Versailles - Absolute Architecture Of An Absolute King Story of the Versailles Palace and Its Construction through an Art Historical View how Did Louis Xiv Plan The Construction? where Can We Find The King In The Architecture?

Still, the negative aspects of France’s rule under King Louis XIV far outweigh the positive ones. His reign can best be described by the statement “L’état, c’est moi,” (I am the state) that is attributed to him. King Louis XIV spent state money to pay for his own luxuries and monuments that glorified his image. It was also customary for the artists King Louis XIV sponsored to include direct or indirect allusions to him in their productions thus creating a god-like image of him. The Palace of Versailles alone used 5% of France’s income. This liberal

Another great piece of evidence supporting the statement that Louis XIV is the best example of an absolute monarch is his palace at Versailles. This palace was bigger than any other palace, more expensive, and better in just about everyway, except for being good for its country, France. The palace at Versailles was originally built as a small hunting lodge by Louis XIV’s father, Louis XIII in 1624. In 1669, Louis XIV decided to expand the palace, and moved into the palace in 1682 while parts of the building were still under construction. The palace was of monumental size, with a around 2,000 rooms, 15,000 acres of gardens and lawns and woods, and costing what would cost an estimated $2 billion in 1994, a extremely large sum of money for France. To run the fountains, it would cost so much money and use so much water that Louis’ workers would turn the fountains on when they saw him coming, and turn them off when he passed. The palace usually held about 7,000

Pre-Revolution France Up until 1789, France was an absolute monarchy ruled by a King who claimed his total power to govern to be God-given. In 1775, that divine King became 19-year-old Louis XVI of the House of Bourbon. The new French King was initially happily welcomed to the throne by his subjects, as he “wanted to do well by his people, including the poor, if only he could determine what it meant”; but he was not able to do so due to circumstances that “made him more of a prisoner than a prince, and far removed from his subjects.” Indeed, Louis XVI inherited one of the world’s most powerful and wealthy dynasties, but he also governed a nation that was choked by mounting debt, rampant fiscal mismanagement, and a highly inequitable system

France because an absolute monarchy because of two influences, Cardinal Richelieu and Cardinal Mazarin. These two men were very forceful in their changes, consequently, Louis XIV learned how to impose his authority. Not head on, but without pressure. Louis centralized his power by not having one minister under him. If someone had a problem they could address the king and he would deal with it.

King Louis XIV was born on September 5, 1638 in a place called Saint-Germaine-en-Laye, France (Louis XIV Biography). Louis XIV became King of France in 1643 and he began to reform France and make changes to France. Louis XIV ideology was the ideology of an absolute monarch. Louis XIV believed that all kings ruled by divine right. He believed that God gave him the authority to rule France. He believed he was the French state and that he should be in complete control. Cardinal Richelieu was a man who helped guide Louis XIV when he became king. Richelieu pushed for absolutism and Catholicism when Louis was King. Richelieu also made sure that Catholicism remained strong in France. Cardinal Jules Mazarin was a man who took over after Richelieu and one who Louis listened to very dearly. Mazarin told Louis to “Distrust everyone”. Mazarin told Louis to keep his ideas to himself and to keep everything secret. King Louis XIV had a group of people or a “Cabinet” that Louis trusted. Mazarin told Louis that there were two ways to achieve glory. One was to build a large and expensive palace and another way was to increase your countries territory. King Louis XIV built a huge palace called “The Palace of Versailles”. Louis’ palace was very beautiful inside and outside and he spent millions of dollars of this palace. Inside, gold was everywhere, gorgeous pictures and paintings were on the walls. Louis XIV was referred to as the “Sun King” because Louis stated “I am the state”. Louis said

Ruler Louis XIV did a great deal of things taking after the attributes of a flat

Louis XIV, the ruler of France from the late seventeenth century to the early eighteenth century, claimed, “I am the state.” He considered this to be absolutism. His goal, also acquainted with absolutism, was, “one king, one law, one faith;” Furthermore, Louis wanted to promote religious unity, royal dignity, and security of the state. In order to achieve this goal, he had to rule with a firm hand, laying down the law for all to see. Louis XIV’s absolutism fostered in four major parts: the building of Versailles to control the nobility, the breeding of a strong military, the improvement of France’s economy, and, while quite harsh, the brutal extinction of religious toleration.

The reign of Louis XIV was the longest of the modern era, and during his time, France reached remarkable achievements in art and architecture, such as the Palace of Versailles. Louis XIV was responsible for creating the lavish complex that was filled with Baroque interiors and surrounded by French and English gardens. In its later years, it was further renovated for other kings then given to the Republic for public use. Through its elaborate ornamentation and massive scale, the Palace of Versailles represents the glory of the Sun King and expresses the power of the French monarchy.

Another thing that Louis changed was the appearance and way of life of France. These great towns of France went under a sort of "metamorphosis". The landscape was altered and monuments were built everywhere. Louis decided that he wanted to isolate the center of government from the city of Paris, so he constructed the palace of Versailles. It was an object of universal admiration and enhanced French prestige. It became Louis’ permanent address in 1682 and was also the home to thousands of the more important nobles, royal officials, and

Just as he did with his ballet performances, Louis continued to infuse theatricality into his political strategy by creating spectacles that captured his nobles’ attention and demonstrated their king’s immense power to them. Principally, there was Versailles, which represents the most tangible example of Louis’ use of spectacles to establish and flaunt power. In Louis’ political strategy of utilizing spectacle, perception was reality, and he used France’s perception of him to validate and reinforce the reality of his power. Versailles represented a concrete way to constantly remind his potential enemies--some of whom were nobles that he forced to live with him in Versailles after the Fronde--of his power. Versailles represented luxury and extravagance on the grandest scale. The Primi Visconti described that “there is no mine in the world as valuable as Versailles.” The grandeur of Versailles reflected and reinforced the grandeur of Louis, thereby building up his power, because Versailles was Louis in a sense. Just as Louis was the Sun King, Versailles was the sun palace, brimming with solar symbolism. Again, art became potent political propaganda.

Chapters two to eight follow each other chronologically, and examine how the image of Louis XIV changed during his reign. Chapter two pays particular attention to the different media used by the king and his 'image-makers '. This chapter is a good introduction to the different styles and genres used to create royal images, for example by comparing classicism and baroque and explaining recurrent allegories, metaphors and commonplaces used in the representations of Louis XIV. Chapters two to four give us the necessary background to understand the study of the relation between art and power in the time of Louis XIV. Whilst in chapter three, Peter Burke concentrates on how royal representations respond to contemporary events, he then is primarily concerned in chapter four with the construction of the structures of glorification of the king. The reader is introduced to two key figures in

Schönbrunn Palace is a political, cultural, and artistic marvel as it stands today and during the period it was made and as it exists today. The building and all surrounding buildings are meant to be taken in as a whole, as if it were four walls of canvases each unique and significant while still being part of the room. Schönbrunn is seen as a Gesamtkunstwerks. It was meant to out shine Versailles Palace in France. (5,6) From the height of the Hapsburg Empire to the present, the Baroque-style Schönbrunn Palace has provided a splendid showcase for Austria’s rich cultural tradition. It is situated on the premises of former hunting grounds, the Baroque palace, completed in 1713 still stand to contest its beauty against other baroque style palaces. While it is a precedent of Versailles its Zoo also became a precedent for future architecture. The typology of this site is one of monarchical power, leisure hunting, and the summer home, as well as heritage.(2, 3, 6) This paper will describe the Schönbrunn Palace and provide a historical exploration of the cultural form. The paper will begin with, a physical description of Palace and surrounding areas, which will explore aspects such as the structure, and decorative aspects, Buildings and other landmarks that are a part of the overall Palace. Following the physical description, the historical context of the site will be analyzed, after which the principles of design will be explained.

Day-to-day life in the palace you would wake early in the morning before Louis XIV woke up to see him was up. If you were Louis XIV you would wake up to all your servants watching you. The man with the highest rank of nobility would hand the king his shirt. Reason why they watch him wake up is because they consider him as the Sun King and they want to see the “sun rise”. Another reason he is the Sun King is that everyone revolves around him like the sun in our solar system. People did many things in the Palace like dancing, hunting, and playing cards. Though I am pretty sure they always let him win. Also he would take many walks in the garden everyday with his servants. Everyday his cloths would get fancier and fancier as well as a haircut also a shave everyday. Each of the salons was name after each of the seven known planets in our solar system. There was also a grand theater that all the aristocrats would go to and watch Louis XIV perform.

Louis XIV turned France around from an unorganized feuding country to one of the most organized, powerful, innovative monarchies in Europe. In addition, he managed to advance civil equality among the people by turning all the people into his loyal subjects (Norton, p.175). How did he do all this? The armed forces that had formerly been a private enterprise who had been fighting against each other or had hired themselves out for payment, was taken over and consolidated into one entity fighting, by the king for the king. He made war an activity of the state which produced peace and order in France while strengthening the fighting power of France against other states (Norton, p.175). In addition, he put soldiers in uniform, taught them how to march in step and housed them in barracks which assisted them in becoming more susceptible to discipline and control (Norton, p.175). There was now a hierarchy in place and was able to get a greater degree of government control that put him on the top as the commander in chief of the army due to his power and the creation of the first large civilian administration (Norton, p.176). This was the first time that ministers of war consisted of civilians and this grew the armies power exponentially. Louis XIV also overhauled the grandeur of France when he took an old village Versailles and turned it into the palace of Versailles that became known as one of the most splendid marvels in Europe so much so, that it became the envy of lessor kings.

Versailles was a royal French palace but now it is now a national landmark. The palace of Versailles is 10.6 miles from Paris. Created for Lois XIV in 1624 by Jacques Lemercier. The palace was intended to please the king and be his own private place. Construction on the palace started in 1624. This palace was ment to be a hunting lodge and private retreat for the king and the rest of the royal family of the French throne. The palace never really stopped construction because each king and queen of the French royalty kept adding their own ideas to the palace.