Episode 83: Versailles

A Brief History of the Chateau de Versailles

Versailles

Started as a hunting lodge by Louis XIII in 1624, it was expanded to one of the largest palaces in the world at the time by Louis XIV. Then the French court was moved from Paris to Versailles in 1682. Prominent French architects, Le Vau, Le Nôtre, and Le Brun all worked on the palace which was built in four building campaigns under Louis XIV:

1.       1664-1668 – Expanded to accommodate a party of 600 guests in 1664

2.       1669-1672 – Le Vau enclosed the original hunting lodge on the North, West and South

sides

3.       1678-1684 –Jules Hardouin-Mansart designed the North and South wings, the 
          Orangery and the famous Hall of Mirrors. Le Brun helped design much of the interior. 
          He also worked on the gardens with Le Notre
4.       1699-1710 – The royal chapel designed by Hardouin-Mansart and finished by Robert           de Cotte.

Louis XV worked on expanding the Chateau as well but did not do nearly as much as Louis XIV. One of the most famous additions during his time was the Petite Trianon, later to be known as Marie Antoinette’s estate.

Petite Trianon

During the French Revolution in the late 1700’s the royal court was forced back to Les Tuileries palace in Paris. In the years following, much of the furnishings and artworks were sold or auctioned off (though the ‘important’ ones were not). The palace suffered during this time.

During the time of Napoleon the palaces was used once again (though not by Napoleon himself).

Around 1833, Louis-Philippe proposed that a grand museum be housed in the Palace of Versailles

Today the museum is still there and other French government business is still conducted there.  

Plan of the gardens of Versailles

Prominent Rooms:

King's Chambers

Queen's Bedroom

The Queen's Hamlet - built specifically for Marie Antoinette

Hall of Mirrors

17 mirror clad arches 357 mirrors in total. The ceiling is decorated with the triumphs of Louis XIV.

Gardens

Fun Facts:

All the materials to build and decorate the palace were made in France.

2,300 Rooms

67,000 square meters! 

Next week Julia and Jo talk about Architecturally Beautiful Museums. See ya next week!

Episode 80: French Baroque

This is our third installment in our series “Baroque the Basics”.  Under the “Episodes” tab above you will find the links for #61 Italian Baroque and #64 Northern Baroque.

The French Academy was chartered in 1648.  In 1961 Jean-Baptiste Colbert selected painter Charles Le Brun to be the director of the academy. Modeled after Italian academies, the French Academy sought to train artists in the classical style preferred by the monarchy.  French Baroque painters such as Charles Le Brun, Nicolas Poussin, and Claude Lorrain followed the classical style of Carracci rather than his contemporary Caravaggio.

Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba, 1648

Claude Lorrain

While landscapes were not popular at the time, Lorrain loved them and he pulled his viewers in with themes of heroes, demigods,and saints.

Apollon and the Nymphs,1666-73, marble

François Girardon

Girardon was inspired by Hellenistic sculpture.

Unlike Italy and Spain, where the Catholic Church was the major patron, in France the top patron was Louis XIV, aka the “Sun King”.  

Portrait of Louis XIV, 1661

Charles Le Brun

Louis XIV called Charles Le Brun “the greatest French artist of all time”.

In 1682 the King and his entire court moved 14 miles from Paris to the village of Versailles.  At Versailles life revolved around the king just as the earth revolves around the sun.  He expanded the existing chateau and hunting lodge into a magnificent palace.

"There is nothing that indicates more clearly the magnificence of great princes than their superb palaces and their precious furniture." -- Louis XIV

The baroque style fit the needs of the king perfectly.

Hall of Mirrors

The king’s bedchamber.  Fabulous vases of feathers!

Much of the art at Versailles featured Apollo, alluding to the connection between the god and the Sun King.

Join us next week as our newest podcast member, Zach, joins Julia in talking about graphic designer Milton Glaser!