Background:

During the 18th century, a distinctive art style emerged, the Rococo, expression of frivolity and connoisseur taste, where little advances were made in the visual realm. The main objective of this paper is to present a theoretical model that relates royal patronage with artist’s creativity.

Methods:

This paper presents a theoretical model on the interaction between artists and gallerists of the 18th century, and it allows to study the optimal level of creativity applied by artists to their works.

Results:

The model predicts a positive relationship between royal patronage and creativity.

Conclusions:

The death of King Louis XIV and the consequent reduction in royal patronage could explain the decline, documented by art historians, in the level of complexity of art works produced during the Rococo period.