Rococo Monstrosities: Too Much is Never Enough

Rococo was not so much a style as a swarm.

The 18th century movement for more of everything, and then more on top of that, resulted in architecture and interiors that were overtaken with gold, cupids, pastels, and organic forms sprouting like an infestation. Too much was never enough, and the asymmetrical extravagance borrowed the drama of Baroque and brazenly gilded it into an epic. 

So prepare your eyes as we look at some of these rococo monstrosities: 

Wies Church altar (photograph by João Máximo, via Flickr)

Marienmünster (photograph by Allie Caulfield, via Flickr)

Ottobeuren Basilika (via Wikimedia)

Ottobeuren Basilika (via Wikimedia)

St. John Nepomuk in Munich (photograph by Timothy Brown, via Flickr)

St. John Nepomuk in Munich (photograph by Bill Hunt, via Flickr)

St. John Nepomuk in Munich (photograph by Bill Hunt, via Flickr)

Wies Church (via Mattana/Wikimedia)

Basilika Vierzehnheiligen (photograph by Allie Caulfield, via Flickr)

Basilika Vierzehnheiligen (photograph by Graham Fellows, via Flickr)

Zwiefalten in Germany (photograph by Dierk Schaefer, via Flickr)

Zwiefalten in Germany (photograph by Dierk Schaefer, via Flickr)

Swiss church (photograph by cogito ergo imago, via Flickr)

Cádiz Cathedral in Spain (photograph by Michael Osmenda, via Flickr)

Wies Church (via Mattana/Wikimedia)

Catherine Palace (photograph by Matthias Kabel, via Wikimedia)

Residenz Palace in Munich (photograph by Heather Cowper, via Flickr)

Amalienburg (Steve Jurvetson, via Flickr)

Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna (photograph by Dennis Jarvis, via Flickr)

Catherine Palace (photograph by Lyn Gateley, via Flickr)

Great Gallery of Schönbrunn Palace (photograph by Dennis Jarvis, via Flickr)

Residenz Palace in Munich (photograph by Heather Cowper, via Flickr)

Palazzina di caccia of Stupinigi (via Wikimedia)

Residenz Palace (photograph by João Máximo, via Flickr)

Schloss Charlottenburg (photograph by Madeleine Ball, via Flickr)

Zwiefalten Abbey (via Wikimedia)

Nymphenburg in Munich (photograph by Allie Caufield, via Flickr)

Nymphenburg (photograph by ho visto nina volare, via Flickr)

Asamkirche in Munich (photograph by Anne-Lise Heinrichs, via Flickr)

Villa Arconati (photograph by Guido Bertolotti, via Wikimedia)

Amalienburg’s Hall of Mirrors (photograph by Steve Jurvetson, via Flickr)

Amalienburg (via Wikimedia)

Linderhof (photograph by Brian Brake, via Flickr)

Linderhof (photograph by John Perser, via Flickr)

Palais de Rundale (photograph by Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, via Flickr)

Catherine Palace (photograph by Lyn Gateley, via Flickr)

Coach in the Royal Stables Museum at Nymphenburg Palace (photograph by Frank Kovalchek, via Flickr)

Coach in the Royal Stables Museum at Nymphenburg Palace (photograph by Frank Kovalchek, via Flickr)

Archbishop’s Palace in Trier (photograph by Roger Wollstadt, via Flickr)

Peterhof (photograph by Lyn Gateley, via Flickr)

Schloss Charlottenburg (photograph by Sergej Heinrich, via Flickr)

Potsdam Sanssouci (photograph by Nigel Swales, via Flickr)

Potsdam Sanssouci (photograph by Torsten Maue, via Flickr)

Potsdam Sanssouci (photograph by Russell Trow, via Flickr)

Potsdam Sanssouci (photograph by Geoff Stearns, via Flickr)

Schloss Linderhof (photograph  by Allie Caulfield, via Flickr)

ROCOCO MONSTROSITIES:

LINDERHOF PALACE, Ettal, Germany

SANSSOUCI PALACE, Potsdam, Germany