DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68375#0007
FRENCH WOOD CARVINGS
OF THE
SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES.
SELECTED FROM OUR NATIONAL MUSEUMS.
In preparing a short sketch of a large and complicated subject it is difficult to judge which
points will be the most useful to students, and I can only hope to suggest a method of study
which can be worked out by those who desire to possess a fuller knowledge of the styles which
prevailed during the reigns of Louis XIV., XV. and XVI.
Firstly. Read the contemporary history.
Secondly. Make a list of the leading architects and sculptors of each reign, noting any
information that is obtainable about them.
Thirdly. Consult the best books giving illustrations of the various styles, with the
designs of some of the well known men, and examine the characteristics of each.
No books or illustrations, however, can supply the knowledge to be gained from a study
of the buildings themselves, and nowhere can the architecture and the interior decorations of
these periods be better studied than at the palace of Versailles and the “ Grand ” and “ Petit
Trianon.”
A hunting box built at Versailles by Louis XIII. in 1632, formed the nucleus of the
palace, which was begun in 1661 from plans supplied by the architect Le Vau. He was
succeeded in 1670 by Jean Hardouin Mansart, who completed the building in 1680, although
the king had taken up his residence there in 1672. In 1699 Mansart began the chapel, which
was finished by Robert de Cotte in 1710. The theatre was built by J. A. Gabriel, 1753-70,
and also part of the wing near the chapel, including the royal banqueting room. The whole
of the interior was completely rearranged and redecorated under Louis Philippe, when a great
deal of the carved wood panelling was taken down.
Adjacent to the palace is the “Grand Trianon,” begun by Jean Hardouin Mansart in
1687, continued by Robert de Cotte, and by him completed in 1708. Here, in the dainty
boudoir of Madame de Maintenon, whom Louis had married in 1685, the king hoped to find
rest from the fatigues of the incessant court ceremonials, for which in his declining years he
had neither health nor inclination.
“ Le Petit Trianon” was built by Gabriel, in 1766, for Louis XV., who, a few years
before his death, presented it to his grandson, the Dauphin, afterwards Louis XVI. It was
here that the unfortunate Marie Antoinette passed the happiest years of her life.
The second issue of this series of selections was carried down to the death of Henry IV.,
who was succeeded by his son, Louis XIII., a child of nine, and Marie de Medicis was made
in b
OF THE
SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES.
SELECTED FROM OUR NATIONAL MUSEUMS.
In preparing a short sketch of a large and complicated subject it is difficult to judge which
points will be the most useful to students, and I can only hope to suggest a method of study
which can be worked out by those who desire to possess a fuller knowledge of the styles which
prevailed during the reigns of Louis XIV., XV. and XVI.
Firstly. Read the contemporary history.
Secondly. Make a list of the leading architects and sculptors of each reign, noting any
information that is obtainable about them.
Thirdly. Consult the best books giving illustrations of the various styles, with the
designs of some of the well known men, and examine the characteristics of each.
No books or illustrations, however, can supply the knowledge to be gained from a study
of the buildings themselves, and nowhere can the architecture and the interior decorations of
these periods be better studied than at the palace of Versailles and the “ Grand ” and “ Petit
Trianon.”
A hunting box built at Versailles by Louis XIII. in 1632, formed the nucleus of the
palace, which was begun in 1661 from plans supplied by the architect Le Vau. He was
succeeded in 1670 by Jean Hardouin Mansart, who completed the building in 1680, although
the king had taken up his residence there in 1672. In 1699 Mansart began the chapel, which
was finished by Robert de Cotte in 1710. The theatre was built by J. A. Gabriel, 1753-70,
and also part of the wing near the chapel, including the royal banqueting room. The whole
of the interior was completely rearranged and redecorated under Louis Philippe, when a great
deal of the carved wood panelling was taken down.
Adjacent to the palace is the “Grand Trianon,” begun by Jean Hardouin Mansart in
1687, continued by Robert de Cotte, and by him completed in 1708. Here, in the dainty
boudoir of Madame de Maintenon, whom Louis had married in 1685, the king hoped to find
rest from the fatigues of the incessant court ceremonials, for which in his declining years he
had neither health nor inclination.
“ Le Petit Trianon” was built by Gabriel, in 1766, for Louis XV., who, a few years
before his death, presented it to his grandson, the Dauphin, afterwards Louis XVI. It was
here that the unfortunate Marie Antoinette passed the happiest years of her life.
The second issue of this series of selections was carried down to the death of Henry IV.,
who was succeeded by his son, Louis XIII., a child of nine, and Marie de Medicis was made
in b