- French Baroque and Classicism
:"This article, part of the French art history series, covers the history of the visual and plastic arts in
France in the 17th century."Art and architecture in France in the early 17th century are generally referred to as Baroque. From the mid to late 17th century French art is more often referred to by the term Classicism which implies an adherence to certain rules of proportion and sobriety uncharacteristic of the Baroque as it was practiced in Southern and Eastern Europe during the same period.
Louis XIII style
In the early part of the 17th century, late mannerist and early
Baroque tendencies continued to flourish in the court ofMarie de Medici and Louis XIII. Art from this period shows influences from both the north of Europe (Dutch and Flemish schools) and from Roman painters of theCounter-Reformation . Artists in France frequently debated the merits betweenPeter Paul Rubens (the Flemish baroque, voluptuous lines and colors) andNicolas Poussin (rational control, proportion, Roman classicism).There was also a strong Caravaggio school represented in the period by the amazing candle-lit paintings of
Georges de La Tour . The wretched and the poor were featured in an almost Dutch manner in the paintings by the threeLe Nain brothers. In the paintings ofPhilippe de Champaigne there are both propagandistic portraits of Louis XIII' s ministerCardinal Richelieu and other more contemplative portraits of people in the CatholicJansenist sect.Residential architecture
However, under Louis XIV, the Baroque as it was practiced in Italy was not in French taste (
Bernini 's famous proposal for redesigning the Louvre was rejected by Louis XIV.) Throughpropaganda , wars and great architectural works, Louis XIV launched a vast program designed for the glorification of France and his name. ThePalace of Versailles , initially a tiny hunting lodge built by his father, was transformed by Louis XIV into a marvelous palace for fêtes and parties. ArchitectLouis Le Vau , painter and designerCharles Le Brun and the landscape architectAndré Le Nôtre created marvels : fountains danced; wandering revelers discovered hidden grottos in the gardens.The initial impetus for this transformation of Versailles is generally linked to the private château
Vaux-le-Vicomte built for Louis XIV's minister of FinanceNicolas Fouquet . Having offered a lavish festival for the king in the newly finished residence in 1661 (Le Brun, Le Vau, Le Nôtre, the poetLa Fontaine , the playwrightMolière were all under Fouquet's patronage), the minister was accused of misappropriation of funds and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The architects and artists under his patronage were all put to work on Versailles.The court of Louis XIV
In this period, Louis' minister
Jean-Baptiste Colbert established royal control overartisan al production in France; henceforth France would no longer purchase luxury goods from abroad, but would, herself, set the standard for quality. This control was also seen in the creation of an academy of painting and sculpture, which maintained a hierarchy of thegenre s of painting (the "noblest," according toAndré Félibien in 1667, being historical painting), a strong use of pictorialrhetoric , and a strict sense of decorum in subject matter.Fact|May 30 2008|date=May 2008Furnishings and
interior design s from this period are referred to as "Louis XIV-style"; the style is characterized by weightybrocade s of red and gold, thickly gildedplaster molding, large sculptedsideboard s, and heavy marbling.Fact|May 30 2008|date=May 2008In 1682 Versailles was transformed into the official residence of the king; eventually the
Hall of Mirrors was built; other smaller "château x", like theGrand Trianon , were built on the grounds, and a hugecanal featuringgondola s and gondoliers fromVenice was created.In his youth, Louis XIV had suffered during the civil and parliamentary insurrection known as the "
Fronde ". By relocating to Versailles, he could avoid the dangers of the capital; he could also keep his eye very closely on the affairs of the nobles and could play them off against each other and against the newer "noblesse de robe ". Versailles became a gilded cage: To leave spelled disaster for a noble, for all official charges and appointments were made there. A strict etiquette was imposed. A word or glance from the king could make or destroy a career. The king himself followed a strict daily program, and there was little privacy.Fact|May 30 2008|date=May 2008Through his wars and the glory of Versailles, Louis became, to a certain degree, the arbiter of taste and power in Europe and both his "château" and the etiquette in Versailles were copied by the other European courts. Yet the difficult wars at the end of his long reign and the religious problems created by the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes made his last years dark ones.Fact|May 30 2008|date=May 2008Reference works
*
Anthony Blunt : "Art and Architecture in France 1500-1700" ISBN 0-300-05314-2
*André Chastel. "French Art Vol III: The Ancient Régime" ISBN 2-08-013617-8ee also
*French artists of the seventeenth century
*Baroque
*Baroque painting
*Classicism
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.