The great styles of French decoration

Milestones, characteristics and references — a journey through the eras that shaped the French art of interiors. Full articles currently available in French.

1643 – 1715

Louis XIV — Absolute splendour

Symmetry, gilding, polychrome marble: Versailles imposes a grammar that becomes the language of power.

1715 – 1723

Régence — A first breath of lightness

The decisive interval where pomp becomes human. Early curves, chinoiseries, lighter woods.

1723 – 1774

Louis XV — The triumph of rocaille

The golden age of intimate interiors. Curve, asymmetry, the refinement of the master craftsman.

1774 – 1789

Louis XVI — The return to the antique

Rocaille exhausts itself; the straight line returns. Neoclassicism, geometry, restraint.

1795 – 1815

Directoire & Empire — Roman grandeur

Severe sobriety, massive mahogany, gilded bronzes. Rome and Egypt at the service of an imperial rhetoric.

1852 – 1870

Napoléon III — Triumphant eclecticism

The Second Empire returns to splendour. All eras summoned, mingled, upholstered.