Rococo’s most enduring trait has been its embrace by the bourgeoisie. By replacing marble and gold with stucco and gilded bronze, the ornamental splendor once reserved for gods and kings was now available to merchants and a growing middle class. Rococo was itself revolutionary, in part because it upset the established hierarchy by making molded plaster look as good as solid gold. Four hundred years on, its cheap extravagance is still simultaneously elitist and democratic. Use it as a commoner and you can feel like a king. Use it as a king and it might just get you guillotined.