and had their palaces and gardens decorated
by Rococo artists.
In a great number of sculptures executed in this context, one is struck by modelling which is reminiscent of painting.
Rococo sculpture is moreover characterized by bizarre figures often verging on the ridiculous, carrying out virtually insane movements or exhibiting distorted proportions.