Name: 093. The Palace of versailles. Versailles, France. Louis Le Vau and Jules Hardouin-Mansart (Architects). Begun 1669 CE Masonry, stone, wood, iron, and gold leaf (architecture); marble and bronze (sculpture); Gardens.

• Function
  • This is the palace of King Louis XIV and subsequent kings and their courts
  • The palace expresses the idea of the absolute monarch; the massive scale of the project is indicative of the massive power of the king
• Form
  • Louis XIV reorganized and remodeled an existing hunting lodge into an elaborate palace.
  • The center of the building is Louis XIV’s bedroom, or audience chamber, from which all aspects of the design radiate like rays from the sun(hence Louis’ sobriquet the Sun King)
  • The building is centered in a vast garden and town complex that radiated from it
  • There is a subdued exterior decoration on the facade; the undulation of projecting members is understated.
• Hall of Mirrors
  
  • 240 feet long, facing the garden facade
  • Barrel-vaulted painted ceiling(paintings stress the military victories of Louis XIV; rooms that flank the Hall of Mirrors are thematically related, one of Peace and the other of War)
  • Light comes in from one side and ricochets off large panes of glass, the largest that could be made at the time
  • This is an example of a use of flickering light in an architectural setting
  • Mirrors were among the most expensive items manufactured in the seventeenth century–the Hall of Mirrors is an extravagant display of wealth.
  • Mirrors were made exclusively in Venice at the time; workers had to be imported from Venice to make the mirror, which conformed to the dictates that the decorations at Versailles had to be made in France.
  • Hall of Mirrors used for court and state functions: embassies, births, and marriages were celebrated in this room.
• Subsequent History
  • Used by Bismarck to declare William I as German emperor after the defeat of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871
  • Used reciprocally by the French after the defeat of the Germans in WWI to sign the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.
• Gardens
  
  • Classically and harmoniously arranged
  • Formal gardens near the palace; more wooded and less elaborate plantings farther from the palace
  • Baroque characteristics
    • Large size
    • Long vistas
    • Terminal views in fountains and statuary
    • Geometric plantings show control of nature
  • A mile-long canal crossed by another canal forms the main axis of the gardens; linked to the rising sun over the palace
  • Only the fountains near the palace were turned on all the time; others were turned on only when the king progressed through the gardens.
  • Illustrates the belief that humans can organize and control nature to make a more refined experience.
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