Stylistically, the Rococo movement was unique in many ways. Its predecessor, the Baroque style, was very dark, often featuring religious themes. Rococo was light and silly. Rococo paintings featured pastel colors, pervasive soft lighting and bucolic scenes. The composition of Rococo paintings is famously asymmetrical. Often figures would be put at diagonals from each other (as opposed to on the same horizontal plane that was popular in the following neoclassical movement).

The Rococo movement was driven by the changing tastes of the aristocracy. When the French court moved to Paris, they all wanted paintings to hang in their townhouses. Rococo paintings reflect the lifestyles of the people who owned them: the upper class french, people who spent their time dressing up, gossiping and dallying in the park. The paintings often depict either finely dressed ladies and gentlemen out in the park, or mythical scenes of love. Rococo is considered erotic and frivolous.