Château de Maisons near Paris: François Mansart, 1642.

Vaux-le-Vicomte near Paris: Louis Le Vau and André Le Nôtre, 1661.

French Baroque is a form of Baroque architecture that evolved in France during the reigns of Louis XIII (1610-43), Louis XIV (1643-1714) and Louis XV (1714-74). French Baroque profoundly influenced 18th-century secular architecture throughout Europe. Image File history File links Chateau-de-maison-lafitte. ... Image File history File links Chateau-de-maison-lafitte. ... Château de Maisons, southeast-facing garden front The Château de Maisons (now Château de Maisons-Laffitte), in Yvelines, ÃŽle-de-France, designed by François Mansart from 1630 to 1651, is a prime example of French baroque architecture and a reference point in the history of European... Château de Maisons, by Mansart. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x768, 397 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Baroque architecture French Baroque architecture ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x768, 397 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Baroque architecture French Baroque architecture ... Vaux-le-vicomte was in many ways the most important work built before Louis XIV came to power. ... Louis Le Vau (1612 – 1670) was a French architect who worked for Louis XIV of 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. ... For the Baroque style in a more general sense, see Baroque. ... Louis XIII (September 27, 1601 - May 14, 1643), called the Just (French: le Juste), was King of France from 1610 to 1643. ... 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. ... Louis XV (February 15, 1710 – May 10, 1774), called the Well-Beloved (French: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1715 to 1774. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ...

Although the open three wing layout of the palace was established in France as the canonical solution as early as the 16th century, it was the Palais du Luxembourg (1615-20) by Salomon de Brosse that determined the sober and classicizing direction that French Baroque architecture was to take. For the first time, the corps de logis was emphasized as the representative main part of the building, while the side wings were treated as hierarchically inferior and appropriately scaled down. The medieval tower has been completely replaced by the central projection in the shape of a monumental three-storey gateway. The Luxembourg Palace in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, north of the Luxembourg Garden, is where the French Senate meets. ... Salomon de Brosse (1571, Verneuil-sur-Oise, France - Dec. ... Blenheim Palace, unscaled plan of the Corps de logis. ...

De Brosse's melding of traditional French elements (e.g., lofty mansard roofs and complex roofline) with extensive Italianate quotations (e.g., ubiquitous rustication, derived from Palazzo Pitti in Florence) came to characterize the Louis XIII style. Probably the most accomplished formulator of the new manner was François Mansart, a tireless perfectionist credited with introducing the full Baroque to France. In his design for Château de Maisons (1642), Mansart succeeded in reconciling academic and baroque approaches, while demonstrating respect for the gothic-inherited idiosyncrasies of the French tradition. Château of Dampierre-en-Yvelines: domesticated Baroque at the center of Louis XIVs inner circle A Mansard or Mansard roof in architecture refers to a style of hip and totally awesome roof characterized by two slopes on each of its four sides with the lower slope being much... Early, tinted 20th-century photograph of the Palazzo Pitti, then still known as La Residenza Reale following the residency of King Emmanuel II between 1865–71, when Florence was the capital of Italy. ... Florences skyline Florences skyline at night from Piazza Michaelangelo Florence (Italian: ) is the capital city of the region of Tuscany, Italy. ... Louis XIII (September 27, 1601 - May 14, 1643), called the Just (French: le Juste), was King of France from 1610 to 1643. ... Château de Maisons, by Mansart. ... Château de Maisons, southeast-facing garden front The Château de Maisons (now Château de Maisons-Laffitte), in Yvelines, ÃŽle-de-France, designed by François Mansart from 1630 to 1651, is a prime example of French baroque architecture and a reference point in the history of European...

Maisons-Laffitte illustrates the ongoing transition from the post-medieval chateaux of the sixteenth century to the villa-like country houses of the eighteenth. The structure is strictly symmetrical, with an order applied to each story, mostly in pilaster form. The frontispiece, crowned with a separate aggrandized roof, is infused with remarkable plasticity and the whole ensemble reads like a three-dimensional whole. Mansart's structures are stripped of overblown decorative effects, so typical of contemporary Rome. Italian Baroque influence is muted and relegated to the field of decorative ornamentation. A château ( French for castle; plural châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of gentry, usually French, with or without fortifications. ... In architecture, pilasters comprise slightly-projecting pseudo-columns built into or onto a wall, with capitals and bases. ...

The next step in the development of European residential architecture involved the integration of the gardens in the composition of the palace, as is exemplified by Vaux-le-Vicomte (1656-61), where the architect Louis Le Vau, the designer Charles Le Brun and the gardener André Le Nôtre complemented each other. From the main cornice to a low plinth, the miniature palace is clothed in the so-called "colossal order", which makes the structure look more impressive. The creative collaboration of Le Vau and Le Nôtre marked the arrival of the "Magnificent Manner" which allowed to extend Baroque architecture outside the palace walls and transform the surrounding landscape into an immaculate mosaic of expansive vistas. Vaux-le-vicomte was in many ways the most important work built before Louis XIV came to power. ... Louis Le Vau (1612 – 1670) was a French architect who worked for Louis XIV of France. ... Charles Le Brun, contemporary portrait 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. ...

Les Invalides, Paris: Jules Hardouin-Mansart, 1676.

The same three artists scaled this concept to monumental proportions in the royal hunting lodge and later main residence at Versailles (1661-1690). On a far grander scale, the palace is a hypertrophied and somewhat repetitive version of Vaux-le-Vicomte. It was both the most grandiose and the most imitated residential building of the 17th century. Mannheim, Nordkirchen and Drottningholm were among many foreign residences for which Versailles provided a model. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2336x3504, 2578 KB) Hotel National des Invalides, Paris, France. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2336x3504, 2578 KB) Hotel National des Invalides, Paris, France. ... The church at the Invalides Court of the museum of the Army Les Invalides in Paris, France consists of a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement containing museums and monuments, all relating to Frances military history, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans... Jules Hardouin-Mansart, marble bust by Jean-Louis Lemoyne: a full-dress Baroque portrait bust demonstrates that the Kings architect is no mere craftsman Jules Hardouin-Mansart (Paris, April 16, 1646 – Marly, France, May 11, 1708) was a French architect whose work is generally considered to be the... The Versailles Palace is very Big and grand (Camacho, 2006). ... The Mittelbau of Mannheim Palace, as of December 2006, seen from West. ... Nordkirchen is a town with 10286 inhabitants in the district Coesfeld, Germany. ... The Drottningholm Palace is the private residence of the Swedish royal family. ...

The final expansion of Versailles was superintended by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, whose key design is the Dome des Invalides (1676-1706), generally regarded as the most important French church of the century. Hardouin-Mansart profited from his uncle's instruction and plans to instill the edifice with an imperial grandeur unprecedented in the countries north of Italy. The majestic hemispherical dome balances the vigorous vertical thrust of the orders, which do not accurately convey the structure of the interior. The younger architect not only revived the harmony and balance associated with the work of the elder Mansart but also set the tone for Late Baroque French architecture, with its grand ponderousness and increasing concessions to academicism. Jules Hardouin-Mansart, marble bust by Jean-Louis Lemoyne: a full-dress Baroque portrait bust demonstrates that the Kings architect is no mere craftsman Jules Hardouin-Mansart (Paris, April 16, 1646 – Marly, France, May 11, 1708) was a French architect whose work is generally considered to be the... The church at the Invalides Court of the museum of the Army Les Invalides in Paris, France consists of a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement containing museums and monuments, all relating to Frances military history, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans... Academic art was an art movement, and a style of painting that was in fashion in Europe from the 17th to the 19th century. ...

Main article: Rococo

The Régence and the early reign of Louis XV saw a reaction against the official style that had been perfected in Hardouin-Mansart's Bâtiments du Roi, which took the shape of the rococo's more delicate and intimate manner, largely limited to interiors and works of decorative arts. The style, which softened then dissolved architectural elements in interiors, was pioneered by Nicolas Pineau, who collaborated with Hardouin-Mansart on the interiors of the royal Château de Marly. Further elaborated after Mansart's death in 1706 by Pierre Le Pautre and then, more forcefully by Gilles-Marie Oppendordt and Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier, the "genre pittoresque" culminated in the interiors of the Petit Château at Chantilly (c. 1722) and Germain Boffrand's interiors at the Hôtel de Soubise in Paris (c. 1732), where a fashionable emphasis on the atectonic and curvilinear went beyond all reasonable measure. Sculpture, paintings, furniture, and porcelain tended to overshadow architectural divisions of the interior. The classical tradition in French architecture was never overwhelmed, however, and the reaction in favor of classicism began as early as the 1740s in the Académie, in the atelier of Giovanni Niccolo Servandoni and among the young pensionnaires at the French Academy in Rome. North side of the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo - carriage courtyard: all the stucco details sparkled with gold until 1773, when Catherine II had gilding replaced with olive drab paint. ... Régence is the French word for (and root of the English word) regency (see that article). ... Louis XV (February 15, 1710 – May 10, 1774), called the Well-Beloved (French: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1715 to 1774. ... The Bâtiments du Roi (French: Buildings of the King) was a a division of Department of the household of the Kings of France (the Maison du Roi) in France under the Ancien Régime. ... North side of the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo - carriage courtyard: all the stucco details sparkled with gold until 1773, when Catherine II had gilding replaced with olive drab paint. ... Nicolas Pineau (1684 — 1754) was a French carver and ornamental designer, one of the leaders who initiated the exuberant asymmetrical phase of the high Rococo. ... The Château de Marly was located in what has become Marly-le-Roi, the commune that existed at the edge of the royal park. ... Juste Aurèle Meissonier (1695-1750) was a French goldsmith, sculptor, painter, architect, and furniture designer. ... The front entrance and courtyard at the Château de Chantilly The Château de Chantilly is a historic château located in the town of Chantilly, France. ... Germain Boffrand (Nantes, 16 May 1667 — Paris 19 March 1754) was one of the most gifted French architects of his generation. ... The corps de logis The Hôtel de Soubise is a city palace, located at 60 rue des Francs-Bourgeois, in the IIIe arrondissement of Paris. ... Jean-Nicolas Servan, also known as Giovanni Niccolò Servando or Servandoni (May 2, 1695 - January 19, 1766) was a French decorator, architect and scene-painter. ... The French Academy in Rome (French: Académie de France à Rome) is an Academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, in Rome, Italy. ...

References

• Henry A. Millon (ed.), The Triumph of the Baroque: Architecture in Europe, 1600–1750 (1999).