Angie Bonk: French Baroque Style

During this time period, Louis XIV was five years old and proclaimed King. Louis XIV created a national style of art. He established a school for 60 children under his protection. An iconic piece of architecture during this time was the Vaux-le-Vicomte. It included 105 lavish rooms, 170 acres of gardens, Persian carpets, crystal chandeliers, gold clocks, silver vases and it entertained up to 6,000 guests at a time. The architect of this building was Louis Le Vau, the garden designer was Andre Le Norte, the interior decorator was Charles LeBrun and the sculptor was Puget. Another building during this time was the Palais de Versailles. This was originally a hunting lodge for Louis XIII. The construction started in 1668 and lasted for almost a century. It takes up 12 miles of southwest Paris and housed 10,000 people. The architect of this building was also Louis Le Vau, along with the same garden designer, interior decorator and sculptor as the Vaux-le-Vicomte. This building was also famous for one of its public rooms, the Hall of Mirrors. It included Classical architecture and decoration with classic orders and rectangular shapes that were symmetrical. Another aspect of the Palais de Versailles' interiors that was unique was its royal monogram "L" that was always doubled. Something that was also very unique compared to any other building was that the furniture was against the walls. A unique process cabinetmakers used to make furniture was the Marquetry Process. During this process everything was cut out of paper then carved into wood to make lavish designs in their furniture. Louis XIV chairs included high back, a sense of greatness, a wide seat for wide dressed and bergere, which was newly introduced during this time. Bergere is an enclosed upholstered French arm chair with an upholstered back and armrests on upholstered frames. This furniture was made out of materials that were imported from China and Japan. These materials were used to make porcelain figures, vases, lacquer work and screens.

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