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). Mannerism is the usual English term for an approach to all the arts, particularly painting but not exclusive to it, a reaction to the High Renaissance, emerging after the Sack of Rome in 1527 shook Renaissance confidence, humanism and rationality to their foundations, and even Religion had split apart. ... Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens: dynamic figures spiral down around a void: draperies blow: a whirl of movement lit in a shaft of light, rendered in a free bravura handling of paint In arts, the Baroque (or baroque) is both a period and the style that dominated it. ... Marie de Medici (April 26, 1573 - July 3, 1642), born in Italy as Maria de Medici, was queen consort of France under the French name Marie de Médicis. ... Louis XIII (September 27, 1601 – May 14, 1643), called the Just (French: le Juste), was King of France from 1610 to 1643. ... The Counter-Reformation or the Catholic Reformation was a strong reaffirmation of the doctrine and structure of the Catholic Church, climaxing at the Council of Trent, partly in reaction to the growth of Protestantism. ... Pieter Pauwel (Peter Paul) Rubens (June 28, 1577 – May 30, 1640) is considered one of the greatest painters in European art history (together with Dutchman Rembrandt van Rijn), and the most important Flemish (Netherlands, nowadays Belgium) painter of the sixteenth century. ... Et in Arcadia ego by Nicolas Poussin. ...

Les Bergers d’Arcadie by Nicolas Poussin.

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. Et in Arcadia ego by Nicolas Poussin The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Et in Arcadia ego by Nicolas Poussin The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (September 28, 1573 – July 18, 1610), usually called Caravaggio after his hometown near Milan, was an Italian Baroque painter, whose large religious works portrayed saints and other biblical figures as ordinary people. ... Georges de La Tour (1593 - 1652) was a French painter. ... Ex Voto (1662) by Philippe de Champaigne Philippe de Champaigne (26 May 1602 - 12 August 1674) was a Baroque era painter of the French school. ... Louis XIII (September 27, 1601 – May 14, 1643), called the Just (French: le Juste), was King of France from 1610 to 1643. ... Cardinal Richelieu was the French chief minister from 1624 until his death. ... Jansenism was a branch of Christian philosophy founded by Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638), a Flemish theologian. ...

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. Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638 – September 1, 1715) reigned as King of France and King of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death. ... A self portrait: Bernini is said to have used his own features in the David (below, left) Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini) (December 7, 1598 - November 28, 1680), who worked chiefly in Rome, was the pre-eminent baroque artist. ... North Korean propaganda showing a soldier destroying the United States Capitol building. ... Louis XIV King of France and Navarre By Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701) Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638–September 1, 1715) reigned as King of France and King of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death. ... Versailles: Louis Le Vau opened up the interior court to create the expansive entrance cour dhonneur, later copied all over Europe Versailles: Garden front The Château de Versailles — often called the Palace of Versailles, or simply Versailles — is a royal château, outside the gates of which the... Louis Le Vau (1612 – 1670) was a French architect who worked for Louis XIV of France. ... Charles Le Brun Charles Le Brun (February 24, 1619 - February 22, 1690) was a French painter and art theorist, one of the dominant artists in 17th century France. ... Painting of André Le Nôtre by Carlo Maratti André Le Nôtre (March 12, 1613 - September 15, 1700) was a landscape architect and the gardener of king Louis XIV of France from 1645 to 1700. ...

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. Vaux-le-vicomte was in many ways the most important work built before Louis XIV came to power. ... Nicolas Fouquet (1615 — March 23, 1680) was viscount of Melun and of Vaux, marquis de Belle-Isle, superintendent of finance in France under Louis XIV. Born in Paris, he belonged to an influential family of the noblesse de robe, and after some preliminary schooling with the Jesuits, at the age... There are communes that have the name Fontaine, and Fontaines: Fontaine, in the Aube département Fontaine, in the Isère département Fontaine, in the Territoire de Belfort département Related names Fontaine-au-Bois, in the Nord département Fontaine-au-Pire, in the Nord département Fontaine... Molière, engraved frontispiece to his Works Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, better known as Molière (January 15, 1622 – February 17, 1673), was a French theatre writer, director and actor, one of the masters of comic satire. ...

Versailles: Louis Le Vau's cour d'honneur

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. Download high resolution version (1278x542, 182 KB)Versailles, the Cour dHonneur Source: French Wikipedia: Image:Chateau-de-versailles-cour. ... Download high resolution version (1278x542, 182 KB)Versailles, the Cour dHonneur Source: French Wikipedia: Image:Chateau-de-versailles-cour. ... Louis Le Vau (1612 – 1670) was a French architect who worked for Louis XIV of France. ... Jean-Baptiste Colbert Jean-Baptiste Colbert (August 29, 1619 – September 6, 1683) served as the French minister of finance for 22 years under King Louis XIV. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing and bringing the economy back from the brink of bankruptcy... A genre is any of the traditional divisions of art forms from a single field of activity into various kinds according to criteria particular to that form. ... Categories: Art stubs | Painting ... Rhetoric (from Greek ρητωρ, rhêtôr, orator) is one of the three original liberal arts or trivium (the other members are dialectic and grammar) in Western culture. ...

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. For the room of this name there, see the item in the article Palace of Versailles. ... Categories: Stub ...

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. The Fronde (1648–1653) was a civil war in France, followed by the Franco-Spanish War (1653–1659). ...

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. The Edict of Nantes was issued on April 13, 1598 by Henry IV of France to grant French Protestants (also known as Huguenots) substantial rights in a Catholic nation. ...

Reference works

• Anthony Blunt: Art and Architecture in France 1500-1700 ISBN 0300053142
• André Chastel. French Art Vol III: The Ancient Régime ISBN 2080136178

Anthony Frederick Blunt (September 26, 1907 - March 26, 1983) was an English art historian and the Fourth Man of the Cambridge Five, a group of spies working for the Soviet Union during the Cold War. ...

See also

• Baroque
• Baroque art
• Classicism