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Rococo, Reason, And Revolution : The French Intellectual And Moral Response To Aristocratic Indulgence As Demonstrated Through Art, Kimberly Elfrink

Student Scholarship

The entrapment of the aristocracy that King Louis XIV began at the Palace of Versailles in the late seventeenth century sparked a vast dislike among the nobility of classical baroque art. Since the French monarchy used this controlled style in order to symbolize the grip it held on the nation, aristocrats sought a new style that embodied freedom from Versailles and celebrated the upper class rather than the monarchy or the state. Because they possessed the most wealth in society at the time, their tastes dictated the direction of art, and, for a large portion of the eighteenth century, the …