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Oh, my word!
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Ooh la la!
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Ah!
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00:00:27,090 --> 00:00:28,610
Hey!
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00:00:33,570 --> 00:00:34,930
Eek!
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00:00:49,130 --> 00:00:54,330
The rococo age occupied
most of the 18th century.
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00:00:54,330 --> 00:01:00,890
It went from roughly 1700
to roughly 1790 or so.
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00:01:00,890 --> 00:01:03,930
You can't really be much
more precise.
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00:01:03,930 --> 00:01:07,210
It's not a precise movement,
10
00:01:07,210 --> 00:01:11,930
more of a tendency,
a tone, an inclination.
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00:01:17,570 --> 00:01:22,650
Rococo's reputation tends to be
frilly and unserious.
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00:01:24,330 --> 00:01:27,490
When you think of rococo art,
you think of this, don't you?
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00:01:29,890 --> 00:01:31,650
Or this.
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00:01:33,850 --> 00:01:35,410
Or this.
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00:01:35,410 --> 00:01:37,610
WOMAN GIGGLES
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00:01:37,610 --> 00:01:41,930
But it wasn't just frilly and pink.
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00:01:41,930 --> 00:01:45,130
Rococo was all sorts
of other things as well.
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00:01:45,130 --> 00:01:47,370
What I want to do in this series
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00:01:47,370 --> 00:01:50,610
is convince you
of its wider achievements -
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00:01:50,610 --> 00:01:53,890
its punch, its determination,
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00:01:53,890 --> 00:01:56,650
its intoxicating beauty.
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00:01:59,130 --> 00:02:02,850
Yes, it was frilly
and pink at times, but not always,
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00:02:03,090 --> 00:02:03,610
Yes, it was frilly
and pink at times, but not always,
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00:02:03,610 --> 00:02:04,850
and never for nothing.
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00:02:08,290 --> 00:02:09,570
This first film
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00:02:09,570 --> 00:02:13,610
is about the exciting impact
of travel on rococo art.
27
00:02:16,570 --> 00:02:18,890
That's why I'm stomping up
28
00:02:18,890 --> 00:02:22,770
this very long rococo staircase
in Germany,
29
00:02:22,770 --> 00:02:27,210
towards that very lovely
rococo church at the top.
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00:02:30,890 --> 00:02:36,450
Travel was one of the great
inventions of the rococo age.
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00:02:36,450 --> 00:02:40,650
Of course, people had travelled
before, but far fewer of them,
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00:02:40,650 --> 00:02:44,850
and not with the same
crazy enthusiasm.
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00:02:46,450 --> 00:02:51,770
Travel as one of life's
most exciting pleasures
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00:02:51,770 --> 00:02:53,410
was a rococo idea.
35
00:02:58,130 --> 00:03:02,370
I've got three books here
that I'm sure you've heard of.
36
00:03:02,370 --> 00:03:07,810
Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift,
published 1726.
37
00:03:09,050 --> 00:03:15,130
Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe,
published 1719.
38
00:03:16,850 --> 00:03:18,970
And these little delights here,
39
00:03:18,970 --> 00:03:22,570
1001 Arabian Nights - Aladdin,
40
00:03:22,570 --> 00:03:25,570
Scheherazade, Ali Baba,
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00:03:25,570 --> 00:03:30,810
translated and published in France
in 1717.
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00:03:30,810 --> 00:03:35,290
So that's three of the most famous
travel adventures of all time,
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00:03:35,290 --> 00:03:35,810
and every one of them a rococo book.
44
00:03:36,050 --> 00:03:38,130
and every one of them a rococo book.
45
00:03:44,010 --> 00:03:47,210
So travel had a big impact
on the rococo.
46
00:03:48,850 --> 00:03:52,570
And that impact influenced art
in various ways.
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00:03:54,970 --> 00:03:59,810
I'm stomping through Germany with
my trusty pilgrim's stick,
48
00:03:59,810 --> 00:04:02,170
because in rococo times,
49
00:04:02,170 --> 00:04:06,730
pilgrimage became
such a powerful creative force.
50
00:04:08,170 --> 00:04:10,370
Especially here, in Bavaria.
51
00:04:13,850 --> 00:04:19,290
Ah, Bavaria, what a place.
Great rococo art in every direction.
52
00:04:19,290 --> 00:04:24,650
That's the Nymphenburg in Munich,
a fabulous rococo palace.
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00:04:24,650 --> 00:04:25,490
And in there lives a man who some
think should be the king of Britain.
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00:04:25,730 --> 00:04:30,610
And in there lives a man who some
think should be the king of Britain.
55
00:04:30,610 --> 00:04:34,570
This is him,
Francis II of England and Scotland,
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00:04:34,570 --> 00:04:38,370
or, as they call him here,
Franz, Duke of Bavaria.
57
00:04:39,650 --> 00:04:42,010
Now, he's descended from James II,
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00:04:42,010 --> 00:04:44,330
the last Catholic King of England,
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00:04:44,330 --> 00:04:46,970
who was overthrown
by William and Mary.
60
00:04:46,970 --> 00:04:50,210
But James' followers,
the Jacobins, as they're called,
61
00:04:50,210 --> 00:04:52,810
have never given up hope
that one day,
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00:04:52,810 --> 00:04:55,770
the King Over The Water,
as they call him,
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00:04:55,770 --> 00:04:58,410
the rightful King of England
and Scotland,
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00:04:58,610 --> 00:04:59,330
the rightful King of England
and Scotland,
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00:04:59,330 --> 00:05:04,210
Franz, Duke of Bavaria, will
one day regain the English throne.
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00:05:07,730 --> 00:05:11,130
Dream on, all you Jacobins,
it'll never happen.
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00:05:12,570 --> 00:05:16,330
The Dukes of Bavaria
have always been much too Catholic
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00:05:16,330 --> 00:05:18,250
to rule Britain.
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00:05:18,250 --> 00:05:22,730
In Bavaria,
Catholicism is the state religion,
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00:05:22,730 --> 00:05:27,250
defended fiercely against the
wicked Protestants in the north.
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00:05:29,130 --> 00:05:33,250
And all this glorious
rococo architecture
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00:05:33,250 --> 00:05:37,970
dotted about Bavaria
by its madly Catholic dukes
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00:05:37,970 --> 00:05:43,490
was aimed at that particularly
energetic rococo traveller,
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00:05:43,490 --> 00:05:45,250
the pilgrim.
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00:05:48,690 --> 00:05:52,890
Pilgrims were
the dukes' primary audience.
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00:05:52,890 --> 00:05:58,410
Their spending bankrolled
the entire rococo expansion.
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00:05:58,410 --> 00:06:02,410
A pilgrim on the trail
was a travelling money box.
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00:06:14,730 --> 00:06:19,090
And politically,
the more Catholic Bavaria became,
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00:06:19,090 --> 00:06:23,690
the less opposition there was
to its Catholic dukes.
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00:06:23,690 --> 00:06:28,730
So the Protestants were shoved out,
sometimes brutally.
81
00:06:28,730 --> 00:06:34,010
And the Catholics
were pampered, enticed, seduced
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00:06:34,010 --> 00:06:36,530
by some of the most heady
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00:06:36,530 --> 00:06:41,450
and exquisite architecture
ever constructed.
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00:06:45,370 --> 00:06:49,570
This is Vierzehnheiligen
in northern Bavaria,
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00:06:49,570 --> 00:06:55,290
The Basilica Of The 14 Holy Helpers,
to give it its official title.
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00:06:56,970 --> 00:07:00,530
And slap in the middle, there
they are,
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00:07:00,530 --> 00:07:03,770
the 14 saints who made this church
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00:07:03,770 --> 00:07:07,570
an extra-special
Bavarian destination.
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00:07:10,450 --> 00:07:13,650
All pilgrimage churches
have something in them
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00:07:13,650 --> 00:07:16,850
that attracts the pilgrims,
a reason to go there.
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00:07:16,850 --> 00:07:22,770
And Vierzehnheiligen had 14 reasons.
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00:07:22,770 --> 00:07:28,570
The story goes
that on 24th September 1445,
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00:07:28,570 --> 00:07:34,170
a shepherd saw a baby
crying in a field, exactly here.
94
00:07:34,170 --> 00:07:37,250
But as he stooped down
to pick the baby up,
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00:07:37,250 --> 00:07:39,330
it suddenly disappeared.
96
00:07:42,570 --> 00:07:49,370
Later, he saw it again, this time
with a red cross on its chest,
97
00:07:49,370 --> 00:07:52,530
so he knew immediately
it was the baby Jesus.
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00:07:54,610 --> 00:08:00,570
The final time the baby appeared, he
was accompanied by 13 other babies.
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00:08:00,570 --> 00:08:03,890
And this time,
the baby spoke to the shepherd,
100
00:08:03,890 --> 00:08:08,090
and it said "We are the 14 helpers,
101
00:08:08,090 --> 00:08:14,690
"and we wish to erect a chapel
here, where we can rest."
102
00:08:14,690 --> 00:08:17,330
So that's what happened.
103
00:08:17,330 --> 00:08:21,690
The locals erected a chapel
on this exact spot,
104
00:08:21,690 --> 00:08:23,730
and the miracles began.
105
00:08:25,690 --> 00:08:30,090
Pilgrims began to flock
here in their thousands.
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00:08:30,090 --> 00:08:35,890
And in this field by a river,
where previously there was nothing,
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00:08:35,890 --> 00:08:39,450
this great pilgrimage church
was built.
108
00:08:42,770 --> 00:08:47,170
I love the way religion
can turn nowhere into somewhere.
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00:08:47,170 --> 00:08:49,330
What a power that is.
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00:08:49,330 --> 00:08:53,770
I mean, this was just
a field on a hill. Now look at it.
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00:08:58,130 --> 00:09:03,490
To build the new church, they
brought in an architect of genius,
112
00:09:03,490 --> 00:09:05,410
Balthasar Neumann.
113
00:09:07,370 --> 00:09:13,130
And at Vierzehnheiligen, Neumann
gave us his rococo masterpiece...
114
00:09:15,530 --> 00:09:20,250
A building that twists hither
and thither across the cosmos...
115
00:09:20,250 --> 00:09:27,170
before plunging down so dramatically
to the great shrine at its centre.
116
00:09:29,530 --> 00:09:33,170
As for the pilgrims, they couldn't
have been better served.
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00:09:33,170 --> 00:09:35,210
When you came to Vierzehnheiligen,
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00:09:35,210 --> 00:09:39,570
one of these 14 saints
was sure to help you.
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00:09:39,570 --> 00:09:41,850
So if you suffer from migraine,
like me,
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00:09:41,850 --> 00:09:47,090
you prayed to St Denis here,
the patron saint for headaches.
121
00:09:52,090 --> 00:09:56,330
And if you were having a baby,
there was St Margaret,
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00:09:56,330 --> 00:09:59,010
to help you with your childbirth.
123
00:09:59,010 --> 00:10:01,010
A saint for every occasion.
124
00:10:04,970 --> 00:10:07,130
All this is spectacular -
125
00:10:07,130 --> 00:10:09,610
that's obvious.
126
00:10:09,610 --> 00:10:12,530
But why is it rococo?
127
00:10:12,530 --> 00:10:15,930
And what does rococo actually mean?
128
00:10:20,410 --> 00:10:23,050
Well, I don't know if you remember
129
00:10:23,050 --> 00:10:26,050
a series I did about the baroque age
130
00:10:26,050 --> 00:10:28,650
and how I explained the difference
131
00:10:28,650 --> 00:10:32,450
between the renaissance
and the baroque with two pearls.
132
00:10:33,530 --> 00:10:35,250
Now, this pearl here,
133
00:10:35,250 --> 00:10:36,890
the round one,
134
00:10:36,890 --> 00:10:38,490
that's like the renaissance.
135
00:10:38,490 --> 00:10:40,250
Perfect.
136
00:10:40,250 --> 00:10:41,610
Precise.
137
00:10:42,890 --> 00:10:44,330
What about the baroque?
138
00:10:44,330 --> 00:10:47,290
Well, baroque comes from
the Portuguese word barroco,
139
00:10:47,290 --> 00:10:51,250
which means a misshapen pearl.
140
00:10:51,250 --> 00:10:52,970
So that's like this one -
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00:10:52,970 --> 00:10:54,570
blobby, organic, bulging.
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00:10:54,770 --> 00:10:56,490
blobby, organic, bulging.
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00:10:57,490 --> 00:10:59,770
So that's the renaissance,
144
00:10:59,770 --> 00:11:02,730
and that, the baroque.
145
00:11:02,730 --> 00:11:04,970
But what about the rococo?
146
00:11:04,970 --> 00:11:07,090
Well, the rococo...
147
00:11:08,290 --> 00:11:10,930
that was like the arrival in arts...
148
00:11:13,010 --> 00:11:15,050
of the entire sea bed!
149
00:11:18,570 --> 00:11:22,450
Rococo is actually
a combination of two words -
150
00:11:22,450 --> 00:11:26,530
the French word "rocaille",
which means "shell work",
151
00:11:26,530 --> 00:11:29,570
like those ornate effects
with shells
152
00:11:29,570 --> 00:11:32,410
you get on grottos and fountains -
153
00:11:32,410 --> 00:11:37,010
and at the end "coco" comes
from "barroco" again.
154
00:11:39,370 --> 00:11:42,330
As so often happens with
the names of art movements,
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00:11:42,330 --> 00:11:44,930
it was originally an insult.
156
00:11:46,010 --> 00:11:51,370
The new style was so over the top,
said the critics, so shapeless,
157
00:11:51,370 --> 00:11:54,930
it was like crazy shell work.
158
00:11:54,930 --> 00:11:56,370
The baroque gone mad.
159
00:11:56,570 --> 00:11:57,810
The baroque gone mad.
160
00:11:57,810 --> 00:12:01,090
Rococo.
161
00:12:01,090 --> 00:12:03,410
The rococo implies an art
162
00:12:03,410 --> 00:12:06,570
that's shapeless and overloaded,
163
00:12:06,570 --> 00:12:10,490
an art without sensible
or logical boundaries.
164
00:12:10,490 --> 00:12:12,290
And it's definitely true.
165
00:12:12,290 --> 00:12:15,770
Sometimes the rococo went too far
166
00:12:15,770 --> 00:12:19,450
in its search for freedom
and looseness.
167
00:12:19,450 --> 00:12:23,570
But other times, the results
were glorious,
168
00:12:23,570 --> 00:12:25,450
breathtaking.
169
00:12:27,490 --> 00:12:32,490
Some of the world's most exciting
interiors are rococo interiors.
170
00:12:34,410 --> 00:12:38,490
Oh, how they fidget
and shimmer and twinkle!
171
00:12:39,850 --> 00:12:44,290
But if the rococo was only a style
of gorgeous interior,
172
00:12:44,290 --> 00:12:46,770
that wouldn't be enough.
173
00:12:46,770 --> 00:12:50,210
To be genuinely significant
174
00:12:50,210 --> 00:12:54,090
the fidgety and playful spirit
of the rococo
175
00:12:54,090 --> 00:12:57,890
needed to infiltrate all
the other arts, as well.
176
00:12:59,290 --> 00:13:01,090
Particularly, painting.
177
00:13:03,130 --> 00:13:04,690
So it made a beeline
178
00:13:04,690 --> 00:13:08,650
for this especially popular
rococo destination,
179
00:13:09,890 --> 00:13:11,730
where reality feels dreamy
180
00:13:11,730 --> 00:13:14,170
and dreams feel real -
181
00:13:16,370 --> 00:13:19,010
the shimmering city...
182
00:13:19,010 --> 00:13:20,850
Venice.
183
00:13:26,970 --> 00:13:31,730
You can come to Venice for all
sorts of excellent rococo reasons.
184
00:13:33,570 --> 00:13:36,330
To read a bit of Casanova,
for instance.
185
00:13:37,730 --> 00:13:39,810
He was Venetian, of course.
186
00:13:40,890 --> 00:13:44,250
CHURCH BELLS RING
187
00:13:44,250 --> 00:13:46,450
To listen to Vivaldi
188
00:13:46,450 --> 00:13:49,050
who was born in this square,
189
00:13:49,050 --> 00:13:51,170
and baptised in that church.
190
00:13:55,730 --> 00:13:58,450
But since this is a film
about travel,
191
00:13:58,450 --> 00:14:00,690
the first thing we need to do
192
00:14:00,690 --> 00:14:04,370
is to tackle the definitive
travel artist,
193
00:14:04,370 --> 00:14:07,370
the incomparable Canaletto.
194
00:14:10,010 --> 00:14:14,570
We're often guilty
of underestimating Canaletto.
195
00:14:15,890 --> 00:14:18,130
He's famous, yes.
196
00:14:19,850 --> 00:14:22,250
But in top art-historical circles,
197
00:14:22,250 --> 00:14:28,010
the suspicion lingers that he was
just a painter of postcards.
198
00:14:30,650 --> 00:14:33,170
But he wasn't. He really wasn't.
199
00:14:33,170 --> 00:14:37,330
Canaletto was a brilliant
tinkerer with reality.
200
00:14:37,330 --> 00:14:39,850
An artistic master chef,
201
00:14:39,850 --> 00:14:42,930
who turned the raw ingredients
of Venice
202
00:14:42,930 --> 00:14:45,290
into irresistible new recipes.
203
00:14:47,890 --> 00:14:52,490
Now, of course,
Venice is really beautiful,
204
00:14:52,490 --> 00:14:55,290
but it's not as beautiful
as this!
205
00:14:55,290 --> 00:14:56,850
Nowhere is.
206
00:14:58,010 --> 00:15:02,050
And, of course, the Venetians
can be very charming and lively,
207
00:15:02,050 --> 00:15:05,610
but they're never as charming
and lively
208
00:15:05,610 --> 00:15:07,690
as Canaletto's Venetians.
209
00:15:10,370 --> 00:15:12,970
All this needed to be concocted.
210
00:15:16,010 --> 00:15:18,930
He was actually born there,
211
00:15:18,930 --> 00:15:21,170
where that hotel is,
212
00:15:21,170 --> 00:15:23,050
in 1697.
213
00:15:28,850 --> 00:15:31,330
His father, Bernardo Canal,
214
00:15:31,330 --> 00:15:33,770
was a painter of stage scenery.
215
00:15:33,770 --> 00:15:35,290
Very well-known.
216
00:15:35,290 --> 00:15:38,050
He worked in carnival shows
and theatres.
217
00:15:42,050 --> 00:15:44,930
So to differentiate himself
from his dad,
218
00:15:44,930 --> 00:15:49,370
the son began calling himself
Canaletto.
219
00:15:49,370 --> 00:15:53,530
Little Canal.
Or Canal Junior.
220
00:15:57,530 --> 00:16:01,290
There are only two portraits
of him - this is one of them.
221
00:16:03,250 --> 00:16:03,570
And Little Canal's first
pictures of Venice,
222
00:16:03,810 --> 00:16:07,250
And Little Canal's first
pictures of Venice,
223
00:16:07,250 --> 00:16:10,890
are as theatrical as anything
his dad ever designed.
224
00:16:12,410 --> 00:16:14,330
This is the island of San Michele,
225
00:16:14,330 --> 00:16:17,890
the cemetery island Of Venice,
226
00:16:17,890 --> 00:16:22,210
and just look at all the thunder
and drama
227
00:16:22,210 --> 00:16:24,530
which the young Canaletto
228
00:16:24,530 --> 00:16:27,410
called down from its skies.
229
00:16:34,170 --> 00:16:38,930
These first Canalettos are
so unexpectedly gothic.
230
00:16:45,570 --> 00:16:47,690
Here's the Rio Mendicanti.
231
00:16:49,010 --> 00:16:52,730
Today it's a pleasant place
to hang out...
232
00:16:54,450 --> 00:16:58,210
but you wouldn't want to hang out
in Canaletto's Rio Mendicanti -
233
00:16:59,450 --> 00:17:02,410
it's too tense and grubby,
234
00:17:02,410 --> 00:17:05,650
and attracts
the wrong sort of people.
235
00:17:09,450 --> 00:17:12,130
Don't worry, it was only water!
236
00:17:12,130 --> 00:17:17,250
I was just trying to evoke
Canaletto's first moods.
237
00:17:23,370 --> 00:17:25,850
But then, lo and behold,
238
00:17:25,850 --> 00:17:27,970
a transformation.
239
00:17:29,130 --> 00:17:32,810
Suddenly, in about 1728, 1730,
240
00:17:32,810 --> 00:17:35,290
Canaletto's art
241
00:17:35,290 --> 00:17:38,690
grows sunny, lucid.
242
00:17:41,570 --> 00:17:45,730
It's as if his output
has come out from behind a cloud,
243
00:17:45,730 --> 00:17:48,330
revealing a new Venice -
244
00:17:48,330 --> 00:17:50,410
brighter,
245
00:17:50,410 --> 00:17:52,450
grander,
246
00:17:52,450 --> 00:17:54,290
sunnier.
247
00:17:56,970 --> 00:17:59,850
What happened is,
he found himself a new market -
248
00:17:59,850 --> 00:18:01,610
the English market.
249
00:18:01,610 --> 00:18:04,250
And he adapted his art
to suit it.
250
00:18:07,290 --> 00:18:11,450
Canaletto's sunny new Venice
was aimed chiefly
251
00:18:11,450 --> 00:18:14,450
at those privileged English
travellers
252
00:18:14,450 --> 00:18:18,170
who'd embarked upon
that awful circuit
253
00:18:18,170 --> 00:18:20,650
called the Grand Tour.
254
00:18:23,250 --> 00:18:28,570
The Grand Tour was a kind of
gap year for the rich and landed,
255
00:18:28,570 --> 00:18:30,530
an educational holiday
256
00:18:30,530 --> 00:18:34,130
for those rococo travellers
who could afford it,
257
00:18:34,130 --> 00:18:38,050
and in Florence, Rome, Naples
258
00:18:38,050 --> 00:18:42,010
they explored the ruins
and the art galleries,
259
00:18:42,010 --> 00:18:44,130
but in Venice...
260
00:18:44,130 --> 00:18:47,290
they explored the gambling dens,
261
00:18:47,290 --> 00:18:49,130
the brothels,
262
00:18:49,130 --> 00:18:51,330
the rococo's nether world.
263
00:18:55,250 --> 00:18:56,010
In rococo times,
264
00:18:56,210 --> 00:18:57,250
In rococo times,
265
00:18:57,250 --> 00:19:01,090
Venice was a very naughty place.
266
00:19:01,090 --> 00:19:04,130
If you've read any Casanova at all,
267
00:19:04,130 --> 00:19:06,570
you'll know that in real life,
268
00:19:06,570 --> 00:19:08,610
the Grand Tourists came here
269
00:19:08,610 --> 00:19:10,690
for the gambling,
270
00:19:10,690 --> 00:19:12,370
the dressing up,
271
00:19:12,370 --> 00:19:14,450
the sex.
272
00:19:14,450 --> 00:19:19,050
But in art, they wanted
another kind of illusion -
273
00:19:19,050 --> 00:19:22,410
a Venice full of
sunlight and lucidity.
274
00:19:22,410 --> 00:19:24,410
So beautiful,
275
00:19:24,410 --> 00:19:26,570
it could never have existed.
276
00:19:27,810 --> 00:19:31,730
And that's what Canaletto
began painting for them.
277
00:19:31,730 --> 00:19:33,890
An imaginary Venice,
278
00:19:33,890 --> 00:19:36,690
with the stains removed.
279
00:19:41,210 --> 00:19:43,730
So how did he get that real look,
280
00:19:43,730 --> 00:19:45,650
that sense of the truth,
281
00:19:45,850 --> 00:19:46,450
that sense of the truth,
282
00:19:46,450 --> 00:19:48,530
such a marvellous feature
of this art.
283
00:19:50,650 --> 00:19:52,610
Well, he used one of these.
284
00:19:53,890 --> 00:19:55,890
The camera obscura.
285
00:19:57,090 --> 00:20:00,010
"Dark chamber" in Latin.
286
00:20:00,010 --> 00:20:03,570
If you've ever wondered where
the word "camera" comes from,
287
00:20:03,570 --> 00:20:05,490
it comes from this.
288
00:20:08,770 --> 00:20:15,010
Lots of artists in history have used
the camera obscura in their work,
289
00:20:15,010 --> 00:20:17,730
but none as busily as Canaletto.
290
00:20:19,530 --> 00:20:23,730
It's basically a pinhole camera
which throws
291
00:20:23,730 --> 00:20:26,410
an exact image onto this screen
292
00:20:26,410 --> 00:20:29,330
and you can then trace around it
293
00:20:29,330 --> 00:20:32,130
for a precise record of the scene.
294
00:20:39,250 --> 00:20:43,090
This is the old naval dockyard
in Venice, the Arsenale.
295
00:20:44,890 --> 00:20:48,570
It's hardly changed
since Canaletto painted it -
296
00:20:48,570 --> 00:20:51,650
with those big lions there,
297
00:20:51,650 --> 00:20:54,650
and the dramatic towers.
298
00:21:04,850 --> 00:21:07,450
I'm not very good at this...
299
00:21:07,450 --> 00:21:10,050
but Canaletto was.
300
00:21:10,050 --> 00:21:12,970
And because of the shape of
the camera obscura
301
00:21:12,970 --> 00:21:16,210
you only do, like,
half the scene at once,
302
00:21:16,210 --> 00:21:20,610
so after you've done this
half here,
303
00:21:20,610 --> 00:21:25,410
Canaletto would move
the camera obscura over...
304
00:21:28,610 --> 00:21:30,650
..and do the other half.
305
00:21:30,650 --> 00:21:32,850
And then put the two parts together
306
00:21:32,850 --> 00:21:35,250
for the whole scene.
307
00:21:38,170 --> 00:21:40,770
With such marvellous results!
308
00:21:42,010 --> 00:21:45,770
Back in the studio,
he'd improve the proportions,
309
00:21:45,770 --> 00:21:48,690
put in some perfect weather,
310
00:21:48,690 --> 00:21:53,570
and add some of those fabulous
little Canaletto people
311
00:21:53,570 --> 00:21:56,690
who scamper so charmingly
about his art.
312
00:21:58,850 --> 00:22:01,890
First, he records reality,
313
00:22:01,890 --> 00:22:04,610
then he tinkers with it.
314
00:22:04,610 --> 00:22:06,970
Starting with the truth
315
00:22:06,970 --> 00:22:09,610
he ends up with a fantasy,
316
00:22:09,610 --> 00:22:12,450
and that's the rococo for you.
317
00:22:20,850 --> 00:22:22,890
A rhino.
318
00:22:22,890 --> 00:22:25,290
Yes, a rhino.
319
00:22:25,290 --> 00:22:28,450
Why?
320
00:22:28,450 --> 00:22:30,890
Because it's a very rococo sight!
321
00:22:33,370 --> 00:22:36,450
In rococo times,
this particular rhino,
322
00:22:36,450 --> 00:22:38,450
rhinoceros unicornis,
323
00:22:38,450 --> 00:22:40,250
the great Indian rhino,
324
00:22:40,250 --> 00:22:44,810
went from being an animal that
hardly any European had ever seen,
325
00:22:44,810 --> 00:22:49,210
to one that hardly any European
had NOT seen!
326
00:22:53,010 --> 00:22:54,850
They called it rhino mania.
327
00:22:55,970 --> 00:23:00,050
Suddenly, rococo art was overrun
by rhinos.
328
00:23:01,610 --> 00:23:03,130
Or so it seemed.
329
00:23:06,370 --> 00:23:10,130
In fact, it was the same rhino
painted lots of times.
330
00:23:10,130 --> 00:23:12,610
Her name was Clara.
331
00:23:12,610 --> 00:23:16,450
She arrived in Europe from India
in 1741,
332
00:23:16,450 --> 00:23:19,250
and spent the rest of her life
333
00:23:19,250 --> 00:23:23,690
on a kind of Grand Tour
of all the big European capitals -
334
00:23:23,690 --> 00:23:25,050
London,
335
00:23:25,050 --> 00:23:27,130
Warsaw, Paris,
336
00:23:27,130 --> 00:23:28,810
Berlin...
337
00:23:32,570 --> 00:23:34,570
And everywhere Clara went,
338
00:23:34,570 --> 00:23:38,450
the artists of the rococo
flocked to see her.
339
00:23:38,450 --> 00:23:41,650
This fascinating armoured beastie
340
00:23:41,650 --> 00:23:46,290
appears in more art than
any rococo king or hero.
341
00:23:51,410 --> 00:23:54,210
Clara's story was pure Disney.
342
00:23:54,210 --> 00:23:56,810
When she was just a few months old,
343
00:23:56,810 --> 00:24:00,290
her mother was killed
by Indian hunters,
344
00:24:00,290 --> 00:24:03,370
but the poor little
rhino was saved
345
00:24:03,370 --> 00:24:06,850
by a Dutch chap
from the East India Company
346
00:24:06,850 --> 00:24:09,490
who brought her up in his own house
347
00:24:09,490 --> 00:24:12,890
until she was too big
to fit into it.
348
00:24:16,650 --> 00:24:20,330
The Dutch chap sold her
to a passing sea captain,
349
00:24:20,330 --> 00:24:23,250
who brought her back to Europe.
350
00:24:23,250 --> 00:24:26,530
And that's when Clara set off
on her Grand Tour.
351
00:24:29,770 --> 00:24:33,450
In Venice, she was painted
by Pietro Longhi,
352
00:24:33,450 --> 00:24:37,370
that cheeky observer
of Venetian society
353
00:24:37,370 --> 00:24:40,450
who admired
the way she pooped,
354
00:24:40,450 --> 00:24:43,610
and the striking contrast
she offered
355
00:24:43,610 --> 00:24:45,890
to the masked ladies
of the carnival.
356
00:24:47,770 --> 00:24:51,890
In France, she stayed
in Versailles with Louis XV
357
00:24:51,890 --> 00:24:54,130
and was painted life-size
358
00:24:54,130 --> 00:24:55,970
by Jean-Baptiste Oudry.
359
00:24:57,730 --> 00:24:59,850
And she's said to have inspired
360
00:24:59,850 --> 00:25:02,250
the latest French hairstyles.
361
00:25:07,650 --> 00:25:09,450
But the Clara I like best
362
00:25:09,450 --> 00:25:12,810
is the one preserved by the Germans,
363
00:25:12,810 --> 00:25:15,650
who put a large Turk on her back
364
00:25:15,650 --> 00:25:18,330
and pretended she was domesticated,
365
00:25:18,330 --> 00:25:21,570
but deep inside, she wasn't.
366
00:25:26,490 --> 00:25:28,890
The rococo is always presented
367
00:25:28,890 --> 00:25:31,290
as this great age of enlightenment,
368
00:25:31,290 --> 00:25:33,610
when science triumphed
369
00:25:33,610 --> 00:25:38,530
and Linnaeus classified
the natural world, and all that.
370
00:25:38,530 --> 00:25:41,890
But if you look at
the art of the period,
371
00:25:41,890 --> 00:25:45,930
at all these strange animals
that keep popping up in it,
372
00:25:45,930 --> 00:25:51,330
you'll notice a definite taste
for the inelegant and the primitive,
373
00:25:51,330 --> 00:25:54,570
the clumsy and the oversized.
374
00:26:03,130 --> 00:26:06,610
The rococo could have chosen
any bird it fancied
375
00:26:06,610 --> 00:26:09,130
to put above its fireplace.
376
00:26:09,370 --> 00:26:09,410
to put above its fireplace.
377
00:26:09,410 --> 00:26:12,130
It could've chosen the peacock,
378
00:26:12,130 --> 00:26:14,370
or the resplendent quetzal.
379
00:26:15,890 --> 00:26:18,490
But no, it chose the ostrich.
380
00:26:20,770 --> 00:26:22,730
All over the rococo age
381
00:26:22,730 --> 00:26:26,050
these unexpected animals
keep popping up.
382
00:26:26,050 --> 00:26:31,730
I mean, why put an ostrich above
the most important mantelpiece
383
00:26:31,730 --> 00:26:34,730
in the grandest room in your palace?
384
00:26:34,730 --> 00:26:36,730
It's as if the rococo -
385
00:26:36,730 --> 00:26:40,810
famous for its elegance
and its sophistication -
386
00:26:40,810 --> 00:26:44,530
was looking for the opposite
in the animals it favoured.
387
00:26:47,330 --> 00:26:51,770
In England, the great horse painter
George Stubbs
388
00:26:51,770 --> 00:26:55,650
did a fabulous sideline
in wonky beasts.
389
00:26:57,290 --> 00:26:58,850
Here's his zebra -
390
00:26:58,850 --> 00:27:02,490
a white pony with
black stripes painted on.
391
00:27:02,490 --> 00:27:05,610
And, no, that's not
a giant hairbrush,
392
00:27:05,610 --> 00:27:06,770
it's a yak.
393
00:27:09,850 --> 00:27:12,730
And I love Stubbs's
magnificent cheetah
394
00:27:12,730 --> 00:27:16,570
in the Manchester City
Art Gallery.
395
00:27:16,570 --> 00:27:21,170
But, basically, it's just
an extra large tabby, isn't it?
396
00:27:25,130 --> 00:27:29,370
Remember, this was still
the pre-Darwinian world.
397
00:27:29,370 --> 00:27:32,650
David Attenborough
hadn't even been born yet.
398
00:27:32,650 --> 00:27:36,370
All this was genuinely strange,
399
00:27:36,370 --> 00:27:39,410
genuinely new and exciting.
400
00:27:42,810 --> 00:27:44,770
This isn't science,
401
00:27:44,770 --> 00:27:46,450
it's not biology
402
00:27:46,450 --> 00:27:47,970
or zoology.
403
00:27:49,170 --> 00:27:49,690
This is the opening of
a fabulous goodie box,
404
00:27:49,970 --> 00:27:52,890
This is the opening of
a fabulous goodie box,
405
00:27:52,890 --> 00:27:55,730
filled with exotic sights
406
00:27:55,730 --> 00:27:57,610
and wondrous spectacles.
407
00:27:59,250 --> 00:28:01,210
For the best part
of three millennia,
408
00:28:01,210 --> 00:28:06,610
European art had relied on the
same limited catalogue of images.
409
00:28:08,370 --> 00:28:10,010
Now, suddenly,
410
00:28:10,010 --> 00:28:12,490
a whole new consignment of them,
411
00:28:12,490 --> 00:28:14,610
had arrived at the port.
412
00:28:16,370 --> 00:28:18,210
And to record it,
413
00:28:18,210 --> 00:28:20,250
to do it justice,
414
00:28:20,250 --> 00:28:24,250
the rococo needed to invent
a new art form.
415
00:28:26,250 --> 00:28:31,290
The resplendent art form
that is fancy porcelain.
416
00:28:34,410 --> 00:28:35,890
To be honest,
417
00:28:35,890 --> 00:28:39,890
I'm not usually
an admirer of fancy porcelain.
418
00:28:39,890 --> 00:28:42,050
It's too frilly for my tastes.
419
00:28:42,050 --> 00:28:44,050
I'm a mug man by instinct.
420
00:28:44,050 --> 00:28:46,410
But what changed my mind,
421
00:28:46,410 --> 00:28:49,810
what really opened my eyes
to the power of porcelain,
422
00:28:49,810 --> 00:28:53,410
was what they produced up there
in the Albrechtsburg castle.
423
00:28:53,690 --> 00:28:53,730
was what they produced up there
in the Albrechtsburg castle.
424
00:28:57,330 --> 00:29:01,170
That fabulous Turk sitting
on a rhino
425
00:29:01,170 --> 00:29:04,210
with the brooding
portrayal of Clara -
426
00:29:04,210 --> 00:29:06,170
that was made in here.
427
00:29:06,170 --> 00:29:08,050
So was this.
428
00:29:09,450 --> 00:29:11,050
And this.
429
00:29:12,530 --> 00:29:15,370
When you say the word Meissen,
430
00:29:15,370 --> 00:29:17,370
you say so much.
431
00:29:21,490 --> 00:29:24,490
It all goes back to one man,
432
00:29:24,490 --> 00:29:26,610
Augustus the Strong,
433
00:29:26,610 --> 00:29:29,490
ruler of Saxony, King of Poland,
434
00:29:29,490 --> 00:29:32,450
and a man obsessed with China.
435
00:29:33,610 --> 00:29:37,770
They called him Augustus the Strong
for two reasons,
436
00:29:37,770 --> 00:29:40,450
one, because he was a brute of a man
437
00:29:40,450 --> 00:29:44,450
who could bend a horseshoe
with his bare hands,
438
00:29:44,450 --> 00:29:50,450
and, two, because Augustus
was a legendary seducer of women.
439
00:29:54,930 --> 00:29:58,450
Estimates vary about how many
illegitimate children
440
00:29:58,450 --> 00:30:01,050
Augustus fathered,
441
00:30:01,050 --> 00:30:06,450
but it was somewhere around
the 350 or 360 mark.
442
00:30:10,130 --> 00:30:14,050
Amazingly, though,
this huge appetite for women
443
00:30:14,050 --> 00:30:17,930
wasn't Augustus's
most debilitating weakness -
444
00:30:17,930 --> 00:30:23,050
somehow he found time for
another terrible affliction.
445
00:30:23,050 --> 00:30:23,610
Because Augustus was also addicted
446
00:30:23,810 --> 00:30:26,250
Because Augustus was also addicted
447
00:30:26,250 --> 00:30:28,490
to Chinese porcelain.
448
00:30:31,610 --> 00:30:35,730
The French called his illness
"maladie de porcelaine".
449
00:30:37,650 --> 00:30:42,170
But that makes it sound
gentler than it was.
450
00:30:42,170 --> 00:30:44,850
When it came to porcelain,
451
00:30:44,850 --> 00:30:47,450
Augustus was deranged.
452
00:30:51,570 --> 00:30:55,770
The addiction was so severe
that Augustus once swapped
453
00:30:55,770 --> 00:30:59,970
an entire regiment of Saxon dragoons
454
00:30:59,970 --> 00:31:03,330
for 48 Chinese vases.
455
00:31:03,330 --> 00:31:07,010
And to house this enormous
collection he'd amassed,
456
00:31:07,010 --> 00:31:11,050
he built himself
a fake Oriental palace
457
00:31:11,050 --> 00:31:16,610
and filled it with 20,000
rare and expensive examples
458
00:31:16,610 --> 00:31:18,250
of Chinese porcelain.
459
00:31:21,290 --> 00:31:24,970
"China," wept
the court mathematician,
460
00:31:24,970 --> 00:31:28,770
lamenting the state
of the national finances,
461
00:31:28,770 --> 00:31:32,650
"has become the bleeding bowl
of Saxony."
462
00:31:35,170 --> 00:31:39,810
Europeans had been lusting after
Chinese porcelain for centuries,
463
00:31:39,810 --> 00:31:43,410
not just because it was
so delicate and refined,
464
00:31:43,410 --> 00:31:48,010
but also because porcelain was
thought to have magic properties.
465
00:31:49,610 --> 00:31:53,610
People believed it could
resist fire and repel poison.
466
00:31:53,610 --> 00:31:57,690
That made it particularly
attractive, of course,
467
00:31:57,690 --> 00:32:01,650
to a king as unpopular
as Augustus the Strong,
468
00:32:01,650 --> 00:32:06,570
who was frittering away the
national fortune on Chinese pots.
469
00:32:10,330 --> 00:32:14,090
The obvious solution
was to stop importing
470
00:32:14,090 --> 00:32:16,610
expensive porcelain from China,
471
00:32:16,610 --> 00:32:19,530
and to start making it
here in Meissen.
472
00:32:21,530 --> 00:32:23,970
But that was easier said than done.
473
00:32:27,330 --> 00:32:31,610
The Chinese had been making
porcelain since the 6th century,
474
00:32:31,610 --> 00:32:36,250
but the secret of how it was done
was zealously guarded.
475
00:32:36,250 --> 00:32:38,210
Various European despots,
476
00:32:38,210 --> 00:32:41,730
desperate not to be poisoned
by their subjects,
477
00:32:41,730 --> 00:32:44,850
had had a go at reproducing it
and failed.
478
00:32:44,850 --> 00:32:49,410
But none of them was as fanatical
as Augustus the Strong.
479
00:32:52,890 --> 00:32:55,170
To help him realise his dream,
480
00:32:55,170 --> 00:32:57,970
and start making his own porcelain,
481
00:32:57,970 --> 00:33:00,810
Augustus imprisoned -
482
00:33:00,810 --> 00:33:03,490
yes, imprisoned -
483
00:33:03,490 --> 00:33:08,170
a young alchemist called
Johann Friedrich Bottger.
484
00:33:08,170 --> 00:33:11,370
He's the heroic one -
485
00:33:11,370 --> 00:33:13,610
the one with his shirt off.
486
00:33:15,090 --> 00:33:18,330
Amazingly, Bottger actually did it.
487
00:33:18,330 --> 00:33:21,810
He worked out that
the secret of porcelain,
488
00:33:21,810 --> 00:33:25,490
was to bake the clay
at exciting new temperatures.
489
00:33:28,490 --> 00:33:34,090
And by 1710, here at the
Albrechtsburg castle in Meissen,
490
00:33:34,090 --> 00:33:39,730
porcelain was being manufactured
in Europe for the first time.
491
00:33:41,490 --> 00:33:44,690
The real alchemy begins when
you start painting
492
00:33:44,690 --> 00:33:47,570
this hard, white porcelain -
493
00:33:47,570 --> 00:33:49,890
bake it, put colour on it -
494
00:33:49,890 --> 00:33:52,930
that's when it bursts into life
495
00:33:52,930 --> 00:33:54,450
with this exciting
rococo vividness.
496
00:33:54,690 --> 00:33:57,130
with this exciting
rococo vividness.
497
00:33:59,930 --> 00:34:04,810
Colours had never been as explosive
as this before in art.
498
00:34:04,810 --> 00:34:08,490
Sculpture had never been
this nimble.
499
00:34:08,490 --> 00:34:14,210
This wasn't just the production
of porcelain in Europe,
500
00:34:14,210 --> 00:34:17,890
this was the invention
of a new art form,
501
00:34:17,890 --> 00:34:21,490
with new rules,
and new possibilities.
502
00:34:24,090 --> 00:34:27,170
And it was so portable and compact.
503
00:34:27,170 --> 00:34:28,690
With porcelain,
504
00:34:28,690 --> 00:34:30,610
the rococo imagination
505
00:34:30,610 --> 00:34:33,210
became internationally unstoppable,
506
00:34:33,210 --> 00:34:35,810
intrepid, nomadic.
507
00:34:38,930 --> 00:34:43,050
It began travelling wildly
across the continents,
508
00:34:43,050 --> 00:34:44,650
crazily imagining all
the different worlds out there.
509
00:34:44,850 --> 00:34:47,290
crazily imagining all
the different worlds out there.
510
00:34:47,290 --> 00:34:49,850
Different animals,
511
00:34:49,850 --> 00:34:52,410
different people,
512
00:34:52,410 --> 00:34:55,210
different excitements.
513
00:34:55,210 --> 00:34:57,410
India,
514
00:34:57,410 --> 00:34:59,650
China,
515
00:34:59,650 --> 00:35:01,330
Japan...
516
00:35:03,170 --> 00:35:06,970
All these faraway locations
were jumbled together
517
00:35:06,970 --> 00:35:11,210
to form one rich and gorgeous
imaginary kingdom.
518
00:35:12,570 --> 00:35:14,690
A porcelain orient
519
00:35:14,690 --> 00:35:17,930
filled with rococo goodies.
520
00:35:24,570 --> 00:35:27,890
This taste for a mythical orient,
521
00:35:27,890 --> 00:35:30,770
a fantastical new world
522
00:35:30,770 --> 00:35:34,770
that existed only in
the rococo imagination,
523
00:35:34,770 --> 00:35:37,570
wasn't confined to porcelain.
524
00:35:37,570 --> 00:35:42,770
It seeped out into all the other
arts as well...
525
00:35:42,770 --> 00:35:45,690
with spectacular results.
526
00:35:51,330 --> 00:35:54,090
When Augustus the Strong built
his Japanese palace
527
00:35:54,330 --> 00:35:55,130
When Augustus the Strong built
his Japanese palace
528
00:35:55,130 --> 00:36:00,210
on the banks of the Elba,
to house his porcelain collection,
529
00:36:00,210 --> 00:36:05,130
he was trying to imitate
the powerful Oriental emperors
530
00:36:05,130 --> 00:36:10,650
he'd heard about in the garbled
stories about the East
531
00:36:10,650 --> 00:36:14,050
circling through the courts
of Europe.
532
00:36:17,090 --> 00:36:19,850
None of these people had
actually been to the east,
533
00:36:19,850 --> 00:36:22,530
or had actually visited China.
534
00:36:22,530 --> 00:36:25,210
It was all hearsay and rumour.
535
00:36:25,210 --> 00:36:26,370
Augustus had heard somewhere
that Oriental potentates
536
00:36:26,570 --> 00:36:28,970
Augustus had heard somewhere
that Oriental potentates
537
00:36:28,970 --> 00:36:33,490
built special palaces for their
porcelain, so that's what he did.
538
00:36:33,490 --> 00:36:36,370
He'd heard that the Emperor of China
539
00:36:36,370 --> 00:36:40,610
drank from a porcelain cup
to guard against poison,
540
00:36:40,610 --> 00:36:42,250
so he did the same.
541
00:36:46,290 --> 00:36:48,410
Now why did the Germans become
542
00:36:48,410 --> 00:36:52,290
the most fanatical
China-lovers in Europe?
543
00:36:53,730 --> 00:36:55,850
I don't know, but they did.
544
00:36:57,090 --> 00:37:02,090
And here at Sanssouci,
Frederick the Great of Prussia
545
00:37:02,090 --> 00:37:04,730
built himself this splendid
and unlikely approximation
546
00:37:04,970 --> 00:37:06,610
built himself this splendid
and unlikely approximation
547
00:37:06,610 --> 00:37:09,250
of a Chinese pavilion.
548
00:37:12,490 --> 00:37:14,170
Of course nothing in China
549
00:37:14,170 --> 00:37:16,450
actually looked anything like this -
550
00:37:16,450 --> 00:37:18,810
you'd never get a Chinese building
551
00:37:18,810 --> 00:37:23,290
with a gold statue on top,
of a man holding an umbrella.
552
00:37:26,450 --> 00:37:30,290
Or with life-size gold figures
of musicians
553
00:37:30,290 --> 00:37:32,890
playing invented instruments?
554
00:37:36,050 --> 00:37:40,490
Or with a roof supported
by Middle Eastern palm trees.
555
00:37:50,690 --> 00:37:52,570
No-one in China had ever built
556
00:37:52,570 --> 00:37:54,290
a building like this.
557
00:37:54,290 --> 00:37:56,610
This was a European invention.
558
00:37:59,210 --> 00:38:01,490
And that's the thing
about Chinoiserie,
559
00:38:01,490 --> 00:38:05,170
as they called this
oriental illness.
560
00:38:05,170 --> 00:38:07,570
It wasn't about China at all,
561
00:38:07,570 --> 00:38:09,490
but about Europe.
562
00:38:11,330 --> 00:38:13,970
What we're actually watching here
563
00:38:13,970 --> 00:38:17,850
is the freeing of
the European imagination,
564
00:38:17,850 --> 00:38:20,570
an unleashing of sensuous
565
00:38:20,570 --> 00:38:22,530
European desires.
566
00:38:24,010 --> 00:38:27,090
And I think this freeing
of the European id,
567
00:38:27,090 --> 00:38:33,050
these dreams of paradise thinly
disguised as images of the East,
568
00:38:33,050 --> 00:38:37,530
constitute a glorious breakout
by the European spirit.
569
00:38:39,330 --> 00:38:43,170
A joyous dash for freedom
and excitement,
570
00:38:43,170 --> 00:38:45,650
which should be recognised
571
00:38:45,650 --> 00:38:49,650
as one of the rococo's
greatest achievements.
572
00:38:57,690 --> 00:39:00,010
The Wurzburg Residence -
573
00:39:00,010 --> 00:39:03,810
Palace of the Prince Bishops
of Wurzburg.
574
00:39:05,130 --> 00:39:07,730
Wurzburg is quite a small town,
575
00:39:07,730 --> 00:39:09,930
and this massive palace
576
00:39:09,930 --> 00:39:13,210
feels as if it's a couple
of sizes too big for it.
577
00:39:15,010 --> 00:39:18,490
It was designed by that man again -
578
00:39:18,490 --> 00:39:20,330
Balthasar Neumann -
579
00:39:20,330 --> 00:39:22,450
giant of the rococo.
580
00:39:24,090 --> 00:39:29,410
Neumann became the court architect
in Wurzburg in 1720,
581
00:39:29,410 --> 00:39:32,450
and this was his first
official commission.
582
00:39:32,450 --> 00:39:36,530
Before that he'd been
in the army, designing cannons,
583
00:39:36,530 --> 00:39:38,730
so he came late to architecture
584
00:39:38,730 --> 00:39:41,570
and promptly designed this.
585
00:39:45,690 --> 00:39:49,210
The Prince Bishops of Wurzburg
had plenty of money,
586
00:39:49,210 --> 00:39:51,170
plenty of power,
587
00:39:51,170 --> 00:39:54,010
and plenty of artistic ambition.
588
00:39:59,250 --> 00:40:03,730
This vault when you enter
is a very strange space.
589
00:40:03,730 --> 00:40:06,570
It feels too low for its width,
590
00:40:06,570 --> 00:40:08,930
like an underground garage
or something.
591
00:40:08,930 --> 00:40:13,170
But it's actually
a brilliant piece of engineering.
592
00:40:16,370 --> 00:40:18,970
With this impossibly shallow vault,
593
00:40:18,970 --> 00:40:21,410
Neumann created enough space
594
00:40:21,410 --> 00:40:24,170
for a horse and carriage
to turn around here
595
00:40:24,170 --> 00:40:26,930
without hitting anything,
596
00:40:26,930 --> 00:40:28,930
without hitting any columns,
597
00:40:28,930 --> 00:40:30,610
and that's very clever.
598
00:40:30,610 --> 00:40:34,650
And because he squeezed all this
space down here, made it so low,
599
00:40:34,650 --> 00:40:36,930
he created more space on top...
600
00:40:36,930 --> 00:40:38,770
for that.
601
00:40:41,450 --> 00:40:44,730
The grand staircase at Wurzburg.
602
00:40:47,530 --> 00:40:49,210
Walking up here,
603
00:40:49,210 --> 00:40:51,090
mounting this staircase,
604
00:40:51,090 --> 00:40:54,330
is a fantastic piece
of rococo drama.
605
00:40:58,610 --> 00:41:02,370
As you ascend,
you gradually become aware
606
00:41:02,370 --> 00:41:05,490
of something momentous
happening above you.
607
00:41:07,770 --> 00:41:08,770
And this extraordinary spectacle
begins to open up.
608
00:41:09,090 --> 00:41:11,250
And this extraordinary spectacle
begins to open up.
609
00:41:16,050 --> 00:41:17,850
This film is about travel,
610
00:41:17,850 --> 00:41:21,450
and we've watched the impact
of different kinds of travel
611
00:41:21,450 --> 00:41:23,410
on the rococo -
612
00:41:23,410 --> 00:41:25,810
the Grand Tour with Canaletto,
613
00:41:25,810 --> 00:41:28,090
the great Bavarian pilgrimages,
614
00:41:28,090 --> 00:41:31,930
travel in the mind
to all those exotic places.
615
00:41:31,930 --> 00:41:36,010
But there's another kind of travel
that was crucial,
616
00:41:36,010 --> 00:41:39,170
and that's the journeys
made by artists
617
00:41:39,170 --> 00:41:41,250
from one place to another -
618
00:41:41,250 --> 00:41:43,610
from country to country,
619
00:41:43,610 --> 00:41:47,410
spreading their influence
like migrating birds
620
00:41:47,410 --> 00:41:49,770
spreading their seeds.
621
00:41:52,730 --> 00:41:54,890
This fresco here,
622
00:41:54,890 --> 00:41:58,170
this monumental achievement
of the German rococo,
623
00:41:58,170 --> 00:42:01,170
was painted by an Italian,
a Venetian,
624
00:42:01,170 --> 00:42:05,490
the greatest fresco painter
of the 18th century.
625
00:42:05,490 --> 00:42:09,330
The incomparable Tiepolo.
626
00:42:11,770 --> 00:42:16,730
It's the largest continuous
ceiling fresco ever painted.
627
00:42:18,050 --> 00:42:21,170
A truly remarkable achievement...
628
00:42:21,170 --> 00:42:24,130
by an Italian in Germany.
629
00:42:26,730 --> 00:42:30,010
When Tiepolo arrived here in 1750,
630
00:42:30,010 --> 00:42:34,690
lured out of Italy by huge amounts
of Wurzburg money,
631
00:42:34,690 --> 00:42:39,050
he got over 60 times what a
master mason would earn in a year -
632
00:42:39,050 --> 00:42:42,410
all this was bare plaster.
633
00:42:44,650 --> 00:42:48,050
It took him about a year
to do this, that's all.
634
00:42:49,730 --> 00:42:53,130
We're looking up at the sky,
it's dawn,
635
00:42:54,370 --> 00:42:56,450
and Apollo, the god of the sun,
636
00:42:56,450 --> 00:42:59,050
is about to set off in his chariot
637
00:42:59,050 --> 00:43:01,450
across the heavens.
638
00:43:04,050 --> 00:43:06,010
So the sun's rising,
639
00:43:06,010 --> 00:43:09,490
and it's rising above
the whole world,
640
00:43:09,490 --> 00:43:12,890
the four continents
that were known at the time.
641
00:43:12,890 --> 00:43:15,410
They've been painted
around the edges,
642
00:43:15,410 --> 00:43:17,650
and as you come up the stairs
643
00:43:17,650 --> 00:43:20,490
the first continent you see
is America.
644
00:43:23,410 --> 00:43:25,010
That's her there,
645
00:43:25,010 --> 00:43:25,610
embodied by a topless Indian
646
00:43:25,810 --> 00:43:27,890
embodied by a topless Indian
647
00:43:27,890 --> 00:43:30,530
riding a crocodile.
648
00:43:32,090 --> 00:43:34,650
And I like this rococo superman
649
00:43:34,650 --> 00:43:38,250
with another casual croc
thrown over his shoulder.
650
00:43:40,130 --> 00:43:43,850
On the left as you come up
the stairs, Africa -
651
00:43:43,850 --> 00:43:46,370
there she is riding a camel.
652
00:43:49,610 --> 00:43:52,770
Oh, and look,
there's another ostrich
653
00:43:52,770 --> 00:43:54,890
with a monkey
pulling its tail.
654
00:43:56,250 --> 00:43:59,530
The longest wall
is up there - Asia,
655
00:43:59,530 --> 00:44:02,090
and she is riding an elephant
656
00:44:02,090 --> 00:44:04,690
with that ridiculous trunk,
657
00:44:04,690 --> 00:44:06,690
like the hose of a vacuum cleaner.
658
00:44:11,210 --> 00:44:15,370
Remember, the world was still being
mapped in the rococo age.
659
00:44:15,370 --> 00:44:18,890
There was still a sense
of discovery out there.
660
00:44:18,890 --> 00:44:21,890
And you sense it in Tiepolo.
661
00:44:21,890 --> 00:44:25,970
He pretends he knows all these
exotic places and animals,
662
00:44:25,970 --> 00:44:27,810
but he doesn't.
663
00:44:34,650 --> 00:44:36,650
So there's Europe up there.
664
00:44:36,650 --> 00:44:39,090
The most developed of
the continents.
665
00:44:39,090 --> 00:44:41,490
She's surrounded by musicians,
666
00:44:41,490 --> 00:44:43,890
listening to a concert.
667
00:44:46,690 --> 00:44:49,770
And all the other arts
are in attendance, as well.
668
00:44:49,770 --> 00:44:52,770
Look, there's painting,
with the palette.
669
00:44:55,090 --> 00:44:59,450
She has just finished that portrait
floating up to heaven
670
00:44:59,450 --> 00:45:02,650
of the man who commissioned
the great Tiepolo,
671
00:45:02,650 --> 00:45:07,130
Prince Bishop Karl Philipp
von Greiffenclau.
672
00:45:11,690 --> 00:45:14,770
This Europe scene is
particularly interesting
673
00:45:14,770 --> 00:45:18,410
because it includes portraits
of all the artists
674
00:45:18,410 --> 00:45:20,890
who worked on this great staircase.
675
00:45:20,890 --> 00:45:24,210
So, sprawled beside
the cannon up there,
676
00:45:24,210 --> 00:45:27,530
is Balthazar Neumann,
the architect.
677
00:45:32,970 --> 00:45:36,450
Tiepolo himself,
is over here in the corner
678
00:45:36,450 --> 00:45:40,170
looking rather strained.
679
00:45:40,170 --> 00:45:43,490
Then, next to him,
his son Domenico Tiepolo,
680
00:45:43,490 --> 00:45:45,810
his brilliant apprentice.
681
00:45:47,730 --> 00:45:50,810
That figure standing
on the edge of the parapet,
682
00:45:50,810 --> 00:45:55,610
the haughty one in the white cloak,
that's Benigno Bossi,
683
00:45:55,610 --> 00:46:00,450
another travelling Italian
and a stucco genius.
684
00:46:01,730 --> 00:46:04,170
Perhaps the greatest
there's ever been,
685
00:46:04,170 --> 00:46:06,490
and he did all this.
686
00:46:10,050 --> 00:46:12,530
Three great creatives,
687
00:46:12,530 --> 00:46:15,850
one great opportunity,
688
00:46:15,850 --> 00:46:19,690
equals a gigantic
rococo achievement.
689
00:46:28,770 --> 00:46:32,890
All this travelling about
by rococo artists,
690
00:46:32,890 --> 00:46:37,730
led to some unexpected
confrontations.
691
00:46:37,730 --> 00:46:40,730
Very unexpected.
692
00:46:40,730 --> 00:46:44,730
I mean who could ever have
imagined that the great Canaletto
693
00:46:44,730 --> 00:46:48,290
would come to London
and paint this view?
694
00:46:51,050 --> 00:46:54,210
And then turn around
and paint this one.
695
00:46:58,690 --> 00:47:02,770
Canaletto arrived in London in 1746,
696
00:47:02,770 --> 00:47:05,250
and he lived here for nine years.
697
00:47:05,250 --> 00:47:08,010
So what the hell was he doing here?
698
00:47:08,010 --> 00:47:12,250
Well, back in Venice, the market
for his pictures had dried up.
699
00:47:12,250 --> 00:47:16,090
The English just weren't
travelling as much as they used to.
700
00:47:16,090 --> 00:47:19,690
So the mountain decided
to come to Mohammed.
701
00:47:22,090 --> 00:47:26,770
He was also keen to invest
some money in stocks and shares.
702
00:47:26,770 --> 00:47:29,490
He was a Venetian, after all,
703
00:47:29,490 --> 00:47:31,290
so money was important to him.
704
00:47:31,490 --> 00:47:32,010
so money was important to him.
705
00:47:33,090 --> 00:47:37,170
And London, then as now,
was Europe's financial hub.
706
00:47:39,410 --> 00:47:43,210
Right from the start, he was up
to his old rococo tricks again.
707
00:47:43,210 --> 00:47:45,250
In Canaletto's London,
708
00:47:45,250 --> 00:47:48,450
the Thames is always
wider and grander
709
00:47:48,450 --> 00:47:50,690
than nature intended.
710
00:47:52,930 --> 00:47:56,250
And look how the skies
are clearer and sunnier
711
00:47:56,250 --> 00:47:59,330
than London's
smog-filled skies ever were.
712
00:48:01,130 --> 00:48:05,210
And how all those playful boats
bobbing across the river
713
00:48:05,210 --> 00:48:10,730
seem to have inherited some of the
happy insouciance of the gondola.
714
00:48:12,570 --> 00:48:15,330
When he first got here,
Westminster Bridge,
715
00:48:15,330 --> 00:48:18,770
the first new bridge across
the Thames since the Middle Ages,
716
00:48:18,770 --> 00:48:20,810
was still being built,
717
00:48:20,810 --> 00:48:22,810
and in typical Canaletto fashion,
718
00:48:22,810 --> 00:48:24,650
he couldn't resist painting it.
719
00:48:27,250 --> 00:48:31,330
The city in flux had been one of his
favourite subjects from the start -
720
00:48:33,130 --> 00:48:35,090
new bridge, new view,
721
00:48:35,090 --> 00:48:40,170
and a playful new bucket
swinging across the vista,
722
00:48:40,170 --> 00:48:43,410
adding a cheeky note
of incompletion.
723
00:48:45,010 --> 00:48:48,290
There are lots of things
I like about Canaletto,
724
00:48:48,290 --> 00:48:51,170
but his sense of fun
is right up there.
725
00:48:52,770 --> 00:48:57,650
Canaletto's critics like to have
a go at his English pictures.
726
00:48:57,650 --> 00:49:02,650
He was basically painting
Venice-on-Thames they complained.
727
00:49:02,650 --> 00:49:04,210
And it's true.
728
00:49:04,210 --> 00:49:05,650
He was.
729
00:49:05,650 --> 00:49:09,170
But that's because
he was a rococo artist,
730
00:49:09,170 --> 00:49:13,210
and rococo artists paint
with their spirits,
731
00:49:13,210 --> 00:49:15,410
not just their brushes.
732
00:49:19,130 --> 00:49:25,610
At first, he concentrated
on these magnificent river views.
733
00:49:25,610 --> 00:49:29,010
The Thames was his Grand Canal,
734
00:49:29,010 --> 00:49:33,050
and London was modified
into somewhere he knew.
735
00:49:34,610 --> 00:49:37,010
But then the curiosity kicked in.
736
00:49:38,090 --> 00:49:41,650
He began prowling the backstreets,
737
00:49:41,650 --> 00:49:45,890
painting gripping vistas
of a city in flux.
738
00:49:49,290 --> 00:49:51,890
From about here, in Whitehall,
739
00:49:51,890 --> 00:49:55,970
he painted the view from the first
floor window of Richmond House
740
00:49:55,970 --> 00:50:00,330
which isn't there any more,
but which stood where I am now.
741
00:50:02,730 --> 00:50:05,130
Rickety, scruffy, low-slung...
742
00:50:06,410 --> 00:50:09,410
..this is London behind the scenes,
743
00:50:09,410 --> 00:50:12,290
an urban sprawl looking for a form.
744
00:50:14,170 --> 00:50:16,570
I recognise the steeple of
St Martin-in-the-Fields
745
00:50:16,570 --> 00:50:18,370
in the background,
746
00:50:18,370 --> 00:50:20,650
and that's about it.
747
00:50:20,650 --> 00:50:23,890
London was changing furiously,
748
00:50:23,890 --> 00:50:26,810
and the rococo gods had fixed it
749
00:50:26,810 --> 00:50:29,290
for the great Canaletto
750
00:50:29,290 --> 00:50:31,410
to come to England
751
00:50:31,410 --> 00:50:34,530
and to paint what may be
his finest picture.
752
00:50:41,690 --> 00:50:43,450
This is where he lived,
753
00:50:43,450 --> 00:50:46,410
in Soho, at the centre
of the Italian community.
754
00:50:46,410 --> 00:50:48,690
Canaletto was up on the first floor.
755
00:50:52,930 --> 00:50:55,370
This is the other portrait of him,
756
00:50:55,370 --> 00:50:57,450
painted in London
when he was about 50.
757
00:50:59,010 --> 00:51:01,250
But look how boyish he looks.
758
00:51:02,650 --> 00:51:05,290
How charming and up-for-it.
759
00:51:07,210 --> 00:51:09,530
When he finished with London,
760
00:51:09,530 --> 00:51:12,850
he began scouring the rest
of England for views.
761
00:51:14,610 --> 00:51:16,370
Here's Eton college,
762
00:51:16,370 --> 00:51:19,530
looking extra tall
in the afternoon sun.
763
00:51:22,450 --> 00:51:27,330
And in this moody view
of the old bridge at Walton,
764
00:51:27,330 --> 00:51:31,370
he lets some genuine British weather
into his art, at last.
765
00:51:37,650 --> 00:51:40,610
But his most fruitful wanderings
across England,
766
00:51:40,610 --> 00:51:44,010
brought him here to Warwick Castle.
767
00:51:48,450 --> 00:51:50,970
When Canaletto got to Warwick,
768
00:51:50,970 --> 00:51:55,530
the castle was in the middle
of an ambitious rebuild.
769
00:51:55,530 --> 00:51:59,570
The owner, Francis Greville,
Earl of Warwick,
770
00:51:59,570 --> 00:52:01,730
had decided to make his castle
look more gothic
771
00:52:02,010 --> 00:52:04,210
had decided to make his castle
look more gothic
772
00:52:04,210 --> 00:52:09,210
and then to place this gothic
castle in a rococo garden,
773
00:52:09,210 --> 00:52:13,770
designed by the celebrated
Capability Brown.
774
00:52:17,410 --> 00:52:22,090
Capability Brown liked to make
his gardens look natural.
775
00:52:23,530 --> 00:52:27,210
As if nature had created them,
rather than him.
776
00:52:29,210 --> 00:52:32,650
And in Canaletto's first view
of Warwick,
777
00:52:32,650 --> 00:52:36,810
you can actually see
a new hill being put in.
778
00:52:40,610 --> 00:52:42,290
A few years later,
779
00:52:42,290 --> 00:52:44,930
when the alterations
were more or less finished,
780
00:52:44,930 --> 00:52:48,170
the Earl of Warwick
invited Canaletto back,
781
00:52:48,170 --> 00:52:53,410
and this time he painted
this splendid view
782
00:52:53,410 --> 00:52:58,650
before Capability Brown's new trees
got in the way!
783
00:53:03,010 --> 00:53:05,090
And then he painted this view,
784
00:53:05,090 --> 00:53:06,810
which is even better.
785
00:53:11,130 --> 00:53:15,090
These gorgeous views of
Warwick Castle in the sunshine,
786
00:53:15,090 --> 00:53:17,730
feel so vivid and real,
787
00:53:17,730 --> 00:53:20,170
but, of course, they aren't.
788
00:53:21,450 --> 00:53:24,370
The only place you get skies
like that in England,
789
00:53:24,370 --> 00:53:26,290
is in your dreams.
790
00:53:27,930 --> 00:53:32,570
And that's what's so exciting about
the rococo's passion for travel.
791
00:53:32,570 --> 00:53:33,810
So much of the best voyaging
was done in the mind.
792
00:53:34,050 --> 00:53:36,850
So much of the best voyaging
was done in the mind.
793
00:53:39,970 --> 00:53:42,810
BIRDSONG
794
00:53:44,130 --> 00:53:46,170
Back in Bavaria, meanwhile,
795
00:53:46,170 --> 00:53:49,850
a humble pilgrim is back
on the plod.
796
00:53:53,330 --> 00:53:56,610
I'm afraid I've been
a very naughty boy,
797
00:53:56,610 --> 00:54:00,250
because I've saved
the best till last.
798
00:54:00,250 --> 00:54:04,530
There are so many lovely things
to see in rococo Bavaria,
799
00:54:04,530 --> 00:54:07,810
but most people will tell you
the loveliest of them all
800
00:54:07,810 --> 00:54:10,170
is that church on the horizon.
801
00:54:12,010 --> 00:54:15,650
The Wieskirche, or meadow church,
802
00:54:15,650 --> 00:54:16,810
plopped down here
803
00:54:16,810 --> 00:54:18,490
in the middle of nowhere.
804
00:54:18,490 --> 00:54:21,130
CHURCH BELL TOLLS
805
00:54:22,770 --> 00:54:24,490
It's the inside of the Wieskirche
that makes it so special,
806
00:54:24,690 --> 00:54:26,650
It's the inside of the Wieskirche
that makes it so special,
807
00:54:26,650 --> 00:54:30,090
but will you look at the outside,
as well.
808
00:54:30,090 --> 00:54:32,690
With its gentle simplicity
809
00:54:32,690 --> 00:54:36,090
and that gorgeous apricot colour,
810
00:54:36,090 --> 00:54:38,890
like a tasty apricot sorbet!
811
00:54:44,930 --> 00:54:48,170
Imagine being an exhausted pilgrim
812
00:54:48,170 --> 00:54:51,210
who's tramped all the way through
Bavaria,
813
00:54:51,210 --> 00:54:54,090
and then, on the horizon,
814
00:54:54,090 --> 00:54:57,810
deliberately positioned against
the hill, so you can't miss it,
815
00:54:57,810 --> 00:55:00,250
a lovely pilgrimage church of Weis,
816
00:55:00,250 --> 00:55:03,450
beckoning irresistibly.
817
00:55:07,010 --> 00:55:10,850
Wies is here, because one day
a girl in the village
818
00:55:10,850 --> 00:55:15,490
saw this wonky statue
of Jesus crying...
819
00:55:15,490 --> 00:55:17,890
and that was that.
820
00:55:17,890 --> 00:55:20,090
Within a few months,
821
00:55:20,090 --> 00:55:24,010
Wies had become a must-go
pilgrimage destination.
822
00:55:25,170 --> 00:55:28,370
Two local brothers, the Zimmermans,
823
00:55:28,370 --> 00:55:32,690
were commissioned to build
this rococo masterpiece.
824
00:55:37,730 --> 00:55:39,170
Just look at it.
825
00:55:39,170 --> 00:55:41,090
How light it feels,
826
00:55:41,090 --> 00:55:43,410
and insubstantial.
827
00:55:43,410 --> 00:55:46,410
If you blow at it,
it might all blow away.
828
00:55:49,810 --> 00:55:53,170
It's all done with stucco -
829
00:55:53,170 --> 00:55:55,370
painted plaster -
830
00:55:55,370 --> 00:55:57,850
the rococo's secret ingredient.
831
00:55:59,410 --> 00:56:01,410
So light and adaptable.
832
00:56:03,090 --> 00:56:05,010
See those columns?
833
00:56:05,010 --> 00:56:06,170
Stucco.
834
00:56:07,450 --> 00:56:09,530
See those saints?
835
00:56:09,530 --> 00:56:10,810
Stucco.
836
00:56:11,890 --> 00:56:14,410
See that roof?
837
00:56:14,410 --> 00:56:15,730
Stucco.
838
00:56:17,930 --> 00:56:20,810
With stucco you can defy gravity.
839
00:56:20,810 --> 00:56:24,050
What shape do you think
that vault is?
840
00:56:24,050 --> 00:56:28,090
It looks like a huge expansive dome,
doesn't it?
841
00:56:28,090 --> 00:56:29,730
But if you go outside again...
842
00:56:32,770 --> 00:56:34,450
..out here in the meadow,
843
00:56:34,450 --> 00:56:37,610
and if we look up at that roof
from outside,
844
00:56:37,610 --> 00:56:41,810
we'll see that it's actually
an ordinary sloping roof -
845
00:56:41,810 --> 00:56:44,170
straight-sided, made of wood.
846
00:56:46,170 --> 00:56:49,170
So all that bulging space in there,
847
00:56:49,170 --> 00:56:52,130
all that billowing heaven inside...
848
00:56:52,130 --> 00:56:54,490
Let's go back in
and have another look.
849
00:56:56,650 --> 00:57:00,810
..has actually been painted
on a simple, pointy roof.
850
00:57:02,610 --> 00:57:05,290
It's that rococo ingenuity again.
851
00:57:05,290 --> 00:57:08,090
I'll show you how they did it
on this diagram.
852
00:57:09,530 --> 00:57:11,170
So that's the roof there...
853
00:57:11,170 --> 00:57:13,410
And suspended from it,
854
00:57:13,410 --> 00:57:14,410
the vault -
855
00:57:14,650 --> 00:57:15,370
the vault -
856
00:57:15,370 --> 00:57:17,250
hanging down by a simple rope!
857
00:57:17,250 --> 00:57:19,330
So it weighs nothing!
858
00:57:21,610 --> 00:57:24,130
It's a brilliant rococo illusion.
859
00:57:25,810 --> 00:57:30,450
And up on the ceiling,
painted by Johann Baptist Zimmermann
860
00:57:30,450 --> 00:57:33,170
the illusions continue
861
00:57:33,170 --> 00:57:35,930
with an enormous message of hope.
862
00:57:37,370 --> 00:57:41,010
The resurrected Jesus
is sitting on a rainbow,
863
00:57:41,010 --> 00:57:43,050
that most hopeful of symbols,
864
00:57:43,250 --> 00:57:45,410
and is pointing at the cross
865
00:57:45,410 --> 00:57:49,610
so we know he's already saved us
with his sacrifice.
866
00:57:52,250 --> 00:57:55,170
But look over here,
the throne of judgment -
867
00:57:55,170 --> 00:57:56,890
it's empty.
868
00:57:56,890 --> 00:58:00,050
Jesus hasn't sat down on it yet,
869
00:58:00,050 --> 00:58:04,170
so there's still time for us
to mend our ways.
870
00:58:04,170 --> 00:58:06,810
But not much time.
871
00:58:09,330 --> 00:58:14,330
Because over here...the gates of
eternity are still closed.
872
00:58:16,850 --> 00:58:20,210
Heaven hasn't actually opened
for business yet.
873
00:58:21,490 --> 00:58:25,490
Old Father Time has
completed this journey,
874
00:58:25,490 --> 00:58:27,530
but who goes in and who doesn't,
875
00:58:27,530 --> 00:58:30,570
is still up for grabs.
876
00:58:32,930 --> 00:58:35,210
So, imagine you are a rococo pilgrim
877
00:58:35,210 --> 00:58:37,210
and you've travelled all this way,
878
00:58:37,210 --> 00:58:40,570
and you come in here,
into this gorgeous space,
879
00:58:40,570 --> 00:58:44,170
you must've thought
you'd already arrived in heaven.
880
00:58:46,570 --> 00:58:48,530
But then, you look up,
and instead of salvation,
881
00:58:48,730 --> 00:58:50,490
But then, you look up,
and instead of salvation,
882
00:58:50,490 --> 00:58:53,050
there's this enormous choice.
883
00:58:54,610 --> 00:58:56,770
What's it to be, sinner?
884
00:58:56,770 --> 00:58:59,570
Salvation or damnation?
885
00:59:01,250 --> 00:59:04,210
Do you repent, or don't you?
886
00:59:06,490 --> 00:59:08,970
That's the rococo for you -
887
00:59:08,970 --> 00:59:11,770
it's full of honey traps.
888
00:59:14,090 --> 00:59:16,730
Bless me, Father,
for I have sinned.
889
00:59:16,730 --> 00:59:19,770
It's 35 years
since my last confession.
890
00:59:19,770 --> 00:59:22,970
I've done all sorts of
terrible things, Father.
891
00:59:23,210 --> 00:59:23,530
I've done all sorts of
terrible things, Father.
892
00:59:23,530 --> 00:59:25,490
Where should I start?
893
00:59:27,890 --> 00:59:32,330
In the next film, we'll be looking
at that archetypal rococo subject -
894
00:59:32,330 --> 00:59:33,810
pleasure.
895
00:59:33,810 --> 00:59:36,650
And asking why the rococo
896
00:59:36,650 --> 00:59:40,130
produced some of the most
sensuous art ever made.
897
00:59:41,450 --> 00:59:45,410
That's The Rococo And Pleasure,
898
00:59:45,410 --> 00:59:47,850
the next film
in the story of the rococo.
899
00:59:48,930 --> 00:59:50,410
Ooh-la-la!
68952
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