French Baroque architecture

French Baroque architecture, referred to as Classicism in France ()Hanser 2006, p. xxvii.Curl 2015, p. 63 ("Baroque"). and more broadly in stylistic analysis when contrasted to its European Baroque counterparts, was a style of architecture that marked the reigns of Louis XIII (1610–1643), Louis XIV (1643–1715) and Louis XV (1715–1774). It was preceded by French Renaissance architecture and Mannerism and was followed in the second half of the 18th century by French Neoclassical architecture. Although it historically belongs to the Baroque period, it distances itself from its stylistic grammar: originally inspired by Italian Baroque architecture, it was characterized, particularly under Louis XIV, by harmonious sobriety, monumental regularity, and ornamental clarity, having among its main features the colossal order of façades, and the use of colonnades and cupolas, to symbolize the power and grandeur of the King. Notable examples of French Classicism include the east façade of the Louvre, the Grand Trianon of the Palace of Versailles, and the dome of Les Invalides as well as the greater part of Paris architecture in the era of absolutism. In the final years of Louis XIV and the reign of Louis XV, the colossal orders gradually disappeared, the style became lighter and saw the introduction of wrought iron decoration in rocaille designs. The period also saw the introduction of monumental urban squares in Paris and other cities, notably Place Vendôme and the Place de la Concorde. The style profoundly influenced 18th-century secular architecture throughout Europe; the Palace of Versailles and the French formal garden were copied by other courts all over Europe.Hopkins, Owen, Les Styles en Architecture (2014), pp. 84-87

Naming

From a historical perspective, this style belongs to the Baroque era; consequently, it is sometimes simply referred to as "French Baroque architecture" to highlight its connection to the broader artistic context of 17th-century Europe;Neuman 2013, pp. 14–15 ("Introduction"), p. 285 ("Baroque Architecture in France and England"). from a stylistic point of view however, the specificity of the French Grand Siècle style (classical symmetry and sober, monumental exterior structures) is widely recognized and earns it the designation of "French Classicism". For this reason, the term Baroque when applied to France has a meaning more specifically linked to its etymological sense of intricate irregularity, allowing for surprise, distorted grotesquerie, and reflecting a taste for the singular and the unusual which is "characterized by over-ornamentation, excess, emotion, metamorphosis, illusion, and movement".Bergez, Daniel et al. (2023). Précis de littérature française. Paris: Armand Collin. « L'âge baroque », pp. 135-142.Dubois, Claude-Gilbert (1973). Le Baroque. Profondeurs de l'apparence. Paris: Larousse. p. 75. Similarly to literature with Théodore Agrippa d'Aubigné or Pierre Corneille's L'Illusion comique, the architectural "Baroque style" in the strict sense therefore primarily relates to art from the early 17th century in France (for instance the Luxembourg Palace, albeit already displaying classical influences, or the baldachin and high altar of the Val-de-Grâce church).

Early French Classicism emerging from the Baroque

French Classicism was, from the beginning, an expression of the power and majesty of the Kings of France. It proceeded deliberately in a different direction from Italy and the rest of Europe, combining classical elements, especially colossal orders of columns, and avoiding the exuberant Baroque decoration that appeared on façades and interiors in Spain, Germany and Central Europe. It was used less frequently on churches and more often in the design of royal palaces and country residences. Another distinctive element of the French Classicism was the integration of the architecture of the house with the formal gardens around it, in what became known as the French formal garden.

Salomon de Brosse (1571–1626) was one of the first French architects to adopt the style, in the construction of the Palais du Luxembourg he built for the mother of Louis XIII, Marie de' Medici between 1615 and 1624. The Luxembourg Palace established a new pattern for royal residences, with pavilions on the corners, lateral wings, and a grand central entrance surmounted by a cupola. The walls feature colossal orders of columns with triangular pediments, indicating the classical inspiration behind the French movement. A traditional French feature was the high sloping mansard roof and the complex roofline. Like the Villa Medici in Rome, the palace was surrounded by a large garden and fountains. The interior design was also innovative; the pavilions around the main block contained the apartments, allowing a greater flexibility and functionality of the interior space.

One of the most accomplished formulators of the new style was François Mansart, a tireless perfectionist. He was not the first to use the sloping mansard roof, but he used it so effectively that it took his name. In his design for the Château de Maisons in Maisons-Laffitte, (1630–51), Mansart showed the continuity between the French Renaissance style and the new style. The structure is strictly symmetrical, with an order applied to each story, mostly in pilaster form. The frontispiece, crowned with a separate aggrandized roof, is infused with remarkable plasticity and the whole ensemble reads like a three-dimensional whole. Mansart's structures are stripped of overblown decorative effects, so typical of contemporary Rome. Italian Baroque influence is muted and relegated to the field of decorative ornamentation.

Louis Le Vau was another central figure in the early French Classicism style. He designed the Château of Vaux-le-Vicomte (1656–1661) for Nicolas Fouquet, the Superintendent of Finances of the young Louis XIV. The design of the château itself was similar to that of the Luxembourg Palace and the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. What made it distinctive from earlier styles was the unity of its architecture, interior, and landscape around it. Its façade featured stylized monumental columns, wings combined with mansard roofs and a prominent dome, in the Baroque style. The interior was lavishly decorated with murals by Charles Le Brun and it was placed in the center of enormous formal gardens designed by André Le Notre, laid out in geometric patterns paths, flower beds, fountains and reflecting pools, which seemed to extend the architecture of the house in every direction. The grand salon of the building opened out onto the garden, a feature which thereafter became a regular feature of Baroque palaces. After seeing the lavishness of the building, the King dismissed and imprisoned Fouquet, took possession of the house for the crown, and soon put Le Vau to work to create his own palace in Versailles.

The same three artists scaled this concept to monumental proportions in the royal hunting lodge and later main Palace of Versailles (1661–1690). On a far grander scale, the palace is a hypertrophied and somewhat repetitive version of Vaux-le-Vicomte. It was both the most grandiose and the most imitated residential building of the 17th century. Mannheim Palace, Nordkirchen Castle and Drottningholm Palace were among many foreign residences for which Versailles provided a model.

The Louvre Colonnade In 1665, the chief minister of Louis XIV, Jean Colbert, invited the most famous architect and sculptor of the Italian Baroque, Gian Lorenzo Bernini to Paris, to propose a design for the new east wing of the Louvre, located on the eastern side of the Cour Carrée (Square Courtyard). This design would have aligned the architecture of Paris to the Italian Baroque style. However, in the end Louis turned instead to French designers. He wanted a design that would be distinctly French, rather than a copy of the Italian style. In April 1667, he gave the commission to a committee, the Petit Conseil, consisting of Louis Le Vau, Charles Le Brun, and Claude Perrault, and the three men designed the new façade together.Berger 1993, pp. 20–27. It featured the giant order, that is, a long row of double columns two stories high, resting on top of a massive lower levelSummerson 1963, figure 47. with tall, segmental-arched windows, modeled on those used for the Renaissance-style Lescot Wing.Berger 1993, pp. 51–52. It had a flat roof concealed by a balustrade, with a triangular pediment in the center over the main entry. In 1668 a decision was made to double the width of the south wing, resulting in the construction a new façade on the south, facing the Seine. Perrault also designed a new façade on the interior of the court facing west, and a matching new façade on the north.Renault and Lazé (2006), p. 55; Berger 1993, pp. .

The Palace of Versailles The most important showcase of the French Classicism was the Palace of Versailles. It was begun in 1624 by Louis XIII as a hunting lodge. In 1634, Louis XIII had it enlarged into a château by his chief architect and engineer, Philibert Le Roy. In 1661, Louis XIV decided to enlarge it further, without destroying the original. He commissioned Louis Le Vau and Charles Le Brun as his architect and designer, and assigned André Le Nôtre to create a grand formal garden that could be viewed from the Château, on the model of Vaux-le-Vicomte. When Le Vau died in 1670, the project was given to his assistant François d'Orbay, who completed the initial phase in 1674.

The new palace surrounded the old brick château, with new wings the north, south and to the rear. The façade, like the new Louvre wing, featured colossal order columns, while the roof was flat with a terrance, decorated with balustrades, pilasters, balconies, statues, and trophies. Beginning in 1674–75, Le Brun created the interior with a small army of painters, sculptors, and decorators. They used marble, polychrome stone, bronze mirrors, and gilded stucco, while Le Brun himself painted the ceiling. The Hall of Mirrors, constructed in 1678–1680 by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the nephew of Francois Mansart, overlooked the new garden. It was also decorated by Le Brun, who completed it in 1684, after which it became the symbol of the entire French Baroque style. The new Palace was open to almost any visitor, and became an immense theatre, where the King carried out his ceremonies, with meticulous protocol, in public view.

Louis continued to add to the Palace through the end of his reign. In 1687, Jules Hardouin-Mansart and then Robert de Cotte erected the Grand Trianon, on the model of an Italian building, the Marble Trianon. It had a single floor, decorated with plaster and marble, with a flat roof and balustrade. The plan was very simple, with a peristyle flanked by two wings and two avant-corps, or sections in advance of the wings. It had a simplicity and purity of form that inspired similar palace buildings across Europe, from Prussia to Russia. Mansart also completed the Versailles Orangerie (1684–1686) in a similar style, surrounding a formal garden and pool. The gardens created by André Le Nôtre were designed to complement the architecture of the palace and to express, by it geometric alleys, pools, rows of the trees, flower beds and fountains, the mastery of the King over nature.

The final piece of the Palace was the Chapel, begun in 1689 to the designs of Hardouin-Mansart and completed by Robert de Cotte in 1708–1710. The room was given more space and light by the use of classical columns instead of massive pillars, and by placing the supporting columns on an upper level.

Louis XV continued to add to the Palace, mostly with changes to the interior rooms. His major contribution was the Petit Trianon by Ange-Jacques Gabriel. Its austere architecture was a sign of the transition to Neoclassicism.

Religious architecture