Germain Boffrand was a French architect. A pupil of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Germain Boffrand was one of the main creators of the precursor to Rococo called the style Régence, and in his interiors, of the Rococo itself. In his exteriors he held to a monumental Late Baroque classicism with some innovations in spatial planning that were exceptional in France. His major commissions, culminating in his interiors at the Hôtel de Soubise, were memorialised in his treatise Livre d'architecture, published in 1745, which served to disseminate the French Louis XV style throughout Europe.
Portrait of Germain Boffrand by Lambert-Sigisbert Adam
Hôtel de Soubise (1704–1707); Boffrand returned to execute a suite of high rococo interiors (1735–1740)
Wall elevation in the bedroom of the Prince de Rohan at the Hôtel de Soubise
Château de Lunéville (1708–1709)
Rococo, less commonly Roccoco, 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.
Image: Ca' rezzonico, salone da ballo, quadrature di pietro visconti e affreschi di g.b. crosato (caduta di febo e 4 continenti), 1753, 02
Image: Charles Cressent, Chest of drawers, c. 1730 at Waddesdon Manor
Image: Kaisersaal Würzburg
Integrated rococo carving, stucco and fresco at Zwiefalten Abbey (1739 – 1745)