Chinoiserie. Evolution of the Oriental Style in Italy from the 14th to the 19th Century

The taste for chinoiserie which originated and developed in the West during the 17th century reinterpreted the themes, ornamentation and decorative techniques of the Far East and especially of China.
The style developed slightly later in Italy than at other European courts, but flourished rapidly and spectacularly during the 18th century when a passion for the Orient heavily influenced the rococo style. Throughout the peninsula many of the Italian courts - from the Bourbons in Sicily and Campania to the Savoys in Piedmont, from the Veneto to papal Rome and including Florence and the Medici, later Lorraine, Grand Duchy - indulged their enthusiasm for chinoiseries creating some intriguing works of art. No field was left untouched: from architecture (the Chinese Palace at Palermo) to interior decorative painting (the rooms frescoed by Tiepolo in Vicenza and the 'Chinese' rooms of Naples and Palermo), from ceramics and porcelain (the Capodimonte Porcelain Room) to cabinet making (Venetian lacquered furniture in particular, but also the Lacquer Room in Turin), to fabrics and all other decorative arts.