#24th oct

Pendle Hill

This lecture was one of extravagance though that was mainly the subject manner as we were looking at Rococo and Neo-classism. 

It was the age of reason and enlightenment, new discoveries were happening and many of the rich took to the grand tour, or the rich families sent their sons on the grand tour and less enlightenment and more frivolous activities happened. Which really would you expect anything more? Still however throughout this period the look back at the classical era produced many exquisite architectural designs, sculptures and painting that we still appreciate today. Such as all those fancy manor houses with beautiful interiors and manicured gardens. We focused on the difference between the French gardens and the English gardens of this time also. Such when looking at French gardens they kept strict control how everything looked and the position of them vs the English gardens which focused on looking natural but still romantic.

Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles 

From the neo-classical, the arts turned even more decadent as it moved into Rococo which I can’t help but love even though it was self-indulgent and excessive to the point of madness. In France, at this time, the majority of the aristocracy were settled in the Palace of Versailles with their king and I think this is what fulled the oh so decadent nature of the Rococo period, everyone was trying to impress each other and outdo one another that it just got extreme and it had to stop somewhere. Which is where the French revolution came in. Today we look upon Rococo as almost ludicrous but we have that same urge to impress still just less with architecture and moe with technology.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard,’The Swing’ (1767-78) - The most recognisable Rococo work