Louis XV of France
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defined as his 13th birthday) on 15 February 1723, the kingdom was ruled by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, as Regent of France.
Cardinal Fleury was his chief minister from 1726 until the Cardinal's death in 1743, at which time the young king took sole control of the kingdom.
Louis XV furniture
The style had three distinct periods. During the early years (1715-1730), called the Regency, when the King was too young to rule, furniture followed the massive, geometric Style Louis XIV style. From 1730 until about 1750, the period known as the first style, it was much more asymmetrical, ornate and exuberant, in the fashion called "rocaille". From about 1750 to the King's death in 1774, a reaction set in against the excesses of the rocaille. The Second Style of Louis XV showed the influences of neo-classicism, based on recent archeological discoveries in Italy and Greece. it featured Roman and Greek motifs. The later furniture false eatured decorative elements of Chinoiserie and other exotic styles.