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100-510: The Louis XIV style had three periods. During the first period, which coincided with the youth of the King (1643–1660) and the regency of Anne of Austria , architecture and art were strongly influenced by the earlier style of Louis XIII and by the Baroque style imported from Italy. The early period saw the beginning of French classicism, particularly in the early works of Francois Mansart, such as

200-642: A classical form especially in architecture. It may also have developed from the smaller desco da parto or birthing tray. The desco da parto by Masaccio from around 1423 may be one of the first to use linear perspective , another feature of the Renaissance. Also using linear perspective was Donatello for the stucco tondi created around 1435–1440 for the Sagrestia Vecchia at the Basilica of San Lorenzo designed by Brunelleschi , one of

300-410: A celebrated portrait of Louis XIV in 1701, surrounded by all the attributes of power, from the crown on the table to the red heels of his shoes. Rigaud soon had an elaborate workshop in place for making portraits of the nobility; he employed specialized artists to create the costumes and draperies, and others to paint the backgrounds, ranging from battlefields to gardens to salons, while he concentrated on

400-467: A complex for war veterans consisting of residences, a hospital, and a chapel – was constructed by Libéral Bruant and Jules Hardouin-Mansart (1671–1679). Louis XIV then commissioned Hardouin-Mansart to construct a separate private royal chapel featuring a striking dome, the Église du Dôme , which was added to complete the complex in 1708. The next major project was the Place des Victoires (1684–1697),

500-546: A degree of perfection and unity rarely equalled in the art of classic gardens. The château is at the center of this strict spatial organization which symbolizes power and success." The Gardens of Versailles, created by André Le Nôtre between 1662 and 1700, were the greatest achievement of the French formal garden. They were the largest gardens in Europe, with an area of 15,000 hectares, and were laid out on an east–west axis followed

600-634: A difficult marital relationship, exacerbated by her miscarriages and the anti- Habsburg stance of Louis' first minister, Cardinal Richelieu . Despite a climate of distrust amidst the Franco-Spanish War and twenty-three years of childlessness in which she suffered four miscarriages, Anne gave birth to an heir, Louis, in 1638 and a second son, Philippe two years later. When Louis XIII died in 1643, Anne outmaneuvered her opponents to become sole regent to her four-year-old son, Louis XIV, and appointed Cardinal Mazarin as chief minister. The Fronde ,

700-486: A gift given by Heaven in answer to their prayers. —Madame de Motteville Despite a climate of distrust, the queen became pregnant once more, a circumstance that contemporary gossip attributed to a single stormy night that prevented Louis from travelling to Saint-Maur and obliged him to spend the night with the queen. Louis XIV was born on 5 September 1638, an event that secured the Bourbon line. At this time, Anne

800-503: A great amount of her favorites as punishment for a plot in which the queen had cooperated with queen dowager Marie de' Medici in an attempt to depose Cardinal Richelieu, and among those fired were Madame de Motteville and Madeleine du Fargis. Queen Anne asked the Cardinal to intervene so that she might keep du Fargis. When he refused, she swore that she would never forgive him. Du Fargis left for Brussels, where her spouse had sided with

900-506: A late 17th to early 18th century tapestry done by Aubusson depicting Chinese astronomers at the Beijing Ancient Observatory using new more accurate instruments brought to them by Europeans ( Jesuits ) which were installed in 1644. In the early years of the King's reign, the most important public royal ceremony was the carrousel , a series of exercises and games on horseback. These events were designed to replace

1000-414: A major revolt by the French nobility against Anne and Mazarin's government, broke out but was ultimately suppressed. In 1651, Anne's regency formally ended when Louis was declared of age. Accounts of French court life of her era emphasize her closeness to her son, and her disapproval of her son's infidelity to her niece and daughter-in-law Maria Theresa . She retired from active politics in 1661 and moved to

1100-642: A more sober and uniform façade of columns, with a flat roof topped by a balustrade and row of columns (1681). He used the same style to harmonize the other new buildings he created at Versailles, including the Orangerie and the Stables . Hardouin-Mansart constructed the Grand Trianon (completed 1687), single-story royal retreat with arched windows alternating with pairs of columns, and a flat roof and balustrade. Another major new project undertaken by Louis

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1200-471: A note that the other leading centre of French faience, Rouen faience , should be protected and encouraged, sent designs, and given commissions by the king. Around 1670 the Poterat family of Rouen received part of the large and prestigious commissions for Louis XIV's Trianon de porcelaine , a small palace whose walls were largely covered in painted tiles, in fact of faience rather than porcelain , which

1300-404: A real estate development of seven large buildings in three segments around a circular square, with a standing figure statue of Louis XIV (later replaced with an equestrian statue) planned for the centerpiece. This was built by an enterprising entrepreneur and nobleman of the court, Jean-Baptiste Prédot, combined with the architect Jules Haroudin-Mansart. The final urban project became the best-known,

1400-412: A richness of materials (marble, gold, and bronze) which reflected in the mirrors. In the late Louis XIV period, after 1690, new elements began to appear, that were less militaristic and more fantastic; particularly seashells, surrounded by elaborate sinuous lines and curves; and exotic designs, including arabesques and Chinoiserie . During the first period of the reign of Louis XIV, furniture followed

1500-402: A royal workshop for the manufacture of furniture and tapestries, under the name of Gobelins Manufactory . Colbert placed the workshop under the direction of the royal court painter, Charles Le Brun , who served in that position from 1663 until 1690. The workshop worked closely with the major painters of the court, who produced the designs. After 1697 the enterprise was reorganized, and thereafter

1600-629: A stream of well-trained painters. Le Brun became the dean of French painters under Louis XIV, involved in architectural projects and interior design. His notable decorative works included the ceiling of the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. The major painters of the later reign of Louis XIV included Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743) who came to Paris in 1681, and attracted the attention of Le Brun. Le Brun oriented him toward portrait painting, and he made

1700-419: A structure with the plan of a Greek Cross . The design used superimposed orders of columns, in the classical style, but the dome achieved greater height, by resting on a double tambour or drum, and the façade and dome itself were richly decorated with sculptures, entablements in niches, and ornaments of gilded bronze alternating with the nervures , or ribs of the dome. The finest church interior of

1800-573: A stuccoed wall. Filippo Lippi's Bartolini Tondo (1452–1453) was one of the earliest examples of such paintings. In painting Botticelli created many examples, both Madonnas and narrative scenes, and Michelangelo employed the circular tondo for several compositions, both painted and sculpted, including the Doni Tondo at the Uffizi , as did Raphael . In the sixteenth century the painterly style of istoriato decoration for maiolica wares

1900-462: A vast and mysterious silence. La Tour is the only interpreter of the serene aspect of shadows." In his final years, Louis XIV's tastes changed again, under the influence of his morganic wife, Madame de Maintenon , toward more religious and meditative themes. He had all the paintings in his private room removed and replaced by a single canvas, Saint Sebastien being tended by Saint Irene (c. 1649) by Georges de La Tour. The most influential sculptor of

2000-506: Is usually not used in English for small round paintings, but only those over about 60 cm (two feet) in diameter, thus excluding many round portrait miniatures – for sculpture the threshold is rather lower. A circular or oval relief sculpture is also called a roundel . The infrequently-encountered synonym rondo usually refers to the musical form. Artists have created tondi since Greek antiquity . The circular paintings in

2100-462: The Chateau de Maisons (1630–1651). During the second period (1660–1690), under the personal rule of the King, the style of architecture and decoration became more classical, triumphant and ostentatious, expressed in the building of the Palace of Versailles, first by Louis Le Vau and then Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Until 1680, furniture was massive, decorated with a profusion of sculpture and gilding. In

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2200-629: The Château de Marly . He originally made the outdoor statues in weather-resistant stucco, then replaced them with marble works when they were finished in 1705. His work of Neptune from Marly is now in the Louvre, and his statues of Pan and a Flora and Dryad are now found in the Tuileries Gardens . His statue of The King's Fame riding Pegasus was originally made for the Château of Marly. After

2300-468: The Fronde . In 1651, when her son Louis XIV officially came of age, her regency legally ended. However, she kept much power and influence over her son until the death of Mazarin. In January 1648, while acting as regent, Anne received a request on behalf of artists who were affiliated with the crown or aristocracy. The artists, led by painter Charles Le Brun , wanted independence from the monopoly control of

2400-595: The Place Vendôme , also by Hardouin-Mansart, between 1699 and 1702. Its centerpiece was an equestrian statue of Louis XIV (later replaced with a statue of Napoleon atop the Vendome Column). In another innovation, this project was partially financed by the sale of lots around the square. All of these projects featured monumental façades in the Louis XIV style, giving a particular harmony to the squares. In

2500-745: The Revolution it was moved to the Tuileries Gardens, and is now inside the Louvre. He also made a series of greatly admired portrait sculptures of the leading statesmen and artists of the time; Louis XIV at Versailles, Colbert (for his tomb at the Church of Saint Eustache ; Cardinal Mazarin in the Collège des Quatre-Nations (now the Institut de France ) in Paris; the playwright Jean Racine ;

2600-515: The Venus de Medici . In 1776, his bust of the King's official painter Charles Le Brun won him admission to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. He was soon producing monumental sculpture to accompany the new buildings constructed by Louis XIV; he made a Charlemagne for the royal chapel at Les Invalides , and then a large number of statues for the new Park at Versailles and then at

2700-517: The grotesque style of ornament, originally created in Italy by Raphael, into French interior design. He used the grotesque stele not only on wall panels, but also on tapestries made by the Aubusson tapestry workshops. His many varied other designs included the highly-ornate design of transom of the warship Soleil Royal (1669), named for the King. In addition to interior decoration, he designed

2800-536: The guild , which fined the artists or seized their work. The painters and sculptors petitioned Louis XIV and the Queen Regent to form a new organization. They wanted to found an academy that would be for the visual arts what Académie Française was for French literature ; this was to become the Académie Royale . Anne's regency formally ended in 1651, when Louis XIV was declared of legal majority at

2900-593: The BBC series The Musketeers (2014–2016). She first appears as a character in the Dinosaur King season two episode "The French Conniption" as a young teen along with a young King Louis and others. She appeared in Legends of Tomorrow ' s season two premiere episode "Out of Time", played by Rebecca Roberts. She appeared in final episode of the third season of series As If , played by Yeşim Ceylan. She

3000-636: The Elder . The new style was lighter in form, and featured greater fantasy and freedom of line, thanks in part to the use of wrought iron decoration, and greater use of arabesque , grotesque and coquille designs, which continued into the Louis XV style . The model of civil architecture in the early part of the reign was Vaux le Vicomte (1658), by Louis Le Vau , built for the King's Superintendent of Finances Nicolas Fouquet and completed in 1658. Louis XIV charged Fouquet with theft, put him prison, and took

3100-514: The Fronde when Anne was Queen Regent. In 1662, Anne acquired the heart of her ancestor, Anne Elizabeth of France, and placed it in the Chapel of Saint Anne. She, herself, was interred in 1666 in the Chapel of Saint Sacrament, alongside the body of Marguerite d'Arbouze. They saw in the arms of this princess whom they had watched suffer great persecutions with so much staunchness, their child-King, like

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3200-480: The Habsburgs, who surrounded France on two fronts, inevitably created tension between Louis and Anne, who remained childless for another sixteen years. Under the influence of Marie de Rohan, the queen let herself be drawn into political opposition to Richelieu and became embroiled in several intrigues against his policies. Vague rumors of betrayal circulated in the court, notably her supposed involvement, first, with

3300-586: The Italian maiolica istoriato style, adopted the new French Court style, borrowing from metalwork and other decorative arts, and using prints after the new generation of court painters such as Simon Vouet and Charles Lebrun for the images, which were also painted in many colours. The pieces were often extremely large and ornate, and apart from garden vases and wine-coolers, no doubt decorative rather than practical. In 1663 Jean-Baptiste Colbert , recently made Louis XIV 's Controller-General of Finances , made

3400-408: The King personally: the head of the King was often represented as the sun god Apollo , surrounded by palm leaves or gilded rays of light. An eagle usually represented Jupiter . Other ornamental details included gilded numbers, royal batons, and crowns. The Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles (1678–1684) was the summit of the early Louis XIV style. Designed by Charles Le Brun , it combined

3500-637: The Louis XIII era, but more ornate, with a marble shelf supporting vases, below a carved frame with a painting or mirrors, all surrounded by a thick border of carved leaves or flowers. Decorative elements on the walls of the early Louis XIV style were usually intended to celebrate the military success, majesty and cultural achievements of the King. They often featured military trophies, with helmets, oak leaves symbolizing victory, and masses of weapons, usually made of glided bronze or sculpted wood, in relief surrounded by marble. Other decorative elements celebrated

3600-693: The Spanish court stipulated that she would return to Spain with her dowry, jewels, and wardrobe if he did die. Prior to the marriage, Anne renounced all succession rights she had for herself and her descendants by Louis, with a provision that she would resume her rights should she be left a childless widow. On 18 October 1615, Louis and Anne were married by proxy in Burgos while Louis's sister, Elisabeth of France , and Anne's brother, Philip IV of Spain , were married by proxy in Bordeaux . These marriages followed

3700-652: The age of thirteen. In 1659, the war with Spain ended with the Treaty of the Pyrenees . The following year, peace was cemented by the marriage of the young king to Anne's niece, the Spanish Habsburg princess Maria Theresa of Spain . In 1661, the same year as the death of Mazarin, an heir to the throne was born, Anne's first grandchild Louis . Many other children would follow, but all in the legitimate line would die except for Louis. Sometime after, Anne retired to

3800-571: The architect Vauban and the garden designer André Le Nôtre . Jacques Sarazin was another notable sculptor working on projects for Louis XIV. He made many statues and decorations for the Palace of Versailles, as well as the Caryatids for the eastern façade of the Pavilion du Horloge of the Louvre, facing the Cour Carré , which were based both on a study of the original Greek models, and on

3900-525: The back of the chair. The console table also made its first appearance; it was designed to be placed against a wall. Another new type of furniture was the table à gibier , a marble-topped table for holding dishes. Early varieties of the desk appeared; the Mazarin desk had a central section set back, placed between two columns of drawers, with four feet on each column. After about 1650, Nevers faience ( tin-glazed earthenware ), which had long made wares in

4000-467: The building for himself. The design was strongly influenced by the classicism of François Mansart . It combined a façade dominated and rhymed by colossal classical columns, beneath a dome, imported from the Italian Baroque architecture , along with a number of original features, such as a semicircular salon which looked out on the vast French formal garden created by André Le Nôtre . Based on

4100-470: The centre of painted vases of that period are known as tondi , and the inside of the broad low winecup called a kylix also lent itself to circular enframed compositions. Although the earliest true Renaissance, or late Gothic painted tondo is Burgundian, from Champmol (of a Pietà by Jean Malouel of 1400–1415, now in the Louvre ), the tondo became fashionable in 15th-century Florence , revived as

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4200-473: The church of Val-de-Grâce (1645–1710), the chapel of the Val-de-Grâce hospital. The design was worked on successively by Jules Hardouin-Mansart , Jacques Lemercier and Pierre Le Muet before being completed by Gabriel Leduc . Its picturesque tripartite façade, peristyle, detached columns, statues, and tondi , make it the most Italianate and Baroque of Paris churches. It served as the prototype for

4300-455: The city hall of Toulon in 1665–1667, then was employed by Nicolas Fouquet to make a statue of Hercules for his château at Vaux-le-Vicomte . He continued to live in the south of France, making notable statues of Milo of Croton , Perseus , and Andromeda (now in the Louvre). In 1662 Jean Baptiste Colbert purchased the tapestry workshop of a family of Flemish artisans and transformed it into

4400-408: The composition, colors and especially the faces. Georges de La Tour (1593–1652) was another important figure in the Louis XIV style; he was given a title, named court painter of the King, and received high payments for his portraits, though he rarely ever came to Paris, preferring to work in his home town of Lunéville . His paintings, with their unusual light and dark effects, were unusually somber,

4500-490: The conspiracies of the Count of Chalais that Marie organized in 1626, and then those of the king's treacherous favorite, Cinq-Mars , who had been introduced to him by Richelieu. In 1626, the Cardinal placed Madeleine du Fargis as Dame d'atour in the household of the queen to act as a spy, but she was instead to become a trusted confidant and favorite of the queen. In December 1630, Louis XIII reduced Anne's court and purged

4600-486: The convent of Val-de-Grâce , where she died of breast cancer five years later. The couple had the following children: She is one of the central figures in Alexandre Dumas 's 1844 novel The Three Musketeers and its sequels Twenty Years After (1845) and The Vicomte de Bragelonne (1847-1850), and has thus been portrayed in numerous film adaptations . Her lady-in-waiting Madame de Motteville wrote

4700-609: The convent she had commissioned, Val-de-Grâce , where she died of breast cancer five years later. Born at the Benavente Palace  [ es ] in Valladolid , Spain , and baptised Ana María Mauricia, she was the eldest daughter of King Philip III of Spain and his wife Margaret of Austria . She held the titles of Infanta of Spain and of Portugal (since her father was king of Portugal as well as Spain ) and Archduchess of Austria. Despite her Spanish birth, she

4800-530: The convent to Paris in 1621. She was named the new foundress of the convent in the same year. Her patronage included the building of a small church and an apartment for herself between 1620 and 1625, against the wishes of both Louis and Cardinal Richelieu. The Val-de-Grâce was commissioned by Anne in 1645, which was undertaken initially by Francois Mansart, who was dismissed in 1646 and succeeded by Jacques Lemercier. The Val-de-Grâce became Anne's main place of worship and would later gain dynastic significance during

4900-527: The costumes and scenery for the royal theaters, including for the opera Amadis by Jean-Baptiste Lully performed at the Theater of the Palais Royal (1684), and for the opera-ballet Les Saisons by Lully's successor, Pascal Colasse , in 1695. One of the most enduring and popular forms of the Louis XIV style is the jardin à la française or French formal garden , a style based on symmetry and

5000-470: The couple together under amiable circumstances. Anne began to dress in the French manner, and in 1619 Luynes pressed the king to bed his queen. Some affection developed, to the point where it was noted that Louis was distracted during a serious illness of the queen. A series of miscarriages disenchanted the king and served to chill their relations. On 14 March 1622, while playing with her ladies, Anne fell and suffered her second stillbirth. Louis blamed her for

5100-623: The course of the sun: the sun rose over the Court of Honor, lit the Marble Court, crossed the Château and lit the bedroom of the King, and set at the end of the Grand Canal , reflected in the mirrors of the Hall of Mirrors . In contrast with the grand perspectives, reaching to the horizon, the garden was full of surprises: fountains, small gardens filled with statuary, which provided a more human scale and intimate spaces. The central symbol of

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5200-517: The death in 1661 of Cardinal Mazarin , the King's chief minister , Louis decided to take personal charge of all aspects of government, including the arts. His chief advisor on the arts was Jean Colbert (1619–1683), who was also his finance minister. In 1663 Colbert reorganized the Royal furniture workshops, which made a wide variety of luxury goods, and added to it the Gobelins tapestry workshops . At

5300-494: The early Louis XIV style, the principle characteristics of decor were a richness of materials and an effort to achieve a monumental effect. The materials used included marble, often combined with multicolor stones, bronze, paintings, and mirrors. These were inserted into an extremely framework of columns, pilasters, niches, which extended up the walls and up upon the ceiling. The doors were surrounded with medallions, frontons and bas-reliefs. The fireplaces were smaller than those during

5400-407: The figures barely seen in the darkness, lit by torchlight, evoking meditation and pity. In addition to religious scenes, he did genre paintings, including the famous Tricheur or card cheat, showing a young noble being cheated at cards while others look on passively. The writer and later French culture minister André Malraux wrote in 1951, "No other painter, not even Rembrandt, ever suggested such

5500-637: The following reign that French porcelain was produced in quantity. In the first part of the reign, French painters were largely influenced by the Italians, particularly Caravaggio . Notable French painters included Nicolas Poussin , who was living in Rome; Claude Lorrain , who specialized in landscapes and spent most of his career in Rome; Louis Le Nain , who, along with his brothers, did mostly genre works; Eustache Le Sueur , and Charles Le Brun , who studied with Poussin in Rome and were influenced by him. With

5600-517: The garden was the sun; the emblem of Louis XIV , illustrated by the statue of Apollo in the central fountain of the garden . "The views and perspectives, to and from the palace, continued to infinity. The king ruled over nature, recreating in the garden not only his domination of his territories, but over the court and his subjects." Anne of Austria Anne of Austria ( French : Anne d'Autriche ; Spanish : Ana de Austria ; born Ana María Mauricia; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666)

5700-572: The garden, and André Le Nôtre to create the gardens. For the first time the garden and the château were perfectly integrated. A grand perspective of 1500 meters extended from the foot of the château to a copy of the Farnese Hercules ; and the space was filled with parterres of evergreen shrubs in ornamental patterns, bordered by colored sand, and the alleys were decorated at regular intervals by statues, basins, fountains, and carefully sculpted topiaries . "The symmetry attained at Vaux achieved

5800-423: The government to the chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin , who was a protégé of Cardinal Richelieu and figured among the council of the regency. Mazarin took up residence at the Palais Royal near Queen Anne. Before long he was believed to be her lover, and, it was hinted, even her husband. With Mazarin's support, Anne overcame the aristocratic revolt, led by Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé , that became known as

5900-411: The ground floor, to support the weight of the vaulted ceiling. Though Louis XIV was later accused of having ignored Paris, his reign saw several massive architectural projects which opened up space and ornamented the center of the city. The idea of monumental urban squares surrounded by uniform architecture had begun in Italy, like many architectural ideas of Baroque period. The first such square in Paris

6000-626: The incident and was angry with Marie de Rohan, now the Dowager Duchess of Luynes, for having encouraged the queen in what was seen as negligence. The king's already strained relationship with the duchess worsened after the incident, leading him to demand her departure from the court. However, Rohan returned just a few months later with her new husband Claude, Duke of Chevreuse . Louis turned now to Cardinal Richelieu as his advisor, who served as his first minister from 1624 until his death in 1642. Richelieu's foreign policy of struggle against

6100-551: The influence of his mother in a palace coup d'état and had her favorite Concino Concini assassinated on 26 April of that year. During the years he was in the ascendancy Luynes attempted to remedy the formal distance between Louis and his queen. He sent away Inés de la Torre and the other Spanish ladies and replaced them with French ones, notably the Princess of Conti ( Louise Marguerite of Lorraine ) and his wife Marie de Rohan , with whom he organized court events that would bring

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6200-421: The king's brother Gaston, Duke of Orléans against the monarch. After the invasion of Gaston in 1632, letters were discovered from du Fargis to people in Paris describing the plans of a marriage between Gaston and Anne after the death of Louis XIII. Anne was questioned and confirmed that the letters were written by du Fargis, but denied any knowledge of the plans. In 1635, France declared war on Spain , placing

6300-460: The late Louis XIV period is the chapel of the Palace of Versailles , created between 1697 and 1710 by Hardouin-Mansart and his successor as court architect, Robert de Cotte . The decor was carefully restrained, with light colors and sculptural detail in slight relief on the columns. The interior of the chapel opened up and lightened by the use of classical columns placed on the tribune, one level above

6400-475: The later domes of Les Invalides and the Panthéon . The next major church built under Louis XIV was the church of Les Invalides (1680–1706). The nave of the church, by Libéral Bruant , was comparable to those of other churches of the period, with ionic pilasters and penetrating vaults, and an interior that resembled the high baroque style. The dome, by Hardouin-Mansart, was more revolutionary, sitting upon

6500-432: The later period, thanks to the development of the craft of marquetry , the furniture was decorated with different colors and different woods. The most prominent creator of furniture in the later period was André Charles Boulle . The final period of Louis XIV style, from about 1690 to 1715, is called the period of transition; it was influenced by Hardouin-Mansart and by the King's designer of fetes and ceremonies, Jean Bérain

6600-564: The mission to examine whether there was any truth to the rumor of an alliance between France and England , as this would force Spain to cut off diplomatic connections to France and disturb her network of couriers between the Spanish embassies of Paris and Brussels. On 11 August 1637, Anne came under so much suspicion that Richelieu issued an investigation. Her courier La Porte as well as the abbess of Anne's favorite convent Val-de-Grâce (where Anne had written many of her secret letters) were questioned and admitted to having participated in channeling

6700-563: The most prominent buildings of the Early Renaissance . For Brunelleschi's Hospital of the Innocents already (1421–24), Andrea della Robbia provided glazed terracotta babes in swaddling clothes in tondos with plain blue backgrounds to be set in the spandrels of the arches. Andrea and Luca della Robbia created glazed terracotta tondi that were often framed in a wreath of fruit and leaves, which were intended for immuring in

6800-542: The new monarchs. After the ceremony the site became known as the Place du Trône , or place of the Throne, until it became the Place de la Nation in 1880. An office existed in the royal household of Louis XIV called Menus-Plaisirs du Roi , which was responsible the decoration at royal ceremonies and spectacles, including ballets, masques, illuminations, fireworks, theater performances and other entertainments. This office

6900-556: The new monumental style of Louis XIV. The old brick and stone of the Henry IV squares was replaced by the Grand Style of monumental columns, which usually were part of the façade itself, rather than standing separately. All the buildings around the square were connected and built to the same height, in the same style. The ground floor featured a covered arcade for pedestrians. The first such complex of buildings built under Louis XIV

7000-530: The other courts of Europe. The royal Gobelins manufactory had competition from two private enterprises, the Beauvais Manufactory and the Aubusson tapestry workshop, which produced works in the same style but with a low-warp process, with slightly lesser quality. Jean Bérain the Elder , the royal draftsman and designer of the King, created a series of grotesque carpets for Aubusson. These tapestries sometimes celebrated contemporary themes, such as

7100-700: The period was the Italian Gian Lorenzo Bernini , whose work in Rome inspired sculptors all over Europe. He traveled to France; his proposal for a new façade of the Louvre was rejected by the King, who wanted a more specifically French style, but Bernini did make a bust of Louis XIV in 1665 which was greatly admired and imitated in France. One of the most prominent sculptors under Louis XIV was Antoine Coysevox (pronounced "quazevo") (1640–1720) from Lyon. He studied sculpture under Louis Lerambert and copied in marble ancient Roman works, including

7200-521: The previous style of Louis XIII, and was massive, and profusely decorated with sculpture and gilding. After 1680, thanks in large part to the furniture designer André Charles Boulle , a more original and delicate style appeared, sometimes known as Boulle work . It was based on the inlay of ebony and other rare woods, a technique first used in Florence in the 15th century, which was refined and developed by Boulle and others working for Louis XIV. Furniture

7300-501: The principle of imposing order on nature. The most famous example is the Gardens of Versailles designed by André Le Nôtre , which inspired copies all across Europe. The first important garden à la française was the Château of Vaux-le-Vicomte , created for Nicolas Fouquet , the superintendent of finances to Louis XIV, beginning in 1656. Fouquet commissioned Louis Le Vau to design the château, Charles Le Brun to design statues for

7400-564: The queen and her household under control. As part of her role as a member of French royalty, Anne visited churches and convents across France, where she met Marguerite de Veny d'Arbouze at the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce de la-Ville-d'Evêque. As well as securing from the King the position of Abbess at the Benedictine Val-de-Grâce de Notre-Dame-de-la-Crèche for Marguerite in 1618, Anne purchased lands and transferred

7500-570: The queen in an untenable position. Her secret correspondence with her brother Philip IV of Spain was not the only communication she had with the Spanish. She also corresponded with the Spanish ambassador Mirabel and the governor of the Spanish Netherlands . With the assistance of Anne's servant La Porte, who acted as courier, Madeleine du Fargis and Marie de Rohan acted as agents for her secret correspondence and channeled her letters to other contacts. In July 1637, Anne gave du Fargis

7600-469: The queen's secret correspondence. Anne initially swore on the Holy Sacrament that she had participated in no illegal correspondence, but finally admitted her guilt on 15 August. On 17 August, Queen Anne was forced to sign covenants regarding her correspondence, which was henceforth open to inspection; she was further banned from visiting convents without permission and was never to be left alone but

7700-532: The same time, with the assistance of Le Brun, Colbert took charge of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture , which had been founded by Cardinal Mazarin. Colbert also took a dominant role in architecture, taking the title of Superintendent of buildings in 1664. In 1666, the French Academy in Rome was founded, to take advantage of Rome's position as the leading art center of Europe, and to assure

7800-478: The square separating the Louvre from the Tuileries Palace, which afterwards became known as the Place du Carrousel . The ceremonial entry of the King into Paris also became an occasion for festivities. The return of Louis XIV and Queen Maria Theresa to Paris after his coronation in 1660 was celebrated by a grand event on a fairground at the gates of the city, where large thrones were constructed for

7900-483: The story of the queen's life in her Mémoires d'Anne d'Autriche . She was portrayed by Geraldine Chaplin in The Three Musketeers (1973 live-action film) and The Four Musketeers (1974 film) . She appears in a French film based on the life of Louis XIV, Le Roi danse , portrayed by Collette Emmanuelle, and King Louis portrayed by Benoît Magimel (2000). She was portrayed by Alexandra Dowling in

8000-463: The structure still carries. Upon Louis' death in 1643, Anne was named regent , despite his attempts to prevent her from obtaining the position. With the aid of Pierre Séguier , she had the Parlement of Paris revoke the will of the late king, which would have limited her powers. Their four-year-old son was crowned King Louis XIV of France. Anne assumed the regency but to general surprise entrusted

8100-486: The success of Vaux le Vicomte, Louis XIV selected Le Vau to construct an immense new palace at Versailles, to augment a smaller palace transformed from a hunting lodge by Louis XIII. This gradually became, over the decades, the master work of the Louis XIV style. Following the death of Le Vau in 1680, Jules Hardouin-Mansart took over the Versailles project; he broke away from the picturesque projections and dome and made

8200-544: The supervision of the royal governess Françoise de Lansac , who was disliked by Anne and loyal to the king and the cardinal. Richelieu made Louis XIII a gift of his palatial hôtel, the Palais Cardinal , north of the Louvre, in 1636, but the king never took possession of it. Anne left the Louvre Palace to install herself there with her two small sons and remained as regent, hence the name Palais-Royal that

8300-1128: The time, Anne had many admirers, including the handsome Duke of Buckingham , although her intimates believed their flirtations remained chaste. Historian Desmond Seward alleges that during his 1625 visit to France, when the French court took official leave of the English embassy at Amiens , "Buckingham climbed into a private garden where the Queen was taking an evening walk", and "may even have tried to rape her", although "Anne's shrieks summoned her attendants." Anne and Louis, both fourteen years old, were pressured to consummate their marriage in order to forestall any possibility of future annulment , but Louis ignored his bride. Louis's mother, Marie de' Medici , continued to conduct herself as queen of France, without showing any deference to her daughter-in-law. Anne, surrounded by her entourage of high-born Spanish ladies-in-waiting headed by Inés de la Torre , continued to live according to Spanish etiquette and failed to improve her French. In 1617, Louis conspired with his favourite Charles d'Albert de Luynes to dispense with

8400-459: The tournament, which had been banned after 1559 when King Henry II was killed in a jousting accident. In the new, less dangerous version, riders usually had to pass their lance through the interior of a ring, or strike mannequins with the heads of Medusa , Moors and Turks. A grand carrousel was held on June 5–6, 1662 to celebrate the birth of the Dauphin , the son of Louis XIV. It was held on

8500-541: The tradition of cementing military and political alliances between France and Spain that began with the marriage of Philip II of Spain to Elisabeth of Valois in 1559 as part of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis . Anne and Elisabeth were exchanged on the Isle of Pheasants between Hendaye and Fuenterrabía . She was lively and beautiful during her youth. She was also a noted equestrian , a taste her son, Louis, would inherit. At

8600-773: The work of Michelangelo . Another notable sculptor of the Style Louis XV was Pierre Paul Puget (1620–1694), who was a sculptor, painter, engineer and architect. He was born in Marseille, and first sculpted ornaments for ships under construction. He then travelled to Italy, where he worked as an apprentice on the Baroque ceilings of the Palazzo Barberini and Palazzo Pitti . He travelled back and forth between Italy and France, painting, sculpting and wood-carving. He made his celebrated statue of caryatids for

8700-457: Was Queen of France from 1615 to 1643 by marriage to King Louis XIII . She was also Queen of Navarre until the kingdom's annexation into the French crown in 1620. After her husband's death, Anne was regent to her son Louis XIV during his minority until 1651. Anne was born in Valladolid to King Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria . She was betrothed to King Louis XIII of France in 1612 and they married three years later. The two had

8800-452: Was 37. The official newspaper Gazette de France called the birth "a marvel when it was least expected". The birth of a living son failed to re-establish confidence between the royal couple. However, she conceived again fifteen months later. At Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 21 September 1640, Anne gave birth to her second son, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans , who later founded the modern House of Orléans . Both of her children were placed under

8900-472: Was always to be in the presence of one of her ladies-in-waiting. This was soon followed up by a purge of her household, where those officials loyal to the queen were replaced by those loyal to the king and the Cardinal. Consequently, count Jean de Galard de Bearn de Brassac, known to be loyal to Richelieu, was appointed chamberlain of her household, and his spouse Catherine de Brassac replaced Marie-Catherine de Senecey as her Première dame d'honneur to keep

9000-456: Was an "overnight frenzy" as the elite rushed to get faience replacements of the best quality. The reign also saw the earliest French porcelain in Rouen porcelain , although production was only of soft-paste porcelain and on a tiny scale; only nine small pieces are thought to survive. The next factory, Saint-Cloud porcelain , from perhaps 1695 onwards, was more successful, though it was only in

9100-562: Was demolished not long after. Nevers and other centres shared these commissions, and others for large fittings and decorations for Louis's other palaces. Nevers garden vases in blue and white were prominently used in the gardens of the Château de Versailles. The French faience industry received another huge boost when, late in Louis's reign in 1709, the king pressured the wealthy to donate their silver plate, previously what they normally used to dine, to his treasury to help pay for his wars. There

9200-405: Was devoted entirely to the production of tapestries for the King. The themes and styles of the tapestry were largely similar to the themes in the paintings of the period, celebrating the majesty of the King and triumphal scenes of military victories, mythological and pastoral scenes. While at first they were made only for use of the King and nobility, the factory soon began exporting its products to

9300-467: Was held from 1674 to 1711 by Jean Bérain the Elder (1640–1711). He was also designer of the King's bedchamber and offices, and had an enormous influence upon what became known as Louis XIV style; his studio was located in the Grand Gallery of the Louvre, along with those of the royal furniture designer André Charles Boulle . He was particularly responsible for introducing the a modified version of

9400-450: Was inlaid with plaques of ebony, copper, and exotic woods of different colors. New and often enduring types of furniture appeared; the commode , with two to four drawers, replaced the old coffre , or chest. The canapé , or sofa, appeared, in the form of a combination of two or three armchairs. New kinds of armchairs appeared, including the fauteuil en confessionale or "confessional armchair", which had padded cushions on either side of

9500-429: Was often taken to visit monasteries during her childhood. In 1611, she lost her mother, who died in childbirth. Despite her grief, Anne did her best to take care of her younger siblings, who referred to her with affection as their mother. At age eleven, Anne was betrothed to King Louis XIII of France. Her father gave her a dowry of 500,000 crowns and many beautiful jewels. For fear that Louis XIII would die early,

9600-549: Was portrayed by Vicky Krieps in the 2023 French film The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan and The Three Musketeers: Milady . Anne of Austria has a cameo in Versailles (TV series) (season 1, episode 1). Tondo (art) A tondo ( pl. : tondi or tondos ) is a Renaissance term for a circular work of art, either a painting or a sculpture . The word derives from the Italian rotondo , "round". The term

9700-575: Was referred to as Anne of Austria because the rulers of Spain belonged to the senior branch of the House of Austria , known later as the House of Habsburg, a designation relatively uncommon before the 19th century. Anne was raised mainly at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid . Unusually for a royal princess, Anne grew up close to her parents, who were very religious. She was raised to be religious too, and

9800-461: Was the Collège des Quatre-Nations (now the Institut de France ) (1662–1668), facing the Louvre. It was designed by Louis Le Vau and François d'Orbay , and combined the new college donated by Cardinal Mazarin , a chapel, and the library of Mazarin. (Later, as the Institut de France , it would become the headquarters of the academies founded by the King.) The Hôtel Royal des Invalides –

9900-589: Was the Place Royal (now Place des Vosges ) begun by Henry IV of France , completed later with an equestrian statue of Louis XIII; then the Place Dauphine on the Île de la Cité , which featured, adjacent to it, an equestrian statue of Henry IV. The initial grand Paris projects of Louis XIV were new façades on the Louvre Palace , especially the Colonnade, facing to the east. These were showcases of

10000-495: Was the construction of a new façade for the east side of the Louvre . In 1665 Louis invited the most famous sculptor architect of the Italian Baroque, Gian Lorenzo Bernini , to submit a design, but in 1667 rejected it in favor of a more sober and classical colonnade , designed by a committee of three, comprising Louis Le Vau, Charles Le Brun , and Claude Perrault . In the early period of his reign, Louis began building

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