Jean Francois de Cuvilliés

Jean François de Cuvilliés spent years designing tiny, glittering rooms for Bavarian palaces, where every inch of wall had to sparkle. He turned furniture into delicate lace, carving every curve so it looked like it was stitched from frost. His ornament prints were like secret blueprints for craftsmen—so precise you could lift a scroll of acanthus leaves off the page. Why peek? His 1738 “Console Table Ornament” (in the Getty’s collection) shows how he turned wood into jewelry. Tap to see the swirls that made 18th-century interiors feel like a birthday cake.