In Calatini, tenth-century art, which Edouard and his father love, is inspired by the Rococo period in the Baroque era, an ornamental style from the century before the Regency that combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white/pastels, sculpted moulding, and trompe-l’oeil frescoes to create drama and the illusion of motion. The exuberant ornamentation is based on natural elements, and bucolic scenes were popular.

The art pieces described in The Sun-Nymph Bride were inspired by various Rococo works, although none were exact copies. Below are the various art pieces and their inspirations.

Fantasia Dance

This dancing music-box sculpture, the most important piece in The Sun-Nymph Bride, is an enchanted marble sculpture of a famous couple dancing that when activated, dances and plays Lantos’s Fantasia in Minor for Keyharp. The couple in this piece was inspired by Nicolas Lancret’s La Camargo Dancing, which was of a French ballet star. The sculpture’s illusion of movement (when not activated) was inspired by Nicolas-Sebastien Adam’s Prometheus Bound. The sculpture’s haunting, lyrical music was inspired by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Fantasia in D Minor, K397.

Sylviana’s Faegift

This painting, the piece that started Edouard’s father’s collection, depicts the climax of Lantos’s best-known ballad, Sylviana and the Fae Queen. It was inspired by bucolic paintings like Jean-Antoine Watteau’s The Embarkation for Cythera.

The Swing’s Allure

This painting depicts a lady swinging in the woods with magical creatures peering at her from the trees. It was inspired by Jean-Honore Fragonard’s The Swing.

Lost Lavender

This enchanted moving painting depicts a young girl wearing fluttering lavender ribbons on a headland high above the sea. It was inspired by Thomas Lawrence’s Pinkie.

The Waking of the Sun

This enchanted moving painting, the first Edouard purchases for his collection, depicts a sun nymph sitting on fluffy clouds with the sun’s glow radiating behind her and glancing over her shoulder. The sun’s glow is inspired by Apollo in Corrado Giaquinto’s The Birth of the Sun and the Triumph of Bacchus. The sitting on the clouds is inspired by Almon Adeluwoye’s Sunset Clouds and Floating Women (a modern artist, I know.) The sun nymph looking over her shoulder is inspired by stock art. The painting’s sunburst frame is inspired by Rococo sunburst frames.