About 1730, the artistic style of the Rococo developed from the Baroque and spread from France across Europe. The term "rococo" also derives from a French word, "rocaille", which refers to the cluttering of mussels. The term, which was not coined until the second half of the 19th century, mainly refers to the patterns used in the architecture and sculpture of Rococo. But this design principle also has a great influence on painting. Thus the paintings of Rococo were characterized by their playfulness and by their lively lines and colors. With regard to the chosen motifs, a turn to sensuality and eroticism could be seen.
One of the most important painters of Rococo was the Frenchman,
Antoine Watteau, who even created a special genre of pictures with the "fêtes galantes". The Italian
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo began his artistic activity in the Baroque period, but his masterpiece - the frescoes in the Würzburg residence - was created during the Rococo period. The Spanish artist,
Francisco de Goya, has also made a name for himself and has increasingly turned the recognition features of rococo into a motif from Spanish folklore.
The end of Rococo was around 1780, when it was gradually replaced by classicism.
