Rövid leírás:

This book traces the evolution of the projects for completing the square court - Cour Carrée - of the Louvre in the 1660s and the evolution of Ange-Jacques Gabriel?s project for rebuilding the town front of the palace at Versailles a century later.

Hosszú leírás:

In tracing the evolution of the Louvre from fortress to palace and of Versailles from hunting domain to dynastic capital, Dr Tadgell?s detailed architectural analysis of many projects ? external and internal, realised and unrealised ? is set in the context of the development of the medieval monarchy towards absolutism, of the development of the medieval château towards precedents for the seat of absolutism, and of the effect of the French monarchy?s financial incontinence on the realisation of royal building ambitions.

In particular, Tadgell challenges received opinion on the introduction of Hispano-Burgundian court etiquette to French palace design, relates the court front of Lescot?s Renaissance Louvre to the iconography of apotheosis, revises the current ordering of François Mansart?s designs for the Louvre and reassesses the subsequent contribution of Claude Perrault to the completion of the east front in respect for the opinion of 17th and 18th century commentators. After surveying the various phases of work for Louis XIV at Versailles, he traces the evolution of Ange-Jacques Gabriel?s grand projet for rebuilding the town side of the palace for Louis XV, noting the influence of Bernini on the definitive phase, and he masters the intricacies of the incessant changes to the royal apartments which inhibited rebuilding.

Finally, the book looks at the influence of the great French palaces on those seeking to emulate their ambition, from Stockholm in the late-17th century to the deliriously opulent late-19th century palace of Ludwig II of Bavaria at Herrenchiemsee. A wealth of illustrative material and supporting documents bring this comprehensive and authoritative text to life.

Tartalomjegyzék:

The Louvre: from round tower to square court over half a millennium  1. Inception 21  1.1. Apogee of the Valois  1.2. To the palace with Lescot  1.3. Valois valediction  2. Expansion  2.1. Introduction: Advent of the Bourbons  2.2. Back to the palace with Lemercier: expansion eclipsed  2.3. L ouis XIV and Mazarin  2.4. Back to the palace with Le Vau: expansion regained  3. Resolution  3.1. Self-assertive king and minister  3.2. Colbert and the palace  3.3. Amplification  3.4. Prototype achieved  Versailles: transformations of a hunting lodge across two reigns  1. Inception and development for Louis XIV  1.1. The pursuit of gloire  1.2. The palace of Le Vau and Le Brun: envelopment  1.3. Pursuit of gloire renewed  1.4. The palace of Le Brun and Hardouin-Mansart: expansion  1.5. Marly  1.6. After Colbert: gloire sullied  1.7. Retreat from magniloquence  1.8. Twilight of gloire  1.9. The final phase of the old king?s palace building  2. reformation and refinement for Louis xv  2.1. From profligate regency to personal rule  2.2. Sophisticated planning and exotic decoration  2.3. Reviewed theory and reformed practice  2.4. Projects for the palace  2.5. Return to the Louvre  2.6. Towards the definitive grand projet  2.7. Diversion to Trianon again  2.8. Back to the palace  2.9. Resolution of the grand projet  Epilogue les siecles de Louis XIV  Index