Louis XIV was inspired by the home of his finance minister, Vaux-le-Vicomte, and took its team of architects and designers to enlarge a hunting lodge outside Paris into the palace of Versailles. As Versailles was immediately copied across Europe, Louis had immense influence on the development of Baroque style in the 17th century. He commissioned furniture makers to create furnishings for his residences, establishing a new national style. This luxurious Louis XIV style featured veneers of brass, ebony, and tortoiseshell, as well as repoussé furniture with inlaid silver, becoming known for its opulence.

1. Louis XIV Style
The Sun King bears a considerable amount of responsibility for the style which came to
bear his name. Inspired by Vaux-le-Vicomte, the home of Nicholas Fouquet, Louis’
Finance Minister, Louis took the whole team of architects and designers from Vaux-le-
Vicomte in 1661 to enlarge a small hunting lodge outside of Paris. The palace of
Versailles was the fruit of his own inspiration, and as Versailles was immediately copied
in palaces all across Europe, he had an immense influence on the development of
Baroque style in Europe in the 17th-century, and, indeed on the taste for oppulent
decoration favoured by princes, millionaires and film stars through the centuries.
Louis’ habit of receiving visitors in his royal bed, became all the rage with wealthy
and important members of both sexes, and this led to the bedroom being decorated with
luxury and pomp. The walls beneath the gilded and carved cornice were hung with
damask which matched the fabric of the bed hangings. The ceiling, divided into shaped
panels by heavy mouldings, was enlivened with painted scenes, and the walls were
liberally covered with paintings of all descriptions.
Louis XIV Style in brief:
 Interiors grand in scale;
 Painted ceilings and imitation draped fabric in plaster in covings;
 Marble clad wall sometimes hung with Gobelin tapestries;
 Mirrored walls first used.
Louis XIV Furniture
Louis XIV furniture was the most notable of the late 1600s. Louis devoted himself to
making France the cultural and political centre of the Western world. He considered
furniture making and the decorative arts to be politically important because he could use
them to glorify his position as King. He bought a building on the outskirts of Paris, turned

2. it into workshops, and staffed the shops with expert artisans. He commissioned them to
create furnishings for his residences. These furnishings created a new national style of
art.
Actually, the artisans worked almost entirely on a single project in Versailles, where they
converted a royal hunting lodge into a luxurious royal palace. The noted French architect
Charles Le Brun supervised the huge Versailles project and hired artisans from other
countries. The decorating and furnishing of the Versailles palace became such a large
undertaking that many foreign artisans took up permanent residence in France. Many of
them married French women and had children who became furniture makers, creating a
native French group of artisans.
The remarkable style of the furnishings made for the Versailles palace became known as
the Louis XIV style. This luxurious style was particularly notable for two important
characteristics. One was a veneer technique invented by a French cabinetmaker, André
Charles Boulle. In this technique, artisans “sandwiched” a veneer (thin layer of material)
between two veneers of a contrasting material. Artisans used such materials as brass,
ebony, pewter, and tortoiseshell. They cut through the layers to create contrasting
scrolled patterns. Veneers were applied to Louis XIV cabinets, writing tables, and other
furniture. Le Brun and Louis himself were responsible for the second characteristic -
repoussé furniture of inlaid silver made for the main rooms of Versailles.
Louis XIV furniture in brief:
 Heavy in style;
 Cabinet-on-a-stand carved and gilded, made of ebony, brass and tortoiseshell;
 High-backed chairs covered in velvet and silk damask often woven with silver
and gold thread, with scrolled arms.
Jean Baptiste Colbert(1619-1683),Ministerof Finance
Colbert founded a Fine Arts Commission in 1663 and the Academy of Architecture in
1671. An important development was the establishment of the Manufacture Royal des
Meubles de la Couronne, which began with the acquisition of the Gobelins tapestry
weaving enterprise for the King. To this was added the carpet weaving factory of
Savonnerie (given this name because it was housed in a disused soap factory).
This was followed by the organisation of facilities for the manufacturing of objects
of all kinds suitable for furnishing the Royal Palaces. Colbert placed Charles Le Brun in
charge of the Manufacture in 1663.

3. Vaux-Le-Vicomte
 Commissioned by Nicholas Fouquet, Finance Minister to Louis XIV;
 Built 1657-1661;
 Architect: Louis Le Vau (1612-1670);
 Designer in charge of decorative scheme: Charles Le Brun (1619-1689);
 Garden design: André Le Nôtre.
Palaceof Versailles
 Commissioned by Louis XIV;
 Built 1661-1756;
 Architects: Louis Le Vau & Jules-Hardouin Mansart (1646-1708);
 Designer in charge of the decorative scheme: Charles Le Brun;
 Garden Design: André Le Nôtre.
Louis XIV Windows
 Long casement and sash;
 Curtains in silk and velvets, simple in style.
Louis XIV Floors
Geometric parquet.
Louis XIV Lighting
 Candlepower;
 Metal chandeliers;
 Sconces;
 Candelabras.

4. Buildingsand Museums
Versailles, Vaux-le-Vicomte, Chateau of Courance, Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Victoria
and Albert Museum, Wallace Collection, Waddeston Manor, Bowes Museum.