The Role of French Architecture in French Culture

Castles, palaces, and cathedrals are scattered across Europe. Each one possesses unique characteristics and architecture bearing resemblance of their time. Some castles incorporate Greek influence, roman or gothic influence in design. Other castles and palaces are surrounded by sculptures outside in the courtyard or include sculptures worshiped as an altarpiece. While any one of these things would serve to make an ordinary castle more elaborate there is one palace that possesses all of these: The Palace of Versailles in France. The Palace of Versailles has managed to incorporate classic architecture, exquisite sculptures, and amalgamated the old design with the newer design trends of the day.

There were several strong influences on painters after the French Revolution, especially in the Neoclassical and Romantic periods. The bloody events of the revolution inspired painters to write about similarly important and momentous events, and it was not just French painters who took steps to show these emotions through their work. From the Neoclassical period, Jacques-Louis David’s “The Oath of the Horatii” conveys these ideas, and from the Romantic period, Eugene Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People” show similar ideas.

The Notre Dame Cathedral is certainly one of the most beautiful locations in the world, as the city of Paris as a whole and the building's surroundings contribute to making visitors acknowledge the importance of this monument. Construction on the cathedral started in 1163 and was largely finished by 1250, with most of its features emphasizing Gothic influences. The building's architecture, the sculptures present in it, and the impressive stained glass all stand as reminders that the French community invested most of its cultural values into the church at the time when it was constructed.

The two artists that I have chosen are: Pablo Picasso "Guernica" and Eugene Delacroix "Liberty Leading the people". Eugene Delacroix was born in France and was under the strict mentor ship of Pierre Guerin (Przybylek, 1). When Delacroix was seventeen, he began to pursue his studies at the Rouen and under the strict membership of Guerin; he quickly lost interest in neoclassical style and began to pursue Romanticism. Romanticism can be defined as," the movement in nineteenth-century European culture, concerned with the power of the imagination and greatly valuing intense feeling"(DeWitte Larmann Shields, 405). Romanticism was used to describe the conflict of the European and American Revolution. Romanticism was used to challenge the current state of society. "Liberty Leading the People", embodies the sacrifices of a changing society. Delacroix uses an oil medium that is supported by a canvas (Artble, 1). To use an oil as medium gives the piece "a rich luminosity that captivates the emotions of the viewer"(DeWitte Larmann Shields, 186).

From doing this first assignment project, I learned how focused the French culture is on art and how involved it is in their everyday lives. Art can come in so many forms in the French culture, a few being paintings, sketches, sculpting, and making music. As well as this, I learned about Impressionism which is a form of art that specifically came from the French culture in the 1870s and the 1880s. This form of art was created by a group of Impressionists whom were all French. Lastly, I learned how the French culture is full of elegance and love, which is also displayed through their artwork as well.

The French Quarter, which is, also known as the Vieux Carré is on the crescent in the Mississippi River on some of the highest ground in New Orleans. It is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville founded New Orleans in 1781, the city developed around the Vieux Carré, a central square. The community is used to for residents to take time to welcome the visitors in the streets. The Vieux Carré Commission was established in New Orleans in 1921. It was the first historic preservation commission in the U.S State that was approved in 1936.

The story symbolizes the courage to sacrifice own lives for the sake of the glory of their nations, and the painting later became an icon for the French Revolution (Harris & Zucker, n.d.). Liberty Leading the People (Delacroix,

Parisian Sights and French Principles, seen through American Spectacles (1856), was written for an American audience by James Jackson Jarves during his time in Paris during 1851. The book is part of a larger series written by Jarves throughout his career to allow Americans to view the World outside of the United States. During this book he tries to compare the two sister Republics, and show how French Republicanism aligns with the American version. To Jarves’ dismay the two Republics are not as similar as he thought, leading him to ponder “Why Republicanism was a curse in France, and a blessing in America?” Throughout the book he goes about trying to answer this question. Jarves thought Republicanism was a curse in France because of the long

The Palace of Versailles, a great architecture feat that took 36,000 workers and 20 years to complete. A testament to Louis XIV power an ambition it shows the height of French baroque principles. As such, it should be noted that Louis XIV did establish the French classical baroque style that we see today. within the palace. As you first reach the palace, you will see the grandeur and the grandiose scale of the place. It is designed from outside to be shown as a place of higher superiority and class. But as you step inside you will see the elegance of the interior. With the interior. as the one shown in the place of Versailles, the elegant interior is shown to be one of the major important things to classify an architecture as baroque. Also,

Artists like David supported the rebels through an art that asked for clear-headed thinking, self-sacrifice to the State (as in Oath of the Horatii) and an austerity reminiscent of Republican Rome." (Dr. Beth Gersh-Nesic, n.d 2017), with the revolution of French articles has used there painting to convey and integrate what it all look or has been like over the years which has also given birth to the new age in Europe and another western

In Eugene Delacroix’s “Liberty leading the People,” the painting illustrates a rebel holding a flag up over dead French soldiers. This shows that the people of France were fighting for freedom and rights. In the Annual Register’s “An Eyewitness Account of the Revolutions of 1848 in Germany,” it explains how the German Revolution took place because the rebels demanded liberty of press and speech, trial by jury, and full rights of public meetings. In the CNN’s “Arab Spring” video, it explains that the rebellion mainly called for the creation of jobs due to the states inability to give employment opportunities. The Revolutions of 1848 called for civil liberties, while the Arab Spring Movement focused on correcting the economic

The Palace of Versailles is an architectural masterpiece due to the Baroque influences that give it a larger than life theatrical flair. Versailles is intriguing due to the complex history into the building of it and the multidimensional designs of the palace, gardens, and town. Louis XIV’s building of Versailles Palace utilizes Baroque aesthetics to legitimize the absolute power of royalty.

“Architecture or Revolution?” in Le Corbusier’s belief was the only way to avoid class-based revolution in industrialized architecture (Quirk, 2012). Le Corbusier, born Charles Édouard Jeanneret, was born into an artistic family in 1877 in a small village in Switzerland. His mother was a pianist and his father was a designer of watch dials. Even though he learned piano and father’s trade he got interested in the architecture when he was 13 years old. He learned from L’Eplatenier, a teacher in La Chaaux-de-Fund. His teacher opened his eyes and led him to the direct observation of life. He was an instinctive genius by turning older building designs into newer more modern designs. Le Corbusier is one of the most significant architecture’s of the 20th century, and one who led architecture to the modern era.

In the 19th century, architecture had great influenced by earlier architecture movements and styles which were adapted to the new technology of the early modern age. The revivals of Greek, Gothic and Renaissance design were fused with engineering methods and materials.1 The development of technology is closely associated with the production and use of materials and steel consumption and was considered as the economic development of many countries, in Europe and America. Steel, iron and aluminium metals are used in building construction, were in the earliest time introduced into the building materials such us: iron and aluminium. In the middle 19th century in architecture emerged characteristic development of new materials as a result of the new industrial needs, rapid development began in the structures in this period. In the building, new forms were demanded to emerge “modern” architecture. In the middle year of the century cast iron and steel was used structurally in a large building which was used mainly for a publics such us: greenhouses, covered markets and halls, passages, exhibition pavilions, utility building and railways. 2

Paris today is known as a center of arts and rich culture both acclaimed and original. Famous moments pop up through the history of France’s art, such as the impressionistic artworks by Monet, the École des Beaux-Arts teachings of classicism, and the iconic Eiffel Tower by Stephen Sauvestre. Paris augments itself with numerous museums to catalog countless masterpieces and sculptures throughout France’s enduring, yet sometimes gritty, history. As a whole, Paris comprises of a mixture between historic architectural themes like rusticated brick clad, mansard roofs, striated columns, and a modern day architectural themes like engineered metalwork, and external program support machinery. The notion of classic French architecture, juxtaposed