Rococo, style in interior design, the decorative arts, painting, architecture, and sculpture that originated in Paris in the early 18th century but was soon adopted throughout France and later in other countries, principally Germany and Austria. It is characterized by lightness, elegance, and an exuberant use of curving natural forms in ornamentation. The word Rococo is derived from the French word rocaille, which denoted the shell-covered rock work that was used to decorate artificial grottoes.

Excellent examples of French Rococo are the Salon de Monsieur le Prince (completed 1722) in the Petit Château at Chantilly, decorated by Jean Aubert, and the salons (begun 1732) of the Hôtel de Soubise, Paris, by Germain Boffrand. The Rococo style was also manifested in the decorative arts. Its asymmetrical forms and rocaille ornament were quickly adapted to silver and porcelain, and French furniture of the period also displayed curving forms, naturalistic shell and floral ornament, and a more elaborate, playful use of gilt-bronze and porcelain ornamentation.

Rococo painting in France began with the graceful, gently melancholic paintings of Antoine Watteau, culminated in the playful and sensuous nudes of François Boucher, and ended with the freely painted genre scenes of Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Rococo portraiture had its finest practitioners in Jean-Marc Nattier and Jean-Baptiste Perroneau. French Rococo painting in general was characterized by easygoing, lighthearted treatments of mythological and courtship themes, rich and delicate brushwork, a relatively light tonal key, and sensuous coloring. Rococo sculpture was notable for its intimate scale, its naturalism, and its varied surface effects.

From France the Rococo style spread in the 1730s to the Catholic German-speaking lands, where it was adapted to a brilliant style of religious architecture that combined French elegance with south German fantasy as well as with a lingering Baroque interest in dramatic spatial and plastic effects. Some of the most beautiful of all Rococo buildings outside France are to be seen in Munich—for example, the refined and delicate Amalienburg (1734–39), in the park of Nymphenburg, and the Residenztheater (1750–53; rebuilt after World War II), both by François de Cuvilliés. Among the finest German Rococo pilgrimage churches are the Vierzehnheiligen  (1743–72), near Lichtenfels, in Bavaria, designed by Balthasar Neumann, and the Wieskirche  (begun 1745–54), near Munich, built by Dominikus Zimmermann and decorated by his elder brother Johann Baptist Zimmermann. Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff and Johann Michael Fischer also created notable buildings in the style, which utilized a profusion of stuccowork  and other decoration.

Goliath frog, (Conraua goliath), West African frog inhabiting dense lowland rainforests and a few fast-moving rivers and waterfalls in Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. Classified in the family Conrauidae, it is best known as the world’s largest frog species. Males and females grow as long as 32 cm (12.6 inches), and the largest adults (which are often females) weigh 3 kg (6.6 pounds) or more. The goliath frog is an endangered species whose population has declined because of hunting and capture as well as its specific habitat and food  requirements and narrow tolerance limits, which make it vulnerable to habitat loss and degradation.

The goliath frog’s geographic range  extends from southwestern Cameroon south across the northern half of Río Muni (Continental Equatorial Guinea). It inhabits clear, warm rivers whose temperature hovers near 19.4 °C (67 °F) and nearby riverbanks and humid, undisturbed old-growth or secondary-growth forests (see also secondary succession). The species prefers waters that are highly oxygenated but slightly acidic.

Adult goliath frogs spend most of their time in the river to avoid daytime heat with only part of their heads above water. At night, they venture onto riverbanks to search for food. Larger adults sometimes bask in the sun on rocks, with occasional dips in the water to stay moist. Adult and juvenile frogs are carnivorous and feed on a variety of prey, including insects, worms, spiders, scorpions, fish, and even other frogs and small mammals. In captivity, they have been known to eat adult white mice. The tadpoles are herbivorous, however, and feed exclusively on Dicraeia warmingii, an aquatic plant found on rocks in rapids and near waterfalls. Having such an exclusive diet at this critical life stage may partially explain the species’ narrow habitat range. Despite their bulk, adult goliath frogs can jump up to 3 meters (10 feet) to escape predators, which include lizards, snakes, crocodiles, and human beings. Goliath frog eggs  are sometimes consumed by shrimp.

The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education has announced that the SSC and HSC exams for 2025 will be held earlier than usual. Schools have been given time until August 23 to provide feedback and raise any concerns about the exam dates. This is the earliest announcement of exam dates by the board, as the dates for the 2024 exams were only released in November.

Online 40 days Crash Course for Job Oriented Competitive Examination by Expert Faculty Members in Eudoxia
1. Regular Live Classes
2. Recorded Videos
3. Previous Years Question and Answers
4. Regular Mock Test
5. Free Study Material

Heads Rose Bunch Artificial Rose Flower for Wedding Home Decor
https://m.made-in-china.com/product/Factory-Price-10-Heads-Rose-Bunch-Artificial-Rose-Flower-for-Wedding-Home-Decor-705707711.html

SYSTEMS SECURITY CERTIFIED PRACTITIONER (SSCP) E-SLIDES