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1
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Ah, Versailles,
mighty palace of the French kings.
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00:00:11,980 --> 00:00:14,740
And a crucial Rococo hot spot.
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00:00:16,460 --> 00:00:19,780
I wanted to come to Versailles
to read you this -
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it's an important Rococo document
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and it sums up
what this film is about.
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00:00:26,860 --> 00:00:30,540
Now, if you're an American,
you might be thinking -
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that's not a Rococo document, that's
the Declaration of Independence.
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00:00:37,020 --> 00:00:39,060
And of course, you're right.
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This is the document
with which America
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declared its independence
from Britain
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on the 4th July 1776.
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But this is a Rococo document,
not just because of its date,
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but because of what's in it.
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What Thomas Jefferson wrote in here
embodies what this film
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is about, particularly the famous
second sentence,
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the one about all those unalienable
rights that we all hold.
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According to the Declaration
of Independence, all of us have an
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unalienable right to life, liberty
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and the pursuit of happiness.
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Now, life and liberty, of course.
They're obvious.
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But the pursuit of happiness?
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When did that become
an unalienable human right?
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When were we put on Earth
to be happy?
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I'll tell you when -
in the Rococo era, that's when.
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This isn't just
the Declaration of Independence.
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This is a Rococo manifesto.
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Ooh-la-la!
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Ah!
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HINGE CREAKS
Hey!
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Argh!
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Eek!
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RUNNING WATER AND LAUGHTER
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The Rococo pursued happiness
in various ways and various places,
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as you'll see in this film.
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But of course, the first thing
you need to get right
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when you pursue happiness is love.
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The pursuit of love fuelled
the Rococo Age,
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like petrol fuelling a fire.
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LAUGHTER
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Love ought to be so uncomplicated,
oughtn't it?
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A meets B, they like each other
and live happily ever after.
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00:02:56,220 --> 00:03:00,620
But of course,
it hardly ever works out that way.
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The pleasures of love shouldn't be
complicated, but they are.
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Love shouldn't be a battleground,
but it is.
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00:03:10,100 --> 00:03:14,060
And to its credit,
the Rococo Age knew this.
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The Rococo recognised
love for what it really was -
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a powerful intoxicant,
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that left you weak and helpless,
like an illness.
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00:03:35,020 --> 00:03:40,060
No-one knew this better than the
most wistful of the Rococo's many
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00:03:40,060 --> 00:03:44,020
observers of love - the genius of
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painted flirtation, Antoine Watteau.
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00:03:49,300 --> 00:03:54,260
Watteau, or "Vatteau" as
they called him in Paris,
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was from northern France,
Valenciennes, on the Belgian border.
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00:03:59,020 --> 00:04:01,500
So his origins were actually
Flemish.
55
00:04:04,660 --> 00:04:09,340
We know that his father
was a humble roof tiler
56
00:04:09,340 --> 00:04:14,340
and that Watteau
arrived in Paris in about 1702.
57
00:04:14,340 --> 00:04:16,980
And that's about all we know.
58
00:04:18,940 --> 00:04:22,620
Watteau is usually credited
with inventing a new
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genre of painting,
called the fetes gallantes.
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There's no exact English
translation of "fetes gallantes".
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It's a
kind of garden fete devoted to love.
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A festival of outdoor flirtation.
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LAUGHTER
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In a fetes gallantes,
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dreamy couples stroll across a
dreamy landscape of parks and trees.
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00:04:46,100 --> 00:04:50,580
dreamy couples stroll across a
dreamy landscape of parks and trees.
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Music's playing,
hearts are fluttering,
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00:04:56,820 --> 00:04:58,660
secrets are being swapped.
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00:05:00,700 --> 00:05:05,660
In the background, there's often
a playful statue of some Greek
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or Roman god, ready to come to life.
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00:05:10,340 --> 00:05:15,580
And booming in the distance,
unheard by anyone in the picture,
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00:05:15,580 --> 00:05:19,220
but ringing out clear as a bell
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to us, is a loud warning.
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Beware! Love is on the loose!
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This is Watteau's masterpiece. It's
one of the key images of the Rococo.
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It used to be called
The Embarkation For Cythera,
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but these days, there are arguments
about what it actually shows.
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Cythera was the Mediterranean
island on which Venus,
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the Goddess of Love,
was supposed to have been born.
80
00:06:08,940 --> 00:06:13,620
The legend goes that Kronos,
the Titan, castrated his father,
81
00:06:13,620 --> 00:06:19,420
Uranus, Ruler of the Universe, and
threw his testicles into the sea.
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00:06:19,420 --> 00:06:25,780
The sperm from Uranus' testis gave
birth to Aphrodite, or Venus,
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as the Romans called her,
who rose up out of the waters
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00:06:31,020 --> 00:06:33,500
and floated to Cythera.
85
00:06:36,620 --> 00:06:41,620
That famous painting
by Botticelli, The Birth Of Venus,
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00:06:41,620 --> 00:06:45,340
shows exactly this moment.
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Venus, the Goddess of Love,
floating to Cythera in a seashell.
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00:06:53,420 --> 00:06:57,460
In the Watteau painting,
Venus is over here,
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and typically, he's turned her
into this rather ambiguous statue.
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Is she real or isn't she?
Stone or flesh?
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00:07:09,060 --> 00:07:14,140
We know it's Venus because of all
these Cupids buzzing around her.
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00:07:14,140 --> 00:07:18,300
Cupid was Venus's son,
the God of Desire.
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If he fired one of his arrows
at you, well, that was it,
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00:07:21,980 --> 00:07:23,460
you had to fall in love.
95
00:07:25,980 --> 00:07:30,060
So that's why all these
pilgrims are here.
96
00:07:30,060 --> 00:07:34,180
Most pilgrims go in search of God,
but not this lot.
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00:07:34,420 --> 00:07:35,580
Most pilgrims go in search of God,
but not this lot.
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00:07:35,580 --> 00:07:39,940
Watteau's pilgrims
are searching for love.
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The question is,
are they coming or going?
100
00:07:46,540 --> 00:07:49,860
It used to be thought that
these pilgrims of love were
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setting off for Cythera.
102
00:07:51,540 --> 00:07:55,620
That's why the painting
was called The Embarkation.
103
00:07:55,620 --> 00:07:58,780
But that doesn't really make sense,
does it?
104
00:07:58,780 --> 00:08:02,780
Why would they be
setting off for the island of love,
105
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when they're already in love?
106
00:08:05,020 --> 00:08:07,340
I mean, look at these two here.
107
00:08:10,620 --> 00:08:16,860
So the latest thinking is that this
is a departure, not an arrival.
108
00:08:16,860 --> 00:08:21,140
Venus has presided over
an intoxicating visit to her
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00:08:21,140 --> 00:08:26,020
island by a boatload of pilgrims.
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00:08:26,020 --> 00:08:31,900
And now, the visit's over, the boat
is waiting, it's time to go home.
111
00:08:35,260 --> 00:08:38,620
So despite all the Venuses
and the cherubs,
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00:08:38,620 --> 00:08:42,300
this is actually a rather
gloomy picture.
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00:08:42,300 --> 00:08:44,460
According to legend,
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Cythera was the only place on Earth
where perfect love could be found.
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00:08:50,180 --> 00:08:56,300
So what Watteau is actually showing
us is the end of perfect happiness.
116
00:09:00,020 --> 00:09:06,580
That's why she's looking back so
wistfully at where she's just been.
117
00:09:06,580 --> 00:09:11,580
She knows she'll never have
all this again.
118
00:09:13,940 --> 00:09:19,740
For me, there's almost a religious
dimension to Watteau's gloom.
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00:09:19,740 --> 00:09:26,340
All these sons and daughters
of Adam and Eve, fated never to find
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00:09:26,340 --> 00:09:30,380
the perfect happiness
they're looking for.
121
00:09:35,900 --> 00:09:41,220
And that's what's
so interesting about Rococo art.
122
00:09:41,220 --> 00:09:45,100
It goes on and on about happiness
and pleasure,
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00:09:45,100 --> 00:09:50,500
but deep inside,
it seems instinctively to know
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00:09:50,500 --> 00:09:55,420
that in the twinkling of an eye,
it could all be over.
125
00:10:02,740 --> 00:10:07,780
In the garden of love,
the pursuit of happiness took place
126
00:10:07,780 --> 00:10:11,900
outdoors, against the beautiful
backdrop of nature.
127
00:10:14,260 --> 00:10:19,740
What happened therefore to the
Rococo when it went indoors?
128
00:10:22,820 --> 00:10:25,540
To achieve indoor happiness,
129
00:10:25,540 --> 00:10:29,980
the Rococo had to invent a new
kind of architecture,
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00:10:29,980 --> 00:10:35,180
a new way of living in comfortable
new spaces, created
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00:10:35,180 --> 00:10:40,260
specifically for the pursuit
of pleasure, and places like this.
132
00:10:44,140 --> 00:10:47,580
Sanssouci in Potsdam, Prussia,
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the pleasure palace of Frederick II.
134
00:10:52,500 --> 00:10:57,460
Or, as he's most usually called,
Frederick the Great.
135
00:10:57,460 --> 00:10:59,580
Now, I'm Polish,
136
00:10:59,580 --> 00:11:03,140
so I'm deeply prejudiced
against Frederick the Great.
137
00:11:03,140 --> 00:11:08,180
He's the Prussian king who organised
the partitioning of Poland,
138
00:11:08,180 --> 00:11:12,980
tore up my country
and shared it out with the Russians.
139
00:11:12,980 --> 00:11:16,980
In war and politics,
Frederick was ruthless.
140
00:11:18,820 --> 00:11:23,620
But in private, he was more
complicated, more interesting.
141
00:11:23,900 --> 00:11:24,180
But in private, he was more
complicated, more interesting.
142
00:11:24,180 --> 00:11:24,340
It was actually Frederick
who designed this palace,
143
00:11:24,540 --> 00:11:28,060
It was actually Frederick
who designed this palace,
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00:11:28,060 --> 00:11:30,540
the Palace of Sanssouci.
145
00:11:33,020 --> 00:11:36,460
This is the original design
he sketched out for it
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00:11:36,460 --> 00:11:41,540
and as you can see, it's all on
one level - a palace with the
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ease of access of a bungalow.
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00:11:44,900 --> 00:11:49,620
No stairs to climb up,
direct access to the gardens,
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00:11:49,620 --> 00:11:53,820
an architecture of ease
and pleasure.
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00:11:56,060 --> 00:12:00,340
Frederick named
his palace Sanssouci,
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a French name which means
without worry.
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00:12:05,420 --> 00:12:09,420
At the foot of the great bungalow,
there's a handy vineyard.
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All this pleasure at his doorstep.
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00:12:15,700 --> 00:12:18,780
Frederick designed
the decoration as well.
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00:12:18,780 --> 00:12:22,380
Those figures up there,
the big ones, those are Bacchantes,
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followers of Bacchus,
the God of Wine.
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00:12:26,460 --> 00:12:31,380
And look, he's put
the name of the palace, Sanssouci,
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00:12:31,380 --> 00:12:34,860
right in the middle,
between two of them.
159
00:12:34,860 --> 00:12:37,780
But it's written rather strangely.
160
00:12:39,820 --> 00:12:45,020
It actually says "Sans, Souci."
161
00:12:46,220 --> 00:12:50,900
So, why the comma,
why the full stop?
162
00:12:52,500 --> 00:12:55,260
It's very puzzling,
163
00:12:55,260 --> 00:13:01,860
but also very typical because
Frederick loved playing word games.
164
00:13:01,860 --> 00:13:06,620
It was his Rococo way of having fun.
165
00:13:08,780 --> 00:13:12,100
Written up on the front
of his palace was
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a message to the world
that no-one could understand.
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00:13:19,260 --> 00:13:23,900
Forget Bletchley Park,
forget the Enigma machine.
168
00:13:23,900 --> 00:13:28,420
This is a German code
that's really tough to crack.
169
00:13:28,420 --> 00:13:32,100
Hundreds of great brains
have had a go at it,
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00:13:32,100 --> 00:13:36,700
but I think the secret
is not to aim too high.
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00:13:43,140 --> 00:13:46,380
OK, "Sans" is French for "without",
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that bit's easy, but the French
word for "comma", "virgule",
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that comes from the Latin "virgula",
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which means "little rod"
or "little stick".
175
00:14:00,340 --> 00:14:05,260
And of course, a little stick,
a little rod,
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can have a sexual connotation.
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00:14:08,900 --> 00:14:14,060
So, "Sans virgule"
has a naughty twist to it.
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00:14:14,060 --> 00:14:20,340
I told you not to aim too high.
Now...
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00:14:20,340 --> 00:14:25,420
.."Souci", that means "worry".
So that's straightforward again.
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00:14:26,660 --> 00:14:31,700
But the French word for "full stop",
"point", that is also used
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in literary French, posh French,
as a way of suggesting a negative.
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00:14:36,980 --> 00:14:39,500
So instead of saying "ne pas",
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00:14:39,500 --> 00:14:44,660
something isn't something, you say
"ne point", in posh literary French.
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00:14:44,660 --> 00:14:47,180
Something is not something else.
185
00:14:49,420 --> 00:14:54,340
There's one other bit of information
that's important.
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Frederick is thought
to have been gay.
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00:14:57,940 --> 00:14:59,540
He had no children,
his marriage was sexless,
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00:14:59,820 --> 00:15:01,660
He had no children,
his marriage was sexless,
189
00:15:01,660 --> 00:15:06,620
and a rumour doing the rounds
claimed that when he was young,
190
00:15:06,620 --> 00:15:11,100
he contracted a sexual
disease from a male lover.
191
00:15:11,100 --> 00:15:15,340
And after that,
his little rod never worked again.
192
00:15:19,420 --> 00:15:23,980
We do know that women weren't
allowed into Sanssouci.
193
00:15:23,980 --> 00:15:27,100
No women was a strict house rule.
194
00:15:27,100 --> 00:15:31,180
So what that code up there,
the way Sanssouci is written,
195
00:15:31,180 --> 00:15:36,660
what it actually seems to be
saying is "Sans vergule,"
196
00:15:36,660 --> 00:15:43,380
without a little rod, "Souci point,"
worry stops.
197
00:15:43,380 --> 00:15:47,100
Only the Rococo could have
come up with that.
198
00:15:51,380 --> 00:15:56,300
Inside Sanssouci, the Rococo
revolution gently continues.
199
00:15:56,540 --> 00:15:57,180
Inside Sanssouci, the Rococo
revolution gently continues.
200
00:15:58,700 --> 00:16:05,300
To lead the new Rococo way of life,
you needed new Rococo spaces.
201
00:16:12,740 --> 00:16:18,300
This is the music room,
where all you did was play music
202
00:16:18,300 --> 00:16:20,540
and listen to it.
203
00:16:20,540 --> 00:16:23,780
Frederick was actually
a very decent composer.
204
00:16:23,780 --> 00:16:29,060
He played the flute
and wrote numerous concertos.
205
00:16:29,060 --> 00:16:31,100
You're actually listening
to one now.
206
00:16:31,100 --> 00:16:33,860
MUSIC PLAYS
207
00:16:38,540 --> 00:16:43,140
The dining room,
another Rococo speciality.
208
00:16:43,140 --> 00:16:47,100
Of course, there'd been big draughty
banqueting halls before,
209
00:16:47,100 --> 00:16:51,380
but this idea of a room created
specially for the pleasures
210
00:16:51,380 --> 00:16:55,380
of eating, with all the different
courses served on gorgeous
211
00:16:55,380 --> 00:17:00,260
pieces of crockery,
that was a Rococo idea.
212
00:17:03,940 --> 00:17:06,020
The bedroom.
213
00:17:08,980 --> 00:17:13,780
When it comes to the pursuit
of pleasure, the bedroom was,
214
00:17:13,780 --> 00:17:16,420
of course, especially important.
215
00:17:19,980 --> 00:17:25,580
Before the Rococo Age, the bedroom
was a room for sleeping in,
216
00:17:25,580 --> 00:17:28,100
but now...
217
00:17:28,100 --> 00:17:33,220
Well, now, it became a room
full of pleasurable possibilities.
218
00:17:37,780 --> 00:17:43,620
What we're actually watching here
is the invention of modern living.
219
00:17:43,620 --> 00:17:48,500
Frilly bedrooms,
elegant dining rooms,
220
00:17:48,500 --> 00:17:51,940
single level living in a bungalow.
221
00:17:51,940 --> 00:17:56,780
The Rococo were so prescient,
it even invented...
222
00:17:59,860 --> 00:18:02,740
..the home study.
223
00:18:08,220 --> 00:18:13,140
Study was now seen as one
of life's great pleasures.
224
00:18:13,140 --> 00:18:16,900
People started having
libraries at home.
225
00:18:16,900 --> 00:18:23,060
As Voltaire put it, probably in
this very room because he stayed
226
00:18:23,060 --> 00:18:28,340
here once, "Study delivers us
from the burden of our leisure."
227
00:18:33,940 --> 00:18:37,860
(Hmm... Casanova...)
228
00:18:37,860 --> 00:18:39,780
HE CHUCKLES QUIETLY
229
00:18:41,740 --> 00:18:43,580
Ah!
230
00:18:43,580 --> 00:18:45,580
Ooh!
231
00:18:48,460 --> 00:18:51,860
HE READS QUIETLY TO HIMSELF
232
00:18:51,860 --> 00:18:55,540
Do you know what the Greek
word for beautiful is?
233
00:18:55,540 --> 00:18:57,580
It's omorfi.
234
00:18:57,580 --> 00:19:01,820
And the only reason I know that
is because of Casanova, here.
235
00:19:01,820 --> 00:19:06,140
During one of his interminable
searches for love,
236
00:19:06,140 --> 00:19:11,780
Casanova encountered a young Irish
girl called Louise O'Murphy.
237
00:19:14,540 --> 00:19:18,940
O'Murphy was the daughter
of an Irish soldier who had somehow
238
00:19:18,940 --> 00:19:21,660
ended up in France.
239
00:19:21,660 --> 00:19:25,860
Casanova saw her naked
one day and was
240
00:19:25,860 --> 00:19:31,780
so struck by her teenage beauty,
he had her picture painted.
241
00:19:31,780 --> 00:19:38,140
And on this picture, he says
he added the inscription "Omorfi" -
242
00:19:38,140 --> 00:19:40,460
beautiful, in Greek.
243
00:19:41,700 --> 00:19:44,660
A pun on her name, O'Murphy.
244
00:19:47,660 --> 00:19:50,060
Like most of what Casanova wrote,
245
00:19:50,060 --> 00:19:55,460
the Omorfi story is obviously
nonsense. He just made it up.
246
00:19:55,460 --> 00:20:00,940
But Louise O'Murphy isn't nonsense.
She definitely existed.
247
00:20:04,180 --> 00:20:09,860
The proof is this infamous
painting of her by Francois Boucher,
248
00:20:09,860 --> 00:20:12,340
court painter to Louis XV.
249
00:20:14,020 --> 00:20:20,060
The picture, nicknamed the Blond
Odalisque, hangs at the Pinakothek
250
00:20:20,060 --> 00:20:26,780
in Munich, and shows Louise O'Murphy
sticking out her bottom, brazenly.
251
00:20:28,540 --> 00:20:34,140
The real Louise O'Murphy was
Louis XV's teenage mistress.
252
00:20:34,140 --> 00:20:39,860
She bore him children, gave him her
best years, and then he dumped her.
253
00:20:39,860 --> 00:20:44,780
So, nothing remarkable there.
A typical story of the French court.
254
00:20:45,980 --> 00:20:51,540
But Boucher's portrait is remarkable
for its sheer licentiousness.
255
00:20:54,900 --> 00:20:58,420
Art has given us
plenty of nudes before,
256
00:20:58,420 --> 00:21:03,420
but none of them was quite
as shameless and direct as this.
257
00:21:03,420 --> 00:21:09,380
Boucher is often viewed as the
Rococo's most typical painter,
258
00:21:09,380 --> 00:21:13,180
particularly by those who
don't like the Rococo.
259
00:21:13,180 --> 00:21:16,180
As Louis XV's official artist,
260
00:21:16,180 --> 00:21:21,100
he was the go-to painter
in the Rococo's naughtiest moments.
261
00:21:22,220 --> 00:21:24,820
Do I like his work? No.
262
00:21:26,020 --> 00:21:29,100
Do we have to deal with it? Yes.
263
00:21:31,220 --> 00:21:36,380
Because Boucher's frilly nudes
and pink bottomed goddesses mark
264
00:21:36,380 --> 00:21:41,580
the arrival in art of a new
type of sensuality.
265
00:21:42,900 --> 00:21:46,980
Crude, pink, and artificial.
266
00:21:46,980 --> 00:21:53,820
In Boucher's art, nothing looks
real. It's like Rococo Manga.
267
00:21:55,380 --> 00:21:57,340
A cartoonish world,
268
00:21:57,340 --> 00:22:02,300
in which the pursuit of pleasure has
had all its complications removed.
269
00:22:05,380 --> 00:22:07,900
No doubt, no guilt,
270
00:22:07,900 --> 00:22:10,740
no hesitation,
271
00:22:10,740 --> 00:22:16,180
just desire, raw and colour-coded,
a plastic pink.
272
00:22:21,460 --> 00:22:26,180
Boucher painted another notorious
female portrait in the same
273
00:22:26,180 --> 00:22:31,020
pose as Louise O'Murphy.
It hangs in the Louvre now.
274
00:22:31,020 --> 00:22:35,020
And this one is nicknamed
the Brunette Odalisque.
275
00:22:38,220 --> 00:22:42,140
This time, the woman in the picture
is Boucher's own wife.
276
00:22:43,260 --> 00:22:47,900
Poor Madame Boucher has
spread-eagled herself for him
277
00:22:47,900 --> 00:22:51,220
and pulled up her nightdress.
278
00:22:51,220 --> 00:22:55,780
So distressed was the French
encyclopaedist Diderot by this
279
00:22:55,780 --> 00:22:59,940
notorious image that he accused
Boucher of prostituting
280
00:22:59,940 --> 00:23:01,700
his own wife.
281
00:23:03,900 --> 00:23:06,940
"In Boucher," fumed Diderot,
282
00:23:06,940 --> 00:23:13,860
"degradation of taste, colour,
composition, character,
283
00:23:13,860 --> 00:23:18,380
"expression and drawing
have all kept
284
00:23:18,380 --> 00:23:21,980
"pace with moral depravity."
285
00:23:24,500 --> 00:23:27,500
One of the main
subplots of this series,
286
00:23:27,500 --> 00:23:30,980
apart from showing you all
the different sides of the Rococo,
287
00:23:30,980 --> 00:23:37,220
is to prove to you that the Rococo
age invented the modern world.
288
00:23:37,220 --> 00:23:41,220
If I show you a Watteau,
that doesn't really do it, does it?
289
00:23:43,140 --> 00:23:49,060
Watteau's too subtle and elusive.
Too whispery and gentle.
290
00:23:50,460 --> 00:23:56,020
But if I show you a Boucher,
well, that's us, isn't it?
291
00:23:57,900 --> 00:24:03,300
Pleasure without consequences,
nudity without modesty,
292
00:24:04,380 --> 00:24:06,900
desire without boundaries.
293
00:24:08,740 --> 00:24:12,900
Get yourself down to your
local newsagent, have a look
294
00:24:12,900 --> 00:24:18,100
at the top shelf and I think you'll
find those are our preferences too.
295
00:24:20,340 --> 00:24:24,940
But just because Boucher painted
so many subservient women
296
00:24:24,940 --> 00:24:29,940
doesn't mean that all the women
of the Rococo were subservient.
297
00:24:29,940 --> 00:24:30,060
They weren't.
298
00:24:30,300 --> 00:24:31,940
They weren't.
299
00:24:35,060 --> 00:24:37,380
DOOR CLOSES
300
00:24:39,260 --> 00:24:42,580
Right, we're going to have
general knowledge quiz.
301
00:24:42,580 --> 00:24:47,020
On this table, I have three things
and I want you to tell me
302
00:24:47,020 --> 00:24:49,740
what it is that connects them.
303
00:24:49,740 --> 00:24:55,300
So the first thing is a champagne
glass, in that Babycham shape,
304
00:24:55,300 --> 00:24:58,540
what they call a coupe de champagne.
305
00:24:58,540 --> 00:25:01,460
So that's object number one.
306
00:25:01,460 --> 00:25:06,620
Next, Elvis in his pomp.
Note the hairstyle.
307
00:25:07,900 --> 00:25:10,020
That's the clue.
308
00:25:11,100 --> 00:25:15,100
And finally,
this bottle of nail polish.
309
00:25:15,100 --> 00:25:18,020
Pink nail polish.
310
00:25:18,020 --> 00:25:21,060
A particular kind of pink.
311
00:25:23,620 --> 00:25:29,780
So, pink nail polish, Elvis,
and a champagne glass.
312
00:25:29,780 --> 00:25:32,100
What connects them?
313
00:25:32,100 --> 00:25:34,220
Easy-peasy, right?
314
00:25:34,220 --> 00:25:37,500
I bet all you Stephen Frys out there
got it straightaway.
315
00:25:37,500 --> 00:25:44,380
What connects all these objects is
that momentous Rococo presence.
316
00:25:45,820 --> 00:25:50,340
The infamous, the all-powerful,
317
00:25:50,340 --> 00:25:52,540
Madame de Pompadour,
318
00:25:54,180 --> 00:25:56,580
Louis XV's favourite mistress,
319
00:25:58,460 --> 00:26:03,220
the first and greatest
of the Grandes Horizontales.
320
00:26:04,820 --> 00:26:08,340
Just in case you didn't get it,
Elvis's hairstyle here,
321
00:26:08,340 --> 00:26:13,060
all piled up in a teddy boy quiff,
that's called a Pompadour.
322
00:26:16,540 --> 00:26:19,980
It's how Madame de Pompadour
wore her hair,
323
00:26:19,980 --> 00:26:23,660
brushed up from the front,
an uplifting style.
324
00:26:31,660 --> 00:26:36,820
And this colour, here, that's very
specifically Pompadour Pink.
325
00:26:38,740 --> 00:26:42,460
Pink was her favourite colour.
326
00:26:42,460 --> 00:26:47,340
It was particularly popular
in the Sevres porcelain factory,
327
00:26:47,340 --> 00:26:52,540
on which she lavished so much of her
attention and the nation's money.
328
00:26:54,580 --> 00:26:56,740
Madame de Pompadour's pink
329
00:26:56,740 --> 00:27:00,380
became one of the Rococo's
definitive colours.
330
00:27:04,380 --> 00:27:08,460
And this, according to legend,
this type of champagne glass,
331
00:27:08,460 --> 00:27:11,820
the flat type,
the coupe de champagne,
332
00:27:11,820 --> 00:27:15,100
this is supposed to have been
inspired, say the French,
333
00:27:15,100 --> 00:27:19,180
by the shape of
Madame de Pompadour's breasts,
334
00:27:19,180 --> 00:27:21,900
which were cupped gently, like this.
335
00:27:25,180 --> 00:27:29,180
Madame de Pompadour is supposed
to have met the French king,
336
00:27:29,180 --> 00:27:33,140
Louis XV,
at a fancy dress ball
337
00:27:33,140 --> 00:27:37,980
in February 1745 in the famous
338
00:27:37,980 --> 00:27:41,460
Hall of Mirrors in Versailles.
339
00:27:43,260 --> 00:27:47,500
Madame de Pompadour
came as a sexy shepherdess,
340
00:27:47,500 --> 00:27:52,100
while the king, bizarrely,
was dressed as a tree.
341
00:27:52,100 --> 00:27:55,300
So he didn't even have
to lure her into the bushes to
342
00:27:55,300 --> 00:27:59,340
have his wicked way with her.
He WAS the bushes.
343
00:28:01,860 --> 00:28:07,140
By the end of the evening,
she'd climbed into his branches.
344
00:28:07,140 --> 00:28:12,260
That night, the courtiers saw
her carriage parked outside
345
00:28:12,260 --> 00:28:14,660
the royal apartments,
346
00:28:14,660 --> 00:28:17,980
where it stayed
for the next 20 years.
347
00:28:21,860 --> 00:28:25,220
What Madame de Pompadour seemed
to realise straightaway,
348
00:28:25,220 --> 00:28:29,380
as she set about becoming the most
powerful woman in France,
349
00:28:29,380 --> 00:28:33,420
and then the most powerful woman
in the world, was that she could
350
00:28:33,420 --> 00:28:38,020
use art to shape her image
and maintain her power.
351
00:28:42,460 --> 00:28:44,540
In reality,
352
00:28:44,540 --> 00:28:49,940
she was just the daughter
of a failed Parisienne financier,
353
00:28:49,940 --> 00:28:54,860
but in art, she could become
something else, something new.
354
00:28:56,340 --> 00:28:59,340
In art, Madame de Pompadour could
355
00:28:59,340 --> 00:29:02,700
become a captivating
Rococo presence.
356
00:29:05,980 --> 00:29:10,420
Her favourite portraitist,
Boucher again,
357
00:29:10,420 --> 00:29:14,820
was particularly
skilled at portraying her.
358
00:29:14,820 --> 00:29:20,140
He shows her playing a piano,
or reading a book.
359
00:29:21,540 --> 00:29:25,540
Beauty, yes, but also brains.
360
00:29:27,060 --> 00:29:30,540
Notice how in most of
Boucher's pictures of her,
361
00:29:30,540 --> 00:29:34,660
she shows you this side,
her best side,
362
00:29:34,660 --> 00:29:39,180
but in this one, unusually,
she's looking straight at us.
363
00:29:39,180 --> 00:29:43,260
What's really interesting about
the way Boucher portrayed her is
364
00:29:43,260 --> 00:29:47,980
how unregal she looks, how informal.
365
00:29:47,980 --> 00:29:53,460
By this time, 1750,
her power was absolute.
366
00:29:53,460 --> 00:29:58,300
Pompadour sent more people to the
Bastille than any French king.
367
00:30:00,380 --> 00:30:05,780
She started wars,
she changed world history,
368
00:30:05,780 --> 00:30:08,060
but in Boucher's art,
369
00:30:08,060 --> 00:30:11,740
she's such a light and delicate
370
00:30:11,740 --> 00:30:13,740
and kittenish presence.
371
00:30:16,340 --> 00:30:19,060
One of the chief functions
of these pictures
372
00:30:19,060 --> 00:30:21,340
was to keep the King interested.
373
00:30:21,340 --> 00:30:23,900
He was paying for them all,
after all,
374
00:30:23,900 --> 00:30:26,820
so that coquettish tone they have,
375
00:30:26,820 --> 00:30:30,780
that shy thing
looking out through the big eyes,
376
00:30:30,780 --> 00:30:36,260
that's not aimed at you or me,
that's aimed at Louis XV.
377
00:30:38,220 --> 00:30:42,220
The most powerful woman in Europe
is saying,
378
00:30:42,220 --> 00:30:45,260
"I'm only a delicate little flower,
379
00:30:45,260 --> 00:30:47,500
"so come and protect me,
380
00:30:47,500 --> 00:30:49,700
"you big hunk of a king."
381
00:30:58,300 --> 00:31:03,940
Elsewhere in the Rococo, the female
cast of this exciting age
382
00:31:03,940 --> 00:31:06,980
was achieving a different kind
of power.
383
00:31:09,180 --> 00:31:10,620
Religious power.
384
00:31:14,740 --> 00:31:17,540
This is the Church of the Carmini
in Venice,
385
00:31:17,540 --> 00:31:20,860
and inside are a couple of
beautiful altarpieces,
386
00:31:20,860 --> 00:31:22,820
one by Cima da Conegliano
387
00:31:22,820 --> 00:31:25,940
and the other by Lorenzo Lotto.
388
00:31:25,940 --> 00:31:27,500
But we're not going to see them
389
00:31:27,500 --> 00:31:29,580
because they were painted
in the Renaissance,
390
00:31:29,580 --> 00:31:31,580
and this is a film about the Rococo.
391
00:31:37,380 --> 00:31:42,140
So instead, we're going next door
to the Scuola Grande dei Carmini.
392
00:31:48,380 --> 00:31:52,500
These "scuolas" were charitable
organisations set up
393
00:31:52,500 --> 00:31:56,940
to help the poor, so if you were
homeless in Rococo times,
394
00:31:56,940 --> 00:32:00,100
you came in here
and they'd put you up.
395
00:32:00,100 --> 00:32:01,620
Not bad for a hostel, is it?
396
00:32:05,500 --> 00:32:08,300
This particular scuola grande
was set up
397
00:32:08,300 --> 00:32:14,140
by an organisation of charitable
women called the Lay Carmelites.
398
00:32:14,140 --> 00:32:17,780
They weren't actually nuns -
they were friends of nuns,
399
00:32:17,780 --> 00:32:20,660
associated with the Carmelite order.
400
00:32:20,660 --> 00:32:24,860
And their main task here
was to make these -
401
00:32:24,860 --> 00:32:26,180
scapulars.
402
00:32:29,300 --> 00:32:32,220
The scapular is
a Catholic talisman,
403
00:32:32,220 --> 00:32:36,180
something you wear around
your neck to ward off evil
404
00:32:36,180 --> 00:32:38,540
and keep you
on the straight and narrow.
405
00:32:40,140 --> 00:32:43,180
It's just two bits of cloth
connected at the sides,
406
00:32:43,180 --> 00:32:47,540
and you wear it around your neck
like that, under your shirt.
407
00:32:47,540 --> 00:32:49,500
I used to have one as a kid,
408
00:32:49,500 --> 00:32:52,980
but I'm afraid I strayed
from the straight and narrow,
409
00:32:52,980 --> 00:32:56,180
and this is a recent purchase.
410
00:32:59,580 --> 00:33:02,140
If you wear a scapular,
the story goes,
411
00:33:02,140 --> 00:33:04,500
and lead a pious life,
412
00:33:04,500 --> 00:33:07,420
you're sure to go to heaven.
413
00:33:07,420 --> 00:33:10,700
The Virgin Mary herself
has guaranteed it.
414
00:33:10,900 --> 00:33:11,300
The Virgin Mary herself
has guaranteed it.
415
00:33:17,140 --> 00:33:20,700
This entire building,
the whole scuola,
416
00:33:20,700 --> 00:33:24,300
was funded on the proceeds
of selling these things.
417
00:33:24,300 --> 00:33:28,980
They were very popular, as you can
imagine - free ticket to heaven.
418
00:33:28,980 --> 00:33:31,380
Anyway, the reason
I've brought you in here
419
00:33:31,380 --> 00:33:34,740
is because the Rococo masterpiece
we're here to see
420
00:33:34,740 --> 00:33:37,500
is all about scapulas.
421
00:33:41,780 --> 00:33:46,660
It's by Tiepolo, the greatest
ceiling painter of the Rococo.
422
00:33:46,660 --> 00:33:51,100
We saw him in film one of
this series, the one about travel,
423
00:33:51,100 --> 00:33:53,740
working for the rich and famous
in Bavaria.
424
00:33:56,020 --> 00:33:57,780
Here, in his hometown of Venice,
425
00:33:58,020 --> 00:33:58,940
Here, in his hometown of Venice,
426
00:33:58,940 --> 00:34:02,500
in the Scuola Grande dei Carmini,
427
00:34:02,500 --> 00:34:03,900
he's working for God...
428
00:34:05,140 --> 00:34:08,380
..and the scapular.
429
00:34:08,380 --> 00:34:11,140
What the ceiling actually shows us
430
00:34:11,140 --> 00:34:16,060
is the moment the Virgin Mary
handed the first scapular
431
00:34:16,060 --> 00:34:19,260
to a saint called St Simon Stock.
432
00:34:21,580 --> 00:34:24,780
He's the old boy with the beard
on the left,
433
00:34:24,780 --> 00:34:29,540
who's being handed the scapular
by a handsome angel.
434
00:34:32,140 --> 00:34:35,380
Tiepolo's most haughty Madonna,
435
00:34:35,380 --> 00:34:37,980
a grand dame of the skies,
436
00:34:37,980 --> 00:34:41,660
looks down her nose at us
in that Venetian way...
437
00:34:42,980 --> 00:34:47,060
..whilst Stock,
the grateful Carmelite saint,
438
00:34:47,060 --> 00:34:50,660
reaches out pathetically
for her gift,
439
00:34:50,660 --> 00:34:55,620
like a down-and-out in a doorway
asking for "a couple of bob, guv".
440
00:34:58,820 --> 00:35:03,540
Do you know where we're actually
meant to be, where all this is set?
441
00:35:05,660 --> 00:35:08,060
It's actually Cambridge in England
442
00:35:08,060 --> 00:35:11,300
because that is where
the Virgin Mary appeared
443
00:35:11,300 --> 00:35:17,860
to the English saint, St Simon
Stock, on July 16th, 1251.
444
00:35:20,780 --> 00:35:23,700
He'd been asking for a favour
from her.
445
00:35:23,700 --> 00:35:28,060
And she gave him the scapular
with the words,
446
00:35:28,060 --> 00:35:31,860
"Whosoever dies
wearing this scapular
447
00:35:31,860 --> 00:35:34,500
"shall not suffer eternal fire."
448
00:35:36,140 --> 00:35:40,500
If you wear one of these,
you're sure to be saved.
449
00:35:43,180 --> 00:35:46,620
So the Carmelites did really well
out of the scapular.
450
00:35:46,620 --> 00:35:48,940
Lots of people wanted one
451
00:35:48,940 --> 00:35:53,780
and, in 1749,
to mark this great success,
452
00:35:53,780 --> 00:35:58,260
Tiepolo was commissioned
to paint this ceiling.
453
00:36:02,980 --> 00:36:04,580
So why are WE here,
454
00:36:04,580 --> 00:36:07,900
with our scapulars
and our unlikely saints' tales?
455
00:36:09,940 --> 00:36:13,500
Because this is an excellent place
to witness
456
00:36:13,500 --> 00:36:18,380
the pleasure principle at work
in the religious art of the Rococo.
457
00:36:19,420 --> 00:36:24,860
Tiepolo has set his action
in the cool and calm light of dawn.
458
00:36:26,540 --> 00:36:31,060
The sky is blue, the sun
tints the clouds a gentle pink.
459
00:36:33,220 --> 00:36:36,660
The lighting of
Tiepolo's skies is delightful.
460
00:36:37,940 --> 00:36:41,620
This is the ceiling of
the nearby Church of the Gesuati.
461
00:36:42,900 --> 00:36:45,420
It was cleaned just recently.
462
00:36:45,420 --> 00:36:48,940
And look how cool and refreshing
the skies are.
463
00:36:50,420 --> 00:36:54,940
Tiepolo took religious art
out of the thunder,
464
00:36:54,940 --> 00:36:59,060
the storms and explosions
of the Baroque,
465
00:36:59,060 --> 00:37:03,300
and relocated it in the cool,
calm, delicious light
466
00:37:03,300 --> 00:37:04,860
of a Venetian dawn.
467
00:37:07,580 --> 00:37:10,060
It's one of his greatest
achievements.
468
00:37:12,220 --> 00:37:15,900
They've lit a lot of fires in here
in the past 300 years,
469
00:37:15,900 --> 00:37:20,260
so it's all yellower than
it should be, but you can still feel
470
00:37:20,260 --> 00:37:24,020
this new airiness
of Tiepolo's religious vision.
471
00:37:26,900 --> 00:37:32,380
In the Baroque age, religious art
tried to awe you into submission.
472
00:37:33,780 --> 00:37:37,180
In the Rococo, it enchants you,
473
00:37:37,180 --> 00:37:40,020
entices you, seduces you.
474
00:37:41,460 --> 00:37:45,740
Tiepolo's art
is a religious honey trap,
475
00:37:45,740 --> 00:37:51,540
with perfect weather conditions,
beautiful religious babes,
476
00:37:51,540 --> 00:37:57,100
and, if you wear one of these,
a short cut to Heaven.
477
00:37:57,100 --> 00:38:00,740
Who could resist all of that?
478
00:38:00,740 --> 00:38:03,580
Where's the ladder?
I want to go up there!
479
00:38:03,820 --> 00:38:04,300
Where's the ladder?
I want to go up there!
480
00:38:14,980 --> 00:38:16,900
MUSIC AND LAUGHTER
481
00:38:20,220 --> 00:38:23,980
Venice, France, Germany...
482
00:38:26,580 --> 00:38:29,940
You expect the Rococo to have
fetched up in those places,
483
00:38:29,940 --> 00:38:31,980
don't you?
484
00:38:31,980 --> 00:38:34,500
As we saw in film one,
485
00:38:34,500 --> 00:38:38,700
it was an artistic impulse
hellbent on travel.
486
00:38:40,980 --> 00:38:42,820
So sooner or later,
487
00:38:42,820 --> 00:38:45,460
it had to arrive in Britain as well.
488
00:38:49,540 --> 00:38:53,660
The British aren't naturally
Rococo types, of course,
489
00:38:53,660 --> 00:38:56,740
but this wasn't some
will-o'-the-wisp art movement
490
00:38:56,740 --> 00:38:59,860
that flutters briefly
and it's gone.
491
00:38:59,860 --> 00:39:03,820
The Rococo LOOKS fragile
and delicate,
492
00:39:03,820 --> 00:39:06,940
but it turned out to be...
unstoppable.
493
00:39:10,420 --> 00:39:14,220
It was a sandstorm of pleasure
that blew in everywhere.
494
00:39:15,460 --> 00:39:18,940
Even the dour
and cold-blooded Britons
495
00:39:18,940 --> 00:39:21,180
couldn't keep it out for ever.
496
00:39:24,860 --> 00:39:27,780
It got here eventually
and look what it gave us -
497
00:39:28,020 --> 00:39:28,220
It got here eventually
and look what it gave us -
498
00:39:28,220 --> 00:39:32,100
Gainsborough,
the most dashing, quick-fingered,
499
00:39:32,100 --> 00:39:35,780
loose-wristed painter
Britain has ever produced.
500
00:39:38,540 --> 00:39:41,020
Gainsborough could paint anything.
501
00:39:41,020 --> 00:39:42,300
He was that good.
502
00:39:43,900 --> 00:39:48,780
He did landscapes that are so
breathy and healthy and British.
503
00:39:50,460 --> 00:39:53,500
He painted men of power,
504
00:39:53,500 --> 00:39:56,180
and gave them an air
of interesting complexity.
505
00:39:58,940 --> 00:40:01,540
And he painted himself, too,
506
00:40:01,540 --> 00:40:05,500
as a modest chap with strong eyes.
507
00:40:09,300 --> 00:40:15,540
So he did all that. But there are
two things he did particularly well.
508
00:40:15,540 --> 00:40:21,620
The first is, paint women, which
he did with breathtaking bravura.
509
00:40:24,580 --> 00:40:27,140
I think this one's my favourite -
510
00:40:27,140 --> 00:40:30,700
Countess Howe of Kenwood House.
511
00:40:32,140 --> 00:40:34,740
It's her pink dress
that intoxicates me.
512
00:40:36,220 --> 00:40:39,220
And the fact that she looks
so much like Helen Mirren.
513
00:40:42,020 --> 00:40:43,220
But, wait,
THIS could be my favourite, too.
514
00:40:43,460 --> 00:40:45,100
But, wait,
THIS could be my favourite, too.
515
00:40:46,740 --> 00:40:49,820
Mrs Robinson
at the Wallace Collection.
516
00:40:51,580 --> 00:40:56,260
Look how much character he finds
in that exceptional Rococo face.
517
00:40:57,660 --> 00:41:00,540
Oh, here's to you, Mrs Robinson!
518
00:41:03,700 --> 00:41:08,460
This is Sophia Charlotte Digby,
Lady Sheffield.
519
00:41:08,460 --> 00:41:12,260
She's just got married,
hence the big Rococo getup.
520
00:41:12,260 --> 00:41:15,380
Look how she casually
dangles her arm,
521
00:41:15,380 --> 00:41:18,740
making sure
we can all see her wedding ring.
522
00:41:21,540 --> 00:41:25,940
Sophia Charlotte Digby
knows we're looking at her.
523
00:41:25,940 --> 00:41:28,340
But she pretends she doesn't.
524
00:41:29,700 --> 00:41:34,460
It's brilliant pictorial psychology
from a painter who obviously
525
00:41:34,460 --> 00:41:38,020
knew a thing or two about women
526
00:41:38,020 --> 00:41:43,620
and their Rococo desire to express
themselves through their clothes.
527
00:41:45,820 --> 00:41:49,060
And look at her feet. She's moving.
528
00:41:49,060 --> 00:41:54,540
You can almost hear all those
extravagant silks rustling
529
00:41:54,540 --> 00:41:56,980
as she glides towards us,
530
00:41:56,980 --> 00:41:59,220
a bouquet on the move.
531
00:42:01,660 --> 00:42:05,300
This movement, the strolling,
the gliding, was new.
532
00:42:05,300 --> 00:42:10,020
For 3,000 years portraits
had basically stayed still.
533
00:42:10,020 --> 00:42:14,580
The artist plonked the sitter in
front of you and you examined them.
534
00:42:14,580 --> 00:42:15,900
That was the deal.
535
00:42:15,900 --> 00:42:18,380
Gainsborough, though, was different.
536
00:42:20,260 --> 00:42:24,420
Gainsborough put his sitters
strolling towards us,
537
00:42:24,420 --> 00:42:28,020
heading for OUR space,
538
00:42:28,020 --> 00:42:30,700
ambling through the parks,
539
00:42:30,700 --> 00:42:36,580
and even dancing to the pleasurable
new beat of the Rococo.
540
00:42:40,060 --> 00:42:42,420
It's a bit like
television presenters.
541
00:42:42,420 --> 00:42:45,540
In the old days you plonked them
in front of the subject
542
00:42:45,540 --> 00:42:47,220
and they stayed there.
543
00:42:47,220 --> 00:42:52,580
But these days your modern presenter
is often on the move,
544
00:42:52,580 --> 00:42:56,220
and sometimes has to throw in
some serious walking.
545
00:43:01,020 --> 00:43:06,700
The second thing Gainsborough was
particularly good at was children.
546
00:43:06,700 --> 00:43:10,580
My, but Gainsborough
was good at children!
547
00:43:15,420 --> 00:43:20,340
The Rococo invented childhood
as we know it.
548
00:43:20,340 --> 00:43:25,700
Before the Rococo came along,
children were seen as mini-adults,
549
00:43:25,700 --> 00:43:29,420
humankind in
its imperfect early form.
550
00:43:32,820 --> 00:43:37,540
In a world where half of all
newborns died before they were five,
551
00:43:37,540 --> 00:43:41,620
childhood was seen
as something you survived.
552
00:43:42,860 --> 00:43:45,660
The quicker you grew out of it,
the better.
553
00:43:49,540 --> 00:43:51,980
It wasn't till the Rococo years
554
00:43:51,980 --> 00:43:55,700
that childhood began
to be recognised
555
00:43:55,700 --> 00:44:00,020
as something precious which needed
to be protected and enjoyed...
556
00:44:03,300 --> 00:44:07,180
..a brief and beautiful moment
of innocence
557
00:44:07,180 --> 00:44:08,500
and freedom.
558
00:44:13,700 --> 00:44:17,260
As Rousseau,
the influential French philosopher
559
00:44:17,260 --> 00:44:19,380
and champion of childhood, put it
560
00:44:19,380 --> 00:44:23,460
to all those parents afraid
their kids were now doing nothing,
561
00:44:23,460 --> 00:44:24,820
"Is it nothing to be happy?
562
00:44:25,060 --> 00:44:26,380
"Is it nothing to be happy?
563
00:44:26,380 --> 00:44:29,820
"Nothing to run and jump all day?
564
00:44:29,820 --> 00:44:35,020
"Give nature time to work
before taking over her business."
565
00:44:44,700 --> 00:44:48,340
I think this is my favourite
painting of children
566
00:44:48,340 --> 00:44:50,380
in the whole of art.
567
00:44:50,380 --> 00:44:53,940
There are a couple of Picasso's
that are in this sort of league,
568
00:44:53,940 --> 00:44:55,540
but nothing else.
569
00:44:59,180 --> 00:45:02,620
These are actually Gainsborough's
own daughters,
570
00:45:02,620 --> 00:45:05,900
Margaret on the left,
Mary on the right.
571
00:45:05,900 --> 00:45:08,540
She was five, and she was six.
572
00:45:11,380 --> 00:45:15,740
The two girls skip through a wood,
chasing a butterfly.
573
00:45:17,100 --> 00:45:19,540
Margaret reaches out to grab it...
574
00:45:20,940 --> 00:45:26,260
..while Mary, the older one,
holds back.
575
00:45:26,260 --> 00:45:26,820
I love that yellow dress
she's wearing.
576
00:45:27,020 --> 00:45:29,300
I love that yellow dress
she's wearing.
577
00:45:29,300 --> 00:45:32,580
It's a triumph
of flashing Rococo brushstrokes.
578
00:45:36,300 --> 00:45:39,380
But just because
it's dashingly done
579
00:45:39,380 --> 00:45:40,980
doesn't mean it's carefree.
580
00:45:42,500 --> 00:45:46,100
Yes, the Rococo chased
after pleasure,
581
00:45:46,100 --> 00:45:50,420
but it wasn't always
blind to the consequences.
582
00:45:53,100 --> 00:45:55,300
Look where the butterfly has landed.
583
00:45:55,300 --> 00:45:58,540
A thorn bush. Uh-oh.
584
00:45:58,540 --> 00:46:03,020
When Margaret grabs it,
she'll prick her hand,
585
00:46:03,020 --> 00:46:06,580
so what we've got here
is a doting dad
586
00:46:06,580 --> 00:46:09,660
who happens to be
an artist of genius,
587
00:46:09,660 --> 00:46:14,860
warning his daughters of
the dark reality that lies ahead.
588
00:46:14,860 --> 00:46:17,460
When childhood finishes...
589
00:46:17,460 --> 00:46:19,420
this begins.
590
00:46:19,420 --> 00:46:21,100
MUSIC PLAYS
591
00:46:22,500 --> 00:46:25,700
Tragically,
the symbolism of the butterfly
592
00:46:25,700 --> 00:46:29,420
and the thorn bush turned out
to be horribly pertinent.
593
00:46:30,660 --> 00:46:34,900
It's almost as if Gainsborough
had some kind of premonition.
594
00:46:36,100 --> 00:46:39,860
His beloved daughters pop up
often in his art,
595
00:46:39,860 --> 00:46:43,780
and you can watch their lives
unravelling
596
00:46:43,780 --> 00:46:47,060
in these exceptionally tender
pictures.
597
00:46:50,100 --> 00:46:54,300
This one here, Mary,
made a disastrous marriage
598
00:46:54,300 --> 00:46:58,780
to a German oboe player called
Johann Christian Fischer.
599
00:46:59,980 --> 00:47:02,100
That's his music
you can hear playing.
600
00:47:03,900 --> 00:47:07,260
Decent composer, dreadful husband.
601
00:47:10,420 --> 00:47:12,420
The marriage lasted a year,
602
00:47:12,420 --> 00:47:16,580
by which time poor Mary
had begun to lose her mind.
603
00:47:19,980 --> 00:47:24,620
Margaret, meanwhile,
remained a lifelong spinster,
604
00:47:24,620 --> 00:47:29,180
and when her sister's life
fell apart, she moved in with her,
605
00:47:29,180 --> 00:47:33,340
and the two of them
lived out their old age together.
606
00:47:35,220 --> 00:47:42,260
How spooky that Gainsborough
managed somehow to intuit all this.
607
00:47:51,620 --> 00:47:54,300
GEESE CACKLE
608
00:47:54,300 --> 00:47:56,420
Back at Versailles,
609
00:47:56,420 --> 00:48:01,980
the adults of the Rococo were also
having trouble growing up.
610
00:48:03,340 --> 00:48:07,740
Welcome to the world's
largest doll's house.
611
00:48:10,540 --> 00:48:16,380
This is the fake village built
at Versailles for Marie Antoinette,
612
00:48:16,380 --> 00:48:19,700
the notorious Queen of Louis XVI.
613
00:48:19,700 --> 00:48:24,340
It was built between 1783 and 1787.
614
00:48:26,380 --> 00:48:30,460
And every single inch of it
is a fantasy.
615
00:48:33,820 --> 00:48:37,620
The Hameau de la Reine,
the Queen's Hamlet, as it's called,
616
00:48:37,620 --> 00:48:40,380
was meant to look like a village
in Normandy...
617
00:48:41,740 --> 00:48:44,740
..with these dinky,
half-timbered cottages
618
00:48:44,740 --> 00:48:50,020
and the useful front garden
filled with picture-book cabbages.
619
00:48:53,660 --> 00:48:57,100
Most of the fake village
actually worked.
620
00:48:57,100 --> 00:49:01,100
This dairy here
was a functioning dairy,
621
00:49:01,100 --> 00:49:05,260
and once the servants had washed
down the cows for her,
622
00:49:05,260 --> 00:49:08,940
Marie Antoinette would do
the milking herself
623
00:49:08,940 --> 00:49:12,980
using porcelain buckets
made specially for her
624
00:49:12,980 --> 00:49:14,700
by the Sevres factory.
625
00:49:20,100 --> 00:49:22,260
In real life, of course,
626
00:49:22,260 --> 00:49:26,900
Marie Antoinette didn't have
a rural bone in her body.
627
00:49:26,900 --> 00:49:31,380
She was the daughter
of the Holy Roman Emperor,
628
00:49:31,380 --> 00:49:37,460
an Austrian archduchess bred
and brought up to rule the plebs.
629
00:49:41,300 --> 00:49:44,020
But that was in real life.
630
00:49:44,020 --> 00:49:46,140
In the Queen's hamlet,
631
00:49:46,140 --> 00:49:50,700
this extraordinary full-size
rural theatre set,
632
00:49:50,700 --> 00:49:56,900
the Austrian archduchess could play
at being a modest milkmaid
633
00:49:56,900 --> 00:49:58,100
tending her flock.
634
00:50:02,140 --> 00:50:04,700
The Queen would wander
about her village
635
00:50:04,700 --> 00:50:09,180
dressed as a simple country girl
in a plain muslin dress
636
00:50:09,180 --> 00:50:11,380
and a straw hat.
637
00:50:11,380 --> 00:50:15,740
And she actually lived in
this extra-large cottage here,
638
00:50:15,740 --> 00:50:19,340
the bijou two-storey cottage.
639
00:50:25,020 --> 00:50:29,900
In her virtual hameau, Marie
Antoinette could be someone else.
640
00:50:31,460 --> 00:50:35,260
No longer
the much-hated Queen of France,
641
00:50:35,260 --> 00:50:39,260
wasting the nation's money
on fancy fripperies,
642
00:50:39,260 --> 00:50:45,460
but a simple country lass
leading a simple country life.
643
00:50:47,700 --> 00:50:51,900
The usual way to understand
all this crazy rural escapism
644
00:50:51,900 --> 00:50:55,860
is to see it
as a display of decadence,
645
00:50:55,860 --> 00:51:00,980
a grotesque Rococo descent
into falsehood and hedonism -
646
00:51:00,980 --> 00:51:06,100
Marie Antoinette and her Versailles
milkmaids drifting further
647
00:51:06,100 --> 00:51:08,620
and further away from reality.
648
00:51:12,740 --> 00:51:18,260
But it was also part of something
bigger, something more prescient,
649
00:51:18,260 --> 00:51:22,700
a prediction, if you like,
of how the world would go.
650
00:51:25,420 --> 00:51:29,100
These days, lots of people pour
out of the city
651
00:51:29,100 --> 00:51:31,020
and into the countryside,
652
00:51:31,020 --> 00:51:35,060
fantasising about the rural way
of life.
653
00:51:35,060 --> 00:51:37,860
The Hameau de la Reine in Versailles
654
00:51:37,860 --> 00:51:41,180
is a giant version
of the country cottage,
655
00:51:41,180 --> 00:51:46,580
somewhere to flee at weekends
from the pressures of city living.
656
00:51:49,620 --> 00:51:53,060
But instead of moving
to the Cotswolds,
657
00:51:53,060 --> 00:51:57,460
Marie Antoinette could afford
to make the Cotswolds come to her.
658
00:51:59,740 --> 00:52:02,540
This great rural grand design
of hers wasn't just an escape,
659
00:52:02,860 --> 00:52:05,820
This great rural grand design
of hers wasn't just an escape,
660
00:52:05,820 --> 00:52:09,180
it was also a vision of the future.
661
00:52:13,820 --> 00:52:16,020
MAN SHOUTS AND LAUGHS
662
00:52:20,620 --> 00:52:22,860
Did you know that the word "school"
663
00:52:22,860 --> 00:52:26,500
comes from the Ancient Greek
"skhole",
664
00:52:26,500 --> 00:52:29,940
which means "leisure time"
or "play"?
665
00:52:32,060 --> 00:52:35,900
It's like Plato says
here in his famous Laws.
666
00:52:35,900 --> 00:52:40,460
Games and play are
a crucial part of our education.
667
00:52:40,460 --> 00:52:43,500
It's where we really
learn about life.
668
00:52:43,500 --> 00:52:46,260
But that was in Ancient Greece.
669
00:52:46,260 --> 00:52:50,260
I'm not so sure the same thing
applies to Rococo France.
670
00:52:53,460 --> 00:52:56,660
The relentless make-believe
which characterises
671
00:52:56,660 --> 00:52:59,780
the Rococo's pursuit of happiness,
672
00:52:59,780 --> 00:53:02,780
and pops up so often in its art,
673
00:53:02,780 --> 00:53:06,100
doesn't seem particularly
educational to me...
674
00:53:07,980 --> 00:53:12,100
..more like a way of being naughty
without making it obvious.
675
00:53:14,140 --> 00:53:17,620
I don't know if you've ever played
"hot cockles".
676
00:53:17,620 --> 00:53:20,620
It's a Christmas game.
It was very popular in the Rococo.
677
00:53:24,020 --> 00:53:28,260
The rules of "hot cockles" are basic
to the point of being inane.
678
00:53:29,900 --> 00:53:34,380
One person lays his head on the lap
of another person
679
00:53:34,380 --> 00:53:38,740
whilst someone else spanks them
from behind on the bottom.
680
00:53:41,620 --> 00:53:45,540
The point of the game
is to guess who spanked you.
681
00:53:45,540 --> 00:53:49,620
And if you get it right,
you get to spank them next.
682
00:53:53,300 --> 00:53:55,860
So it's a silly game,
683
00:53:55,860 --> 00:53:58,940
but the reason the Rococo liked it
684
00:53:58,940 --> 00:54:02,460
and why that quintessential
Rococo painter,
685
00:54:02,460 --> 00:54:06,380
Jean-Honore Fragonard, painted it
686
00:54:06,380 --> 00:54:11,860
was because "hot cockles"
had a powerful erotic undertone.
687
00:54:14,540 --> 00:54:18,820
Men get to lay their head
in the laps of women,
688
00:54:18,820 --> 00:54:22,740
and women get to lay their heads
in the laps of men,
689
00:54:22,740 --> 00:54:25,380
and then they spank each other.
690
00:54:25,380 --> 00:54:28,540
I wonder why that caught on
in Rococo France(!)
691
00:54:33,180 --> 00:54:35,460
Fragonard was a pupil of Boucher's,
692
00:54:35,460 --> 00:54:41,940
who specialised in sly paintings
of Rococo people having fun.
693
00:54:43,500 --> 00:54:44,860
But he wasn't all bad.
694
00:54:46,420 --> 00:54:51,820
Look at the way he uses that
exciting new Rococo colour, yellow.
695
00:54:53,380 --> 00:54:57,980
Ooh, Fragonard was the most exciting
user of yellow
696
00:54:57,980 --> 00:55:00,340
art had so far seen.
697
00:55:01,940 --> 00:55:04,420
LAUGHTER
698
00:55:04,420 --> 00:55:06,300
Not so good, however,
699
00:55:06,300 --> 00:55:09,940
is the clunky eroticism
that distinguishes his art.
700
00:55:09,940 --> 00:55:15,260
His most famous picture, The Swing,
is spectacularly naughty.
701
00:55:15,260 --> 00:55:17,620
It's just not immediately obvious.
702
00:55:21,500 --> 00:55:24,420
Who doesn't love a swing?
703
00:55:24,420 --> 00:55:28,580
Swings provide such childish
and innocent pleasure.
704
00:55:29,700 --> 00:55:31,100
But not in the Rococo.
705
00:55:32,980 --> 00:55:37,420
In Rococo times, anyone looking
at Fragonard's Swing
706
00:55:37,420 --> 00:55:41,260
would have known immediately
what was really going on here.
707
00:55:46,060 --> 00:55:48,780
The movement of the swing,
up and down,
708
00:55:48,780 --> 00:55:51,900
was a notorious sexual allusion.
709
00:55:51,900 --> 00:55:56,780
As for the lover on the ground,
well, what can he be looking at?
710
00:56:00,180 --> 00:56:04,460
It would be her underwear,
except, of course,
711
00:56:04,460 --> 00:56:08,180
that in Rococo times
there was no underwear.
712
00:56:09,980 --> 00:56:14,940
Another telling joke in The Swing
is that the chap on the ground,
713
00:56:14,940 --> 00:56:19,940
the one looking up the girl's skirt,
is in the exact pose
714
00:56:19,940 --> 00:56:23,460
of Michelangelo's Adam
on the Sistine ceiling.
715
00:56:25,060 --> 00:56:28,180
And we all know
what happened to Adam
716
00:56:28,180 --> 00:56:30,500
when he took a bite of Eve's apple.
717
00:56:34,580 --> 00:56:37,500
So all these games
the Rococo played,
718
00:56:37,500 --> 00:56:40,100
which Fragonard painted so slyly,
719
00:56:40,100 --> 00:56:43,500
weren't really games at all.
720
00:56:43,500 --> 00:56:45,900
They were pretences, deceits,
721
00:56:45,900 --> 00:56:49,340
secret ways of being naughty.
722
00:56:51,860 --> 00:56:56,940
A world obsessed with having fun
was losing its moral bearings.
723
00:56:58,420 --> 00:57:02,260
And no-one was certain any more
where real life ended
724
00:57:02,260 --> 00:57:03,700
and fantasy began.
725
00:57:09,340 --> 00:57:11,660
WIND HOWLS / BAYING
726
00:57:15,500 --> 00:57:17,740
What's real and what isn't?
727
00:57:17,740 --> 00:57:22,420
Where do the games stop
and real life begin?
728
00:57:24,260 --> 00:57:27,500
The Rococo era never could
tell the difference.
729
00:57:33,820 --> 00:57:36,460
This is a very Rococo location,
730
00:57:36,460 --> 00:57:40,100
perhaps the most Rococo location
in London - Madame Tussauds.
731
00:57:40,380 --> 00:57:42,100
perhaps the most Rococo location
in London - Madame Tussauds.
732
00:57:42,100 --> 00:57:47,940
And that's Madame Tussaud herself,
wax artist extraordinaire.
733
00:57:47,940 --> 00:57:50,700
That's her self-portrait.
734
00:57:53,060 --> 00:57:57,340
As a young girl, Madame Tussaud
was taught wax modelling
735
00:57:57,340 --> 00:58:00,020
by a doctor her mother worked for.
736
00:58:01,140 --> 00:58:05,780
He took her under his arm and shared
his forensic skills with her.
737
00:58:07,940 --> 00:58:11,260
She got so good at it that, in 1780,
738
00:58:11,260 --> 00:58:15,820
she was appointed art tutor
to Louis XVI's sister,
739
00:58:15,820 --> 00:58:17,700
Madame Elisabeth.
740
00:58:17,700 --> 00:58:21,540
And for the next ten years,
she lived in Versailles
741
00:58:21,540 --> 00:58:23,660
and watched its downfall.
742
00:58:25,660 --> 00:58:30,180
When the French Revolution
broke out in 1789,
743
00:58:30,180 --> 00:58:32,940
Tussaud was also arrested.
744
00:58:32,940 --> 00:58:35,980
But she talked her way out of it
745
00:58:35,980 --> 00:58:38,460
and began making death masks
746
00:58:38,460 --> 00:58:41,140
of those who'd been sent
to the guillotine.
747
00:58:43,820 --> 00:58:47,140
The wax models she made
of the decapitated heads
748
00:58:47,140 --> 00:58:49,100
were put on these poles
749
00:58:49,100 --> 00:58:53,220
and then paraded through the streets
like flags.
750
00:58:53,220 --> 00:58:56,340
She made Louis XVI's death mask,
751
00:58:56,340 --> 00:58:59,140
and this one here
is Marie Antoinette.
752
00:59:02,140 --> 00:59:06,420
This, then, was where the pursuit of
happiness would eventually lead.
753
00:59:08,060 --> 00:59:12,900
And how very Rococo of the Rococo
that even in death
754
00:59:12,900 --> 00:59:18,180
it couldn't tell the difference
between reality and fantasy.
755
00:59:20,940 --> 00:59:23,780
So far in this series,
I've been enjoying
756
00:59:23,780 --> 00:59:27,780
the pleasures of the Rococo -
the good news.
757
00:59:27,780 --> 00:59:32,340
But you can't drift as far away
from reality as the Rococo did
758
00:59:32,340 --> 00:59:34,660
without losing your bearings.
759
00:59:34,660 --> 00:59:36,780
And in the next film,
760
00:59:36,780 --> 00:59:40,460
we'll be looking at what happens
in Rococo art
761
00:59:40,460 --> 00:59:43,220
when reality creeps out...
762
00:59:43,220 --> 00:59:46,220
and darkness creeps in.
763
00:59:47,420 --> 00:59:49,380
LAUGHTER
64035
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