Court life under Louis XIV
XV XVI
The Court life during the
reigns of Kings Louis XIV , XV and XVI experienced dramatic change
which ended with the execution of the later.
Louis XIV el Roi-Soleil (
Sun King ) sought to eliminate the remnants of feudalism persisting
in parts of france . He did this by compelling the noble elite to
inhabit his lavish Palace of versailles. He succeeded in pacifying
the aristocracy . By these means he consolidated a system of absolute
monarchical rule in france that endured until the french revolution
louis XV was 5 years of
age when louis Great grandfather Louis XIV died in 1715 ( sparking
the beginning of the Rococo period ) , Phillipe II , duke of orleans
served as Regent until 1723.
One of the regent's first
official duties was to transfer the royal residence from Versailles
to Paris.
This move resulted in the
dissolution of the old court, which had pewviouly lived at the
palace.
The court moved to the
livelier capital , which offered many distractions in the forms of
theater, dances and private parties. The aristocracy broke into
private societies as its self-image changed and now included the
merchantile bourgeoisie , bankers and tax collectors.
Louis XV enjoyed a favorable reputation
at the beginning of his reign and earned the epithet "le
Bien-Aimé" ("the Beloved"). In time, the debauchery
of his court, his ill-advised financial policies, the return of the
Austrian Netherlands (which were gained following the Battle of
Fontenoy) at Aix-la-Chapelle, and the cession of New France at the
conclusion of the Seven Years' War led Louis to become one of the
most unpopular kings in the history of France.
Uninterested in politics and largely
influenced by his chief mistress, Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV's
decisions damaged the power of France, weakened the treasury,
discredited the absolute monarchy, and arguably led to the French
Revolution which broke out 15 years after his death.
Louis XVI succeeded his
unpopular grandfather in 1775 and he was well aware of the growing
discontent of the French against the absolutist monarchy.
Unfortunately Louis XVI lacked the authority to impose his will , as
he attempted to reform the kingdom in accordance with the
Enlightenment ideals. Edicate of Tolerance, Edit of versailles and
Declaration of the rights were passed but Radical finacial reform
angered the nobles and were blocked by the parliaments who insisted
that the king did not have legal rights to levy new taxes. This
ongoing hostility from the nobles signaled to Louis that he had lost
the ability to rule and he fell into depression which was a
contributing factor to the French revolution which brok out in 1789.
The french revolution
abolished the absolute monarchy in France and proclaimed a
constutional monarchy in 1791. Louis XVI , now King of the French,
gradually became a percieved symbol of tyranny due to his
indecisiveness and conservatism. In 1793 Louis was found guilty of
high treason and was the only King of France to ever be executed.
Jean-Honore Fragonard , “The Swing” ,
1767 Oil on canvas 81 x 65cm
Jean-Honoré Fragonard 5 April 1732[2] –
22 August 1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo
manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and
hedonism. One of the most prolific artists active in the last decades
of the Ancien Régime, Fragonard produced more than 550 paintings
(not counting drawings and etchings), of which only five are dated.
Among his most popular works are genre paintings conveying an
atmosphere of intimacy and veiled eroticism.
Fragonard's artistic style was rejected by
the french court under Louis XV as being too permissive but he was
commissioned by many wealthy private clients. Fragonard is regarded
as a master of the cheerful and playful rococo style preference for
tasteful erotic , aesthetic scenes dedicated soley to love and
beauty which is perfectly expressed in this piece. Emphasis on the
inherent laws of art without embroidering the theme with classical
mythology made him a significant interpreter of the contemporary
moral picture.
François
Boucher , Le Déjeuner, (1739, Louvre),
François Boucher (29 September 1703 – 30
May 1770) was a French painter, a proponent of Rococo taste, known
for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes,
decorative allegories representing the arts or pastoral occupations,
intended as a sort of two-dimensional furniture. He also painted
several portraits of his illustrious patroness, Madame de Pompadour.
After the move of the royal palace to Paris
by the regent the self-image of the arostocracy changed and the
Bourgeouis depected in this 18th century painting along
with merchants , tax collectors and bankers .
This painting shows a rocaille interior of
a French bourgeois family in the 18th century. The porcelain
statuette and vase adds a touch of chinoiserie.
The elegance of the furniture and architechtire is reflective of the
rococo period.
Élisabeth
Vigée-Lebrun, Marie
Antoinette à la Rose, 1783
Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun (Marie
Élisabeth Louise; 16 April 1755 – 30 March 1842) was a French
painter, and is recognized as the most important female painter of
the 18th century. Her style is generally considered Rococo and shows
interest in the subject of neoclassical painting. Vigée Le Brun
cannot be considered a pure Neoclassist, however, in that she creates
mostly portraits in Neoclassical dress rather than the History
painting. In her choice of color and style while serving as the
portrait painter to Marie Antoinette, Vigée Le Brun is purely
Rococo.
She was commissioned for portraits of many
of the nobility of the day and as her career blossomed, she was
invited to the Palace
of Versailles to paint Marie
Antoinette. So pleased was the queen that during a period of six
years, Vigée Le Brun would paint more than thirty portraits of the
queen and her family, leading to her being commonly viewed as the
official portraitist of Marie Antoinette
This painting displays the softness and pastel-like colors , ornate detail and sense of playfulness of the rococo period.
This painting displays the softness and pastel-like colors , ornate detail and sense of playfulness of the rococo period.
La Tour went to Rheims in 1724 and to
England in 1725, returning to Paris to resume his studies around
1727. After his return to Paris, he began working with pastels
He was made portraitist to the king Louis
XV in 1750 and held this position until 1773
1751 was promoted to councillor. Among his
most famous subjects were Voltaire,
Rousseau, Louis
XV and Madame
de Pompadour.
The soft friendly, relaxed self portrait of
La Tour captures a sense of his personality which is seldom seen in
portraiture.Endowing his sitters with a distinctive charm and
intelligence, he excelled at capturing the delicate play of their
features.
Bibliography
Various Movies
man in the iron mask
3 musketters
Tristan Griffin
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