Versailles

1. Versailles

2. Outline • Introduction • Part I. Louis XIV, the Sun King • Part II. Versailles, center of power • Part III. The Hall of mirrors • Conclusion • References

3. Introduction • The wealth of art found at Versailles is famous for its quantity, quality, and diversity • The system of absolute monarchy emphasized the role of the king, and no monarch was more successful in creating the image of monarchy than Louis XIV • He took the sun as his emblem and connected himself to its radiant image. Portraits, woodcuts, and engravings of the king portrayed as the Greek sun god Apollo • Throughout Versailles, decoration combines images and attributes of Apollo (laurel, lyre, tripod) with Louis XIV’s portraits and emblems (the double LL, the royal crown, the sceptre and hand of justice)

5. Part I. Louis XIV, the Sun King • Louis XIV (1638-1715), King of France. Only five when he became king on the death of his father, Louis XIII • Regency, confided to his mother, Anne of Austria, was marked by a period of rebellion known as the Fronde (1648–1653), led first by the nobility • After Mazarin died in 1661, Louis declared that he would rule France without a chief minister, intended to rule as an absolute monarch, believing that his power as king was derived from God and that he was responsible to God alone • Intimidating, majestic, and fully informed by his spies, the king controlled everything, he identified himself totally with the state in the famous phrase, 'I am the State'

7. Part II. Versailles, center of power • In 1623, Louis XIII built a 'hunting lodge, a little gentleman's chateau' of brick, stone, and slate at Versailles • Then from 1661 to 1668 the young Louis XIV, had his own architect, Louis Le Vau, embellish the residence • In May 6, 1682, Versailles became the official residence of the Court of France, supplanting the palaces at the Louvre and Saint-Germain-en-Laye • Devoting himself to his people, he put himself constantly on public show—Versailles was open to everyone • Access to the monarch was governed by court ceremonial, and the immutable rites of the Sun King's day drove the entire 'court mechanism'

9. Part III. The Hall of mirrors • From 1678 to 1684, the terrace of the new chateau was transformed into the Hall of Mirrors, symbolizing the power of the absolute monarch • Erected to the glory of Louis XIV and now the chief masterpiece of Versailles • Le Brun designed thirty compositions, showing the monarch in various guises: Roman emperor, great administrator of the kingdom, and victor over foreign powers • The hall measures 73 metres long, 10.5 metres wide, and 12.3 metres high; Seventeen windows overlooking the garden are matched by seventeen arcaded mirrors along the wall • Exceptionally large mirrors were made in a Paris workshop founded by Colbert to compete with Venice's glass factories

11. Conclusion • Louis XIV ruled for 72 years, the longest reign in European history, he inherited a kingdom that was internally divided, militarily exhausted, and nearly bankrupt. He left to his heirs the greatest power in the Western world • He expanded the effectiveness of the central government, increased the boundaries of France to the north and east, and placed one of his grandsons on the throne of Spain • The Hall of Mirrors was not only the symbolic focus of the kingdom during the ancien régime, but also continued to play a key historical role after the Revolution. In 1919, the First World War officially ended when Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles in the Hall of Mirrors

13. References • http://www.chateauversailles.fr • http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761572792 • http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/versailles.html • http://www.cupola.com/html/bldgstru/baroque/baroq02.htm • http://www.vitruvio.ch/arc/baroque/french/versailles.htm • http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Chateau_de_Versailles.html