Rococo: Before Bedtime
TV Show · Documentary · History

Following the grandeur of Baroque, Rococo art is often dismissed as frivolous and unserious, but Waldemar Januszczak disagrees. In this three-part series he re-examines Rococo art and argues that the Rococo was actually the age in which the modern world was born.

2014 · 1h 0m
Starring Waldemar Januszczak

Season 1

  • EPISODE 1
    Travel
    In Heidelberg, pilgrims loosen their purse strings after thrilling to Balthasar Neumann's extravagant Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Saxony's Augustus the Strong ruthlessly unlocks the secrets of porcelain manufacturing, fueling a craze for exotic figurines. On the Adriatic, Canaletto's sunny paintings of Venice gloss over its gritty reality.
    50m
  • EPISODE 2
    Pleasure
    Waldemar looks at the pursuit of pleasure in the Rococo age, to which a huge amount of cultural energy was devoted. For the first time in history, pleasure and happiness were seen as unalienable human rights that everyone was free to pursue and is reflected so poignantly in the art.
    50m
  • EPISODE 3
    Madness
    When you spend as much time as the Rococo did having fun and escaping reality, madness soon sets in. The 18th century is seen as the era of frivolity and enjoyment, but in an age of such decadence there was also the brutish satire of Hogarth, the mysterious masked figures of Longhi, the anguish of Messerschmidt and the depths of Goya's macabre genius.
    50m

Related

Cast & Crew

  • Waldemar Januszczak
    Host

About

Rococo: Before Bedtime

Documentary

Following the grandeur of Baroque, Rococo art is often dismissed as frivolous and unserious, but Waldemar Januszczak disagrees. In this three-part series he re-examines Rococo art and argues that the Rococo was actually the age in which the modern world was born.

Information

Studio
BBC Four
Released
2014
Rated
TV-14
© 2014 ABC Australia

Languages

Original Audio
English (United Kingdom)
Subtitles

English (United States) (CC)

Accessibility

Closed captions (CC) refer to subtitles in the available language with the addition of relevant non-dialogue information.
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Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahrain
  • Botswana
  • Brunei Darussalam
  • Cape Verde
  • Egypt
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  • Gambia
  • Ghana
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  • India
  • Israel
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  • Lebanon
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  • Mozambique
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