In the first half and the middle of the 17th century, the principles of classicism took shape and gradually took root in French architecture. It also contributes to state system absolutism.
Construction and control over it are concentrated in the hands of the state. A new post of "Architect of the King" and "First Architect of the King" is introduced. Huge amounts of money are spent on construction. Government agencies control construction not only in Paris, but also in the provinces.
Town-planning works are widely deployed throughout the country. New cities arise as military outposts or settlements near the palaces and castles of the kings and rulers of France. In most cases, new cities are designed in the form of a square or rectangle in plan, or in the form of more complex polygonal shapes - five, six, eight, etc. squares formed by defensive walls, ditches, bastions and towers. Inside them, a strictly regular rectangular or radial-circular system of streets with a city square in the center is planned. Examples include the cities of Vitry-le-Francois, Saarlouis, Henrichemont, Marl, Richelieu, etc.
The old medieval cities are being rebuilt on the basis of new principles of regular planning. Direct highways are being laid, urban ensembles and geometrically regular squares are being erected on the site of a disorderly network of medieval streets.
In the urban planning of the era of classicism main problem becomes a large urban ensemble with development carried out according to a single plan. In 1615, the first planning work was carried out in Paris in the northwestern part of the city, the islands of Notre Dame and Saint-Louis were built up. New bridges are being erected and the boundaries of the city are expanding.
The principles of classicism, the ground for which was prepared by the architects of the French and Italian Renaissance, in the first half of the 17th century were not yet distinguished by integrity and uniformity. They were often mixed with the traditions of the medieval french architecture and the influences of the Italian baroque, the construction of which is characterized by loose cornices, the complicated shape of triangular and curvilinear pediments, an abundance of sculptural decoration and cartouches, especially in interior decoration.
Medieval traditions were so strong that even classical orders acquired a peculiar interpretation in the buildings of the first half of the century. The composition of the order - its location on the surface of the wall, proportions and details - obeys the structure of the wall that has developed in gothic architecture, with its clearly defined vertical elements of the supporting frame of the building (walls) and large window openings located between them. Half-columns and pilasters, filling the piers, are grouped in pairs or bundles. This motif, combined with the subdivision of facades with the help of corner and central projections into separate tower-shaped volumes covered with high pyramidal roofs, gives the building a vertical aspiration that is not characteristic of the classical system of order compositions and a clear, calm silhouette of the volume.
In the development of Paris and other cities of France, especially in the formation of the silhouette of the city, the role of churches and monastic complexes is significant. In Paris alone, more than twenty churches are being built at this time. Their architecture is very diverse.
Baroque techniques are combined with the traditions of French Gothic and the new classicist principles of understanding beauty. Many religious buildings, built according to the type of basilica church established in the Italian Baroque, received magnificent main facades, decorated with orders of columns and pilasters, with numerous crepes, sculptural inserts and volutes. An example is the Church of the Sorbonne (1629 - 1656, architect J. Lemercier) - the first religious building in Paris, crowned with a dome.
The predominance of classicist tendencies was reflected in such buildings as the church de la Visatación (1632 - 1634) and the church of the Minims monastery (begun in 1632), created by F. Mansart. These buildings are characterized by simplicity of composition and restraint of forms, a departure from the baroque models of the basilica plan and the interpretation of facades as magnificent architectural decorations.
Along with Lemercier, the largest architect of the first half of the century was Francois Mansart (1598 - 1666), who built a large number of country palaces, castles, city mansions (hotels), as well as religious buildings. Among his outstanding works is the Maisons-Laffitte Palace (1642 - 1650), built not far from Paris for the president of the Parisian parliament, Rene de Languey. Unlike the traditional compositions of earlier country castles, there is no closed courtyard here, formed by the main building and outbuildings. All office space is located on the ground floor of the building. Arranged in the form of the letter "P" around the court of honour, open to the park, the building is well viewed from all sides.
Francois Mansart. Palace of Maisons-Laffitte near Paris. 1642 - 1650. main facade
Francois Mansart. Palace of Maisons-Laffitte. Central part of the main facade
The monumental volume of the palace, crowned with ancient tradition high pyramidal roofs over the side and central risalits, it is distinguished by its compact integrity and expressive silhouette. The building is surrounded by a moat filled with water, and its location, as it were, on an island in a beautiful water frame, well connects the palace with the natural park environment, emphasizing its dominance in the composition of the ensemble.
Here these traditional elements medieval castle architecture lose their fortification meaning and become purely architectural, compositional and decorative techniques. In contrast to earlier castles, the interior space of the building is characterized by great unity and is conceived as a system of interconnected ceremonial halls and living rooms of various shapes and architectural decoration with balconies and terraces overlooking the park and courtyard-garden. In the strictly ordered construction of the interior, the features of classicism are already clearly manifested.
Smaller residential and utility rooms, located on the basement and third floors, do not violate the spatial unity of the interiors, rich and solemn. The system used by Mansart of partitioning the facades with a strict Doric order on the first floor and a lighter Ionic one on the second is a masterful attempt to bring the classic and traditional medieval forms to unity.
The architecture of the Maisons-Laffite palace is complemented by a regular French park with an extensive parterre, bosquets and dense green spaces.
In the first half of the 17th century, first-class garden architects and theorists of gardening art appeared, the development of which went hand in hand with the construction of magnificent country and city palaces. Such is the dynasty of architects Molley, who created large garden and park ensembles - the Tuileries, Saint-Germain-en-Laye in Paris, Fontainebleau, etc.
During the formation of a regular French park, the gardener becomes an architect and sculptor, he thinks in spatial categories and creates from elements of wildlife - skillfully pruned bushes and trees, flowering surfaces of the parterre, green lawns, the water surface of ponds and pools - a similarity of "green cities" with many diverse , receding into the distance streets and squares, decorated with sculptures, pools and grottoes. Nature here is entirely subordinated to man, ordered and brought to an architectonic unity with buildings. This is the difference between French parks and parks of baroque Italian villas, where natural elements in their natural diversity only complemented the architecture.
A major work of Francois Mansart is also the church of the convent Val de Grace (1645 - 1665), built after his death. The composition of the plan is based on the traditional scheme of a domed basilica with a wide central nave, covered with a cylindrical vault, a transept and a dome on the middle cross. As in many other French religious buildings of the 17th century, the facade of the building goes back to the traditional solution of the church facade by Italian Baroque architecture. The dome of the church, raised on a high drum, is one of the three highest domes in Paris.
Francois Mansart. Church of the Val de Grace in Paris. 1645 - 1665. Facade
François Mansart built a number of urban mansions of the French nobility, with their typical front courtyard adjacent to the street, and the main building in the back, located between the courtyard and the garden. The facades of these mansions were divided by floor orders or an order for their entire height; the corners of the building were processed with rustication of various shapes, window and door openings - with platbands. Such, for example, is the Mazarin mansion in Paris. In 1630, Francois Mansart introduced into the practice of building a city dwelling a high, broken form of a roof using an attic for housing (a device that received the name "mansard" after the author's name).
In the decoration of the interiors of castles and city hotels in the first half of the 17th century, carved wood, bronze, stucco, sculpture, and painting were widely used.
Thus, in the first half of the 17th century, both in the field of urban planning and in the formation of the types of buildings themselves, a new style was maturing and conditions were created for its flourishing in the second half of the century.
ClaudePerrot (1613-1688)
French scientist, architect and art theorist, one of the leaders of baroque classicism. Born in Paris on September 25, 1613 in the family of the judge of the Paris Parliament Pierre Perrault and was the younger brother of the art theorist and writer Charles Perrault (1628-1703), a famous French fairy tale writer, poet and art critic, a member of the French Academy since 1671. Having received the degree of doctor of medicine in 1642, Claude Perrault worked for a long time as a doctor, and then taught anatomy and physiology at the University of Paris in the 1650s.
He also studied mathematics, physics, mechanics and archeology. From 1675 he worked on the "Treatise on Mechanics" (published in 1700), a kind of technical encyclopedia, where Perrault included many different military, chronometric, hydraulic and weight devices of his own invention, and in the 1680s he published his work "Physical Experiments" . Claude Perrault was a member of the Academy of Sciences (since 1666) and the Academy of Architecture (since 1672).
First of all, Claude Perrault, a theoretical scientist, advanced in architectural practice thanks to family ties (Charles Perrault was the secretary of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who had been the chief inspector of royal buildings since 1664). After, on the initiative of Colbert (since 1667), work began on the expansion of the Louvre, Claude Perrault actually led these works, pushing other members of the commission - Louis Levo and Charles Lebrun - into the background. Of the initial, larger-scale projects (which provided for the unification of the Louvre with the Tuileries into a single complex), by 1678 only the main (eastern) facade and a more modest southern facade overlooking the Seine were completed. In the conditions of the then tense academic controversy about the ways of development of national art, the eastern facade of the Louvre was a true manifesto building, opposing the pretentiousness of the Roman Baroque with the crystal stylistic purity of its open galleries of paired Corinthian columns over a smooth plinth; however, the dynamic spatial scope of this structure still remained purely baroque feature. Among the others architectural works Perrault is the same stylistically strict building of the Paris Observatory (1667-1672). In 1671, Perrault became one of the founders of the Royal Academy of Architecture in Paris. In 1673 he translated the architectural treatise of Vitruvius, long considered the best, and published an annotated translation of the ancient work of Vitruvius "Ten Books on Architecture", as well as in 1683 an architectural study "The system of five types of columns according to the method of the ancients."
The pinnacle of the development of classicism in French architecture of the 17th century. became the Versailles Palace and Park Ensemble - a grandiose front residence of the French kings, erected near Paris. The history of Versailles begins in 1623 with a very modest hunting castle like a feudal one, built at the request of Louis XIII of brick, stone and roofing slate. The second stage of construction (1661-68) is associated with the names of the largest masters - the architect Louis Levo (c. 1612-70) and the famous decorator of gardens and parks Andre Le Nôtre (1613-1700). By modifying and expanding the original modest castle, Levo creates a U-shaped composition with an impressive facade overlooking the park, on the design of which Le Nôtre is working. A colossal order, which has long belonged to Levo's typical and favorite means, is placed on the ground floor. However, the architect tried to bring some freedom and liveliness into the solemn architectural spectacle: the garden and park facade of Levo had a terrace on the second floor, where the Mirror Gallery was later built. As a result of the second building cycle, Versailles formed into an integral palace and park ensemble, which was a wonderful example of the synthesis of the arts - architecture, sculpture and landscape art. In 1678-89. the ensemble of Versailles was rebuilt under the leadership of the largest architect of the end of the century, Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1b4b-1708). Hardouin-Mansart further enlarged the palace by erecting two wings five hundred meters long each at right angles to the southern and northern facades of the palace. Hardouin-Mansart added two more floors above the Levo terrace, creating the famous Mirror Gallery along the western facade, which is closed by the halls of War and Peace (1680-86). Hardouin-Mansart also built two buildings of Ministers (1671-81), which formed the so-called "Court of Ministers", and connected these buildings with a rich gilded lattice. The architect designed all the buildings in the same style. The facades of the buildings were divided into three tiers. The lower one, modeled on an Italian Renaissance palace-palazzo, is decorated with rustication, the middle one - the largest one - is filled with high arched windows, between which there are columns and pilasters. The upper tier is shortened, it ends with a balustrade (a fence consisting of a number of figured columns connected by a railing) and sculptural groups that create a feeling of opulent decoration, although all facades have a strict look. All this completely changed the appearance of the structure, although Hardouin-Mansart left the same height of the building. Gone are the contrasts, the freedom of fantasy, nothing is left but an extended horizontal three-story building, united in the structure of its facades with the basement, front and attic floors. The impression of grandeur that this brilliant architecture produces is achieved by the large scale of the whole, by the simple and calm rhythm of the whole composition. Hardouin-Mansart was able to combine various elements into a single artistic whole. He had an amazing sense of ensemble, striving for rigor in decoration. For example, in the Mirror Gallery, he used a single architectural motif - a uniform alternation of piers with openings. Such a classic basis creates a sense of clear form. Thanks to Hardouin-Mansart, the expansion of the Palace of Versailles acquired a natural character. The extensions received a strong relationship with the central buildings. The ensemble, outstanding in its architectural and artistic qualities, was successfully completed and had a great influence on the development of world architecture.
Francois Girardon Born March 17, 1628 in the provincial town of Troyes in the family of a caster and knew this craft well. According to local tradition, at the age of fifteen, François painted the chapel of St. Jules at the north gate of Troyes with scenes from the life of the saint. This statement gave rise to one of Girardon's biographers, Mariette, to assert that "he took up the brush before the chisel."
François' teacher was the now almost unknown sculptor Bodesson, who, in all likelihood, stood out among other masters of the city. It is no coincidence that it was to Bodesson with an order to decorate the church of Saint-Libo and Villemort that a native of Troyes, cavalier Seguier, turned. Being a friend of artists, he played a big role in the artistic life of Paris. Correctly assessing Girardon's abilities, Seguier sent him to Rome, providing material support.
In the capital of Italy, Francois met with the artist P. Mignard. However, the engraver Philippe Thomassen, who became his teacher, had the greatest influence on the formation of Girardon's work. Of the masters of sculpture, the young artist was carried away by the less “classical” Flemish F. Duquesnoy and the northerner Giambologna, who in his eyes embodied the traditions of the great masters of the Renaissance, idolized by him. Great importance for the creative growth of the French sculptor had the work of the largest Italian baroque master of the 17th century - Lorenzo Bernini. Recent studies speak of Girardon's work in his studio.
In Rome, Girardon lived only a few months. After the death of Thomassen, he returned to his homeland. Here he completed his first major work - decorating one of the most beautiful hotels in the city. Around 1652, at the call of Séguier, Girardon went to Paris. In the capital of France, together with other masters, he begins to work on orders from the directorate of royal buildings.
In 1657, Girardon entered the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, and two years later became its professor. In many ways, the sculptor achieved rapid success thanks to a close relationship with Charles Lebrun. Girardon shared the latter's views on art. Already in the early fifties, he joined the academic group of Lebrun. Biographers of Girardon even claim that since 1662 his attention to the work of Lebrun turned into blind worship.
“It is difficult to agree with this, given that Boileau, Racine, Conde and other bright, talented personalities of the era were among Girardon's friends,” S. Morozova believes. - Rather, we can talk about the really huge influence of Lebrun's ideas on the sculptor. In Paris, in the immediate vicinity of Lebrun, Girardon developed his own manner, temperament, talent and even genius. Here he learned to freely "treat" with mythology and symbolism. Creating his works, Girardon rethought antiquity in a modern spirit, which is typical for classicism of the second half of XVII century. The sculptor managed to enlist the support of influential people - Colbert and the architect A. Maneuver. One of Girardon's biographers noted that he later lost a lot with the death of his patrons, who saw him as a man of the old school and trusted works that other masters could not do.
The sixties for Girardon were especially fruitful. All large orders were concentrated in the hands of people who sympathize with the master. Lebrun first received the post of the first painter of the king, later director of the Royal Manufactory of Tapestries and Furniture, and Colbert headed the directorate of royal buildings. Not surprisingly, Girardon got the opportunity for fruitful work. He decorates the arch of the Apollo Gallery in Vaux-le-Vicomte, adorns Fontainebleau, but the true glory of Girardon is brought by the works he performed at Versailles.
The mastery of relief inherent in Girardon manifested itself in compositional images on decorative vases intended for Versailles (“The Triumph of Galatea”, “The Triumph of Amphitrite”).
Two of the most famous works of the sculptor are associated with the decoration of the front residence of Louis XIV, begun in those years: “Apollo served by nymphs” (“The Bath of Apollo”, 1666), the first sculptural group that glorified him, and which became the apogee of his fame, “The Rape of Proserpina” (1699).
Girardon executed the model of the "Baths of Apollo" in 1666, but the work of translating it into marble took another five years. It took place in the sculptor's own workshop, where T. Regnoden helped him. During this period, Girardon made his second trip to Italy: Colbert instructed him to follow the decoration of the royal fleet, which was being built in Toulon. From Toulon, the sculptor left for Rome and stayed there until May 1669.
The second trip to Rome, no doubt, is connected with the beginning of work on the Apollo group. This sculpture is the most "antique" of all created by the master. Girardon embodies here the power, strength and majestic beauty of antiquity. The sculptor's contemporaries could not fail to notice this. They compared him to the great masters of antiquity. It is natural that it was Girardon who was entrusted with the restoration of numerous antique statues in the royal collections, and among the most important works was the replenishment of missing hands in the Laocoön group.
In 1679, Felibien described the “Bath of Apollo”: “The sun, having completed its journey, descends to Thetis, where six of her nymphs serve him, helping to restore strength and refreshment, a group of seven figures of white marble, four of which were made by Francois Girardon and three - Thomas Regnoden. “The sculptor was captivated not only by the plot,” notes S. Morozova, “but also by the possibilities of its interpretation. None of the ancient groups, with the exception of the "Farnese bull" and "Niobid", did not include more than three figures. The antique statue "Apollo Belvedere" served as a model for the creation by Girardon of the figure of the main character, which is given on an enlarged scale compared to the images of the nymphs behind him. But the success of the group was predetermined not only by the appeal to the ancient model. Its expressiveness is in the harmonious combination of naturalness and ideal beauty, modernity and subtly perceived antiquity, in the unity of high intellectuality and the spirituality of the 17th century expressed in it.
Following the installation of the Apollo group in the romantic rocky grotto designed by Hubert Robert, new orders for Versailles followed. Only in 1699 another of his works was installed, undoubtedly belonging to the best creations. french art XVII century - "The Abduction of Proserpina".
The sculpture is placed in the center of a round colonnade, elegant in shape and proportions, created by the architect Hardouin-Mansart. On a cylindrical pedestal, surrounded by a relief depicting Ceres chasing Pluto, who is taking away Proserpina in a chariot, a sculptural group, complex in terms of composition and dynamic construction, rises. In accordance with the purpose of this work, Girardon focuses on the decorative expressiveness of the sculpture: designed to go around from all sides, the group has a great wealth of plastic aspects.
“Despite the influence of Bernini,” writes S. Morozova, “Girardon in his sculpture is in many ways the opposite of him. He develops a group of three figures, arranging it vertically, achieving unity and integrity of the composition. The skill of the sculptor lies in the fact that the group is carved from a single block of stone, and with what authenticity and naturalness he managed to convey in the plasticity of the figures the rapid movement and intensity of passions! By the brightness of the idea and the genius of the embodiment, this group is often compared with the outstanding work of classicism of the 17th century - the tragedy of J. Racine "Iphigenia".
Girardon also worked in other types of monumental sculpture. Yes, he owns tombstone Richelieu in the Sorbonne church (1694).
In 1692, in the center of Paris, on Place Vendôme, a monument was erected to the King of France - Louis XIV Girardon created a monument to the king, who said about himself: "The state is me." Flattering courtiers called him "the sun king."
The king is depicted seated on a solemnly stepping horse, he is in the attire of a Roman commander, but in a wig. The idealized image of Louis embodied the idea of the greatness and power of the all-powerful monarch. The sculptor found the necessary proportions between the statue and the pedestal, as well as the entire monument as a whole - with the square surrounding it and its architecture, thanks to which the equestrian statue turned out to be the true center of the majestic architectural ensemble.
From different places of the square the monument was visible in different ways. Those who looked at him from the front saw the wide step of the horse, the muscles playing under his skin, the muzzle with flaring nostrils, the majestic figure of the rider. When viewed from the side, the viewer first of all pays attention to the commanding gesture of the outstretched hand. The head is proudly thrown back, the face is framed by lush curls. But, despite the fashionable French wig, the rider wears the clothes of a Roman commander - a richly decorated shell, tunic, and cloak. If you look at the monument from behind, you can see curls scattered over the shoulders and deep folds of the cloak, on which the sunlight plays and sharp shadows appear.
This work of Girardon throughout the 18th century served as a model for equestrian monuments of European sovereigns.
A hundred years later, during the days of the French Revolution, the monument as a symbol of royal power was destroyed. But his model survived. It is located in the Hermitage, occupying a central place in the hall of French art of the second half of the 17th century.
We can say that Girardon, together with Puget and Cuasevox, express the entire 17th century - the era of classicism.
Details Category: Fine arts and architecture of the late 16th-18th centuries Published on 20.04.2017 18:22 Views: 2821Absolutism in France XVII V. considered devotion to the monarch to be the height of patriotism. The phrase of King Louis XIV is known: "The state is me."
But it is also known that at this time in France a new philosophical direction was established - rationalism, which considered the human mind to be the basis of knowledge. One of the founders of the new doctrine, Rene Descartes, said: "I think, therefore I am."
On the basis of this philosophy began to take shape a new style in art - classicism. It was built on the samples of antiquity and the Renaissance.
Architecture
Architecture changed its priorities and moved away from fortress cities to residence cities.
Maisons-Laffitte
Maisons-Laffite- the famous castle (palace) in the eponymous suburb of Paris, one of the few surviving creations of the architect Francois Mansart.
Francois Mansart(1598-1666) - French architect, is considered not only the greatest master of the French Baroque, but also the founder of classicism in France.
The Maisons-Laffitte Palace differs, for example, from the Luxembourg Palace in Paris, which resembles a castle fenced off from the outside world. Maisons-Laffite has U-shape, there is no longer a closed space.
Around the palace, a park was usually arranged, which was distinguished by an ideal order: the plants were trimmed, the alleys intersected at right angles, the flower beds were of regular geometric shape. It was the so-called regular (French) park.
Palace and park ensemble of Versailles
The ensemble of Versailles is considered the pinnacle of a new direction in architecture. This is a huge front residence of the French kings, built near Paris.
Versailles was built under the leadership of Louis XIV from 1661. It became an artistic and architectural expression of the idea of absolutism. Architects: Louis Leveaux and Jules Hardouin-Mansart.
The creator of the park is Andre Le Nôtre.
Carlo Maratta. Portrait of André Le Nôtre (c. 1680)
The Ensemble of Versailles is the largest in Europe. It is distinguished by a unique integrity of design, harmony of architectural forms and landscape. Before the French Revolution, Versailles was the official royal residence. In 1801 it received the status of a museum and is open to the public. In 1979, the Palace of Versailles and the park were included in the World cultural heritage UNESCO.
Parterre in front of the greenhouse
Versailles is an example of the synthesis of the arts: architecture, sculpture and landscape art. In 1678-1689. The ensemble of Versailles was rebuilt under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart. All buildings were decorated in the same style, the facades of the buildings were divided into three tiers. The lower one, modeled on an Italian Renaissance palazzo, is decorated with rustication, the middle one is filled with high arched windows, between which are columns and pilasters. The upper tier is shortened, ending with a balustrade (a fence consisting of a number of figured columns connected by a railing) and sculptural groups.
The park of the ensemble, designed by André Le Nôtre, is distinguished by a clear layout: geometric pools with a mirror-smooth surface. Each large alley ends with a reservoir: the main staircase from the terrace of the Grand Palace leads to the fountain of Latona; at the end of the Royal Alley are the fountain of Apollo and the canal. main idea the park is the creation of a unique place where everything is subject to strict laws.
Fountains of Versailles
Fountain of Latona
At the end of the XVII-beginning of the XVIII centuries. art in France gradually began to turn into a means of ideology. In the Place Vendôme in Paris one can already see the subordination of art to politics.
Place Vendôme. Architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart
In the center of Place Vendôme, there is a 44-meter Vendome column with a statue of Napoleon at the top, modeled on the Roman column of Trajan.
Vendôme column
The closed quadrangle of the square with cut corners is surrounded by administrative buildings with a single system of decoration.
One of the most significant monumental structures of the 17th century. in France - the Cathedral of the Invalides (1680-1706).
View of the House of Invalids from a bird's eye view
The Palace of Invalides (State House of Invalids) began to be built on the orders of Louis XIV in 1670 as a home for elderly soldiers (“war invalids”). Today it still accepts disabled people, but it also houses several museums and a military necropolis.
The cathedral of the Palace of the Invalides was created by Jules Hardouin-Mansart. The cathedral with its powerful dome changed the panorama of the city.
Cathedral
dome of the cathedral
East facade of the Louvre
Louvre. East facade. Architect K. Perro. Length 173 m
East facade of the Louvre (Colonnade) – bright pattern French classicism. The project was selected by competition. Among the participants were famous masters, but the victory was won by an unknown architect Claude Perrault(1613-1688), since it was his work that embodied the main ideas of the French: rigor and solemnity, scale and simplicity.
Sculpture
In the second half of the XVII century. French classicism already served to glorify the monarchy, so the sculpture that adorned the palaces was required not so much classical rigor and harmony as solemnity and splendor. Effectiveness, expressiveness, monumentality - these are the main features of French sculpture of the 17th century. This was helped by the traditions of the Italian Baroque, especially the work of Lorenzo Bernini.
Sculptor Francois Girardon (1628-1715)
G. Rigaud. Portrait of Francois Girardon
Studied in Rome under Bernini. Girardon completed the sculptural part of the Apollo Gallery in the Louvre. Since 1666, he has been working in Versailles - he creates the sculptural group "The Abduction of Proserpine by Pluto", the sculptural group "Apollo and the Nymphs" (1666-1673), the relief of the reservoir "Bathing Nymphs" (1675), "The Abduction of Persephone" (1677-1699) , "Victory of France over Spain", sculpture "Winter" (1675-1683), etc.
F. Girardon "Victory of France over Spain" (1680-1682), Palace of Versailles
Among the best works of the sculptor is the equestrian statue of King Louis XIV (1683), which adorned Place Vendôme in Paris and was destroyed during the Great French Revolution 1789-1799
F. Girardon. Equestrian statue of Louis XIV (c. 1699). Bronze. Louvre (Paris)
This is a reduced copy of the equestrian monument of Louis XIV, which adorned Place Vendôme. An ancient Roman statue of the emperor Marcus Aurelius served as a model. The monument perfectly fit into the architectural ensemble of the square. The work of Girardon throughout the XVIII century. served as a model for equestrian monuments of European sovereigns. A hundred years later, the monument - a symbol of royal power - was destroyed.
Antoine Coisevox (1640-1720)
French Baroque sculptor. He worked a lot in Versailles: he designed the War Hall and the Mirror Gallery.
Mirror gallery in Versailles
Kuazevoks also created sculptural portraits, which were distinguished by their accuracy and psychological characteristics. He used baroque techniques: unexpected poses, free movements, lush robes.
Pierre Puget (1620-1694)
Pierre Puget. Self portrait (Louvre)
Pierre Pugne is the most talented master of that time: a French painter, sculptor, architect and engineer. In his work, the influence of Bernini and the classic theater is felt.
Pierre Puget "Milon of Croton with a lion" (Louvre)
Puget's sculptures are notable for their lifelike persuasiveness in conveying tension and suffering, and for their combination of expression and clarity of composition. Sometimes he is fond of exaggeration and theatricality of poses and movements. But his style was very much in keeping with the tastes of his era. Compatriots even called him the French Michelangelo and Rubens.
Painting
In the 17th century the Royal Academy of Paris was established, it became the center of artistic activity and kept this path throughout the long reign of Louis XIV. All branches of art were centralized.
The first painter of the court was Charles Lebrun.
Charles Lebrun (1619-1690)
Nicola Largilliere. Portrait of the painter Charles Lebrun
He personally directed the Academy, influenced the tastes and worldview of a whole generation of artists, becoming the most important figure in the “Louis XIV style”. In 1661, the king commissioned Lebrun for a series of paintings from the history of Alexander the Great; the first of them brought the artist the nobility and the title of "First Royal Painter" and a lifetime pension.
Ch. Lebrun "Alexander's Entry into Babylon" (1664)
From 1662, Lebrun controlled all artistic commissions of the court. He personally painted the halls of the Apollo Gallery in the Louvre, the interiors of the castle of Saint-Germain and Versailles (the Military Hall and the Peace Hall). But the artist died before he could complete the murals of Versailles, which Noel Coypel completed according to his sketches.
C. Lebrun "Equestrian portrait of Louis XIV" (1668). Chartreuse Museum (Duai)
Pierre Mignard (1612-1695)
Pierre Mignard. self-portrait
Renowned French artist. Competed with Lebrun. Became head of the Academy of St. Luke in Paris, opposing the Royal Academy. In 1690, after the death of Lebrun, he became chief court painter, director of the royal art museums and manufactories, member and professor of the Paris Academy of Painting and Sculpture, and then its rector and chancellor. Almost at the age of 80, he creates projects for murals in the Cathedral of the Invalides, which are still kept in the Louvre, paints two plafonds in the small apartments of the king in the Palace of Versailles, paints a series of delicate religious paintings: “Christ and the Samaritan Woman”, 1690 (Louvre) ; "Saint Cecilia", 1691 (Louvre); "Faith" and "Hope", 1692.
The main advantage of his works is harmonious coloring. But in general, he paid tribute to his time in art: external brilliance, theatrical composition, gracefulness, but cutesy figures.
P. Minyar "Virgin with grapes"
These shortcomings are least noticeable in his portraits. He owns numerous portraits of courtiers, favorites of the king and Louis XIV himself, whom he painted about ten times.
P. Minyar. Equestrian portrait of Louis XIV
Of Mignard's frescoes, the most important were the painting in the dome of the Val-de-Grâce, which soon deteriorated due to the poor quality of the paints, and the mythological wall paintings in the great hall of the Saint-Cloud palace, which perished along with this building in 1870.
Pierre Mignard. Fresco of the dome of the Val-de-Grâce "Glory of the Lord"
In parallel with the Baroque style, the classicism style was born in France. In many cases, the architecture of classicism faced the same tasks as the architecture of the Baroque - the glorification of the power of the absolute monarch, the exaltation of the ruling class. But the architects of classicism use other means for this. The 17th century represents the first stage of classicism, when the features of this style did not reach the most rigorous and pure expression. Public and palace buildings erected by French architects, urban ensembles, palace and park complexes are imbued with the spirit of solemn splendor; their spatial solution is distinguished by clear logic, facades - by calm harmony compositional construction and proportionality of parts, architectural forms - simplicity and rigor.
Strict order is introduced even into nature - the masters of classicism created a system of the so-called regular park. The architects of classicism are widely turning to the ancient heritage, studying the general principles of ancient architecture, and above all the system of orders, borrowing and processing individual motifs and forms. It is no coincidence that religious buildings in the architecture of classicism do not have the great importance that they occupy in baroque architecture: the spirit of rationalism inherent in classic art did not favor the expression of religious and mystical ideas. Perhaps, to an even greater extent than in baroque architecture, the figurative content of the best architectural monuments of classicism turns out to be wider than their representative functions: the buildings of Hardouin-Mansart and the park complexes of Le Nôtre glorify not only the power of the king, but also the greatness of the human mind.
In the second half of the 17th century. absolute monarchy in France reaches its greatest economic and political power. Life at court becomes an endless holiday. At the center of this life is the personality of the sun king Louis XIV. His awakening from sleep, morning toilet, dinner, etc. - everything was subject to a certain ritual and took place in the form of solemn ceremonies.
It was during this period that French architecture flourished. In the capital of France, Paris, extensive city squares and large palace, public and religious buildings are being reconstructed and rebuilt. Grandiose expensive construction work is being carried out to create the country residence of the king - Versailles.
Only under the conditions of a powerful centralized monarchy was it possible at that time to create huge urban and palace ensembles made according to a single plan, designed to embody the idea of the power of an absolute monarch. The desire to search for a strict and monumental image, compositional integrity and stylistic unity of building structures is more clearly manifested. The architecture of this period had a huge impact on the formation of decorative sculpture, painting and applied arts.
In addition to the huge spatial scope of buildings and ensembles, new artistic features in the architecture of the middle and second half of the 17th century, manifested themselves in a more consistent application of the classical order system, in the predominance of horizontal divisions over vertical ones, in greater integrity and unity of the volumetric composition and the internal space of the building. Along with the classical heritage of antiquity and the Renaissance, the creation of the style of French classicism of the second half of the 17th century. Italian baroque architecture had a great influence. This was reflected in the borrowing of certain architectural forms (curved pediments, volutes, magnificent cartouches), in the order compositions of the facades and the principles for solving their internal space (enfilade), in some features of the layout of large ensembles (longitudinal-axial construction), as well as in the inherent architecture French classicism increased pomposity of architectural forms, especially in interiors. However, the forms of classical and baroque architecture are exposed in the 17th century. radical processing in connection with national artistic traditions, which made it possible to bring these often contradictory elements to artistic unity.
Since the 70s. 18th century we can talk about a new stage, when classicism is gradually becoming the leading trend not only in architecture, where it was defined earlier, but also in painting and sculpture. The art of this period embodied the “thirst for energetic action” that had taken possession of the French.
Classicism of the first half of the 17th century. Formation of style.
Town-planning work is being carried out extensively throughout the country. Old medieval towns are being rebuilt on the basis of new principles of regular planning. Direct highways are being laid, urban ensembles and geometrically regular squares are being erected on the site of a disorderly network of medieval streets. The main problem is becoming a large urban ensemble with development carried out according to a single plan. In the development of Paris and other cities of France, the role of churches and monastic complexes is significant. Baroque techniques are combined with the traditions of French Gothic and the new classicist principles of understanding beauty. Many religious buildings, built according to the type of basilica church established in the Italian Baroque, received magnificent main facades, decorated with orders of columns and pilasters, with numerous crepes, sculptural inserts and volutes.
Palace of the Palais Royal(Royal Palace) - the residence of Cardinal Richelieu was built in 1629. This is both a majestic palace, and an open square, and a beautiful well-groomed park. The author of the project is the famous French architect of that time, Jacques Lemercier. The palace served as the last refuge of the powerful cardinal, he lived here until his death in 1642. After the death of Richelieu, the palace was occupied by the dowager Anna of Austria with the young Louis XIV, who later became the Sun King. Then Cardinal Mazarin settled here. Then the palace ensemble became the property of the Duke of Orleans, the younger brother of King Louis XIII. At the end of the 18th century, significant changes were made to the architecture of the Palais Royal - slender columns, covered galleries, small shops and cozy cafes appeared here, and a beautiful garden with rare plants was opened to the general public.
The palace built for Cardinal Richelieu burned down in 1871, and in its place is a restored reconstruction, the architectural ensemble of which exactly repeats the old buildings.
Palace of the Palais Royal
Richelieu Palace in Poitou
Early examples of large ensemble compositions date back to the first half of the 17th century. The creator of the first ensemble of the palace, park and city of Richelieu in the architecture of French classicism was Jacques Lemercier (c. 1585 - 1654). In terms of the ensemble, there are two compositional axes. One axis coincides with the main street of the city and the park alley connecting the city with the square in front of the palace, the other is the main axis of the palace and the park. The layout of the park is built on a strictly regular system of alleys intersecting at right angles and diverging from one center. The city of Richelieu, located aside from the palace, was surrounded by a wall and a moat, forming a rectangle in plan. The layout of the streets and quarters of the city is subject to the same strict system of rectangular coordinates as the ensemble as a whole. The building of the Richelieu Palace was divided into the main building and outbuildings, which formed in front of it a large closed rectangular courtyard with a main entrance. The main building with wings, according to a tradition dating back to medieval castles, was surrounded by a moat filled with water. In the composition of the main building and outbuildings, angular tower-shaped volumes are distinguished, completed by high pyramidal roofs.
Jacques Lemersier. Richelieu Palace in Poitou. Started in 1627 Perel engraving
The Palais de Richelieu, as well as its regular park with deep perspectives of the alleys, extensive parterre and sculpture, was created as a majestic monument, designed to glorify the all-powerful ruler of France. The interiors of the palace were richly decorated with stucco and paintings, which exalted the personality of Richelieu and his deeds.
Classicism of the second half of the XVII century.
The second half of the 17th century was the time of the highest flowering of French classicism architecture. The organization of the Academy of Architecture had a great influence on the development of architecture, the director of which was the prominent architect and theorist Francois Blondel (1617 - 1686). The architect L. Levo in 1664 completes the quadrangular, with a closed courtyard, composition of the Louvre with the construction of its northern, southern and eastern buildings. The east façade of the Louvre, designed by C. Perrault, F. d'Orbe and L. Levo, completes this remarkable ensemble.
Ensemble of the palace and park Vaux-le-Vicomte (1655 - 1661).
The first work of architecture of French classicism of the second half of the 17th century, in which the predominance of artistic principles classicism over old traditions, was the ensemble of the palace and park of Vaux-le-Vicomte (1655 - 1661).
The creators of this remarkable work, built for the general controller of finances Fouquet and in many respects anticipating the ensemble of Versailles, were the architect Louis Leveau (c. 1612-1670), the master of landscape art Andre Le Nôtre, who laid out the park of the palace, and the painter Charles Lebrun, who took part in interior decoration of the palace and ceiling painting.
In the Vaux-le-Vicomte ensemble, the original principles of the French classicism of the 17th century developed. synthesis of architecture, sculpture, painting and gardening art, which gained even greater scope and maturity in the ensemble of Versailles.
The composition of the palace is characterized by the unity of the internal space and the volume of the building, which distinguishes the works of mature classicist architecture. The large oval saloon is highlighted in the volume of the building by a curvilinear risalit crowned with a powerful domed roof, creating a static and calm silhouette of the building. By introducing a large order of pilasters covering two floors above the plinth, and a powerful horizontal of a smooth, strict classical entablature in profiles, horizontal divisions predominate over vertical divisions in the facades. This gives the appearance of the palace a monumental representativeness and splendor.
The formation of classicism in French architecture is associated with the buildings of F. Mansart, marked by clarity of composition and order divisions. High examples of mature classicism in architecture of the 17th century are the eastern facade of the Louvre (C. Perrault), the work of L. Levo, F. Blondel. From the 2nd floor. 17th century French classicism incorporates some elements of baroque architecture (the palace and park of Versailles - architect J. Hardouin-Mansart, A. Le Nôtre).
Versailles. Architects Louis Leveaux, Jules Hardouin-Mansart, André Le Nôtre.
The pinnacle of the development of a new direction in architecture was Versailles - the grandiose front residence of the French kings near Paris. At first, a royal hunting castle appeared there (1624). The main construction unfolded during the reign of Louis XIV in the late 60s. The most prominent architects participated in the creation of the project: Louis Levo (circa 1612-1670), Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1b4b-1708) and the outstanding decorator of gardens and parks Andre Le Nôtre (1613-1700). According to their plan, the Grand Palace - the main part of the complex - was to be located on an artificial terrace where the three main avenues of Versailles converge. One of them - the middle one - leads to Paris, and two side ones - to the country palaces of So and Saint-Cloud.
Jules Hardouin-Mansart, having started work in 1678, designed all the buildings in the same style. The facades of the buildings were divided into three tiers. The lower one, modeled on an Italian Renaissance palace-palazzo, is decorated with rustication, the middle one - the largest one - is filled with high arched windows, between which there are columns and pilasters. The upper tier is shortened, it ends with a balustrade (a fence consisting of a number of figured columns connected by a railing) and sculptural groups that create a feeling of opulent decoration, although all facades have a strict look. The interiors of the palace differ from the facades in the luxury of decoration.
The first Trianon Palace, called the "Porcelain Trianon", was built in 1672 and lasted 15 years. coloring in chinese style in the eyes of Europeans, the building was given by facing the walls with faience tiles, faience vases and decorative elements of a high mansard roof made of gilded lead. Due to bad weather, faience very quickly lost its appearance and the king soon ceased to like the palace, he ordered to destroy it and build a new building on this site, more spacious and in a completely different style. A new one was erected on the site of the destroyed Porcelain Trianon - Marble Trianon, with pilasters of pink and green marble, which gave the building its name. The construction was entrusted to the first royal architect, Jules Hardouin Mansart.
Of great importance in the palace ensemble belongs to the park, designed by Andre Le Nôtre. He abandoned artificial waterfalls and baroque cascades, which symbolized the elemental beginning in nature. The pools of Le Nôtre have a clear geometric shape, with a mirror-smooth surface. Each large alley ends with a reservoir: the main staircase from the terrace of the Grand Palace leads to the fountain of Latona; at the end of the Royal Alley are the fountain of Apollo and the canal. The park is oriented along the "west - east" axis, so when the sun rises and its rays are reflected in the water, an amazingly beautiful and picturesque play of light appears. The layout of the park is connected with architecture - the alleys are perceived as a continuation of the halls of the palace.
The main idea of the park is to create a special world where everything is subject to strict laws. It is no coincidence that many consider Versailles to be a brilliant expression of the French national character, in which cold reason, will and determination are hidden behind external lightness and impeccable taste.
Louis XIV wanted Versailles to be one of the greatest palaces in Europe. He ordered the castle to be equipped with lush gardens, fountains where one could indulge in reflection, halls with stucco, precious fabrics and expensive gold paintings. The renovated Palace of Versailles appeared to the eyes of the discerning king in its full glory in 1684, becoming the architectural ideal for the rulers of many countries of that era. To this day, the palace has not lost its charm. Perfectly manicured gardens, fountains with an elegant play of water jets and lighting, as well as well-preserved structural elements of buildings - all this recreates the spirit of the era of the Sun King.
ARCHITECTURE OF FRANCE OF THE XVII CENTURY Completed by: Student of grade 10 a MBOU secondary school No. 94 Mikhailova Christina Checked by: History teacher Fatekhova Tatyana Alekseevna
In the 17th century, the principles of classicism took shape and gradually took root in French architecture. The state system of absolutism also contributes to this. - Construction and control over it are concentrated in the hands of the state. A new post of "Architect of the King" is introduced. - In urban planning, the main problem is a large urban ensemble with development carried out according to a single plan. New cities arise as military Salomon de Bros Luxembourg outposts or settlements near the palaces of the palace in Paris 1615 -1621 rulers of France. They are designed in the form of a square or rectangle in plan. Inside them, a strictly regular rectangular or radially circular system of streets with a city square in the center is planned. The old medieval cities are being rebuilt on the basis of new principles of regular planning. Large palace complexes are being built in Paris - Jacques Lemercier Palais. Luxembourg Palace and Palais Rho. Piano Paris 1624-1645 yal (1624, architect J. Lemercier).
François Blondel (1617-1686) made an important contribution to the theory and practice of French classicism. Among his best works is the triumphal arch, usually called the Porte Saint-Denis in Paris. One of the works of architecture of the second half of the 17th century, in which the predominance of the mature artistic principles of classicism is already clearly felt, is the country ensemble of the palace and park of Vaux-le-Vicomte near Melun
Jules Hardouin-Mansart Victory Square in Paris Begun in 1684 Place Vendôme 1687 -1720 Jules Hardouin-Mansart, Liberal Bruant Ensemble of Les Invalides in Paris Jules Hardouin-Mansart Les Invalides Cathedral 1679 -1706
In 1630, François Mansart introduced into the practice of building urban dwellings a high, broken form of the roof, using an attic for living quarters. The device, which received the name of the author "attic".
The peculiarities of the architecture of the middle and second half of the 17th century are reflected both in the huge volume of construction of large ceremonial ensembles, designed to glorify and glorify the ruling classes of the era of absolutism and the powerful monarch - the sun king Louis XIV, and in the improvement and development of the artistic principles of classicism. - there is a more consistent application of the classical order system: horizontal divisions prevail over vertical ones; - the influence of Italian Renaissance and Baroque architecture is increasing. This is reflected in the borrowing of baroque forms (curved pediments, lush cartouches, volutes), in the principles of solving the interior space (enfilade), especially in interiors, where baroque features are observed to a greater extent than classicism.
Baroque techniques are combined with the traditions of French Gothic and the new classicist principles of understanding beauty. Many religious buildings, built according to the type of basilica church established in the Italian Baroque, received magnificent main facades, decorated with orders of columns and pilasters, with numerous crepes, sculptural inserts and volutes. An example is the Church of the Sorbonne (1629 -1656, architect J. Lemercier) - the first religious building in Paris, crowned with a dome.
The full and comprehensive development of the trend in the architecture of classicism of the 17th century is received in the grandiose ensemble of Versailles (1668 -1689). The main creators of this most significant monument of French classicism of the 17th century were the architects Louis Leveau and Hardouin-Mansart, the master of landscape art Andre Le Nôtre (1613-1700) and the artist Lebrun, who participated in the creation of the interiors of the palace.
The peculiarities of the construction of the ensemble as a strictly ordered centralized system based on the absolute compositional dominance of the palace over everything around are due to its general ideological design. To the Palace of Versailles, located on a high terrace, three wide straight radial avenues of the city converge, forming a trident. The middle avenue of the trident leads to Paris, the other two - to the royal palaces of Saint-Cloud and So, as if connecting the main country residence of the king with various regions of the country.
The Theater of Versailles The Mirror Gallery The Staircase of the Queen The premises of the palace were distinguished by luxury and a variety of finishes. Expensive finishing materials (mirrors, embossed bronze, precious woods), the widespread use of decorative painting and sculpture - all this is designed to create an impression of stunning splendor. In the Mirror Gallery, thousands of candles were lit in shining silver chandeliers, and a noisy, colorful crowd of courtiers filled the palace suites, reflected in high mirrors.
The park sculpture of Versailles is actively involved in the formation of the ensemble. sculptural groups form complex and beautiful combinations with a variety of fountains and pools. The park of Versailles with its wide promenades, abundance of water served as a magnificent "stage platform" for colorful and magnificent spectacles - fireworks, illuminations, balls, performances, masquerades.
QUESTIONS 1. What is the new position introduced in France in the XVII century. ? A) The architect of the king B) The sculptor of the king C) The royal architect 2. What is the name of one of the best works of Francois Blondel? A) Invalides Cathedral B) Luxembourg Palace C) Arc de Triomphe in Paris 3. In what year did Francois Mansart put into practice the construction of an attic? A) 1660 B) 1632 C) 1630
4. Name the architect - the author of the Sorbonne church. A) Perrot B) Lemercier C) Left 5. What is the link between the royal palaces of Saint-Cloud and So? A) Regions of the country B) the main country residence of the king with various regions of the country C) The country residence of the king and the Palace of Versailles
Art of France in the second half of the 17th century. Architecture.
The rise of French absolutism in the second half of the 17th century was clearly reflected in the direction of the construction of those years. Large structures are being created in the country, glorifying the king as the head of absolutism. The participation of teams of major masters in them, the joint work of architects with sculptors, painters, masters of applied art, a bold and inventive solution of engineering and constructive problems led to the creation of remarkable examples of French architecture.
Louis Levo. The first large ceremonial park ensemble in French architecture was the Palace of Vaux-le-Viscount (1656-1661) created by Louis Levo (1612-1670). The building, like the palace of Mason F. Mansart, stands on an artificial island, but the channels are made much wider, and the level of the “island” is raised against the level of the surrounding area. The vast park located behind the house includes, in addition to large parterre areas, a number of pools and canals framed by stone, a large terrace with grottoes, stairs, etc. The gardens of the Vaux-le-Viscount castle were the first example of the so-called French regular parka. The gardener Andre Le Nôtre (1613-1700), whose name is associated with the final creation of the regular park system with its geometric planning technique, which later received the name "French Park", and the painter Charles Lebrun (see . below). All these three masters then moved on to the construction of the largest palace building in France in the 17th century - the royal palace in Versailles.
As Lemercier's successor as chief royal architect, Levo continued the construction of the Louvre, adding the eastern half of the palace to the parts previously erected by Lescaut and Lemercier, thus enclosing its main square courtyard.
Ensemble of Versailles. The ensemble of Versailles, located 17 kilometers southwest of Paris, covers a vast territory, including vast parks with various structures, pools, canals, fountains and the main building - the building of the palace itself. The construction of the ensemble of Versailles (the main works were carried out from 1661 to 1700) cost a lot of money and required the hard work of a huge number of craftsmen and artists of various specialties. The entire territory of the park was leveled, the villages located there were demolished. With the help of special hydraulic devices, a complex system of fountains was created in this area, for the supply of which very large pools and channels were built for that time. With great luxury, using valuable materials, the palace was decorated, richly decorated with sculptures, paintings, etc. Versailles became the common name for a magnificent palace residence.
The main works at Versailles were carried out by the architect Louis Leveaux, the horticulturist-planner André Le Nôtre and the painter Charles Lebrun.
The work on the expansion of Versailles constituted the final stage of Levo's activity. It was noted above that back in the 1620s, Lemercier built a small hunting castle in Versailles. Louis XIV decided to create on the basis of this building, by completely rebuilding and significantly expanding it, a large palace surrounded by a vast beautiful park. The new royal residence had to match the grandeur of the "sun king" in its size and architecture.
Levo built up the old castle of Louis XIII from three outer sides with new buildings, which formed the main core of the palace. In addition, he demolished the wall that closed the Marble Court, attached new premises to the ends of the building, due to which a second central courtyard was formed between the two parts of the palace protruding towards the city. As a result of the restructuring, the palace increased several times.
The facade of the palace from the side of Levo Park was processed with Ionic columns and pilasters, located on the second - front floor. The wall of the first floor, covered with rustication, was treated as a pedestal serving as the basis for the order. Levo considered the third floor as an attic crowning the same order. The facade ended with a parapet with fittings. Roofs, usually very high in French architecture, were made low here and completely hidden behind the parapet.
The next period in the history of Versailles is associated with the name of the largest architect of the second half of the 17th century - Jules Hardouin Mansart (1646-1708), who from 1678 led the further expansion of the palace. J. Hardouin Mansart the Younger significantly changes the park facade of the palace by building the famous "Gallery of Mirrors" by building a former terrace in the center of this facade.
In addition, Mansart attaches two large long wings to the main part of the palace - the north and south. The height and layout of the facades of the southern and northern wings were set in common with the central part of the building. The same height, the emphasized linearity of all buildings fully corresponded to the “flat” style of the park layout (see below about it).
The main room of the palace - the Mirror Gallery - occupies almost the entire width of the central part of the structure. The system of arched window openings on the outer wall is answered by flat niches covered with mirrors on the opposite wall. Paired pilasters divide the pylons between them. As well as the entire wall cladding up to the crowning cornice, they are made of polished multi-colored marble. The capitals and bases of the pilasters and numerous reliefs on the walls are made of gilded bronze. The vaulted ceiling is completely covered with painting (Ch. Lebrun's workshop, see below), dissected and framed with magnificent modeling. All these pictorial compositions are devoted to the allegorical glorification of the French monarchy and its head - the king, from adjacent to the Mirror Gallery, located in the corner parts of the central building, square in terms of the halls of War and Peace, enfilades of other front rooms located along the side facades begin.
The composition of Versailles perfectly embodied the idea of absolutism, the idea of autocratic royal power and the feudal social hierarchy: in the center is the residence of the king - a palace that subjugates the entire surrounding landscape. The latter was brought into a strict geometric system, fully corresponding to the clear linear forms of the palace buildings.
The entire park layout is subject to a single axis, coinciding with the axis of the palace. In front of its main façade, there is a central “water parterre” with two symmetrical reservoirs. From the stalls, stairs lead to the Latona pool. Further, the central alley, called the "Green Carpet" in this area, leads to the pool of Apollo, riding in a chariot to meet his mother Latone. Behind the Apollo basin begins the Grand Canal, which has the shape of a cross in plan. On the right side of the Grand Canal is the Trianon area with the Grand Trianon pavilion, the work of J. Hardouin Mansart. The sun sets behind the Grand Canal, thus even nature is associated with the layout of Versailles. The cult of the sun was given a special place in the decoration of Versailles: after all, the king himself was called the sun, the pool of the sun god Apollo was in the center of the park.
On the sides of the alleys there were bosquets of cut greenery, in the planning of the park the so-called “star” technique was also widely used - platforms with radially diverging paths.
Many sculptures were placed in the park - marble and bronze; partly they were located against the background of cropped bosquets of greenery, partly in specially created structures (colonnades with fountains around Girardon's The Abduction of Proserpina, a grotto for a large group of Apollo and the muses of his own work).
Construction in Paris. Along with construction at Versailles, extensive work was carried out during these years in Paris itself. A particularly prominent place among them belongs to the further construction of the Louvre. Work on the expansion of the Louvre was undertaken even before the full deployment of construction in Versailles, in the years when it was not finally decided where the main royal residence should be created - in Paris itself or in its environs. The organized competition did not give satisfactory results. After negotiations, the Italian master L. Bernini was invited to France (see above), who created a project according to which it was planned to demolish all the buildings that stood on this site, clear the entire vast territory between the Louvre and the Tuileries from development and create a new vast palace on this site. However, Bernini's project was not implemented in kind either.
Claude Perrot. The construction of the Louvre began to be carried out according to the project of Claude Perrault. (1613-1688). Perrault also provided for the unification of the Louvre and the Tuileries into a single building, with the creation of a new external appearance of the building, but with the preservation of all its former parts and courtyard facades (Goujon-Lescaut, Lemercier, Levo, etc.). Perrault's plan was only partially realized. The most interesting and significant part was the famous eastern facade of the Louvre with its Corinthian colonnades on the sides of the central solemn portal - the entrance to the front courtyard.
Francois Blondel. A prominent place among the buildings of Paris of this time is occupied by the triumphal arch built by Francois Blondel (1618-1686) at the entrance to Paris from the side of the faubourg Saint-Denis. Blondel managed to solve the traditional, presented in antique architecture so numerous examples of the theme of the triumphal arch. In a large massif close to a square, completed with a strict Doric entablature, an opening with a semicircular completion was cut. The pylons on its sides are decorated with flat obelisks with relief images placed on them.
Both the Louvre colonnade of Perrault and the Arch of Saint-Denis of Blondel testify to the classicist orientation of French architecture of the 17th century.
F. Blondel and C. Perrault also acted as theorists. Blondel owns an extensive "Course of Architecture" (1675-1683), Perrault published the "Rules of Five Orders" (1683) and a new translation of Vitruvius with his drawings, which for a long time was rightfully considered the best (1673). Since the organization in 1666 of the Royal Academy of Architecture, Blondel and Perrault took part in its work, and for a long time Blondel was at the head of the Academy.
Jules Hardouin Mansart. Somewhat younger than Perrault and Blondel was the aforementioned Jules Hardouin, a relative and student of Francois Mansart, who later adopted his surname and was called J. Hardouin Mansart. Unlike Blondel and Perrault, he worked exclusively as a practitioner, but in terms of the volume of what he built, he far surpassed them. The most significant buildings of Hardouin Mansart (except for the works in Versailles, which have already been discussed above) was the creation of Place Vendôme in Paris and the building of the Cathedral of the Invalides.
Place Vendôme (1685-1698) was a new interpretation of the theme of the front city square. The residential, palace-type houses framing it were united by Mansart with single facades, which created the impression of a square enclosed by two symmetrical large buildings. Their lower floors were processed with rustication, the two upper floors were united by Ionic pilasters (in the center and at the cut corners, the motif of semi-columns with pediments was introduced), windows of attic living quarters protruded above the roofs (“mansard” - on behalf of Mansart). In the middle of the square, an equestrian statue of Louis XIV by Girardon was placed on a pedestal (it was removed during the French bourgeois revolution, and under Napoleon I, the Vendôme column was installed in this place).
The Cathedral of the Invalides (1675-1706) was added by Mansart to the vast House of the Invalides, which already existed in kind, which was supposed to emphasize the concern of Louis XIV for the numerous invalids, victims of the wars of conquest that took place under him. The building of the cathedral, almost square in plan, includes a central hall, above which a dome rises. This hall is connected with four round corner chapels through passages cut in the arrays of domed pylons. Outwardly, on a high rectangular array of the lower tier, corresponding to the main hall and chapels, there is a high dome on a large drum. The ratio of the parts is excellent, and the silhouette of the cathedral is one of the most expressive in the appearance of Paris.
In the execution of his extensive works, Mansart relied on the staff of his workshop, which at the same time was also a practical school for young architects. Many major architects of the early 18th century came out of Mansart's workshop.
