Louis XIV style in the context of "André Charles Boulle"

Rococo, less commonly Roccoco (/rəˈkoʊkoʊ/ rə-KOH-koh, US also /ˌroʊkəˈkoʊ/ ROH-kə-KOH; French: [ʁɔkɔko] or [ʁokoko] ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art, and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, and trompe-l'œil frescoes to create surprise and the illusion of motion and drama. It is often described as the final expression of the Baroque movement.

Originally known as the “style Rocaille," Rococo began in France in the 1730s as a reaction against the more formal and geometric Louis XIV style. It soon spread to other parts of Europe, particularly northern Italy, Austria, southern Germany, Central Europe and Russia. It also came to influence other arts, particularly sculpture, furniture, silverware, glassware, painting, music, theatre, and literature. Although originally a secular style primarily used for interiors of private residences, the Rococo had a spiritual aspect to it which led to its widespread use in church interiors, particularly in Central Europe, Portugal, and South America.

Rocaille (US: /roʊˈkaɪ, rɒˈkaɪ/ ro(h)-KY, French: [ʁɔkɑj]) was a French style of elaborate design that appeared in furniture and interior decoration during the early reign of Louis XV. A reaction against the heaviness and formality of the Louis XIV style, it featured an abundance of curves, counter-curves, undulations, and elements modeled on nature. Beginning around 1710, it reached its peak in the 1730s, and came to an end in the late 1750s when it was replaced by Neoclassicism. It marked the beginning of the French Baroque movement in furniture and design, as well as the beginning of the Rococo movement, which had spread to Italy, Bavaria, and Austria by the mid-18th century.

The Louis XV style or Louis Quinze (/ˌluːi ˈkæ̃z/, French: [lwi kɛ̃z]) is a style of architecture and decorative arts which appeared during the reign of Louis XV. From 1710 until about 1730, a period known as the Régence, it was largely an extension of the Louis XIV style of his great-grandfather and predecessor, Louis XIV. From about 1730 until about 1750, it became more original, decorative and exuberant, in what was known as the Rocaille style, under the influence of the King's mistress, Madame de Pompadour. It marked the beginning of the European Rococo movement. From 1750 until the King's death in 1774, it became more sober, ordered, and began to show the influences of Neoclassicism.

Jean Berain the Elder (1640 – 24 January 1711) was a draughtsman and designer, painter and engraver of ornament, the artistic force in the Royal office of the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi where all the designs originated for court spectacle, from fêtes to funerals, and many designs for furnishings not covered by the Bâtiments du Roi. The "Berainesque" style of light arabesques and playful grotesques was an essential element in the style Régence that led to the French Rocaille and European Rococo.

Born in Saint-Mihiel, Meuse, in the Spanish Netherlands, he was the son of a master gunsmith, in whose line of work engraving was a prominent technique. He spent his career in Paris. Long after his death the connoisseur Pierre-Jean Mariette wrote of him, "Nothing was done, in whatever genre that it might have been, unless it were in his manner, or where he had given designs for it." Through his engravings and those of his son, his style was highly influential beyond the court and Paris, notably in the Low Countries, Germany and London. His close friendship with Nicodemus Tessin the Younger ensured that Berain's own nuance in the Louis XIV style was transmitted to court circles in Sweden.