Baroque

In the beginning of the 16th century, there starts a new cultural era in Europe. This epoch will last for two centuries representing the peak of the French absolutism and chic of the French royal court. Sometimes, this art trend is known as the High Renaissance. Its main art genres are painting, sculpture and architecture. The most well-known denomination of it is Baroque (the most luxurious form of which is Rococo). This painting style featured the wealth and splendour. France was the most prominent country in this art style, enjoying the greatest and most magnificent European court in the 17th-18th centuries.
Among the greatest painters of the Baroque are Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Rubens, Velasquez and Vermeer. Caravaggio's realistic approach to the human being, taken right out of life and shown on the dark background, was amazing indeed. It produced a shocking effect upon his contemporaries and actually opened a new chapter in painting history. It was natural for Baroque to dramatize and idealize the surrounding reality as the clients these masterpieces were created for were usually extremely rich people and had no desire to be aware of grieves and woes of the poor.
In the 18th century (the Age of Reason and Rationalism), the Baroque was substituted by a decadent sub-genre Rococo. This style grew to be even more playful, frivolous and erotic. The best example of the French Rococo of the 18th century is Louvre. All its interior is decorated with incredible naked ladies, bushy dogs and kissing angels. It is the reflection of the ruling class of that time: nobility entertained and lived in full swing. They didn't take interest in anything else and their art is the ideal reflection of their living. The most characteristic French masters are Watteau, Boucher and Fragonard.