2. ◾ EARLY PERIOD (1494-1589) or 16th century.
The special character of this transitional period lies in the combination ofGothic
and Renaissance features to form a picturesque ensemble, while in Italy, a ,return to
classic forms took place, In France there was a period of transition, during which
Renaissance details were grafted on to suchGothic features as flying buttresses and
pinnacles.
◾ CLASSICAL PERIOD (1589-1715) or 17th century.
The period is notable for the dignity, sobriety and masculine quality of its
foremost buildings, resulting from the subordination of plan, composition and
detail of the unity of the whole, and the charity and simplicity with which the
elements were used. Ornament, though somewhat coarse, is vigorous and
reasonably restrained.
◾ LATE PERIOD 18th century. (RococoStyle)
Architecturally, three stylistic phases may be distinguished.
1. sovereign LouisXV
2.sovereign LouisXVI
3. Empire - 1790-1830
ROCOCO - a type of Renaissance ornament in which
rock-like forms, fantastic scrolls, and crimped shells
are worked up together in a profusion and confusion of
detail often without organic coherence, but presenting
a lavish display of decoration.
3. The Renaissance in France
French Renaissance architecture is the style of
architecture which was imported to France from Italy during
the early 16th century and developed in the light of local
architectural traditions.
During the early years of the 16th century the French were
involved in wars in northern Italy, bringing back to France not
just the Renaissance art treasures as their war booty, but
also stylistic ideas. In the Loire Valley a wave of building was
carried and many Renaissance chateaux appeared at this
time, the earliest example being the Château d'Amboise.
4. history
of
architecture
FRANCE
COUNTRY HOUSES
• Country houses took the place of fortified castles
Some examples:
Chateau de Justice, Rouen
Chateau d'O, Mortree
Chateau de Josselin
Chateau de Blois
Chateau d'Azay-Rideau
Chateau de Chenonceaux
Chateau de Chambord
• Designed by an Italian, Domenico da Cortona
• Semi-fortified palace, most famous in Loire district
Chateau de Maisons
• One of the most harmonious of all chateaux
• Designed by Francois Mansart on a symmetrical E-plan
Palaise du Louvre, Paris
• Built from Francis I to Napoleon III
•Together with Tuilleries, 45 acres constituting one of the
most imposing palaces in Europe
Renaissance
PRE-HISTORIC
NEAR EAST
EGYPTIAN
GREEK
ROMAN
EARLY CHRISTIAN
BYZANTINE
ROMANESQUE
GOTHIC
RENAISSANCE
18TH-19TH C REVIVAL
20TH C MODERN
ISLAMIC
INDIAN
CHINESE & JAPANESE
FILIPINO
5. history
of
architecture
Petit Trianon, Versailles
• Designed by JA Gabriel for Louis XV
•One of most superb pieces of domestic architecture of
the century
CHURCHES
Church of the Val de Grace, Paris
•Projecting portal by Francois
Lemercier
Mansart, dome by
St. Gervais, Paris
• earliest wholly-classical church facade
• by Salomon de Brosse
St. Etienne du Mont, Paris
Renaissance
PRE-HISTORIC
NEAR EAST
EGYPTIAN
GREEK
ROMAN
EARLY CHRISTIAN
BYZANTINE
ROMANESQUE
GOTHIC
RENAISSANCE
18TH-19TH C REVIVAL
20TH C MODERN
ISLAMIC
INDIAN
CHINESE & JAPANESE
FILIPINO
7. The Renaissance in France – the Chateaux
The cultural center of France in the early 16th c was not Paris, but the valley of the
Loire, where the king and his nobles maintained elaborate chateaux or castles for
leisure, entertaining and attending to the pleasures of the hunt. Blois in particular
illustrates the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance style. Blois in
particular illustrates the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance through
the successive stages of its construction.
8. The Chateaux de Chambord
By Domenico de Cortona.
In contrast to this town-based chateau, the Chateaux de Chambord (1519-47) was built in
the countryside in the style of a fortified castle within a bailey or outer wall, thus neatly
overlaying Renaissance symmetry and detailing on a fundamentally medieval building type.
9. The Louvre, Paris (begun
1546)
By Pierre Lescot
The Louvre Palace was altered
frequently throughout the Middle
Ages. In the 14th century, Charles V
converted the building into a
residence and in 1546, Francis I
renovated the site in the French
Renaissance style.
11. Originally known as the Place
Royale, the Place des
Vosges was built by Henri
IV from 1605 to 1612. A
true square (140 m x 140
m), it embodied the first
European program of royal
city planning and is the
oldest planned square
in Paris.
What was new about the
Place Royale in 1612 was
that the housefronts were
all built to the same design,
probably by Baptiste du
Cerceau, of red brick with
strips of stone quoins over
vaulted arcades that stand
on square pillars. The
steeply-pitched blue slate
16. Description
• Versailles, France
• Northern France
• 10 miles from Paris
• 2,014 acres
• Served as French
royalty’s estate
• Served as national
government center
• Currently a museum
17. ARCHITECTS OF THE VERSAILLES
Louis Le Vau (1612 – 11
October 1670)
French architect
André Le Nôtre
(12 March 1613 – 15
September 1700)
French landscape
architect
Ange-Jacques Gabriel
(23 October 1698 – 4
January 1782)
French architect.
He designed the Petit
Trianon and L'Opéra Royal
de Versailles (Royal Opera
of Versailles)
18. First stage of the enlargement of the
hunting lodge of Louis XIII (built in 1624)
into the Palace at Versailles under Louis
XIV (1668-9) by Louis LeVau; the black
portions of the plan represent this stage.
19. History
• Represents absolutism
and affluent royal
• Built as hunting lodge
(1631-1634) for Louis
XIII
• Louis XIV (right)
renovated (1661-1710) it
into the lavish estate
that it is today
• UNESCO World heritage
site
20. Some facts and information about Versailles
Louis XIV proclaimed Versailles to be the seat of the government on
May 6, 1682. In effect, the entire bureaucracy moved from Paris to the
suburban villa of the king.
The court consisted of 20,000 persons that included 9,000 soldiers,
5,000 servants, 1,000 great lords and members of the nobility, 1,000
lesser aristocrats (who visited the court on a daily basis) and 4-5,000
bureaucrats to manage the official business.
The court was further supported by 2,500 horses, 200 coaches, and
5,000 hunting dogs.
The great lords and members of the nobility were required to live at
Versailles--in the palace--so that the king could keep track of them.
They were required to wear entirely new clothing (down to their
linens) for the king’s fetes and other important social occasions. They
could beg permission to return to their lands periodically in order to
regroup financially!
21. Breakdown
• Grand Apartments
• Queen’s apartments
• King’s apartments
• Hall of Mirrors
• Chapels
• L’Opera
• Museum
• Gardens
• Grand Canal
• Walks
• Additions
24. Hall of Mirrors
• La Galerie des Glaces
• Most famous room
• Created after the Dutch War in
1678
• Louis XIV
• Location of the signing of the
Treaty of Versailles, which
ended WWI
25.
26. Hall of Mirrors Structure
• 17 arcaded mirrors
• Large windows
• 73 meters long, 10.5
meters wide
• Decorated with
chandeliers,
thousands of candles,
paintings, sculptures
and bronze
27. La Salon de Guerre (Salon of War) was
the prelude to the Hall of Mirrors. The
relief portrait by Coysevox is based on…
28. The Hall of Mirrors: the axis between war and peace crosses
the axis of absolute power.
32. The bedroom of Louis XIV,
site of the rituals called “Le
Grand Lever” and “Le Grand
Coucher.”
33. Gardens
• 230 acres
• Begun by Louis XIV in 1661
• 40 years construction
• Includes Grand Canal
• 50 fountains, 200,000 trees,
210,000 flowers annually
36. The garden façade seen from the “Tapis vert” (green carpet) of
the Versailles Park
37. The palace situated
between the village of
Versailles and the park
with grand avenues
radiating from the
Court of Honor
The principal approach
connected with the Champs
Elysees in Paris.
The garden in detail reflects the
geometry of the plan at the urban
and regional scale.
38. Naval battles were
staged on the lagoon to
the west of the sloping
grass terrace
The fountains with
the main e-w axis in
view.
42. In 1678, Jules-Hardouin
Mansart filled in the center
section of west side to create
the Hall of Mirrors (Galerie
des Glaces) as part of a major
expansion of the palace.
43. The Mansart expansion
of Versailles brought
the total length of the
garden façade to about
one-third of a mile.
Main pavilion
with south
wing, viewed
from the south
