French Baroque and Classicism
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.
In the early part of the 17th century, late
mannerist and early
Baroque tendencies continued to flourish in the court of
Marie 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 the
Counter-Reformation. Artists in France frequently debated the merits between
Peter Paul Rubens (the Flemish baroque, voluptuous lines and colors) and
Nicolas 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 three
Le Nain brothers. In the paintings of
Philippe de Champaigne there are both propagandistic portraits of
Louis XIII' s minister
Cardinal Richelieu and other more contemplative portraits of people in the Catholic
Jansenist sect.
Main article: French baroque 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.) Through
propaganda, wars and great architectural works,
Louis XIV launched a vast program designed for the glorification of France and his name. The
Palace of Versailles, initially a tiny hunting lodge built by his father, was transformed by Louis XIV into a marvelous palace for fêtes and parties. Architect
Louis Le Vau, painter and designer
Charles Le Brun and the landscape architect
André 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 Finance
Nicolas Fouquet. Having offered a lavish festival for the king in the newly finished residence in 1661 (Le Brun, Le Vau, Le Nôtre, the poet
La Fontaine, the playwright
Molière 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.
In this period, Louis' minister
Jean-Baptiste Colbert established royal control over artisanal 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 the
genres of painting (the noblest being
history painting), a strong use of pictorial
rhetoric and a strict sense of decorum.
The furnishings and interiors from this period are referred to as
Louis XIV style; they are characterized by thick brocades of red and gold, heavy gilt work on plaster moldings, large sculpted sideboards, and heavy marbles.
Eventually, Versailles was transformed into the official residence of the king (1682); the
Hall of Mirrors was built; other smaller châteaux like the
Grand Trianon were built on the grounds; a huge canal featuring gondolas and gondoliers from Venice 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.
Through 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 the last years dark ones.
*
Anthony Blunt:
Art and Architecture in France 1500-1700 ISBN 0300053142
*André Chastel.
French Art Vol III: The Ancient Régime ISBN 2080136178
*
French artists of the seventeenth century*
Baroque*
Baroque art*
Classicism
